Temple Preparation — The Laws of Obedience and Sacrifice

Teacher notes

Supplies, board work and timing. Never printed on the cards.

SUPPLIES: three elastic exercise bands of the same strength, and copies of the handout 'The Laws of Obedience and Sacrifice' (the last page of Lesson 202 in the manual), one per student. If you cannot get bands, use Elder Renlund's video 'Stronger and Closer Connection to God Through Multiple Covenants,' 4:13 to 5:44, where he does the same demonstration. THIS IS A DOING DAY, NOT A READING DAY — two cards, an object lesson, and a handout studied in pairs. It continues the Temple Preparation arc 201 opened on 2026-10-29, and it lands the day after Ezekiel 47, so open by pointing back: yesterday the water came out of the house; today is what we promise when we walk in. OPEN WITH LIFE, NOT WITH LAWS. Name a few hard things that can pull people away from God — a divorce in the family, a long illness, losing a job, a friend who walks away from the Church. Two questions: why do circumstances like these make some people distance themselves from God, and why is it exactly then that staying close to Him matters most? Then the quiet question: how could you prepare now, before anything happens, so you stay close when it does? THE BANDS. Three volunteers at the front. Loop the first band once around the first student's wrists, the second band twice around the second student's, and the third band three times around the third student's. Before they pull, ask the class who will have the easiest time slipping free. Then all three stretch their hands apart. The single loop comes off; the triple loop barely moves. Ask what the object lesson teaches about making and keeping covenants. ELDER RENLUND IS THE INTERPRETATION, and it is two sentences: 'Each covenant adds a bond, drawing us closer to and strengthening our connection with God. … When we confront life's challenges, the likelihood is decreased that we distance ourselves from God' ('Stronger and Closer Connection to God Through Multiple Covenants,' BYU devotional, Mar. 5, 2024). Baptism is one loop. The temple adds more. ASK WHAT COVENANTS THEY ALREADY KNOW: baptism, the sacrament renewing it. Then say plainly what the General Handbook says publicly (27.2): in the endowment we covenant to keep the law of obedience, the law of sacrifice, the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the law of chastity, and the law of consecration. Today is the first two. Have them write in their journals: 'As part of the temple endowment, we covenant with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to live the law of obedience and the law of sacrifice.' SACRED, NOT SECRET, CARRIED OVER FROM 201: the names of these laws are published in the handbook and fine to teach. The wording of the covenants in the temple is not taught here. If someone asks for more, say it is sacred and a good question to take into the temple. THE HANDOUT, IN PAIRS: one partner takes obedience, one takes sacrifice, then they teach each other. OBEDIENCE: what is it — keeping Heavenly Father's commandments (General Handbook 27.2), and Abraham 3:25, 'we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.' Why covenant to keep it — Exodus 19:5–6, Deuteronomy 28:1–6, John 14:15, Mosiah 2:41. The Savior's example — 2 Nephi 31:5–10, Matthew 26:36–44, John 10:17–18. SACRIFICE: what is it — Moses 5:4–9 and 3 Nephi 9:19–20. Why covenant to keep it — President Oaks: 'Just as the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ is at the center of the plan of salvation, we followers of Christ must make our own sacrifices to prepare for the destiny that plan provides for us' ('Sacrifice,' Liahona, May 2012, 22). The Father's and the Son's examples — John 3:16; 10:11, 17–18. MOSES 5:6 IS THE VERSE TO STOP ON: 'I know not, save the Lord commanded me.' Adam did not understand yet, and he obeyed anyway — and verse 7 is where the understanding came, after: 'this thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten.' Obedience often comes before the explanation, not after. 3 NEPHI 9:20 IS THE SACRIFICE THEY CAN MAKE TODAY: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Not a lamb. Their pride, their time, their phone at 9 p.m., the thing they would rather do on a Sunday. OBEDIENCE IS NOT EARNING, AND AFTER LAMENTATIONS LAST WEEK THIS WILL MATTER. John 14:15 is 'if ye love me,' which puts the love first and the keeping second. The bands are not handcuffs; they are what keeps you connected when something pulls. WHAT I LEARNED: ask for an example — a person they know who lives obedience or sacrifice for the Lord's work. Share one of your own. Then the two questions on card 1: how do these laws help us become like Jesus Christ, and how does covenanting to keep them draw us closer to God? PASTORAL NOTE: the opening examples — divorce, illness, a lost job — may be real in this room right now. Name them gently and generally, and never ask anyone to share their own. THEME LINK, AND BE PRECISE: obedience and sacrifice are the climb — panel one, faith and works — and the climb is never the payment, only the location. The water is still free (Isaiah 55:1). The bands are what keep you on the path when the soda stand at the bottom starts looking easier. THE WEEK: Monday the watchman warned, Tuesday the word came in one hand, yesterday the water came out of the house, today you learn the first two things you promise when you go in. TIMING: the hard circumstances and two questions four minutes, the bands four, Renlund and the five laws four, the journal sentence one, the handout in pairs nine, Moses 5:6 and 3 Nephi 9:20 three, examples and card 1 five, journals at 7:05. If you are behind, shorten the handout to one question per law, never the bands.