Post # 194
-- Come, Follow Me – Week # 14 – March 30–April 12 – Easter -- “He
Shall Rise … with Healing in His Wings”
Dear Family and Friends
Another crazy week here,
as probably it is crazy wherever you are as well. News of a whole county in
quarantine. Wow! And have you experienced the rationing in the grocery stores.
Seems like back in WWII when they had ration book😊 I guess it could still come down to that in the very near future😊
If we aren’t very careful not to run the
stores as people have done since this whole virus began😊 We each need to remember that we are not the only ones in this situation.
We are all in it together so we should help one another and love one another and not try to take it all for ourselves.
I’m sure that you have
heard about all of the paper products and cleaning supplies flying off the
shelves just as soon as the news of the virus hit the news.
And not they are rationing a whole bunch of other things as well as those paper products that are essential for clean living and staying healthy.
And not they are rationing a whole bunch of other things as well as those paper products that are essential for clean living and staying healthy.
The stores need to
ration things to make sure that everybody has the same chance to acquire those
things that they need for their families😊 So please think of others needs too when you are shopping to meet the needs of your own family members😊
Well, I guess that it is about time for another Come, Follow Me
lesson on the Book of Mormon😊
This lesson is the Easter lesson. The following suggestion comes directly from the Come, Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual:
This lesson is the Easter lesson. The following suggestion comes directly from the Come, Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual:
During the days leading up to Easter Sunday,
consider focusing your personal and family scripture study on the Book of Mormon’s
powerful testimony of the life, death, Resurrection, and atoning power of Jesus
Christ.
What is that saying? Something about
the baring of one’s testimony is what strengthens it, or something along those
lines anyway😊Did you know that Easter Sunday is an excellent opportunity for you and your family members to strengthen their testimonies of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection—and to help strengthen one another’s testimonies as well😊
During your studying these past two weeks of what the Book of
Mormon teaches about the Resurrection and the Atonement of Jesus Christ you and
/or your family members may have had one or more meaningful experiences. You may want to consider sharing or having
your family members share what they have found during their study and tell why
it was meaningful to you or them😊
The ancient Apostles were bold in their testimonies of Jesus
Christ and His Resurrection. Millions believe in Jesus Christ and strive to
follow Him because of their words recorded in the Bible. Yet some might wonder, if Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole world, then why were His eyewitnesses limited to a handful of people concentrated in one small region?
The Book of Mormon stands
as an additional, convincing witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the
world, “manifesting himself unto all nations” (title page of the Book of Mormon) and offering salvation to all who come unto Him.
In addition, this second
witness also clarifies what salvation means. This is why Nephi, Jacob,
Mormon, and all the prophets labored so “diligently to engraven these words
upon plates”—to
declare to future generations that they too “knew of Christ, and … had a hope
of his glory” (Jacob 4:3–4).
3 Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor
diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved
brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon
them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt,
concerning their first parents.
4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that
they may know that we knew of Christ,
and we had a hope of his glory many
hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his
glory, but also all the holy prophets which
were before us.
This Easter season, reflect on the testimonies in the Book of Mormon
that the power of Christ’s Atonement is both
universal and personal—redeeming the whole world
and redeeming you.
Resurrection is the permanent reuniting of the body and the
spirit.
As you know we begin when we are very young
being taught through comparing things – as in opposites. There are also comparisons
used in the scriptures to teach us things. And using these comparisons can be a
very effective way of teaching the principles of the gospel to others as well
as for learning them ourselves😊
You may want to consider having your
family members divide into two small groups and each group read one of the following passages: 2 Nephi 9:7–15 and Alma 11:41–45. As they are reading have them look for and
identify words and phrases in these verses that teach about resurrection.
2 Nephi
9:7–15 Book
of Mormon
|
Alma
11:41–45 Book of Mormon
|
7 Wherefore,
it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite
atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption.
Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs
have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh
must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no
more.
8 O
the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits
must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the
Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
9 And
our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become
devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God,
and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to
that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men
unto secret combinations of murder and all
manner of secret works of darkness.
10 O
how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way
for our escape from the grasp of this awful
monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and
also the death of the spirit.
