Title: The Lord Has Beheld Our Sacrifice
1The Lord Has Beheld Our Sacrifice
2Watch carefully for these people..
- Kingman, KS
- I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a
new neighbor call the local township
administrative office to request the removal of
the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason
"too many deer were being hit by cars" and he
didn't want them to cross there anymore. - Kansas City
- My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered
a taco. She asked the person behind the counter
for "minimal lettuce."? He said he was sorry, but
they only had iceberg lettuce. - Wichita KS
- The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe
to cross the street. I was crossing with an
intellectually challenged coworker of mine when
she asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I
explained that it signals blind people when the
light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on
earth are blind people doing driving?!" - Dallas County Sheriffs Office
- I work with an individual who plugged her power
strip back into itself and for the life of her
couldn't understand why her system would not turn
on. - Canton, Mississippi
- When my husband and I arrived at an automobile
dealership to pick up our car, we were told the
keys had been locked in it. We found a mechanic
working feverishly to unlock the driver's side
door. As I watched from the passenger side, I
instinctively tried the door handle and
discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey! ," I
announced to the technician, "it's open!" To
which he replied, "I know - I already got that
side."
3Along those lines
- NEW YORK (AP) A drum-maker who imports raw
animal hides from Africa has been infected with
anthrax in what is believed to be an isolated
accident that poses no public health threat,
officials said Wednesday - Bloomberg said the man had treated the
unprocessed animal hides at a work space in the
DUMBO section of Brooklyn.
4Elder Jeffrey Holland
- I wish to speak of the demands of
discipline and discipleship, of the
responsibilities we have to face when we
choose to follow Jesus Christ. In the Savior's
life and in ours, Satan counters such discipline
with temptations of an easier way, with an offer
of "convenient Christianity. - Surely fluttering somewhere over the highway to
hell is the local chamber of horrors banner
reading, "Welcome to the ethics of ease."
5Question
- What role does sacrifice play in living a
Christian life? - Adam and Eve left the garden with only two
recorded commandments - Multiply and replenish the earth
- Sacrifice
6Joseph F. Smith
- The spirit of the Gospel is designed to make all
men good in the sight of God. The Gospel is
calculated to remove from us everything that is
not consistent with God and the plan of salvation
which He has revealed to men - The principles of the Gospel are calculated to
make us unselfish, to broaden our minds, to give
breadth to our desires for good, to remove
hatred, animosity, envy and anger from our
hearts, and make us peaceful, tractable, and
teachable - A man who cannot sacrifice his own wishes, who
cannot say in his heart, "Father, Thy will be
done, not mine," is not a truly and thoroughly
converted child of God he is still, to some
extent, in the grasp of error and in the shades
of darkness that hover around the world
7Set of Strengths
Ether 227 And if men come unto me I will show
unto them their weakness. I give unto men
weakness that they may be humble
Ether 227 for if they humble themselves before
me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak
things become strong unto them
8JST Genesis 221-14
- 2 And the Lord said, Take now thy son, thine
only Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah and offer him there
for a burnt offering, upon one of the mountains
of which I will tell thee. - 7 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt
offering, and laid it upon his back and he
took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and Isaac
his son and they went both of them together. - 9 And Issac said, Behold the fire and the
wood but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? - 10 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering - 11 And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the
wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid
him on the altar - 12 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took
the knife to slay his son. - 13 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out
of heaven, and said, Abraham! Abraham!... - 14 And the angel said, Lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou anything unto him - 15 For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only Isaac
from me.
9DC 101
- 2 I, the Lord, have suffered the affliction to
come upon them, wherewith they have been
afflicted, in consequence of their
transgressions - 3 Yet I will own them, and they shall be mine in
that day when I shall come to make up my jewels. - 4 Therefore, they must needs be chastened and
tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to
offer up his only son. - 5 For all those who will not endure chastening,
but deny me, cannot be sanctified.
Two Reasons for Trials Chastening Because of
our sins Trials Because of righteousness
10President Hinckley
- Over the past years it has been my
responsibility to extend calls to scores of
men, their wives, and their families to
leave all behind and go into the mission
field. They will, in effect, say, "Of
course, I am ready to go whenever and wherever
the Lord calls." - They and their wives will gather their children
around them. There will be tears as the children
think of leaving their schools and their friends.
