The Sacrament
"The sacrament brings a powerful virtuous cycle into our lives, enabling us to retain a remission of our sins"
(Dale G. Renlund, "Jesus Christ is the Treasure," general conference, October 2023).
Why do we need the sacrament ordinance each week?
Once we are baptized and covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, serve Him throughout our lives, and obey His commandments, we can strengthen covenant relationship with the Lord by partaking of the sacrament" (David A. Bednar, "Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins," general conference April 2016).
"Partaking of the sacrament is the next ordinance everyone needs after being confirmed a member of the Church...The sacrament is the next ordinance needed every week for the rest of our lives....
"Each element in the doctrine of Christ builds on the preceding step—repentance builds on faith, baptism on repentance, and the gift of the Holy Ghost on baptism—and then the sequence recurs... Enduring to the end is actively and intentionally repeating the steps in the doctrine of Christ"(Dale G. Renlund, "Lifelong Conversion," BYU Devotional, September 14, 2021).
"While baptism is a singular event, we renew our baptismal covenant repeatedly when we partake of the sacrament. The sacrament...links the initial elements in the doctrine of Christ—faith and repentance—with reception of the Holy Ghost. As we conscientiously partake of the sacrament, we invite the Holy Ghost into our lives, just like when we were baptized and confirmed. As we keep the covenant described in the sacrament prayers, the Holy Ghost becomes our companion.
"As the Holy Ghost exerts a greater influence in our lives, we progressively and iteratively develop Christlike attributes. Our hearts change. Our disposition to do evil diminishes. Our inclination to do good increases until we only want 'to do good continually.' And we thereby access the heavenly power needed to endure to the end. Our faith has increased, and we are ready to repeat the powerful, virtuous cycle again" (Dale G. Renlund, "The Powerfu, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ," general conference, April 2024).
What does it mean to partake of the sacrament?
"Sacramental covenants are made anew each week. The sacramental prayers indicate that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, using the present tense of the verb. The prayers do not use the past tense of the verb, saying that we took or have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ. The promised blessing does not use the past tense either. The promise is that the Holy Ghost will always be with us, not that the Holy Ghost was given or was with us" (Dale G. Renlund, "Lifelong Conversion," BYU Devotional, September 14, 2021).
Jesus Christ taught, "whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54).
"With a crust of bread, always broken, blessed, and offered first, we remember his bruised body and broken heart, his physical suffering on the cross where he cried, “I thirst,” and finally, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (John 19:28; Matt. 27:46.)
"The Savior’s physical suffering guarantees that through his mercy and grace (see 2 Ne. 2:8) every member of the human family shall be freed from the bonds of death and be resurrected triumphantly from the grave. Of course the time of that resurrection and the degree of exaltation it leads to are based upon our faithfulness.
"With a small cup of water we remember the shedding of Christ’s blood and the depth of his spiritual suffering, anguish which began in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt. 26:38). He was in agony and “prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).... Christ suffered for the sins and sorrows and pains of all the rest of the human family, providing remission for all of our sins as well, upon conditions of obedience to the principles and ordinances of the gospel he taught (see 2 Ne. 9:21–23). As the Apostle Paul wrote, we were “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). What an expensive price and what a merciful purchase!
"That is why every ordinance of the gospel focuses in one way or another on the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and surely that is why this particular ordinance with all its symbolism and imagery comes to us more readily and more repeatedly than any other in our life. It comes in what has been called “the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church” (Jeffrey R. Holland, "This Do in Remembrance of Me," general conference October 1995).
"We are all imperfect people and without the Atonement of Christ we would all be hopelessly indebted...Our Lord Jesus Christ came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay" (Russell M. Nelson, "Handel's Messiah: Debtor's Prison," video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Study:
Ponder and Discuss:
-
What do you learn as you ponder these passages about the sacrament?
-
How is the sacrament ordinance similar to offering up sacrifices anciently?
-
What is the sacrifice you are offering up each time you partake of the sacrament? And how does that change the way you think of the sacrament ordinance?
How Can I Deepen My Understanding of and My Experience with the Sacrament?