11 And
because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of
Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the
temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And
this death of which I have spoken, which is
the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death
is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must
deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its
captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by
the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13 O
how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand,
the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits
of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the
spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men
become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having
a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh,
save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.
14 Wherefore,
we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.
15 And
it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first
death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear
before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel;
and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged
according to the holy judgment of God.
|
41 Therefore the wicked remain as though there had
been no redemption made, except it be the
loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand
before God, and be judged according to their works.
42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal
death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all
shall be raised from this temporal death.
43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall
be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we
shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a
bright recollection of all our guilt.
44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and
young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the
righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost;
but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is
now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned
before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good
or whether they be evil.
45 Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning
the death of the mortal body, and also
concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say
unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even
from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with
their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no
more see corruption.
 |
In these passages what is death compared to?
How is resurrection described?
Why do we need a resurrected body? (see also Doctrine and Covenants 93:33–34).
33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a
fulness of joy;
34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
For your family discussion you and your
family members might want to take some time to discuss how you and/or they
might use these comparisons from your family study to teach someone else about
resurrection.
During your idea sharing time, you could
discuss with your family members why they should value these truths about the
Resurrection😊 you might want to ask your family members
to think of a time when they felt thankful for their knowledge of the Resurrection.
Here is another question for you: How could that knowledge influence our lives more regularly?
If you and / or your family members need help in answering this
question you may want to have them search through the following passages: 2 Nephi 9:7–15; Alma 11:41–45;
or Alma 40:21–23.
21 But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do
not say; but this much I say, that there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and
a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that
the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body,
and be brought to stand
before God, and be judged according to their works.
22 Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those
things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets.
23 The soul shall
be restored to
the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every
limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the
head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper
and perfect frame.
After you have finished making your list you can write the Then
you could write the following two sentences on your poster board just under our
list or on the back even: If I did not know these things… and Because I know these things…. You could even make a chart if you wanted to. It
might look something like the following:
If I did not know these things…
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Because I know these things….
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I would be in darkness
|
|
After you have written these two sentences you might want to ask
your family members to think about these two questions for a few minutes and
then they could share their answers. You might want to write their answers on your poster board under the appropriate question.
Ideas for Personal Scripture Study
Because of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, all people will be
resurrected.
It’s
traditional at Easter to ponder the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but what
exactly does it mean to be resurrected?
What insights does the Book of Mormon offer about resurrection? Perhaps as part of your Easter observance you could list truths about resurrection that you find in 2 Nephi 9:6–15, 22; Alma 11:41–45; 40:21–23; and 3 Nephi 26:4–5. You could also record why you think it’s important to know each of these truths.
What insights does the Book of Mormon offer about resurrection? Perhaps as part of your Easter observance you could list truths about resurrection that you find in 2 Nephi 9:6–15, 22; Alma 11:41–45; 40:21–23; and 3 Nephi 26:4–5. You could also record why you think it’s important to know each of these truths.
You might notice that truths about the Resurrection are often
taught in conjunction with truths about the Final Judgment. Ponder what that
teaches you about the importance of the Resurrection in the plan of salvation.
See also Luke 24:36–43; Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:12–23.
Jesus Christ took upon Himself our sins, pains, and infirmities.
For this section you will need to get out
another piece of your handy dandy poster board😊
On your poster board you can make a chart like the one in this week’s outline
in Come, Follow Me – For Individuals and Families.
I don’t
know if you have thought much about it, but when you ponder [think about things
deeply or very carefully] they can have new meaning for you. And when you ponder about all of the suffering that your Savior did for you individually.
How much of His suffering may have been caused by you alone?
When you are thinking very carefully like
this that is when the Holy Ghost comes to you and you can receive feelings of
inspiration. You receive feelings of the Savior’s great love for you
individually. The Holy Ghost can confirm your feelings and inspire you to the truth of all things. Especially of those things of which you are thinking about. You feel such gratitude for the Savior😊
I know when I have been thinking things
like this, I am amazed that our Savior would give up so much an suffer so much
for me alone and for each one of us collectively, these thoughts leave me in
awe.
