Popular Post Scott Lloyd Posted February 22, 2016 Popular Post Posted February 22, 2016 (edited) I wish those who purvey the notion that Mormons ignore Christ in their worship services could have been present for our Sabbath meetings today. In sacrament meeting, the theme was "Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ." Two of our young women, high school age, each gave a doctrinally solid, well-prepared, heartfelt sermon. One of them spoke of the death of her beloved cousin in a car accident and told how it had changed her and brought new perspective to her on the gifts and sacrifice of the Savior. A couple each spoke of the Atonement, relating it to the Addiction Recovery Program in the Church. All four speakers bore strong witness of the reality and blessings of the Atonement. Our Sunday School gospel doctrine class largely covered 2 Nephi 9, Jacob's discourse on the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah who would come. It drew some thoughtful comments from class members. I found myself sharing an insight that had not occurred to me until that moment. For weeks, our ward choir has been preparing a medley I arranged of two hymns from the hymnbook -- "My Redeemer Lives" and "I Know That My Redeemer LIves," some of the verses set to the music of one of our lesser-known hymns, "In Fasting We Approach Thee." I didn't select them or prepare the arrangement with this specific meeting in mind, but it was a perfect complement to the proceedings of the meeting. We had fewer singers than I would have wished, but the performance was technically proficient. More importantly, the choir sang with earnestness and confidence, imbued with the spirit in the meeting. In fact, all elements of the meeting worked together synergistically to make for a sublime experience. Edited February 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd 11
VideoGameJunkie Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 Sounds good. Ours was about prayer.
why me Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 There does seem to be the notion that mormons do not value christ. Usually, this idea is presented by exmormons or born again fromer mormons. Of course, it is not true. At the end of every prayer, the lds acknowledge christ. Plus, he is mentioned in learning material quite often. The problem is: people can actually believe that the lds do not value christ, regardless of the official name of the church.
Anakin7 Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 Of course many of our LDS critics would just say your Sacrement meeting [ And my Holy Ghost filled talk I gave a # of weeks ago in our Sacrement meeting on Jesus Christ and His Awesome Atoning Blood Sacrifice on our behalf ] was about the "Another/Different Jesus". They hear and hear not, see and they see not. Thanks for sharing that I am sure that the spirit was there in abundance. In His Eternal Debt/Grace Anakin7 2
Boanerges Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 (edited) We also had a very Christ centered sacrament meeting. The topic was about being a light and an example. The youth speaker (a somewhat recent convert) spoke about her LDS friends and others who influence her for good, and she included a good dose of scripture about Christ, by their fruits ye shall know them, and doing good. An older sister followed and she also used scripture with frequent mention of Christ and talked about loving and serving our neighbors as Christ did. The final speaker was the high councilor and his talk was almost all scripture about Christ being the light of the world in the Book of Mormon and the New Testament followed by Christ saying we are the light of the world. He then used several quotes from Pres. Monson's October Conference address as well as some other General Authorities and came back to love one another and not judging in the end. I actually wrote something down that he said: In order to love as Christ does, we need to move beyond cultural traditions and expectations and recognize that God’s grace - the grace that comes because God loves us and sent his son - is sufficient. Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify. That said, it is not always this way in our ward - we frequently go whole meetings without any mention of Christ other than the traditional "in the name of Jesus Christ," the sacrament prayers, and whatever might be included in the hymns sung. No offense intended, Why Me, but that does not make a meeting Christ centered. I will say this has gotten better since the focus on the Sabbath. Last stake conference our Area Authority told a story about him and Lavelle Edwards. Seems he and Br. Edwards had a well known mutual friend whom they had worked with for years to get to come to church. One week Br. Edwards called our AA and said the friend was coming to church that Sunday with him, and the AA took a flight out to be there. He told us the topic was about preparedness, there were only two speakers (husband and wife) and there was no mention of Christ. After the meeting their friend told them he understood now why some people don't consider Mormons Christian and never attended another meeting. The AA went on to say that by all means we should be prepared - but that preparedness is not an appropriate topic for sacrament meeting and that if the topic is not one that can easily and readily be focused on Christ that bishops should consider it inappropriate. He further admonished the membership to focus every talk and every lesson on the Savior. Edited February 22, 2016 by Boanerges fixed typos 2
