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Be Not Afraid, Only Believe

This week a worried dad named Jairus and a brave woman who reached for Jesus’s robe both learn that faith in Jesus is stronger than fear. Jesus also calls Twelve Apostles and sends them out to bless people, and He teaches that Heavenly Father notices even a tiny sparrow. Sunday, March 7, is fast Sunday, so the week ends with a gentle, kid-sized way to fast and pray together as a family.

  • Week 10
  • 📅 Mar 1–7, 2027
  • 📖 Matthew 9–10; Mark 5; Luke 9
Start with Monday
Read it togetherMatthew 9–10; Mark 5; Luke 9 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualNew Testament 2027, week 10

What your kids learn in class

Stories, verses and games for the week come from each child’s own Primary or youth lesson, so home matches Sunday.

⚡ Fast Sunday this week (Primary)

Daily sparks

Five to ten minutes a day, Monday to Sunday. Grown-ups lead; kids act, play and answer. Where a step says to tap something, that’s in the Gospel Sparks app; on the web, use the “Play along” links.

Monday · 10 min · Story

Reach Out to Jesus

🙌 Squeeze through the crowd and reach for Jesus!Squish together like a crowd.Reach for the robe.Pop up and cheer!

📖 Read together: Mark 5:22–43 ↗

  1. Open the story scenes and read them together (or read Mark 5:22–24, 25–34 and 35–43).
  2. Set a picture of Jesus across the room with a dish towel or scarf beside it for the hem of His robe.
  3. Make a crowd: everyone squishes shoulder to shoulder. Take turns being the woman, squeezing through the crowd and reaching out to touch the towel.
  4. Then whisper the sad news that Jairus’s daughter has died, and read Mark 5:36 and 5:41–42. Everyone pops up from the floor and cheers!
  5. SAY“Both people reached out to Jesus with faith, and He helped them both.”

🎭 Play along: the story scenes (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How do you think Jairus felt while he waited?
  • What are ways we can reach out to Jesus today?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the girl who “wakes up,” stretching and yawning big when you read Mark 5:41.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old what “spiritual stretching” to reach Jesus could look like for a kid their age (praying when it’s hard, reading when busy).
🧑 Teens (14–18)Point out to your teen that Jairus had to wait while Jesus stopped for someone else, and the delay seemed to cost everything (Mark 5:35). Ask: have you ever felt Jesus was helping everyone but you? What does verse 36 say to that feeling?
☕️ For grown-upsThe woman had spent twelve years and all her money on doctors, and she only got worse (Mark 5:26). She reached anyway. Where have you run out of your own solutions, and what would reaching for Him look like there?

Sticker for today: 🧵

Tuesday · 6 min · Verse

Brave Believers

🦁 Feel scared? Jump up brave and believe!Hide your face.Jump up brave!Say the verse!

📖 Read together: Mark 5:36 ↗

  1. Open the key verse screen and read it together.
  2. Play “Scary or Brave?”: call out something that can feel scary (the dark, a test, a new school, a thunderstorm). Kids hide their faces, then jump up in a brave pose and say the verse.
  3. SAY“Being brave doesn’t mean we never feel scared. It means we trust Jesus while we feel scared.”
  4. Say the verse one more time in your bravest lion voice.

📖 Play along: the key verse (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • What is something that feels scary to you?
  • How could remembering Jesus help you next time?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one roar like a brave lion each time the family says the verse.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old share something that worries kids their age and how faith in Jesus helps with it.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to name the fear that feels loudest for their generation: the future, fitting in, the news, not being enough. Read Mark 5:36 together and talk about what “only believe” looks like as something you do, not just something you feel.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus said “Be not afraid, only believe” to a father who had just been told his child was dead. He wasn’t dismissing grief; He was asking Jairus to keep walking with Him. What would it mean to keep walking with Him in your own fears for your children?

Sticker for today: 🦁

Wednesday · 8 min · Activity

Jesus Chooses Twelve

👥 Meet the Apostles who testify of Jesus today!Jesus chose Twelve.We have Apostles today!Can you match the faces?

