Sunday Morning, December 26, 2010
Dear Family,
Just doing a little studying this morning and decided to share these thoughts with you from my Book of Mormon Study Guide about the Sacrament.
Elder David A. Bednar on the importance of partaking of the sacrament in our effort to remember our covenants. “Through the ordinance of the sacrament we renew our baptismal covenant and can receive and retain a remission of our sins. We are reminded on a weekly basis of the promise that we may always have His Spirit to be with us. As we then strive to keep ourselves clean and unspotted from the world, we become worthy vessels in whom the Spirit of the Lord can always dwell.”
Elder Dallin H. Oakes spoke of three significant meanings that should be understood when we take the name of the Savior upon us during the sacrament:
l. Our witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ has several different meanings. Some of these meanings are obvious, and well within the understanding of our children. Others are only evident to those who have searched the scriptures and pondered the wonders of eternal life. “One of the obvious meanings renews a promise we made when we were baptized’ we witness before the Church that we have truly repented of our sins, and are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve Him to the end. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew this covenant and all the other covenants we made in the waters of baptism.
2. “As a second obvious meaning we take upon us our Savior’s name when we become members of The Church. Every member, young and old, is a member of the ‘household of God’ Because of the covenant we make we are called the children of Christ, his sons and his daughters (Mosiah 5:7)
3. A Third meaning appeals to the understanding of those mature enough to know that a follower of Christ is obligated to serve him. By witnessing our willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ, we signify our willingness to do the work of His kingdom.
“In these three relatively obvious meanings, we see that we take upon us the name of Christ when we are baptized in His name, when we belong to His Church and profess our belief in Him, and when we do the work of His kingdom.”
There is at least one returned Missionary in each of your homes, so I close with this:
President Henry B. Eyring adds: “Those of you who have served missions may have come upon your missionary journals put away in a closet in your home. You may have read and felt a shock as you remembered how hard you worked, how constantly you thought of the Savior and His sacrifice for you and for those you tried to meet and teach, and how fervently and often you prayed. The shock may have come from realizing how much the cares of life had taken you from where you once were, so close to always remembering and always praying.
“My message is a plea, a warning, and a promise: I plead with you to do with determination the simple things that will move you forward spiritually.”
“Start with remembering Him. You will remember what you know and what you love. The Savior gave us the scriptures, paid for by the prophets at a price we cannot measure, so that we could KNOW HIM. Lose yourself in them. Decide now to read more, and more effectively than you have ever done before.”
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