Seth's Sacrament Talk on the Atonement of Jesus Christ
April 2013
I really wanted to get down the talk that Seth gave in Sacrament Meeting on Easter about the Atonement. He did a REALLY good job and I was super proud of him (he was 14 years old at this time). Especially since he wrote and prepared for his talk 100% by himself! He also took the initiative to invite Grandma and Grandpa Vogt to come listen to him. While grandpa wasn't able to come, grandma made it and stayed the entire Sacrament meeting with us - that was so wonderful to have her there! Here is the talk that Seth gave...
Hello My
name is Seth Vogt and I've been asked to give a talk to you on the atonement.
I've been asked to speak with some reference from the talk Is there a point of
no return given by Dieter F Ukdorf and this can be found in the June 2010 New
era.(if you want to read more on it you can go to LDS.organd search
this talk Is there a point of no return)
To start off I would like to ask you
Is there a point of no return in our lives as we strive to get to the celestial
kingdom.
To answer this I will tell you about
the talk that I told you about earlier.To start off this talk elder Ukdorf
talks about pilots and how when they fly long distances that there is a point
of no return. How when they wouldn't have enough fuel to make it back to the original
airport that they took off of.
He then precedes to state that in
our lives there is no point of no return. This is due to the divine gift of the
atonement. Through the atonement we can all be forgiven of our sins, no matter
how big or small that they may be. Christ came to this world to save us from
sin, he is also there to give us assurance that sin is not a point of no return
and that a safe return is possible if we follow gods plan for our salvation.
The atonement causes each of us to
be accountable for their sins. It also provides a way to overcome the
consequences of sin by depending on the blessings and benefits of this gift.
For true repentance we need to feel
a deep remorse or godly sorrow for our sins. This mean we need to confess our
sins with our father in heaven, and if the sin is serious enough, meet with the
proper priesthood leader who can help with this. One example is you could meet
with the bishop.
The outcome of using the atonement
other than the obvious result of being forgiven is that you will have a deep
feeling of peace and a true joy that you have repented. Once we have repented Christ
will also take away the burden of guilt that builds up due to our sins. We can
know that we have been forgiven and have been made clean through the holy
ghost.
Satan will try to make us believe
that because we remember our sins that they are not forgiven. This is just not
true. The reason that we remember our sins is that we won't repeat them in the
future. Alma the younger the ancient prophet in the Americas testified that
after he received forgiveness from his sins, he could still remember them but
they no longer distressed and tortured him because he knew he had been
forgiven. (this can be found in Alma
chapter 36 verses 17-19).
The gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ
provides us at all times and all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness.
Because of this wonderful gift, the opportunity and ability to make a safe
return from sin is available to all of us and at all times.
I Challenge all of you to be ready
to use the divine gift of the atonement and be able to repent at all times and
know that you can be forgiven and make it to the celestial kingdom to live with
our heavenly father.
I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ amen.
The Enabling Power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ
May 2013
I sort of had a "light bulb" moment this week that I wanted to document. This past month has been pretty emotional in regards to dealing with the photography (Hope and I) did for the dance studio. I don't deal well with people who are upset with me and it really makes me get anxious and have a sick feeling in my stomach. It made everything else in my life get put on hold since I couldn't distract myself away from the MESS to carry on. I started having my prayers be more sincere and more heartfelt. I became a bit more committed to scripture study. I relied more on the Lord to help me through each day. At first, I was praying that no moms would call/contact me.... but then I realized that I had the ability to call upon the enabling powers of the Atonement to help me get through the days. I took inspiration from the pioneer story of the men who were stuck along the trail west with nothing to eat and instead of praying for food, they prayed that their stomachs would be able to handle the leather that they would eat. So I got to thinking that instead of praying that no contention be brought my way - I would pray for COURAGE and PEACE and the ability to deal with whatever came before me! And you know what?... it worked!!! When the calls (or emails) came.. I dealt with it in a way that didn't ruin the rest of day. I took care of what needed to be addressed and went back to being with my family. In the moment and enjoying the kids! I am so grateful that the Atonement covers much more than just saving us from our sins.. that is can also bring us the peace and comfort that I so desperately needed!
REFLECTIONS OF THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST
March 2015
I have been continuing on into my 2nd month with my study on the Atonement. I have learned sooooo much over these past weeks and am so grateful for a deeper understanding of this matchless gift from the Savior. One morning I read the conference talk "Personal Strength Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Richard G Scott and ended up with 3 pages of notes! Some of the things that stood out to me:
* The Lord sees weaknesses differently than he does rebellion. The Lord warns that unrepentant rebellion will bring punishment, yet when he speaks of weaknesses, it is always with mercy.
* Many of us have allowed weakness to develop in our character. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we, like the Ammonites, can build "Spiritual Fortifications" between ourselves and any past mistakes that Satan attempt to exploit. So... HOW do we build these Eternal Fortifications? Through Sincere, Thorough and Complete Repentance (remembering that Repentance is not punishment, but it is the hope-filled path to a more glorious future).
