Prelude music: I Love to Tell the Story

Introduction:

Joseph: I would like to welcome everybody to this Spring Conference. We are so excited here. We have had several volunteers come forth to speak to us this spring, and we have some nice treats from the Lord as well. So we are pretty excited about everything. Let us see; we would like to ask for an opening prayer. Would you come forth and pray?

Opening Prayer: Toni

O God, the Eternal Father, we are so very grateful that we can gather all together and to have this electronic medium to bring us together from all corners of the world. We are grateful for this technology and we are grateful for Thy Spirit that manages to flow and connect us, no matter where we are. We ask Thee to please bless us with Thy Spirit, that we will hear Thy words this evening, that they will touch our hearts and that we will be blessed and apply those words in our lives. And this we pray in the name of Yeshua Messiah, amen.

Welcome: Joseph

I would like to welcome everybody, visitors and guests and people from all over the world. It is very nice to see everybody today and we are very excited, very excited. The song we were listening to is an older song and it is called, I Love to Tell the Story, and it is one of my favourite songs, and I think we will talk about that one a little later on today. What we are hoping to do then is, we will start off with Kevin. Then, we will continue on with Will, and Ted after that.

Safety and Peace: ~ Kevin Castro

Kevin: First of all, good evening everybody, or morning, I think in the Philippines it is morning time, is it not? And very early morning in Africa, if I'm not mistaken, Pastor Ezra? It's good to have you with us here tonight and it's a good thing that the Lord has been merciful in allowing this technology, for us to meet together like this today. It's a great blessing to each of us. Our Heavenly Father is very mindful of every one of us. He is very aware of our innermost desires for each and every one of us. He is aware of our circumstances in life, He is aware of our needs that we have, and He is aware of our prayers, and our prayers are needed now more than maybe ever before for each other as well as the world in general.

Today the world is, as the scriptures describe it, in commotion, and there's a lot going on. You know, we hear of wars, we hear of rumours of wars. There is so much wickedness on the Earth today and it's openly practiced, and it's embraced by a lot of people, and we're constantly bombarded with the scenes of this wickedness in the media and social media, on television and music that is out there today, war with all the horrors that go along with it. It's even brought into the homes of people through television and through other media sources. But it's only brought in if we allow it to be brought in. This is a choice that we make on everything that comes into our home, as most things in life are, and I'd like to talk a little bit about that today. I'd like to talk to about where we can find safety and where we can find peace, the real peace that Father wants us to have and that I think all of us, in our innermost feeling, desire to have. We can choose to surround ourselves with things that are good and that are wholesome. We can do that instead of choosing to watch that which is not good and not wholesome. We can choose safety, we can choose peace. The greatest source of peace and safety is, I believe, found in following the Saviour, the Lord Yeshua. And there is also the safety to be found in each other.

The apostle taught this principle to the people in ancient Corinth, and he said this, this is found in the New Testament and I'd like to share it with you, it is found in chapter 12, and the principle is, and he says,

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

And in verse 25, he says,

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

That's true, he is comparing us to, quite literally, the body, he is comparing the Family of Yeshua to the body. So in other words, we need each other. This is a great part of the Lord's plan of helping us to become like Him as we show love to each other and as we care for each other and we teach each other and we protect each other and we mourn with each other when one of us mourns. And we have joy in each other's joys, we experience something that is good that is happening in our lives. It could be a wedding, a marriage, it could be a new baby, it could be many things. And we all feel that same sense of joy and happiness when we do. If we eat our favourite food or dessert, our whole body is happy, from our toes to the top of our head, the whole body feels it. And if I cut my finger and it bleeds, my eyes see it and the rest of my body feels it. We can't really separate those, we're all part of the same great whole, I think. So it's important to keep that principle in mind.

It's just like that in the Family of Yeshua, we're all brothers and sisters and we're part of the same family and we're part of the same body, the Family of Yeshua. And when something wonderful happens to a member of our family, don't we all feel that same joy for him or for her.

