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Gospel Doctrine Lesson #2

It's Monday, February 21, 2022 and I feel relief having taught my second gospel doctrine class yesterday. I had to teach in the overflow which is basically part of the gym with no table and no podium, so my makeshift podium was a stack of chairs for my laptop and another stack of chairs for my notes. I was supposed to have all of the individuals whose last names were A-H but for some reason only about 8 people showed up. I said to them, would you like to join the other class since there are so few of you? They said, no, just go ahead with your lesson. So I was like, OK. 

As I taught we only got through a quarter of what I prepared, but in my mind I know that doesn't matter. I have learned this calling has become more for me than for anyone else. With all that I am learning I am starting to grow a love for the old testament that I never had before. I am so grateful for all of the resources available to me like the Come Follow Me manual and the Old Testament study guide book that I purchased that are dumbing things down to a level I can understand. 

Having such a small class, almost everyone made a comment which made me think of all the years I taught a gospel principles class where it was small and it became a very special discussion because everyone felt comfortable enough to share their comments. 

As I sat at home after church and reflected on the smallness of the class. I felt the Holy Ghost testify to my mind, that there may have been only a few in person in that room, but that there were actually many in that room learning that we could not see. I have had a similar experience in the celestial room of the temple when I was alone and there also the Holy Ghost spoke to my mind that I was very much not alone. 

The Holy Ghost also spoke to my mind that it didn't matter how many people showed up to my lesson, because all that mattered was that I was obedient, I prepared the best I could, I fulfilled my calling, taught by the spirit, and at the end of the day that is what was important. 

I hope those who came were able to leave uplifted in some way. Everyone said they enjoyed the lesson but sometimes you don't know if people are just being nice. I guess if it was bad enough, they could have always just gone to the other class. 

Here is my lesson in it's entirety although we really only covered maybe 50% of it. 

Gospel Doctrine: February 20, 2022-

NOTE TO SELF-HAVE COURAGE AND FAITH AND TRUST IN THE SPIRIT

Items of Business-

We are in charge of putting up chairs at the end.

Teaching Disclaimer-

This is only my second time teaching Gospel Doctrine so I hope you will have patience with me as I fumble my way through the Old Testament.

I have not a scriptorian by any stretch of the imagination, nor did I serve a mission, nor have I have read the bible in it’s entirety including the old testament.

So I will likely be sharing things I have learned that are common knowledge to the majority of you, but that I have learned for the first time.

I am actually a very simple minded person and over the course of the last two lessons I have prepared I have discovered this calling is likely a lot more for me than for you. I have learned so much!

Case in point- in preparing for the last lesson I learned that the tree of life in the events of adam and eve is the same tree mentioned in lehi’s dream.

Also please know that with every statement I make or share you can just tag on in your minds “Correct me if I am wrong”. I do not want to share false doctrine, so please speak up if I ever get off base.

But I will tell you this, even though I recognize my inadequate scriptoral knowledgebase, I do have one strength that I hope is equally important and will hopefully help this year. And that is my love for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have a strong testimony of the truths found in this gospel and from my own learning and growth over the years. And I am going to do my best to teach by the Spirit and prepare thoughts, questions and messages to help us all to draw closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ each week.

Fortune Cookie-SLIDE

Ok-now we can begin.-SLIDE

The first event I would like to dive into is found in Abraham 1 when the Egyptians try to sacrifice Abraham.

This was brand new information to me and I think is important in later understanding a piece of how Abraham felt when he was asked to sacrifice his son Issac.

Abraham 1

Vs 1-4-getting to know Abraham-follower of righteousness, desired to possess great knowledge, desired to keep commandments, received the priesthood

Vs 5-8-fathers had turned from righteousness and the holy commandments and refused to hearken to Abrahams voice, so his father offered him up as a sacrifice unto these false Egyptian idols.

,12-priests laid violence on Abraham and laid him on the alter

,15-20-read when the Lord saves Abraham

“Abraham’s life stands as a testimony that no matter what a person’s family history has been, the future can be filled with hope.”

Some of us may receive little or no support from their families, and even opposition against the gospel as they strive to be members of this church.

