APRIL 2016 | “That I Might Draw All Men unto Me” Elder Dale G. Renlund
As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives.
LEARNER READINESS
SAY: This lesson is on how to draw closer to God and Jesus our Savior and Rescuer.
SAY: To start I would like to read one of Elder Renlund's concluding paragraphs of his talk.
READ A
READING A - No matter where you stand in your relationship to God, I invite you to draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Benefactors and Givers of all that is good. I invite you to attend sacrament meeting each week and partake of the holy emblems of the Savior’s body and blood. I invite you to feel God’s nearness as He is made known to you, as He was to the disciples of old, in the “breaking of [the] bread.”
SAY: Elder Renlund invites us, as we partake of the sacrament each week, to feel God's nearness as He is made know to you.
SAY: To feel God's nearness. Isn't this what we all yearn for? I invite you to share what feeling God's nearness means to you as we proceed through the lesson.
SAY: As we partake of the sacrament with real intent and worship in our heart something will happen:
SAY: As we partake of the sacrament with real intent and worship in our heart something will happen:
READ B
READING B - As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. Natural tendencies to childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love and gratitude for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along.
READING B - As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. Natural tendencies to childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love and gratitude for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along.
Q: In your lives, have you found that the Savior has been nearby all along?
Q: What does it feel like?
SAY - It is interesting to me that the more I just assume that Jesus paid for my sins because it was his mission to do so, the more entitled I feel and I feel distant from my Savior. The closer I get to the Savior and the more I am aware of his pain and his suffering and his innocence, and feel his love for me,....the more I feel gratitude, humility and love for him and his sacrifice.
SAY: Many hymns express the feeling of being close and watched over by God. Here's an example.
SAY: Many hymns express the feeling of being close and watched over by God. Here's an example.
Hymn 129, Where Can I Turn For Peace
Lyrics
LEARNER INVOLVEMENT
Q: What distances us from feeling close to the Lord?
SAY: Elder Renlund us three ways we distance ourselves from the Lord. Here is the first way:
READ C
READING C - Nephi had “great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, [he] did cry unto the Lord,” and his heart was softened. On the other hand, Laman and Lemuel were distant from God—they did not know Him.
Nephi accepted challenging assignments without complaint, but Laman and Lemuel “did murmur in many things.” Murmuring is the scriptural equivalent of childish whining. The scripture records that “they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.”
Q: What distances us from feeling close to the Lord?
SAY: Elder Renlund us three ways we distance ourselves from the Lord. Here is the first way:
READ C
READING C - Nephi had “great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, [he] did cry unto the Lord,” and his heart was softened. On the other hand, Laman and Lemuel were distant from God—they did not know Him.
Nephi accepted challenging assignments without complaint, but Laman and Lemuel “did murmur in many things.” Murmuring is the scriptural equivalent of childish whining. The scripture records that “they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.”
Q: Why does "childish whining" get us no where? Why does doing it distance ourselves from God?
Q: Do we sometimes do childish whining as saints of God?
SAY - Let's read the second way that we distance ourselves from God?
READ D
Q: Do we sometimes do childish whining as saints of God?
SAY - Let's read the second way that we distance ourselves from God?
READ D
READING D - Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the ultimate Givers. The more we distance ourselves from Them, the more entitled we feel. We begin to think that we deserve grace and are owed blessings. We are more prone to look around, identify inequities, and feel aggrieved—even offended—by the unfairness we perceive. While the unfairness can range from trivial to gut-wrenching, when we are distant from God, even small inequities loom large. We feel that God has an obligation to fix things—and fix them right now!
Q: Elder Renlund later calls this "disgruntled entitlement". Why does feeling entitled or feeling that we deserve grace and are owed blessings cause us to distance ourselves from our Heavenly Father and His Son?
SAY, Elder Renlund gives a third way that we distance ourselves from God.
