Week 5: The Sermon on the Mount

Christian commentator J.I. Packer said, "The Sermon on the Mount is precisely the kind of moral instruction that parents are constantly trying to give their children — concrete, imaginative, teaching general principles from particular instances, and seeking all the time to bring the children to appreciate and share the parent's own attitudes and view of life… The all-embracing principles of conduct.” 

The Sermon begins with the Beatitudes, which Harold B. Lee described as "the constitution for a perfect life." Continuing on with the Lord's Prayer and a collection of timeless metaphors (the city on the hill, the salt of the earth, etc.)  Jesus paints a vision of the Christian life. His audience was expecting a political Messiah, but instead Jesus calls for a complete revolution of the human heart. Our manual (Lesson 8) challenges us to view our marriages through the lens of these principles, a very revealing exercise! Check the Digging Deeper section for an excellent article on this subject.

As we examine each of the pericopes in this masterful sermon, we are asked to abandon a defensive position and open ourselves to a new level of forgiveness and charity toward others. Christ even asks us to sacrifice our anxiety, as He says, "Take no thought for the morrow..." which can be translated, "do not be unduly anxious about the morrow." When He encourages us to "be perfect," we must rely on His grace to fill in the gaps between our intention (which can be perfect) and our actual behavior (which never will be) as we follow Him.

For our question of the week we accept the challenge to rise to this higher law in our most intimate relationships, and ask ourselves,  "In this relationship, what would Jesus do?" 

Week 4: Walking Where Jesus Walked

Jesus's ministry began in Galilee with the calling of the first disciples. They were fishermen, and Jesus faced the challenge of turning them into leaders of men by walking with them. Exactly how far He walked is a matter of some debate, but estimates range from 2,200 miles to 3,125 miles in His three-year ministry. As He walked, he began to work miracles. We examined the first miracles, the exorcism of a demon, the turning of water into wine at a wedding, and the healing of a palsied man.

How do we invite more miracles into our lives? As we study the life of the Savior and try to walk where He walked, miracles will begin to occur. The lesson of the faithful friends who found an ingenious way to bring their invalid friend to Jesus (down through the roof!) encourages us to be creative in our faith. Taking initiative and marshaling all of the resources we can in order to put ourselves in a place where miracles can happen is a way of letting the Lord know we really believe.

Next week, we climb the mountain and listen to the greatest sermon ever given. Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6 will be our texts.

Baptism of Jesus Christ

Week 3: Baptism of Jesus, and Being Born Again

All four of the Gospel writers record the baptism of Jesus, and the remarkable moment in time when we have Jesus standing in the water humbly receiving baptism at John's hands, God the Father speaking from Heaven, and the Holy Ghost manifesting himself in the sign of the dove. The church has created some beautiful Bible videos, so we watched this one to get a feel of the wonder of that moment. It is in the Digging Deeper section. Also in that section you will find some interesting facts about how reading the scriptures affects our mental capacity. We knew they were helping our spirits, and it turns out they also help our brains work better!

What does it mean to be born again? Jesus challenged Nicodemus with the statement that unless we are born of water and spirit, we cannot see, or enter the kingdom of Heaven. We explored some scriptures that talk of this doctrine and examined what that "mighty change" might look like in our daily lives by taking the "quiz" in Alma 5. 

We had the delightful Daryl Allen talk to us about rejoicing in Christ, and her experience singing with Gladys Knight's gospel choir. She led us in a soul-satisfying rendition of "This Little Light of Mine" and challenged us not to be afraid to use Jesus's name, as it brings a spirit with it when we do. We could feel it! So we decided that this week we are going to mope and worry a little less and feel the joy of the Savior's love a little more.

Our question for the week came in the form of a writing assignment, based on the scripture in 2 Nephi 25:26 which states: And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. And to that end we were all assigned to write our feelings about the Savior and send them to someone we love. 

Next week we embark with Jesus on his Galilean ministry and the miracles begin. I woke up this morning wondering, just how far did he walk during his three-year ministry? Let's see if we can figure that out...

Week 2: The Birth of Christ

Matthew and Luke each begin their gospels with an infancy narrative, and each provides a different set of details. Matthew shows us how prophecy is fulfilled in Christ's birth, and Luke gives us wonderful personal information that must have come from interviews with Mary. We took a close look at the psalm of praise that Mary offers, known as the Magnificat, and the literary elements that make it special.

We explored the question of the week, posed by the Spirit of the Lord in 1 Nephi 11:16: "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" Do we really appreciate the depths to which Christ descended in order to be one with his children? The imagery and language that describe the tree, the fruit and Mary combine beautifully, and when Nephi is shown the vision of Mary, holding Jesus in her arms, he suddenly understands the whole meaning of the Tree of Life, and answers, "It is the love of God."

Many sisters have asked if we can put the slides I'm using on the blog, so I'm going to give it a try. Also, several asked for the additional verse to "Once in Royal David's City," that we sang in closing. Both will appear in the "Digging Deeper" section, along with the Truman Madsen video about the birth in Bethlehem.

Next week Jesus is baptized, and we examine the question, "What does it mean to be born again?"

Week One: In the Beginning

Week One of our New Testament class began with a history of the four Gospels and a look at the birth of John the Baptist. We talked about how the Gospels came to be written in Greek and disseminated to the early Christian congregations. The stories of Jesus were told and cherished for years, but the first written Gospel dates from about 30-40 years after the death of Christ.

How each Gospel writer begins his narrative has much to do with the emphasis of that author. Mark, the oldest Gospel, focuses on the mission of Christ beginning with his baptism by John. Matthew begins with a genealogy and places Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Luke brings a personal touch with the details of conversations that occurred between Mary and Elizabeth, and the thoughts of Mary at the birth of her divine Son. John takes a cosmological approach, beginning with the same words as the Old Testament, "In the beginning," and establishing Jesus as the creator of the universe. The first three gospels are known as "synoptic," meaning seen together, since they cover similar material. 80-90% of the material in John is unique to that Gospel.

We also took a look at the temple in Jerusalem, and the role that priests like Zacharias played, as they came to volunteer at the times of festivals. Check the "Digging Deeper" section for a couple of videos and articles that might be of interest in your further study.

Question of the Week

Each week we will have a "Question of the Week" to consider and discuss during the next session. This week's question comes from 1 Nephi 11:16. Nephi asks to know the meaning of the Tree of Life, seen in his father's vision, and the Spirit of the Lord responds with this question: "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" That is the question we might consider and write about this week. What is the condescension of God? What does the angel mean by the question? What does it mean to us, now? Get a notebook and write your thoughts, and/or share them in the "Sharing" section.

Next Tuesday it is Christmas in September! We will be studying the birth of Christ. See you then!

Four Gospels Reading Plan

Welcome to the Del Mar Stake Sisters in Scriptures Bible Study Class. We will be reading the four gospels in the New Testament. We will study them in what is called a "harmony of the gospels," that is, by the events in Christ's life. Click on the "lesson schedule" tab for a reading plan.