Three Sacred Places: Our Homes – Our Chapels – Our Temples .. "we perfect ourselves starting in our own homes growing by serving each other and our families, by faithful service in callings within our home wards and branches serving each other and other families, by becoming worthy to obtain a temple recommend and attending therein for ourselves to be endowed and sealed as families eternally and not just ‘till death do we part’. Thus the home and church lead to the temple and the temple leads us as a church back to our eternal home in one great circle, one ‘eternal round’."
“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.” (Alma 37:6-7) Sitting in our testimony meeting last week I was thinking on just what it meant to bear and to have a testimony. While I would have liked to be one of those standing to bear a testimony, I didn't really have anything very extraordinary to say, time was short with many others already speaking, and many other perfectly appropriate excuses came to my mind. I have a testimony. I know that God exists, that this is His church. He directs the leaders of this Church to our benefit, that living and following His teachings will bring us closer to Him. We are blessed when we follow him.
 Sunday 3 July 2016
My Good Trek Family Children, Daughters: Hope, Faith, Charity, Grace, Mercy, Harmony and Felicity and Sons: Lehi, Ammon, Mormon, Mosiah and Nephi “Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.” ('The Family: A Proclamation to the World,' Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102)
D&C 50:10 “And now come, saith the Lord, [..] and let us reason together, that ye may understand.” Alma 37:37 “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” Matt 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” I have been asked to discuss the topic of Family Councils today. “Councils in the Church follow a divine pattern at every level, from the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to stake, ward, branch, quorum, and other leadership councils. “The most basic council of the Church,” said President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), is the family council.”i Our agency is respected 'at all times and in all places' by our Heavenly Father. He teaches and prompts us. We are free to choose, sometimes fail, repent and repeat. We need to emulate him and ensure we also respect the agency of others around us – everyone: our spouse, our children, extended family, those we teach and interact with each day. The invitation is there. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. We are to encourage, help, support, teach, and lead but never force. To those I have recently offended or to whom I am likely to offend sometime soon. I now apologize. I was assigned to give this talk to help me do better in this regard. To help me remember, that despite my weakness and failings, that there is another person, our elder brother, who can and will step in and make everything clear and right, who can and will reconcile us back to God and with our fellow man, who can take and fix all wrongs and remove and correct all faults - if we but let him in. In chapter 13 of 2nd Corinthians, Paul states: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor. 13:1).
We can grow as Jesus grew to become perfected in him. You may notice it first in your own family, perhaps with the selection of a spouse and eventually in the birth of a child. This feeling, this great love, is not limited to your own family, it can expand to anyone you serve. It may come as you ponder “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world;” (D&C 138:3). It is often a reflection of His love for those around you. May we each learn and grow and wax strong in spirit, eventually being filled with wisdom: and find the grace of God upon us through Him. |
Roger DaviesMy mom (and my grandkids) couldn't be at all my public speaking assignments, so I post them here for them/her and you to read .. Archives
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