I have such overwhelming feelings of being loved so much, more so than I have felt in my mortal life thus far😊
I have such overwhelming feelings of being loved so much, more so than I have felt in my mortal life thus far😊
It is really hard to imagine one person
giving up so much for so many😊
I am sure that you have heard the hymn ‘I
Stand All Amazed” I think the words to this song fit me so perfectly😊
If you have not heard it before or if you haven’t heard it in a while and you want to give it a listen you can go here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/hymns/i-stand-all-amazed?lang=eng&_r=1
If you have not heard it before or if you haven’t heard it in a while and you want to give it a listen you can go here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/hymns/i-stand-all-amazed?lang=eng&_r=1
I guess we should get back to that chart that
you were going to make with your family members😊
once you get your chart drawn you can give a read to the following passages to
help you to fill out the chart: Mosiah 3:5–7; 15:5–9;
and Alma 7:11–13
you could also ask your family members to share their feelings about what Jesus
Christ has done for them.
What
did the Savior suffer?
|
Why
did He suffer?
|
What
does this mean to me?
|
Be
sure to add your own input into your chart as well😊
5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant,
that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven
among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men,
working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing
the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and
curing all manner of diseases.
6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of
men.
7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his
people.
5 And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or
the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation,
but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.
6 And after all this, after working many mighty miracles
among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so
he opened not his mouth.
7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the
Father.
8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—
9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy;
being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them
and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having
redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might
be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he
will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy,
according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth
according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot
out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now
behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
As I have mentioned before in prior posts sacred music can
invite the Spirit and reinforce the doctrine you are teaching to your family
members😊 Maybe you and your
family members could review the following passages: Mosiah 3:5–7; 15:5–9;
and Alma 7:11–13 [above].
Then together with your family members find
and sing hymns that you all feel match the messages in these verses.
The scripture index at the back of the hymnbook can help, 😊 😊 😊 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/index/hymns/scripture and other hymns are suggested in the list below:
Then together with your family members find
and sing hymns that you all feel match the messages in these verses. The scripture index at the back of the hymnbook can help, 😊 😊 😊 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/index/hymns/scripture and other hymns are suggested in the list below:
Hymns about the Savior’s Atonement.
Videos of The Tabernacle
Choir at Temple Square singing some of these hymns can be found on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
It may be helpful for you to encourage
your family members to listen to the hymns carefully and then share a phrase or
two from the hymns and the scripture passages that has helped them to
appreciate the Savior’s sacrifices for them more deeply than they have before😊
Ideas for Personal Scripture Study
Jesus Christ took upon
Himself my sins, pains, and infirmities.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins.
The Book of Mormon, however, expands our understanding of Christ’s sacrifice
and suffering in important ways. You can find some of these teachings in Mosiah 3:7; 15:5–9;
and Alma 7:11–13.
After you read these passages, consider recording what you discover in a chart
like this one:
What did the Savior
suffer?
|
Why did He suffer?
|
What does this mean
to me?
|
See also Isaiah 53; Hebrews 4:14–16.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ cleanses us and helps perfect us.
The Book of Mormon has so many examples of how Jesus Christ has
changed their lives. You and your family members can read about a few of these
examples in the following passages: Enos 1:1–19, Mosiah 5:1–2, Mosiah 27:8–28:4,
Alma 24:7–19. T
his is one very effective way that we can learn about Jesus Christ’s power to change our own lives by studying about how He has changed the lives of others😊
his is one very effective way that we can learn about Jesus Christ’s power to change our own lives by studying about how He has changed the lives of others😊
As these people repented of their sins and came to Jesus, He
forgave them and changed their lives for the better😊
I am sure that you and your family members together could come up with others in the scriptures that you could share with one another by summarizing their experiences.
You and your
family members might enjoy playing a bit of a guessing game with one another.
I am sure that you and your family members together could come up with others in the scriptures that you could share with one another by summarizing their experiences.
You and your
family members might enjoy playing a bit of a guessing game with one another.
You could give clues about a person to the rest of our family to
see if they can guess who you are describing😊
you may also want to include a question and answer session using the following questions:
How did the people in these examples change? What was the Savior’s role in their change?
you may also want to include a question and answer session using the following questions:
How did the people in these examples change? What was the Savior’s role in their change?
