6 Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life, through the Great Mediator
Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life, through the Great Mediator
Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life, through the Great Mediator
Book of Mormon Videos https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/videos-and-images/book-of-mormon-videos?lang=eng
What do you want your family to know? Follow the Spirit and don’t wait to tell them. Think on that. Do your family and friends know what you think and feel about Jesus Christ? Do they know that you believe in our Heavenly Father’s Plan? Do they know that you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and theirs?
2 Nephi 2:26–27 Heavenly Father sent Jesus to make us free. Agency is preserved, and when we choose God and Jesus, more freedom and peace is given to us.
For kids:
Jesus Christ helps me
overcome the effects of sin.
How can we shake off the chains of sin? Think of ways.
2 Nephi
1:13, 15, 23 We need to wake up and be aware or what
needs changing. We need to arm ourselves with righteousness. In other words, we
need to repent and keep the commandments. We can rise up from obscurity, by
leaving behind the things that we hide about ourselves in the dark and do good
things with others and walk in the light.
How are sins, or choosing to do things we know are wrong, like chains? What can we do so that Jesus can help us break and shake off these chains?
For kids:
I am blessed when I obey
God’s commandments.
How is keeping the commandments like putting clothes on our body that keep our bodies protected?
2 Nephi 1:20 If we keep the commandments, we will prosper in the land. What does that mean to you? How have you been blessed or protected by keeping the commandments?
If we cut off a leave or branch of a plant, what happens to it? If we water a plant and take proper care of it, what happens to it? Keeping the commandments is like protecting ourselves from harm.
1 Nephi
2:11–16; How does murmuring cause us to lose the
spirit and maybe break the commandments? How does exercising belief in Jesus
and the prophets, and praying, help us keep the commandments?
3:5–7; What
do you feel like when you murmur and complain? How do you feel when you have
faith like Nephi and do good things that are asked of you? (Example: being
asked to make your bed. Which attitude do you choose? Practice being happy to
obey.)
18:9–11
How does your spirit feel when your friends use bad language or tell rude
jokes? How do you feel when you ask them to please stop? Does it feel good to
choose the right, even if you are made fun of or it is scary?
When we murmur and ignore doing the things that
are right, who do we feel inside?
When we obey and do what the Lord would have us do, how are we blessed?
I can “awake! and arise
from the dust.”
2 Nephi 1:13–29 What is Laman’s and Lemuel’s spiritual condition?
What helps us awake from a deep
sleep? Do you sometimes need to be shaken? How about catastrophes? Does it take
great loss? (911; family deaths; financial distress)
Can you be awakened by a spiritual prompting or a good and motivating talk? Are
you awake enough to feel and follow the Spirit?
What helps us to shake off the shackles of sin? Are we helping one another? Are we visiting and ministering? Are we coaching? Are we journaling? Most importantly, are we praying and asking for help and committing to do better? Are we repenting?
verse 15
“But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.”
I have felt this before too. How do we remember and recall that? How do we retain a remission of our sins and feel to sing the song of redeeming love even now?
verse 23
“Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which
ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.”
We have all been invited to wake up many times. Are you choosing to close your eyes and your heart, or are you striving to be alert and stay awake and aware? Are you praying for the Spirit to be your guide and to help you make good decisions?
How can you arise out of obscurity and be a better disciple and missionary for the Lord?
Using visuals in teaching and learning:
What kind of chain can you make to illustrate the following?
2 Nephi
1:13 “O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by
which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that
they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of
misery and woe.”
2 Nephi
2:27 “Wherefore, men are free according
to the flesh; and all things
are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are
free to choose liberty and
eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he
seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto
himself.”
How can we ourselves choose liberty and eternal life, and how can we invite others to do so too?
Because of Jesus Christ, I
am “free to choose liberty and eternal life.”
God can turn my trials
into blessings.
For kids:
God gave me the freedom to
choose.