A SUCCESSFUL ENRICHMENT ON THE ATONEMENT
May 2015
We did have a (successful to me) Enrichment this week on the Atonement (that I found on the "Latter Day Mommy" Blog). I had read in 2nd Nephi where Lehi is about to die and is giving final advise/wisdom to each of his sons and when he is talking to Jacob, it struck me that the things he is teaching his son are the same things I should be teaching the kids. One of those "things" was the Atonement and how that is truly the most important thing for us to learn and understand (and teach)! We actually talk and teach of the Atonement regularly but I was impressed that we should be spending even more time on this and so I've decided to dedicate 1 Enrichment each week to the Atonement (I recently concluded a 2 month study of the Atonement and there is soooooo much to learn about!). Anyway, I came upon this really neat object lesson that we did to explain the Law of Justice and the Law of Mercy, and how the Atonement fits into this (it’s kind of deeper doctrine that can seem a little abstract but I think the visual we did helped solidify the concept to the kids). We started out by emphasizing the crucialness of the atonement, by painting a picture
It’s important because, if we truly understand the needfulness of the atonement, it makes us more likely to exercise the faith and repentance necessary to make the atonement work in our lives. But if its importance doesn’t sink deeply enough into our hearts, we’re likely to take it for granted and not be as motivated to take the steps to apply the atonement to ourselves.
God abides by the law of justice. This is His law.
The law of justice is like the law of gravity or any other law of physics. When you walk off a diving board, there’s a natural consequence. When you put a pin through a balloon, it pops. You can’t avoid the consequence- it’s inevitable. Likewise, if we sin, there is a punishment: separation from God’s presence, because “no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.” (1 Nephi 10:21)
Let’s suppose for a minute that there were no atonement. If you made a mistake, even once, in your life, you would be banished from Heavenly Father’s presence forever. You blew it- no second chances. That’s how the law of justice works.
(To demonstrate this, I had two balloons and popped one at this point as the kids threw out some sins - dishonesty, saying bad words, being mean to each other, stealing, etc).
Thankfully, there is an atonement. We all have sinned, but because of the atonement, there is a second chance. The law of mercy can balance out the law of justice.
(We then put a piece of masking tape on the 2nd (blown up) balloon and then I stuck the pin through the balloon where the tape was - the tape prevents the balloon from popping).
I explained that the tape represented the Atonement and is what protects the balloon from being “exposed to the whole demands of the law of justice,” just as Jesus Christ, through his atonement, stands between us and justice, if we will take advantage of his atonement.
We finished up by emphasizing that even though Christ atoned for our sins– if we don’t repent and take the steps required to access God’s mercy, it’s as if there were no atonement made and that not repenting of our sins is like having the masking tape right in front of us, but not applying it to our balloon. It is then exposed to the whole law of justice because there is no safety net. The atonement takes absolutely no effect in our lives if we neglect to do our part.
The kids then took turns demonstrating this (by poking pins into balloons). I think it really connected a visual to what they were learning in a way that hadn't happened before!
MOM'S EASTER TALK ON
THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST
April 2017
Also, today in Sacrament Meeting, I (mom) gave a 20 minute talk on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Apparently I had 40 minutes of material because I had to skip over half of it to stay within the allotted time! It went really well and I felt I said the words that Heavenly Father wanted me too. At the very beginning of my talk, I shared 2 analogies that I have used to teach our own family about the Atonement. I wanted to include the first part of my talk here so that I can reference in years to come and also for my own posterity...
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Happy Easter everyone!
What a wonderful time of year we have dedicated to our Savior and the role he played in helping us realize our ultimate goal of Eternal Life!
One can guess that my words this morning will reflect on the Savior - and I wanted to focus on the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
A couple of years ago, I was trying to teach my own children about the Atonement and came across 2 different analogies (that made so much sense to me (and to my kids!) and I wanted to start off by sharing those because I think that it can sometimes be difficult to clearly explain the law of justice and the law of mercy, and how the atonement fits into this. It’s kind of deeper doctrine that can seem a little abstract. Anyway, I found this really neat object lesson and it was a great way to help visualize these concepts and make the principles more concrete.
I started out by holding up a balloon and telling them that God abides by the law of justice. This is His law. The law of justice is like the law of gravity or any other law of physics. When you walk off a diving board, there’s a natural consequence. When you put a pin through a balloon, it pops (and I then proceeded to pop the balloon so they could visually see it). You can’t avoid the consequence- it’s inevitable. Likewise, if we sin, there is a punishment: separation from God’s presence, because as it says in 1 Nephi 10:21 “no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.”
Let’s suppose for a minute that there were no atonement. If you made a mistake, even once, in your life, you would be banished from Heavenly Father’s presence forever. You blew it- no second chances. That’s how the law of justice works.
Thankfully, there is an atonement. We all have sinned, but because of the atonement, there is a second chance. The law of mercy can balance out the law of justice.
I then showed my kids a second balloon and Put a piece of masking tape on the balloon and asked one of them to stick the pin through the balloon where the tape is. Of course they all wanted to try it and so we did this several times with multiple balloons and as you might imagine the balloon did not pop!
