The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Watch the video presentation on YouTube at: Restoration Proclamation Video

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INTRO:

Hello fellow teachers and welcome to Teaching with Power. This is Ben Wilcox and I’m so excited to get a chance to share my love of the scriptures with you and give you ideas on how to teach them. I’m so grateful for all of you that take the time each week to join me wherever you are around the world. My goal is to help you have more Doctrine and Covenants 50:22 kinds of experiences.

22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

And, how exciting, this week presents us with a new lesson that they didn’t include in the Come Follow Me curriculum last time around in 2021. So I know that in my “Plans for 2025” video that I told you I was going to re-release my videos from the past along with a new “Supplemental Teaching Ideas” video to accompany it. Well, funnily enough, I don’t even have a video from 2021 to release for this lesson. So this is all going to be brand new. The focus of this initial lesson is the official proclamation to the world that the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve issued in April of 2020 as part of the Church’s bicentennial celebration of the First Vision. So that’s what we’re going to be taking a look at today.

Remember teachers, if you’re interested in getting access to the materials I put together for teachers to help reduce your preparation time, increase your confidence in the classroom, and help you to create edifying classroom experiences, just go to teachingwithpower.com and you’ll find links to those resources. Now if you’re ready, grab your scriptures and your marking pencils, it’s time to dig deep.

NOTE

The lesson material for this week presents us as teachers with a bit of a unique challenge. The challenge lies in determining WHAT to teach in this lesson because many of the specific truths and events covered in the proclamation on the restoration are things we’re going to be studying and talking about in great depth in upcoming lessons this year. For example, the proclamation has much to say about the First Vision. Well, we’ll be studying that in two weeks in Joseph Smith History.  It talks about the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of the Church. And we’ll be studying those events in February with sections 13 and 20. The document speaks of the translation of the Book of Mormon which we’ll be looking at when we study sections 6-11. And a major theme of the proclamation is the idea of continuing revelation through living prophets, that “the heavens are opened”, and that God speaks to man—which just happens to be one of the main thrusts of next week’s lesson as we study section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

So, what does that leave us with? Well, I believe that it does provide us with a unique opportunity to take more of a big picture look at the doctrine of restoration itself and the events that preceded it. So what follows are three different lesson ideas you might consider as you prepare to teach the Proclamation on the Restoration.

LESSON #1 THE RESTORATION PROCLAMATION

My first idea would be to have more of a generally focused lesson on the document itself and your learners’ thoughts on it.

Truth: The Proclamation on the Restoration is an inspired document that confirms the truth that Jesus Christ’s Church has been reestablished on the earth in the latter-days.

Object: The object I would recommend you bring to class would be a copy or a poster of the proclamation itself. I’ll include a link in the video description below to the Church website that allows you to download and print a copy of that inspired document. Even better if that copy is framed and beautifully displayed. Perhaps you could even, just for this lesson, place a printed copy of the proclamation into a frame that you already have around your home. Just open up the back and slip the copy in. Or, I imagine your ward library may have a poster copy available to you that you could pick up before you teach this lesson.  

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/restoration-bicentennial-proclamation-9eab967?lang=eng

Icebreaker: Then for an icebreaker, since cellphones are basically ubiquitous in most countries, to add some variety to a lesson, I sometimes like to take a digital poll from my students. Now, this is a little more complicated and does require some up-front work. Plus, you need to be teaching a group of people that have cell phones with them, but nowadays, that’s probably going to be a majority of  those in your class. But if they don’t, or you want to make this simpler, you could just write the options up on the board. However, I find that doing a digital poll is more engaging and fun way to add variety to your class. I’ll walk you through this process.