📖 Read together: Matthew 10:1–8 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 10:1 and 10:5–8. Say: “Jesus called Twelve Apostles, gave them priesthood power, and sent them out to teach and bless people.”
  2. Pull up pictures of today’s First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (in the Gospel Library or a general conference issue of the Liahona).
  3. Play Match-Up: say a name and have your kids find the right face, or cover the names and see how many they can guess.
  4. SAY“We have Apostles today too! They are special witnesses of Jesus Christ, just like Peter, James and John.”
Talk about it
  • What did Jesus send His Apostles to do?
  • What is something an Apostle taught that you remember?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Show your little one a picture of the prophet and practice saying his name together.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to find a short talk or video from one of today’s Apostles and share one sentence they liked.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Matthew 10:5–10 and list what Jesus told the Twelve to take and not take. Ask why He sent them with so little and what a young missionary today might learn from that. Then watch one short video of a living Apostle testifying of Jesus Christ (Gospel Library has many) and ask what spoke to them.
☕️ For grown-upsThe call of the Twelve comes right after Matthew 9:36–37, where Jesus sees the crowds as sheep without a shepherd and says the laborers are few. Calling Apostles was His answer to compassion. How would seeing people that way change how you serve in your own calling?

Sticker for today: 📸

Thursday · 10 min · Game

Game Night: Sparrow Search

🐦 Find the sparrow! Heavenly Father never loses you.Hide the paper bird.Try to count hairs!Play Forehead Guess.

📖 Read together: Matthew 10:29–31 ↗

  1. Draw and cut out a small paper bird. One person hides it while the others cover their eyes, then everyone searches (“warmer… colder…”).
  2. Read Matthew 10:29–31. Try to count the hairs on one small piece of someone’s head. Impossible!
  3. SAY“Heavenly Father notices every little bird, and He knows you even better than that. You are never too small for Him.”
  4. Finish with Forehead Guess using this week’s words.

🤔 Play along: Forehead Guess (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How does it feel to know Heavenly Father notices you?
  • When have you felt small or forgotten?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one hide the bird in an easy spot and squeal when someone finds it.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old be the Forehead Guess host and add a rule: clues can’t use the word’s first letter.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Matthew 10:29–31 with your teen and ask when they’ve felt unnoticed: in a group, in class, even at church. Tell them one specific thing you notice about them that others might miss. Then ask who they could notice this week.
☕️ For grown-upsSparrows were among the cheapest things in the market, yet not one falls without the Father. When you feel unseen as a parent, doing a thousand small, unthanked things, remember that He sees every one of them.

Sticker for today: 🐦

Friday · 8 min · Service

Sent-Forth Mission

📜 Open your mission call!Draw a slip.Salute and go!Report back: mission complete!

📖 Read together: Matthew 10:8 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 10:8. Say: “Jesus sent His Apostles out to help people. Today YOU are being sent on a mission!”
  2. Write quick “mission calls” on slips of paper: help make dinner, write a thank-you note to a teacher, read to a younger sibling, bring a neighbor’s trash can in, call a grandparent.
  3. Have each child draw one, salute, and head out to do it.
  4. When everyone’s back, have them report: “Mission complete!”
Talk about it
  • How did it feel to be sent to help someone?
  • What is one way kids can help Jesus’s work?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Give your little one a helper mission they can do with you, like carrying napkins to the table.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Let your 10–13-year-old write the mission calls and take the hardest one for themselves.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Matthew 10:8, “freely ye have received, freely give,” and ask your teen what they’ve received that they could share: a skill, time, a ride, help with homework. Let them choose a mission that uses their real abilities, not just a chore.
☕️ For grown-upsLuke 9:23 says to take up the cross “daily.” Discipleship is mostly daily, unglamorous and freely given. Name one daily sacrifice you already make for your family, and offer it to the Lord as discipleship, not just duty.

Sticker for today: 📬

Saturday · 8 min · Talk

Getting Ready to Fast

🍽️ Tomorrow we fast and pray together!Pick a fasting purpose.Start with a prayer.Play the quiz!