 Is there any experience or advice anyone is willing to share that has been helpful to them or that they have learned from Abrahams experience regarding having opposition from loved ones as being a member of the church?

Like many of us, Abraham lived in a wicked environment, yet he desired to be righteous.

President Dallin H. Oaks taught the importance of having righteous desires:

 Quote  1 -“As important as it is to lose every desire for sin, eternal life requires more. To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being. … If this seems too difficult—and surely it is not easy for any of us—then we should begin with a desire for such qualities and call upon our loving Heavenly Father for help with our feelings.

How can we be a greater followers of righteousness?

 

Because God will bless us for our faith and righteous desires one day I believe our endless prayers and examples and service will be answered concerning those of our loved ones who have left the church or have yet to desire to be a member.

 

For those with children who are struggling I hope that you can find some comfort in this quote. SLIDE

 

Let’s return to Abraham’s story: NEXT SLIDE

Quote 2

“It is important to note that the Lord was with Abraham in all that he did. Before he went down to Egypt the Lord gave him a powerful vision of the universe and the eternal nature of spirits so that he could “declare all the words” of the Lord to those descendants of Noah who could not hold the priesthood yet desired to understand the truths of eternity”

“…Abraham’s faithfulness in all things qualified him to receive revelation for his family; indeed, he often spoke with the Lord ‘face to face’

Verse by Verse The Old Testament Volume 1 & Abraham 3:15

 

The scriptures tell us that Abraham built an alter where ever he went. Alters are a place of sacrifice to the Lord. How does this relate to us in our day? Where do we go to offer up sacrifice? What is it we sacrifice?

-Places we can go to speak to our Father in Heaven and offer up our own personal sacrifices

Let’s Return to Abraham chapter 2-where we learn about all the blessings promised to Abrahams seed- have people read:

Abraham 2:6- we learn that there is a condition to have this wonderful land- “when they hearken to my voice.”

7-8-why do you think the Lord shares this information?

9-priesthood

10-who will be blessed? Only his direct lineage?

11-what blessings? Gospel, salvation, life eternal

12-face of the Lord

13-14- Abraham is obedient and departs with Lot his nephew at 62 years of age

Let’s take a moment to ponder how these blessings of Abraham have affected your life.

Would anyone like to share?

Genesis 17:1

SLIDE -And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

I thought it might be interesting to see how the word perfect is defined:

Google dictionary perfect- having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be. free from any flaw or defect in condition or quality; faultless. flawless. immaculate, pristine, exact

One of the footnotes that come up on the word perfect is integrity which I also found to be interesting

Google dictionary for integrity- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Quote 3

 “Perfection even as God is perfect is the ultimate goal of every true disciple of the Lord, but here in mortality perfection does not mean to be “without sin”…

…One who is perfect as a mortal will, when he sins, immediately correct the wrongdoing, repent, return to God, and be whole, complete, or “perfect” once again.”

Verse by Verse The Old Testament Volume 1

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on this commandment to be perfect?

SLIDE

 

NEXT SLIDE

 

Genesis 15

1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

 

The experiences of Abraham and Sarah can help us have faith that our righteous desires will be fulfilled in the Lord’s time.

Don’t read just paraphrase

Genesis-18:10-The Lord said Sarah will have a Son

12-Sarah Laughed because she knew she was old

13-The Lord acknowledged her laughter

13-14-“And the Lord said unto Abraham…Is any thing too hard for the Lord?”

Take a moment to think about something in your life that seems impossible, whether it be a wayward child returning to the fold, enormous debt that feels it may never be paid off, a personal weakness you have spent what feels like a lifetime to overcome, a job you think you will never have, a marriage that you wish you had, a child you wish you had. A personal goal that feels out of reach. In that one small sentence we are taught so much. Is any thing too hard for the Lord?

Slide

This reminds me of when Jesus disciples were on a ship in the sea and the Savior came to them walking on water and Peter has the courage and faith to walk towards the Savior on the water and when he is distracted and became afraid, he began to sink, and what are the words of the Savior? Matthew 14:31  “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

What other experiences—in your life or someone else’s—have strengthened your faith that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you in His own time and way?

