Lesson for March 16, 2014

March 16, 2014 Our lesson today is from Chapter 5, “Faith and Repentance.” It was given by Amy Fehlberg and she invited her mother to team teach with her. As a kindergarten teacher, she always asked three questions: What is the lesson about? What is important to remember? What can we do now? Faith is the first principle and ordinance of the gospel; so we need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Then we can be guided by their servants, the prophets. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and hope for things not seen. It’s not just hoping for something, we also have to act in faith. Faith is not the opposite of doubt. It is the opposite of uncertainty. We need to reflect on the faith we have and how to strengthen it. Let it be uppermost in your minds that Jesus Christ came into this world and redeemed us with His blood and He literally suffered for our sins and paid the price for them. We need to keep His commandments and remember Him. Ether 12:4 said that believers in God can qualify for the right hand of God, since that belief is an anchor for us. Mother: Faith is a belief and actions. The book of James, it discusses the importance of works. One verse says that the devils also know that Jesus is the Christ, but they don’t do what is necessary for salvation, so faith without works is dead. By works is faith made perfect. Faith is the moving cause of our actions. Faith means we expect an outcome from our actions. It is a gift to have faith. Nephi exercised his faith with his works, although his brothers thought he was a fool. Mother also likes another scripture character who acted and believed: Adam who offered sacrifice simply because it was commanded. He knew that we are blessed because of obedience, even if we don’t understand the reasons why. Sometimes if we obey for a while, we can come to an understanding. The commandments will make sense and our faith will grow so it can become the motivation for good actions. Amy then discussed how repentance is motivated by faith. Repentance is the outer growth of faith and the second principle of the gospel. It is turning away from sin and leaving that sin behind. Saying I believe in Jesus Christ doesn’t do it. We have to show we have faith in Him by actively repenting. You have to believe in faith AND repentance AND that what Jesus said is real. There is no place in Zion for the willful sinner, but there is room in Zion for the repentant sinner. Amy thinks it is where the heart is as to how often someone is forgiven of the same sin. We might need to prepare to repent. It is something we work on every day and then we will get stronger every day. Someone who is seeking to do better, even if they fail, is the repentant sinner and the one who has a chance of being forgiven, since the desire is there. Repentance is a gift from God so that we can repent every day. The mercy that the Savior has for us is exemplified in the story of the woman taken in adultery, where he said to those who were about to stone her, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.” We must believe God, not just believe in Him. We must trust that God will do what He said He will do when we repent. Repentance is one of the most comforting doctrines in the gospel. What a dreadful thing it would be if there was no forgiveness of our sins and no relief. When we repent there is a flowering of something beautiful in our lives where we feel clean and feel light. We can then testify that repentance is how we can grow and live again. Amy’s mother discussed two things: Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is sorrow that you got caught. Godly sorrow is where we are sorry for the pain we’ve caused and have a sincere desire to make amends. We have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Can we both be sorry we were caught and sorry for the pain we’ve caused? We need to move toward the desire to repent and reform our lives so we can resolve to never do it again. But even if we fall down again, we can still repent—kind of like an ugly caterpillar that goes into a cocoon and comes out a new creature as a butterfly. When we sin, we deceive ourselves, like the story of the Prodigal Son recognized that his father loved him and wanted him to return to him. Moroni 7:33-34 said that if you have faith in God, you may be saved. One of her favorite songs is “Reverently and Meekly Now.” Because it says that God’s love cannot end and is constant and He will always be our Savior.”