I explained that the tape represents the atonement of Christ and that is what protects the balloon from being “exposed to the whole demands of the law of justice,” just as Jesus Christ, through his atonement, stands between us and justice, if we will take advantage of his atonement.
We finished up our lesson by emphasizing that–even though Christ atoned for our sins– if we don’t repent and take the steps required to access God’s mercy, it’s as if there were no atonement made. Not repenting of our sins is like having the masking tape right in front of us, but not applying it to our balloon. It is then exposed to the whole law of justice because there is no safety net. The atonement takes absolutely no effect in our lives if we neglect to do our part.
This is emphasized in Alma 34:16 “And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.”
This was a very effective way (at least that I found) that even my youngest kids could grasp and understand and it completely opened up my eyes as well as how the Atonement works in our lives!
Now every so often I like to revisit the Atonement of Christ just to make sure that my children are remembering it and to maybe go a little deeper into the doctrine... and so it was time to do another lesson on it (but I didn’t want to do the same one - even though it truly is an amazing and effective one!) so back to the internet I went and this time I came across a talk by Brad Wilcox focusing more on Grace.
Now let’s pause for just a moment and let’s talk about “Grace” - what exactly is it? We see it written in the scriptures and we hear other Christians using the word - so what exactly does it mean??
Well In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to mean the “Enabling power of the Atonement of Christ”
It occurs frequently in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. The main idea of the word is basically “Divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.”
And finally Grace can be described as the Divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Thus, the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.
Alright so back to the analogy that was shared: He said that
- Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child.
- Mom pays the piano teacher.
- Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice!
- Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No.
- Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No.
- Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.
If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, Mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.
In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
- If we see His requirements as being way too much to ask (“Gosh! None of the other Christians have to pay tithing! None of the other Christians have to go on missions, serve in callings, and do temple work!”), maybe it is because we do not yet see through Christ’s eyes. We have not yet comprehended what He is trying to make of us.
- Elder Bruce C. Hafen has written, “The great Mediator asks for our repentance not because we must ‘repay’ him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior’s help, leads us along the path to a saintly character”
- President Spencer W. Kimball’s explanation, “The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but this suffering has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change” (The Lord’s Way [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1991], 223; emphasis in original).
- Let’s put that in terms of our analogy: The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change. To Grow. To Learn
- Now I’m sure the child at some point will say: “don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.” Now wait. Isn’t that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?
Aren’t those both great ways of teaching and thinking about how the Atonement truly affects our lives? As I continue on with my talk, I wanted to focus more on this Grace or Enabling Power of Atonement of Christ
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “I suspect that [we] are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement.” He suggested that most of us understand that Christ came to earth to die for us, to pay the price for our sins, to make us clean, to redeem us from our fallen state, and to enable every person to be resurrected from the dead.
But, Elder Bednar said, “I frankly do not think many of us ‘get it’ concerning [the] enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.
I think many people today believe that through their own “sheer grit, willpower, and discipline” they can manage just about anything. This simply is not true. Heavenly Father and the Savior can inspire, comfort, and strengthen us in our time of need, if we remember to cast our burdens at Their feet.
On the eve of Jesus Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane, He issued these final words to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). I recently read a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who said “[This] may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord’s merciful heart.”
I found myself as a part of those Latter Day Saints that Elder Holland referred to - letting my heart be trouble and being afraid.
One such time was early on in our marriage. John had just graduated college and been commissioned as a 2LT in the Army and I was 8 months pregnant with our 2nd son, Seth. It was around this same time that we found out where our first duty station would be. We had been anticipating orders to Colorado or Washington or even Italy (which had been submitted as our top picks) so you can imagine our surprise when we found out that we had been assigned to Korea! Oh, and one more detail I need to state - it was to be an unaccompanied 1 year tour. Our little family would be separated. Originally we just thought - no biggie, we’ll apply for a Command Sponsorship so our 2 boys and I could go with him... but that request was denied. My heart was troubled and fearful!
I’m not sure if I was consciously aware at the time that I was casting my burden at the Savior's feet but I threw myself into the scriptures to try and find peace and answers. True to His word, I was comforted and strengthened in my time of need. He brought peace to my heart and assured me that everything was going to be OK! As a little back history of me - I grew up in a military family and had actually lived in Korea for 2 years as a child. With my parents encouragement, we decided that we’d do whatever it took to be together - even if that meant living off post in a Korean Neighborhood and paying for it ourselves. And that’s just what we did! John got over there and found a little Korean Villa for us to live in and then sent for us. The journey over there is another story in itself (which I’ll share sometime if I’m ever asked to speak on Prayer -- and no, that is not an invitation for another speaking assignment!) but I look back on this experience as a time that I truly relied on the Savior and that through the enabling powers of Christ’s Atonement - I was comforted and no longer fearful.
Christ stands ready with outstretched arms as He waits for us to come unto Him and be encircled in the arms of His love (see D&C 6:20). It is here that we can be healed, nourished, loved, enabled, strengthened, and made whole. Although the trial may be hard and the relief may not be immediate, we need to learn to allow God to help carry our burdens. We can do this by turning to Him regularly to seek His enabling power..
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