Church Services This Week at Ridge Crest Ward Northridge Stake Layton Utah 29 March 2015

Sacrament Service

The bishop spoke to us and have us the parable of the splinter. He talked of getting a stick stuck in his leg. He pulled out the large splinter and thought he had got it all. Weeks went by and he got an infection and found that there was still a splinter in there.

The bishop talked about that we need to make sure we get all of our sin repented of and not leave sins unresolved.

He also talked about paying attention to council given in talks and apply them to our lives. We should resist the temptation to think the talk is for someone else.

Doctrine and Covenants 84 - the oath and covenant of the priesthood.

Doctrine and Covenants 121

Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

One of the bishop's counselors spoke to the youth.

"You cannot do wrong and feel right. It is impossible!" (Elder Ezra Taft Benson, A Message to the Rising Generation, October 1977 General Conference)

The counselor talked about having proper devotional time in the morning before school or work.

Sunday School

My lesson on How can relying on the Savior’s grace help me become a better teacher?

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Is there anything we have talked about in past weeks that I didn’t explain well that you have questions about?

What have you learned in personal gospel study this week?

Have you had any interesting gospel conversations with friends or family this week?

How can relying on the Savior’s grace help me become a better teacher?

What is grace?

Grace is the enabling power of the atonement.

We may sometimes experience feelings of inadequacy or feelings that we aren't good at something we are trying to do.  If we humble ourselves and admit we can't do it alone, we can exercise faith in Jesus Christ. He can help us with any struggle.

We all have things we could be stronger in our better at. If we follow the Savior's commandments and also ask him to help us then he week enable us to be better. Enabling us to be better is called grace.

As we have talked about before the commandments aren't to limit what we can do, but what are they for?

They are to show us how things really work to be successful in life.   So part of grace is his instructions on how to have a successful life. Those instructions tell us how to draw on the power of the atonement to fully have the grace of God enable us to be better.

Does that make sense? Anyone have anything they would like to add? Does anyone have any questions so far?

Elder David A Bednar,  In the Strength of the Lord, Ensign November 2004

"Brothers and sisters, please pay particular attention to the word grace as it is used in the verse I just read. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote a strengthening or enabling power:

"'The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

"'… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts' (p. 697).

"Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real. Without that strengthening power of the Atonement, I could not stand before you this morning."

Grace Is An Enabling Power.

Ex. 4: 10

10 ¶ And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Moses 6: 31

31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

Alma 26:12

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

2 Nephi 25:23

 23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

God’s grace enables us to be saved after we have done everything we can.  We keep the commandments and repent when we have not and then God’s grace bridges the gap between us and God.  It also gives you strength to keep commandments we struggle with and gives us abilities to do things we never thought we could.

How would you encourage friends are feeling inadequate?  Perhaps they have had sins they need to repent of.  Perhaps they have a calling that they are having trouble doing.  Perhaps they are having trouble with their school work.  Perhaps they are having trouble with their testimony.

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Joint Priesthood/Relief Society/Youth

5th Sunday lesson on indexing

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Presented by two presenters.

Part by first presenter:

Today we are going to talk to you all about FamilySearch indexing.  What it is and why it is important.

-Watch video "Indexing Is Vital" and narrate.

Narration

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Documents were created about our ancestors all through their lives.

-Birth Certificates

-School and Work Records

-Marriage Certificates

-Census Records

-Death Certificates

- and Obituaries

-All of these have been stored in various places around the world.

-As we work on our genealogy we need the data contained on those documents.

-We search and search, hoping someone has possession of those documents and has entered them into a computer, so that we can enter them into our family trees.

-Many of these documents have been photographed, but it takes a long time to get all of that information into computers.

-Indexing is the process of reading those documents and entering the data into computers.

-Once that information is in computers, by people indexing the records, it can be searched by web sites like FamilySearch. Then people who have been trying and trying to find their ancestor’s information can finally find it.

}

-So the basic idea of indexing is that documents we need for genealogy are all over the world and can be brought to us quickly with computers.  The problem is to get computers to know what document we are looking for.

-Computers do not understand paper and handwriting very well.  Humans, on the other hand understand written text.  We are the translator between the document and the computer.

-When we index records we take paper documents and make them so they can be found by someone in their home using a computer.

