Welcome to the Church of Joy

Elder Patrick Kearon has become a quick favorite of mine. I am grateful for his tender spirit and messages. His latest message was about joy and worship. And while I enjoyed it the first time I heard it, it was one of those that really caused me to ponder when I read and studied it later.

Elder Kearon spoke a lot about how we can make our sacrament meetings more joyful but I applied his word on a more personal level (although there are definitely things I can do to help with our sacrament meetings as well). Elder Kearon used a phrase I am not sure if I had heard before – joyful reverence. It feels like two words that don’t necessarily belong together. He described it this way: “We deeply love, honour, and respect our God, and our reverence flows from a soul that rejoices in Christ’s abundant love, mercy, and salvation.” I want more feelings of internal joy and reverence.

I also really loved what he taught about worship. Worship is an idea that has been floating around my mind a bit lately and so I definitely perked up with this. I have been “attending church” every Sunday my entire life. And I am grateful for that and the blessings it has brought me. But I know there have been probably more times than I want to admit, where I went because it is just what I do, maybe even a habit, and maybe not for the purpose of worshipping. Elder Kearon defined worship as “intentionally prais[ing] and ador[ing] our God in a way that transforms us!”. Isn’t that so good?! Intentional transformation!

The last part that really struck me was about the sacrament. Elder Kearon spoke about the different feelings we may personally feel as we partake of the sacrament. And it was a bit of a wake up call for me. I have spent many a sacrament thinking about all of the things that I am not doing well with. All of my flaws. All of my mistakes. Maybe more about me than it should be. The sacrament should be all about Him. All of the times that the Savior has shown me care and love. All of the times when He has carried me. His relentless love for each of us.

Prompting

I want to change how I worship. I want to joyfully focus on my Savior and let Him transform me as I show my love for Him in worship.

My Favorite Takeaways

“Because of the loving plan of our Heavenly Father for each of His children, and because of the redeeming life and mission of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we can – and should – be the most joyful people on earth! Even as the storms of life in an often-troubled world pound upon us, we can cultivate a growing and abiding sense of joy and inner peace because of our hope in Christ and our understanding of our own place in the beautiful plan of happiness.

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the church of joy!

We can all contribute, no matter our age or our calling, to making our sacrament meetings the joy-filled, Christ-focused, welcoming hour they can be, alive with a spirit of joyful reverence.

We deeply love, honour, and respect our God, and our reverence flows from a soul that rejoices in Christ’s abundant love, mercy, and salvation! This joyful reverence to the Lord should characterise our sacred sacrament meetings.

We come together to worship…Worship is to intentionally praise and adore our God in a way that transforms us!

If we are gathering in remembrance of the Saviour and the redepemption He has made possible, our faces should reflect our joy and gratitude!

Let’s sing! And praise Him!

We center our talks and testimonies on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the fruits of humbly living Their gospel.

The glorious focal point of our services is the blessing and receiving of the sacrament itself, the bread and the water representing the atoning gift of our Lord and the whole purpose of our gathering. This is “a sacred time of spiritual renewal” when we witness anew that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and make again the covenant to always remember the Saviour and keep His commandments.

In the stillness, we can ponder the many ways we have seen the Lord relentlessly pursue us with His wonderful love that week! We can reflect on what it means to “discover the joy of daily repentance.” We can give thanks for the times the Saviour entered into our sturggles and our triumphs and the occasions when we felt His grace, forgiveness, and power giving us strength to overcome our hardships and bear our burdens with patience and even good cheer.

Whether we shed tears of sorrow or tears of gratitude during the sacrament, let it be in awesome wonder at the good news of the Father’s gift of His Son!

God is so aware of you.

Welcome to the church of joy!”

FULL text and video of Elder Patrick Kearon’s message can be found HERE.

Other messages from the October 2024 General Conference that I found particularly impactful:

• The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again by President Russell M. Nelson
• The Triumph of Hope by Elder Neil L. Andersen