First let me say that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That is the actual and proper name for our church. Our church is often referred to as the LDS Church, or the Mormon Church. This series of posts was at the request of some of my friends on Facebook. You can read more about that here–on my Landing Page or introduction for the Write 31 Days Challenge.
This is a very abbreviated lesson on The Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like to know more, I encourage you to visit with the full time missionaries of the Church. You can get information on how to contact them here.
From the Preach My Gospel Manual:
Our message is one of faith and hope. We love and worship Jesus Christ. He is central to God’s plan for our happiness. Christ’s atoning sacrifice makes it possible for us to have eternal life in the presence of God. As we live His gospel, He will mercifully forgive our sins. He will heal us and replace guilt and shame with peace and happiness in this life.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. It begins with faith in Christ. We believe in Him, trust Him, and depend on Him. Such faith leads us to repent—to stop doing things that are wrong and continue doing things that are right. Our faith in Him also makes us want to show our love by keeping His commandments, including baptism. After baptism, He promises to give us the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will guide us, comfort us, and help us know the truth. We can know in our hearts and our minds when the Holy Ghost is with us. We will have feelings of peace, love, and joy. We will want to serve others. We will strive throughout our lives to please the Lord.
Jesus Christ has restored His gospel through a latter-day prophet. We learn about the gospel in the Book of Mormon, which you can read, ponder, and pray about. God will tell you by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true. As you come to know it is true, you will want to repent and be baptized so that you may receive a remission of your sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
- Through Christ We Can Be Cleansed from Sin
- –God sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world (see John 3:16–17).
- –Only through Christ’s grace and mercy can we become clean from sin (see 2 Nephi 2:6–8).
- –We are responsible to accept Christ, repent, and obey.
- Faith in Jesus Christ
- –We are to believe in Christ as the Savior of the world.
- –He wants us to accept and follow His teachings.
- –We receive blessings when we obey (see D&C 130:20–21).
- Repentance
- –Faith in Christ leads to repentance (see Alma 34).
- –We feel godly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians 7:9–10).
- –We stop doing things that are wrong and continue doing things that are right.
- –We confess our sins, and we confess serious sins to Church leaders, who can help us repent (see D&C 58:43).
- –We receive forgiveness; guilt and sorrow are replaced by peace (see Alma 36:17–21).
- Baptism, Our First Covenant
- –An ordinance is a sacred rite by which we make covenants with God.
- –A covenant is a solemn agreement between God and His children.
- –Keeping covenants brings blessings.
- –We are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins (see Articles of Faith 1:4).
- –When we are baptized we begin a new life of commitment to Christ (see Romans 6:3–8).
- –Baptism must be performed by one holding priesthood authority.
- –We renew our covenant by partaking of the sacrament weekly (D&C 20:77, 79).
- The Gift of the Holy Ghost
- –Baptism by immersion is followed by baptism of the Spirit; the two are inseparable.
- –Priesthood holders confer the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.
- –The Holy Ghost teaches us, cleanses us, comforts us, testifies of the truth, warns us, and directs us (see 2 Nephi 32:1–5; Mosiah 5:1–6; Moroni 10:5; D&C 36:2).
- Endure to the End
- –We must continue on the path once we have been baptized and confirmed.
- –We do our best to remain free of sin so that we can enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost.
- –By faithfully following the gospel path of faith, repentance, making and keeping covenants, and receiving the Holy Ghost, we can qualify for eternal life (see 2 Nephi 31:14–20).
- –We must continually repent throughout our lives (see D&C 19:15–20).
If you want to know more, here is a non-threatening way to see what a lesson with the missionaries would be like (without the interaction of course.) These videos are done by a couple of members of the church to share what would be taught by missionaries.
Through Christ We Can Be Cleansed from Sin, Faith in Jesus Christ
Repentance
Baptism
Gift of the Holy Ghost, Endure to the End
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