"It was the Savior Himself who said, 'For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.'
'Ye shall call the church in my name...
And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church.'
Every Sunday as we worthily partake of the sacrament, we make anew our sacred promise to our Heavenly Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. We promise to follow Him, repent, keep His commandments, and always remember Him.
When we omit His name from His Church, we are inadvertently removing Him as the central focus of our lives.
Take the Savior'r name upon us includes declaring and witnessing to others - through our actions and our words - that Jesus is the Christ.
If we as a people as an individuals are to have access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - to cleanse and heal us, to strengthen and magnify us, and ultimately to exalt us - we must clearly acknowledge Him as the source of that power. We can begin by calling His Church by the name He decreed.
My dear brothers and sisters, I promise you that if we will do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord's Church, He whose Church this is will pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen. We will have the knowledge and power of God to help us take the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.
So what's in a name? When it comes to the name of the Lord's Church, the answer is "Everything!" Jesus Christ directed us to call the Church by His nae because it is His Church, filled with His power."
By President Russell M. Nelson
No comments:
Post a Comment