May I Voice a Concern? Too Many Don't Fully Understand the Concept of Priesthood Power and Authority

my beloved brethren thank you for your devotion to the lord and his holy work it is truly a joy to be with you as a new first presidency we thank you for your prayers for your sustaining efforts we are grateful for your lives and for your service to the lord your devotion to duty and your selfless service are just as important in your callings as ours are in our callings through a lifetime of service in this church i have learned that it really doesn't matter where one serves what the lord cares about is how one serves i express deep gratitude for president thomas s monson who was an example to me for more than 50 years and for his counselors president henry b eyring and president dieter f dorf i express profound admiration for them i commend them for their service to the lord and his prophets both of these devoted servants have received new assignments they continue to serve with vigor and commitment i honor and love them both it is a remarkable blessing to serve in the lord's true and living church with his authority and power the restoration of the priesthood of god including the keys of the priesthood opens to worthy latter-day saints the greatest of all spiritual blessings we see those blessings flowing to women men and children throughout the world we see faithful women who understand the power inherent in their callings and in their in work in the endowment and other temple ordinances these women know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen their husbands children and others they love these are spiritually strong women who lead teach and minister fearlessly in their callings with the power and authority of god how thankful i am for them likewise we see faithful men who live up to their privileges as bearers of the priesthood they lead and serve by sacrifice in the lord's way with love kindness and patience they bless guide protect and strengthen others by the power of the priesthood they hold they bring miracles to those they serve while they keep their own marriages and families safe they shun evil and are mighty elders in israel i am most thankful for them now may i voice a concern it is this too many of our brothers and sisters do not fully understand the concept of priesthood power and authority they act as though they would rather satisfy their own selfish desires and appetites and used the power of god to bless his children i fear that too many of our brothers and sisters do not grasp the privileges that could be theirs some of our brethren for example act like they do not understand what the priesthood is and what it enables them to do let me give you some specific examples not long ago i attended a sacrament meeting which a new baby was to be given the name of the father's blessing the young father held his precious infant in his arms gave her a name and then offered a beautiful prayer but he did not give that child a blessing that sweet baby girl got a name but no blessing that dear elder did not know the difference between a prayer and a priesthood blessing with his priesthood authority and power he could have blessed his infant but he did not i thought what a missed opportunity let me cite some other examples we know of brethren who set sisters apart as primary young women are relief society leaders and teachers but fail to bless them to bless them with the power to fulfill their callings they give only admonitions and instructions we see a worthy father who fails to give his wife and his children peace and blessings but that is exactly what they need priesthood power has been restored to this earth and yet far too many brothers and sisters go through terrible trials insatiable trials in life without ever receiving a true priesthood blessing what a tragedy that's a tragedy that we could eliminate brethren we hold the holy priesthood of god we have his authority to bless his people just think of the remarkable assurance the lord gave us when he said whomsoever you bless i will bless it is our privilege to act in the name of jesus christ to bless god's children according to his will for them stake presidents and bishops please ensure that every member of the quorums within your stewardship understands how to give a priesthood blessing including the personal worthiness and spiritual preparation required to call fully upon the power of god to all brethren holding the priesthood i invite you to inspire members to keep their covenants fast and pray study the scriptures worship in the temple and serve with faith as men and women of god we can help all to see with the eye of faith that obedience and righteousness will draw them closer to jesus christ allow them to enjoy the companionship of the holy ghost and experience joy in life a hallmark of the lord's true and living church will always be an organized directed effort to minister to individual children of god and their families because it is his church we as his servants will minister to the one just as he did we will minister in his name with his power and authority and with his loving kindness an experience i had more than 60 years ago in boston taught me just how powerful the privilege of ministering one-on-one can be i was then a resident surgeon at the massachusetts general hospital on duty every day every other night and every other weekend i had limited time for my wife our four children and church activity nonetheless our branch president assigned me to visit the home of wilbur and leonora cox with the hope that brother cox might come back into activity in the church he and leonora had been sealed in the temple yet wilbur had not participated for many years my companion and i went to their home as we entered sister cox welcomed us warmly but brother cox abruptly walked into another room and closed the door i went to the closed door and knocked after a moment i heard a muffled come in i opened the door to find brother cox sitting beside an array of amateur radio equipment in that small room he lit up a cigar clearly my visit was not all that welcome i gazed about the room with wonderment and said brother cox i've always wanted to learn more about amateur radio work would you be willing to teach me about it i'm sorry i can't stay any longer tonight but could i come back another time he hesitated for a moment and then said yes that was the beginning of what became a wonderful friendship i returned and he taught me i began to love and respect him through subsequent visits the greatness of this man emerged we became very good friends as did our dear eternal companions then with the passage of time our family moved away local leaders continued to nurture the cox family about eight years after that first visit the boston stake was created can you guess who the first state president was yes brother cox during subsequent years he also served as a mission president and a temple president years later i as a member of the quorum of the 12 was assigned to create a new stake in san peek county utah during the usual interviews i was pleasantly surprised to encounter again my dear friend brother cox i felt impressed to call him as the new stake patriarch after i ordained him we embraced each other and wept people in the room were wondering why these two grown men were crying but we knew and sister cox knew ours were tears of joy we silently remember the incredible journey of love and repentance that began more than 30 years ago one night in their home the account doesn't end there brother and sister cox's family grew to include three children 20 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren add to that their impact on hundreds of missionaries on thousands more in the temple and on hundreds more who receive patriarchal blessings at the hands of wilbur cox his and leonora's influence will continue to ripple through many generations throughout the world experiences such as this with wilbur leonard cox occur every week hopefully every day within this church dedicated servants of the lord jesus christ carry out his work with his power and authority brethren there are doors we can open priesthood blessings we can give hearts we can heal burdens we can lift testimonies we can strengthen lives we can save and joy we can bring into the homes of the latter-day saints all because we hold the priesthood of god we are the men who have been called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of god on the count of our exceeding faith to do this work tonight i invite you literally to rise up with me in our great eternal brotherhood when i name your priesthood office please stand and remain standing deacons please arise teachers arise priests bishops elders high priests patriarchs 70s apostles now brethren will you please remain standing and joined with our course in singing all three verses of rise up all men of god while you sing think of your duty as god's mighty army to help prepare the world for the second coming of the lord this is our charge this is our privilege i so testify in the name of jesus christ amen

