O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8
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whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 18 Feb 2008 10:03 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

O How Great the Goodness of Our God

The purpose:

To help class members understand their need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and to teach them how to receive all the blessings of the Atonement.

Scriptures:

2 Nephi 6–10

http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/6
(audio - http://tinyurl.com/28ycx4)

http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/7
(audio - http://tinyurl.com/2g78l5)

http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/8
(audio - http://tinyurl.com/238cu4)

http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/9
(audio - http://tinyurl.com/2cuhdh)

http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/10
(audio - http://tinyurl.com/24s94c)

-----------------------------------------------

Teacher's Manual Link:

http://tinyurl.com/27p83e

Student Manual Link:

http://tinyurl.com/226yuz

XO

Whit

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 18 Feb 2008 10:12 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

LDS Living Link:

http://www.ldsliving.com/bom8.asp

BYU New Testament Series:

Episode 10 - "Jacob’s Sermon to the Nephites" (2 Nephi 6-10)

http://byub.org/bookofmormon/episode.asp?id=10

Extra Articles (as listed with Ep. 10)

“The Supernal Gift of the Atonement” by James E. Faust
http://tinyurl.com/ywvt6o

“How Men Are Saved” by Marion G. Romney
http://tinyurl.com/22d442

“The Restoration of Israel to the Lands of Their Inheritance” by Marion G. Romney
http://tinyurl.com/25r69a

“Book of Mormon Commentary on Isaiah” by Garold N. Davis
http://tinyurl.com/yv2t2q

“The Fall and the Infinite Atonement” by Spencer J. Condie
http://tinyurl.com/ysuaxm

“Resurrection and Restoration” by N. Eldon Tanner
http://tinyurl.com/2ffso7

-Whit

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 18 Feb 2008 10:39 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I will probably skip a lesson in the next week or two so everybody can catch back up after Ward Conferences... Which lesson are you all on? I'm actually a week behind in my ward from what I'm posting here....

ctr2002

Posts: 14241



Posted: 18 Feb 2008 11:53 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I'm on this one. We had ward conference but also had SS that week.
verily

Posts: 1402



Posted: 18 Feb 2008 12:21 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

this is where we are at , but we are having branch conference in the next week or two.
whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 19 Feb 2008 08:30 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

For those of you who didn't read this talk last year, I highly recommend it. It is one of the best talks on the atonement EVER. Parts of it were posted in the August 2007 Ensign here:

http://tinyurl.com/3x36on

The full length version of his talk is here:

http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=10979

The audio is here:

http://byubmp3.byu.edu/devos/devo031406.mp3

I would post some of my "favorite" parts of this talk, but I cannot. I love it all. I hope you have the time to read it - especially the LONG version. :)

looney_tunes

Posts: 478



Posted: 20 Feb 2008 08:37 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I read that talk this morning, Whit, and loved it. Thank you for recommending it.

The concept of having everything we do point back to the Atonement seems so basic, and yet we do become easily distracted by other things. My challenge for myself as I started studying the Book of Mormon this year was to find ways in which it is Another Testament of Christ. I have loved doing that. I have focused much less on other aspects of my reading and focused almost exclusively on references to the Atonement and it has been a very powerful experience for me thus far.

I've mentioned that I'm reading as a companion piece "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister. Of course, with that phrase so prominent in this week's reading, I chose to share my quote for this week from some of that reading. :)

Callister identifies and explores in the book eight ways in which the Atonement is infinite. He introduces these ideas in one of the introductory chapters in the following paragraph:

INFINITE IN A MULTIPLICITY OF WAYS

"What do the Book of Mormon prophets mean when they refer to an 'infinite atonement'? Jacob taught, 'It must needs be an infinite atonement--save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption' (2 Nephi 9:7). Nephi prophesied that the Atonement would be 'infinite for all mankind' (2 Nephi 25:16). And Amulek similarly taught, "It can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world" (Alma 34:10,12). Again and again, the key word is 'infinite.'"

"The Atonement is 'infinite' because its source is 'infinite.' But the Atonement is infinite in other ways as well. B.H. Roberts, in referring to the use of the phrase 'infinite atonement' by the Nephite prophets, comments, 'I think they sought to express the idea of the sufficiency of it; its completeness; the universality and power of it to restore all that was lost, both spiritual and physical, as well as to express the rank and dignity of him who would make the Atonement.'"

The eight reasons or ways in which the Atonement is infinite are identified as follows:

1. It is "infinite in the divineness of the one sacrificed." (Neal A. Maxwell)

2. It is infinite in power.

3. It is infinite in time. It applies retroactively and propectively through time immemorial.

4. It is infinite in coverage. It applies to all God's creations and all forms of life. Elder Maxwell called it "infinite...in the comprehensivesness of its coverage."

5. It is infinite in depth. It is infinite not only in who it covers, but in what it covers.

6. It is infinite in the degree of suffering endured by the Redeemer.

7. It is infinite in love. "Here's love and grief beyond degree; The Lord of glory died for men. (Hymn #192)"

8. "It is infinite in the blessings it bestows. The blessings of the Atonement extend far beyond its well-known triumph over physical and spiritual death. Some of these blessings overlap; some complement and supplement each other; but in the aggregate the effect of this event so blesses our lives in a multiplicity of ways, both known and yet to be discovered, that it might appropriately be said to be infinite in its blessing nature."

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 21 Feb 2008 10:27 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

Thanks for sharing the quotes from The Infinite Atonement - amazing book.

