Doctrine & Covenants 20

Part III

BackgroundOn April 6, 1830, as part of the meeting to organize the restored Church of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery confirmed those who had previously been baptized and bestowed upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost History of the Church

Joseph Smith’s parents were baptized and confirmed that day. This was a joyful time for the Prophet, who exclaimed, “Praise to my God! that I lived to see my own father baptized into the true Church of Jesus Christ!” Lucy Mack Smith

Jesus Christ

Prophet

Frist Presidency

Presidency of Seventy

12 Apostles

Organization of the Church

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles & Presidency of Seventy

Quorum of Seventy

Stake

Ward

Use www.lds.org and the following scriptures to find 3 bits of information

about each ordinance

Baby Blessing: D&C 20:70-71Baptism: D&C 20:38, 73

After Baptism: D&C 20:68-71Keeping Church Records: D&C 20:80-84

The Sacrament: D&C 20:75-79

A Name and a Blessing

A Name and a Blessing“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their

hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.”

D&C 20:70-71 See Moroni 8:5-26

Baptism

D&C 20:73

BaptismThe Person being baptized:1. Stands in the water with the person to be baptized.

2. Holds the person’s right wrist with his left hand (for convenience and safety); the person who is being baptized holds the priesthood holder’s left wrist with his or her left hand.

3. Raises his right arm to the square.

4. States the person’s full name and says, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen” (D&C 20:73).

5. Has the person hold his or her nose with the right hand (for convenience); then the priesthood holder places his right hand high on the person’s back and immerses the person completely, including the person’s clothing.

6. Helps the person come up out of the water.Convert baptisms are usually performed by a priesthood holder in the ward or by one of the missionaries who taught the person. A convert may also request that another qualified member perform the baptism.Handbook 20.3.8

After Baptism

D&C 20:68-71

After Baptism“Be kindly affectionate, one towards another;

that the fathers should be kind to their children,

husbands to their wives,

children obedient to their parents,

wives to their husbands.”

Joseph Smith

Keeping Records of Members

D&C 20:80-84

Keeping Records of Members

The priesthood holders in the early Church were instructed to record the names of people who had joined the Church in a book.

The names of those who fell away from the Church were removed from the book.

Church members who moved from one location to another were to take a certificate of their membership with them to give to their new priesthood leaders.

In our day, Church leaders continue to keep accurate membership records, but the methods of doing so are more efficient.

The Sacrament

“The one thing that would make for the safety of every man and woman would be to appear at the sacrament table every Sabbath day. We would not get very far away in one week—not so far away that, by the process of self-investigation, we could not rectify the wrongs we may have done. … The road to the sacrament table is the path of safety for Latter-day Saints” Elder Melvin J. Ballard

“We should be seated at least five minutes before the meeting begins so they can be spiritually prepared for a worshipful experience. During that quiet interval, prelude music is subdued. This is not a time for conversation or transmission of messages but a period of prayerful meditation as leaders and members prepare spiritually for the sacrament.”Russell M. Nelson, Worldwide leadership Training, 21 June, 2003

““Sacrament meeting is not a time for whispered conversations on cell phones or for texting.“During sacrament meeting—and especially during the sacrament service—we should concentrate on worship and refrain from all other activities.“How wonderful when every person in attendance joins in the worship of singing—especially in the hymn that helps us prepare to partake of the sacrament.”Dallin H. Oaks, October 2008 General Conference

Imagine you are sitting in the congregation during sacrament meeting. The sacrament Hymn has just concluded and everyone is prepared to listen to the blessing on the sacrament.

What distractions do you try to avoid? What do you do to help you focus on the Savior?

A Deacon has just brought the sacrament to where you are sitting and you are about to take it.What promises are you about to make?What blessings can you receive from this experience? Why is this ordinance important to you? What can you do to improve your experience of partaking of the sacrament?

Write: One goal to make your sacrament experience a bit

better next Sunday

“It is significant that when we partake of the sacrament we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We witness that we are willing to do so… The fact that we only witness to our willingness suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred name upon us in the most important sense.

“What future event or events could this covenant contemplate?

“By partaking of the sacrament we witness our willingness to participate in the sacred ordinance of the temple and to receive the highest blessings available through the name and by the authority of the Savior” (C.R., April 1985, 102-3).

“Many years ago, large packs of wolves roamed the countryside in Ukraine, making travel in that part of the world very dangerous. These wolf packs were fearless. They were not intimidated by people or by any of the weapons available at that time. The only thing that seemed to frighten them was fire. Consequently, travelers who found themselves away from cities developed the common practice of building a large bonfire and keeping it burning through the night. As long as the fire burned brightly, the wolves stayed away. But if it were allowed to burn out and die, the wolves would move in for an attack. Travelers understood that building and maintaining a roaring bonfire was not just a matter of convenience or comfort; it was a matter of survival.

D&C 20:77,79

“We do not have to protect ourselves from wolf packs as we travel the road of life today, but, in a spiritual sense, we do face the devious wolves of Satan in the forms of temptation, evil, and sin. We live in dangerous times when these ravenous wolves roam the spiritual countryside in search of those who may be weak in faith or feeble in their conviction. We are all vulnerable to attack. However, we can fortify ourselves with the protection provided by a burning testimony that, like a bonfire, has been built adequately and maintained carefully.

“Unfortunately, some in the Church may believe sincerely that their testimony is a raging bonfire when it really is little more than the faint flickering of a candle. Their faithfulness has more to do with habit than holiness. With such a feeble light of testimony for protection, these travelers on life’s highways are easy prey for the wolves of the adversary” (Elder Wirthlin, in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, 45–46; or Ensign, Nov. 1992, 34).

D&C 20:77,79

Doctrine & Covenants 20

Part III