Opening song and prayer
2 minSing I Feel My Savior's Love (Children's Songbook 74), then invite a child to offer the opening prayer.
The Door Is Still Open
4 minAsk a child to walk to the far side of the room while you hold a treat at the 'home' chair. Tell them they wandered off on purpose and forgot to come back.
Do not scold. Simply hold up the treat and say, 'Whenever you are ready, home is still here.' Let them walk back and receive it with a 'Welcome home' name tag or hug.
Explain that Hosea and Joel taught about a loving God who keeps calling His children back when they stray. Today we focus on that love and that invitation, not on grown-up parts of Hosea's life that are hard for kids to understand.
- Did the child lose the treat forever when they wandered?No. It was still waiting when they came back.
- What did the 'Welcome home' remind us?Heavenly Father is happy when we return, not waiting to punish us for leaving.
- Is wandering the same as being lost forever?No. We can always turn back while we live.
God loves us freely
6 minHosea taught that Israel kept forgetting God and chasing other things. That hurt their relationship with Him. But God did not stop loving them.
He said, 'I will love them freely.' That means His love is a gift, not a prize you only get when you are perfect. He wants to heal us and bring us back.
- What does 'love them freely' suggest about God's love?It is generous and freely given, not something we have to earn first.
- Did the people always make good choices in Hosea's time?No. They wandered away from God again and again.
- Did God give up on them?No. He kept calling them to repent and come back.
- When have you felt loved even after making a mistake?Let children answer. A parent hugging them after an apology, the sacrament, a kind teacher.
The Lord keeps gathering us
6 minJoel called the people to return to the Lord with all their heart. Hosea used tender words about gathering children like a hen gathers chicks. Jesus later used that same picture.
Gathering means God keeps reaching out. He sends prophets, scriptures, parents, and the Holy Ghost to help us find the way home.
- What does it mean to gather someone?To bring them close and keep them safe, like collecting scattered chicks under wings.
- Joel said 'turn ye even to me with all your heart.' What is turning to God?Repentance. Changing direction and choosing Him again.
- How does God gather you in real life?Let children answer. Church, family home evening, prayer, good friends, Primary.
- Who can you gently invite toward God this week?Let children answer. A sibling, friend, or family member who seems lonely or unsure.
Come back through repentance (optional)
optionalHosea said God would heal their backsliding. Backsliding means slipping backward after trying to move forward. Joel said God is gracious, merciful, and slow to anger.
Repentance is how we walk back through the open door. Jesus Christ makes that possible.
- What is backsliding?Sliding back into old mistakes after trying to do better.
- What does God promise to heal when we repent?Our backsliding. He helps us get back on the path.
- What is one step of repentance you can take this week?Let children answer. Say sorry, fix a mistake, pray for help, talk to a parent or bishop if needed.
- How is repentance like walking back to the home chair?We turn around, come back, and find God still waiting with open arms.
In the scriptures
5 minRead these together and talk about them.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
- What two promises does God make here?He will heal their backsliding and love them freely.
- What happened to God's anger when they turn back?It is turned away. He is ready to welcome them.
- What do you need healing from right now?Let children answer quietly or generally. A habit, a hurt feeling, a grudge, laziness with prayer.
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
- What does 'turn ye even to me with all your heart' mean?Repent completely, not just on the outside but inside.
- What kind of God does Joel describe?Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and full of kindness.
- What is one way to show a 'rent heart' (a broken, humble heart) this week?Let children answer. Apologize sincerely, pray honestly, ask for help to change.
Welcome home cards
optionalGive each child a paper door shape. On the outside they write one way people wander (being unkind, skipping prayer, ignoring parents).
On the inside they write 'The door is open' and one way to come back (say sorry, pray, read scriptures, serve someone).
Invite them to place the card on their mirror or door at home as a reminder that repentance always leads home.