For this week’s lesson, I’m going to focus on the section titled “Each of us can gain a personal testimony that Jesus is the Christ,” and the scripture John 7:17 (“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine”).

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The theme and quotes in this lesson follow, I think, fairly expectedly from the title of the lesson. Time is short for me, so I’m going to focus on some issues relating to John 8, how it is used in this lesson, and what I think are some ways this passage gives us for thinking about the lesson as a whole in fresh ways that can generate interesting discussion. (If anyone else is interested in posting lesson notes, since time will likely be somewhat short for me for the next several months, please say so below, or email me at rcouchZZZ@gmail.com, without the ZZZ. Of course, making interesting comments is a very easy and non-committal way to help enhance the value of these notes!) Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve struggled with what to say about this lesson. I’ve decided to primarily refer readers to Joe’s excellent and related post post, “Elijah and the Restoration of the Sealing Keys” (Lesson 26 in the Joseph Smith manual). First, however, I will offer a passages of commentary by Walter Brueggemann on Malachi 4:5-6, which I see as the scriptural backbone of this lesson.

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This week I’m going to take up a series of questions directly from the manual and post some preliminary thoughts and responses.

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The text from the manual for this lesson can be found here.

Now, before discussing the scriptures and other content in this lesson, I wanted to begin with some thoughts inspired by some recent sociology reading I’ve been doing, and some personal experiences, regarding (1) being “sensitive to the feelings of those who do not have ideal situations at home,” as the manual puts it, and (2) how thinking of families more broadly, as primary groups, may be helpful. Read the rest of this entry »

I will make some comments on select sections from the manual, but not all sections.
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I want to offer a couple of thoughts on the section of the Lesson titled “We Can Develop Our Talents in Spite of Our Weaknesses.”

Weakness/es (Ether 12:27)
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I will comment on the underlying scriptures in this lesson, a lot on D&C 119, and then briefly on Genesis 14 and 2 Cor. 9. Read the rest of this entry »

As study notes for this lesson, I’m going to focus on two scriptures that I think play a prominent role in this lesson: Matt 5:44–45 (the rain falling on the just and unjust) and 1 Cor 13:8 (charity never faileth). Read the rest of this entry »