Channel: Called to Share

Views: 140,396

Rating: 4.9007587 out of 5

Keywords: latter-day saints, latter-day saint, latter day saint, mormon, jesus, god, jesus christ, joseph smith, prophets, book of mormon, what do mormons believe, called to share, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, missionary videos, priesthood, priesthood blessings, priesthood power, nelson priesthood power, april 2018 general conference

Id: JZGmBaO4YQ4

Length: 14min 29sec (869 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 24 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/NearlyHeadlessLaban]

tl;dw

It’s a magic power.

[u/itscrazymaking]

“It is our privilege to act in the name of Jesus Christ to bless God’s children according to His will for them.”

“Stake presidents and bishops please ensure that every member of the quorums within your stewardship understands how to give a priesthood blessing including the personal worthiness and spiritual preparation required to call fully upon the power of God.”

“Keep your covenants, fast and pray, study the scriptures, worship in the temple, serve with faith as men and women of God. Obedience and righteousness will draw them closer to Christ and allow them to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and experience joy in life.”

Ugh! This is so upsetting to hear the qualifying words used in order to have any blessings at all from God.

And if a blessing is given to invoke God’s will, to bless them according to God‘s will, then why do they need a priesthood blessing???

Oh, the blessing didn’t work? You obviously were not worthy enough or correctly spiritually prepared. Your fault! Shame, shame, shame.

This talk is so hard to listen to!

[u/Demostecles]

There isn’t any power nor any authority.

It’s all make believe.

But, man! Does it rake in the money!

[u/impossiblegirl24]

‘May I voice a concern?’ NO YOU MAY NOT! it’s called consent and I do not consent to hearing your judgement, opinion or lies. Jog on…

[u/DannyDanito]

President Nelson, you could just show us some actual priesthood power, by maybe healing somebody or something.

[u/Tiny_Tinker]

The comments are GOD AWFUL.

Sycophants. Yikes. Its so obvious now. I really hope they are actually very clever trolls.