Closer to Him, Closer to Each Other
From “Christ-Centered Unity,” by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
Jesus Christ has the power to unite us: the closer we come to Him, the closer we come to each other, and our covenants make us one people.
Objective
Learners will explain what truly unites us in the Savior’s Church and choose one small step toward Christ-centered unity with a specific person or group this week.
Before you teach
- Read President Uchtdorf’s talk, “Christ-Centered Unity,” marking the paragraphs under “The Unity Jesus Christ Offers” and “The Unifying Power of the Sacrament.”
- Bring a board and marker, or one large sheet of paper.
- Bring a slip of paper and a pencil for each learner.
- Write the three references for segment 3 on the board before class: Matthew 8:2–3; Matthew 8:5–10; Luke 10:30–37.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 5 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
What brings people together?
- After the opening prayer, ask the class to call out things that bring people together. List them quickly on the board: teams, causes, heritage, hobbies, work.
- Explain that President Uchtdorf named several of these, even a favorite soccer team or brand of soft drink, and then taught what unites us in the Savior’s Church. Read the first key quote aloud (“In the Savior’s Church…”).
- Ask the first question below and take two or three brief answers. Write the lesson’s question on the board: How does coming closer to Jesus Christ bring us closer to each other?
- When have you felt one with people you had little else in common with, because of the Savior?
One by one, and together
- Explain that President Uchtdorf began with baptism. He taught that we enter the gate one by one, and yet baptism is also a unifying ordinance. Read the second key quote (“Through baptism…”).
- Invite learners to read Mosiah 18:8–9 in pairs and mark every promise that involves another person.
- Ask pairs to share one phrase they marked and what it has looked like in real life: a meal no one asked for, a ride, a quiet seat beside someone at a funeral.
- Ask the questions below. Let several people answer before you add anything.
- President Uchtdorf said that at baptism we show we do not want to live only for ourselves. Where is that hardest for you right now?
- Who has borne a burden with you? What did it teach you about being a covenant people?
The Savior crosses every wall
- Summarize: the world Jesus Christ was born into was divided culturally, politically and religiously, and President Uchtdorf said it was not so different from our world today.
- Divide the class into three groups. Give each one passage: Matthew 8:2–3; Matthew 8:5–10; Luke 10:30–37. Each group has three minutes to answer: Whom did others avoid, and what did the Savior do or teach?
- Hear one sentence from each group.
- Draw a triangle on the board. Write the Savior’s name at the top point and place two marks at the bottom corners. Move each mark up its side and let the class see what happens to the distance between them. Read the third key quote (“Jesus Christ has the power…”).
- Point out that President Uchtdorf also taught that Satan seeks to divide us by making our differences feel like impassable barriers. Read Elder Sinclair’s words from this conference: “a true disciple of Jesus Christ is quick to help and slow to judge.”
- President Uchtdorf said that when our attention is riveted on Christ, superficial things are hardly worth noticing. What superficial things most easily divide us?
- What changes in how you see a person when you first remember how the Savior sees them?
The sacrament: not addressed by name
- Ask learners to read Moroni 4:3 silently and look for whose names are spoken in the prayer and for whom the bread is blessed.
- Share President Uchtdorf’s observation: the sacrament is the only ordinance we receive in which we are not addressed by name. We partake individually but also as a group.
- Read the fourth key quote (“The sacrament is a weekly reminder…”). Then read his invitation: “let us not miss the unifying power of the sacrament.”
- Ask the questions below. Allow a moment of silence before the first answer.
- How might next Sunday’s sacrament feel different if you looked around the room and thought of everyone there as renewing covenants beside you?
- Who in our ward might be feeling alone during the sacrament, and what could we do about it?
One step this week
- Read President Uchtdorf’s assurance that we may not achieve perfect unity in this life, yet “Every step we take toward unity matters, however small it may seem.”
- Hand out the slips of paper. Give two minutes of silent writing: one name or one group, and one small step toward unity with them this week. Suggest the list he gave: “a little more patient, a little kinder, more forgiving, more helpful, more neighborly.”
- Read his invitation: “Please, come and see, come and help, and come and belong.” Then share his promise in your own words: the more united in Christ we are, and the more we desire to build bridges instead of walls, the more our lives, families, communities and nations will experience God’s presence and blessings.
- As a check for understanding, ask one or two learners to answer the question on the board in a single sentence. Bear your testimony of the Savior’s power to make us one.
- Follow up next week: begin class by asking who took a step toward unity and what they noticed. Thank each person who shares.
Key passages from the talk
“In the Savior’s Church, it is not our political views, culture, or personal interests that unite us. It is our love for God and neighbor, God’s children.”
“Through baptism, we become not only covenant individuals but also part of a covenant people.”
“Jesus Christ has the power to change us—you and me—purify us, and unite us. The closer we come to Him, the closer we will come to each other—and the closer we will come to the unity He wants for us.”
“The sacrament is a weekly reminder, a sacred reminder, that we are not alone. We have the Savior, and we have each other.”
The speaker’s direct invitations
“let us not miss the unifying power of the sacrament”
“Please, come and see, come and help, and come and belong.”
“I invite you to join the Christ-centered unity we are trying to build.”
Scriptures
- Mosiah 18:8–9 Read in pairs in segment 2; mark every promise that involves another person and share what one of them looks like in real life.
- Luke 10:30–37 One of three small-group passages in segment 3 (with Matthew 8:2–3 and Matthew 8:5–10): whom did others avoid, and what did the Savior do or teach?
- Moroni 4:3 Read silently in segment 4; look for whose names are spoken and for whom the bread is blessed.
- Matthew 18:20 Optional close: read it together just before the promise in segment 5 and ask where learners have felt it fulfilled.
Other voices that agree
“a true disciple of Jesus Christ is quick to help and slow to judge”
“Let us use the language that uplifts, edifies, comforts, and brings people together.”
Three things to remember
- What unites us in the Savior’s Church is love for God and neighbor and our covenants with Jesus Christ.
- The closer I come to the Savior, the closer I come to the people around me.
- The sacrament reminds me each week that I am not alone: I have the Savior, and we have each other.
Ways to act this week
- Take the one step you wrote on your slip toward the person or group you named, before next Sunday.
- During the sacrament this Sunday, look around the room and silently thank Heavenly Father for the people renewing covenants beside you.
- Sit by, greet, or message someone who may feel like an outsider in the ward, and learn something new about them.
- When a conversation turns to what divides people, choose words that bring people together, as Elder Kyungu invited.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Love One Another
- Lord, I Would Follow Thee
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with fewer than six people: skip the three groups and read Luke 10:30–37 together; then do the triangle on a sheet of paper on the table.
- Large class: do segments 2 and 3 with the people seated nearby and take only one comment from each side of the room.
- Only 15 minutes: teach segments 1, 4 and 5, and use the third key quote in place of segment 3.
This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.