It’s Christmas Time…and our nation grieves for the 20 children and 8 adults who were gunned down in Connecticut. Our hearts hurt for these parents and families who had the Christmas Spirit taken away from them.
The media is talking about how to keep our schools and families safe. How do we explain this tragedy to our children? How do we accept it ourselves?
I testify to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us answers that help us. There is still so much that we don’t know, but our faith has something of which to grasp hold. I am grateful for this knowledge in times like this.
Bruce R. McConkie wrote about the subject of salvation of little children and how they are saved by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Losing loved ones is hard, especially our own children. It is unthinkable the pain those parents are experiencing at this moment. But knowledge is power. When we learn truth, and hold firm to the covenants of the Lord, we will have power over life, death, and sin.
1 Cor. 15
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
And later in the same chapter…
1 Cor. 15
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
We have difficult things happen to us to remind us to remember the Lord, to repent of our sins and weaknesses, and to come again unto Christ. Let us recommit to teach our children about our Wonderful Redeemer. The Lamb of God. The Holy One of Israel. The Savior of The World. He will bring relief to the weary. He will wipe the tears away from all the suffering. He will bring joy to all who accept Him as their King.
But those who commit heinous crimes will suffer and be cast out.
Helaman 12
20 And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man—Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever—it shall be done.
21 And if the Lord shall say—Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence—he will cause that it shall be so.
22 And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.
23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.
24 And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works.
25 And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the great and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord;
26 Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation. And thus it is. Amen.
We have to feel sorry for this young man who thought this was the answer. His eternal punishment is also something to cry over.
This Christmas could be a dark memory in our lives, but consider letting this Christmas be most special as we teach our children what this holy infant grew up to be for each and every one of us—dead and alive.
2 Nephi 25
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
Heaven help the perpetrator. But heaven WILL help the children, parents, and all those affected by this and ALL devastating sadness.
Painting of Mary and Infant Jesus by Liz Lemon Swindle
I am caring for a lovely lady. A cambodian woman here in Australia.. unfortunately we are finding it quite difficult to come across with videos and music inspirational for her in Cambodian, she cannot speak English. I am desperate for some songs or videos in Cambodian, for her.. can you help me. Thankyou Sister Maureen Adams. 2nd Counsellor in Relief Society Murray Bridge. South Australia.
If you go to store.lds.org you can find, and order, everything the Church publishes. You don’t say if this woman is a member, or not, but all manuals from Primary to Adult are published in Cambodian. Music is THE international language, so I’m sure she would enjoy hearing “Mormon Music”, even if she can’t understand the words. Who knows if she heard I Am a Child of God enough times she might even learn to sing along. At this site you can get CDs for the Hymns, for Primary songs, and all of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir CDs. Familiarizing her with Church music will certainly make her feel more comfortable at the meetings.
Thank you for your lovely reply. Yes Music is the International language for anything. No she is not a member. Her Husband and child are all being taught by the Sister Missionaries and Myself. using the I CARE programme. We have a Cambodian Book of Mormon and they are learning to pray in English, and the Youth have organised English classes for them once a week, we are all trying so hard, as they are so spiritual and willing to learn, but the Language gap makes it slow going, I just wondered if there was some Cambodian Church Videos that we could use. We do not have Lds shops here and it would take a long time for them to arrive from America.