You’re going to look up “Google Forms” on your web browser, which, if you already have a google account, should take you right to this page after you’ve signed in. If you don’t have a google account, I’m not going to walk you through all of that here, I’ll let you research and figure that out, but it is free and fairly simple. But once you’re here, you’re going click on the “Blank Form” tab, which will open a page that looks like this. Then, in this section, you will enter your Poll’s title. We’re going to call it, Restoration Proclamation.  Then, you’ll enter our question here. What aspect of the Restoration would you most like to talk about today? In this section we’re going to make sure that this says “Multiple Choice” which I believe is the default, but change it to Multiple Choice in the drop-down menu if it’s not . Then we can go down and start entering our options. The options I would enter are The Savior’s divine role in the Restoration of the Church, Joseph Smith’s divine role in the Restoration of the Church, The Book of Mormon’s divine role in the Restoration of the Church, the Restoration of priesthood power and authority, the Restoration of revelation to apostles and prophets. And then, we’re just going to leave it at that and not click on the add option or add other links. Then only the options that we entered will be displayed to the user. So now we have our class poll question. But, how are your students going to access the form? You might ask. Well, next you’re going to click on “Publish” up here and then publish again. Then select the same button up here in the corner which now reads “published” and then select the “Copy Responder link” option. Now you’ll go to another website. It’s called Adobe free QR Code generator. It's address is: https://new.express.adobe.com/.  There, you’ll click on the “generate QR code” option, and paste your link in this box and hit enter. The page should generate a unique QR code for your poll form which you can download or screen grab and copy and paste into a slide. Now, when you’re teaching, the students can take out their phones, scan the QR code, and answer the question and submit it. Then you, as the teacher, while they are doing this, you’re going to go back to our Google Forms page, and as the owner of the form, will be able to see the results of the poll.  You’re going to click on the “Responses” tab up here, which will then display the results in real time as they’re submitted. Then, it’s kind of fun, you can reveal the results of the poll and maybe have a little discussion about it. You can say, well, it looks like a majority find the Book of Mormon’s role in the Restoration most interesting, and the second most popular answer was the restoration of revelation to apostles and prophets.  And regardless of what the results of your poll were, you can say: Well, I have some good news for you as a teacher no matter what aspect of the Restoration you indicated you would most want to talk about most, because the Restoration Proclamation mentions each one of these aspects. These were the principles of the Restoration that the brethren felt were most key and the most important to highlight in this inspired document.

Video: Then, at this point in the lesson I would take the time to show the actual video of President Nelson making the proclamation. I’ll provide you with a link to that in the video description. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-restoration-of-the-fulness-of-the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/a-bicentennial-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng But as they watch, have them consider the following question: Why do you think the brethren felt inspired to issue this proclamation in 2020? Why do you think the brethren felt THIS message was worthy of its own dedicated proclamation? Much like earlier presidents of the Church felt a proclamation on the family, and a proclamation on the Church’s commitment to Christ were in order. Why this message, now?

I imagine you would get some fairly insightful comments to that question.

Search/Handout: And then, for a search activity, I would provide my students with the following handout. On it they’ll find the text of the Restoration Proclamation displayed.  But up here at the top, they’ll find some instructions for a marking activity that they can do with the proclamation.

1.     Draw a box around the paragraph that you feel represents a truth the world at large really needs to hear.  Ponder why you feel that is.

2.     Underline a sentence that expresses a truth that you personally have a testimony of. Ponder why you believe that to be true.

3.     Circle your favorite word in the entire document. Ponder why you like that particular word. What does it teach you?

And that’s it. Once they’ve had a chance to mark those three things, you can ask them what they marked and why. Why do they feel that paragraph contains a truth the world most needs to hear? Why do they believe that statement to be true? Why was that their favorite word? These are good open-ended questions that should spark some good sharing. And, a little teaching tip here. When you approach questions like this, it makes it easier and appropriate to just call on people. Maybe people you don’t hear from as much. You know, what did you mark and why. If you’ve given them time to think and formulate an answer, they’ll be prepared and ready to share. And that’s much better than just calling on someone willy nilly without any prior warning or chance to articulate their thoughts.

Quote: I might consider sharing the following from a talk Elder Cristofferson gave in the April 2020 General Conference. He said:

“But the Restoration is not only for those of us who rejoice in it today. The revelations of the First Vision were not for Joseph Smith alone but are offered as light and truth for any who “lack wisdom.” The Book of Mormon is the possession of mankind. The priesthood ordinances of salvation and exaltation were prepared for every individual, including those who no longer dwell in mortality. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its blessings are intended for all who want them. The gift of the Holy Ghost is meant for everyone. The Restoration belongs to the world, and its message is especially urgent today.

Take it to Heart Question: The final statement in the proclamation says this: We testify that those who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So the “Take it to Heart Question” is: Have you gained your own witness of the divinity and purpose of the Restoration.

I Will Go and Do Question: If you have, what do you feel you could do about it? If you haven’t, what do you feel you could do about it?

Takeaway: So our takeaway slide here. The Restoration is real. And the Proclamation on the Restoration is an inspired declaration of vital truths regarding the Lord’s kingdom here on the earth—a reminder of what sets us apart in Christianity as a Church and the significance of the events that took place in the eastern United States in the early 1800’s. We believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the same Church that Jesus himself established when HE walked the dusty roads of Jerusalem and Galilee. I’d like to bear witness that that is true and I’m grateful for living prophets who reiterate and confirm the reality and the significance of a Restoration of that divine organization here on the earth. I invite you to ponder the impact that the Restoration has not only had on the world, but on you and your life and encourage all of us to gain a firm testimony of its divinity and purpose.

