February - Accept the Prophetic Invitation

Why have we been focusing on the Sabbath Day for three years?

"The Lord's commandment to hallow the Sabbath day and to keep it holy is a charge that we take very seriously and literally. If we can really do that...if we can really do that, we will help our members to build faith in the Lord and deepen their conversion to Him and to His church.  As we learn better how to hallow the Sabbath day, faith will increase across the world."(Pres. Nelson)

                                                         

"We've determined that elevating the spirit and power of the Sabbath day would be most influential in drawing members and families closer to the Lord Jesus Christ..." (Elder Ballard)

                                                         

"It's our purpose now to turn to the scriptures and seek a better understanding of what the Lord intends for the Sabbath, what it should mean, and what it should achieve in our lives and what we can do to make that happen at home." (Elder Christopherson)

                                                          

?Why is this called a "prophetic invitation?"
?Have you taken a "very serious approach to improving the Lord's day?

Foundational Scripture: Isaiah 58:13-14

?What is the importance of a foundation?
?The Savior used "rock" and "sand" as examples of two kinds of foundations and
  the consequences of using one over the other. Who is the "rock" upon which we are told to build   our foundation?
?What is the consequence of building on any other foundation than Jesus Christ?
                                        

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

?How does your understanding of the importance of "foundations" add to the importance and meaning of this being a "foundational" scripture for our understanding of the Sabbath day?
?Does the promise associated with this scripture being a "foundation" motivate you to want to improve your Sabbath day?
?What are we to turn away from on the Sabbath?
?Are there any specific examples given in church publications?
    - First Presidency Message, Pres. Kimball   
    - New Era Q&A 
    - Church News
    - Faust, "The Lord's Day"
    - Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
"It's not a question of doing 'good' things but about doing 'God' things."
?Who's holy day is it? ("It's Not Our Time")
?How do you honor your loved ones on their birthday, Mother's/Father's day?
     - Do you seek to do things that they like or what you like?
     - Do you give them gifts they would like or ones that you would like?
?Would you feel honored on your birthday if -
     - you were ignored or were given attention?
     - your loved ones said "Happy Birthday" and then planned a day of activities that they liked and   
      didn't include you or - if they asked you what you'd like to do and did that with you?
     - If your loved ones talked only of themselves and politics, sports, tv or movies, etc - or if they told
      you and others why they were grateful for you and tried to learn more about you?
?How can you honor the Lord using this analogy?
?Has He told us what He would like us to do to honor Him?
?What are the promises for keeping the Sabbath as the Lord would like?
     - what does it mean to call the sabbath "a delight"?
     - what does it mean to "ride upon the high places of the earth"?
       See  Moses 1:1; 7:2; 1 Nephi 11:1; Ether 3:1; Isaiah 2:2
     - what does it mean to "feed thee with the heritage of Jacob"?

The Temple - His Holy House         The Sabbath - His Holy Time

Elder Bednar made the above comment in a General Conference Leadership Training in April 2017 and followed it up with a General Conference talk in October 2017, "Exceeding Great and Precious Promises" where he said:

"The Sabbath day and the holy temple are two specific sources of divine help instituted by God to assist us in rising above the level and corruption of the world. We may initially  think that the overarching purposes of keeping the Sabbath day holy and attending the temple are related but distinctive. I believe, however, that those two purposes are precisely the same and they work together to strengthen us spiritually as individuals and in our homes...

The Sabbath is God’s time, a sacred time specifically set apart for worshipping Him and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises. 

The Lord has directed in this dispensation:

“That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

“For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High.”18

Thus, on the Sabbath we worship the Father in the name of the Son by participating in ordinances and learning about, receiving, remembering, and renewing covenants. On His holy day, our thoughts, actions, and demeanor are signs we give to God and an indicator of our love for Him.19An additional purpose of the Sabbath is to elevate our vision from the things of the world to the blessings of eternity. Removed during this sacred time from many of the regular routines of our busy lives, we can “look to God and live”

Please note that the Sabbath day and the temple, respectively, are a sacred time and a sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God and for receiving and remembering His exceeding great and precious promises to His children. As instituted by God, the principal purposes of these two divine sources of help are exactly the same: to powerfully and repeatedly focus our attention upon our Heavenly Father, His Only Begotten Son, the Holy Ghost, and the promises associated with the ordinances and covenants of the Savior’s restored gospel...

