Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Have you ever
witnessed a General Conference like this last one? What an amazing experience
to sustain a new First Presidency and then hear revelation directly from our
prophet, President Nelson. I love the direction of doing away with the ‘Law of
Moses’ era Home and Visiting Teaching and replacing it with a “newer, holier
approach to caring for and ministering to others” (President Nelson, Ministering, Sunday Afternoon Session of
April General Conference, 2018.)
Since April
General Conference, we have heard a lot about ministering. We have discussed it
as part of our lessons, heard from stake leaders, and hopefully been pondering
what it means in our own lives. If you’re like me, you may have heard it and
talked about it so much that the word ‘ministering’ has started to get
confusing! One thing I appreciate about this new approach is that beyond the
few short videos at ministering.lds.org, there is very little structure
around this idea. We are simply asked to care for our Heavenly Fathers children.
To better
understand what this might look like, I have two invitations-one from me and
one from our Stake President, President Buckner- to help us know the how and
why of ministering.
1. Jesus Christ is the example of ministering. I
invite each of you to prayerfully study the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John) in the New Testament and seek examples of Christ’s ministering to
others. Commit to memory 3-5 stories of ministering. When you are
explaining how to minister, or when you have questions yourself about the new
initiative, think on these examples.
2. President
Buckner has asked us to memorize John 13:34-35. This is a scripture even our littlest
primary children will easily memorize:
34 A
new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
have love one to another.
As you apply
Christ’s teachings to your life and look for ways to effectively and lovingly
minister to one another, the Holy Spirit will bring peace to your life. You
will have the power to resist temptation and to guide yourself and your family
unto Christ.
Thank you for
all you do to help build the kingdom of our Heavenly Father in our little
corner of Payson, Utah.
Bishop Sullivan