Jeanne Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 13 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said: I wish those who purvey the notion that Mormons ignore Christ in their worship services could have been present for our Sabbath meetings today. In sacrament meeting, the theme was "Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ." Two of our young women, high school age, each gave a doctrinally solid, well-prepared, heartfelt sermon. One of them spoke of the death of her beloved cousin in a car accident and told how it had changed her and brought new perspective to her on the gifts and sacrifice of the Savior. A couple each spoke of the Atonement, relating it to the Addiction Recovery Program in the Church. All four speakers bore strong witness of the reality and blessings of the Atonement. Our Sunday School gospel doctrine class largely covered 2 Nephi 9, Jacob's discourse on the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah who would come. It drew some thoughtful comments from class members. I found myself sharing an insight that had not occurred to me until that moment. For weeks, our ward choir has been preparing a medley I arranged of two hymns from the hymnbook -- "My Redeemer Lives" and "I Know That My Redeemer LIves," some of the verses set to the music of one of our lesser-known hymns, "In Fasting We Approach Thee." I didn't select them or prepare the arrangement with this specific meeting in mind, but it was a perfect complement to the proceedings of the meeting. We had fewer singers than I would have wished, but the performance was technically proficient. More importantly, the choir sang with earnestness and confidence, imbued with the spirit in the meeting. In fact, all elements of the meeting worked together synergistically to make for a sublime experience. I have always loved and remembered 2nd Nephi..I am glad you had this experience. It is not often that you hear someone talk about Sacrament meetings this way. This is as it should be. You can bet that any denomination that may have been in your ward on Sunday would have benefited from it. 2
Bernard Gui Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 13 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said: I wish those who purvey the notion that Mormons ignore Christ in their worship services could have been present for our Sabbath meetings today. In sacrament meeting, the theme was "Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ." Two of our young women, high school age, each gave a doctrinally solid, well-prepared, heartfelt sermon. One of them spoke of the death of her beloved cousin in a car accident and told how it had changed her and brought new perspective to her on the gifts and sacrifice of the Savior. A couple each spoke of the Atonement, relating it to the Addiction Recovery Program in the Church. All four speakers bore strong witness of the reality and blessings of the Atonement. Our Sunday School gospel doctrine class largely covered 2 Nephi 9, Jacob's discourse on the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah who would come. It drew some thoughtful comments from class members. I found myself sharing an insight that had not occurred to me until that moment. For weeks, our ward choir has been preparing a medley I arranged of two hymns from the hymnbook -- "My Redeemer Lives" and "I Know That My Redeemer LIves," some of the verses set to the music of one of our lesser-known hymns, "In Fasting We Approach Thee." I didn't select them or prepare the arrangement with this specific meeting in mind, but it was a perfect complement to the proceedings of the meeting. We had fewer singers than I would have wished, but the performance was technically proficient. More importantly, the choir sang with earnestness and confidence, imbued with the spirit in the meeting. In fact, all elements of the meeting worked together synergistically to make for a sublime experience. Can I get an amen here? Will someone shout, "Amen?" 3
Boanerges Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said: Can I get an amen here? Will someone shout, "Amen?" AMEN and AMEN!
Scott Lloyd Posted February 22, 2016 Author Posted February 22, 2016 3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said: Can I get an amen here? Will someone shout, "Amen?" Will a rep point do?
The Nehor Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 We sang "Praise to the Man" for all four hymns and prayed to Joseph Smith and gave talks about how great he was. We are too traditional to go in for that Christ nonsense. 4
consiglieri Posted February 24, 2016 Posted February 24, 2016 On 2/22/2016 at 8:48 PM, Scott Lloyd said: I wish those who purvey the notion that Mormons ignore Christ in their worship services could have been present for our Sabbath meetings today. The fact you feel it necessary to announce this publicly suggests it is not a common occurrence.
Scott Lloyd Posted February 24, 2016 Author Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) 11 minutes ago, consiglieri said: The fact you feel it necessary to announce this publicly suggests it is not a common occurrence. This comment is pure trash. I bring it up as typifying what goes on at worship services in the Church of Jesus Christ. If I find it "necessary" to bring it up, it is only to counter such falsehood as you are purveying here. Edited February 24, 2016 by Scott Lloyd
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