Melchizedek Priesthood
Young Single Adult Gems - 20 November 2009
The Protection of the Priesthood
“The priesthood of God gives light to his children in this dark and troubled world. Through priesthood power we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to lead us to truth, testimony, and revelation. This gift is available on an equal basis to men, women, and children. Through the blessings of the priesthood, we can be equipped with ‘the whole armour of God, that [we] may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil’ (see Eph. 6:11–18). This protection is available to every one of us.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 30 October 2009
Fathers Need to Be Strengthened
“In order to strengthen the father in the home, I make two simple suggestions: first, sustain and respect the father in his position; second, give him love, understanding, and some appreciation for his efforts. . . .
“In terms of giving fathers love and understanding, it should be remembered that fathers also have times of insecurity and doubt. Everyone knows fathers make mistakes—especially they themselves. Fathers need all the help they can get; mostly they need love, support, and understanding from their own.”
Topics: Fatherhood, Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 14 September 2009
Seek to Create the Ideal Family
“Through the restored gospel we learn there is an ideal family. It is a family composed of a righteous Melchizedek Priesthood bearer with a righteous wife sealed to him and children born in the covenant or sealed to them. With a mother in the home in an environment of love and service, the parents teach their children, through example and precept, the ways of the Lord and His truths. They fulfill their divinely appointed roles mentioned in the family proclamation. Their children mature by living teachings instilled from birth. They develop characteristics of obedience, integrity, love of God, and faith in His holy plan. In due course, each of those children seeks a companion with similar ideals and aspirations. They are sealed in the temple, bear children, and the eternal plan continues, with generation strengthening generation.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood, Example, Family
Young Single Adult Gems - 31 August 2009
To Those Who Are Unemployed
To Those Who Are Unemployed—Speak Up
“Now, let me say a few words to those of you who are currently unemployed. The responsibility for finding employment or improving your employment rests with you. Continued guidance comes from the Lord through regular fasting and prayer. Your quorum leaders, bishops, specialists, and employment resource center staff will help in your efforts. We fear, however, that often priesthood leaders are unaware of your situation. Speak up! Let them know you are looking for work. And bishops and priesthood leaders, rise up and let the brotherhood of the priesthood engage themselves in the wonderful opportunity to truly be a quorum, a brotherhood, a brother’s keeper.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Young Single Adult Gems - 22 July 2009
No Organization Better Able to Respond
“Elder Robert D. Hales has recently observed: ‘The economic clouds that have long threatened the world are now fully upon us. The impact of this economic storm on our Heavenly Father’s children requires a gospel vision of welfare today more than ever before.’ The unemployment and financial wakes of this storm are splashing over every stake and every ward throughout the Church. I suspect they have been felt in some way by each of us, whether personally—through members of our families or extended families—or through someone we know.
“Brethren, there is no organization better able to respond to the challenges of humanity than the priesthood of the Most High God. We have the organization. Stake presidents, bishops, elders’ quorum presidents, and high priests group leaders—we now call upon you to mobilize our priesthood quorums in response to the employment and financial challenges facing our members. Consider this your personal phone call. Now is the time to rally around, lift up, and help the families in our quorums who may be in distress.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 12 June 2009
Fathers Have a Sacred Responsibility to Lead Their Families
“It is our responsibility as fathers to lead our families in daily family prayer, daily study of the scriptures, and in family home evening. We must prioritize and preserve these opportunities to build and strengthen the spiritual underpinnings of our families. President Hinckley said: ‘Try not to let anything interfere. Consider it sacred’ (Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 22).”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 4 May 2009
Our Sisters Should be Honored
"We who bear the holy priesthood have a sacred duty to honor our sisters. We are old enough and wise enough to know that teasing is wrong. We respect sisters--not only in our immediate families but all the wonderful sisters in our lives. As daughters of God, their potential is divine. Without them, eternal life would be impossible. Our high regard for them should spring from our love of God and from an awareness of their lofty purpose in His great eternal plan."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Church History Gems - 27 April 2009
Principle and Doctrine
"Because the Church is growing so fast, there is a temptation to try to solve problems by changing boundaries, altering programs, reorganizing the leadership, or providing more comfortable buildings. What we really need is a retrenchment such as we have read about in Church history. What we really need is a revival of the basic gospel principles in the lives of all the Latter-day Saints. The true essence of priesthood administration is not in procedure—it is in principle, in doctrine!
