Monday, August 11, 2014

8/10/14 Review

Important Dates
  • Aug 15: Stake Single Adult BBQ, 7pm
  • Aug 17: YM/YW Choir Rehearsal for Stake Conference
  • Aug 23-24: Stake Conference

Aug 2014 Lesson Schedule

Lesson Review
 “This life is short; and eternity is long.”
 Question to ponder: What are the key characteristics of a successful marriage?

Jessie Evans Smith, the third wife of President Joseph Fielding Smith, often said of her husband: “He is the kindest man I have ever known. I have never heard him speak an unkind word.” He would respond, with a smile, “I don’t know any unkind words.”

Question to ponder: What is it about celestial marriage that makes it the crowning ordinance of the gospel?

President Smith said, “There is no ordinance connected with the Gospel of Jesus Christ of greater importance, of more solemn and scared nature, and more necessary to [our] eternal joy…than marriage….The fullness and blessings of the Priesthood and Gospel grow out of Celestial marriage. This is the crowning ordinance of the Gospel and crowning ordinance of the temple.”

Questions to ponder: President Smith contrasted the Lord’s view of marriage to the word’s view of marriage. What is significant to you about this contrast? How can we protect and fortify marriage and family in the world today? 

President Smith said, “We have greater light than the world has, and the Lord expects more of us than he does of them.” What does it mean to have a marriage that is a partnership with God? How is God a partner in that marriage?

President Smith explains, “Marriage was never intended by the Lord to end at death of the mortal body; but to add honor, dominion, power to the covenanting parties, and the continued and eternal unity of the family in the kingdom of God. Such blessings are held in reserve for those who are willing to abide in this covenant as the Lord revealed it. It is not merely a partnership between a man and a woman, for as the Lord has said, in marriage they become one flesh and enter into a partnership with God.”
D&C 132: part of 19, and 20:
19 …and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
 20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

We are promised that every soul whose heart is right will have the opportunity to receive the blessings of eternal marriage, whether in this life or the next. President Smith said, “In the great plan of salvation nothing has been overlooked. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most beautiful thing in the world. It embraces every soul whose heart is right and who diligently seeks him and desires to obey his laws and covenants. Therefore, if a person is for any cause denied the privilege of complying with any of the covenants, the Lord will judge him or her by the intent of the heart.” He further promises, “No one can be deprived of exaltation who remains faithful.”

President Smith states, “Marriage was ordained of God. It is a righteous principle when in holiness it is received and practiced. If men and women today would enter into this covenant in the spirit of humility, love and faith, as they are commanded to do, walking righteously in the ways of eternal life, there would be no divorce, no broken homes; but a happiness, a joy, beyond expression.”

Question to ponder: What can you do to bring greater joy and love into your marriage?
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