LESSON #2 FOUNDATIONS OF THE RESTORATION

Now lesson idea #2 focuses on why we needed a restoration in the first place. At the onset of any year that I teach the Doctrine and Covenants or Church History I always like to do at least one “Foundations of the Restoration” kind of lesson.  It’s hard to really grasp the doctrine of the importance of a Restoration if you don’t understand the concept of apostasy and the events that led up to the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and made it possible. This can’t be a comprehensive lesson on all of that, because there’s so much history behind it (I mean, we could do an entire series on this idea) but this lesson can be a brief synopsis that hopefully gives your students the big picture.

TRUTH: Christ's original Church and authority were lost after His apostles died, but were later restored through the prophet Joseph Smith to bring back the fullness of the gospel and priesthood authority.

That’s our main objective as teachers in this lesson—to help our students understand that truth.

OBJECT: And for this, the object I would bring in would be a mirror, because there’s an object lesson that I referred to for years on my mission that worked really well to simply explain the basic doctrines of apostasy and restoration.

ICEBREAKER: But for an icebreaker, I like to show the following pictures. And in each one, somebody had an object that broke. And, bless their hearts, they tried to fix it. But I would ask you to consider if these were the best solutions to their problems. And if not, what would you recommend? And the point of all this is, in these cases, they probably should have just replaced the item and started over. And this is meant to be humorous since the solutions are really pretty bad.

Well, something similar happened to Jesus Christ’s Church after he died. The Church itself was perfect when Christ established it. It was new and shiny and had all the essential things it needed to function. It had apostles and prophets. It had priesthood authority. It had continuing revelation. But something happened to that Church not long after Jesus died.  It was established during a very tumultuous time in history where there was a lot of opposition and persecution. And those early Church leaders did everything they could to spread Jesus’s teachings far in wide throughout the Old World. Men like Peter, Paul, and John the Beloved. And it worked! Against all odds, they did grow that Church, what WE might refer to as the Church of Jesus Christ of Ancient-day Saints. And we know that Jesus also established his true Church amongst the Nephites here in the New World and called apostles and prophets, and gave them authority and continuing revelation. However, something happened to that Church in both locations. Now, we just finished studying what took place amongst the Nephites and by the end of the Book of Mormon, we know that that Church was gone. The people rejected it, little by little fell away from its truth, giving in to iniquity, hatred, and selfishness. And then the Lamanites finished it off with Moroni being its final member. What happened in the Old World though?

Well let’s take a look. According to the Bible and Early Christian writings, this is what we believe happened to that organization of Church leadership.

•       Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.

•       James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.

•       Peter was crucified, head downward, during the persecution of Nero.

•       Andrew died on a cross in Achaia, a Grecian Colony.

•       James was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, and then beaten to death with a club.

•       Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanapolis, Armenia.

•       Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the east Indies.

•       Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis (Abyssinia).

•       Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.

•       Simon died on a cross in Persia

•       Matthias (the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot) was stoned and then beheaded.

•       Paul was beheaded in Rome.

•       John the Beloved was boiled in hot oil (according to tradition) but survived. His death is not recorded.