"The prophet Joseph Smith gave us the key. He said, with reference to administration, 'I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.' "
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 13 April 2009
Husbands and Wives Are Equal Partners
“Remember, brethren, that in your role as leader in the family, your wife is your companion. As President Gordon B. Hinckley has taught: ‘In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are coequals’ (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 68; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 49). Since the beginning, God has instructed mankind that marriage should unite husband and wife together in unity (see Genesis 2:24). Therefore, there is not a president or a vice president in a family. The couple works together eternally for the good of the family. They are united together in word, in deed, and in action as they lead, guide, and direct their family unit. They are on equal footing. They plan and organize the affairs of the family jointly and unanimously as they move forward.”
Topics: Family, Melchizedek Priesthood
Youth Gems - 31 March 2009
Priesthood Keys
"The priesthood is the authority to act in the name of God. That authority is essential to the fulfillment of His work on earth. The priesthood we hold is a delegated portion of the eternal authority of God. As we are true and faithful, our ordination to the priesthood will be eternal.
"However, the conferring of authority alone does not of itself bestow the power of the office. The extent to which we can exercise the power of the priesthood depends upon personal worthiness, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and obedience to His commandments. When supported by a secure foundation of gospel knowledge, our capacity to worthily use the priesthood is greatly enhanced."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Daily Gems - 19 March 2009
Authority to Fulfill God's Work
"I wonder, brethren, how many of us seriously ponder the inestimable value of holding the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods. When we consider how few men who have lived on earth have received the priesthood and how Jesus Christ has empowered those individuals to act in His name, we should feel deeply humble and profoundly grateful for the priesthood we hold.
"The priesthood is the authority to act in the name of God. That authority is essential to the fulfillment of His work on earth. The priesthood we hold is a delegated portion of the eternal authority of God. As we are true and faithful, our ordination to the priesthood will be eternal."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood, Jesus Christ, Aaronic Priesthood
Church History Gems - 6 March 2009
Ensign to the Nations
"On July 26, 1847, . . . Brigham Young, with members of the Twelve and some others, climbed a peak. . . . Heber C. Kimball wore a yellow bandana. They tied it to Willard Richards’s walking stick and waved it aloft, an ensign to the nations. Brigham Young named it Ensign Peak. . . .
“They knew they were Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that the priesthood had been delivered to them by angelic messengers. They knew they had the commandments and the covenants to offer opportunity for the eternal salvation and exaltation for all mankind. They were sure that the inspiration of the Holy Ghost attended them. . . .
“A revelation, written nine years earlier, directed them to ‘arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;
“ ‘And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth’ (D&C 115:5–6).
“They were to be the ‘light,’ the ‘standard.’ . . .
“We are bound to the standards by covenant, as administered through the ordinances of the gospel by those who have received priesthood and the keys of authority.
“Those faithful Brethren were not free, and we are not free, to alter the standards or to ignore them. We must live by them.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Youth Gems - 25 November 2008
The Blessings of the Priesthood Are Available to Men and Women Equally
"I hope our granddaughters and grandsons grow up knowing that they are not and have never been third-party observers of the priesthood. The blessings of the priesthood, which 'are available to men and women alike' (Dallin H. Oaks, "Priesthood Authority in the Family and the Church," Ensign, Nov. 2005, 26), are woven in and through and around their lives. Each of them is blessed by sacred ordinances, and each of them can enjoy the blessings of spiritual gifts by virtue of the priesthood."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Youth Gems - 20 November 2008
Priesthood and Spiritual Gifts
"The priesthood is intricately woven into who we are and have ever been. As sons and daughters of God, we each have unique responsibilities and roles, and through the blessings of the priesthood, we are all given equal partnership, gifts, and blessings."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 17 November 2008
Brethren Should Maintain Priorities
“As I meet with priesthood leaders, I often ask about the priorities of their various responsibilities. Usually they mention their important Church duties to which they have been called. Too few remember their responsibilities at home. Yet priesthood offices, keys, callings, and quorums are meant to exalt families (see D&C 23:3). Priesthood authority has been restored so that families can be sealed eternally. So brethren, your foremost priesthood duty is to nurture your marriage—to care for, respect, honor, and love your wife. Be a blessing to her and your children.”