Now, importantly, a home should be the ultimate combination of time and space wherein individuals and families remember most effectively God’s great and precious promises. Leaving our homes to spend time in Sunday meetings and to enter the sacred space of a temple is vital but insufficient. Only as we bring the spirit and strength derived from those holy activities back with us into our homes can we sustain our focus upon the great purposes of mortal life and overcome the corruption that is in the world.

The Sabbath and the temple can help us to establish in our homes “a more excellent way” as we “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”

What we do in our homes with His sacred time and with what we learn in His sacred space is pivotal to becoming partakers of the divine nature."

(Click here to review my more in depth study of this talk)

Elder Holland reinforces the importance of the home as the "ultimate combination of Time and Space where we most effectively overcome the corruption of the world":

Closing Thought:

"The Apostle Peter reminds us that for disciples of Jesus Christ, “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”2 (Elder Bednar's talk)

?Can you feel/hear the "call to glory and virtue"?  "Citius, Altius, Fortius" means "swifter, higher, stronger". Is this not the race we being called to run? God is "hastening is work" (swifter); asking us to lift our lives above the world (higher); challenging us to build our faith and testimony and conversion (stronger).

GROUP DISCUSSION:

? Why are the “exceeding great and precious promises” associated with our covenants so important to remember ?
? What are you learning about the Sabbath Day?
? How has your feeling about the Sabbath Day been elevated?
? How might this improve your Sabbath Day next week?
? How will you share this with your family?


CHALLENGE:
Will you accept the prophetic invitation to take a very serious approach to improving the Lord’s day – that which you do at church and at home?

OTHER THOUGHTS:

? What is the Hebrew definition of the word "rest"?
? Does "resting from our labors" allow us to enter the "rest of the Lord"?

In the temple we enter the Celestial Room, to symbolically enter into God's presence, which is another definition of the "rest of the Lord"

? God "blessed" the Sabbath day. To "bless" is to "favor". Why does God "favor" the Sabbath day?
?"Holy" means "different, separate, cut out, a cut above, different from the common". How do you make the Sabbath "holy"?

General Conference Leadership Training - April 2017

Key Quotes and Notes:

“…We just want to reassure you that the First Presidency and the Twelve are very much concerned that this stay in place until all of our Sacrament meetings will be so wonderful that everyone in the church will want to bring their friends to come and see. That’s where we’re hoping to get and we’re hoping to extend that even into the homes. “ (Elder Ballard, GC Training April 2017)

MY SUMMARY

• very concerned Sabbath Day focus stay in place

Progress made:

“Although the Sabbath is a “perpetual covenant” we’ve had a special focus for the last three years.”

Express appreciation “…to every member and every family who have accepted this prophetic invitation to take a very serious approach to improving the Lord’s day; that which we do at church and that which we do at home.” (Elder Rasband GC Training April 2017)

Studies show members have heard this taught, all throughout the church; are finding the Sabbath more of a delight; reverence is improving in Sacrament meeting; feel more inclined to invite friends to come; Sunday becoming a special day that families look forward to.

MY SUMMARY

• Honoring the Sabbath day is not anything "new", but we need to be giving it "special focus"
• This "special focus" is a "prophetic invitation" to take a "very serious approach to improving the Lord's day at church and at home

Foundational scripture, Isaiah 58:13-14

13“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;

MY SUMMARY

• We turn away from seeking our own pleasures
• We turn away from doing our own ways
• We turn away from speaking our own words (conversations about daily or worldly things
• We feel the Sabbath is a holy day of the Lord
• We seek to honor the Lord's day
• We seek to honor the Lord
• The result is we feel the Sabbath is a delight and we delight ourselves in the Lord.

