The Great Apostasy

Print this lesson here: The Great Apostasy (simply create a free account and download)

Prayer:

Song: “I am a Child of God” - Children’s Song Book page 2-3.

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3  

Note to the Parent: Paul taught that an apostasy would occur before Jesus Christ comes again. The Church that Jesus Christ established eventually fell into apostasy, meaning that priesthood authority and gospel truths were taken from the earth. Paul prophesied that this apostasy, or “falling away,” would happen before the Savior’s Second Coming. 

When Jesus Christ was on the earth, he established His church. He gave His apostles the sacred power or priesthood authority to baptize, bless the sacrament, perform marriage sealings, and so much more. We know Jesus died, but we also believe that Jesus will come again to the earth. This is called The Second Coming. The apostle, Paul, taught people about the second coming. He also taught that before The Second Coming, there would be a “falling away” or apostasy first. This means that people would fall away, or not want to follow the prophets and their teachings.

Read 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first.” 

Opening Activity: A Special Toy

Preparation: In order for children to understand the principle of apostasy, use one of their favorite toys or stuffed animals as an object lesson.

Show your children their favorite toy. Let’s pretend you let your brother use your toy. He was gentle with it, took good care of it and made sure it stayed safe and clean. Would you let him keep playing with it? 

Now, let’s pretend you have a friend over and he plays with the toy. He throws it on the ground, says he doesn’t like it, and it looks like your toy is about to break. Would you let him keep playing with it?

Prophets and gospel principles (optional: hold up a picture of a prophet) are very important to Heavenly Father. This is one of the ways Heavenly Father communicates with His children (us!). When Heavenly Father calls prophets to the earth and people listen, Heavenly Father keeps the prophet on the earth. If people reject or “fall away” from the prophets and are unkind to them, Heavenly Father removes the prophet from the earth. 

Remind your children that when people don’t want to listen to the prophets or “fall away” it’s called an apostasy. This is what happened to the church Jesus established when He was on the earth.

Apostasy Cups:

Stack a tower and talk about the components of the church Jesus established on the earth as you work through the cups. 

On the bottom row, there should be four cups: Prophet, Apostles, Scripture, Priesthood. 

On the next row up, there should be three cups: Baptism, Sacrament, Temple Marriage. 

On the next row up, there should be two cups: Prayer & Gift of the Holy Ghost. 

On the top, there should be one cup: Jesus Christ. 

Place the cup (marked in pink) when prompted: When Jesus established His church, the first thing He did was call a prophet and apostles to help lead the people. The prophets and apostles taught others truth and wrote down revelation in the scriptures. Jesus gave the prophet and apostles the correct power, or the priesthood, to perform important ordinances like baptism, the sacrament and temple marriage. The prophet and apostles also taught how to pray. We know we can pray anytime, anywhere and use our own words. People were also given the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which is a special gift from Heavenly Father. It means the Holy Ghost can always be with us to teach us truth, feel comforted and help us. And finally, Jesus Christ, because He is the leader of His church. 

The tower should look like this:

After time, there were too many people that didn’t want to listen to the prophet and apostles. Many of the prophets and apostles were killed. Heavenly Father saw the people “fell away” and did not want His special gift (think of your stuffed animal), so for a time there was an “apostasy” where there were no longer prophets/apostles on the earth. Optional: You can mention that this same thing happened in the Americas found in the Book of Mormon. 

Apostasy & Restoration.

Watch what happened to Christ’s church when the prophets were no longer on the earth (remove the prophet cup from the tower). There were no longer apostles, additional scripture or the priesthood. (remove these cups and watch the tower “church” fall down. You can relate the falling down of the cups to the falling away of the people).

After time, people started to form their own churches by what they thought was best. Notice how some of the organization and truths Christ taught were changed. (Here, you’ll start to form church in groups of three cups - two on bottom, one on top). One church decided to change some of the words in the Bible, and said they were prophets and apostles, even though they weren’t called of God (set these three cups into a church). Another church thought they had the priesthood and authority to perform temple marriage and give the Gift of the Holy Ghost (set these three cups into a church). Another church taught that baptism should happen when children are infants, to repeat the same prayers, and that the sacrament was important (set these three cups into a church).

When Joseph Smith was born hundreds of years later, and this is how the world looked to him. There were so many churches all teaching different things, he wasn’t sure which one to join. He decided to pray to Heavenly Father for an answer. Optional: Watch the First Vision. 

When Joseph prayed, Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to him and told him to join none of the churches. Jesus taught Joseph Smith how to restore His church again on the earth. Heavenly Father called Joseph Smith to be a new prophet with 12 apostles. (At this point, you’re going to build the current church - put the cups down when prompted in pink). Now, we have President Nelson as our prophet and 12 apostles. We have the Book of Mormon. Peter, James and John appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him the priesthood authority to perform temple marriages, the sacrament and baptism. The authority from God was restored to give the Gift of the Holy Ghost and we learned to pray anytime and everywhere in our own words. And of course, Jesus leads His church today.  

Do you see how this church looks similar to the one Christ established when He was on the earth? I think it’s important to teach your children how wonderful other people are who aren’t members of our church. They live good lives and are good children and parents. All churches teach many wonderful things and how to be better people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints simply adds on to the truth they already know. It contains the fullness of the gospel. 

Testimony: Express your gratitude for a living prophet and the truths restored to the earth.