Lesson April 2012 - Russell Nelson, Covenants

April 2012 - Elder Russell Nelson, Covenants

Learner Readiness


You Read: One of the most important concepts of revealed religion is that of a sacred covenant. In legal language, a covenant generally denotes an agreement between two or more parties. But in a religious context, a covenant is much more significant. It is a sacred promise with God. He fixes the terms. Each person may choose to accept those terms. If one accepts the terms of the covenant and obeys God’s law, he or she receives the blessings associated with the covenant. We know that “when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”⁴

Q: What is a covenant?
Q: What is the relationship between being a believer and covenants?
Q: Do signs follow the believer?
Q: How do we know that the level at which we are keeping our covenants is acceptable to God? (Introspective)

Q: What are some of the covenants that we make or that we are a part of?

1. Abrahamic Covenant
2. Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
3. Baptism and Sacrament
4. Temple Covenants

Q: What is a significant sign that the Lord has commenced to gather covenant Israel once again?

[if you have a chalk board, write the out line on the board]

Covenants> Abrahamic Covenant - write Nelson's introspective question>>>Oath and Covenant - write Nelson's introspective queston >>>> the Sign - Book of Mormon >>>>

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (maybe)

You Read: The covenant God made with Abraham¹³ and later reaffirmed with Isaac¹⁴ and Jacob¹⁵ is of transcendent significance. It contained several promises, including:

• • Jesus the Christ would be born through Abraham’s lineage.
• • Abraham’s posterity would be numerous, entitled to an eternal increase, and also entitled to bear the priesthood.
• • Abraham would become a father of many nations.
• • Certain lands would be inherited by his posterity.
• • All nations of the earth would be blessed by his seed.¹⁶
• • And that covenant would be everlasting—even through “a thousand generations.”¹⁷

Read 


A - Some of these promises have been fulfilled; others are still pending. I quote from an early Book of Mormon prophecy: “Our father [Lehi] hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham.”¹⁸ Isn’t that amazing? Some 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, prophets knew that the Abrahamic covenant would be finally fulfilled only in the latter days.


Q: Why is this amazing? [because everything is happening as prophecied and we are in the middle of it]


[ask multiple people why they think it is amazaing]

Say: [Elder Nelson then says]:  To facilitate that promise, the Lord appeared in these latter days to renew that Abrahamic covenant. To the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Master declared:

“Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, … my servant Joseph. …

“This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham.”

Q: How did the Lord renew the Abrahamic Covenant in the latter days? [ask multiple brethren the same question to make sure everyone is following along]

OATH and COVENANT of the PRIESTHOOD

READ

B - With this renewal, we have received, as did they of old, the holy priesthood and the everlasting gospel. We have the right to receive the fulness of the gospel, enjoy the blessings of the priesthood, and qualify for God’s greatest blessing—that of eternal life.

READ

C - Ours is the responsibility to help fulfill the Abrahamic covenant. Ours is the seed foreordained and prepared to bless all people of the world.²⁹ That is why priesthood duty includes missionary work. After some 4,000 years of anticipation and preparation, this is the appointed day when the gospel is to be taken to the kindreds of the earth. This is the time of the promised gathering of Israel. And we get to participate! Isn’t that exciting? The Lord is counting on us and our sons—and He is profoundly grateful for our daughters—who worthily serve as missionaries in this great time of the gathering of Israel.

Q: Why is it exciting that we get to participate in the promised gathering of Israel? [again, ask multiple men when this should be exciting]  Or, perhaps it's not exciting, why isn't it exciting (we have fallen asleep?)

Learner Involvement

***** The Book of Mormon - A Tangible Sign

Say, I believe Elder Nelson is trying to get latter day Israel excited about our involvement in the latter day work!
Q: What is a tangible sign that the Lord has commenced to gather covenant Israel?

