The Blessings of Worship, An address by Bishop Dean M. Davies from October 2016 General Conference

"Worship is essential and central to our spiritual life. It is something we should yearn for, seek out, and strive to experience."

Sister Cindy Johnson conducted the meeting today. There were no new announcements.

Sister Cynthia Werner read what she considers to be a scripture appropriate for our day and time from 1 Nephi 22:16 & 17:

"For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.

"Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire."

Our Missionary Moment was from Sister Marilyn Petersen who brought her long-time friend, Ken Josephs to Sacrament meeting today so he could hear her talk. Ken was also recently helped by Bro. Dave Wasden to sell a firearm for much more than he expected.

Sister Marylyn Murray presented our lesson today on the October 2016 General Conference talk given by Bishop Dean M. Davies entitled "The Blessings of Worship".

To begin, Sister Murray gave us the description of the word 'worship' from Webster's Dictionary. Among other choices, 'worship' could represent a deep respect or reverence for a divine being or supernatural power; it could be a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual; it could also be an extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.

In today's world there are many things available that people are choosing to 'worship', however, as members of the Church, we worship God, our Heavenly Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ.  This talk from General Conference is full of information on the topic of true worship and how we can improve our spiritual experiences.

Bishop Davies tells us that ". . . worship is essential and central to our spiritual life. It is something we should yearn for, seek out, and strive to experience."  He reminds us that through sincere and heartfelt worship, we blossom and mature in hope, faith, and charity and that the heavenly light we gather through that process will infuse our lives with "divine meaning, abiding peace, and everlasting joy."

In his talk, Bishop Davies speaks of the Savior's visit to the Americas following his death and Resurrection. Sister Murray spoke of the Great Earthquake of 1906 that struck the San Francisco, CA area. It affected an area north to Ukiah and south to San Diego. There was much damage and destruction throughout the state due to this earthquake, although it lasted only about one minute.

A few years ago (1989) the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, again causing great destruction on both sides of the San Francisco Bay. Buildings destroyed, a major freeway collapse and numerous fires, all involving many deaths and hundreds of injuries. This event, though severe, lasted only about 15 seconds. 

Sister Murray spoke of the city of Pompei and how the eruption of Vesuvius essentially stopped everything in its tracks and left the city with no survivors.

However, nothing compares to the three hours of destruction that took place on the earth when Christ was crucified.  There was a huge upheaval of the earth, many cities sunk while others were raised above the mountain tops. Buildings were toppled and totally destroyed. There was almost complete destruction throughout the land. There then came three days of total all-encompassing darkness that would not sustain fire or light in any form.  

Sister Cindy Carusso read a portion of Bishop Davies talk in which he spoke of an assignment to visit a stake in the western United States.  "It was a normal Sunday, a normal meeting, with normal members of the Church." He watched as members entered the chapel and moved to available seats. He then says that before the meeting began, the Spirit inspired certain thoughts to come into his mind concerning the reason these members had come to the chapel that day.  In his words, "These members had not come just to fulfill a duty or listen to speakers. 

"They had come for a deeper and far more significant reason. 

"They had come to worship."

He continues by noting that they seemed to have "an almost heavenly expression, an attitude of reverence and peace. . . The experience they were having that Sunday was something quite extraordinary.

"They were worshipping."

". . . I rejoiced and worshipped with them. And as I did so, the Spirit spoke to my heart. And on that day, I learned something about myself, about God, and about the role of true worship in our lives."

As Latter-Day Saints, we sometimes get so busy and involved in doing things that it has become a part of our lives to be always 'doing'.

We need to slow down and be truly worshipful or our attendance at meetings may lack the holy element of worship. Bishop Davies says that, "without that, we are missing an incomparable spiritual encounter with the infinite. . ."

Bishop Davies tells us that when we worship God, we approach Him with reverence, love, humility and adoration. . . we accept Him as our sovereign King . . . our beloved and infinitely loving Father. 

"We respect and revere Him. 
"We submit ourselves to Him.
"We lift our hearts in mighty prayer, cherish His word, rejoice in His grace and commit to follow Him with dedicated loyalty."

It is possible to have that feeling of quiet worship in our meetings. It takes practice and preparation, but it is possible.

When Christ visited the people of the Americas after the great earthquake and darkness, the people all fell down to worship Him. They all approached at His invitation to touch the wounds in his hands, feet, and side and then all fell down to worship Him again, crying "Hosanna!"

How can we worship so fully in our everyday lives?  What is the difference between "regular" attendance at our meetings and the feeling we receive when we truly worship?"

What can we do to prepare ourselves beforehand to truly worship in our meetings?

We can pray to be more focused on what is taking place and being taught in the meeting.
We can listen to the words of the sacramental prayers.
We can think of ways to improve our scripture reading and concentrate on the words of the sacrament hymns.
We can observe the reverence deacons and priests exhibit when performing their priesthood duties.
We can strive to feel gratitude and love.
We can pray.
We know that Heavenly Father will not come unwanted into our lives, so we should take the opportunity to spend quality time with Heavenly Father throughout our day.
We can periodically conduct a spiritual checkup to review and assess our progress in how we observe the Sabbath, how we worship, and how we approach God.
We should strive to exhibit humility, reverence, love, adoration, submission and rejoicing.
We can do our best to block out visual and audible disturbances that may interfere with our worship.

Wonder + Gratitude = Hope

Wonder and gratitude are the first elements of worship.

In the Spring of 1820 an event occurred that changed forever the belief that God no longer spoke to man. When "a humble farm boy entered a grove of trees and knelt to pray", he received a vision and an answer that opened a steady stream of heavenly appearances, visions and revelations concerning God's relationship with man.  

Oliver Cowdery spoke of his early experience with the Church as, "never to be forgotten . . .What joy! what wonder! what amazement!" His words expressing gratitude combine the "first elements that accompany true worship of the divine - a sense of majestic awe and profound thanksgiving."

Every day, we can convey an expression of gratitude to Heavenly Father in our hearts. 

Question:  What does it feel like to converts when they first learn of the gospel?

Many have said that entering the doors of the church, you can feel a distinct difference; an indication of reverence and the presence of the Holy Ghost.

We (long-term members) might have the same type of experience when we are reading the scriptures and suddenly have a phrase or a section stand out as it never has before. 

This will lead us to Hope.

Light + Knowledge -> Faith

Bishop Davies tells of the experience of the Twelve Apostles on the Day of Pentecost and how it affected them. Until that day, they had been unsure of what they were to do, but "when the Holy Spirit filled their hearts, doubt and reluctance vanished." They received heavenly light, knowledge and strengthened testimonies which lead to increasing faith. He says that when we worship in the Spirit, we too receive light and knowledge which strengthens our faith.

We know that miraculous things can come from meaningful prayer.

Discipleship and Charity

Bishop Davies shares with us the change that came upon Alma the Younger when he repented of his rebelliousness. He spent the rest of his life traveling throughout the land trying to repair the damage he had previously inflicted. His changed attitude toward worship took the form of discipleship.

In Bishop Davies' words, true worship can transform us into sincere disciples of Jesus Christ. We can change and become more like Him. As we become better disciples of our Savior, we will be lead to express charity.

When we truly worship God we:

Receive Him with reverence
Marvel in gratitude at His goodness
Ponder God's word
Receive light and knowledge
Acquire faith
Become spiritually refined
Acquire charity

"Our lives become the token and expression of our worship and our faith.

Bishop Davies gives us this wonderful advice:

"My brothers and sisters, spiritual experiences have less to do with what is happening around us and everything to do with what is happening within our hearts. It is my witness that true worship will transform ordinary Church meetings into extraordinary spiritual feasts. It will enrich our lives, broaden our understanding and strengthen our testimonies."  

In expressing the hope, faith and charity we can receive through true worship, Sister Murray played a video which was promoted over the past Christmas season concerning how we each can share the Light of the Savior in the world. You can view this video by clicking on the link below.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/light-the-world-25-days-of-service?lang=eng  

Your bloggess,

Karen