Yesterday I taught Relief Society! Maybe I'm a little weird... but I love teaching & talking in sacrament meeting. It gives me an opportunity to share what I know to be true & I love that!
Well here is my outline for my lesson... Enjoy!
Does
anyone remember this talk? What stood out to you?
READ
STORY
‘On one occasion Jesus came upon a group arguing vehemently with His disciples. When the Savior inquired as to the cause of this contention, the father of an afflicted child stepped forward, saying he had approached Jesus’s disciples for a blessing for his son, but they were not able to provide it.’
‘On one occasion Jesus came upon a group arguing vehemently with His disciples. When the Savior inquired as to the cause of this contention, the father of an afflicted child stepped forward, saying he had approached Jesus’s disciples for a blessing for his son, but they were not able to provide it.’
Why
is that? Why weren't the disciples able to provide a blessing for his son?
·
Turn
to MATTHEW 17:19-21
19 “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
21 “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
19 “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
21 “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
So
why couldn’t the disciples provide a blessing for his son?
Because of their unbelief.
Because of their unbelief.
What
does this tell us about believing?
‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed.’ Is a
mustard seed big?
FINISH STORY
‘With the boy still gnashing his teeth, foaming from the mouth, and thrashing on the ground in front of them, the father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation in his voice:
“If thou canst do any thing,” he said, “have compassion on us, and help us.
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
‘With no other hope remaining, this father asserts what faith he has and pleads with the Savior of the world, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” I can hardly read those words without weeping. The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. This man is saying in effect, “Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else to turn?’
‘With the boy still gnashing his teeth, foaming from the mouth, and thrashing on the ground in front of them, the father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation in his voice:
“If thou canst do any thing,” he said, “have compassion on us, and help us.
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
‘With no other hope remaining, this father asserts what faith he has and pleads with the Savior of the world, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” I can hardly read those words without weeping. The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. This man is saying in effect, “Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else to turn?’
Have
you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like you don’t know where else to
turn?
It continues: ‘Can you help us? We will be grateful for anything – a partial blessing, a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden carried by this boy’s mother every day of her life.’
“If thou canst do any thing,” spoken by the father, comes back to him, “If thou canst believe,” spoken by the master.’
“Straightway,” the scripture says – not slowly nor skeptically nor cynically but “straightway” – the father cries out in his unvarnished parental pain, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” In response to new and still partial faith, Jesus heals the boy, almost literally raising him from the dead, as Mark describes the incident.’
I
love how it says, ‘in response to new and still partial faith, Jesus heals the
boy.’ I know that as we have faith no matter how new or how big or small, Jesus will be there for us.
What does that mean to you?
Elder
Holland gives us 3 observations from this story: who has #1?
#1
“When facing the challenge of faith, the father asserts his strength first and
only then acknowledges his limitation. His initial declaration is affirmative
and without hesitation: “Lord, I believe.”
What
does that mean to you? How can we apply this in our life?
Elder Holland also says: who has #2?
#2 “In
moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already
won, even if that ground is limited.”
“When those [hard] moments come and issues surface, the
resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you
already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes.”
Why
is that important to ‘hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until
additional knowledge comes’?
The
second observation that Elder Holland makes is: who has #3?
#3
“When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by
saying how much you do not have,
leading as it were with your “unbelief”. That is like trying to stuff a turkey
through the beak! Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking
you to be true to the faith you do
have.”
Why
is that important? How can we be true to the faith we do have?
And
then he says: who has #4?
#4 “So
let us all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid
about your questions as you need to; life is full of them on one subject or
another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those
questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle.”
IPAD – SHOW CLIP OF TALK
What stood out to you?
“In this church, what we know will always trump what we
do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.”
“Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son,
imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly
frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we.”
The last observation Elder Holland makes is: who has #5?
#5
“When doubt or difficulty come, do not be afraid to ask for help.”
Why?
#6 “If
we want it as humbly and honestly as this father did, we can get it. The
scriptures phrase such earnest desire as being of “real intent”, pursued “with
full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God.” I
testify that in response to that kind of importuning, God will send help from
both sides of the veil to strengthen our belief.”
I
love the message of this talk. Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
He didn't say, ‘If ye have faith as big as a mountain…’
He didn't say, ‘If ye have faith as big as a mountain…’
It’s
not the size of our faith that matters or how much we know. It’s having faith
and believing.
Elder
Holland says: “It is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have
and the truth you already know.”
I
know that as we show our faith and we believe miracles can and will happen.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth. What a blessing to have that knowledge!
“Jesus
said, “If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;
and it shall remove; and…
Nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
The
size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue – it is the
integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.”
–
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lord, I Believe”
Thanks for reading!
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