READ:

D - The Book of Mormon is a tangible sign that the Lord has commenced to gather His children of covenant Israel.³⁰ This book, written for our day, states as one of its purposes that “ye may know that the covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel … is already beginning to be fulfilled. … For behold, the Lord will remember his covenant which he hath made unto his people of the house of Israel.”³¹

Say: Elder Nelson goes on to say:

- That the Book of Mormon helps us to make covenants with God.  It convinces us the Jesus is the Christ.
- That we have claim on the blessings by making covenants.
- That we keep the covenant by obedience to God's commandments

READ :

E - At baptism we covenant to serve the Lord and keep His commandments.³⁴ When we partake of the sacrament, we renew that covenant and declare our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. Thereby we are adopted as His sons and daughters and are known as brothers and sisters. He is the father of our new life.³⁵ Ultimately, in the holy temple, we may become joint heirs to the blessings of an eternal family, as once promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity.³⁶ Thus, celestial marriage is the covenant of exaltation.

Q: What does, "He is the father of our new life" mean?
Q: Who is the 'Father' spoken of by Elder Nelson?
Q: What is the essence of having a new life in Christ?

Q: Are we all in this new life in Christ?  (introspective).  
Say:  I think Elder Nelson is saying once we have cleanse ourselves sufficiently and have caught the vision that we are children of the covenant, we start feeling God's power in our lives.

READ:

F - When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us.³⁷ His law is written in our hearts.³⁸ He is our God and we are His people.³⁹Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity. When that doctrine is deeply implanted in our hearts, even the sting of death is soothed and our spiritual stamina is strengthened.

SAY: Elder Nelson said that when the covenant doctrine is deeply planted in our hearts....
Q: How do we get this doctrine deeply implanted in our hearts?

Learner Application


Q: How much should this idea or fact that we are the covenant people of the Lord in the last days, be a driving factor in our lives?


Q: How different from the world ought we be?


Q: How was Abraham different from Lot?  If we were to be more like Abraham than Lot, what would we change?

READ:

G - The greatest compliment that can be earned here in this life is to be known as a covenant keeper. The rewards for a covenant keeper will be realized both here and hereafter. Scripture declares that “ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, … and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven … [and] dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.”⁴⁰

Q:  Who can tell me from their own experience some aspects of this blessed and happy state, being blessed in all things?  (is this the state that we are in or is there something more?)
Q:  What is the relationship between being in a blessed and happy state and covenant keeping?

God lives. Jesus is the Christ. His Church has been restored to bless all people. President Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. And we, as faithful children of the covenant, will be blessed now and forever. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

1. 
   

Meditation Exercise

Before you read the meditation, remember, that it will take three or four tries before you start feeling a good feeling.  It may seem corny at first and you may want to change some of the words.  But, the idea is get to a place where love fills your being and all stresses depart.  Once you get to this place, you pray for different things.

Here's the meditation:

1. Close our eyes and breathe deeply 3 or 4 times, while saying the following to yourself: I am the full expression of God's love, Just as God is love, so am I.  I am love.

2. Hold in your mind the image of someone you love.  Then imagine yourself putting your arms around that person in a loving embrace while simultaneously saying "I love you" in your mind.  Hold on to this feeling of love, allowing it to spread throughout your entire being.  [don't move too fast, take a minute or two just relaxing letting the feeling spread]

3. While holding  on to this feeling of love, silently say to yourself, "I feel love."  After a few moments mentally say, "I feel God."  Then finally, in your mind say, "Thank you," allowing the feeling of gratitude and appreciation to wash over you.

4. Remain in this state of being for a few minutes, imagining the love in you radiating outward in an egg-shaped sphere of vibratory energy that flows out unto all people encompassing the world and the universe. [sounds a little strange for us Mormons.  Change to oneness with God or something else if you like.]

This exercise is disarmingly simple.  If you want to have the love of God in your heart (the fruit of the tree of life in Lehi's dream), then practice placing yourself in state of feeling love.  Repeat the mediation exercise one time or multiple times.  After a few times doing it, it becomes easier and easier to put yourself in a loving, warm, happy state. Fear can't exist and faith and trust begin to grow.  

