Discussion Ideas to Help You Teach "Covenant Belonging" by Elder Gerrit W. Gong
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"Covenant Belonging” by Elder Gerrit W. Gong is a great reminder of how we all belong together on this walk back to our Heavenly Father. Get ideas to help you teach this talk below.
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Questions to Ponder
Thanks to the great volunteer who provided these questions. Sign up to help with questions next General Conference!
When have you felt Heavenly Father was truly listening to your prayers?
How have you seen found your best self and best relationships through covenant belonging?
How have your making covenants, such as partaking of the sacrament weekly, helped you feel more than you are?
How have covenants helped you feel love for God and for others?
In the scriptures are many examples of people and nations making covenants. How have you seen God bless covenant people? What kind of blessings have you experienced by making and keeping your covenants?
How have your covenants helped you focus on Jesus Christ and His Atonement? Also, how have you seen the blessings of the Atonement come through making and keeping covenants (including temple covenants!)?
How do the scriptures, and especially the Book of Mormon, help you to keep your covenants?
What does covenant belonging mean to you?
For those who have received your Patriarchal Blessing, how has knowing your heritage helped you feel covenant belonging?
How have priesthood blessings brought you healing, comfort and counsel?
How can following the prophet help you receive covenant blessings?
Discussion Ideas
The volunteer who submitted these questions also said, “During studying this talk the song 'I Walk by Faith' by Janice Kapp Perry kept popping up in my head. It talks about the YW values (before virtue) and to me it described perfectly the steps needed to feel like covenant belonging.” Consider adding it to your discussion or listening to the music.
Do you remember the song, “The Church of Jesus Christ” from the Primary Children’s Songbook pg.77? It talks about belonging to the Church and therefore knowing who we are and what we’ll do. Becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives us a place to belong and a place to help others belong. What can we do if we don’t feel like we belong? How can we counteract Satan’s lies?
Connect the dots! Elder Gong says we can see the connected days of our experience as we look with an eye of faith. Ask someone to come with an example of how at first we might not have noticed God’s hand but as we connect the dots of multiple experiences, it’s obvious God played a part. Write a word or two to describe their experience and connect that dot to the next one and connect them all back to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.
Bring a blanket to wrap yourself up then sit in a chair with a book and cup of hot chocolate (or whatever makes you feel comfortable). You can have the chair in the front of the room so everyone easily sees you. Ask your class how many of them love to be wrapped up in a warm blanket and snuggle up with a good book. How can the Book of Mormon give us this feeling of blanket wrapping covenant belonging?
Draw a picture of the temple on your whiteboard (keep it basic, my version of the Salt Lake Temple always looks like a tall crown). Ask your class to help you fill up your outline of the temple with words that make them feel like they belong at the temple. If we haven’t made it to the temple, how can we get there? How can we go more often? How can we remember the feeling of complete love we have in the temple and help one another feel that at church and at home?
Go through some of the covenants your class has made. How have they made you feel like you belong? Who do you belong with? You can review the covenants then talk about each way they helped.
