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This October 2024, President Dallin H. Oaks spoke about how we can better follow Jesus Christ by striving to be peacemakers and avoid contention in his address titled, “Following Christ.” If you are planning to teach from this great talk or simply want some help diving further into it, then you are in the right place. We’re sharing discussion questions, teaching tips, and even some resources for children.

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The notebook shown in the photos is our Rays of Light General Conference Notebook.

Discussion Questions

Spark some discussion with these question ideas for President Oaks’ talk.

In what ways have you noticed your choice to follow Christ influencing your decisions- from daily small choices to life-altering ones?
President Oaks compared the string that holds a kite in the sky to our covenants with God. As we honor our covenants by keeping God’s commandments we soar to celestial heights. If we let go of the string, we are not lifted higher, but carried away by the wind and eventually crash. In what ways has keeping your covenants kept you grounded while also reaching new heights? What has helped you hold on to the string when you feel yourself being carried away by the winds of the world?
How can followers of Christ overcome toxic communication? How have you been able to follow Christ’s example of being a peacemaker while also holding on to your beliefs and standards? What stories from Christ’s life have helped you follow his example of being a peacemaker?
Have you ever felt trapped in contention? Looking back, what advice would you give yourself now that you know more? When you’re struggling to let go of feelings of contention, what strategies or spiritual tools help you resist stirring the pot or escalating the conflict?
How can we share our values and beliefs without attacking others? What are some examples you have seen where people have shared their views with love? When you’ve shared your beliefs with love and others have attacked you in return, what has helped you continue responding in a peaceful, Christlike manner?
President Oaks reminded us of Christ’s proclamation to love our enemies, bless them, pray for them (see Matthew 5:44; 3 Nephi 12:44). How have you come to better understand and love your enemies by striving to follow this teaching? How has it changed you?
What are some things that help you overcome obstacles when it’s hard to unselfishly love others? Are there specific practices, scriptures, or experiences that give you strength to love others?
What helps you find common ground with a potential adversary as President Oaks suggests?
What are some examples of the language and methods of peacemakers?
President Oaks mentioned that permanent commandments sometimes require renewed emphasis from the prophets. He cited calling the Church by its full revealed name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as one example. What are other examples of commandments or principles you’ve noticed being reemphasized in recent teachings? How have those reminders influenced your life and your approach to discipleship?

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Teaching Ideas

Looking to go a little more in depth? Try these ideas:

In sports, the coach will often tell the parents of the athletes to wait at least 24 hours after an incident before emailing them about a problem- not enough playing time, something they said, etc. This helps parents think more logically about the problem and leave the instant anger or contention out of the conversation more. This is, obviously, good advice for responding in a lot of situations. Have you tried this technique? What have you noticed as you’ve given yourself space to let go of the contention you feel? How has it helped you better understand opposing views? In what ways does it help you communicate your views more clearly? After discussing, brainstorm on the board some other techniques for finding more peaceful ways to communicate. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the other options.
Invite your class to share scripture story examples of Christ being a peacemaker giving them a few minutes to look up examples. Heading to the Harmonies of the Gospels (under Study Helps in the Scriptures) is a quick way to look at Christ’s life at a glance. What can we learn from each example about being a peacemaker? Some story examples might include Christ calming the storm (see Mark 4:36-41), Christ healing at his arrest (see Luke 22:47-54), the woman taken in adultery (see John 8:3-11), and Jesus teaching the woman at the well (see John 4).
Shake a bottle of soda in front of your class then ask who wants to open it. Can they open it without it spilling all over? It is possible if you slowly release the pressure a little at a time (use the twist cap bottles). Invite your class to compare that to being a peacemaker. We know your class can come up with all sorts of tie-ins. One example you can share as well is that as we use calm communications instead of one abrupt string of words, we can share our differences of opinions without an explosion. P.S. If you are teaching this at home, you could do the mentos and soda experiment vs. opening a calm bottle of soda for extra fun.

Looking for even more? My Upside Down Umbrella provides worksheets, presentation slides, handouts, and more.

Teaching Kids?

We’ve made a lot of lesson helps through the years. Encourage your children to be a peacemaker with some of these free printables. Many of our lesson helps link to church resources like activity pages as well as include free printable handouts we have designed to help you teach. If an link to the Church’s website no longer works, you can copy the title we provided for that handout and use the Church’s search bar to find it. Websites are always improving and sometimes it changes the links. Be sure you scroll down throughout the posts to take advantage of all the resources.

Blessed are the Peacemakers (drawing sheet)
Blessed are Ye (Wanted sign and ideas)
He Taught Them As One Having Authority (Golden Rule ruler- it’s under the treasure chest picture)

Looking for more General Conference helps? We’re doing as many as we can- head over to our General Conference Lesson roundup to find what’s available now.

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