April 2012 General Conference - Final Session

L. Tom Perry

Book of Mormon has a theme of deliverance.

Mosiah 20 - Bondage of King Limhi.  Three times defeated.
v.15 slow to hear their cries.  Lamanite eased burdens, but the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.  Lord was slow because of their iniquities.
Mosiah 24 - Alma and his people in the land of Helam.  v. 13 - voice of the Lord, lift up your hearts and be of good comfort.  I will deliver you out of bondage.

What is the difference.  People of Alma were peaceful and more righteous.  appropriate and fair to be delivered quickly.

We are promised deliverance.  His atonement and resurrection.  Escape from physical and spiritual death.

**** Read the Book of Mormon every day.

Secularism is overpowering religious people now today.

We need the BOM.  Both are necessary for the complete doctrine of Christ.  Both are neccsssary.  When used together the Bible and the BOM confound false doctrine.

Harmonious - Deliverance of Abraham from the Childeans.  Also, Lot, his nephew chose the plains of Jordan.  Most of the problems of his life came from positioned his tent toward Sodom.  Abraham dwelt in the plains of Mamran and built an alter.  He thinks Abraham's tent faced the Altar.  King Benjamin had everyone face their tent to the temple.

Elder Ballard

Liahona similar to a GPS.  Curious workmanship.  GPS is a blessing.  I can be right and say I don't need to ask anyone.

We have a tool more remarkable than a GPS.  It is through the pompting of the Holy Ghost.  And through the Atonement.  We and our society has lost its way.  Focus on the family.

**** Visit with Karen how to convert our home to a more divine institution.  It is our home and families that need reforming.  Growing disregard of marriage.  More than half of birth of women under 30 have children outside of marriage.

**** Ever growing gap between the rich and the poor.  Poor less likely to go to church.

Good is bad and bad is good.  Families that aren't broken up have children of hight economic status.


Elder 70

We must have a vision or we will perish.  Christ helps you catch a vision of yourself.  We act on  Christ's teachings.  Jesus made the 12 fishers of men instead of just fisherman.

Put into action the teachings of our leaders.  Catch a vision of these teachings.  Exercise your faith to take action.  Act on your inspiration.

*****Fasting and prayer -  This is an action.  We experience hard things in our life.  We get too busy.
*****Relook at responsibilities and time wasters.
You will bring a different order to your life as we gain a vision.  Our lives will be blessed in unexpected ways.

***** Believe that the Lord can bless you with vision in your life.  My yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Let us see ourselves as the Savior see us.

***** go to the temple in the morning once a week.  Fast and pray once a week.

Larry Wilson

Rights of the Priesthood (wife driving story)
We lose that power when we exercise compulsion on others.  We lose our right to the Lord's Spirit.  We think that controlling is good for people but its not.  We can't force others to do the right thing.  It builds mistrust.  Learning opportunities are lost.  Easy trap to fall into.  Withholding approval  or love is the way some do it.

Children need to make choices.  Sabbath day story.  Not let her team down.  Parents decide that their daughter was ready to make her own decision.  She carried out her choice.  She said that felt awful.

Help children establish their own connection to heaven.  They that are wise and have taken the Holy Spirit as their guide...

We must act only by persuasion.  Let them feel our confidence.

David Evans

Children - 2 Nephi 25:26

Children trust because they see the good modeling of the parents.
Our brethren need to feel the love.  People returning are the same as long time members.

It doesn't matter how matter when someone comes back.  The grace is the same for all.

***** Contact Bill Lebaron

Piper

Seek an answer to a sincere question.  All were change from the encounters with the divine.  Our experiences with the divine might not be as direct.  Still small voice guides and directs, lights our mind.  We feel it.  So natural and subtle.  individualized messages.

**** Daily reflecting and recording promptings. DC 59:21Llink When we record our promptings we are saying that this is important.