Play an opposite game with words: light/dark (or heavy); sweet/sour (or salty); false/true
Because Heavenly Father gave us agency, or the gift to choose good or evil,
opposites are part of His plan.
2 Nephi 2:11, 16 We have to see the difference and make a choice.
How can our choices hurt or bless us?
You could tell stories and provide scenarios and let the children choose which
choice is preferable and why. Have them also notice how our choices influence
the outcome.
2 Nephi
2:27 We are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great
Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the
captivity and power of the devil.”
How does doing something wrong limit our choices in the future or make us captive? (Examples: jail if we break the law; poor health if we smoke; etc.)
How does being a disciple of Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments make us
free? (We have peace, more opportunities to make good choice, we are respected,
our parents can trust us; we will have eternal life.)
The Fall and
the Atonement of Jesus Christ are essential parts of Heavenly Father’s plan.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/1?lang=eng
Lehi
prophesies of a land of liberty—His seed will be scattered and smitten if they
reject the Holy One of Israel—He exhorts his sons to put on the armor of
righteousness. About 588–570 B.C.
Vs 4 Lehi saw in vision that Jerusalem was already
destroyed.
Vs 5-9 The
Americas are a land of promise. Those who have been led here will be blessed if
they serve the God of this land, Jesus Christ. Otherwise, they will not have
heaven's protection.
With how wicked
it is now again in our day, this is such a sweet and profound blessing to the
righteous. The Lord will be with us.
Vs 10 If the inhabitants of this Country reject Jesus
Christ, the Lord's judgments shall come upon them.
Vs 12-14 It's so important for us to remember. And we need to hearken
to the words of our prophets, righteous parents, and righteous leaders. We need
to wake up and rise up to face the challenges of our day.
Vs 15 “But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my
soul from hell; I have beheld his glory,
and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of
his love“
You've felt this too. You even feel it again in the acknowledging of it. Seek
to remember and to testify of His love.
Vs 16 A righteous parent's desire: for His children to remember the Lord and
keep His commandments; to love one another, and to be blessed by the Lord; to
be happy.
Vs 21-23 Wake
up, choose to do good, and put on the armor of righteousness.
How does one do
that?
Vs 24 Make sure that you don't have ill feelings about others
because they are living more righteously than you. Support those who have have
sustained to support. Follow the prophet. Be gracious and love those who are
seeking to serve the Lord with all their hearts, even if they rub you the wrong
way somehow.
Those who are
called of God are not seeking power and over you; they are seeking to serve God
and to serve you.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng
Redemption
comes through the Holy Messiah—Freedom of choice (agency) is essential to
existence and progression—Adam fell that men might be—Men are free to choose
liberty and eternal life. About 588–570 B.C.
Vs 2 I'm so thankful to know that the Lord can be with
me and comfort me through my afflictions. It is great to feel that He is on my
side.
Vs 4 I had
answers from the Spirit in my youth. And in that way I did behold the glory of
the Lord.
Vs 6-9 I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know of God's love. I
understand the Plan of Salvation and the need for Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, repentance, baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and temple ordinances.
I know the Lord loves me. I should be sharing this message.
Vs 11 We have to be tried and tested, to prove we will
choose the right.
Vs 14-16 Agency
is a gift from God. Opposition makes the use of our agency possible. God gave
us this gift so we could choose God and live and become like Him, and be given
Eternal Life.
25 Adam fell that
men might be; and men are,
that they might have joy.
26 And
the Messiah cometh
in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the
children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from
the fall they have become free forever,
knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon,
27 Wherefore,
men are free according
to the flesh;
and all things
are given them
which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and
eternal life,
through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death,
according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men
might be miserable like
unto himself.
28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great
commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life,
according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
Vs 27-28 If we choose liberty and life, we will be happy.
This is God's desire for us. But He'll let us choose.
Vs 30 When you
have chosen the better part, help others to do the same.
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