The Apostasy and Restoration

In this family home evening lesson you will learn what the apostasy is and why a restoration of the church was needed. There are additional activities geared to youth/older children and others for primary/nursery aged children. These can/should be done at other times throughout the week to facilitate their learning.

Lesson

Watch this video which gives a brief overview of the apostasy and restoration. It goes a little fast so you might have to watch it twice. Ask your family to look for the following:

1. What was Jesus’s original church built upon?

2. What did Jesus give His apostles?

3. What did Jesus tell His apostles to do?

4. What happened to the apostles? What was lost?

5. What was restored through Joseph Smith?

6. Why did God restore the church on the earth again?

After watching the video ask your family the questions and discuss the answers.

To further the lesson here are some additional activities based on age.

Toddlers

1. Build a house with blocks. As you build talk about how Christ built his church on a foundation of apostles and prophets. Then pull out some of the blocks from the bottom of the structure to make it fall down showing what happened after the original apostles died. Then rebuild the structure again, this time talking about how Jesus Christ began the restoration of the church through Joseph Smith.

2. Color this church with one principle or ordinance of the gospel written on each part.

3. Sing or listen to The Sixth Article of Faith from the Children’s Songbook. You can download the Sing Along Hymns app (only for Apple) produced by the church. It has videos with pictures and words for each song in the songbook and hymn book to help children (and adults!) learn the songs. The Sacred Music app (Android or Apple) plays all the songs but without videos.

4. Look at suggestions under the children section to see if any would work for your toddlers.

Children

1. Play this matching game, The Restoration and Me, that shows the blessings we receive because of the Restoration.

2. Another short lesson, Restoration Church, with a paper church to build. Each wall has a scripture to read and then a picture to match that you glue on the wall for different aspects of the Restoration.

3. Watch After the New Testament a video from the New Testament scripture reader. After the death of Jesus, the Apostles tried to teach the gospel to the wicked people. The Apostles were killed, so the true church was taken away from the earth. Through the prophet Joseph Smith, God brought His gospel back to the earth. (2:51)

4. Children tell the about the way Jesus organized the church in their own words in this video Jesus Organizes the Church.

5. Listen to this wonderful audio program, After the New Testament, of a Primary teacher and Primary children discussing the Church after the death Christ’s Apostles. “Because of the wickedness of the people, the Church was taken from the earth for a time, but Heavenly Father prepared a plan that would restore the Church in the latter days. Through a young man named Joseph Smith, God restored the Church to the earth, and we are here today as members of that Church. Just as the people of ancient Israel came to know Christ when He was on the earth, we can come to know Him, too, because His gospel and Church have been restored.” (23:46)

6. Memorize Article of Faith 6. Print and hang this poster to help you.

7. Look at suggestions for the youth to see if any would help your children.

Teens

1. What is a dispensation? What is the apostasy? What is the restoration? Discuss the article “What, Why, and How: A Breakdown of the Restoration” to find the answers.

2. In the January 2016 Ensign was this idea:

Understanding apostasy—a falling away from the true gospel—helps us understand the need for a restoration of the gospel, the priesthood, and the Church of Jesus Christ.

The following object lesson helped some missionaries teach an investigator about the Apostasy and the Restoration.

“My companion and I used plastic cups labeled with parts of the true Church, building a pyramid with them while explaining how Jesus Christ established His Church.

“Then we explained the Apostasy as we removed cups representing the Apostles and watched the whole structure topple over. As we explained the Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we rebuilt the tower, showing that the Church today is organized in the same way that Christ originally organized it.

“For the first time, this man understood. The Restoration finally gained meaning for him when he understood why it was needed.”

You can download the labels for the cups as well as instructions on building the pyramid below. After teaching the lesson have the youth teach you using the cups.

3. Watch The Great Apostasy which shows Wilford Woodruff’s search for the true Church. It explains the Apostasy and need for the Restoration. It emphasizes four essential elements of the true Church that were lost because of the Great Apostasy. (16:33)

4. Watch The Message of the Restoration a short clip from a General Conference talk by Elder L. Tom Perry. Declare to the world that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth. (2:22)

5. Read the topics of ‘Apostasy‘ and ‘Restoration of the Gospel‘ in the True to the Faith book.

6. Watch “Dispensations: The Pattern of Apostasy and Restoration” which explains dispensations of the gospel and why this last dispensation is unique. (6:52)

Adults

1. Read the General Conference talk, “Apostasy and Restoration,” by Dallin H. Oaks.

2. Read the Ensign article, “Apostasy, Restoration, and Lessons in Faith.“

3. Watch “The Scriptures and the Restoration” a fireside given by L. Tom Perry. He tells of the coming forth of the Bible, the Restoration, and blessings of studying the scriptures. (43:47)

Download the lesson below.

Click here to go back to the eight week restoration study guide.