Transcript Doctrine and Covenants 20

Doctrine & Covenants 20
Part III
Background
On April 6, 1830, as part of the meeting to organize the restored
Church of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery confirmed
those who had previously been baptized and bestowed upon them
the gift of the Holy Ghost
History of the Church
Joseph Smith’s parents were baptized and confirmed that day. This
was a joyful time for the Prophet, who exclaimed, “Praise to my
God! that I lived to see my own father baptized into the true Church
of Jesus Christ!”
Lucy Mack Smith
Organization of the Church
Jesus Christ
Presidency of Seventy
12 Apostles
Frist Presidency
Prophet
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles &
Presidency of Seventy
Quorum of Seventy
Stake
Ward
Use www.lds.org and the following
scriptures to find 3 bits of information
about each ordinance
Baby Blessing: D&C 20:70-71
Baptism: D&C 20:38, 73
After Baptism: D&C 20:68-71
Keeping Church Records: D&C 20:80-84
The Sacrament: D&C 20:75-79
A Name and a Blessing
A Name and a Blessing
“Every member of the church of
Christ having children is to bring
them unto the elders before the
church, who are to lay their
hands upon them in the name of
Jesus Christ, and bless them in his
name.”
D&C 20:70-71
See Moroni 8:5-26
Baptism
Baptism
The Person being baptized:
1. Stands in the water with the person to be baptized.
2. Holds the person’s right wrist with his left hand (for convenience and
safety); the person who is being baptized holds the priesthood holder’s left
wrist with his or her left hand.
3. Raises his right arm to the square.
4. States the person’s full name and says, “Having been commissioned of
Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost. Amen” (D&C 20:73).
5. Has the person hold his or her nose with the right hand (for
convenience); then the priesthood holder places his right hand high on the
person’s back and immerses the person completely, including the person’s
clothing.
6. Helps the person come up out of the water.
Convert baptisms are usually performed by a priesthood holder in the ward
or by one of the missionaries who taught the person. A convert may also
request that another qualified member perform the baptism.
Handbook 20.3.8
D&C 20:73
After Baptism
After Baptism
“Be kindly affectionate, one towards another;
that the fathers should be kind to their children,
husbands to their wives,
children obedient to their parents,
wives to their husbands.”
Joseph Smith
D&C 20:68-71
Keeping Records of Members
Keeping Records of Members
The priesthood holders in the early Church
were instructed to record the names of people
who had joined the Church in a book.
The names of those who fell away from the
Church were removed from the book.
Church members who moved from one
location to another were to take a certificate of
their membership with them to give to their
new priesthood leaders.
In our day, Church leaders continue to keep
accurate membership records, but the
methods of doing so are more efficient.
D&C 20:80-84
The Sacrament
“The one thing that would make for the safety
of every man and woman would be to appear
at the sacrament table every Sabbath day. We
would not get very far away in one week—not
so far away that, by the process of selfinvestigation, we could not rectify the wrongs
we may have done. … The road to the
sacrament table is the path of safety for
Latter-day Saints”
Elder Melvin J. Ballard
“We should be seated at least five minutes
before the meeting begins so they can be
spiritually prepared for a worshipful experience.
During that quiet interval, prelude music is
subdued. This is not a time for conversation or
transmission of messages but a period of
prayerful meditation as leaders and members
prepare spiritually for the sacrament.”
Russell M. Nelson, Worldwide leadership Training, 21 June, 2003
““Sacrament meeting is not a time for
whispered conversations on cell phones or for
texting.
“During sacrament meeting—and especially
during the sacrament service—we should
concentrate on worship and refrain from all
other activities.
“How wonderful when every person in
attendance joins in the worship of singing—
especially in the hymn that helps us prepare to
partake of the sacrament.”
Dallin H. Oaks, October 2008 General Conference
Imagine you are sitting in the congregation during
sacrament meeting. The sacrament Hymn has just
concluded and everyone is prepared to listen to the
blessing on the sacrament.
What distractions do you try to avoid?
What do you do to help you focus on the Savior?
A Deacon has just brought the sacrament to where you
are sitting and you are about to take it.
What promises are you about to make?
What blessings can you receive from this experience?
Why is this ordinance important to you?
What can you do to improve your experience of
partaking of the sacrament?
Write: One goal to make your
sacrament experience a bit
better next Sunday
“It is significant that when we
partake of the sacrament we do not
witness that we take upon us the name
of Jesus Christ. We witness that we are
willing to do so… The fact that we only
witness to our willingness suggests that
something else must happen before we
actually take that sacred name upon us
in the most important sense.
“What future event or events
could this covenant
contemplate?
“By partaking of the sacrament we
witness our willingness to participate in
the sacred ordinance of the temple and
to receive the highest blessings available
through the name and by the authority
of the Savior” (C.R., April 1985, 102-3).
D&C 20:77,79
“Many years ago, large packs of wolves roamed the
countryside in Ukraine, making travel in that part of the world
very dangerous. These wolf packs were fearless. They were
not intimidated by people or by any of the weapons available
at that time. The only thing that seemed to frighten them was
fire. Consequently, travelers who found themselves away from
cities developed the common practice of building a large
bonfire and keeping it burning through the night. As long as
the fire burned brightly, the wolves stayed away. But if it were
allowed to burn out and die, the wolves would move in for an
attack. Travelers understood that building and maintaining a
roaring bonfire was not just a matter of convenience or
comfort; it was a matter of survival.
D&C 20:77,79
“We do not have to protect ourselves from wolf packs as we
travel the road of life today, but, in a spiritual sense, we do face the
devious wolves of Satan in the forms of temptation, evil, and sin.
We live in dangerous times when these ravenous wolves roam the
spiritual countryside in search of those who may be weak in faith
or feeble in their conviction. We are all vulnerable to attack.
However, we can fortify ourselves with the protection provided by
a burning testimony that, like a bonfire, has been built adequately
and maintained carefully.
“Unfortunately, some in the Church may believe sincerely
that their testimony is a raging bonfire when it really is little more
than the faint flickering of a candle. Their faithfulness has more to
do with habit than holiness. With such a feeble light of testimony
for protection, these travelers on life’s highways are easy prey for
the wolves of the adversary” (Elder Wirthlin, in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, 45–46; or Ensign, Nov.
1992, 34).
Doctrine & Covenants 20
Part III