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Come unto Me

Jesus invites everyone who feels tired or weighed down to come to Him, and He promises rest. He also teaches that the Sabbath is a day to do good, that Heavenly Father gives good gifts (especially the Holy Ghost) to those who ask, and that a clean heart matters more than looking good on the outside. Kids will lift heavy loads, open mystery bags, and fill a jar with ideas for a happy Sabbath.

  • Week 11
  • 📅 Mar 8–14, 2027
  • 📖 Matthew 11–12; Luke 11
Start with Monday
Read it togetherMatthew 11–12; Luke 11 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualNew Testament 2027, week 11

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.

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 · 8 min · Story

Stretch Out Your Hand!

🖐️ Stretch out your hand! Wiggle those fingers!Curl your hand tight.Rescue the sheep!Stretch it out: healed!

📖 Read together: Matthew 12:9–13 ↗

  1. Open the story scenes and read them together in your best storyteller voice.
  2. Have everyone curl one hand into a tight little fist and tuck it against their chest, like the man with the hurt hand.
  3. Read Matthew 12:11–12. Put a stuffed animal in a laundry basket “pit” and let your kids rescue it. Ask: “If a sheep matters that much, how much more does a person matter?”
  4. Read Matthew 12:13. Everyone stretches out their hand as far as it will go and wiggles their fingers. Healed!
  5. SAY“Some people thought helping on the Sabbath was breaking the rules. Jesus showed that the Sabbath is a day to do good.”

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

Talk about it
  • Why do you think Jesus healed the man even though some people didn’t like it?
  • What good things can we do on Sunday?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one rescue the stuffed “sheep” from the pit and give it a big hug.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old read Matthew 12:1–8 and explain what Jesus meant when He said He is Lord of the Sabbath.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Matthew 12:10 with your teen: the Pharisees asked about healing on the Sabbath “that they might accuse him.” Ask how a question can be a trap, and notice that Jesus answered with a person instead of an argument. Where do they see arguing about rules crowd out caring about people?
☕️ For grown-upsThe man was told to stretch out his withered hand, the one thing he couldn’t do. The healing came in the attempt. Is the Lord asking something of you that feels exactly like the part of you that doesn’t work?

Sticker for today: 🖐️

Tuesday · 8 min · Verse

Heavy Alone, Easy Together

🎒 Heavy alone. Easy together!Carry the heavy backpack.Now carry it with help.Which was easier?

📖 Read together: Matthew 11:28–30 ↗

  1. Open the key verse screen and read it together with motions.
  2. Fill a backpack with heavy books and have each child carry it across the room. Then do it again, but this time you hold one strap and carry it with them.
  3. Read Matthew 11:29–30. Explain that a yoke is a wooden beam that joins two animals so they can pull a heavy load together.
  4. SAY“Jesus doesn’t ask us to carry heavy things by ourselves. He invites us to come to Him so we can carry them together. Our covenants, like baptism, tie us to Him.”
  5. Say the key verse one last time while you carry the backpack together.

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

Talk about it
  • What are some heavy things kids carry inside (worries, sad feelings)?
  • How does Jesus help us carry them?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one carry a lighter bag with a stuffed animal inside and feel how much easier it is with your help.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old explain how baptism and the sacrament “yoke” us to Jesus, then carry the backpack with the youngest child.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen what a yoke actually does: it doesn’t remove the load; it shares it and sets the direction. Ask what burdens teens carry that no one sees, and how being yoked to Jesus through their covenants could make those lighter without making them disappear.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus says, “learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). His yoke is not a heavier to-do list. If your discipleship has felt crushing lately, ask whether you’ve been pulling alone.

Sticker for today: 🎒

Wednesday · 8 min · Activity

The Mystery Bags

🛍️ What’s inside? Guess before you peek!Feel the bag.Make your guess.Open it up!

📖 Read together: Luke 11:9–13 ↗

  1. Before you start, put a rock inside a bread bag and a paper drawing of a scorpion (or a toy bug) inside an egg carton.
  2. Let your kids feel and guess what’s inside. Then open them together. Surprise!
  3. Read Luke 11:11–13. Ask: “Would a loving parent give you a rock when you asked for bread?”
  4. SAY“Heavenly Father loves to give good gifts. One of the best is the Holy Ghost, who comforts, teaches and guides us. We can ask for His help anytime.”
  5. Finish with Mystery Picture from this week’s lesson.

🧩 Play along: Mystery Picture with this week’s words (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • What is a good gift Heavenly Father has given you?
  • When could you ask for the Holy Ghost’s help this week?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one shake the bags and guess, then help open them with a big “Ta-da!”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to share how they recognize the Holy Ghost, or to make a new mystery bag for the family to guess.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Luke 11:5–8 with your teen: a friend knocks at midnight and keeps knocking. Ask why Jesus told a story about persistence right before promising the Holy Ghost to those who ask. What have they asked Heavenly Father for more than once?
☕️ For grown-upsOf all the good gifts Jesus could have named in Luke 11:13, He named the Holy Spirit. When you pray for your kids, do you ask for the Spirit to be with them as often as you ask for their safety and success?

Sticker for today: 🥚

Thursday · 10 min · Game

Game Night: Clean Inside

🥤 Is this cup clean? Look inside!Check the cup.Jesus sees our hearts.Play Forehead Guess!

📖 Read together: Luke 11:39–41 ↗

  1. Wash the dinner dishes together. Hand one child a cup that is shiny outside but still has a little food stuck inside. Ask: “Is this cup clean?”
  2. Read Luke 11:39–41. Say: “Jesus cares about what’s inside our hearts, not just what people see on the outside.”
  3. Play Forehead Guess with this week’s words. Guessers can give silly clues, but only kind ones!