📖 Read together: Mark 9:29 ↗

  1. SAY“Tomorrow is fast Sunday. When we fast, we go without food and drink for a little while, pray a lot, and give money (a fast offering) to help people in need.”
  2. Talk about how each person can take part. Kids fast as they are ready and with a parent’s help; younger children don’t go without food, but they can skip a treat, pray for the fast, or help count the fast offering.
  3. Choose a family fasting purpose together, like someone who is sick or a problem you want help with. Kneel and start your fast with a family prayer.
  4. Play the family quiz for a quick review, then set out Sunday clothes.

🏆 Play along: Scripture Showdown (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Who or what do you want to fast and pray for?
  • How can giving up food for a while bring us closer to Heavenly Father?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one choose a treat to skip tomorrow and put it somewhere special as their “fast.”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to fill out the fast offering slip with you and explain how fast offerings help people nearby.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to fast with a purpose of their own, not only the family’s. Read Isaiah 58:6–7 together to see the kind of fast the Lord loves, and let them decide what they’ll pray about and how much they want to share.
☕️ For grown-upsFasting is less about going hungry than about telling God your desire is serious. What do you truly want to ask for this fast Sunday, for yourself and not only for your family?

Sticker for today: 🙏

Sunday · 6 min · Sabbath

Fast Sunday

🙏 Fast, pray, and share what you know!Tell what you learned.Pray to end the fast.Share one “I know…”

📖 Read together: Matthew 10:32 ↗

  1. After church, ask: “What did you learn in Primary today?” and “What did you hear in testimony meeting that you liked?”
  2. Read Matthew 10:32. Say: “Testimonies are how we tell others what we know about Jesus, just like the Apostles do.”
  3. Before you end your fast, gather for a family prayer about your fasting purpose.
  4. Go around the circle and have each person finish one sentence: “I know…” or “I’m thankful for…”
Talk about it
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • What do you know about Jesus that you could tell a friend?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Help your little one say a simple testimony, like “I know Jesus loves me.”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to share a short testimony in your family circle, or to plan to share one in fast and testimony meeting next month.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Luke 9:23–25 with your teen: whoever loses their life for Christ will save it. Ask what following Him has actually cost them so far, and what it has given back. Invite them to share one sentence of testimony in the family circle, in their own words.
☕️ For grown-upsKids learn testimony mostly from hearing yours in ordinary moments. Today, share not only what you know but how you came to know it; the story matters as much as the statement.

Sticker for today: 🥖

Family challenge

Brave Believers

Whenever someone in the family feels worried this week, everyone stops and says the key verse together, then does one brave thing with them. On Sunday, share which worry got smaller.

Parent Corner

Mark 5 braids two stories together on purpose. Jairus, a respected leader of the synagogue, falls at Jesus’s feet for his dying daughter. On the way, an unnamed woman who has been ritually unclean for twelve years touches the edge of His clothes in the crowd. Jesus stops, turns and insists on finding her, then calls her “Daughter” (Mark 5:34), while Jairus waits. Then the news comes that the girl has died. The delay that looked like a disaster became the setting for a greater miracle, and a woman no one would touch was named as family. Twelve years of suffering and a twelve-year-old girl, both restored in one afternoon. The Lord’s timing is not indifference. He is often ministering to someone else on His way to us, and He still arrives.

  • Ponder: Where does it feel like Jesus has stopped to help someone else while you wait, and how might He be working in the delay?
  • Try this: As you fast this Sunday, write down one specific thing you’re asking for and date it. Look back at it in a few months and notice how the Lord answered.

From general conference

“Yes, we might sometimes want to run away from where we are, but we certainly should never run away from who we are—children of the living God who loves us, who is always ready to forgive us, and who will never, ever forsake us.”

— Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Fear Not: Believe Only!,” April 2022

For parents on Tuesday; a good line to share with a teen who feels worried or discouraged.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • Would you rather have been in the crowd or been Jairus waiting at home? Why?
  • What do you think the Apostles felt when Jesus sent them out?
  • What’s one thing that helps you feel brave?
  • If Heavenly Father notices sparrows, what do you think He notices about you today?
  • What is something you know about Jesus?

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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