This is great instruction for teaching any church class at any age-level. It will also work for any church talk. Make sure that these three components are at the core of your lesson or talk:
- teach the appropriate gospel principle in your lesson.
- invite your students to live that principle.
- bear witness of the promised blessings they will receive for following that principle.
The guide Preach My Gospel helps missionaries teach key doctrine, invite those they teach to take action, and receive promised blessings. The guide Teaching, No Greater Call helps parents and teachers do the same. It is to gospel teaching what Preach My Gospel is to missionary work.
This is a very profound statement. It really raises the importance of Teaching, No Greater Call. If it is that important (and I agree that it is), then I think that we should make it the focus of our family scripture study after we finish Preach My Gospel.
As President Monson has taught: "The goal of gospel teaching . . . is not to 'pour information' into the minds of class members . . . The aim is to inspire the individual to think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principles."
Again, this counsel can be applied to teaching a class or giving a talk.
Elder Osguthorpe related a story from his young adult years where a teacher impressed him to . . . "think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principles." Then he added, "His teaching helped save my life."
Questions we should ask about our own teaching:
- As a teacher, do I view myself as a messenger from God?
- Do I prepare and then teach in ways that can help save lives?
- Do I focus on a key doctrine of the Restoration?
- Can those I teach feel the love I have for them and for my Heavenly Father and the Savior?
- When inspiration comes, do I close the manual and open their eyes and their ears and their hearts to the glory of God?
- Do I invite them to do the work that God has for them to do?
- Do I express so much confidence in them that they find the invitation hard to refuse?
- Do I help them recognize promised blessings that come from living the doctrine I am teaching?
I really enjoyed the messages of this talk. From Pres. Joseph F. Smith: 'when [we receive] the truth [we] will be saved by it. [We] will not be saved merely because someone taught it to [us], but because [we] received and acted upon it". I think many times we think- oh I have heard that before, BUT, have we acted upon what we have heard/learned?
ReplyDeleteBrother Osguthorpe reminds us "that parents and gospel teachers are messengers from God...we teach key doctrine, invite learners to do the work God has for them, and then promise that blessings will surely come."
"Learning and teaching are not optional activities in the kingdom of God....They provide the pathway to personal testimony." Personal testimony is what our focus is for 2010 in Relief Society. We need to DO something about what we learn in church, during scripture study, FHE, General Conference, etc, or it cannot add to our testimony of the gospel- it won't become a part of who we are/what we really know, it won't help strengthen our testimony as much as it could.
This was a very montivational talk for me! I like President Joseph F. Smith's quote as well: “When [we receive] the truth [we] will be saved by it. [We] will not be saved merely because someone taught it to [us], but because [we] received and acted upon it." Faith is a principle of action. I learned from my mission that when I put away my fears and act on faith (like with contacting), the Lord blesses me with strength to do what He requires of me.
ReplyDeleteAnother pattern that Elder Osgthorpe taught was: teach, invite, promise blessings. This is also very similar to our missionary pattern of teaching: teach, testify, promise blessings and invite. I believe these elements are critical in helping someone to understand, know, believe and act on the principle that they are being taught.
“The goal of gospel teaching . . . is not to ‘pour information’ into the minds of class members. . . . The aim is to inspire the individual to think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principle." I love how he words this! Sometimes, I want to tell everything I know, but like Sister Gertsch in the story, inspiring the individual is more important. Something that I've heard before, for teachers, is that after you ask a question, allow students time to ponder. The silence might seem awkward, but it allows students to internalize what you are saying.
I liked when Elder Osguthorpe quoted President Monson saying that a teacher had "closed the manual and opened our eyes our ears and our hearts to the glory of God." In the examples he shared about his own life, Elder Osguthorpe talked about three people who influenced him, and all three of those people "closed the manual" and really cared about their students enough to invite them to come to Christ. I have had great examples like that, too. I love lessons when we use the manual but everyone shares their own personal testimonies and inspires each other. Those are the times I leave church most edified.
ReplyDeleteI should dig my copy of Teaching, no greater call out. The president of the primary presidency I am in likes to reference it. I should read & study it like I did preach my gospel.
ReplyDeletePresident Monson said, "the aim (of gospel teaching) is to inspire the individual to think about, feel about, and then do something about living the gospel principles." A call to action! We need to LIVE the gospel. As I've been teaching sharing time, I have found myself trying to help senior primary realize & remember the importance of their baptismal covenants. I dont' always plan to do it, but it always comes out from the prompting of the Spirit.