Today in my reading I just had an overwhelming gratitude for the gospel. For better understanding through living prophets and the Holy Ghost to better understand the words of Isaiah - isn't Chapter 8 beautiful? I love the imagery of Isaiah... Look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn! Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem...

Awake, arise, stand up, shake thyself from the dust - again, get rid of the natural man. Remember where we come from - that rock from which we are hewn.

I just love this reading.

looney_tunes

Posts: 478



Posted: 21 Feb 2008 02:35 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I love the language of Isaiah as well. I don't really even try to understand everything, I just enjoy the language for its poetry.
verily

Posts: 1402



Posted: 21 Feb 2008 11:03 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

me too. while I was reading, I thought the same thing....it is so beautiful...the spirit of it is so strong...I don't mind so much if I don't totally understand it. I still love it!

I do remember that talk from last year, and I also remember hearing about the book...sounds awesome. I love the atonement and am so grateful for it. I haven't had much time to study this week...sick and loopy. but I will be teaching the teens again and am excited to share this lesson with them. Understanding the atonement makes life so much easier in every way!

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 22 Feb 2008 10:42 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

One of my favorite parts of this week's lesson is in 2 Nephi 9 when it talks about "to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God..." To be humble is to be teachable and I guess once we think we know everything we're pretty much doomed. I find as I teach that I have to be really careful to teach by the Spirit and not by the knowledge - not because I know so much, but because it feels safe to stick to the lesson plan... reminds me of last year's worldwide leadership training:

http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,7492-1-4036-1,00.html

Amazing stuff about teaching by the Spirit and what that means. We need to constantly be studying and learning - but then we need to rely on the Spirit to direct the teachings... to teach by the tongue of angels instead of our own "unruly" tongues... this is one of my challenges. But I am trying. :)

There is a lot in this week's reading about "covenants" (Abrahamic and otherwise) and other temple related things... and I love that, like Paul (Acts 20:26) Jacob is rid of the blood of the people. He has done his Priesthood duty. I love Jacob! For some reason my mind went to the woman in the scriptures with the "issue of blood." She touched the hem of the Savior's garment and the blood stopped. This seems to have new significance to me today in regards to our sin and the Savior's atonement...

I started wondering what it meant to have an uncircumcised heart... I did a lot of footnote chasing and it seems to me that an uncircumcised heart is a heart that has not undergone that mighty change. It is a heart that resists the Holy Ghost (Acts 7:51) and does not live in the Spirit.

I love this scripture, "The words of the truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken." And again, Jacob advises his listeners to "come down in the depths of humility..." Otherwise, "the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever."

These are covenant people he is talking to - that's why he begins with Isaiah, reminding them of their covenants - he takes them clear back to Genesis (49:24) and reminds them of the mighty God of Jacob (see chapter 6, v. 18). He is saying, REMEMBER. How often Prophets do that! And yet, this is what Jacob says, "If ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness; but as ye are not holy... it must needs be expedient that I teach you the consequences of sin."

I have decided that more often than not, things which are expedient for us are not things we enjoy doing... perhaps they are (as mentioned in v. 18 of chapter 9) some of "the crosses of the world."

I also spent quite a bit of time footnote chasing about those crosses....

Good stuff! Great lesson this week. :)

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 22 Feb 2008 10:52 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

You know... I haven't taken as much time this year as I normally like to ponder after I read... it feels so good to do this again this week. Kind of a back on track type feeling...

I loved reading this devotional by WWN yesterday:

http://deseretbook.com/time-out/printable?dev_id=321

whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 22 Feb 2008 11:00 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

Examples (from the scriptures) of things that are/were expedient for different people:

Alma 34 - " it is expedient that [the] atonement should be made"

D&C 9 - It was expedient that Oliver Cowdry be patient.

D&C 105 - Zion's Camp - it was expedient that they have patience and "that they should be brought thus far for a trial of their faith."

Mosiah 13 - "it was expedient that there should be a law given to the children of Israel, yea, even a very strict law; for they were a stiffnecked people."

In Alma 55 it was "expedient for Moroni to make preparations to attack the city Morianton."

There are many others... But without these things which are expedient - these crosses... we cannot be true disciples.

I think it's important to ask what is expedient for us.

egillespie

Posts: 3340



Posted: 22 Feb 2008 03:56 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

A ver great "talk" Whit. Thanks again to Wendy! I thought I had read everything she had written but I had not. What is a woman to do?
E
ctr2002

Posts: 14241



Posted: 23 Feb 2008 09:04 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I wish had something to add to this. But I'm out of ideas, inspiration and thoughts.

Thank you all for your comments.

marrimem

Posts: 179



Posted: 23 Feb 2008 10:08 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

We had regular Sunday School for our Ward Conference in January, so we are right on the same lesson. Marr
verily

Posts: 1402



Posted: 23 Feb 2008 11:34 PM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

I just noticed today that Meridian Magazine had an excerpt from Isaiah for Airheads by John Bytheway. thought I would pass it along. I have been interested in that book. and am in the middle of reading the article. here's the link:
http://www.ldsmag.com/bookofmormon/080219get.html
whitlarson

Posts: 5156



Posted: 25 Feb 2008 08:56 AM
Subject: O How Great the Goodness of Our God - BOMSG - Lesson 8

Hey, thanks! They didn't have their article up last week when I posted the lesson and then I forgot to check back.

I have that book (Isaiah for Airheads). It has some good stuff in it.

Okay, I need to go post this week's lesson!! :)

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