Your thoughts please?

[askandanswer]

I'm belatedly working on tomorrow's Priesthood lesson about service. I'm having mixed thoughts on whether I should include the following as part of my lesson. On the one hand, it might come across as a bit too strong or direct, but on the other hand, it does seem to follow reasonably closely from what Elder Ballard says. The idea is that I would play the video clip and then ask the following questions

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2015-06-0030-service?lang=eng

"President Ballard seems to be suggesting that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. How accurately does the amount of service we give reflect the amount of love we have for our Father and our Saviour? Is the type and nature and frequency and reason for our service a reliable indicator of our love of God? What does your service say about your love for your Saviour?. Remember what James taught in James 2: 15 - 18 about words, actions and beliefs"

What do you think? Is this a little too direct, would the possible negative impacts of including this in my lesson outweigh the possible positive impacts? 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnsonJones]

I don't see a problem with the questions you are asking.  Seems reasonable to me.

Not sure what negative impacts you would be expecting from asking the questions.

[laronius]

I agree with @JohnsonJones. Though I think your questions are all variations of the same question about the relationship between service and love of God as confirmed in Mosiah 2:17.

I would also suggest consideration of exploring the topic of what is "priesthood service." A lot of people just immediately think of helping people move or something like that but that isn't in reality the responsibility of the priesthood but of everyone. So what are the unique service opportunities of one who holds the priesthood?

[romans8]

15 minutes ago, laronius said:

So what are the unique service opportunities of one who holds the priesthood?

What community service opportunities are females unable to perform since they don't hold the priesthood in your church?

[Carborendum]

20 minutes ago, romans8 said:

What community service opportunities are females unable to perform since they don't hold the priesthood in your church?

He didn't say "community service".

[CV75]

9 hours ago, askandanswer said:

I'm belatedly working on tomorrow's Priesthood lesson about service. I'm having mixed thoughts on whether I should include the following as part of my lesson. On the one hand, it might come across as a bit too strong or direct, but on the other hand, it does seem to follow reasonably closely from what Elder Ballard says. The idea is that I would play the video clip and then ask the following questions

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2015-06-0030-service?lang=eng

"President Ballard seems to be suggesting that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. How accurately does the amount of service we give reflect the amount of love we have for our Father and our Saviour? Is the type and nature and frequency and reason for our service a reliable indicator of our love of God? What does your service say about your love for your Saviour?. Remember what James taught in James 2: 15 - 18 about words, actions and beliefs"

What do you think? Is this a little too direct, would the possible negative impacts of including this in my lesson outweigh the possible positive impacts? 

Maybe frame the questions in terms of quality as well as amount of love we have for God, and how they impact the quality and quantity of service we render. In a way, everything we do can be service of some kind, or not really any at all (the unwilling giver).

[Fether]

11 hours ago, askandanswer said:

What do you think? Is this a little too direct, would the possible negative impacts of including this in my lesson outweigh the possible positive impacts? 

I’ll be honest, I think the wording of this question is very soft.

I would actually sharpen it just enough to prick but not appear like an accusation.

At ok with the ”what does your service say about your love for Christ?” And leave it there. All the other fluff distracts from that. Don’t really need a response, just a question for everyone to ask themselves.

Just to give you an idea of my teaching style: In our ward, we just had a temple built near us and everyone was so excited (as you can imagine). But when the sign ups to clean the temple come around, we are met with blank stares. I would use this as an opportunity to bring up a major issue facing the ward. We all claim to live the temple and to love God, and we were all so excited to get a temple, but no one wants to help maintain it.

To me, a lesson isn’t complete without a solid call to repentance. It needs to be done tactfully, but the tactfulness should not distract from the seriousness or the prick to the heart.

for example:

DONT: “No one in here ever volunteers to clean the temple, you All need to change and repent” (don’t accuse)

DO: “We were all excited to get a temple, but I notice that when the temple cleaning opportunities come around, no one volunteers. How can we, as self proclaimed saints, profess our love to God and the temple, but reject opportunities to serve in his very home?” (A community call to repentance that includes yourself)

Edited July 11, 2020 by Fether

[Fether]

1 hour ago, CV75 said:

President Ballard seems to be suggesting that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. How accurately does the amount of service we give reflect the amount of love we have for our Father and our Saviour? Is the type and nature and frequency and reason for our service a reliable indicator of our love of God? What does your service say about your love for your Saviour?. Remember what James taught in James 2: 15 - 18 about words, actions and beliefs"

I would change this quite a bit to be more direct:

“President Ballard is teaching that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. What does the service you give show about the love you have for your father in heaven?”