So we need to be mindful of this, that we are not just solitary individuals that are wandering the Earth, we are interconnected with each other. And when we broaden, when we enlarge our family relationship to all of Father's children as everybody is a child of God, shouldn't we show love to all of Father's other children as well?

Once again, Paul teaches that principle, he does it in the following chapter, in chapter 13, he says,

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

So it's not important to just talk the talk, it's important to walk the walk. He says "sounding brass," sounding brass is hollow.

It's so important for us to be able to show kindness and love and devotion to each other, just like we show it to members of our immediate family, our brothers, our sisters, our parents, grandparents, and as that world around us increases in wickedness, which it's bad now and it's going to get even worse, it's even more important for each of us, I think, to be able to lean on each other and to be able to support and strengthen each other and as we do, our love and our appreciation for each other increases as well.

These are things that Yeshua taught us throughout his ministry 2000 years ago, as well as by example everywhere he went. Big question is, are we going to follow his example as people, as individuals. The Lord showed us by example that He obeyed every single one of Father's commandments. Each and every time He was given a choice, when He was on the Earth, as we are given choices on the Earth, He chose to do the right thing, and I think he did this to show us that it is possible for us to be able to do that. I can't think of any commandments that Father has given us that we can't comply with, that we can't live. I don't think He wants us to fail. I think He wants us to succeed. And so there's nothing that He has given to us to accomplish, unless He's prepared a way for us that we can do that. He doesn't expect us, I don't think, to be able to do it without His help, He has given us some gifts to go along with that, to strengthen us, to build us, if we will accept it, the gifts are conditional.

The Holy Ghost is perhaps one of the greatest gifts that Father has given to his children when they enter into the waters of baptism, when they become a member of His church, that will help us by way of giving us guidance, it gives us protection, and we have lots of things to be protected from. There are a lot of things our there to distract us in the world, to keep us from receiving the direction from Father. To combat this, we have to learn to control the environment that we live in. We do not want to let the environment control us. We have to choose to be in control, and that's a big thing, it's a key. If you look at a dog, does the dog allow the tail to wag him, or does the does wag the tail. We don't allow circumstances in our life that are not favourable to walking the path that our Father in Heaven wants us to walk, If we choose to do things that are incorrect.

You know, it's important to stay in touch with the Father. I've given this example once before, but I'll share it because maybe not everybody… I think most of us carry one of these things, it's a cell phone, it's a marvel of technology. I remember when these first came out about 30 years ago, a little over 30 years ago. I had one of the original ones that came out in the United States, they called it a Motorola Brick, because it was about the size of a brick and about as heavy as a brick. Today, they are marvels of technology, it basically is a computer, it's a lot more than a cell phone. You can go onto the internet with it, you can go onto social media, which I'm not sure is such a great idea for anybody to be doing, but you can do almost anything on a cell phone that you can do on a computer and that's amazing technology. But there is one drawback that it has, well a couple, because battery life, you know, it doesn't last as long as we want it to, but the big thing is that we have to be within range of a cell tower. We have to be in the right place at the right time. Just the other day, on Friday, I was having lunch with a good friend of mine, and we were trying to call another friend to ask him if he'd like to join us, and we were not able to get through to him on the telephone from the restaurant that we were in. He tried on his telephone first, then I tried on my telephone, neither one of them would work, neither one of the calls would go through and I said, that's kind of odd. But in that particular area of town, there's a mountain that was in between the rest of the town and where the restaurant was and there was no cell signal. We were not in the right place to be able to receive that signal.

And it's much the same with the Spirit of God. We have to be in the right place and doing the right things in order for Heavenly Father to be able to communicate with us. We want that communication to be 2-way, we don't want it to be just 1-way. So we have to place ourselves in that correct environment and us being in control of it is just the key to that. We have to control our thoughts, because our thoughts control everything else. Our thoughts control our words, our thoughts control our actions, and it is so important for us to be able to be in control of those thoughts. The Lord has told us that we will be judged by our words, and by our actions, and by our thoughts.