Give priority to the sacred.

**** spend more time each time to meditate and pray and read scriptures.

The world wants us to abandon beliefs.

Did I not speak peace in your heart concerning the matter.
**** Remember that you have received peace regarding your job issue.  Don't murmur anymore.  Don't tell people that you have problems.

Hold sacred what you have received.


Elder Neil Anderson

What thinks Christ of me?
These are days of destiny.  Badge of honor.
The Lord blesses us with customized direction - as we listen to and think about the General Conference.  Discipleship is not a competition.  It is life long migration to a more celestial life.

***** Take up your cross daily and follow me.  I will give you rest.  You are heavy laden.
***** Hershel Pederson's comment that I haven't figured out how to fast and pray because my weight was still high.

***** Contact Sid King in Logan

Haiti - family apt destroyed.  They believed.  three children in apt.  just one child alive.They were all discovered alive under the building.

be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

as you trust him, you will feel his approval.  By his grace he will do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

What thinks Christ of me?  He lives.

Thomas S. Monson

Pray always.  I will pour out my spirit upon you....

**** Spend Dr Who time with Steve.  Stay close to him
**** Golf pass

Become even better than  you were.  He invoked a blessing upon all of us.

Lesson on Chirst (Oaks Talk 2011)

Lesson on Christ 3-25-2012  Teachings for our Times, Elder Dallin H Oaks

Learner Readiness

Over the years I have asked myself this question: Do I ever get this feeling that I have the gospel all neatly bound and packaged?   That either I have the answer to all pertinent gospel questions and I just don't think about the those areas that don't conform to my nicely packaged paradigm.  When it comes to the doctrine of Christ there seems to be many levels.  There is the general level but as we go deeper there are more personal levels.

Dallin Oaks touches on aspects of the doctrine of Christ that bids me to go deeper, taking perhaps a more critical look at my life and my current progress back to God --- if I chose to do so.  If I choose to seek.

Learner Involvement and Application

- What has He done for us?
Read A

A - At a stake conference many years ago, I met a woman who said she had been asked to come back to church after many years away but could not think of any reason why she should. To encourage her I said, “When you consider all of the things the Savior has done for us, don’t you have many reasons to come back to church to worship and serve Him?” I was astonished at her reply: “What’s He done for me?” For those who do not understand what our Savior has done for us, I will answer that question in His own words and with my own testimony.


Say: The rest of Elder Oakes' talk are Christ's words and Elder Oakes' own testimony.


My hope today is for each of you to consider what the Savior has done for you, individually.  I also want to discover ways that for each of us to more abundantly feast on our Saviors love.  

- Doing the Will of the Father

Read B

B - Always, Jesus honored the Father and followed Him. Even as a youth He declared to His earthly parents, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). “For I came down from heaven,” He later taught, “not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38; see also John 5:19). And the Savior taught, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6; see also Matthew 11:27).

Q: What does this mean? (no man cometh unto the Father, but by me)?

Read C

C - We return to the Father by doing His will. Jesus taught, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). He explained:

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23).

Who then will enter the kingdom of heaven? Not those who merely do wonderful works using the name of the Lord, Jesus taught, but only “he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Say: Let's discuss what the will of the Father for all man.

Q: How could it be possible for a man to prophecy in Christ's name, cast out devils and to many wonderful works and yet not be doing the will of the Father?  How could this be?

Read D, verse 41 only.
Q: How does this verse help us understand, the phrase, "depart from me, I never knew you".

D  2 Nephi 9:41-43  O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Q: What does it mean to be the keep of the gate?

 42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

Q: How does this verse help us understand, the phrase, "depart from me, I never knew you"?

Q: What is the will of the Father?

 43 But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

Q: What is hid from who doesn't come unto Christ in the depths of humility?

-The Great Exemplar

Read E

E - Jesus showed us how to do this. Again and again He invited us to follow Him: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Q: Any thoughts on this?