Just like the words to Abraham, Is any thing too hard for the Lord, the answer is no, but we must have faith and we must not doubt that all will be made right. Whether in this life of the next.

Elder Holland-SLIDE

 

Next topic-Lot’s family

Among the verses we have been studying we learn about Lot and Melchezidek. Lot pitched his tent towards the wicked city of Sodom and later lived there, and Melchezidek chose to live with his people up in the top of the hill country in a city called peace.

What can we learn from these two examples?

One of the ways we can be worthy of the blessings we seek and are given are by fleeing from wicknessness.

In genesis 19, we learn about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lots family.

Can anyone paraphrase what happened?

Slide

How does the Lord help you and your family flee or find protection from evil influences in the world?

Slide-Remember Lot’s wife

Quote 4: Elder Holland teaches us about Lot’s wife’s decision

“Apparently, what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before she was past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. … She did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. …

 

“To all [people] of every generation, I call out, ‘Remember Lot’s wife’ [Luke 17:32]. Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the ‘high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11)” (“The Best Is Yet to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 24, 27).

 

This also remind me of a scripture in Luke-SLIDE

Luke 9:62

62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the ^aplough, and ^blooking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

What does this scripture mean to you?

-SLIDE-choose you this day who you will serve

Just like Lot’s wife and looking back from a forward moving plough, we learn that we must move on from our past and our sins to continue to make progress.

Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac is a similitude of God and His Son.

slide

 

Genesis 21:5- “And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”

Quote 5

 

We don’t know all the reasons God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice; we do know it was a test of his faith in God (see Genesis 22:12–19).

 

Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son was “a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5).

 

I really loved how the story was written in this book so I would like to read directly from it as we learn about the similarities in these two events

 

“Abraham was called on to sacrifice, to give up, the best he had, as our Heavenly Father gave the best he had.”

 

Read from page 112-114-highlighted portions:

    "And Abraham rose up early in the morning" Three days is alot of time for Abraham to think about what was going to happen. Then "on the third day" Abraham "lifted up his eyes [as one would do while walking along], and saw the place afar off". The region of the Mount of Olives-Moriah can be first seen about ten miles away when approaching from the south of the Road of the Patriarchs. 

    Abraham took the wood and laid it upon Issac, just as Jesus would also carry the wood, the cross, to the place of his death. Isaac asked the heart-rending question, "My father... Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham prophetically responded, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering".

    When they came to the designated place, Abraham built an alter, laid the wood on it, and bound Isaac; Jesus, too, was bound on the wood of his alter of sacrifice, the cross. Isaac was willing to carry out the sacrifice, just as the Savior was willing to suffer and accomplish his sacrifice. Upon their arrival at Moriah and after constructing an alter, it was probably late in the afternoon; Temple procedure later stipulated that passover lambs had to be slain late in the afternoon. 

  When Abraham had passed his test and the angel of the Lord halted the sacrifice of his son, a ram was substituted.

    "Why did the Lord require Abraham in his old age to journey so far as the land of Moriah to perform his sacrifice of Isaac?" It seems that the mount of Moriah was already a spiritually important location to Abraham, and the similitude or representative sacrifice he was to make was meant to be done on the very same mountain where Jesus would suffer in the meridian of time. Moriah is the mount of sacrifice. There have been alters on it from the days of Melchizedek, Abraham, David, and Jesus. All sacrifices offered on Moriah were supposed to be a type of the Great Sacrifice."

Book-Verse By Verse The Old Testament Volume 1  

Does anyone want to share any thoughts that have impressed them about Abraham and Isaac’s experience? Or the similitude to our Saviors Sacrifice?

 

I personally cannot fathom waiting a lifetime to bear a son, to know that love between father and child, and be asked to sacrifice him. I cannot fathom how Isaac must have felt when he learned there was no lamb but that he would be the sacrifice. And the relief that must have come when Abraham was told he no longer had to sacrifice Isaac.

 

One of the scriptures that stood out to me was Genesis 22:16-18-

“16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

 

particularly the phrase “has not withheld” and because of this he was blessed beyond comprehension.