And so we need to remember to be kind to each other, we need to remember to demonstrate our love for each other, and as we follow this part of Heavenly Father's plan, we become more like Yeshua, and Yeshua is exactly like the Father. And this is the goal for each of us here on the Earth, is to become more like Yeshua, so that we can return back to his presence and back to the presence of our Heavenly Father and to become as they are. This is Father's plan for his children.

Now there's going to be times that we think we know more about what's better for us than anybody else, and sometimes including we think we know more about what's good for us than the Lord knows.

The story is told, some of you may have heard this, of an admiral, a navy admiral, he's in command of an aircraft carrier and he's standing on the bridge of his massive warship, and as he is gazing out the window one night, he sees what appears to be the lights of an approaching vessel, and he orders his signalman, and that's the guy that flashes a message using light, he orders his signalman to flash a message to the approaching ship and he says tell him, change your course 15 degrees starboard to avoid collision. And after the message was sent, a signal from the approaching light, the answer comes back and it says, change your course 15 degrees to port. Well the admiral is irritated by this. He is the commanding officer and he barks to his signalman, I am an admiral, change your course 15 degrees to starboard. And the response comes back from the light, I'm a seaman first class, change your course 15 degrees to port. Well the admiral is incensed by this now, he's angry and he tells the signalman, send this message, we are an aircraft carrier, change your course 15 degrees to starboard! One final message was returned, I'm a lighthouse, change your course 15 degrees to port.

There's probably a few lessons in this story, the chief among them is that we should not be too impressed with ourselves, what we think of ourselves, that we're smarter or better than somebody else. And lesson number two is that it's seldom too late to change the course of our lives to avoid the rocks and pitfalls, just like the ship would avoid the rocks of the coastline that the lighthouse was sent there to guard people against. Heavenly Father has a lot of lighthouses, a lot of things to give us direction, to help us, to guide us.

The world around us, it defines peace as the absence of war, and the Lord speaks of peace as with the peace that we receive from peace of conscience, peace of mind, and the spirit that we receive when we make the correct choices and become one with him, it's awesome. He is the master of the wind and the waves and everything else. The Saviour has tread the winepress by himself, He tread it alone, and He has shown us that we can do anything that Father commands us to do.

It's my prayer, brothers and sisters, that we follow the example that he set for us, that we follow the commandments that our Father in Heaven has given us, that the Saviour has given us, and I leave that message with you in the name of Yeshua Messiah, amen.

Sharing The Good News Of The Gospel: ~ Will Rockwell

Will: Hello everyone! To start out with, I would like to make a call back to the song that was playing when we started this meeting. The song was I Love to Tell the Story and it is a very nice song and I will put it up on screen.

It is a very nice song because, as Kevin mentioned, the Lord has a great number of lighthouses out there and this is one of them, or when we tell this story, when we share this story, it creates another lighthouse.

If we want to go through it, "I love to tell the story, because I know 'tis true." Just like the man in the lighthouse is not going to move, and he knows that the other guy, that the aircraft carrier should move because it is true, it is nothing else.

One of the inspirations for this speech is actually in 2nd Nephi. It is a speech that Jacob gave to the people and it is on page 125 for people who are following along, and he says,

Now obviously, why is Jacob sad about this. It is because he loves to tell the story as well. He loves to share his own experiences, he loves to teach others, to build up others, as it says in the song, every time he repeats it, it seems to get even better, because more and more people will hear it and more and more people will receive the message of salvation.

This tells us personally what we should be teaching about. We all should be sharing the good news of the gospel and I know there are lots of sermons and people out there that they will declare fire and brimstone, doom and gloom. Obviously, you are supposed to repent, but there is also you are meant to share the good news of the gospel, the commandments are meant to bring you hope and joy, to share this everyone around you and the commandments and the scriptures and the beatitudes, sermon on the mount, all these things are a guide to help you live your life to be as happy as you can possibly be, to be as happy as the Lord Himself is.

