John 13–17

• To help your class members ponder the significance of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, you could invite a class member ahead of time to play the role of Peter in this account and be interviewed by the rest of the class. Encourage class members to search John 13:1–17 and think of meaningful questions they could ask Peter. What do we learn from this account that might affect how we serve others?

• What might encourage class members to be more loving? Perhaps you could ask them how they can tell that someone they meet is a follower of Christ. What traits do they notice about the person? You could invite them to search John 13:34–35 to learn how the Savior’s true disciples can be identified. What can we do to make love the defining characteristic of our discipleship? How does this teaching influence the way we treat others, including on social media?

• As a class, you have learned a lot about the Savior’s life this year, including many examples of how He showed His love for others. One way to help class members ponder the commandment in John 13:34 could be to write As I Have Loved You on the board and to ask class members to list examples they recall from the New Testament that illustrate Jesus’s love. Then you could write Love One Another on the board and ask class members to list ways we can follow His example of love. Singing or listening to the hymn “Love One Another,” Hymns, no. 308, or watching one of the videos in “Additional Resources” would be a good addition to this activity.

• If we are not feeling particularly loving toward others, what can we do to seek after the gift of love? What does the counsel in Moroni 7:48; 8:26 add to our understanding of this gift? Who do we know that needs to feel our love?

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• To help class members learn about the different roles of the Holy Ghost, consider dividing them into groups and giving each group one of the following passages: John 14:16–27; 15:26; and 16:7–15. Invite each group to write on the board what they learn about the Holy Ghost from these passages. Class members could add other insights they find as they explore the scriptures listed in “Additional Resources.” When have we felt the influence of the Holy Ghost? What objects or visual aids could you bring to class that would help class members understand the roles of the Holy Ghost?

• Consider inviting a few class members ahead of time to study one of the general conference addresses suggested in “Additional Resources” (or other conference addresses they know of) about the Holy Ghost. Allow them to share briefly what they learned with the class. What do these messages add to what we have learned about the Holy Ghost from John 14–16?

• What did class members learn this week from the Savior’s parable of the vine and branches? Consider bringing a small plant to class and using it to help class members visualize the Savior’s parable. After reading John 15:1–12 as a class, you could discuss what it means to “abide in [Christ]” (John 15:4). You could invite a few class members to share how they have found John 15:5 to be true. (See also the statement from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in “Additional Resources.”) The video “The Will of God” (LDS.org) might also be helpful in this discussion.

• You probably can’t teach all of the important truths found in John 17 in one class discussion, but here’s a way to help the class explore several of them. List on the board concepts from John 17, such as these:

  • Our relationship with Jesus Christ

  • Jesus Christ’s relationship with His Father

  • Our relationship with the rest of the world

  • Our relationship with each other as His disciples

  Invite each class member to choose one of these concepts and to read John 17, searching for verses that are related to it. Ask several class members to share what they learn.

• “Love One Another”

• “Families Sacrifice, Give, and Love”

• “Preparation of Thomas S. Monson: He Learned Compassion in His Youth”

• Acts 2:37–38; Galatians 5:22–23; 1 Nephi 10:17–19; 2 Nephi 32:3–5; Mosiah 3:19; 3 Nephi 27:20; Moroni 8:26; 10:4–5; Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3; 42:17

• Robert D. Hales, “The Holy Ghost,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 105–7

• Henry B. Eyring, “The Holy Ghost as Your Companion,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 104–7

• David A. Bednar, “Receive the Holy Ghost,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 94–97

Noting that the word abide has connotations of permanence and commitment, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:

“The sense of this [word] then is ‘stay—but stay forever.’ That is the call of the gospel message. … Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. …

“Jesus said, ‘Without me ye can do nothing’ [John 15:5]. I testify that that is God’s truth. Christ is everything to us and we are to ‘abide’ in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will never fail us” (“Abide in Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 32).