Help!
Sunday, June 8th, I (MOM) have been asked to give a Sacrament Meeting talk (almost 4 years to the day since I last gave one!) about "The role of the Priesthood in the family."
Any ideas???? Examples????
Any ideas???? Examples????
posted by Mom and Dad at 5:59 AM
5 Comments:
Mom - I think a great resource for your talk would be Elder Dallin H. Oaks' "Priesthood Authority in the Family and the Church," which is a talk he gave in the Oct. 2005 General Conference. He makes lots of great points, including: priesthood authority is not the same in the family and in the church; men are not the priesthood; women are full partners with their husbands in their marriages; etc. So, when you talk about the role of the priesthood in the home, you could talk about how the most important gospel ordinance (sealing in the temple) creates and allocates responsibilities and blessings in the most important gospel unit, the family. Elder Oaks implies that women have family priesthood authority over their (male)children who hold priesthood offices, and I think the reason for this is because the family is a priesthood relationship; that is, a family is initiated and sustained by the power and authority of the priesthood. Elder Oaks says: "When my father died, my mother presided over our family. She had no priesthood office, but as the surviving parent in her marriage she had become the governing officer in her family. At the same time, she was always totally respectful of the priesthood authority of our bishop and other Church leaders. She presided over her family, but they presided over the Church." Also, he makes a really interesting distinction between patriarchy and hierarchy - the church is hierarchical, but not families; they are are patriarchal, in which husbands and wives serve as equal partners. Elder Oaks quotes Pres. Kimball as saying: "When we speak of marriage as a partnership, let us speak of marriage as a full partnership. We do not want our LDS women to be silent partners or limited partners in that eternal assignment! Please be a contributing and full partner" (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 315).
President Kimball also declared, "We have heard of men who have said to their wives, 'I hold the priesthood and you've got to do what I say.' " He decisively rejected that abuse of priesthood authority in a marriage, declaring that such a man "should not be honored in his priesthood"
As Elder Oaks also says in his talk, the differences between how the priesthood works in the family and the home aren't understood very well, so it could be a good opportunity for you to help everyone understand.
Ask Dad!
The talk Danny mentions is AWESOME!
You could share the story of Cousin Richard being healed by the priesthood. That is a powerful example of the power of the priesthood in your family. I don't think the topic makes you limit itself to just your immediate family does it?
The last worldwide leadership thing also focused on the family. There might be good tidbits there.
The counselor in the bishopbric in the ward who just got married - his new son gave that cool testimony about how happy he was that there was a priesthood holder in the home again. That was really sweet to hear that he had noticed the difference and had such a sweet spirit about him.
Post a Comment
<< Home