OBJECT LESSON: It’s at this point that I like to do my object lesson. Take out the mirror and say: This mirror represents the Church that Jesus Christ established. And when he organized it, it reflected his truth and gospel perfectly. And he established it on three main legs or principles. At this point I place three fingers of my hands under the mirror as it lays horizontally on top of them. What were those three legs? One, he called apostles and prophets. He gave them authority to teach and lead his Church. And he provided them with continuing revelation from heaven to instruct and guide the members of his Church. The New Testament is evidence of that continuing revelation. That’s a sturdy foundation. But what did we just learned happened to those apostles and prophets? They were killed. Persecution and martyrdom wiped them out faster than they could be replaced. And, I would add, that forces within the Church itself also precipitated its demise. False prophets, secularization, unsavory characters manipulating local congregations, etc. As you read the second half of the New Testament, you frequently see Church leaders dealing with these issues. At this point, I remove one of my fingers from under the mirror and hold the mirror with my other hand to show how unstable the Church would now be without that steadying force of inspired leadership. But now we have some other problems don’t we. Who was it that received continuing revelation from God? The apostles and prophets. So with them gone, what happens to revelation? It goes with them. And then what happens to the authority that they possessed? Well that goes too. So what happens to our Church? It fell, and the mirror of truth that it reflected was broken. Now I wouldn’t actually drop the mirror and let it break. That would probably be messier than it’s worth and perhaps even a bit dangerous, you know, with broken glass and all. But I would ask them to imagine that scenario. Well, what’s an early Christian to do under those circumstances? Answer: they do their best with the broken mirror, because pieces of Christianity survived, in the Old World at least. The apostasy didn’t completely destroy the mirror. The same can’t be said for the Church in the New World. When western explorers finally make contact with the descendants of the Lamanites, there’s nothing left of the mirror. But in the Old World, we still have the writings of the New Testament, we have baptism, we have sacrament, we have a church, albeit corrupted and incomplete, but at least it survives. Now, between that time and 1820, we have examples of many individuals trying to piece that mirror back together. Working with that mirror, being inspired and guided by the truth found in those pieces. But, bless their hearts, they didn’t have those three fundamentals anymore. Like with a mirror, what if I just glued it all back together, would it still work as a mirror for me? Would that fix the problem? It would help, but no, the reflection would be distorted and incomplete. So what do we need? A new mirror. So, in early 1800’s America, God once again, called a prophet. That prophet’s name? Joseph Smith. And he called apostles to serve with him. So now we have apostles and prophets on the earth again. At this point, I hold up a finger. Then, through the hands of John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John, and Elijah and others, priesthood authority was given to those prophets and apostles. I hold up another finger. And with that authority, what did they now receive? Continuing revelation. The Doctrine and Covenants being evidence of that gift. And now we’re ready to place a new mirror on to the foundation. The Church of Jesus Christ was RESTORED, on April 6, 1830, to be specific. It wasn’t a Band-Aid, it wasn’t a cobbled together, makeshift solution. It was a new mirror. A fresh start.

Now I want you to understand that this is not just latter-day rewriting of history—you know, modern believers trying to make sense of Christianity’s past. But we can find evidence of God’s foreknowledge of this situation in the scriptures themselves. He knew it was coming, and prophecies were made of it.

Search Activity/Handout: So here, I promised you in my “Plans for 2025” video that I would give you at least 1 game idea each week for you to consider. If you’re teaching a younger audience, this might be a good place to have that kind of activity. But it should be short, because you want the doctrines of this lesson to take center stage. So this is just a quick and simple one. It’s what I’d call a scripture chase. Since most young people (and even adults for that matter) sometimes struggle to know where various books of scripture are found, that makes finding these verses a bit challenging. So the teacher shouts out a scripture reference and their job is to find that reference as quickly as they can. Personally, I like to make sure that all of my students have a set of paper scriptures for this activity, since digital searching makes this activity a bit easier. But still, you could do it digitally, but I would just make sure that it’s either all paper scriptures, or all digital scriptures or you may have students claiming that the game isn’t fair. Now once you’ve shouted out a scripture reference, you start the slide timer on the PowerPoint, and what happens is these shapes with the countdown numbers will begin to appear, from 10 to 1. The duration of each number lasts about 5 seconds. When a student finds the verse, they look up from their scriptures and take note of the number and you can tell them that if the number is in transition, that they can take the higher of the two numbers. That’s how many points they’ve earned for that round. Invite them to keep track of their score on their scorecard, which will also serve as the handout for this lesson. Once the game is complete, they add up their score and whoever has the highest, wins. But the point of the activity is to show various examples from the scriptures that add to our understanding of God’s foreknowledge of the Great Apostasy.  So after each round, you invite someone to read the verse out loud, and then you can comment on how it applies. Here are the verses:

Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

And that verse goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Isaiah saw our day and prophesied that God’s laws, ordinances, and covenants would all be defiled, or altered.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

“That day” refers to the Second Coming, “the coming of our Lord” or “the day of Christ”. So Paul here is saying that the Second Coming will not occur until after a falling away, or apostasy. When I served my mission in Brazil these verses were even more explicit because the word in the common Portuguese Bible for “falling away” was “apostasia,” or apostasy.

2 Peter 2:1-3

1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

These verses provide evidence that early Christian church leaders, like Peter, saw the apostasy coming.

Amos 8:11-12

11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Another prophecy from the Old Testament foretelling a future apostasy—a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Joseph Smith History 1:19

19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

And there we have from the mouth of the Lord himself the state of the world at the time of the First Vision.

And then, a verse that is referred to in the Restoration Proclamation itself: Acts 3:21

21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

There you have it from ancient scripture. The “times of restitution” are the Restoration which has been spoken of by all his holy prophets since the world began.

Now that shouldn’t take up too much of your class time, but can serve as a quick illustration of the scriptural foundation for the doctrines of apostasy and restoration.

Video:  For a video idea. The Church has produced a very straightforward and clear explanation of the concepts of apostasy and restoration in this little video aptly named: What is the Restoration? If you wished to quickly summarize those doctrines, you could just show that video. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2018-10-0030-the-restoration-now-you-know?lang=eng

Quote: One of my favorite quotes regarding the apostasy doesn’t come from a general authority or past or present Church leader. It’s actually an excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 where it says:

“One is indeed forced to admit that the gradual corruption of Christianity began very early, (end of first century)”(Catholic Encyclopedia 1913/ Priesthood)

So even from the church that claims to be the direct descendent of the original Church of Jesus Christ admits historically that the church began to fall into apostasy relatively quickly after its formation.

Discussion Question: For a discussion question though. There is at least one other truth that I would want my students to understand about that time period we call the Great Apostasy. So I would ask the following set of questions: Did God stop answering people’s prayers during the Great Apostasy? Did he stop working with people? Could nobody feel the influence of the Holy Ghost during that time? Did God completely turn away his attention from world until the spring of 1820? What evidence do you have for your answer?

The answer to those questions is no. The Church was gone, the priesthood was gone, prophets and apostles were gone, but God’s love and concern for his children never left this earth. He didn’t abandon his children. The test of mortality still continued for those that lived during this period. The light of Christ still illuminated every soul, the Holy Ghost continued to inspire and direct even though the gift of his presence as a constant companion was lost. And therefore, all those that lived during this time were still subject to God’s judgment and able to act on the truth, incomplete as it was, that they had been granted. Many, many, good, faithful, Christlike people lived and died during this time. For me personally, I find inspiration and divinity in the art, architecture, music, and literature of this time. I feel a spirit of truth and even holiness when I see the works of Michelangelo, the sculptures of Bernini, the paintings of Da Vinci, the beautiful stained-glass windows and the lofty vaulted ceilings of the cathedrals of Europe. I feel truth and inspiration in the writings of Shakespeare, Dante, Chaucer, and Milton, and in the music of Beethoven, Bach, and Handel.  Why? Because they, and many, many unnamed and unremembered people did these things out of a sense of love and devotion to Jesus Christ and the understanding of his gospel that they had.

I like the way Elder Boyd K. Packer put it:

“The line of priesthood authority was broken. But mankind was not left in total darkness or completely without revelation or inspiration. The idea that with the Crucifixion of Christ the heavens were closed, and they opened in the First Vision is not true. The Light of Christ would be everywhere present to attend the children of God; the Holy Ghost would visit seeking souls. The prayers of the righteous would not go unanswered.”

Boyd K. Packer (“The Light of Christ,” Ensign, April 2005, 11)

Now that’s not to whitewash the history of Christianity. There is plenty evidence of darkness in the dark ages. Burnings at the stake, inquisitions, crusades, selling of indulgences, corrupt religious leaders, and on and on. But God still continued to answer prayers, guide people’s actions, and inspire great things through the Spirit.

And then, there is so much God was doing throughout those years to prepare for the Restoration. So many different pieces needed to be in place for Restoration to occur. So for hundreds of years before 1820, God was actively inspiring and moving the pieces into place for the Restoration of His Church to begin.  Now, there is so much that could be

 shared and talked about here. But as a teacher, I would just give my students a brief synopsis of some of what that looked like. It’s reminiscent of what we talked about back in 1 Nephi 11-15 where Nephi had a vision of events that would take place in the latter-days that would set the stage for the Restoration.

And what are the basic elements that were needed? 

1.     A place to do it

2.     Religious freedom

3.     A nation formed by a free government

4.     The Bible

We’ll examine each of these in turn.

5. A PLACE TO DO IT. A place apart from the establishment of the day. It’s unlikely that the Church would have survived being restored in  the Old World. If Joseph Smith had tried to do it in Germany, or Italy, or England, it probably wouldn’t have survived long. He may have been burnt at the stake as a heretic. The restored church would have died as soon as it was born. So there needed to be a new place, a new world, far from the influence of the deeply entrenched churches and governments of the old. So we believe that God inspired individuals to connect the Old with the New world. Men like Christopher Columbus who Nephi was specifically shown as someone who was inspired by the Spirit to explore .

6. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM You’ve got to have a place where religious freedom would be respected. So who laid the groundwork for religious freedom? The reformers would ignite that spirit of a need for change. They could tell, the Church was broken. Christianity had lost its bearings and needed to be reformed. So I believe that men like Luther, Knox, Calvin, and Hus were inspired by God to pave the way for a spirit of change. Christianity needed to be reformed before it could ever dream of being restored. Now the early church still had its share of problems even in the United States where that was a right to be respected, but can you imagine trying to restore the Church in any country in Europe at the time. Or almost any other nation in the world for that matter. Just think of who the first peoples to settle in the Americas were and why they came. The Pilgrims. Protestants. People who wanted to live their faith in the manner that they saw fit. So as the colonies began to be established and a more unified country envisioned, religious freedom and the separation of church and state was a non-negotiable element. 

7. A NATION FORMED BY A FREE GOVERNMENT This kind of goes hand in hand with religious freedom. There needed to be a type of government that allowed for the protection and flourishing of a new church. The rights and liberties provided by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights made it possible and continue to make it possible for the church to be established and to grow. And even though it did face significant opposition, at least it was allowed to be created and maintained. And we can thank God for philosophers and thinkers who reimagined government in a world ruled by monarchs. Men like Locke and Rousseau. And we can thank God for inspiring founding fathers, and patriots, and soldiers who were willing to give their lives to establish a new nation built on the principles of democracy and human rights.  God needed a nation for restoration. Then from that nation, that starting point, he could then spread his restored Church and gospel to all the world.

8. THE BIBLE You have to have the Bible in the hands of the common person, in their own language. That’s the only way to make it possible for a 14-year-old farm boy from upstate New York to read James 1:5 which will inspire him to walk into a grove of trees to seek wisdom on which church to join. And you’d think that that would be one of the easier things to bring about. But you’d be wrong. For many hundreds of years, only the clergy had access to scripture, and it was in foreign languages that only a privileged few could read. In England, for some time, it was illegal to translate the Bible into English. You could be arrested or even killed for having an English Bible. But I believe that God inspired men like John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and even Johann Gutenberg to invent the printing press that would pave the way for the Bible to be more easily printed and distributed to the masses.

So you can see, God was very much at work with his children long before Joseph Smith ever walked into the Sacred Grove. Many, many good men and women worked for and in some cases, gave their lives to create a foundation for a Restoration.

Take it to Heart Question: Hopefully, as you’ve taught this lesson, you’ve given your students a sense of what life was like before the Restoration. What it was like to live in a world without prophets, and priesthood authority, and continuing revelation, and temples, and an understanding of the plan of salvation, and the Book of Mormon, and all the wonderful blessings we enjoy as members of the latter-day Church of Jesus Christ. I know that we often talk about the difficulties of being a member in a wicked latter-day world. But let’s examine the other side of that coin. It’s also a phenomenal time to be alive. To be a member of Christ’s Restored Church. The question then: What makes you grateful to be a member of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ?  

I Will Go and Do Question:  What could you do to show your Father in Heaven that you are grateful for his Restored Church?

Takeaway: Our takeaway slide then reminds us of the foundation for the restoration. And we can look at that in two ways. There’s the foundation that was set by philosophers, thinkers, explorers, reformers, printers, translators, believers, founding fathers, and many, many others who set the stage that made the Restoration possible. And then, we have the foundation for a restored Church through the prophet Joseph Smith. The foundation of prophets and apostles, priesthood authority, and continuing revelation. I pray that we can be grateful for both foundations. We’re the beneficiaries of the sacrifices and efforts of so many men and women that came before us. The Proclamation on the Restoration reminds us of our privileged position as members of the latter-day Church of Jesus Christ which I pray fills our hearts with praise and gratitude.

LESSON #3 IF ANY OF YOU LACK WISDOM

For our third and final lesson idea. I might take this opportunity at the beginning of the year to focus on what it was that launched the restoration from its foundation. And what was it that did that? A question. Somebody had a question. Somebody lacked wisdom. Somebody had doubts about religion. And I think that’s an important thing to understand as members of the Church, because I’m not always sure we look positively or feel positively about questions in the Church. Like, there’s something wrong with it. That if somebody expresses some uncertainties or wants to understand the “why’s” of an issue more deeply, that it must mean they’re losing their faith, or they aren’t a very good member of the Church. And that’s just not the case. The story of the Restoration of the Church should offer us encouragement as we face our own questions and reservations. And I think this is a good thing to cover right at the beginning of the year, since some aspects of Church History can challenge people. Now there’s far more that’s moving and uplifting and beautiful in church history, but there are some messy parts too. There are human fingerprints on the Restoration as God used imperfect people to accomplish a great work.

TRUTH: When I have questions or uncertainties, I can act in faith, seek to see things with an eternal perspective, and trust in divinely appointed sources.

OBJECT: A puzzle.