-Focus on Eternal Life

Read F

F   He also challenges us to focus on Him, not on the things of the world. In His great sermon on the bread of life, Jesus explained the contrast between mortal and eternal nourishment. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth,” He said, “but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (John 6:27). The Savior taught that He was the Bread of Life, the source of eternal nourishment. Speaking of the mortal nourishment the world offered, including the manna Jehovah had sent to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus taught that those who relied on this bread were now dead (see John 6:49). In contrast, the nourishment He offered was “the living bread which came down from heaven,” and, Jesus taught, “if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (John 6:51).

Some of His disciples said this was “an hard saying,” and from that time many of His followers “went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:60, 66). Apparently they did not accept His earlier teaching that they should “seek … first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). Even today some who profess Christianity are more attracted to the things of the world—the things that sustain life on earth but give no nourishment toward eternal life. For some, His “hard saying” is still a reason not to follow Christ.

Q: What is the hard saying that Jesus said?  (have faith only on Him, focus only on Him)

2 N 31:19 ... Nay, for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of Him  who is mighty to save.

Q: Are these easy sayings for us or hard sayings for us?

-Challenge and Testimony

Read G 

G   Jesus issued the challenge “What think ye of Christ?” (Matthew 22:42). The Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthians to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). All of us should answer these challenges for ourselves. Where is our ultimate loyalty? Are we like the Christians in Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s memorable description who have moved their residence to Zion but still try to keep a second residence in Babylon?¹

There is no middle ground. We are followers of Jesus Christ. Our citizenship is in His Church and His gospel, and we should not use a visa to visit Babylon or act like one of its citizens. We should honor His name, keep His commandments, and “seek not the things of this world but seek … first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33, footnote a; from Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 6:38).

Read H 

H  Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten and Beloved Son of God. He is our Creator. He is the Light of the World. He is our Savior from sin and death. This is the most important knowledge on earth, and you can know this for yourself, as I know it for myself. The Holy Ghost, who testifies of the Father and the Son and leads us into truth, has revealed these truths to me, and He will reveal them to you. The way is desire and obedience. As to desire, Jesus taught, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). As to obedience, He taught, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). I testify of the truth of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen

Conclusion

Say: Brethren, as I actively seek, I have movement in my life.  But, as I move from grace to grace, weaknesses that I didn't know were so abhorrent to God become awful to me.  Every time this happens, my soul is racked.  As I go through the process of repentance my soul is pained no more.  This process requires exertion on our part.  It also requires looking to our Savior for mercy.  This is all we can do.

2 N 9:18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be fullforever.

D   2 Nephi 9:41-43  O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

 42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. 43 But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

FHE - Lesson on Serpent

Learn Readiness

A.  Have somesome recount the story of brazen serpent
Say:  Alma talked about this brazen serpent.  Q: Do any of you remember where?

Read Alma 33:19

Alma 33: 19 Behold, he was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

 20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.

Q: Would you do it?  Why was it difficult for some to simple look?

 21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

Q: What does the serpent on the pole represent?

Q: Who was Alma talking to?  Q: Why did Alma bring up this story? (see verse 1 of Alma 33) (how they should plant the seed, or the word)

Read verse 22 (begin to believe in the Son of God)
Q: Why does Alma what the Zoromites to plant this seed?
Q: What are hoping to healed of by looking to Christ?

Conclusion: Read verse 23

Q: Do any of you have any thoughts or experiences where you have felt the swelling motions in your heart of the seed of Christ which you have planted?
- watching testament movie
- helping someone who was in need
- listening to a powerful testimony 

As we live our lives in Christ we enter into his rest and His peace rests upon us.  Christ's way is simple and easy according to the scriptures.  Q:  Why then is it that for many of us His way seems hard?

Bare your testimony

I N. 17:41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

2 Nephi 25:20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err. And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved.

 John 3:14 ¶And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Learner Involvement


Learner Application

Lesson on Repentance

Lesson on Repentance.

Create the Outline before class begins.

