16 Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 13:16 - 21)
My Comments:
The question I ask myself as I read this passage is, Why do we worship as we do? When that question is asked to a broad spectrum of people, it will generate many different answers. Why go to church? What do we hope to gain by doing so? When/if we go to church, what is our motivation? What should it be? Can I go to church with the hope that I will draw closer to my Heavenly Father, and at the same time, socialize with people whose company I enjoy? If I didn’t have any friends at my church should I go find another where I felt that I fit in better? If I try to find a church where people believe just as I do, does that mean that I’m trying to find a God that believes like me, instead of me trying to conform my will and thoughts to what He believes? What do you think?
9 comments:
What a great blog! I will be a regular visitor here.
Thank you. I can use all of the visitors, especially those that leave comments, that I can get.
why is the book of Nephi plagiarizing from the book of Matthew?
So much for what being an original.
Anonymous,
The Book of Mormon is the history of the people that lived in the Americas during periods of time covered by the Old and New Testament of the Bible. To members of the church it makes sense that Christ would teach the same thing to both continents. What would be stranger would be if he taught one thing to one group of people, and something completely different to another group of people.
Thanks for coming by to visit. Please feel free to post comments again.
Thanks for making me smile today.
If you believe in the Book of Mormon and the Bible, Jesus institutes the proper mode of baptism as well as the sacrament. We learn in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenents about how Baptism is a covenant we make with God and how the Sacrament reminds us of these covenants we make on a weekly basis.
Furhtermore, the Jesus taught of one faith, one baptism, etc. Therefore, there is only one baptism approved and authorized by the Lord. The LDS believe the proper mode of baptism is through The Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
So to sum it all up, it is important to attend church because of the covenants we made at baptism...the only baptism that is authorized by Jesus christ.
www.graceforgrace.com
Dan and Wendy,
Thanks for commenting on my blog. I get very few visitors.
In answer to your question, I believe my worship is trying to understand God's will for me. I think that the only thing we can give to God that isn't already His is our will. I loved Elder Maxwell because this was his great message. I, also, heard someone say, if we will but turn our will to Heavenly Father's, He will do great and marvelous things with us that we can't even imagine for ourselves.
I'm definitely going to be working on this one my entire life!!
Ok, wait a minute. You said...
" To members of the church it makes sense that Christ would teach the same thing to both continents. What would be stranger would be if he taught one thing to one group of people, and something completely different to another group of people. "
You are saying that in the time of the Old and New Testament, in the continent of North America--Christ walked here and taught the Indians? Where are records of that?
Was Christ also crucified in America? I haven't read the Book of Mormon, so I don't know.
You are right that it would be strange to be contradictory to teach one thing, and teach another group a whole other idea.
For instance:
The Bible tells us that Jesus died and shed blood for our sins, and if we believe in Him, and ask for forgiveness, we are saved.
Is it true that the LDS church doesn't recognize His blood saving us? Plus, is it true that the LDS church believes that works alone and by baptizing yourself for other people saves them?
Where does it say in the Bible that it says by works alone? Where does it say that Jesus said to baptize yourself for another person? Or is that only in the Book of Mormon? If it is only in the Book of Mormon, then that's contradictory with the Bible-- as they should both be parallel.
Please help me clarify this. I am very confused.
Thanks so much.
Have a good day! :-)
anonymous 10-26-08
Thanks for visiting. The record of Christ visiting the people that lived on the North American continent is the Book of Mormon. We know that while Christ was in Jerusalem that there were people living here. Does it make sense that He would only love those living in Jerusalem?
In John 10:16 Christ talks about speaking to "other sheep" that are not of this fold, i.e. Jerusalem. He said that he would visit them as well. Their story is the Book of Mormon.
Jesus was not crucified again in America. His atoning sacrifice made in Jerusalem covers all people. He appeared on the American continent after His resurrection.
We do believe that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ.
To understand what we believe in regards to works versus grace, read this post.
Baptism for the dead is discussed in I Corinthians 15:29. Paul discussed it as if it was something that everyone at that time period knew about.
We beleive that the Bible and Book of Mormon support each other very well. Thanks for the questions.
If you're serious about wanting to know what we believe get a copy of the Book of Mormon and investigate it for yourself. There are probably LDS missionaries that live close to you that would be happy to answer any questions you have.
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