ICEBREAKER: And then for an icebreaker I’d talk about puzzles for a while. Ask if anybody likes to do puzzles. What was the biggest of the hardest or their favorite puzzle they’ve ever put together. And then, I’d be sure to ask someone to explain the process they go through when they put together a puzzle. For me, I like to start by organizing all the pieces out flat on the table and separating out the border pieces being sure to locate the four corners first. Then I build the border first. After the border I usually find an easy section of the puzzle to work on first. A bright color that stands out amongst all the pieces and is easier to locate. And then I slowly do more and more sections until I can finally piece in the more difficult and ambiguous sections of the puzzle.

Well, I believe that building our faith and testimonies can kind of be like putting a puzzle together. It’s something we do piece by piece, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. And as you build a puzzle, you may very well come upon the following situation. Have you ever found a piece that just didn’t seem to fit anywhere? Maybe it even seemed like it wasn’t even part of the puzzle at all, or you had no idea of where to even group it? Have you ever had that kind of experience when it came to the gospel. Are there pieces of church doctrine, or church history, or church policies, or church leaders, or past practices that you struggle with—pieces that, in your mind, don’t seem to fit with what you know about the rest of the puzzle. What do we do when we encounter pieces like that? And is it even ok to have uncertainties and questions? 

SEARCH ACTIVITY:

In answer to that, I point you to the Proclamation on the Restoration paragraph 2. Why did Joseph go into the sacred grove to pray? Answer: He had questions! He had questions about which church he should join, and he had questions regarding the salvation of his soul.  What’s the moral of the story? The Restoration was founded on the experience of somebody asking questions. So, is it ok to have questions? Struggles with our faith? YES! In fact, I believe God intended this to be the case. This was one of the purposes of mortality. What did we learn just a few months ago in Ether 12:6 “Ye receive no witness, until after the trial of your faith.” Our faith was meant to be tested, tried, challenged. And through that challenge, strength is forged. But don’t take my word for it. Edler Uchtdorf:

QUOTE:

“Is it all right to have questions about the Church or its doctrine?  My dear young friends, we are a question-asking people because we know that inquiry leads to truth. That is the way [that] the Church got its start—from a young man who had questions. In fact, I’m not sure how one can discover truth without asking questions. …

… Inquiry is the birthplace of testimony. … Asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a precursor of growth.”

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Reflection in the Water” [Church Educational System devotional, Nov. 1, 2009], thechurchnews.com)

HANDOUT:  To give your students a chance to apply the ideas in this lesson, you could provide them with the following handout. Invite them to think of a question or a concern they may have as far as the gospel or the Church is concerned, although, you don’t need to require that of them. We don’t want to force people into a situation of questioning faith, but invite them to use this sheet if there is something of that nature on their minds. Those that don’t, can feel free to just take notes on the suggested actions and then save the handout for a time when they do have a question. But in my experience, most people usually have a few questions or uncertainties on their minds.

And the problem is not in having questions and uncertainties. The problem lies in what we do with them. That’s the key. Joseph Smith did something about his questions. And we will be examining that process in two weeks when we study the first part of Joseph Smith—History. But the Church has encouraged us as seminary teachers to teach our students to apply three specific strategies when it comes to dealing with their questions. And I think they’re brilliant—very applicable, and not to just to seminary students, but all disciples of Christ, all people of faith. So I would take that time to lead them through a brief explanation of those three strategies. As you explain them, give your student time to make a note or two on how they could apply each strategy to their particular question. And those strategies are:

Act in faith

Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective

Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources

Act in Faith

What does it mean to act in faith? It means to realize that we must ACT in order to find answers to our questions. This is not a quick fix, Google search, demanding a sign kind of process. There is effort and study and thought and patience expected. To act in faith means to trust in God throughout the answer seeking process. It means not to give up on God and his Church when answers don’t immediately come and to rely on the testimony and understanding and experiences that we have already had with the truth and with God. Find strength in that as we reach out for more answers. And it means to realize that God has more to reveal in the future. We do not believe that God has given us, as mankind or as a Church, ALL the answers. But we believe in a God that will, over time, lead us to all truth.

Allow me to refer back to our puzzle metaphor. What do you do when you find a piece that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere? Well, you make some effort to see where it might fit. You work at it. You look at the box to see if you’ve missed something.  You maybe ask for help from others.  You exercise patience as you work at it. And then, if you just don’t see where it fits, do you throw the entire puzzle out? I don’t understand this piece, the whole thing must be wrong then. No, you set it aside and continue to work on the rest of the puzzle with faith that eventually you will see where it fits. And setting it aside is not dismissing its importance. It’s not a sign of naivete or foolishness. It’s an act of faith. The longer I work on the puzzle, and stick with it, the more likely I am to find where it fits. And I do believe that every question we have, even the really difficult ones, will find a place in the puzzle of our faith.