-Because of the great tool that indexing these documents is to hastening temple work, our leaders have asked us to make time for indexing.

Indexing is very easy to incorporate into the patterns of our lives.  We would love to meet with you and your families to talk about how to work a little indexing into your lives.

-A significant contribution can be made with any amount of time.

The stake and ward have established indexing goals for us for the year,so let's run through these really quickly.

-Our stake has a goal for everyone in the stake to learn to index, and for each person in the stake to index 500 names this year.
-Our ward has a goal to index 100,000 names as a ward this year.
In order to accomplish this, the ward has a goal to have at least one registered indexer from each family by the end of June.  We and our other ward indexers are available to come to your home and show you how if you need help getting registered.

-There is work to be done in indexing at all levels of experience.  So there is work for you no matter what.
-There are a variety of projects to index that match every different persons’ strengths and weaknesses.  

-Don’t let the thought that you will make mistakes keep you from indexing.  There are many checks and balances in place to prevent error and to train you along the way.

-We are available to come to your home and help your family get started with indexing or help you over any bumps you may be having along the way.  Just contact one of us to set up a time.

Now my fellow presenter is going to share with us some of the blessings of indexing.

Part by second presenter:

-These are the promised blessings/Why I index

-Protection

-Redemption

-Edification

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Church Services This Week at Ridge Crest Ward Northridge Stake Layton Utah 22 March 2015

Sacrament Service

A sister missionary that recently returned from a mission to Texas spoke to us. Our bishop said he served in that same mission she did when he served. They both served in the college station area.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:32

32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you.

1 John 4 - love others - home/visiting teaching

Let us have compassion upon each other, and let the strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves (Discourses of Brigham Young, 271).

Is the majority of our home teaching effort spent in service or in excuses?

Sunday School

My teaching partner’s lesson on the Book of Mormon and the atonement.

Elders Quorum

President Dieter F Uchtdorf’s talk Living the Gospel Joyful from October 2014 General Conference

“I am pleased to be among so many daughters of God. When we sing the song “I Am a Child of God,” the lyrics penetrate our hearts. Pondering this truth—that we are children of heavenly parents1—fills us with a sense of origin, purpose, and destiny.”

We should not assume that because we are children of God and members of the church that we are going to get into the wedding feast when Christ returns.

"God Knows Something We Don’t

And yet for some of us, obedience to God’s commandments doesn’t always feel very joyful. Let’s face it: there may be some that seem harder or less appealing—commandments that we approach with the enthusiasm of a child sitting before a plate of healthy but hated vegetables. We grit our teeth and force ourselves to comply so that we can move on to more desirable activities."

Mosiah 18:9

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

Church Services This Week at Ridge Crest Ward Northridge Stake Layton Utah 15 March 2015

Sacrament Service

There are many Christians in the world. Christians believe in Christ. Saints also believe in Christ, but they also make covenants with God and participate in ordinances to remind us of those covenants.

It is true that Jesus saves, but what did He save us from and what did He do.

Without the gift of the Holy Ghost we can not be sanctified. Without the authority from God the Holy Ghost cannot be given to us. It is not automatic.

We must also work to keep the Holy Ghost with us in order to be sanctified.

Christ is our advocate.  He pleads our case with the Father.

“The principle of love within us is an attribute of the Deity, and it is placed within us to be dispensed independently according to our own will” (Brigham Young, in Deseret News,4 Apr. 1860, 34). We decide how we express love. The Latter-day Saints “have got to learn that the interest of their brethren is their own interest, or they never can be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God” (Brigham Young, in Deseret News, 18 June 1856, 116).

“Real adoration of Jesus as our Savior but also as the perfect leader will lead us to emulation of Him. After all, He said, ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly’ (Matt. 11:29). Brothers and sisters, we cannot really learn any deep or lasting things about Jesus unless we take His yoke upon us. Then, though on our small scales compared to His, the relevant experiences will teach us keenly and deeply about Him and His divine attributes. There is nothing abstract about it at all. It becomes a very personal thing for us.” (Neal A Maxwell, Jesus, the Perfect Mentor, Ensign Feb 2001)

Christ taught that he was not teaching or doing anything new, but only that which he had seen his father do.