The family will kneel together in prayer, and
when they arise from their knees, although their
eyes will be moist, they will say in unison,
"We'll go where you want us to go, dear Lord
we'll do what you want us to do." - I confess that at times I feel reluctant to ask
people to do things in the Church because I know
they will respond without hesitation. And I know
also that those responses will entail great
sacrifice. But I know this also, in the case of
mission presidents and their families, there will
be more tears shed when they leave the mission
field to return home than will be shed when they
leave home to go into the field.
11Bro Truman Madsen
- "I have indicated that Joseph Smith
occasionally, deliberately, knowingly, put men to
a test, almost as if he could discern the
spiritual growth and blessing that would
ultimately result. Bishop Edwin D. Woolley was a
forbear of President Spencer W. Kimball. He was a
stubborn man (he himself said it)-contrary was
the word they used in those days. It was said of
him, 'If he dies by drowning, look for the body
upstream.' - Edwin D. Woolley had a store in Nauvoo, and one
day the Prophet said to him, 'Brother Woolley, we
want all your goods for the building up of the
kingdom of God,' or words to that effect. Brother
Woolley did as he was asked, packing his whole
stock ready to be moved. - Then he went to ask Joseph what he wished him to
do about the goods he had received for sale on
commission. Was he ready to hand all the other
goods over to the Church? the Prophet asked.
Brother Woolley said he was. - His eyes moist, the Prophet put his hand on the
other man's shoulder and said, 'The Lord bless
you. Put them back on the shelves'."
12Question
- Often the first thing to be sacrificed is our
pride. How does the Lord use the church to do
that?
13Sister Susan Tanner
- Several years ago a friends daughter got
married. It was a perfect temple wedding with
loving family members, warm, Indian-summer
weather, and a beautiful and happy couple. - About half an hour before the reception was to
begin, everything was readyexcept that the
caterer hadnt come. She was responsible for the
tablecloths, the wedding cake, and all the
refreshments. Helpful friends called her business
and her home and left desperate messages. Someone
drove to her business, but it was all locked up.
Friends in the ward rallied and found tablecloths
for the tables and flowers for centerpieces. They
bought a small cake from the grocery store and
decorated it with flowers and even offered to buy
refreshments. The family declined this kind
offer, because by this time guests had arrived. - As people came through the line, my friend gave a
simple apology about the lack of refreshments and
concentrated instead on celebrating the marriage
of this wonderful young couple. Even so, the
no-show caterer became quite the topic of
conversation, especially among the men at the
party. They figured that the brides father had
planned for this fiasco with the caterer so he
wouldnt have the expense of refreshments
14Sis. Tanner Cont.
- After most of the guests and family members had
left, the caterer rushed in with an ashen face.
She was absolutely grief-stricken that she had
made such a terrible mistake. She had written
down the wrong day on her calendar. Never before
had she done this. - My friend reached out and hugged her. Dont even
worry, she said. Were just grateful you are
all right. We were worried that something
terrible had happened to you. We had a wonderful
time tonight, so no harm is done for either of
us. My friend was not feigning love or
forgiveness she truly felt it. - Her example taught many of us so much. Think what
retaliation and anger could have cost the caterer
and her business. Think what a mothers decision
to celebrate the wedding rather than worry about
the refreshments taught her daughter about what
is important. Think what she taught all of us
about the power of the pure love of God. - Days later, the catoror wrote this
15- I find myself with extra time today . . .
since I havent a wedding to serve tonight
as I had planned. First and foremost, once
again, please accept my deepest regrets
for Thursday evening Words cannot
express the hours of agony I have grilled
myself with as I have pondered the
evening and what you must have felt. I
want to make some sort of restitution for
these damages and I hope you will help me
create that situation. . . . I am so sorry. - I also wanted to tell you of the profound
experience this has been for me from an eternal
perspective. In my life, I have never been
treated with such Christ-like love and compassion
as you did that night. Your first impulse was to
embrace me, and to comfort me, when I should have
been consoling you! You were not waiting with
wrath and anger at my mistake, but rather with
love and understandingas I have always hoped
Heavenly Father would be waiting for me. You
knew, without asking, the intents of my heart. - Over the years, I have dealt with petty
complaints (I didnt like the color of the
punch!, etc.). You had every justification to be
angry, and yet you chose a higher road. Since
that night, my mind has continually returned to a
central theme . . . go and do likewise as you
have been forgiven. - My way has been kinder and gentler with my
children, my husband, and my staff. When their
work has fallen short of my expectations, I have
looked on the intent of their hearts rather than
their shortcomings. I am sorry this lesson came
to me at your expense, but it is one that will be
with me forever. Thank you for your loving
example of the higher road.