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

Talk about it
  • What does a clean heart look like?
  • Can you do a kind thing that no one else sees?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Give your little one a plastic cup and a sponge to “wash inside and out” while you talk.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old host Forehead Guess and pick the words for each round.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Matthew 12:34–35 with your teen: “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Ask them to think about their last few messages or posts and what those reveal about their heart. No lecture, just a mirror.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus’s sharpest words were for people who looked righteous but were hollow inside. Parents can feel pressure to look like a “good Church family.” What would it look like to care more about the inside of the cup at home than how it looks on Sunday?

Sticker for today: 🎲

Friday · 7 min · Service

Burden Lifters

💪 Secretly lift someone’s load today!Find a heavy load.Lift it without being asked.Shh, it’s a secret!

📖 Read together: Matthew 11:28 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 11:28. Say: “Jesus lifts heavy loads. We can help Him by lifting other people’s loads too.”
  2. Look around your home and neighborhood for a heavy load: groceries to carry, a sibling’s chore, laundry to fold, a tired parent who needs a break.
  3. Have each person secretly lift one load today without being asked.
  4. At bedtime, let everyone guess whose load got lifted.
Talk about it
  • Whose load did you lift today?
  • How did it feel when someone helped you?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one help carry something light, like napkins or socks, and thank them loudly for lifting a load.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Challenge your 10–13-year-old to lift a load for someone outside the family, like a neighbor or a friend who is struggling.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to lift a load nobody asked them to: helping a younger sibling with homework, messaging a friend who has gone quiet, doing a neighbor’s yard. One rule: they do it without making it about themselves.
☕️ For grown-upsLet someone lift a load for you today. Parents are often better at carrying than at being carried, but letting others help is part of coming unto Christ too.

Sticker for today: 💪

Saturday · 8 min · Activity

The Do-Well Jar

🫙 Fill the jar with happy Sabbath ideas!Write or draw an idea.Drop it in the jar.Play the quiz!

📖 Read together: Matthew 12:10–13 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 12:10–13. Say: “Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. He taught that the Sabbath is a day to do good things that bring us closer to God.”
  2. Grab a jar or cup and label it “Do Well.” Everyone writes or draws Sabbath ideas on slips: visit grandma, write a letter, look at family pictures, read scripture stories, go on a nature walk, make a card for someone.
  3. Fold the slips and drop them in the jar.
  4. Play the family quiz, then set out Sunday clothes so tomorrow starts peacefully.

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

Talk about it
  • What makes Sunday feel different from other days?
  • What is a Sabbath activity that helps you feel close to Jesus?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one draw a picture idea, like a heart for “hug someone” or a book for “read a story.”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to add ideas that include serving someone outside your home.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen what makes Sunday feel restful rather than just restrictive. Invite them to add two ideas to the jar that they would genuinely enjoy, and to explain how each one could bring them closer to God.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus quoted Hosea to the Pharisees: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7). Is your family’s Sabbath more about what you can’t do, or about what brings you close to God and to each other?

Sticker for today: 🫙

Sunday · 7 min · Sabbath

A Day to Do Good

🌿 Pull an idea from the jar and do good!Teach what you learned.Pull a slip.Do it together!

📖 Read together: Matthew 12:12 ↗

  1. After church, ask: “What did you learn in Primary today?” Let your kids teach you one thing.
  2. Have the youngest child pull a slip from the Do-Well Jar, and do it together this afternoon.
  3. Before bed, sit together quietly. Each person names one heavy thing they’d like Jesus to help carry and one thing they’re grateful for.
  4. Share a short testimony that Jesus gives rest to people who come to Him.
Talk about it
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • How did our Do-Well idea make today feel?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the jar-puller and announce the idea in a big voice.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to lead the Do-Well activity from start to finish.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to name one heavy thing, out loud or in private prayer, then read Matthew 11:28 as if it were addressed to them by name. Ask what “rest” would actually feel like for them this week.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus promises “rest unto your souls,” not necessarily an easier schedule. Take ten minutes today to sit still without your phone and let Him give you that kind of rest.

Sticker for today: 🌿

Family challenge

Carry It Together

When someone in the family has a hard job this week (homework, a big chore, a tough day), someone else offers to “yoke up” and help. Keep a tally on the fridge of every load you carried together.

Parent Corner

By Jesus’s day, the Sabbath had been fenced with so many rules that a day meant for rest had become one more burden. Into that world Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,” and then, in the very next scenes, shows what He means: He defends hungry disciples picking grain, and He heals a man’s hand in the synagogue. The yoke He offers is real; He never says discipleship carries no load. But a yoke is built for two. When we are bound to Him by covenant, He pulls alongside us and sets the direction, and we learn from Him how to carry weight meekly and lowly in heart. Rest, in His sense, is less about doing nothing and more about no longer pulling alone.

  • Ponder: What are you carrying as if it were yours alone, and what would it mean to let Him take the other side of the yoke?
  • Try this: Before next Sunday, plan one Sabbath hour that genuinely restores your own soul (a walk, a letter, time in the temple, a long talk with your spouse) and protect it.

From general conference

“We must remember: it’s not the course alone that will exalt us; it’s the companion—our Savior.”

— President Emily Belle Freeman, “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ,” October 2023

For parents on Tuesday, after the backpack and yoke activity.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • What felt heavy for you today?
  • What is something good we could do next Sunday?
  • If you could ask Heavenly Father for one good gift, what would it be?
  • How can you tell if someone’s heart is kind?
  • When have you felt rested and peaceful?

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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