Focus on what matters most:

“…I think we should focus on cutting less and focusing more; and I think that the presiding councils are trying to give a pattern for focusing on things that matter most; The Sabbath day, in an increasingly wicked world so that we can remain unspotted from the world.

Over these years, in my own personal study, I’ve tried to think about the comparison between the temple and the Sabbath day. One is a “place” and one is a “time”. They’re both the Lord’s. It’s Holy House. It’s His Day. They’re both focused on ordinances and covenants. You dress differently. You come to the conclusion that the Sabbath and the Temple have the ultimate same objective – to take us out of the world, and to see the things of eternity.” (Elder Bednar; GC Training April 2017)

“…If taking the sacrament is the single most sacred moment in a week; in terms of an ordinance, the most repeated, regularized ordinance in the church – and it’s to symbolize all this remembrance and renewal and sanctification – if it is that sacred and that important and we’re commanded to be there, I wonder if we shouldn’t prepare a little sooner. Not just pulling into the parking lot of the chapel or not just when is hymn is starting for that, but maybe last Friday or maybe last Wednesday. If it were really the moment to come, in this kind of engagement (referring to Elder Bednar’s comment) with the Lord, with heaven, with spirituality, with our covenants, with the thing that’s going to keep us going – I suspect we don’t prepare very well soon enough…If we could start preparing Sunday night for next weeks Sacrament and we thought about it through the week, the preparing and the remembering start to blend for me and that’s part of our sacramental prayer.” (Elder Holland, GC Training, April 2017)

MY SUMMARY

• Focus on what matters most - the Sabbath day so that we can remain unspotted from the world
• Temple                                                 Sabbath Day
  A place                                                 A time
  The Lord's House                                   The Lord's Day
  Focused on ordinances and covenants      Focused on ordinances and covenants
  You dress differently                               You dress differently
  
• The Sabbath and the Temple have the same objective: to take us out of the world and to see the things of eternity
• Prepare better and sooner for the single most sacred moment in the week - the Sacrament

How Can We Improve?

“One of the things that may need to improve is our understanding of the benefit of repetitious teaching. I think sometimes we say “ok, we’ve heard this; let’s move on.” And the answer is, “we’re not moving on.” This is important in the Latter Days, to remain unspotted from the world. The answer has been given. 

So there’s not some “new thing” that we need to be focused on. Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith four times and in the culture of the church we typically say, “and he said the same thing four times.” He didn’t. There was a core portion of that message that was the same. But in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th visitations something was added. And we kind of neglect that. That highlights a very important aspect of repetitious teaching. The core may be the same but every time we study about or listen to message about the Sabbath Day, the Holy Ghost will bring something additional. Line upon line, precept upon precept. So some people may grow weary and think, “well, ok, when’s the new flavor of the month coming?” And the answer is, “This is…this is it. And it will be there forever and there’s great blessing and benefit in repetitious teaching if we have “eyes to see and ears to hear.” (Elder Bednar, GC Training, April 2017)

“…We’re starting to get the principles down now, and how are we doing at living it in our homes and then maybe sharing it at church so that we can help each other build our homes to be what they ought to be on the Sabbath Day. I think it’s the practical modeling and the mentoring each other as we share those experiences.” (Sister Burton, GC Training April 2017)

“One of the reasons…we need to keep doing this is we still have a lot to do – especially on the home portion of what happens on the Sabbath day.” (Elder Rasband, GC Training April 2017)

Elder Holland – reverence in our chapels; work on worship not just reverence;

Elder Ballard – fast and testimony meeting, what it is, what the purpose is – share inner feelings of love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

