Sunday, November 30, 2008

Visiting Teaching Message for December

Visiting Teaching Message

Jesus Christ Is the Light, Life, and Hope of the World

Ensign, December 2008

Teach the scriptures and quotations that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Bear testimony of the doctrine. Invite those you teach to share what they have felt and learned.


How Is Jesus Christ the Light and the Life of the World?

1 Nephi 17:13:"I will also be your light in the wilderness;... wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:"Jesus Christ is the light and the life of the world. All things were made by him. Under the direction and according to the plan of God the Father, Jesus Christ is the Creator, the source of the light and the life of all things....

"Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the source of the light which 'proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space' (D&C 88:12). His light is 'the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world' (D&C 93:2). His example and his teachings illuminate the path we should walk....

"Jesus Christ is the life of the world because of his unique position in what the scriptures call 'the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death' (2 Nephi 11:5). His Resurrection and his Atonement save us from both physical and spiritual death" ("The Light and the Life,"Liahona,Dec. 1997, 42–43; seeNew Era,Dec. 1996, 6).


How Can I Find Hope in Jesus Christ?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency:"The gospel of Jesus Christ has the divine power to lift you to great heights from what appears at times to be an unbearable burden or weakness. The Lord knows your circumstances and your challenges. He said to Paul and to all of us, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' And like Paul we can answer: 'My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me' (2 Corinthians 12:9)" ("Have We Not Reason to Rejoice? "Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2007, 19).

"When you were baptized, you became participants in the first great hope, the Atonement of Christ. Every time you worthily partake of the sacrament, you have the opportunity to begin again....Your hope and faith in the Savior will increase as you repent and make personal changes....

"The second great hope is the Resurrection. You are all promised that through our Savior Jesus Christ you will be resurrected....

"With the hope of the Atonement and the Resurrection, you have a third great hope, the hope of eternal life....Because you have a Savior, you also believe in a happy, eternal life of creating, serving, and learning. You are already in the strait and narrow path, and there is hope smiling brightly before you....You just need to stay in, pressing forward with a brightness of hope" ("There Is Hope Smiling Brightly before Us, "Liahona and Ensign, May 2003, 103–5).


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