Ministering

 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