The Help You Need to Teach Come Follow Me James "Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only" (November 13-19)
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Great news! You can count your study of Come Follow Me James "Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only" (November 18-24) as one way you are prepping for April’s General Conference as you include a discussion of the First Vision. Try memorizing James 1:5-6 this week with your family or class.
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Remember! Keep scrolling! These posts are long and full of resources. The Weekly Recap and all the Questions to Ponder are at the very bottom of this post.
Some things to know about the General Epistle of James:
Unlike the other epistles so far, this one is written by James, not to James. It’s called a General Epistle because the intended audience is larger than one specific area.
According to Christian tradition, this James (like Jude) is one of the sons of Mary and Joseph thus the half-brother of Jesus. It’s likely he was the oldest of Jesus’s brothers since he is always mentioned first. Remember, Christ’s half-brothers didn’t initially become disciples of Jesus until after Christ was resurrected. James was one of those blessed to see Christ as a resurrected Being.
According to early Christian writers, James is the first bishop of the Church in Jerusalem.
Notice how James introduces himself in James 1:1. He shows humility by introducing himself as a servant of the Lord instead of as the brother of Jesus.
James 1:2-4; 5:7-11
These verses in James remind us of our need for patience and how patience can help perfect us.
Additional Study Suggestions
“Continue in Patience” by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“The Power of Patience” by Elder Robert C. Oaks
“Patience, a Key to Happiness” by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Patience- A Heavenly Virtue” by President Thomas S. Monson
“The Immediate Goodness of God” by Elder Kyle S. McKay
Videos to Share
Continue in Patience (about 2 1/2 minutes)- The marshmallow experiment!
Job (about 6 1/2 minutes)- Illustrated scripture story
Several more videos on patience
Questions to Ponder
What is the relationship between patience and faith? Can you have one without the other? How do you keep an eternal perspective while waiting on the Lord?
What are other examples from the scriptures of waiting for deliverance? Why does knowing these stories help you?
What are some things you have learned as you have had to be patient for blessings or answers to prayers?
What are some things in your life that encourage you to be impatient? How can you counter those things so they help you be patient?
How can you show your willingness to be patient?
How do our prayers change when we are willing to be patient?
Why is a patience a virtue you admire?
What do you learn from James about patience?
Teaching Activities
You can, of course, do the famous marshmallow experiment with your children in your study of these verses of scripture. I found it even worked with small marshmallows. My son was posing for pictures but totally wanted that marshmallow and didn’t hesitate at all when I said he could have it after the photos were done, ha, ha. If you don’t know about the experiment, watch the Continue in Patience video I shared above first.
Don’t want to use marshmallows? Get some of those magic grow capsule sponges (here’s a good 6-pack of sponges. You can save the others as stocking stuffers. The sponges are fun to stamp in paint after too) and watch them grow. You need warm water and a little bit of patience to watch them transform. Then tie it into how patience perfects us. If you want one that takes even longer, these sea animals grow but take 72 hours to reach their full size. I don’t like these type as much as they get a little slimy but they are a great lesson and fun.
Another fun way to teach about patience is with the game, Go Bananas from Children’s Ministry. How hard is it to pass a banana anyway?
Have older kids? Try inviting them to go without Google for one day. That means no asking Google (or Alexa) what something means, directions for somewhere, no looking information for a school paper, etc. Instead, they must find other ways to find their answers and practice exhibiting patience as they try to find solutions to their problems in a new way.
James 1:3-8, 21-25; 2:14-26; 4:17
In these verses of James, we remember that faith is an action word. We must act on our faith. We also learn that Heavenly Father will tell us what is truth.
Additional Study Suggestions
"Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles" by Elder Juan Pablo Villar
“Ask in Faith” by Elder David A. Bednar
“Christians in Belief and Action” by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Videos to Share
Ask of God: Joseph Smith’s First Vision (about 6 1/2 minutes)
True Christianity (about 3 minutes)
Joseph Smith’s First Vision (about 4 1/2 minutes)
Exercise Faith in Christ (about 1 1/2 minutes)
Pure and Simple Faith (about 5 1/2 minutes)
Learning at Home: Growing in Faith (about 1 1/2 minutes)
Want to Increase Your Faith (about 1 minute)
Questions to Ponder
Why do you feel that faith has to be an action word? How come you can’t simply know or believe in something?
Go back over the last 24 hours. What do your actions say about your faith?
What are some things you believe? Therefore, what does it change in your life? How does it affect your actions?
