1. Through the ordinance of baptism, followers
of Jesus Christ covenant
to take His name upon them. The Book of Mormon teaches
that the members of Christ’s Church are to gather together on the Sabbath day
and enjoy the sacred privilege of partaking of the sacrament. When we partake
of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenants and invite the Holy Ghost to be with
us.
2. L. Tom Perry, “The Sabbath
and the Sacrament, ”Ensign , May 2011;
Russell M. Nelson, “The Sabbath
Is a Delight,” Ensign, May 2015; Dallin H.
Oaks, “Sacrament
Meeting and the Sacrament,” Ensign , Nov.
200.
3. Mosiah
18:8–10- What do you remember about your baptism? When we are
baptized, we covenant to …bear one another’s burdens, stand as
witnesses of God, serve Him, and keep His commandments.)
4. Mosiah
25:23–24 - : As we take upon ourselves the name of
Jesus Christ and live accordingly, the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon us.
5. Exodus 31:13,
16–17; Mosiah 18:17,
23–25; What does it mean that the Sabbath is a “sign” between
us and the Lord?
6. Moroni 6:4–6
7. When we become members of Christ’s Church, we
are commanded to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. As Church members,
we are to meet together often to be nourished by the good word of God, to fast,
to pray, to strengthen each other, and to partake of the sacrament.)
8. “Most people don’t come to church looking merely for a
few new gospel facts or to see old friends, though all of that is important.
They come seeking a spiritual experience. They want peace. They want their
faith fortified and their hope renewed. They want, in short, to be nourished by
the good word of God, to be strengthened by the powers of heaven” (JRHolland,
Ensign, May 1988)
9. “How do we hallow the Sabbath day? In
my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of
things to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t
until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude
on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly
Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts.
When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for
the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‘What sign do I want to
give to God?’ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal
clear” (RMNelson, “The Sabbath
Is a Delight,” Ensign , May 201).
10. How do our efforts to keep the Sabbath day holy
affect the other days of the week?
12. “Partaking of the sacrament provides us with a sacred
moment in a holy place.” (LTPerry, “As Now We
Take the Sacrament,” Ensign, May 2006) How might
this idea of “a sacred moment” and “a holy place” influence our thoughts and
actions as we partake of the sacrament?
13 3 Nephi
18:1–11 : As we partake of the sacrament and always
remember Jesus Christ, we will have His Spirit to be with us. What can we
do to remember the Savior while partaking of the sacrament and during the rest
of the week?
14. Moroni 4:3 and 5:2 What
might be the result if we fail to “always remember him”?
15. 3 Nephi 20:3-9 - When Jesus visited the Nephites on
the day after He instituted the sacrament, He again administered the ordinance
to them. What additional blessings that come from partaking of the sacrament?
16. What does it mean that our souls “shall never hunger
nor thirst, but shall be filled”?
17. n what ways has partaking of the sacrament satisfied
your spiritual hunger and thirst?
18. How might partaking of the sacrament with humility
and gratitude help
us to better remember the Savior during the rest of the week?
19. “During sacrament meeting—and especially during the
sacrament service—we should concentrate on worship and refrain from all other
activities, especially from behavior that could interfere with the worship of
others. … Sacrament meeting is not a time for reading books or magazines. Young
people, it is not a time for whispered conversations on cell phones or for texting
persons at other locations. When we partake of the sacrament, we make a sacred
covenant that we will always remember the Savior. How sad to see persons
obviously violating that covenant in the very meeting where they are making it”
(“Sacrament
Meeting and the Sacrament,” Ensignor Liahona, Nov.
2008, 18–19).
20. Mark 14:37-
One application of this verse is for us to set aside all distractions and give
the Lord our full attention each week as we worship in sacrament meeting.
21. The
rabbis had determined 39 chief or principal types of work that were forbidden.
In application, this came to mean that “scattering two seeds was sowing;
sweeping away or breaking a single clod was ploughing; plucking one blade of
grass was sin; watering fruit or removing a withered leaf was forbidden;
picking fruit, or even lifting it from the ground, was reaping; cutting a
mushroom was a double sin, one both of harvesting and of sowing, for a new one
would grow in the place of the old; fishing, or anything that put an end to
life, ranked with harvesting, rubbing ears of corn together, or anything else connected
with food, was classed as binding of sheaves. One could spit upon a rock but
not upon the ground, for by scratching the earth you were guilty of
cultivating. You could eat an egg laid by a fryer on the Sabbath but not an egg
laid by a laying hen, because it was not the work of a fryer to produce eggs.
