This blogpost features a study guide and a half-sheet activity page to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for September 22-28, which includes Doctrine and Covenants 106-108. Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.
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GRACE
My husband and I just received challenging new callings that seem very daunting and this is a topic that's very near and dear to our hearts right now.
What is grace? {here's a good summary}
How do YOU define grace?
How have you been CHANGED by grace?
QUOTES ABOUT GRACE:
#1 “The Savior’s gift of grace to us is not necessarily limited in time to ‘after’ all we can do. We may receive his grace before, during and after the time when we expend our own efforts”
(Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart: Applying the Atonement to Life’s Experiences [1989], 155–56)
#2 “So grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now. It is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch.” Elder Brad Wilcox
#3 "...every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human. May we refuse to let our own mortal follies, and the inevitable shortcomings of even the best men and women around us, make us cynical about the truths of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Church, our hope for our future, or the possibility of godliness. If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete—which is the New Testament meaning of perfection.
I testify of that grand destiny, made available to us by the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself continued “from grace to grace” until in His immortality He received a perfect fulness of celestial glory. I testify that in this and every hour He is, with nail-scarred hands, extending to us that same grace, holding on to us and encouraging us, refusing to let us go until we are safely home in the embrace of Heavenly Parents." President Jeffrey R. Holland
#4 “The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can be cleansed and consoled but that we can be transformed.” Elder Brad Wilcox#5 “God’s grace is sufficient. Jesus’s grace is sufficient. It is enough. It is all we need. Don’t quit. Keep trying. Don’t look for escapes and excuses. Look for the Lord and His perfect strength. Don’t search for someone to blame. Search for someone to help you. Seek Christ, and, as you do, you will feel the enabling power and divine help we call His amazing grace.” Elder Brad Wilcox
#6 “Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real.”
Elder David A. Bednar
#7 “In all of these cases there should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness. When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected”. Elder Brad Wilcox
#8 "Another element of God’s grace is the opening of the windows of heaven, through which God pours out blessings of power and strength, enabling us to achieve things that otherwise would be far beyond our reach. It is by God’s amazing grace that His children can overcome the undercurrents and quicksands of the deceiver, rise above sin, and “be perfect[ed] in Christ.”
Though we all have weaknesses, we can overcome them. Indeed it is by the grace of God that, if we humble ourselves and have faith, weak things can become strong." Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
#9 "When our earnest efforts fall short of our aspirations due to circumstances beyond our control, the Lord still accepts the desires of our hearts as a worthy offering." Elder Gerald CausseTALKS ABOUT GRACE
"His Grace is Sufficient" by Elder Brad Wilcox
"Compensating Grace" by Elder Gerald Causse
"In the Strength of the Lord" by Elder David Bednar
"Am I Good Enough? Will I Make it?" by Elder J. Devn Cornish
"The Gift of Grace" by Elder Dieter Uchtdorf
"Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually" by President Jeffrey R. Holland
ANALOGY ABOUT GRACE
from "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox
Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.
If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, Mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.
“But Brother Wilcox, don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.” Now wait. Isn’t that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?
In all of these cases there should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected” (D&C 67:13).
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FILL IN THE BLANK SCRIPTURES ABOUT GRACE
Doctrine and Covenants 106:8
"And I will give him grace and ______________ wherewith he may __________; and if he continue to be a faithful witness and a light unto the church I have prepared a _____________ for him in the mansions of my Father. Even so. Amen."
2 Nephi 25:23
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be ____________ to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are ____________, after all we can do."
Philippians 4:13
"I can do _________ things through _____________ which strengtheneth me."
Moroni 10:32-33
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny youselvs of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all you might, mind and strenth, then is his grace __________________ for you, that by his grace ye may be ______________ in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the _______________ of _________."
Ether 12:27
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is ___________ for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they ________________ themselves before me, and have ___________ in me, then will I make weak things become ______________ unto them."
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AN ORIGINAL ACTIVITY SHEET (PRINTABLE)
These
activity sheets are designed to print double-sided and cut in half.
They're perfect for reviewing or introducing the content found in the
Come, Follow Me reading each week and would be great used in a classroom
or home setting. I have no children at home, nor do I have a calling
working with youth, so I copy these to be handed out with the sacrament
programs each week. Kids, teens, and adults enjoy them...especially when it's a word search!
THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITY SHEET LINK (in case it's not showing below)
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Have fun learning the gospel together!
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