Announcements & Lesson - 16th March 2014

Announcements:

This Wednesday is our Enrichment meeting where we will be celebrating the RS Birthday.  Please bring something comfortable to sit on if you wish (cushion / beanbag), and a dessert.  It will be a fun and restful evening where we can enjoy one another's company.  It would be most helpful if you could arrive on time to start at 7.30pm.

We have a lovely new sister in our RS - Anna Bella (Christina Torres' mum) has moved into Ipswich and we are excited to get to know her better.

A reminder that on Sat 5th April the first General Women's meeting will be shown - invited are all RS Sisters, all YW and all Primary girls aged 8+.  The stake will be providing light refreshments.

The Lesson next Sunday will be taken from Elder Richard G Scott's talk from October 2013 General Conference - Personal Strength through the Atonement. 

Lesson:

Yvonne gave the lesson today from Chapter 6 of the Joseph Fielding Smith manual: The Significance of the Sacrament.

President Smith stated 'In my judgement the sacrament meeting is the most sacred, the most holy, of all meetings of the Church' and went on to confirm that 'the partaking of these emblems (the bread and water) constitutes one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.'

So how big a part does the sacrament play in our lives?  Do we prepare for it?  Do we ensure our families are at church promptly so we can take it each week?  Does it make a difference to how we live our lives? 

Pres Smith was very direct in his comments: 'The person who absents himself from a sacrament meeting week after week...is not loyal to the truth.  He does not love it.  If he did...he would want to do that to show love for the truth and his loyal service to the Son of God.'

The challenge is really to look at how we view it in our own lives and make sure we put it as a high priority - the very purpose we attend church on a Sunday.

We discussed the necessity to think of the Saviour during the sacrament time, and even use those moments to talk with our Father in Heaven.  Alison shared that an Ensign article spoke of how when we have young children the sacrament ends up being a time of just trying to keep the children quiet - but suggested that in this case a good solution would be to try and find an alternative time in the week when we can sit and commune with the Lord and reflect on those covenants.

Other points expressed were how important it is to be at church early enough to sit and listen to the prelude music and feel the calmness the Spirit brings, and to ensure that we are preparing for the sacrament before Sunday - but it becomes part of what we reflect on during the week.

Pres Smith ended by saying the following - something to have a reflect on this coming week:

"I want to ask you a few questions, and I speak of course to all the members of the Church.  Do you think a man who comes into the sacrament service in the spirit of prayer, humility and worship and who partakes of these emblems representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ, will knowingly break the commandments of the Lord?  If a man fully realizes what it means when he partakes of the sacrament, that he covenants to take upon him the name of Jesus Christ and to always remember him and keep his commandments, and this vow is renewed week by week - do you think such a man will fail to pay his tithing?  Do you think such a man will break the Sabbath day or disregard the Word of Wisdom?  Do you think he will fail to be prayerful and that he will not attend his quorum duties and other duties in the church?  It seems to me that such a thing as a violation of these sacred principles and duties is impossible when a man knows what it means to make such vows week by week unto the Lord and before the saints."