Atonement Lesson

Atonement Lesson/March Come Follow Me/Youth Sunday School/Ages 12-18

Draw on the Board these five items:
(or better yet, invite someone(s) to draw each thing on the board)
1) a nickel, 2) an eraser, 3) the tower of Babel, 4) Humpty Dumpty, and 5) a pencil.

Ask the students what they think each of these items have in common?

Tell them that each of these items can be used to explain the atonement.  Ask the students which they would like to hear about first.  Read and Demonstrate (figuratively or literally) and Discuss the following stories and examples.  I found each of these stories online and loved their examples.  The students really enjoyed how these RANDOM items could correlate to the atonement. These "parables" got each of them thinking.  At the end of the lesson, challenge each of the students to determine to partake worthily of the sacrament each week and to use the atonement in their lives.

1) Nickel

Give each person a nickel. Set out a treat. Tell them the cost per treat is 10 cents. You can't pool money or share. Give them a bit to think and discuss it. After a couple of minutes, ask "Did you think to ask me for the money?" Give everyone an additional nickel. Compare this to grace. We want eternal life, but we don't have "enough" to get in. Through the Atonement, Christ provides the difference. To get the treat, they had to put in everything they had-personal best- and then ask for help.

2) Eraser

Procedure: Ask your family to suppose that at the beginning of each school year each student was given an eraser to use. When a mistake was made, the eraser would be used to correct it instead of writing over it or crossing it out. This would allow the student to correct the error and learn from it. It would not be important how much of the eraser was left at the end or the year. What would matter would be that it was used each time it was needed. Therefore, even a student who made many errors could finish the year successfully.

Explain that as children of God we have been given an eraser to take care of our mistakes. It is repentance. It is important that we don't cover up or ignore our shortcomings. We must use the process our Savior's atonement made possible for us to correct the errors in our lives. In the end it will not matter how often we have had to rely on repentance. What will matter is whether we did repent every time it was needed. By doing this we can finish this earth life successfully.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, More Power Tools for Teaching, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], p. 61.)

3) The Tower of Babel

Story: I once asked a young boy graduating from Primary what was his favorite scripture story. "The Tower of Babel," he quickly responded. His answer was somewhat of a shock for me, so I asked him what that story taught him. "It teaches me that there is only one way to get to heaven," he said.

We cannot build our own stairway to heaven; we must climb the one the Lord has provided. This stairway is constructed by the Lord, for He stands waiting for His children to climb toward Him. Far too many people want to build their own stairway, and though they may proceed with their construction plans, they never reach high enough to achieve the goal of reunion with our Father in Heaven. There is no other stair!

(S. Michael Wilcox, Don't Leap with the Sheep, [Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2001], p. 166.)

[tower of babel story found in GENESIS and also in the Book of Mormon]

4) Humpty Dumpty

(a blogger rewrote the Humpty Dumpty story to let it have more meaning instead of being a hopeless poem) [so many things to discuss and talk about with this one]

•Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

•Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

•All the King’s horses and all the King’s men

•Couldn’t put Humpty together again

•But then, Humpty got up and looked good as new

•His shell was all shiny and he didn’t use glue

•He looked at the horses and all the King’s men

•And said, “I don’t need you to put me together again!”

•But then… he did realize that something was amiss

•His outsides were fine, but his insides were all mixed

•All scrambled, all churned, like an omelet he felt

•So he began to plead to all the King’s helps

•But they all declined with their heads bowed down low,

•“We haven’t what it takes to heal such a blow,

•In fact we are each in the same state as you”

•Said all the King’s men, and his horses cried, “Us too!”

•“There is no man here that can fix this great sting,

•But the man up the hill can, we call him our King,

•So go up the hill now, He’s waiting for you

•As he waited for us to heal up this few.”

•“But there are some things of you he’ll require,

•Your heart and your sould, and all your desires.

•You see, we have learned this, so the past years we’ve been

•All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men.“

CREDIT FOR HUMPTY DUMPTY POEM: https://www.theredheadedhostess.com/scripture-study-tips-2/more-study-ideas/a-talk-that-changed-me-and-humpty-dumpty/

5) Pencil
The Pencil Parable

• You will be able to do great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held by someone higher than you. 
• It is ok to experience a painful sharpening from time to time. 
• The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside. Be men and women of honor, relying on your inner core values and morals. 
• You will make mistakes. Everyone does. That is why pencils have an eraser.
• Make your mark. Make a difference wherever you go.