I know I have been saying the good news of the gospel a lot, so I should probably explain or say what it actually is. Every reference I found to it in the Bible or the Book of Mormon is also a reference to the one chapter in Isaiah because he seems to say it best, it is Isaiah chapter 61, it starts in verse 1,

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

And that seems to be a pretty good set of instructions to me. These are things that we ourselves can be doing. I mean, we can bring the good tidings unto the meek because I do not know if anybody has ever tried to be meek before, but sometimes it is difficult, you have to put aside your own pride and everything, especially when you are right, or you think you are right, to show that meekness, to build that meekness within yourself, and it can be an incredible help to someone who is struggling with being meek, to just give them a pat on the back or say, hey, good job, you are doing great, keep at it. That can make a huge difference, that can give someone the strength to keep going. It is incredible the difference, just acknowledging that for someone else can do.

There are more things, of course. It says "to bind up the brokenhearted." I am sure that everyone has known someone that has been going through a hard time or they are just struggling with something, and most of the times, they just need a friend to come over, help them do something, get their life back in order, to bind up their broken hearts, and again, just something small, just to let them know that you care and that the Lord still cares and all these things, and it can change someone in a downward spiral to someone who is rebuilding.

It says, "to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Now these do not necessarily have to be bound or imprisoned by other people. Sometimes people are imprisoned by their lifestyles, their old habits that they have been this way for so long, or that they just do not see any other way, or they are held captive by an addiction or a big one is their past sins, where they feel that they have done so much wrong that they cannot ever become better. These are the things are the things that you can set people free from, letting them know that there is a path forward, that they can truly become free of these things.

Well, a lot of these are pretty heavy examples of things that we ourselves can do, but you can see these things in small things of every day. Someone just needs a hand that day, or a word of encouragement, or just someone to listen and tell them, you can do it, there is a way forward.

These are things that we as people who are trying to become like God, these are all things that we can do. This is the good news that we can share, that there is always a path forward, that there is always hope and joy. This is good news for us as well, as we share the good news, as it says in the 4th verse, those who hear it the most often and those who tell it, seem to be hungering and thirsting after it just as much as everyone else.

These are things that we as people who are trying to become like God, these are all things that we can do. This is the good news that we can share, that there is always a path forward, that there is always hope and joy. This is good news for us as well, as we share the good news, as it says in the 4th verse, those who hear it the most often and those who tell it, seem to be hungering and thirsting after it just as much as everyone else.

It says, well, I found it first in Romans, in Romans, chapter 10, verse 15,

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Which also comes from Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 7, it is also the Book of Mormon, 3rd Nephi, chapter 10, page 498 in our book. It says,

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

I do not know about everyone else, but that sounds like something that I want to do, to help to bring peace to each other, to publish these glad tidings, tell everyone that they can be saved, that all these things are possible. It says, "that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Now, I like that because you are not just proclaiming these things as a call to repentance to the gentiles, you are proclaiming these things to Zion, to the Church of Zion as well, and heaven is within you, so you are proclaiming it to yourself as well, to say to yourself that God reigneth over you, you are doing His work, you are becoming more like Him every time you tell that story and every time you live that story.

There is another verse in the Book of Mormon in 2nd Nephi, 1st chapter, page 65, it says,

Adam fell, that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

This is very important as well, it goes along with everything else, that we are supposed to be happy, that we are supposed to be joyful and we are supposed to spread that joy with the commandments and with this story, with everything that I have just gone over.

It is interesting because the joy that we have is not just from hearing the good news, and hearing the good news is incredible, it can bring people so much joy and change their life, but it also brings so much joy to the person who is sharing it. When we go out and we share this and we become an example, a lighthouse like Kevin mentioned, we get even greater joy and become even closer to the Lord.

There is one more song that I would like to go through, Have I Done Any Good in the World Today.