Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

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sarahmj
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Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by sarahmj »

Hi all

I have been assigned a sacrament talk in my YSA ward on the 21st. The topic is the importance of freedom, with reference to the following scriptures:

2 Nephi
27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be hmiserable like unto himself.

Alma 46
12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

In Australia we celebrate ANZAC day on the 25th of April, like Veterans Day in the USA I believe, so hence the freedom theme. I'd love to get some insights from you very knowledgeable people...

CWilson
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by CWilson »

I personally always like to use the War in Heaven when I am working with members of the church on the topic of freedom. It was the very essence of Christ's plan. Without it, one cannot truly grown and progress. Also it is the simplest way for members to realize no matter how good it sounds or what societal benefits would be achieved by forcing someone to their will, it is diabolically opposed to Christ's plan. Most importantly pray and meditate upon what Heavenly Fathers will is concerning your talk.

Hope that helps and good luck

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gkearney
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by gkearney »

ANZAC is something more than Veterans Day. ANZAC is the moment in time when Australians, and New Zealanders truely came to think of themselves as a unique peoples and nations. Prior to the events at ANZAC cove most Australian thought of themselves as Englishmen living in Australia. After ANZAC they thought of themselves as we do today as Australians, a people apart from the mother country. ANZAC is the moment in time when Australia became Australia. It is the defining event of the nation.

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sonofliberty
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by sonofliberty »

Sounds like a great opportunity! Not sure if you have ever read it or not, but you may want to read Elder Andersen's book Many are Called but Few are Chosen. It can be downloaded for free at the following link: http://www.inspiredconstitution.org/hva ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I also recommend reading President Howard W. Hunter's talk on the Law of the Harvest given at a BYU devotional in March 1966. These are great resources to get some ideas from as well as any of a number of talks given by President Benson.

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mes5464
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by mes5464 »

I would add this scripture.
Alma 53 wrote:17 And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage.
A la "give me liberty or give me death".

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marc
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by marc »

Ether 8 is definitely a good one to throw in. Secret combinations have been forming on a global scale to overthrow the liberty of all. We must all defend liberty where we live.

sarahmj
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by sarahmj »

Thanks for the suggestions!

Dave62
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Re: Sacrament talk on the importance of freedom

Post by Dave62 »

sarahmj wrote:Hi all

I have been assigned a sacrament talk in my YSA ward on the 21st. The topic is the importance of freedom, with reference to the following scriptures:

2 Nephi
27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be hmiserable like unto himself.

Alma 46
12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

In Australia we celebrate ANZAC day on the 25th of April, like Veterans Day in the USA I believe, so hence the freedom theme. I'd love to get some insights from you very knowledgeable people...
Hi Sarah, I once wrote something similar to the following to my local newspaper on this very subject...

"Last week I worked on the polling booth at the recent state election. All sorts of people were there; I was handing out leaflets for the 'funny hat' party, next to me were members of the 'tree huggers' party, the 'workers' party, and the 'wealthy land-owners' party. We had a great time and laughed and talked for most of the morning. We even had a group photo. There were no armed guards; there weren't even any police. There were plenty of kids running around barefoot in the playground, plenty of sweating, labouring matrons in the cake stall, and plenty of the ubiquitous flies.

It came to my turn to leave the booth and go vote. No one asked me for any identification, no one stood over my shoulder to see how I voted. The most intense debate I overheard centred on the current cricket test against the old enemy England. As I walked back past the hordes of children playing games and eating lamingtons I felt a certain connection with a little garden at the front of the main school building. In this little garden each 25th of April the children lay flowers and sing the national anthem and some old soldiers come along to remember their fallen mates.

I wonder how clearly the people lining up to vote saw the connection between their peace and happiness, and what these old men did so long ago.'

Or words to that effect. Hope this helps.

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