He says that His yoke is easy because He has already done the hard part.

Jesus understands loneliness. He understands the pains of cancer. He understands the struggles of diabetes.

Sunday School

My lesson on What can the scriptures teach me about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

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Have you learned anything in your gospel studies that you would like to share?

Who is not here that should be in our class?

What can the scriptures teach me about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

"The principal purpose of the scriptures is to testify of Jesus Christ, [and to help] us come unto Him and partake of His Atonement." - from the lesson outline

Do you have any scriptures about Jesus Christ that are meaningful to you?

Do you have any scriptures which have helped you better understand the Atonement?

People in the old testament and in the book of Mormon knew of Christ. Their animal sacrifices were to remind them off Christ. When something is like Christ to make us remember him we sometimes call that a type of of Christ.

Jacob tells us about this :

Jacob 4:5

5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.

What are some types of Christ you can think of in the scriptures that remind us of Christ or symbolize Christ?

Abraham and Isaac

Genesis 22

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 ¶And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Exodus 17:6

6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Who knows what was going on at the time of this scripture?

How is this example of Moses striking the rock and water coming forth a symbol of Christ?

Let's read from 1 corinthians 1:10 to give us a little more about the rock and the water and other things the Lord gave Israel to teach them of Christ.

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Christ is the rock we should build on. From him comes living water. Those waters are absolute truth and atonement.

Additionally, it talked about the going down into the Red Sea when it was parted like going down into the waters of baptism. Coming out onto the other shore was like coming out of the waters of baptism free from the sins that keep us captive.

Numbers 21:4-9

4 ¶And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

What does this story symbolize?

Israel was ungrateful and rebelled against God. Consequently they ended up having a harder life. Moses have them a symbol of their salvation and all they had to do was look.

When we sin we have to choose to partake of the atonement that is freely available to us.

Many of the those in Israel refused to look and died. Many refuse to partake of Christ's Atonement and have much harder lives than they need to.

President Boyd K Packer, “The Reason for Our Hope.”

"Several years ago, Sister Packer and I went to Oxford University. We were looking for the records of my seventh great-grandfather. The head of Christ’s College at Oxford, Dr. Poppelwell, was kind enough to have the college archivist bring the records. There in the year 1583 we found my ancestor’s name, John Packer.
The following year we returned to Oxford to present a beautifully bound set of the standard works for the library at Christ’s College. It seemed a bit awkward for Dr. Poppelwell. Perhaps he thought we were not really Christians. So he called for the college chaplain to receive the books.
Before handing the scriptures to the chaplain, I opened the Topical Guide and showed him one subject: 18 pages, very fine print, single-spaced, listing references to the subject of “Jesus Christ.” It is one of the most comprehensive compilations of scriptural references on the subject of the Savior that has ever been assembled in the history of the world—a testimony from the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
“However you follow these references,” I told him, “side to side, up and down, book to book, subject after subject—you will find that they are a consistent, harmonious witness to the divinity of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ—His birth, His life, His teachings, His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, and His Atonement.”
After I shared with the chaplain some of the teachings of the Savior, the atmosphere changed, and he gave us a tour of the facility, including a recent excavation revealing murals which dated to Roman days.

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Elders Quorum

Teachings of Presidents of the Church:  Ezra Taft Benson Chapter 6

What does your testimony do for you?

“While the Book of Mormon speaks with power about the issues that affect our modern society, the great and stirring burden of its message is a testimony, vibrant and true, that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah. The book bears witness of him who walked the dusty roads of Palestine healing the sick and teaching the doctrines of salvation; who died upon the cross of Calvary; who on the third day came forth from the tomb, appearing to many; and who, as a resurrected being, visited the people of the Western Hemisphere” (“The Power of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, June 1988, 4–5).

"Over one-half of all the verses in the Book of Mormon refer to our Lord. Some form of Christ’s name is mentioned more frequently per verse in the Book of Mormon than even in the New Testament.

He is given over 100 different names in the Book of Mormon. Those names have a particular significance in describing His divine nature." (President Ezra Taft Benson, Come Unto Christ, New Era April 1988)

Our testimonies should always be growing. No matter the strength or size of a testimony as long as it is stronger than yesterday.

How close can we come to the master?