Then as it says in Mosiah 5:2 you
and your family members could talk about how Jesus Christ has worked “a mighty
change … in [your /their] hearts”
You also may want to share the following analogy to learn more about how Jesus Christ changes us, if we ask Him, and why this change is so important to us.
You also may want to share the following analogy to learn more about how Jesus Christ changes us, if we ask Him, and why this change is so important to us.
Analogy: We must be more than clean.
President Dallin H. Oaks shared an analogy to explain how
the Savior prepares us to return to God’s presence:
“We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply
cleansing us from sin, but that is an incomplete view. …
A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin.
If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain.
Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.
A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin.
If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain.
Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.
“When a person has gone through the process that results in what
the scriptures call ‘a broken heart and a contrite spirit,’
the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength.
That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father.
To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God” (“The Atonement and Faith,” Ensign, Apr. 2010, 33–34).
the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength.
That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father.
To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God” (“The Atonement and Faith,” Ensign, Apr. 2010, 33–34).
Ideas for Personal Scripture Study
The Atonement of Jesus Christ cleanses me and helps perfect
me.
It
could be said that the Book of Mormon is largely an account of people who
changed because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In fact, some of those people committed grievous sins and were even enemies of God’s people before the Savior’s power worked in them a mighty change according to their faith in Him.
You can read some of these experiences in Mosiah 5:1–2; 27:8–28; and Alma 15:3–12; 24:7–19; you might think of other examples to study as well.
What do you notice that each of these experiences has in common? What differences do you notice?
What do these accounts teach you about how the Savior’s Atonement can change you?
In fact, some of those people committed grievous sins and were even enemies of God’s people before the Savior’s power worked in them a mighty change according to their faith in Him.
You can read some of these experiences in Mosiah 5:1–2; 27:8–28; and Alma 15:3–12; 24:7–19; you might think of other examples to study as well.
What do you notice that each of these experiences has in common? What differences do you notice?
What do these accounts teach you about how the Savior’s Atonement can change you?
See
also Alma 5:6–14; 13:11–12; 18; 19:1–16; 22:1–26; 36:16–21; Ether 12:27; Moroni 10:32–33.
For the upcoming lesson I would like you
and your family members to think about a time when you felt like rejoicing
after reading or hearing a gospel message?
This could be from the scriptures, the Church magazines, the conference talks, or elsewhere when you have heard or read a gospel message😊
This could be from the scriptures, the Church magazines, the conference talks, or elsewhere when you have heard or read a gospel message😊
For this lesson we will be reading and
studying Mosiah 1–3. So during your scheduled scripture study time individually
and with your family, as you are reading and studying these chapters
I challenge you and your family members to look for truths that you can rejoice in together in Mosiah 1–3.
I challenge you and your family members to look for truths that you can rejoice in together in Mosiah 1–3.
I pray that all of your are healthy and
well on this beautiful day😊
I hope that I have shared something in today’s Easter lesson that has brought each of you and your family members a little closer to your Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ😊
I hope that I have shared something in today’s Easter lesson that has brought each of you and your family members a little closer to your Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ😊
At this present moment in time wee all
need to be a little bit closer to both our Heavenly Gather and His Son, Jesus
Christ – we each one of us need Them at the head of our lives
😊 As
we have evidenced during this past month the world is in turmoil over this
scary virus that has infected people all around the world.
😊 As
we have evidenced during this past month the world is in turmoil over this
scary virus that has infected people all around the world.
We
need to know our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We need to come unto
Him we need to learn of Him.
We need to apply what we learn into our daily loves. We need to learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how it can make our lives better😊
We need to apply what we learn into our daily loves. We need to learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how it can make our lives better😊
Remember who you are!!! You are each a child of God😊 You are loved!!! You are needed to help build the kingdom of God😊
Please continue to study the Book of Mormon with me and all of your cyber study buddies out there in cyberspace😊
Keep studying with and teaching your family
members from the scriptures especially from the Book of Mormon😊Until
my next post, please do what you can to prevent this virus from attacking you
and your family member. And don’t forget to make it good week😊
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