Happy Sunday! It’s time for a little Sunday Sunshine …
Sunday Sunshine is where I share my favorite thoughts from church the previous Sunday. It’s a fun way for me to add to my personal history by recording thoughts, but also to share with you a little goodness.
At my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a.k.a. Mormon), there are 3 classes each Sunday, about an hour each. First, we have Sacrament, where we partake of the sacrament, renew our covenants, and listen to talks from members of the congregation, who have received the speaking assignment for the week. Second, we go to our Sunday School class. There are a few variations of Sunday School. One is called Gospel Doctrine, where we study the scriptures. I attend two different classes for Sunday School. Sometimes it’s a Family History class and other weeks it’s a Gospel Principles class, where I help teach those who are new to the religion, learn the basics. Finally, the last hour we have Relief Society for the women, and Priesthood for the men. I love Relief Society because it’s a chance for me to sit amongst my women friends, who believe what I believe, support me, and encourage me to be better. After a chaotic week, it’s truly a ‘relief’ to be there, listen to the lesson, and bask in the peace.
These are my favorite thoughts from the 3 classes from last week…
Sacrament:
One of the youth in the ward spoke first and talked about procrastinating repentance and how when we do that we are procrastinating blessings and putting a barrier between us and The Holy Ghost. Repentance should invoke feelings of excitement and happiness. It’s such a gift to be able to repent and be made clean again!
I was noticing that every part of that scripture is saying that WE have to take the first step towards God, and once we do, He will come closer to us. We have to exhibit FAITH FIRST. I loved the scripture so much, I had to make it into a printable to share!
Gospel Principles Class:
In this class we talked about how our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings that are ONE in purpose. You can read more about that HERE. It’s such a blessing to know that we are literally the offspring of our Heavenly Father. We talked of His love for us and desire to bless us as much as He can. My favorite part of the class was at the end, when Dan bore his testimony of the gospel to everyone in there. I love hearing his testimony! My manly man with his bushy beard gets all choked up and teary eyed when he talks about his love for the Savior, our Heavenly Father, his family, and the gospel. It melts me, every time.
Relief Society:
Our lesson was all about prayer. I loved when the teacher mentioned that Heavenly Father really is OUR father, so we can talk to Him as we would our earthly father (assuming you speak kindly to your father.) He wants us to tell Him our sorrows, joys, what we’re in need of, and what we’re thankful for. We can come to Him for small things or big things, it doesn’t matter.
Each night we say a family prayer together. This lesson was making me think I wanted to try to add a little something to that. We haven’t started yet, but I want to have whomever is saying the prayer that night also share a little spiritual thought, to set the mood. It can be something they read in the scriptures, something we talked about in homeschool, learned at church, or whatever. I also would love for them to ask the family if there is anyone who needs to be prayed for. One of the ladies in the class mentioned how that can really unite and bless families. If one child says he would love a special prayer for his big test at school, it will make him feel loved and supported when another sibling mentions him, by name, in prayer. Maybe dad is stressed at work, mom has a cold, or little sister is hoping to find new friends. Whatever the case… I love that idea!
I love this talk on prayer:
And, THAT was my day at church. My favorite parts. My personal notes. Everything that inspired me.
Challenge of the Week: If you haven’t tried a family prayer before, give it a shot! It’s one of those things where it’s only hard or uncomfortable the first time, after that… you’ll have it down. Okay, the only hard part is being consistent! The video above is a great place to look for inspiration. If you do say family prayer, think about what you can do to improve the experience even more.
Looking for more inspiration, check out these past posts: How to Never Miss a Day of Scripture Reading, Why Are Your Favorite Bloggers Mormon?, and Sunday Sunshine Week 1.
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