Aaronic Priesthood Manual 1
"Lesson 38: Magnifying the Calling of an Aaronic Priesthood Holder," Aaronic Priesthood Manual 1, 136
Each young man will desire to better fulfill his priesthood responsibilities.
1. Materials needed: scriptures for each young man.
2. Prepare a copy of the handout "I Am Only One" for each class member (see page 137).
* What changes would occur in the Church if the priesthood duties done by the Aaronic Priesthood were suddenly stopped?
Allow the young men to discuss this question. Help them understand that there would be no sacrament and there would be no fast offerings gathered for the bishops to use to help the poor.
Explain that when Jesus Christ visited the Nephites after his resurrection, he instructed them in the importance of the sacrament.
Have the young men read aloud 3 Nephi 18:1-12. Call on those who are good readers to help read. Discuss important points in these verses, such as:
1. The sacrament is a very sacred ordinance.
2. We are commanded to partake of the sacrament often.
3. The sacrament helps us remember Jesus Christ.
4. We covenant or promise to obey all the commandments of Jesus Christ.
5. We are promised that as we obey the commandments of Jesus Christ, we will always have the Holy Spirit with us.
6. Only those who hold the proper priesthood can pass the sacrament.
Help the young men feel the sacred character of the sacrament. Encourage them to dress properly and to carefully, efficiently, and reverently administer the sacrament.
* How does an Aaronic Priesthood holder help the members of the Church when he administers the sacrament in a reverent manner? (He provides the members the opportunity of renewing their baptismal covenants and obtaining forgiveness of their sins. He helps teach everyone how sacred the sacrament is.)
Explain that Bishop H. Burke Peterson said: "Sacrament time is a very special time, and you are now an important part of it. You are different now than you used to be" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1981, p. 49; or Ensign, Nov. 1981, p. 34).
* What are some ways an Aaronic Priesthood holder should be different from a young man his age who does not hold the priesthood?
Testify of the sacred character of the sacrament and the Aaronic Priesthood holders' responsibility in preparing and passing it to the members of the Church.
Emphasize that Aaronic Priesthood holders should be different than young men who do not hold the Aaronic Priesthood.
Help them understand that by gathering fast offerings, the young men give members an opportunity to serve the Lord by helping the poor and needy.
Have a young man read Mosiah 4:26 aloud.
Explain that paying fast offerings is imparting of our substance to the poor, or in other words, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.
Help the young men understand that fast offerings are used exclusively to help the poor and needy. The money may be used by the bishop to pay a needy person's electricity bill or house payment, to purchase needed medicine, or to buy needed food and clothing if a bishop's storehouse is not close by. Unused money is turned in to Church headquarters to be used anywhere in the world that there is a member in need.
"The Lord has said he is going to share with you some of his power and authority to help others through life.
"... There is no more satisfying assignment than helping those in need. Gathering fast offerings is a blessing to you when you look at it as helping the bishop and the poor. Someday you may get to see the smile on a widow's face and the tears in her eyes when the bishop takes her some groceries or pays her rent with the fast offerings you have gathered for him" (H. Burke Peterson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1981, p. 49; or Ensign, Nov. 1981, p. 34).
* What might happen if you failed to carry out your responsibilities properly as an Aaronic Priesthood holder?
Give each young man a copy of the handout "I Am Only One." Have a young man read this poem aloud. Discuss its meaning, and help the class work at memorizing the poem.
Have a young man read 1 Nephi 3:7.
Encourage the young men to be like Nephi and to fulfill every assignment they receive to the best of their ability.
Challenge them to set a good example for others by reverently fulfilling their responsibilities.
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
(Edward Everett Hale, in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, compiled by John Bartlett, 14th ed. [Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1968], p. 717).
« Previous Chapter: Lesson 37: The Priesthood of Aaron
Next Chapter: Lesson 39: Missionary Work through Example »
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