At this point, give your students some time to write a sentence or two on their handout on how they could apply that strategy to their question.

Examine Concepts and Questions with an Eternal Perspective

What does it mean to examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective? That means to consider our questions with the entire plan of salvation in mind. That changes things. Or to try and view our questions from God’s perspective rather than just our own, the perspective of mortality. We’re careful not to just blindly accept the world’s opinions or views on the matter or only consider this life and its concerns. Allow me to give you a brief example of this process. What if I’m struggling with the untimely death of a loved one. And I question, “How could a loving Heavenly Father allow this to happen?” If this life is all there is, then yes, losing a loved one like that is an unspeakable tragedy, worthy of despair. But if I examine that situation from an eternal perspective, it changes everything. I realize that this life is just a short blip on the everlasting timeline of existence. I realize that my separation from that individual is temporary. I realize that Jesus Christ has overcome death through the power of his resurrection and that the grave will not have the final victory. I realize that God can still be a loving God even though there is such a thing as trial and pain and death, as all people must pass through that transition at some point in order to progress to greater things in the future. Do you see how that viewpoint makes all the difference? All of our questions can benefit from seeing them through that lens. There’s a reason we members of the Church see certain issues so differently from the rest of the world. It’s because we’re wearing our Plan of Salvation or Eternity glasses, rather than just the Mortality prescription.

In terms of our puzzle. We consider the whole puzzle as we look at each individual piece. We realize that every piece is important to comprehending and seeing the BIG PICTURE we’re trying to create. We don’t want to get so focused on one portion of the puzzle that we lose sight of the ultimate aim of putting it all together.

Give your students some time to think of how they might reframe their question with an eternal perspective in mind.

Seek Further Understanding Through Divinely Appointed Sources

And then, what does it mean to seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources. That means to be careful about where we go to find help for our questions. God has not abandoned us to the limited wisdom and perspectives of the world. He provided divine sources of truth to help us out. What are those sources? I bet that with a little bit of thought you could name a few. The scriptures come to mind. Living prophets and apostles. The light of Christ, the promptings and guidance of the Holy Ghost, patriarchal blessings, parents, friends, local Church leaders and God himself through sincere prayer. These are the sources we must turn to first, or at the very least, make sure we seriously consult and consider. If all I do is Google it, or take a poll of my closest friends’ opinions, or take my cues from social media, politicians, or celebrities, I could very well end up deceived.

In terms of our puzzle, am I going to be able to put the puzzle together without the picture on the box that shows me what I’m trying to create? Or what if I go to the wrong box, or somebody slips me a different picture to refer to than the one I’m building.  I’m really going to struggle with that puzzle if I do that. I need the right source material. The correct box. Divinely appointed sources are kind of like that.

Now give your students some time to consider what sources they plan to go to, to help them with their question or concern.

Now can you see how helpful those suggestions are?! So good! These strategies have made a huge difference in dealing with my own questions and concerns.

VIDEO

As you go through each of these suggestions, you may consider showing a video to clarify them a little more deeply. I wouldn’t show all of these videos in a class session, but perhaps the one I felt my students most needed some help to understand.

So for acting in faith, I suggest showing this video. “Act in Faith: The Stonemason”.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2016-05-5000-act-in-faith-the-stonemason?lang=eng

For seeing things with an eternal perspective, you could show the video simply entitled: “Examining Questions with an Eternal Perspective”.   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2016-05-2000-examining-questions-with-an-eternal-perspective?lang=eng

And for divinely appointed sources, you could show this video: “Divinely Appointed Sources”. It’s a little bit longer than the others, but does a good job of highlighting the problem of only going to the sources that the world offers.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2016-05-6000-divinely-appointed-sources?lang=eng&alang=eng&collectionId=6a863e2150284f93bf0a9ee38c1a8df2

TAKE IT TO HEART: Has anyone ever had an experience where applying one of these strategies helped you to gain greater understanding in a time of uncertainty or concern? What happened?

You as the teacher may consider sharing an experience of your own.

I WILL GO AND DO: I would challenge my students to take their handout home, put it in a place where they will see it, and act on the notes they took as they listened that day.

THE TAKEAWAY: The takeaway then? Every Piece has a Place. Remember that, like the Proclamation stated, the Restoration began because a young man was willing to work on the puzzle—to ask the question: Where does this piece fit? And God helped him put it in place. He’ll do the same for you and me. It’s ok to ask questions, as long as we’re willing to act in faith, see things with an eternal perspective, and turn to divinely appointed sources.