Transcript The Lord Has Beheld Our Sacrifice… [email protected] Watch carefully for these people.. Kingman, KS I live in a semi-rural area.

The Lord Has Beheld Our
Sacrifice…
[email protected]
Watch carefully for these people..
Kingman, KS
I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township
administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The
reason: "too many deer were being hit by cars" and he didn't want them to cross there
anymore.
Kansas City
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the
counter for "minimal lettuce."? He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
Wichita KS
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an
intellectually challenged coworker of mine when she asked if I knew what the buzzer was
for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded,
"What on earth are blind people doing driving?!"
Dallas County Sheriff’s Office:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the life of her
couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
Canton, Mississippi;
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told
the keys had been locked in it. We … found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the
driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle
and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey! ," I announced to the technician, "it's open!" To
which he replied, "I know - I already got that side."
Along those lines
NEW YORK (AP)— A drum-maker who imports
raw animal hides from Africa has been
infected with anthrax in what is believed to
be an isolated accident that poses no public
health threat, officials said Wednesday…
Bloomberg said the man had treated the
unprocessed animal hides at a work space in
the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.
Elder Jeffrey Holland
I wish to speak … of the
demands of discipline and
discipleship, of the
responsibilities we have to face
when we choose to follow Jesus Christ. In the
Savior's life and in ours, Satan counters such
discipline with temptations of an easier way, with
an offer of "convenient Christianity.“…
Surely fluttering somewhere over the highway to
hell is the local chamber of horrors banner
reading, "Welcome to the ethics of ease."
Question
What role does sacrifice play in living
a Christian life?
Adam and Eve left the garden with
only two recorded commandments
1) Multiply and replenish the earth
2) Sacrifice
Joseph F. Smith
The spirit of the Gospel is designed to make all men good
in the sight of God. The Gospel is calculated to remove
from us everything that is not consistent with God and
the plan of salvation which He has revealed to men…
The principles of the Gospel are calculated to make us
unselfish, to broaden our minds, to give breadth to our
desires for good, to remove hatred, animosity, envy and
anger from our hearts, and make us peaceful, tractable,
[and] teachable …
A man who cannot sacrifice his own wishes, who cannot
say in his heart, "Father, Thy will be done, not mine," is
not a truly and thoroughly converted child of God; he is
still, to some extent, in the grasp of error and in the
shades of darkness that hover around the world…
Set of Strengths
Ether2:27
2:27
Ether
And ififthey
menhumble
come unto
me I will before
show
…for
themselves
unto
them
their
weakness.
I give
me,
and
have
faith
in me, then
will I
untoweak
men weakness
that they
may
make
things become
strong
unto
be humble
them
JST Genesis 22:1-14
2 And the Lord said, Take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom
thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him
there for a burnt offering, upon one of the mountains of which I will
tell thee.
7 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon
his back; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and Isaac his
son; and they went both of them together.
9 And [Issac] said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering?
10 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering…
11 And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the
altar…
12 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
13 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham! Abraham!...
14 And the angel said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him;
15 For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only Isaac from me.
D&C 101
2 I, the Lord, have suffered the affliction to come upon
them, wherewith they have been afflicted, in
consequence of their transgressions;
3 Yet I will own them, and they shall be mine in that day
when I shall come to make up my jewels.
4 Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried,
even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his
only son.
Two Reasons for Trials:
5 For all those who
will not Because
endure of
chastening,
but deny
Chastening:
our sins
me, cannot be sanctified.
Trials: Because of righteousness
President
Hinckley
Over the past years it has been
my responsibility to extend calls to
scores of men, their wives, and
their families to leave all behind
and go into the mission field.
… They will, in effect, say, "Of
course, I am ready to go whenever and wherever the Lord calls."
They and their wives will gather their children around them. There will be tears
as the children think of leaving their schools and their friends. The family will
kneel together in prayer, and when they arise from their knees, although
their eyes will be moist, they will say in unison, "We'll go where you want us
to go, dear Lord; we'll do what you want us to do."
I confess that at times I feel reluctant to ask people to do things in the Church
because I know they will respond without hesitation. And I know also that
those responses will entail great sacrifice. But I know this also, in the case
of mission presidents and their families, there will be more tears shed when
they leave the mission field to return home than will be shed when they
leave home to go into the field.