HP Group both a quorum of action and of learning.  To organize the group to help those in need is very important for our process of sanctification.

A. Introduction - Read a paragraph or two about the Nehor religion

As in the days of Nehor and Korihor, we live in a time not long before the advent of Jesus Christ—in our case, the time of preparation for His Second Coming. And similarly, the message of repentance is often not welcomed. Some profess that if there is a God, He makes no real demands upon us (see Alma 18:5). Others maintain that a loving God forgives all sin based on simple confession, or if there actually is a punishment for sin, “God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 28:8). Others, with Korihor, deny the very existence of Christ and any such thing as sin. Their doctrine is that values, standards, and even truth are all relative. Thus, whatever one feels is right for him or her cannot be judged by others to be wrong or sinful.

On the surface such philosophies seem appealing because they give us license to indulge any appetite or desire without concern for consequences. By using the teachings of Nehor and Korihor, we can rationalize and justify anything. When prophets come crying repentance, it “throws cold water on the party.” But in reality the prophetic call should be received with joy. Without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life. Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation. 

Refer to the outline on board

1. Teachings of Nehor in our Day.
2. Repentance, Grace and the Atonement
3. Five Aspects of Repentance
1. The invitation to repent is an expression of love.
2. Repentance means striving to change.
3. Repentance means not only abandoning sin but also a committing to obedience.
4. Repentance requires a seriousness of purpose and a willingness to persevere, even through pain
5. Whatever the cost of repentance, it is swallowed up in the joy of forgivenes

B. Learner Readiness - {establish that we still need repentance}

Q: Do we as High Priests in the true church of Jesus Christ need the principle of repentance?  I mean, we have been baptized, we have made covenants, we go to church on Sunday and keep certain outward commandments by which we are declared worthy to go to the temple. 

Q: Do we need repentance?

Q: What do we need to repent of?

- sins of character

- internal sins

- sins contrary to the Law of the Gospel

Q:  What kind of sins are these?  Name some of them?

[look at Moroni 7, the attributes of charity;  look at Alma 7 for more attributes; Sermon on the Mount]

Q:  Is it possible to correct these things?  How is it possible?  What is required?

Q: Have we established that we still need repentance?

C: Learner Involvement

Say: Well, let's learn about repentance, but as we do so, be thinking about how each principle applies in your life right now.  I once met a good latter day saint sister that told me that she had nothing to pray to God for.  Her prayers were short.  I she was talking, I immediately thought of a dozen things that I need help with.

Section 2 - Repentance, Grace and the Atonement

Work through the Elder Christopherson quote line by line

'B' Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration.


'C' Repentance exists as an option only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is His infinite sacrifice that “bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:15). Repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which “mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16). Our witness is this:

“We know that justification [or forgiveness of sins] through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;

“And we know also, that sanctification [or purification from the effects of sin] through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength” 
Section 3 - Five Aspects of Repentance

(1) The invitation to repent is an expression of love.

Read D: "If we do not invite others to change or if we do not demand repentance of ourselves, we fail in a fundamental duty we owe to one another and to ourselves." 


Q: What does it mean to demand repentance of ourselves?

(2) Repentance means striving to change.

Read E: It would mock the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for us to expect that He should transform us into angelic beings with no real effort on our part. Rather, we seek His grace to complement and reward our most diligent efforts.


Q: What does it mean to seek His grace to complement our most diligent efforts?


Q: What does it mean to seek His grace to reward our most diligent efforts?


Read F: Perhaps as much as praying for mercy, we should pray for time and opportunity to work and strive and overcome. Surely the Lord smiles upon one who desires to come to judgment worthily, who resolutely labors day by day to replace weakness with strength.
 Q: Do any of you have experiences praying for time and opportunity to work, strive and overcome?



Q: what happens when we pray for time and opportunity?  What are we wanting? (We want that particular sin to no longer have affect in our lives)
Example of February 2.  Everything was going wrong.  I recognized it and choose not get all worked up.


