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