What are some scripture and family examples of people of faith? How do you know they had faith?
What are some ways we are hearers of the word only? How can we become doers?
Teaching Activities
Of course we’ll be talking about the Joseph Smith’s First Vision as we study James 1. Find your way through the maze as you decode words that have to do with the First Vision.
Discuss what it means to “ask in faith.” If you head to Joseph Smith History and read his prayer, you’ll notice that Joseph didn’t just ask a question, he also asked what he should do. We should always be praying with the intention to act. You might want to go through a few examples of things that we ask for when praying. Do they show our intent to act? If not, how can we ask those questions with action?
Have some fun with my Who Am I? cards from my Primary 4 Lesson 43 handouts. These cards all focus on the faith and action these individuals from the scriptures had. Can you think of more examples and make your own Who Am I cards?
Get and Go and Do coloring page in my free General Conference Coloring pages. It’s a great way to tie in these verses to the youth theme in 2020 and the new youth program.
Show how so many people in the scriptures or in your family’s history have shown their faith. In the first column of boxes on my chart, write down a person who has had faith (you can use Abraham and Rahab as mentioned in these verses). In the second column of boxes, write down what they had faith in. Then in the last column, write down the action they took because they had faith. You can save the last row for your own personal example.
Celebrate the First Vision and the beginning of this last dispensation with a Book of Mormon Thanksgiving this year (or any other dinner). Make Book of Mormon figurines, sail boats, and more! Talk about the actions Book of Mormon people took because of their faith.
Watch one of the videos about the First Vision then go around the room and share when you first came to know Jesus Christ or that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s true Church on the earth.
James 1:26; 3:1-18
James reminds us in these verses how powerful our words can be, whether for good or evil.
Additional Study Suggestions
“The Power of Kind Words” by Elder Rafael E. Pino (short The Friend version of a talk)
“Speak Kind Words” by President Marion G. Romney
“The Tongue of Angels” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Language from the For Strength of Youth
Videos to Share
The Power of Words (about 4 minutes)- there is also a video about bullying below it.
Questions to Ponder
How have you used your words to bless others? hurt? heal? lift? bring light?
When has someone else’s words lifted or enriched you? Why do you think they were able to do so?
How can you be more careful in your words?
What are the dangers of sarcasm, tone, and “just joking”?
How are your words bringing you closer to God?
Why do you feel the words in the name of the Church matter? Why should we say, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instead of LDS or Mormon? How do these words make a difference?
How can you use your words today to help another?
What do the words you use say about you?
Teaching Activities
Ponder the power of words. Print my object cards then toss them in a bag and pass it around to each person in your group. Compare your object to how words can be. If you get stumped, you can Google “Words are like a sword” and you should see answers pop up. There are blank cards to add your own objects as well- go through these verses and draw the visuals James used.
Or So She Says has a great Family Night activity and lesson to go with the power of words.
- Mad Libs are lots of fun and are a great way to show how much power words have. You can get an app on your phone to do a bunch or buy a book full of them (they make great stocking stuffers too).
- The toothpaste object lesson is always a memorable one too. I always have a hard time wasting so much toothpaste so know that it still works well with a travel sized tube.
- Have some fun with jelly beans! Get a box of Bean Boozled Jelly Beans and play the game. Discuss how sometimes we don't know what will come out of people's months but we can always control our actions and what we say. You can also discuss how much nicer it was when you ate a good jelly bean instead of the nasty ones. Compare that to how our words should taste to each other.
Do you remember when we did the Rice Experiment back in August? If you did it, you can review your experience again. If you haven't done it yet, now is a great time. Our experiment was a success. You could totally see the difference between all three jars. The ignore was definitely the worst. Discuss how even an absence of words can make a difference too.
You can also do the clicker experiment from that same week again. Instead of focusing on your thoughts, focus on the words you are saying. When you share kind, uplifting words, click it. When someone has more clicks than us, what words will we use?
You can also talk about the words we use on social media. It’s easier to be mean when we can’t see the person face to face. How can we use our words on social media to be an uplifting influence? It’s a good time to discuss what to do when you see someone being bullied online (or in person) too.
Additional Helps
Here are some additional resources to go with James 2:1-9 (loving all):
“Choosing Charity: That Good Part” by Sister Bonnie D. Parkin
“Building Bridges” by President Russell M. Nelson (short excerpt)
“Different but the Same” by President Henry B. Eyring (simple message with activities)
Jesus Christ Loves Everyone- booklet to assemble
Lots of Ways to Say “I Love You”- Board game
