Teaching the Gospel: Proper Preparation

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

05 Aug 2008 09:00 PM

Proper preparation is one of the keys to successfully teaching the gospel. This applies to gospel teaching at home and at church. Often when we think about preparation our minds jump to the perfect handout or goodies to go with the lesson. We may be thinking of the elaborate centerpiece, instead of the actual lesson that we are teaching.

When you begin to prepare a lesson you first need to prepare yourself. You can do this through reading the scriptures, praying, and pondering. You should strive to have the Spirit with you, before you sit down to prepare, and before you present the material. This especially important in your home, because you may not be prepared to answer specific questions that your children may ask out of the blue, but if you have the Spirit you can be guided to fine the answers when you need to.

The second part of preparation is determining what the students should learn from the lesson. It is important to think of this in terms of application to their lives, not just scripture stories or verses. Once you have determined this, the concepts that you should focus on will stand out, and you will have much easier time creating an appropriate lesson.

Once you have determined what concepts you should teach, then you need to determine the best ways to present these concepts. Often the answers will come to you over the course of a week or two, if you give yourself that much time ahead to prepare. This is one reason it is important to begin preparing early for the lesson.

It is important to remember that as a gospel teacher, you have the opportunity to help others strengthen their testimonies. However this will only happen as they feel the spirit during your lessons. You should make that one of your primary goals every time you teach.

Related Articles:

Teaching the Gospel: Using Effective Methods

Teaching the Gospel: Encouraging Diligent Learning

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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