READ E
READING E - Nephi exercised faith in God to accomplish what he was asked to do. In contrast, Laman and Lemuel, “being hard in their hearts, … did not look unto the Lord as they ought.” They seemed to feel that the Lord was obligated to provide answers to questions that they had not posed. “The Lord maketh no such thing known unto us,” they said, but they did not even make the effort to ask. This is the scriptural equivalent of derisive skepticism.
Q: From what you just read what are the flaws of derisive skepticism? [since you didn't do the work required, which is exercising faith to do something to get a testimony, and since nothing happened, you become derisively skeptical.
---------------------()
SAY - A good example of exercising faith by doing something is Nephi of old.
Examples of mercy from exercising faith:
1 Nephi 1:20 - But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.
1 Nephi 2:16, 19 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
Verse 19 - And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.Q: Brethren, are we suppose to seek for mercy?
READ Moroni 10:3-4Q: What does Moroni what us to read?
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
Q: What does Moroni want us to ponder?
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.Q: From the earlier verse what truth will God manifest to you by the Holy Ghost? (Mercy)
Q: What does it feel like when God has been merciful to you, when you have received mercy?
-----------------------------------0
LEARNER APPLICATION
READ F
READ F - To draw closer to the Savior, we must increase our faith in Him, make and keep covenants, and have the Holy Ghost with us. We must also act in faith, responding to the spiritual direction we receive. All of these elements come together in the sacrament. Indeed, the best way I know of to draw closer to God is to prepare conscientiously and partake worthily of the sacrament each week.
Q: Why is this the best way to draw closer to the Lord? (it is the prescribed way, it can be done by everyone)
Q: Are we immune to life's challenges by having drawn closer to our Savior? (NO)
Q: Then, what does drawing close to the Savior do for us?
READ G
READING G - The closer we are to Jesus Christ in the thoughts and intents of our hearts, the more we appreciate His innocent suffering, the more grateful we are for grace and forgiveness, and the more we want to repent and become like Him. Our absolute distance from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is important, but the direction we are heading is even more crucial. God is more pleased with repentant sinners who are trying to draw closer to Him than with self-righteous, faultfinding individuals who, like the Pharisees and scribes of old, do not realize how badly they need to repent.
READ F - To draw closer to the Savior, we must increase our faith in Him, make and keep covenants, and have the Holy Ghost with us. We must also act in faith, responding to the spiritual direction we receive. All of these elements come together in the sacrament. Indeed, the best way I know of to draw closer to God is to prepare conscientiously and partake worthily of the sacrament each week.
Q: Why is this the best way to draw closer to the Lord? (it is the prescribed way, it can be done by everyone)
Q: Are we immune to life's challenges by having drawn closer to our Savior? (NO)
Q: Then, what does drawing close to the Savior do for us?
READ G
READING G - The closer we are to Jesus Christ in the thoughts and intents of our hearts, the more we appreciate His innocent suffering, the more grateful we are for grace and forgiveness, and the more we want to repent and become like Him. Our absolute distance from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is important, but the direction we are heading is even more crucial. God is more pleased with repentant sinners who are trying to draw closer to Him than with self-righteous, faultfinding individuals who, like the Pharisees and scribes of old, do not realize how badly they need to repent.
SAY: Elder Renlund finishes his talk by saying this:
READ H
READING H - No matter where you stand in your relationship to God, I invite you to draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Benefactors and Givers of all that is good. I invite you to attend sacrament meeting each week and partake of the holy emblems of the Savior’s body and blood. I invite you to feel God’s nearness as He is made known to you, as He was to the disciples of old, in the “breaking of [the] bread.”
SAY:
As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. Natural tendencies to childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love and gratitude for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along. I so witness and testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
READ H
READING H - No matter where you stand in your relationship to God, I invite you to draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Benefactors and Givers of all that is good. I invite you to attend sacrament meeting each week and partake of the holy emblems of the Savior’s body and blood. I invite you to feel God’s nearness as He is made known to you, as He was to the disciples of old, in the “breaking of [the] bread.”
SAY:
As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. Natural tendencies to childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love and gratitude for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along. I so witness and testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment