Preach My Gospel, Lesson 1, Heading 5 “The Great Apostasy”

The Great Apostasy

Preparation: Build a multi-level structure from wooden blocks. Get GAK 211 showing the ordination of
the Apostles.

~Without revelation through a prophet, the people fell into spiritual darkness
(see Amos 8:11-12).
Show GAK 211. When Jesus was on the earth, He taught us what we need to do
to be able to return to live with Him again. He showed us how to be baptized. He
taught the gospel and asked us to obey His commandments. He organized His
Church and ordained Apostles.

Explain that the building you have made with blocks is like Jesus’ Church.

After Jesus Christ was crucified, His Apostles led the Church. They taught the
people everything that Jesus had taught. But many people did not like them, just
as they did not like Jesus. Some of the Apostles were killed because they believed
and served Jesus Christ. After the Apostles had died, many gospel truths were
lost, and priesthood authority was taken from the earth. This was called the
Apostasy.

After the Apostles were killed, it was like some of the blocks were taken away.
<Take away a crucial block so that the structure falls over.>
Without revelation, ideas that were not true were taught; even 1st principles and
ordinances of the gospel.
Examples . . . .
~ Faith in Jesus vs. “He was a great teacher, but not really the Savior”
~ Repentance vs. “you can buy repentance”
~ Baptism at the age of accountability vs. “If small children die before baptism,
they will not return to Heavenly Father”
~ Gift of the Holy Ghost gone completely since no one with authority
~ Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost vs. “the same person,
without a body”

What happened to the Bible? Read 1 Nephi 13:23 (first half) and 28.

< Try to rebuild blocks. > There were lots of disagreements about how the true
church should be, and so there were many churches (blocks).
For hundreds of years, people reformed the pieces of the gospel.
Only Heavenly Father could restore.

Prophets knew that the Apostasy would take place (see 2 Thes. 2:3). They also
knew that some day gospel truths and priesthood authority would be restored to
the earth (see Eph. 1:10).

Bear testimony of the need for authority from Jesus Christ, also of your gratitude
to live at a time when the Apostasy has ended and the restored gospel is again on
the earth.