Such distinctions, which went on endlessly, included prohibition against
administering to the sick or afflicted. A broken bone could not be set or a
dislocated joint put back, for if this were done, the body would start to heal
itself, thus causing it to work. However, it was ruled that labor could be
performed to save life. Thus, is someone were buried under ruins on the
Sabbath, they might be dug and taken out if they were found alive, but if dead,
they were to be left until the Sabbath was over.
Christ, who kept with exactness
and honor the law as given on Sinai, had no reverence for those trappings with
which men had embellished that law. (JFMcConkie, Studies in Scripture 5:280-1)
22. What is your favorite scripture? Do you
think that God has a favorite scripture? If He did, how would we know it? Might it be emphasized by having the Lord
say: 1) I want every member of My Church to hear it every week of their life,
2) When it is read it must be word perfect 3) The person reading it must be a
worthy holder of the Priesthood and 4) They must read it kneeling down.
What is there about the Sacrament Prayers
that make them so special to Heavenly Father?
23 What does the word Sacrament
mean? Originally it meant “a means of consecrating, dedicating, or
securing by a religious sanction”. Sacrament eventually came to designate a
sacred religious observance.
24. When the Sacrament was instituted by the
Savior the occasion was the Passover. They ate the Passover meal which was done
to help them site their minds forward to the events of the very night on which
the Sacrament was instituted. There was no way for the apostles of Jesus to
have understood the significance of the event. The Saints in the early days followed
that custom. That is, they ate before they administered the Sacrament; but that
custom was later discontinued by instructions from Paul to the Saints to eat
their meal at home so that when they met to partake of the Sacrament they could
concentrate on the atonement.
25. The no Sacrament Bread story-What if there
was no bread because there had been no Savior?
26. The cloth covering the sacrament reminds
us of the covered corpse of the Savior.
27. “A white shirt contributes to the
sacredness of the holy sacrament.” (McKay, CR Oct. 56, p.89)
28. “May I suggest that wherever possible a
white shirt be worn by those who handle the sacrament. For sacred ordinances in
the Church we often use ceremonial clothing, and a white shirt could be seen as
a gentle reminder of the white clothing you wore in the baptismal font and an
anticipation of the white shirt you will soon wear into the temple and onto
your missions.) (Holland, Ensign, Nov. 95, p.68)
29. The sacrament, is for many Latter-day
Saints one of our first lessons on symbolism. Others- baptism, Lehi’s dream,
parables of Jesus, Book of Revelation, Isaiah, TEMPLE.
30. Who should and who should not partake
of the Sacrament? 3 Nephi 18:4-5; D&C 46:4-5; 3 Nephi 18:28-30; I
Corinthians 11:27-30
31. “We want every Latter-day Saint to come
to the sacrament table because it is the place for self-investigation, for
self-inspection, where we may learn to rectify our courses and to make right
our own lives, bringing ourselves into harmony with the teachings of the Church
and with our brethren and sisters.” (Sermons and Missionary Services of
Melvin Joseph Ballard, p. 150, written by Bryant S. Hinckley)
32. “I feel impressed to emphasize that the
Lord has designated the Sacrament meeting as the most important meeting in the
Church.” “The partaking of the Sacrament
is one of the most sacred ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.” (DOMcKay, Era, April 1961 p. 214)
33. “With so very much at stake, this
ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken
more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent,
reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. As
such it should not be rushed. It is not something to “get over” so that the real
purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real
purpose of the meeting. And everything that is said or sung or prayed in those
services should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance.
The administration and passing of the
sacrament is preceded by a hymn which all of us should sing. It doesn’t matter
what kind of musical voice we have. Sacramental hymns are more like prayers
anyway-and everyone can give voice to a prayer!” (Holland, Ensign, Nov.
95, p.68)
34. “One request Christ made of his disciples
on that night of deep anguish and grief was that they stand by him, stay with
him in his hour of sorrow and pain. “Could ye not watch with me one hour? I
think he asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life
are broken and blessed and passed.” (JRHolland, This Do In Remembrance of Me,
Ensign, Nov. 1995)
