Sunday, August 18, 2013

James' Sacrament talk on Covenants and Standards


  • Standards and covenants
    • Introduction,
      • my names is James Roemhildt. My wife spoke last week and she thankfully did not share all of our family introduction information so we will see how long I can talk about us before I get to the rest of my talk. I met Elizabeth shortly after returning home from my mission to the Philippines. We got married Portland and moved to BYU-Hawaii for our undergraduate studies. Our first child was born in Hawaii just before we moved to Tacoma so that I could study Physical Therapy at the University of Puget Sound were our second child was born. I now work at st Joseph's doing inpatient rehab and we are expecting our 3rd child, our 1st son, within the next month.
    • whats a covenant
      • In a talk by ELDER D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON entitled, “The Power of Covenants” he explains that, “A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God. In these divine agreements, God binds Himself to sustain, sanctify, and exalt us in return for our commitment to serve Him and keep His commandments.”
    • Within the Church, we make covenants at baptism and continue with more in the temple. The individual covenants that we make from baptism on are all encompassed within the new and everlasting covenant.
      • Elder Christofferon explains, “The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrines and commandments of the gospel constitute the substance of an everlasting covenant between God and man that is newly restored in each dispensation. If we were to state the new and everlasting covenant in one sentence it would be this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
      • Therefore, as christens and baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints, were are in agreement with God to believe and follow Jesus and all of the commandments of the gospel.


  • benefits/blessings of covenants
    • when we keep our covenants, we are blessed with the positive feedback loop of the lord.
    • mosiah 2:22
      •  22 And behold, all that he arequires of you is to bkeep his commandments; and he has cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ekeephis fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
    • We are blessed according to our faithfulness, as we attain to the terms of our covenants the Lord will invariably bless and sanctify us.
    • Additionally, as we are faithful and taste of the fruits of the New and Everlasting covenant our faith blooms and grows to expand our own abilities to undertake and understand the works of the Lord. Again elder christoferson explains,
      • [another] way in which our covenants supply strength—they produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord. Our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ and keep His commandments requires a degree of faith, but as we honor our covenants, that faith expands. In the first place, the promised fruits of obedience become evident, which confirms our faith.
    • Satan will continually entice us to brake our covenants. Bro Pike told me last week that he had forgot to share one of his favorite stories, so I think I will insert it here in my talk for him. Its the story of the snake and the boy. One day a boy met a snake in the forest at the bottom of a mountain. The snake says to the boy, help me to the top of the mountain so I can see the view one last time, I am cold and can not move on my own. The boy replied, no you are a snake you will bite me as soon as I touch you. The snake promised that he would not and so convinced the boy to carry him to the top of the mountain. As the pair climbed out of the forest and into the sun, the snake warmed and regain his strength. Upon reaching the top and as the boy was lowering the snake, the snake bit the boy. The boy cried out in pain, “you promised not to bite”. The snake responded, you knew what I was when you picked me up.
    • This may be kind of a silly story but it has a lesson. We have a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. We must stay clear of dangers, understand our limits and remember to where we place our hope.
  • repentance
    • President Eyring once said,
      • “The Latter-day Saints are a covenant people. From the day of baptismthrough the spiritual milestones of our lives, we make promises with God and He makes promises with us. He always keeps His promises offered through His authorized servants, but it is the crucial test of our lives to see if we will make and keep our covenants with Him. “
    • This is the test, life is the test and none of us will be getting a 100% on our own. if complete and unfailing obedience to all of God's laws was the expectation, we all might as well leave this church building now for we all have sinned and have fallen short of this goal. Our Father in heaven has foreseen our weaknesses and has established through the atonement, a way for us to live up to our covenants despite our carnal natures. The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus, and this is the true church of Christ, and is perfect, but it is full of imperfect people.
    • Elder Hales shared in his talk Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service
      • Throughout our lives, whether in times of darkness, challenge, sorrow, or sin, we may feel the Holy Ghost reminding us that we are truly sons and daughters of a caring Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we may hunger for the sacred blessings that only He can provide. At these times we should strive to come to ourselves and come back into the light of our Savior’s love.
    • As we repent, weekly, daily, hourly, we learn of the savior's mercy and our Fathers true love for us. Repentance is a necessary and normal part of being human; it is not something to be ashamed of nor taken casually.
  • sacrament
    • Following repentance—truely turning from our mistakes and coming to terms with our Lord. We are ready to renew our covenants with the savior. This is accomplished through the sacrament. In the sacrament prayer we promise to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember him, and to keep his commandments.
    •  Jesus taught the Nephites, Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you. (3 Nephi 18: 10)
    • Elder hales explains,
      • To worthily partake of the sacrament, we remember that we are renewing the covenant we made at baptism. For the sacrament to be a spiritually cleansing experience each week, we need to prepare ourselves beforecoming to sacrament meeting. We do this by deliberately leaving behind our daily work and recreation and letting go of worldly thoughts and concerns. As we do, we make room in our minds and hearts for the Holy Ghost.
    • I can testify that as I have attended to my covenants and cultivated my faith as a little garden it has grown and sprouted. Occasionally I have steped on a new sprouting doctrine or have forgoten to tend to certain areas of my wife, I have felt the effects. The Lords promise to bless obedience is true, and repentance also for the changes that are needed. It is not to late for anyone to take advantage of the new and everalasting covenant, the path to our loving heavenly has been prepared for us, he provided the law and promises, the punishment, as well as the means to escape the punishments. I pray that we can all continue along with the test of life, seeking the help of th Holy gjost, Jesus Christ and assistance of our church leaders as appropriate. We will be blessed for ou efforts.  
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