J.R. editted his talk right before he gave it so I will have to talk him into editing it latter, but for now I will post what he first typed up.
J.R.'s talk:
During his great intercessory prayer, Jesus says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)
To draw closer to Christ, to live a Christ-like life, ours is the opportunity and responsibility to live in a way that would enable us to return to our Father in Heaven. Alma puts it, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; …” (Alma 34:32)
What does it mean, and why do we do it?
M. Russell Ballard, in his beautifully simplistic book, ‘Our Search for happiness, an invitation to understand the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints,” says… “We believe that only as we focus our attention on the Savior and build our lives upon the strong foundation the Atonement and gospel give us, are we prepared to resist the challenges and temptations so prevalent in today’s world.” (p 14)
Helaman, in the Book of Mormon, also spoke about this necessary foundation when he spoke to his sons. In Helaman 5:12, he says…
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Elder Ballard adds to this in his book.
Not that we can ever really become just like Jesus. But as we commit ourselves to Him – spiritually, physically, and emotionally – He blesses our lives with loving direction. Every decision we make from that time on is affected, because there are certain things a man or woman of Christ simply will not do. Our actions become more disciplined, our relationships become more righteous; even our language becomes more pure as we live a life that is centered on Jesus Christ and His teachings. Simply put, after the spirit of Christ enters our hearts and our souls, we can never be the same again. (p 15)
James Allen, in his incredible volume entitled, ‘As a Man Thinketh,’ stated,
The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. …A noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with God-like thoughts…
Fruits of a Christ-centered life
How do we know something is of God? Paul, in his letter to the people of Galatia said, “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” (Galations 5:22-23)
Moroni quoted his father, Mormon, as saying “…every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.” (Moroni 7:16)
Do we have these fruits in our own lives? Are we gentle and longsuffering? Do we persuade others to believe In Christ? Or are we in need of more temperance and more goodness? Do we lack faith? By living a Christ-like life, we will have the Spirit of God with us, and by having the Spirit, we will see those good fruits.
How do we draw closer to Christ?
I am a firm believer in Brigham Young when he said, “The Gospel is a fountain of truth, and truth is what we are after. We have embraced the truth – namely, the Gospel of the Son of God; …and have hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost, which will lead us into all truth.”(Discourses of Brigham Young, p 9)
But he cautions, “The principles of eternity and eternal exaltation are of no use to us, unless they are brought down to our capacities so that we practice them in our lives.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p 14)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT a passive religion. We need to be actively applying these principals in our life to draw closer to Christ.
The prophet Nephi said, “And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; … Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
We need to take more time to learn about God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. We need to take some time, a time when we can turn off our T.V.’s and our cell phones and our always-on internet connections so we can commune with God. A quiet time that we can use to ponder and reflect and meditate on his words and on his gospel. A time that we can use to draw closer to Christ.
We need to be keeping the commandments. We need to be keeping the Sabbath day holy. We need to be paying our tithing, and serving our neighbors. We need to have those fruits of the spirit evident in our own lives. We need to have those fruits so we can convince those around us to do good and to come unto Christ. But mainly we need those fruits in our life so we can return to live with our father in heaven and partake in eternal life and exaltation. I bear testimony that this is the only true and living Church of Christ on the earth today. In Jesus’ name, amen
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I have the hardest time writing out a talk, because then I just read and forget to listen to what the spirit wants me to say. So for my talk our talks were about using the March ensign to draw closer to Christ, or just about Christ in general. So I sat down and red the March ensign, at least most of it, and I found that it focused on the following subjects: To know the savior, to have faith in the savior, to use the atonement, and to become a witness. So I chose quotes, or stories most of which came out of the March ensign, and then talked around those, since I don’t remember exactly what I said I am just going to attempt to post what I think I said.Esther’s talk given 3-9-2008
First I did a quick intro. Then I thanked the previous speaker, and then I introduced my topics:
This month ensign is fantastic, it is filled with testimonies and stories that focus on Christ our Savior, the four main topics that I noticed were to know, to have faith, to use the atonement (to repent), and to become a witness.
To Know:
We must all know for ourselves that the church is true. God wants us to know, and how do we come to know?
President Harold B. Lee said “After a long night of searching and days of spiritual preparation that followed, I came to know as a witness more powerful than sight, until I could testify with a surety that defied all doubt, that I knew with every fiber of my soul that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that He lived, He died, He was resurrected, and today He presides in the heavens, directing the affairs of this church, which bears His name because it preaches His doctrine. I bear that testimony humbly and leave you my witness.’