I prayed for opportunity the night before.  This a minor example but it will suffice.


1. Out to lunch with Daughter, having major problems with roommates.  Just listened with patience.
2. Foot needs an operation
3. 6:15, no answer from my wife regarding going to the temple that night.
4. Wife calls at 6:45 saying she want to go.  I am driving and turn around.  We get to the temple late.  I make a choice not to be bothered.
5. Forgot may cell phone.  But found after driving all the way back to the temple.
6. T-mobile example 



Q: What does it mean to labor day by day to replace weaknesses with strengths?


Q: Why would we want to do this?


Q: After we have the outward manifestations of repentance down in our lives what do we begin to work on?



Read G: Real repentance, real change may require repeated attempts, but there is something refining and holy in such striving.

I have come to the conclusion that whatever sins or weaknesses that we continue to repeat and have not overcome will require more assistance and grace than previously realized or understood.  What changes to do we need to make in our personal plan to discontinue our recidivisim?


(3) Repentance means not only abandoning sin but also a committing to obedience

Read H - For our turning to the Lord to be complete, it must include nothing less than a covenant of obedience to Him. We often speak of this covenant as the baptismal covenant since it is witnessed by being baptized in water… Without this covenant, repentance remains incomplete and the remission of sins unattained.

(4) Repentance requires a seriousness of purpose and a willingness to persevere, even through pain

I - Attempts to create a list of specific steps of repentance may be helpful to some, but it may also lead to a mechanical, check-off-the-boxes approach with no real feeling or change. True repentance is not superficial. The Lord gives two overarching requirements: “By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43).

(5) Whatever the cost of repentance, it is swallowed up in the joy of forgiveness

 President Boyd K. Packer provided this analogy:

“In April of 1847, Brigham Young led the first company of pioneers out of Winter Quarters. At that same time, 1,600 miles [2,575 km] to the west the pathetic survivors of the Donner Party straggled down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains into the Sacramento Valley.

“They had spent the ferocious winter trapped in the snowdrifts below the summit. That any survived the days and weeks and months of starvation and indescribable suffering is almost beyond belief.

“Among them was fifteen-year-old John Breen. On the night of April 24 he walked into Johnson’s Ranch. Years later John wrote:

“‘It was long after dark when we got to Johnson’s Ranch, so the first time I saw it was early in the morning. The weather was fine, the ground was covered with green grass, the birds were singing from the tops of the trees, and the journey was over. I could scarcely believe that I was alive.

“‘The scene that I saw that morning seems to be photographed on my mind. Most of the incidents are gone from memory, but I can always see the camp near Johnson’s Ranch.’”

Said President Packer: “At first I was very puzzled by his statement that ‘most of the incidents are gone from memory.’ How could long months of incredible suffering and sorrow ever be gone from his mind? How could that brutal dark winter be replaced with one brilliant morning?

“On further reflection I decided it was not puzzling at all. I have seen something similar happen to people I have known. I have seen some who have spent a long winter of guilt and spiritual starvation emerge into the morning of forgiveness. When morning came, they learned this:

“‘Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more’ [D&C 58:42].”⁴

Conclusion


The divine gift of repentance is the key to happiness here and hereafter


Other ideas:

Alma 38:13 Do not ^apray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.

 14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are ^abetter than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my ^bunworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.

Q: Is there an underlying attitude that Alma is teaching Shiblon to have?

Q: Are we unworthy before God or worthy?

Q: If we are worthy before God, why does Alma tell his returned missionary son to pray this way?

Other Questions if there is time Divine forgiveness and healing flow quite naturally to such a soul, for indeed “virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; [and] mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own” (D&C 88:40).

Q: Why does divine forgiveness and healing flow quite naturally to person who striving to make real change, attempting repeatedly after each failure?


Q: Can mercy and healing flow to us who are long time members of the church?  Do we need this or are we perfect?


Q: Is there an underlying attitude humble follower of Christ possesses?