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood, Fatherhood
Daily Gems - 22 October 2008
Our Faith as Committed Christians
"People need to know something of our faith as committed Christians with strong traditional values. Along with the Articles of Faith, we need to emphasize that:
"We believe in the eternity of the soul, that God is the Father of our spirits, and that we can return to Him after death.
"We believe that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and we try to model our lives after Him and His teachings. We commemorate Christ's atoning sacrifice in our Sunday worship services, similar to taking communion in other churches. We accept as fellow Christians all who believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. . . . Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ is the core of our belief, and everything else is an appendage to it (see Elders' Journal, July 1838, 44). The name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.
"We believe the original church that Jesus established was lost and has been restored again in our day. The priesthood, the authority given to man to act in the name of God, with apostles and a prophet to lead us, has been restored as have all necessary ordinances of salvation.
"We believe in and we use the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.
"And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God's ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is 'Another Testament of Jesus Christ.' "
Topics: Jesus Christ, Melchizedek Priesthood
Daily Gems - 1 October 2008
The Lord's Directions and Warnings
"The Lord blesses His children through our priesthood service. To help us be successful in faithfully rendering priesthood service, He gives us directions and warnings. He has done that in the scriptures and continues to guide us through our leaders and through the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
"The scriptures contain many passages of direction and warning to holders of the priesthood. One of the best is section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In those few verses the Lord teaches us that the priesthood can only be exercised in righteousness. We should treat others with persuasion, patience, and kindness. He reminds us of the importance of charity and virtue in having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
"That section also warns us of those attitudes and actions that will cause us to lose our priesthood power."
Topics: Righteousness, Melchizedek Priesthood, Scripture
Family Gems - 12 September 2008
Our Sisters Should be Honored
"We who bear the holy priesthood have a sacred duty to honor our sisters. We are old enough and wise enough to know that teasing is wrong. We respect sisters--not only in our immediate families but all the wonderful sisters in our lives. As daughters of God, their potential is divine. Without them, eternal life would be impossible. Our high regard for them should spring from our love of God and from an awareness of their lofty purpose in His great eternal plan."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood, Womanhood
Church History Gems - 1 September 2008
Quorum Brotherhood
"From the book Priesthood and Church Government, we have this statement on the brotherhood which should exist in every priesthood quorum: 'The Priesthood is a great brotherhood, held together by the eternal and immutable laws that constitute the framework of the Gospel. The feeling of brotherhood should permeate the quorum. It should be the first concern of a quorum to help all members who may be in need temporally, mentally, or spiritually. The spirit of brotherhood should be the directing force in all the plans and operations of the quorum. If this spirit be cultivated, wisely and persistently, no other organization will become more attractive to the man who holds the Priesthood' (Rudger Clawson, foreword to A Guide for Quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood [1930], 3; quoted in John A. Widtsoe, comp., Priesthood and Church Government [1939], 135). We would encourage each priesthood quorum in the Church to cultivate such a brotherhood.
"Finally, the only purpose for our Quorum is to be of service. Perhaps our deep feelings of this responsibility could be characterized in an epistle dated October 26, 1886, by Wilford Woodruff, who was then serving as President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles: 'I will say to the Apostles, our responsibility is very great. . . . What manner of men ought we to be? The whole earth is ripening in iniquity, and the Zion of God should be prepared for the coming of the bridegroom. We should humble ourselves before the Lord and be in a position to be filled with the spirit of our calling, with the Holy Ghost, and with the revelations of Jesus Christ, that we may know the mind and will of God concerning us, and be prepared to magnify our calling and bring to pass righteousness, and be valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ to the end. . . . There never was a time when the work of God required a more faithful testimony and labor from the Apostles and Elders than to-day' ("An Epistle," Deseret News, 24 Nov. 1886, 712). Make of each of your quorums a great service organization for the benefit of all your quorum members."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
Family Gems - 4 August 2008
Husbands Direct Righteous Living in the Home
" 'Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it' (Eph. 5:25). With that kind of love, brethren, we will be better husbands and fathers, more loving and spiritual leaders. Happiness at home is most likely to be achieved when practices there are founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ (see Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). Ours is the responsibility to ensure that we have family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Ours is the responsibility to prepare our children to receive the ordinances of salvation and exaltation and the blessings promised to tithe payers. Ours is the privilege to bestow priesthood blessings of healing, comfort, and direction."
Topics: Melchizedek Priesthood
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