We must come to know for ourselves that the Gospel is true, that Christ lives and suffered for us, and that he died for us. When I was a young girl I went into the woods to find out myself I got a peaceful, but confirming feeling that this is the true church on the earth. If God is willing to tell a young girl in the woods, then he will tell you. If you don’t know, why not? Plead to God and find out. If he will tell me, he will tell you.
Faith:
Once we know we then must have faith
In David A Edwards talk he says: Faith in Jesus Christ not only brings blessings in this life, but it is essential to our eternal salvation and exaltation. Scripture declares, “All men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.” The Lord also holds parents responsible to teach their children to have “Faith in Christ the Son of the living God”
There is a story in the Ensign of a man and his son walking to stake conference. On there way they get lost, and the son suggested that they say a prayer to help find the stake center. The dad in response said “There are things we do not need to depend on the Lord for; finding the way to the chapel is one of them.” The son then responded “Why do you insist on doing things the hard way?” He then said a silent prayer, shortly there after they arrived at the stake center. Have Faith, turn to the Lord, he wants you to pray to him. He loves you!
Atonement:
Seek to be at one with Christ through repentance and coming to know who Christ is! Christ suffered that we might repent, that we may live forever. There is a story in the ensign of a young man that is struggling with gospel principles. He was drinking, and smoking and one day got caught stilling a scooter. He was taken to the police station, and then his mother picked him up. After that he was humble, he said “One night when my burdens were too heavy to carry, I remembered the words of a good friend who had reminded me that I could always pray for help. That night I decided to give it a try. There was not another door open to me, and since my mom had taught me how to pray, I kneeled down and closed my eyes. As I started to plead for help, the most wonderful feeling came over me. I’ll never forget that feeling; I felt the pure love of Christ. I felt that my problems were taken away from me. My desperate feelings haven’t come back since, and I have been blessed with a testimony of Jesus Christ. My heart was changed, and I desired to follow Jesus Christ.” Like this man we must repent! The atonement was set up for us to come unto Christ.
Boyd K. Packer said this about the atonement: “How the Atonement was wrought we do not know. No mortal watched as evil turned away and hid in shame before the Light of that pure being. All wickedness could not quench that Light. When what was done was done, the ransom had been paid. Both death and hell forsook their claim on all who would repent. Men at last were free. Then every soul who ever lived could choose to touch that Light and be redeemed. By this infinite sacrifice, “through [this] Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel”(Articles of faith 1:3)”
Bear Witness:
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said “ All of us who are baptized and confirmed have taken upon us the name of Jesus Christ with a commitment “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) It is within the capacity of each of us to become His witness. Indeed, the Lord relies on “the weak and simple” to declare His gospel (see D&C 1:19, 23), and it is His desire “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world” (D&C 1:20)”
We have the gift of knowing the gospel; it is then our duty to share that knowledge with those around us.
Henry B. Eyring in his book Because He First Loved Us Tells a story about his great-grandmother Mary Bommeli. To summarize, her family was converted to the gospel while living in Switzerland with her family. Two of her brothers were called on missions, and the rest of there family decided to go to America, only they did not have enough money for everyone to go. Mary volunteered to stay behind until she could make enough money with her weaving. She moved into a women’s house who hired her to weave clothes for the family. While she weaved she told everyone of the gospel, the only problem was it was illegal at the time to teach, but she could not contain herself. She told the other women of the house, and even though she asked them not to tell anyone else, the news eventually got out. A police man showed up at the door to arrest her. On the way to the jail she asked the police man if the judge was a worldly man, he said he was. Nonetheless Mary wrote him a letter: “She wrote about the resurrection of Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Mormon, about the spirit world, and about how long the judge would have to think and to consider his life before facing the final judgment. She wrote that she knew he had much to repent of which would break his family’s heart and bring him great sorrow, She wrote through the night. In the morning she asked the policeman to take her letter to the judge. He did.” The Judge let Mary go President Eyring said this “Her teaching the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ had opened eyes and hearts enough to get her cast into jail. And her declaring the doctrine of repentance to the judge got her cast out of jail.” Oh, if we could all live and teach with that vigor and faith we would how much better the world would be! I will try and be more like this women who could not keep silent. Let us all have that same courage to teach!
We must know for ourselves! We must have faith in Jesus Christ, We must repent and use the atonement to it’s full power, we must tell others, it is our duty and joy to share this great knowledge with those around us.
I know the church is true, I know that Christ is our Savior and that if we follow him we can gain exaltation. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
1 comment:
Nice talks! Wish I could have heard them in person. I especially liked the last story of E. Eyring's grandma, that made me think.
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