Bro Truman Madsen
"I have indicated that [Joseph Smith] occasionally, deliberately,
knowingly, put men to a test, almost as if he could discern the
spiritual growth and blessing that would ultimately result. Bishop
Edwin D. Woolley was a forbear of President Spencer W. Kimball.
He was a stubborn man (he himself said it)-contrary was the word
they used in those days. It was said of him, 'If he dies by
drowning, look for the body upstream.'
Edwin D. Woolley had a store in Nauvoo, and one day the Prophet
said to him, 'Brother Woolley, we want all your goods for the
building up of the kingdom of God,' or words to that effect.
Brother Woolley did as he was asked, packing his whole stock
ready to be moved.
Then he went to ask Joseph what he wished him to do about the
goods he had received for sale on commission. Was he ready to
hand all the other goods over to the Church? the Prophet asked.
Brother Woolley said he was.
His eyes moist, the Prophet put his hand on the other man's
shoulder and said, 'The Lord bless you. Put them back on the
shelves'."
Question
Often the first thing to be sacrificed is our
pride. How does the Lord use the church
to do that?
Sister Susan Tanner
Several years ago [a friend’s] daughter got married. It was a
perfect temple wedding with loving family members, warm,
Indian-summer weather, and a beautiful and happy couple.
About half an hour before [the reception] was to begin, everything was ready—
except that the caterer hadn’t come. She was responsible for the
tablecloths, the wedding cake, and all the refreshments. Helpful friends
called her business and her home and left desperate messages. Someone
drove to her business, but it was all locked up. Friends in the ward rallied
and found tablecloths for the tables and flowers for centerpieces. They
bought a small cake from the grocery store and decorated it with flowers
and even offered to buy refreshments. The family declined this kind offer,
because by this time guests had arrived.
As people came through the line, my friend gave a simple apology about the
lack of refreshments and concentrated instead on celebrating the marriage
of this wonderful young couple. Even so, the no-show caterer became quite
the topic of conversation, especially among the men at the party. They
figured that the bride’s father had planned for this fiasco with the caterer so
he wouldn’t have the expense of refreshments…
Sis. Tanner Cont.
After most of the guests and family members had left, the caterer
rushed in with an ashen face. She was absolutely grief-stricken that
she had made such a terrible mistake. She had written down the
wrong day on her calendar. Never before had she done this.
My friend reached out and hugged her. “Don’t even worry,” she said.
“We’re just grateful you are all right. We were worried that
something terrible had happened to you. We had a wonderful time
tonight, so no harm is done for either of us.” My friend was not
feigning love or forgiveness; she truly felt it.
Her example taught many of us so much. Think what retaliation and
anger could have cost the caterer and her business. Think what a
mother’s decision to celebrate the wedding rather than worry about
the refreshments taught her daughter about what is important. Think
what she taught all of us about the power of the pure love of God.
Days later, the catoror wrote this:
“I find myself with extra time today . . .
since I haven’t a wedding to serve tonight
as I had planned. First and foremost, once
again, please accept my deepest regrets
for Thursday evening… Words cannot
express the hours of agony I have grilled
myself with as I have pondered the
evening and what you must have felt. I
want to make some sort of restitution for
these damages and I hope you will help
me create that situation. . . . I am so sorry.
“I also wanted to tell you of the profound experience this has been for me from
an eternal perspective. In my life, I have never been treated with such
Christ-like love and compassion as you did that night. Your first impulse was
to embrace me, and to comfort me, when I should have been consoling you!
You were not waiting with wrath and anger at my mistake, but rather with
love and understanding—as I have always hoped Heavenly Father would
be waiting for me. You knew, without asking, the intents of my heart.
Over the years, I have dealt with petty complaints (‘I didn’t like the color of the
punch!,’ etc.). You had every justification to be angry, and yet you chose a
higher road. Since that night, my mind has continually returned to a central
theme . . . ‘go and do likewise as you have been forgiven.’
My way has been kinder and gentler with my children, my husband, and my
staff. When their work has fallen short of my expectations, I have looked on
the intent of their hearts rather than their shortcomings. I am sorry this
lesson came to me at your expense, but it is one that will be with me
forever. Thank you for your loving example of the higher road.”