 

Slide

 

For a moment let’s ponder:

 

What are we withholding from the Lord?

 

We are not asked to sacrifice our children on an alter, but what are we asked to sacrifice?

 

Are there any other thoughts or comments anyone would like to share that the Holy Ghost taught you these past weeks as you have studied Abraham?

 

Play the song- God loved us so he sent his son

Link to Song

Indecisiveness

Events from: Wednesday February 2, 2022. I was about to board a flight in a few hours to go to Florida with my mom and sisters. My mom was already at the condo we would be staying at and my sisters and I were taking a redeye out to meet her there. Since I have made a goal to go to the temple once a week this year and because I would not be going to my shift this coming Saturday, I had made an appointment at the temple to do an a Endowment session on Tuesday, February 1. Well that time had rolled around on Tuesday and I just didn't feel well enough to go and thought, I will just cancel and go tomorrow before my flight. So I did just that and scheduled myself for the 6pm session. Thinking, I will be home by 8 pm and then will have enough time to catch my flight. 

Well Wednesday rolls around and I was hit with a ton of work that I needed to get accomplished before I left for my trip. All of these things I had been waiting on came in at the same time, which was great because I didn't want to have to do them on my vacation, but it was becoming more and more apparent that the quantity of work and time it would take I would need just about every minute before my flight left. 

I started to think, I am just going to have to stay here and work(from home) and skip my temple appointment. 

The truth is that I actually had already picked out the name I was going to take a few days prior. One of Henry's extended family members on his Becker line where I had done all other ordinances prior for her starting with her baptism. I felt a connection to this relative because of this. The last time I had done work for her was back in 2019, so I know she had been waiting a long time for me to complete her Endowment work. 

So I was starting to feel guilty because I felt like she really wanted me to do her work. I rationalized in my own mind, "I will just do it when I come back from my trip."

I decided to say a prayer and see if the Holy Ghost would give me any guidance. I asked if it was ok that I stayed and got my work done, or if I needed to go to the temple. The answer was clear "I want you to go to the temple." 

Although it was clear, I didn't want to believe it. I kept thinking how will I get this work accomplished if I go to the temple? Still finish packing and make it in time for my flight?

I called Hen and asked him what his impression was, should I go to the temple or should I keep working.  I guess I was hoping he was going to tell me that I should make work my priority and stay and finish it. 

He paused on the phone for a few moments and then said. "I think you should go to the temple."

Tears started to swell in my eyes. The fact that Henry received the same prompting I did cemented that I needed to go. 

So I saved my work, got ready to go to the temple and left. 

I had some very tender spiritual experiences at the temple that night. By the time I made it to the celestial room, the strength of the spirit I felt overwhelmed my emotions and I sat in Hen's favorite chair literally sobbing almost uncontrollably. The trouble with sobbing in the celestial room is that it is important not to make a single sound because of the reverent atmosphere that is kept there. So trying to hold in sound while you are sobbing is not an easy task. My chest literally ached from the pressure.

For once, I was grateful for my mask that hid what I am sure was ugly crying. Uncontrolled tears streamed down my face for probably 15 minutes. 

I am sure if you have been reading many of my posts, you will think this is typical, since I do cry alot when I am moved by the spirit, but I have not sobbed like this since the first time I went through the temple back in 2004. So this was very unexpected and not ordinary for me to be so emotional.

As I sat there completely at peace as the tears slowed, I felt like I could sit there forever. I didn't want to leave. But somehow I got the energy to get up and go home.

After getting home I had approx 2 hours to get ready before leaving for the airport. Work that would have normally taken 4 hours, I was able to get done in 2 hours. 

My older sister texted me and said she was sitting in the Delta Lounge and asked if I was there yet. I said, I haven't even left the house yet. 

I was trying to get every last thing packed and work finished before leaving. 

Everything worked out. All of my work was accomplished and I got to the airport in plenty of time.

I am sooo grateful that the Holy Ghost forgives my stubbornness for not listening the first time and that he also directed Hen's thoughts so that I would do what was most important. 

I am so grateful for temples. I am so grateful for family history and the opportunity I have to be apart of it.