I wouldn’t wait for a response, instead I would share a real example (like the temple example I mentioned above, or a very real and relatable Personal story where I fell short in a calling). Following that I would ask “Why is it that our service is the measure of our love for God?”

[Carborendum]

11 hours ago, askandanswer said:

How accurately does the amount of service we give reflect the amount of love we have for our Father and our Saviour?

Is the type and nature and frequency and reason for our service a reliable indicator of our love of God?

What does your service say about your love for your Saviour?

It's a good path.  But it is important to include all of these questions.

The first question can be a good conversation starter if it includes the discussion of:

• Does quantity = quality?
• Is the service we provide (regardless of quantity) born out of our desire to share our love for the Savior?

The second question helps steer the first question towards those discussion items.

The third question, I think, is perfectly worded because it is completely non-accusative, but it still pricks people to consider what they are or are not doing in regards to service.

[CV75]

1 hour ago, Fether said:

I would change this quite a bit to be more direct:

“President Ballard is teaching that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. What does the service you give show about the love you have for your father in heaven?”

I wouldn’t wait for a response, instead I would share a real example (like the temple example I mentioned above, or a very real and relatable Personal story where I fell short in a calling). Following that I would ask “Why is it that our service is the measure of our love for God?”

Somehow @askandanswer's post got my name on it! I posted something else

 

[Jane_Doe]

5 hours ago, romans8 said:

What community service opportunities are females unable to perform since they don't hold the priesthood in your church?

Hi @romans8, a little background actually resolves your question.

The OP,  Askandanswer, is teaching the men's Sunday School class and asking for input on his lesson plan.  This men's class is known as "Priesthood class", but you don't have to be a priest to attend (heck, you don't even need to be Christian, all are welcome to come and learn).      There's also a women's Sunday School class, joint-gender Sunday School classes, kid-specific Sunday School classes, etc.  All cover the topic of service and do so regularly (very very frequently).  

 

All people can and should serve God and their fellow men.  One of my favorite Book of Mormon quotes is "When you are in your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17).  Besides individuals helping out where they can, there's also organized events of people helping out.  Serving others is a big deal and a big part of being a disciple of Christ in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  

[laronius]

7 hours ago, romans8 said:

What community service opportunities are females unable to perform since they don't hold the priesthood in your church?

Anybody can perform community service and I think that is main focus in the OP. "Priesthood Service," to be more specific, is in reference to ways in which a priesthood holder can exercise the power of the priesthood to bless others. Some examples are blessings of the sick, father's blessings, and the administration of certain ordinances like the sacrament. 

[laronius]

4 hours ago, Fether said:

I would change this quite a bit to be more direct:

“President Ballard is teaching that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. What does the service you give show about the love you have for your father in heaven?”

I wouldn’t wait for a response, instead I would share a real example (like the temple example I mentioned above, or a very real and relatable Personal story where I fell short in a calling). Following that I would ask “Why is it that our service is the measure of our love for God?”

Fether in real life: "No one signed up to clean the temple? Dang you all! Dang you all to heck!" 😁

Just kidding. I'm sure Fether only curses when moved upon by the Spirit to do so.

I actually like the sharing of examples. Sometimes when the answer to a question is a little obvious or something that is talked about a lot it is better to just simply teach the doctrine and then move on to examples and application. Not to say that this is necessarily one of those cases (you know your audience better than I) but it's an approach that has worked well for me at times.

Edited July 11, 2020 by laronius

[askandanswer]

4 hours ago, Fether said:

I would change this quite a bit to be more direct:

“President Ballard is teaching that there is a link between our love for God and Jesus Christ and our acts of service for others. What does the service you give show about the love you have for your father in heaven?”

I wouldn’t wait for a response, instead I would share a real example (like the temple example I mentioned above, or a very real and relatable Personal story where I fell short in a calling). Following that I would ask “Why is it that our service is the measure of our love for God?”

I'm going through my lesson notes now and included this change.

[Anddenex]

Nothing you don't already know, "Simon, lovest thou me.... Feed my sheep." In as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me.