FRISCO STAKE WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

This do in Remembran

ce of Me:

Making our Sacrament

Worship more Meaningful

October 2014 General Conference

I wish when I was your age I had understood the significance of the sacrament better than I did.

Sister Esplin, “The Sacrament – A Renewal for the Soul”

October 2014 General Conference

The ordinance of the sacrament has been called “one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.”

It needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us.

Elder Hamula, “The Sacrament and the Atonement”

How can we make the Sacrament more Holy & Sacred?

The more we ponder the significance of the sacrament, the more sacred and meaningful it becomes to us. (Sister Esplin)

Institution of the Sacrament

With the traditional Passover meal before them, “emblems of Israel’s past salvation from slavery and death… Christ instituted a new ordinance for God’s covenant people” (Elder Hamula, see Luke 22:19-20)

When Christ visited the Nephites, he also instituted the sacrament among them saying “This shall ye always observe to do” (3 Nephi 18:6)

Again, at the outset of the Restoration the Lord instituted the Sacrament (Elder Hamula)

Purpose of the Sacrament

The most important event in time and eternity is the Atonement of Jesus Christ

He who accomplished the Atonement has given us the ordinance of the sacrament to help us not only remember but also claim the blessings of this supreme act of grace

(Elder Hamula)

Purpose of the Sacrament (cont.)

This ordinance was introduced so that we can renew our covenants to serve Him, to obey Him, and to always remember Him (Elder Oaks, “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament”)

We cannot retain the Spirit of the Lord if we do not consistently comply with this commandment(Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954-56], 2:3410)

As we renew our baptismal covenant, the Lord renews the promised remission of our sins (True to the Faith)

Wording

In the simple and beautiful language of the sacramental prayers … the principal word we hear seems to be remember

In the first and slightly longer prayer … mention is made of a willingness to take upon us the name of the Son of God and to keep the commandments(Elder Holland, “This Do in Remembrance of Me”) Modernroots.com

© Copyright Adam Chipman 2012

Wording

Neither phrase is repeated in the blessing on the water, though surely both are assumed and expected

What is stressed in both prayers is … remembrance of Christ

We witness that we will always remember him, that we may always have his Spirit to be with us (Elder Holland “This Do in Remembrance of Me, D&C 20:77, 79) Modernroots.com

© Copyright Adam Chipman 2012

Order NOT Inconsequential

With a crust of bread, always broken, blessed, and offered first, we remember his bruised body and broken heart, his physical suffering on the cross where he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Elder Holland, see Matt. 27:46)

The sequence of bread first and water second is not inconsequential (Elder Hamula)

Bread, Christ’s Body & Conquering Death

In partaking of the bread, we are reminded of our own inevitable personal resurrection

By the power of the Resurrection, all of us will be restored to the presence of God … not every one of us will remain with Him

That reality presents to us the fundamental question of our lives…With whom we will live after we die?

(Elder Hamula)

Water, Christ’s Blood & Conquering Sin/Sorrow

In partaking of the sacramental water, we are taught how we may be made clean from sin and transgression… by the shedding of His innocent blood (Elder Hamula)

The Savior’s spiritual suffering and the shedding of his innocent blood.. paid the debt for… sins and sorrows and pains of all the rest of the human family, providing remission for all of our sins as well, upon conditions of obedience to the principles and ordinances of the gospel (Elder Holland, see 2 Nephi 9:21-23)

Willing to Take His Name Upon Us

We must be willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. Speaking of this promise, President Henry B. Eyring taught: “That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.(Sister Esplin)

Remember Him Always

When we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that our remembrance of His Son will extend beyond the short time of that sacred ordinance (True to the Faith)

This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts(Sister Esplin)

Video: Remembering Him Always

Three small and simple things that can help us always remember Him:

Taking the sacramentPrayerScriptures

(Brother Ridd, “Living with Purpose: The Importance of ‘Real Intent’”)

https://www.lds.org/church/news/simple-habits-help-us-live-with-purpose-and-real-intent?lang=eng&cid=email_inspiration_and_news_2_2015_truepurpose_img

Keep His Commandments

If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15)

The sacrament gives us an opportunity for introspection and an opportunity to turn our heart and will to God (Sister Esplin)

[This] is a solemn commitment to repent. If our thoughts, words, or actions have been less than what they should have been… we recommit ourselves to more closely align our lives with His (Elder Hamula)

Commandment with a Promise

This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (Elder Oaks, “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,”see D&C 20:77)

This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man” (Deseret Weekly, Apr. 6, 1889, 451).

Additional Promises

“And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day (D&C 59:9)

There is a spirit attending the administration of the sacrament that warms the soul from head to foot; you feel the wounds of the spirit being healed, and the load being lifted. Comfort and happiness come to the soul that is worthy and truly desirous of partaking of this spiritual food (Elder Ballard, “The Sacramental Covenant”)

Seek & Ye Shall Find

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7)

Go “Hungry” into the sacrament, the temple, scripture study, general conference and personal prayers (Enos 1:4)

As we seek to understand the sacrament in multiple contexts, always remembering Christ, we will be FILLED (John 4:14, 6:33-35)