“What can these seeds become?”
“How do you know these seeds will grow?”
“What must we do to make them grow?”
Explain that our faith in Jesus Christ, like a seed, can grow if we nurture it. Discuss things we can do to help our faith grow, and explain how these things will lead us to love and trust Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. Sing, “Faith” (CS, 96-97). Make up simple hand movements to go with the first verse.
REPETITION: Children learn through repetition. Consider expanding the object lesson to reinforce the principle of faith. Plant the seeds in a pot, and occasionally bring the growing plant to Primary. Tell the children what you have done to help the plant grow. Compare nurturing a seedling to nurturing faith in Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? To have faith in Jesus Christ means that although we have not seen Him, we believe that He lives and loves us and that we trust Him. When we read the scriptures, we can learn about Him. When we listen to the prophets, we can understand what we can do to follow Him. When we pray in faith for help to choose the right, we can know that our prayers will be answered. When we listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, we can feel Him close to us and know that He loves us.
Show the children some seeds. Ask the children if anyone knows what they are. Then ask them the 3 questions from the outline: “What can these seeds become?” “How do you know these seeds will grow?” “What must we do to make them grow?” Discuss the seeds and how they grow with the children. Then explain to the children that Faith is like a seed. You could ask the children how Faith is like a seed.
How does our faith in Jesus Christ grow? Alma tells us that the word of God is like a seed. We show our faith when we plant a seed in the earth. We then nurture it by keeping the weeds away, by giving it water and plant food, and by making sure that it has sunshine. If it is a good seed, it will begin to swell and grow.
When we believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, we plant true words of God in our hearts. We nurture this kind of seed by praying, by listening to the prophets, by keeping the commandments, and by responding to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. As we do this, the seed of truth will grow within our hearts. Then we will know that Jesus Christ is happy with our efforts.
Alma says that if we continue to nourish the word of God by our faith, it will grow as large as a tree and bring forth fruit. This means that our faith in Jesus Christ will grow strong and bring blessings for us and for others. What joy that brings! We have faith in Jesus Christ when we believe Him, trust Him, obey Him, and follow Him.
Here is the Sharing Time Idea: Help the children memorize Alma 32:21. Then have them follow along in their scriptures as you read or tell Alma 32:27–43. Discuss the importance of planting the word of God in our hearts.
Assemble some gardening aids (small bag of fertilizer, trowel, watering can, picture of sun, etc.), and put them into a box or bag. Have children pick an item and tell one thing we can do to nurture the word of God by our faith in Jesus Christ (believe, keep the commandments, pray, etc.). Label each item with a word suggested by the child. Display pictures of trees in various stages. Help the children realize that this is an ongoing process. Let them each plant a real seed either individually or as a Primary that they can tend and watch grow. Sing “Faith” (CS, pp. 96–97).
**Another idea: you could attach pictures to each gardening tool for Jr. Primary and scripture references for Sr. Primary that talk about the different ways we can nurture/help our seed grow (Prayer, Scriptures, Baptism, etc.). Have the children tell you what the picture is and then discuss how that helps our seed to grow and have the older children find the scripture and read it and then tell you what it is.
I would probably make a pretty big pot and then make the flower out of paper. I would have the flower folded inside the pot and as you pulled on the string it would unfold and grow. If it was made out of something else you would have to have the flower hanging out the bottom of the pot.
If you do have it hanging out the bottom of the pot you could alway place a table with a table cloth in front of your poster to kind of hide it (that way the children won’t see your flower/stem). Hope that makes sense. 🙂
Plastic cups- be sure to punch a few holes in the bottom
Dirt (either already in the cup or in small plastic bags)
Seeds: here’s a really cute seed packet that you could use- Faith Seed Packet from Sugardoodle
Instructions
Get all the supplies for each kit and place everything in the cup or in a larger bag. Tell the children that you would like them to go home and plant their very own ‘Seed of Faith’. Show them each item that is included in the kit and explain a little bit what they need to do. Remind them that they must nurture it in order for it to grow. Then remind them how the seed is like faith in Jesus Christ and remind them the things they need to do to nurture that seed. You could even include a picture of Christ in your gardening kit with a list of things they must do: Pray, scripture study, FHE, etc.
**If you’re scared of dirt ending up all over the church have the children meet you outside right after church and then pass our their Gardening kits. Just keep one inside to show the children during your Sharing Time.
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Thanks for posting this!! Huge help and great ideas! I’m taking a mix of all of them- I’m super excited!