MY SUMMARY

• There's a reason the focus on the Sabbath Day has remained for the last 3 1/2 years
• This is God's answer to keep us unspotted from the world
• Every time we study or talk about the Sabbath Day would should learn something new by the Holy Ghost
• There's a great benefit in the repetitious learning about the Sabbath Day if we have "eyes to see and ears to hear"
• Move past just knowing the principle to modeling and mentoring; living it and sharing our experiences with others
• We still have a lot to do in our homes
• We need to work on actual worship at church and not just being quiet
• Fast and Testimony meeting is for sharing inner feelings of love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Sacrament Meetings – responsibility lies with Bishopric; ward council confirms and supports; Savior center

Ward Council – role in teaching an enabling Sabbath Day worship at church and home

Bednar – focus on identifying questions before rushing to solutions

Rasband – model for the ward things want others to work on; share what they’re learning with each other

MY SUMMARY

• Sacrament meetings should be Christ centered
• They are the responsibility of the Bishopric
• The ward council teaches and enables Sabbath Day worship at church and home
• In councils, focus on identifying questions
• Councils model what they hope others will work on and share what they are learning

Communicating the Message

“There are 168 hours a week and we have 3 of them at church…that leaves 165 somewhere else. We need to pay a lot more attention to the “somewhere else”. And most of that is “home”. Almost all of us think of the church as the first line of defense. I submit to you the church is not the first line of defense; that if possible, (I know it’s not ideal; knowing that homes are not perfect; that families are not perfect, but nevertheless,) just given the weight of that kind of time for teaching – the family really does have to be the first line of defense (if we can help it. I’m quick to say that not every family is prepared; not every family is perfect; sometimes we’ve got a 16 yr old young woman who’s the only member in that family) then the second line of defense has to rush forward. But we’ll go farther faster if we get more help in these other 165 hours than trying to think we’re going to get everything done that we have to do for the salvation of mankind from 9 – noon.” (Elder Holland, Gen Conf Training Apr 2017)

“…councils are not business meetings. Councils are the setting for revelation. And the unity for a ward or a branch council or the unity in a family council is a prerequisite to receiving revelation. So ultimately, a part of “how does this get disseminated”…it’s not like this is business and we have to figure out all these mechanistic things to do to make sure that the message happens. We have to do all that we can do, but it’s the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, who can deliver to the people who need it.” (Elder Bednar, Gen Conf Training Apr 2017)

MY SUMMARY

• The family is the first line of defense
• Focus more on helping what happens there
• Councils will receive revelation (their purpose) if they have unity on how to help the Holy Ghost communicate to the people what they need

Spiritual Experiences are Key – How can we assist the rising generation feel the Spirit more

Sister Oscarson – they need to feel needed; find opportunities for them to serve

Elder Bednar – get the question right and that helps to get the right answer

Elder Holland – when all is said and done, the two things that matter most in keeping young people active and on the covenant path is private religious experience (prayer, study, spiritual experiences on their own, significant adult example in their life)

MY SUMMARY

• Youth need to feel needed
• Youth need opportunities to serve
• Ask the right questions and you'll get the right answers
• Encourage private prayer, study, spiritual experiences
• Help youth to find a "significant adult example" 

Role of the Bishopric and how the ward council can help

Sister Oscarson - Bishop visit YW/Primary/RS

Elder Ballard – Return missionaries mentor priests

Elder Holland – Bishops let some things go to other people

Elder Bednar – “when they are anxiously engaged in the work, their doubts will be fewer and their testimony will be stronger.”

MY SUMMARY

• Bishops visit auxiliaries more
• Return missionaries mentor priests to help them along the covenant path
• Bishops learn to delegate
• Help others become "anxiously engaged in the work"

SUMMARY

Elder Bednar  - “We simplify by focusing consistently on what matters most”

Elder Rasband – “We stay with this topic.”

Elder Holland – “Spiritual Experience is the Bread of life. That’s what brings people in to the church and that’s what keeps them there.  We need to create spiritual experiences.”

Sister Oscarson – “Let's see our youth as a resource in the ward and give them opportunities to serve.”