All Things Denote There Is A God

Just a few thoughts on the lesson I taught yesterday at church. I'm one of the teachers in Relief Society. We have a new manual this year, one that reviews basic gospel principles. I have to admit, I'm really excited about teaching from this manual. I share this responsibility with one other teacher, and we each teach once a month. I taught Lesson 1 yesterday. The subject of this lesson was God - Our Heavenly Father. The lesson was split into 3 sections: There Is A God, The Nature of God, Coming to Know God. As I was looking for additional material to use for this lesson, I came across 2 Ensign articles. One was in the January 2010 Ensign, entitled "God is Truly Our Father." The other article is found in the November 2009 General Conference issue of the Ensign and was written by Elder Robert D. Hales - "Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ." These two articles were very helpful in my preparations. I started my lesson with one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon - the story about Korihor, the Anti-Christ. Korihor was a member of the church who had apostatized. He went around convincing others that they didn't believe in Christ or God. He did a pretty good job. Eventually, he was taken before the prophet, Alma. The scriptures tell us that "he did rise up in great swelling words before Alma". Alma calmly answered everything Korihor said. Alma asked "Believest thou that there is a God?" Korihor answered, "Nay." Alma... "Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? What evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Korihor demands a sign, saying that if Alma will give him a sign, he'll then believe. And here is Alma's answer (I LOVE this part): "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." I just love that verse from the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. It contains my favorite sentence in all the scriptures: "All things denote there is a God".

Here are some of the pictures I used in my lesson - just reminders of the knowledge, and power, and creativity of God the Father... (these were taken from the Hubble Space Telescope)





Michael and I were talking about my lesson earlier in the week, and we started talking about the Universe. He showed me a video on Youtube that is really mind-blowing. It made me realize just how tiny and insignificant this world is. And yet... God loves us, cares about what goes on here, and wants us to return to him. That, to me, denotes there is a God. I testify that God is real, and He loves us - each individually. Here is the video... it's a little long, but worth the time it will take to watch it... ENJOY!