| tier | purpose |
|---|---|
| 1 | Priesthood authority & keys |
| 1 | Covenants and ordinances |
| 2 | Prophetic direction |
| 2 | Scriptures |
| 3 | Gospel learning and teaching support |
| 3 | Aservice and leadership opportunities |
| 3 | A community of Saints |
Early days of the church: call on a member mid-meeting to speak.
Grateful to get a couple days.
The Basics
The church furthers our earthly mission and purpose:
Demonstrate faithfulness in the gospel by learning & gaining mortal experiences
We can narrow this down, highlight certain components, but that’s it.
Paul writing to a branch of the primitive Church in Ephesus:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The Church handbook leads off with this same mission:
Jesus Christ established His Church to enable individuals and families to do the work of salvation and exaltation.
Observations:
- The church doesn’t execute the work of salvation and exaltation
- Individuals and families operate in the environment setup by the church
- All stems back to Jesus Christ
- Center of the Plan of Salvation
- The flywheel to the work
- We choose our path; Christ perfects us along the way
Church is the environment for salvation and exaltation.
There are ingredients to this recipe that yields the best results for the most Saints.
The Recipe
To help accomplish this divine purpose, the Church and its leaders provide:
- Priesthood authority and keys.
- Covenants and ordinances.
- Prophetic direction.
- Scriptures.
- Gospel learning and teaching support.
- Service and leadership opportunities.
- A community of Saints.
Proper Prioritization
Thought dump
- Ultimate purpose is bring souls to Christ
- The Church as an organization ceases at that point
- Ephesians 4:11-13
- Christ really restored the gospel
- Could have reorganized any church, chose to setup a new one
- WARNING TO ALL CHURCHES
- Joseph Smith History-1:19
- “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, havinga form of godliness, but they deny the power therof”
- Tiers to “purpose”
- First tier
- “Priesthood authority and keys
- Apostacy: when the priesthood is removed from the earth
- Covenants and ordinances
- Seen it throughout history: proper order
- The whole goal is covenant making and keeping through ordinances
- Could sufficiently be the ONLY thing the Church provided
- Day-to-day church didn’t exist for nearly 1 year
- What happened?
- We saw the essentials
- “Priesthood authority and keys
- Second tier
- Prophetic direction, scriptures
- Fullness of revelation
- Prophetic direction, scriptures
- Third tier
- Gospel learning and teaching support
- Service and leadership opportunities
- A community of Saints
- Not all of these tiers are equal
- We get into trouble when we assert “a community of saints” is on par with “covenants and ordinances”
- Many turn away from the church
- First tier
- Church as an organization vs an event
- We get into trouble when we put tier 2/3 stuff on the level of tier 1 or vice versa
Look into scriptures from Alma
Purpose Tiers
Introduction
THIS IS A QUOTE BLOCK
All those officers disappeared years and years ago, but God has restored the ancient organizations of his Priesthood on earth-Apostles, High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. He has restored Bishops and their councils, and high councils, for the accomplishment of his purposes. He first institutes baptism for the remission of sins, then the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gathering of the people, then the building of Temples.