Church of Jesus Christ Study Session with Come Follow Me

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we begin our dive into the book of Revelation in the New Testament. We discuss the keys to understanding this book of scripture as well as how it is organised so we can gain a better understanding of it.

Bible Dictionary: Such is the theme of the Revelation. The details about the beasts, the wars, the angels, the men, etc., contribute to the development of this theme. By a little study, the theme can be perceived even if the details are not completely identified. It may be in this sense that the Prophet Joseph Smith said that Revelation was “one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written” (HC 5:342). However, the more fully the details are understood, the greater will be the appreciation of the theme. If we fail to catch a glimpse of the theme, we fail in our comprehension, no matter how many details we are able to understand.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Today we take an unexpected dive into an article in the Ensign by Church Magazines about searching for happiness. We consider nine strategies that are suggested and also how we can be aware that happiness may not always be in our grasp.

Jeffrey R Holland: “Happiness is not easy to find running straight for it. It is usually too elusive, too ephemeral, too subtle. If you haven’t learned it already, you will learn in the years ahead that most times happiness comes to us when we least expect it, when we are busy doing something else. Happiness is almost always a by-product of some other endeavor.”

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we study an article from this month's Ensign, which in itself is a valuable study tool. We consider thinking about how this Christmas season is a wonderful time to boost our service, build our love and find true, enduring joy.

David A Bednar: Because of Heavenly Father’s plan and the Savior’s Atonement, service invites us to emulate the character of Jesus Christ, the true source of joy. I recently read a statement by Kevin J Worthen, president of Brigham Young University, about deep joy. He said, “I have come to believe that one measure of our eternal progress is how much joy we derive from service.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Today we study the principle of how to overcome the world as we accept the Saviour more into our lives and develop our faith more earnestly. We consider how this looks in our daily lives and what it means to overcome the world.

Dallin H Oaks: We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin. But that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we continue studying the Come Follow Me materials for this week. Today we begin to study into the verse 1 John 4:12 where it seems to suggest no one has seen God. We consider this with other verses in the Bible and modern day revelation.

Gospel Topics: As children of God, we have a special relationship with Him, setting us apart from all His other creations. We should seek to know our Father in Heaven. He loves us, and He has given us the precious opportunity to draw near to Him as we pray. Our prayers, offered in humility and sincerity, are heard and answered.

We can also come to know our Father by learning about His Beloved Son and applying the gospel in our lives. The Savior taught His disciples: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. … He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we continue our study of 1 John, today looking at the teaching that we will be accepted as we are now and worked on by a loving Heavenly Father until that day when we stand before Him, filled with a brightness of hope.

Dieter F Uchtdorf: My dear brothers and sisters, if we look at ourselves only through our mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become. He sees us as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with everlasting potential and with a divine destiny.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Today we dig a little deeper into the phrase that titles this week's study in Come Follow Me, God is love. We consider this powerful statement and how he should fashion our lives if we want to truly come to know Him.

Robert F Orton: Most of us profess to love God. The challenge, I have observed, is loving our neighbor. The term neighbor includes family, people with whom we work, those whom we see in geographical proximity to our home and at church, and even the enemy, though we do not condone what the latter does. If we do not love all of these, our brothers and sisters, can we truly say that we love God? The Apostle John declared “that he who loveth God love his brother also,” and added, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar”. Love of God and neighbor must therefore be inseparably connected.

Our eternal progression leans heavily on the degree to which we love. Webster defines love as the “unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another; an affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interests”. And Moroni treats as synonymous the terms “pure love of Christ” and “charity”. We can best demonstrate our love to God by keeping His commandments. And we can show our love to God and neighbor by charitable acts of service.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we begin our Come Follow Me study in 1-3 John and Jude. We consider the phrase of God is light and how this can bless our lives if we decide to walk more in this Light.

Theodore M Burton: I have since wondered how anyone could knowingly prefer to live where it is dark and cold. How could anybody willingly prefer darkness and misery over light and warmth? Yet darkness, cold, and misery will be the lot of those who willingly and knowingly reject the Lord. John wrote, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

I would like to speak about God’s realm of light in contrast to the dark realm of Satan. Those who follow Satan will be cast into outer darkness, “where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” How terrible to live in such a place of darkness and cold. It is entirely different from what we usually think of as “burning in hell.” That burning is the lasting regret one feels who has chosen the darkness of Satan in preference to the light of Christ.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Today we continue a little look into the 21 Day Book of Mormon study challenge, today focusing on Alma's teaching to his son about life after death. We consider the blessing this doctrine is to be aware of and how it can motivate and shape a person's life.

Carlos E Asay: Those who believe that the grave is man’s final destiny live without hope of a better world and are inclined to embrace that fatalistic approach, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” (2 Ne. 28:7; see also 1 Cor. 15:32). This approach often leads to wanton experimentation, immoral conduct, and all the other behaviors that reap misery and remorse of conscience (see Alma 29:5).

Whereas, those who believe in a life after death are much more inclined to lead purposeful lives. Belief in a resurrection and related truths encourages one to obey the commandments, repent of sins, serve others, and do the other things that bring joy and happiness both here and hereafter. It seems, therefore, most appropriate that we address this real issue, Shall I live again? on the eve of Easter—a day when Christians the world over will commemorate the resurrection of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

LDS Study Session seeks to generate reflection and about areas in the Restored Gospel. Whether it's Come Follow Me, a General Conference talk or a recent Gospel Topic, hopefully you'll find something to keep the Spirit of Christ in your life. @mattsroberts90

Join us as we conclude the study of Come Follow Me for this week with a final look at 1 Peter. We consider what the term 'cornerstone' means and how it applies to Christ's role in our faith.

Joseph Smith: Christ was the head of the Church, the chief corner stone, the spiritual rock upon which the church was built, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He built up the Kingdom, chose Apostles, and ordained them to the Melchizedek Priesthood, giving them power to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel.