Gospel Doctrine Study

Record your Impressions I have had a number of thoughts that have preoccupied my mind since I read these chapters yesterday... # The very first thing that came to my mind while reading was that when Christ came and was preaching, He was doing just that: Preaching. He would go to one city and share the Gospel. While doing that He would take pity on a small number of people and heal them from some infirmity or cast out an unclean spirit and then the multitudes would flock to Him. And He would leave and go to the next city. His mission at that time was to establish His church (the very first thing He did after being tempted in the wilderness was gather His Apostles) and preach His gospel. Period. He healed the sick because He had compassion on them, but that was not why He came. He came to heal their spirits, but they were far more interested once they learned He could heal their flesh. # The second thing that I noticed was that His lineage is laid out differently in Luke 3 than it...

This lesson is really hard for me wrap my head around. I do not know if I would have behaved differently in the time of Jesus. I am unsure if I would have recognized the Messiah. Had someone shared His teachings with me, I know that I would have felt the way I feel now, because God is a respecter of no man, time, or place and will send His Spirit to testify of truth no matter when or where we hear or see it. Perhaps my mind is just preoccupied. I shall try again tomorrow evening.

Invite Sharing The words of angels: The thing that sticks out to me, and that I noticed with the previous lesson is that the Angels always proceed their message with "Fear not." Now...we know, from what is recorded in scriptures, that Angels appear at a number of times throughout history for a couple of reasons. They appear to chastise or t hey appear to convey a message. We know that they don't only appear to the most worth of individuals, for instance: -Nephi's brothers Laman and Lemuel when they are beating him up outside of Jerusalem -The would-be Apostle Paul -Alma the Younger But in each of these cases they appear to chastise those they appear to. So I wonder if when you see an angel your mind immediately goes to all of the worst things you have done in your life or any of the things that you may have done lately that you haven't repented of. Let's say you go to work and an angel appears before you as you're walking from your car into the ...

Impossible Atonement I never expect to understand the atonement in this life. I can understand how One can be so good as to lay down their life for someone else. I can understand why we would need a Savior. I cannot understand how His death satisfies the eternal law of judgment through mercy. So perhaps it is the laws of eternity I do not understand, not the atonement itself. "With God nothing shall be impossible" Anytime I read about touching the heart of an unresponsive family member, I think of my brother and how long he has stayed away from the church. How long he wasn't just not going to church, but he was actively choosing a lifestyle against the teachings of the church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not impossible that he will come back one day. His heart has softened. I am not sure what it is that will bring him back, but I know that our Father in Heaven knows and if I were to reach out to Him with real intent to act in faith on the an...