Christ is the Reason

I. What do you think about during the Sacrament?

II. What does being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost do for us?

a. “And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled, and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world…Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.” 3 Nephi 27:16, 20

III. Why can’t we wait to be baptized? If we need to be perfect, and we’re only really perfect right when we’re baptized and get the Holy Ghost, why not just wait until like we’re 90 and then get baptized?

a. “It is essential that we renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. When we do this with a sincere heart, with real intent, forsaking our sins, and renewing our commitment to God, the Lord provides a way whereby sins can be forgiven from week to week. Simply eating the bread and drinking the water will not bring that forgiveness. We must prepare and then partake with a broken heart and contrite spirit. The spiritual preparation we make to partake of the sacrament is essential to receiving a remission of our sins.” Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,” Ensign, Sept. 01, p. 23

b. What is the most important thing we do on Sunday? We take the sacrament. Who is in charge of it? YOU ARE.

i. “When you, as a priest, kneel at the sacrament table and offer up the prayer, which came by revelation, you place the entire congregation under covenant with the Lord. Is it a small thing? It is a most important and remarkable thing. Now, my dear young brethren, if we are to…administer to the membership of the Church the emblems of the sacrifice of our Lord, then we must be worthy to do so. It is totally wrong for you to take the name of the Lord in vain and indulge in filthy and unseemly talk at school or work, and then kneel at the sacrament table on Sunday. You cannot drink beer or partake of illegal drugs and be worthy of ministering of angels. You cannot be immoral in talk or in practice and expect the Lord to honor your service in teaching repentance or baptizing for the remission of sins. As those holding His holy priesthood, you must be worthy fellow servants.” April 1988 Elder Hinckley.

IV. What does the sacrament mean?

a. Why do we put a cloth over the bread and water? The bread and water represent the body and blood of Christ. When Jesus died and they placed his body in the sepulcher, they probably put a cloth over his body.

b. Why do we tear the bread in front of the congregation? Why not buy it pre-broken or tear it in the back before hand? Hymn 181 “Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King” Bruised, broken and torn for us on Calvary’s Hill.

i. Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, means House of Bread.

ii. John 6: 48-50 “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This I the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.”

c. What is the most oft repeated scripture in the church? The sacrament prayer.

d. Why are there two prayers for the sacrament?

i. The best answer I heard is that the atonement does at least two things and the two prayers focus on both functions. We know that Jesus body is represented by the bread and the water represents Jesus’ blood. (See John 6:54)

1. Moses 1:39 “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

2. Jesus physical death led to the resurrection, his blood shed for us brings to pass our spiritual salvation.

e. How do we remember him?

i. Why do we actually eat and drink? Why not merely say the prayer? I reckon that there is something more profound about putting these symbols inside us?

f. Be willing to

i. “Always” is a tough standard, for we can never always do anything. But that’s not the standard. The standard is to be willing to always remember, keep the commandments.

1. D&C 46:9 “him that seeketh to do so”

2. D&C 64:34 “Lord requireth the willing heart and mind

V. What do you think about during the Sacrament?

a. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “Since that upper room experience on the eve of Gethsemane and Golgotha, children of the promise have been under covenant to remember Christ’s sacrifice in this newer, higher, more holy and personal way. … If remembering is the principal task before us, what might come to our memory when those plain and precious emblems are offered to us?” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 88, 90; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 67, 68).

i. a. His love and strength in the Grand Council of Heaven.

ii. b. That he is the Creator of heaven and earth.

iii. c. All that he did in his premortal life as Jehovah.

iv. d. The simple grandeur of his birth.

v. e. His teachings.

vi. f. His miracles and healings.

vii. g. That “all things which are good cometh of Christ” (Moroni 7:24).

viii. h. The unkind treatment, rejection, and injustice he endured.

ix. i. That he descended below all things in order to rise above them.

x. j. That he made his sacrifices and endured his sorrows for each of us.

b. Last Supper

i. Luke 22: 19-20 “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”

ii. The Savior broke and blessed unleavened bread and, giving it to the Twelve, said: "Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you." (JST, Matt. 26:22.) Mark adds: "For as oft as ye do this ye will remember this hour that I was with you." (JST, Mark 14:21.)

iii. After expressing thanks, Jesus then passed a cup of wine, saying: "Drink ye all of it. For this is in remembrance of my blood of the new testament [the gospel covenant], which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the remission of their sins." (JST, Matt. 26:23-24.)

iv. Again Mark adds: "As oft as ye do this ordinance, ye will remember me in this hour that I was with you and drank with you of this cup, even the last time in my ministry." (JST, Mark 14:24.) Such was the common cup Jesus shared with his chosen witnesses, the cup that symbolized another cup he would drink alone—and to its dregs. (See D&C 19:18.) Yet there would be still another cup that Jesus would share with the righteous in a glorious reaffirmation of his triumph over death and hell: "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall come and drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (JST, Matt. 26:26.) "That day" refers to the millennial day; the setting is the millennial earth; and the partakers will be the first Twelve (less one) and all of the mighty prophets, seers, and revelators, together "with all those whom [the] Father hath given . . . out of the world" since time began. (D&C 27:5-14.)

v. John alone recorded the sermon on the bread of life (John 6:26-58) wherein Jesus alluded to the sacrament by saying, among other things, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." (John 6:56.) It is, therefore, most strange that John failed to mention the institution of the sacrament at the Last Supper. This vital information is found in the other three Gospels and in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. (1 Cor. 11:23-26.) Jesus introduced the sacrament as a natural, foreordained extension of the Passover meal being eaten at the time. The blood of the paschal lamb—which had temporarily saved the firstborn of ancient Israel from physical death—was a sign of the blood of the Lamb of God, the Firstborn, which permanently delivered all mankind both from physical and (on conditions of repentance) spiritual death. By instituting the ordinance of the sacrament, Jesus used the bread and wine of the Passover. In doing so, the Passover meal, with its limited symbolism, was absorbed into the sacrament of the Lord's supper, with its universal symbolism. The lesser was swallowed up in the greater. Thus, the Passover was fulfilled in the sacrament, even as the Law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ.

VI. Getting More Out of Our Meetings

a. Choose To: Henry B Eyring’s Dad: “Hal, let me tell you something. Since I was a very young man, I have taught myself to do something in a church meeting. When the speaker begins, I listen carefully and ask myself what it is he is trying to say. Then once I think I know what he is trying to accomplish, I give myself a sermon on that same subject.” He let it sink in for a moment as we walked along. Then, with that special self depreciating chuckle of his, he said, “Hal, since then I have never been to a bad meeting…My father may have well been praying for the speaker…” – “Listen Together” Deseret Book, 1997, p.23.

b. Keep the Sabbath Day Holy: “The Sabbath of the Lord is becoming the play day of the people. It is a day of golf and football on television, of buying and selling in our stores and markets. Are we moving to mainstream America as asome observers believe? In this I fear we are.” - President Hinckley Nov. 1997.

i. See Ezekiel 20:20 “And hallow my Sabbath; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”