Ponder and discuss:
-
What other symbols can you think of that are associated with the sacrament ordinance? (Remember not all symbols are things you see. Some symbols are found in the things that you do during the ordinance)
-
What does the Holy Ghost teach you about those symbols?
-
What do these symbols teach you about the covenant you are making during the sacrament?
.png)
Ponder and Discuss:
-
If the sacrament partly replaces the sacrificial ordinances of the Law of Moses, what do you think we are showing we are willing to sacrifice each time we partake of the sacrament?
Ponder and Discuss:
-
How is sacrament meeting like a memorial service to the Savior?
-
What symbols do you see in sacrament meeting that point your thoughts to Christ?
-
What do you feel inspired to change about your actions as you enter the chapel and participate in sacrament meetings?
Ponder and Discuss:
"Teach our priests that they are the sons of Aaron, that they must be set apart from the world, that they represent the Savior. Teach the teachers of the Aaronic Priesthood that they stand in the place of Joseph of Arimathea, preparing the body of Christ. (Some of you have had the sacred experience of preparing a body for burial. Can you imagine the sacred experience of Joseph of Arimathea?) Help our young men to understand that sacrament meeting is a memorial service in remembrance of the Savior" (Chad H. Webb, "The Sabbath Day," Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Broadcast, August 4, 2015).
-
If you were asked to prepare the sacrament, how would you prepare yourself each week to handle these precious emblems?
-
If you were asked to pass the sacrament, or as you pass it to the person next to you each week, how do you want to act during those quiet and sacred moments?
Ponder:
Now, think about what you do as you partake of the sacrament.
-
Where do you put the bread and water?
-
How is that similar to the Savior's experience in Gethsemane with the bitter cup?
-
When you consider that Jesus Christ took upon Himself all of your sins, what does that teach you about the exchange that is happening as you partake of the pure cup of water representing His innocent blood and the bread representing the only holy being who has ever lived on earth?
-
What does the Holy Ghost teach you as you ponder the action of ingesting those holy emblems?
-
What does that teach you about the covenant you are making with the Lord as you partake?
-
What might it teach you about the covenant He is making with you that you might always have His Spirit to be with you?
How Can I Prepare Myself Better for the Sacrament Ordinance?
"The ordinance of the sacrament is a holy and repeated invitation to repent sincerely and to be renewed spiritually. The act of partaking of the sacrament, in and of itself, does not remit sins. But as we prepare conscientiously and participate in this holy ordinance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then the promise is that we may always have the Spirit of the Lord to be with us. And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins" (David A. Bednar, "Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins," general conference, April 2016).
One of the temple recommend questions asks, "Do you strive to…prepare for and worthily partake of the sacrament?" So, when will your preparation begin? As you enter the chapel? When you wake up on Sabbath morning? Or even earlier in the week?
"As we consider our sacrament experience, we might ask ourselves:
What will I do this week to better prepare for the sacrament?
Could I contribute more to the reverence and revelation that can accompany the beginning of sacrament meeting?
What doctrine was taught in the sacrament hymn?
What did I hear and feel as I listened to the sacrament prayers?
What did I think about as the sacrament was passed?
(Peter F. Meurs, "The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy," general conference, October 2016).
Ponder and Discuss:
How can we more intentionally prepare ourselves to make a new covenant with the Lord as we participate in the sacred ordinance of the sacrament?
"The gift of His Atonement is symbolically offered to us each week when a priesthood holder, representing the Savior Himself, offers us the bread and water. As we perform the action of eating and drinking the emblems of His flesh and blood, Christ symbolically becomes a part of us. We again put on Christ as we make a new covenant each week" (J. Anette Dennis, "Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ," general conference, April 2024).
If you would like to learn more about how you can allow sacrament meeting itself to elevate your experience partaking of the sacrament, study and discuss together what you learn from this talk by President Russell M. Nelson: "Worshiping at Sacrament Meeting," Ensign, August 2004.
Learning Activity:
Study John 6:22-69 as you ponder some of the questions from this study guide. Consider writing down or sharing with someone you love a few impressions that come to you from the Holy Ghost.
Individually, or with members of your family or class, consider ways you could prepare throughout the week to partake of the sacrament the next Sunday.