Mormon Messages: Lifting Burdens
I am very impressed with the church’s youtube channel, Mormon Messages. I watched this short video clip recently and was blown away. This is exactly how I feel about Jesus Christ and His gospel. The words shared here express my testimony exactly.
I think that sometimes, in the church, we tend to compartmentalize our religion. Sacrament meeting is one thing, but Sunday school and Priesthood / Relief Society are something else. When we’re working on our food storage or our family history, we aren’t thinking about our scripture study or our prayers, and when we’re worshiping in the Temple, we aren’t thinking about our home teaching or our missionary work (unless we come to the temple with a specific related question).
When we compartmentalize our religion so much, we run the risk of losing sight of the center of it all–the thread that ties everything together. That thread is the gospel of Jesus Christ–the good news that He suffered and died for our sins that He might become our Savior and Redeemer. The church is true only because Jesus is the Christ, and every doctrine or practice, no matter how obscure, relates back to this supremely important point.
It reminds me of an excellent BYU devotional talk given my freshman year. The speaker was Thomas B. Griffith, a US federal judge, and the talk was entitled “The very root of Christian doctrine.” He told how, when he was a bishop, he and his counselors decided that every talk, lesson, and church activity would have to be explicitly and directly related to Jesus Christ. Without departing from the standard curriculum, they accomplished this–and saw a huge spiritual outpouring in their ward and stake. Truly, Christ is at the center of everything we do.
Jesus is the Christ–he is the root of everything in this church. Without him, we can do nothing–literally. He is my Savior and knows me personally. When I look beyond the daily workaday struggles of my life, I am blown away by how much He blesses me. No matter what I do–or what you may do or have already done–His arm is stretched out still (Isaiah 9:12, 17, 21).
3 responses so far
I just noticed your new postings, and I’m genuinely happy to read your writing! I didn’t doubt where you stand; I just like the vision you offer! Thanks! About the YouTube, yeah, that’s really calming, interesting–more than that for me. And the judge’s observation that the spirituality/community of the ward shot up with more conversation directed toward Jesus’ mission and purpose, that’s very interesting to me, too. I struggle to recognize when to put my conversation in that place–Jesus. I’m sure of my testimony, but sometimes people have ears for themselves only, and that’s not entirely a bad thing, either. I guess to own my own Jesus conversations, and not preach or sound judging, I have to say how I feel and relate that to people. That’s hard…always a challenge to share feelings of depth. Yes, to feel purpose in speaking of Jesus, beyond the context of a program, event or specific action-orientation–in or out of church, that’s really owning Jesus. I know he really owns me–which feels very good to me…I owe him soooo much. Every day I feel of his goodness, his universalness, his particular awareness of me, his unspeakable power and his deep, loving concern, for me and every one I know and more… thanks, Joe.
Joseph,
I’ve been reading your blog. You show some great insights. I appreciate your sharing your feelings so openly.
In times of trials or failures only Jesus Christ has the power to heal a broken and lonely heart. This is what I love about being a member of the church. The church reminds me of the love of our HF and JC. I’ve been through a great pain and is still sometimes hurting. But the knowledge and truth about our Savior and His atonement lightens my burden, the pain is fading and I know I will soon be over it. Thanks for this kind of blogs, it uplifts our spirits.