hello everyone welcome to follow him favorites my name is Hank Smith I'm the host of a podcast called follow him I'm here with my incredible co-host John by the way welcome John follow him favorites this year we take a question from this week's lesson we're in Exodus chapter 7 through 13 this week John we're going to focus in on chapter 12 for our question the question is this let me frame it the Lord institute's What's called the Passover right this very first Passover now fast-forward a couple of thousand years later Jesus has what we would call the last supper or the last passover in which he makes a change the Passover is no longer about the children of Israel coming out of Egypt it's now all about him and his blood and body so we're going to make a connection here John with our question how can I make our weekly pass over our sacrament
 periods God means for it to be because maybe the sacrament comes and goes and and I didn't feel anything or didn't think anything it wasn't powerful or reflective at all so how would you say how do I make my weekly pass over experience which we call the sacrament something that cat has more impact this is one of my favorite topics because I I'm just kind of intrigued with things that the Lord has this repeat and it's not a Christmas and Easter thing and after the pandemic when so many of us missed our weekly worship but the sacrament but to me it is the most merciful thing to think that the Lord would say come back every single week and take the sacrament so for me to thing I look forward to is as I understand the doctrine when we're protecting of the sacrament where the lie it's like we are being baptized again renewing our covenants and Lord Is Passing Over Us what an opportunity every week to go back and get a new start as if you're being baptized again so for me it's very easy to learn
 look forward to going in for taking of the sacrament again and hearing a priest say you can always have his Spirit to be with you that's a great way to start a week it's a personal connection here to the Old Testament Exodus chapter 12 you wouldn't think oh I experienced an exodus type experience in my life but here we are every week where the Lord says to be visualized in Egypt you can trust in the blood of the Lamb right you can trust it put it on your door but the blood of the Lamb on your door and you will be safe and every week in my Sacrament experience I can kind of repeat that in my head that I can trust the blood of the Lamb you didn't say go out there and fight the destroying Angel yourself just trust in this blood that it will take care of you this blood will keep you safe so for me I can connect to this act Exodus 12 moment of the blood of the Lamb I trust it
 it will keep me safe in this Exodus 12 the Lord says get out of 11 out of your house all the yeast we would tie that to sin let's get the scent out of our lives so it's repent as much as we can and then trust even in that whole experience even as we're getting rid of the leaven of Our Lives we can still absolutely trust in the blood of the Lamb I think it if you're having trouble with that just listen to the free spray listen to what they say that's willing to take upon down at the name of visun boy what's he's willing to do for us and we can be willing to to call ourselves followers of Christ willing to take on the name my son always remember him keep his Commandments what she's given them and then that promise they can always have my spirit to be with them can you think of anything greater you could possibly imagine and to always have the spirit of the Lord be with you cuz I can't that's the greatest thing ever and every week we can do that that's so it's easy for me to be excited about going to Sacramento I think of this is maybe the Lord's reassurance you're in my family
 you're coming with me you and I are both are both fathers and we've had our children take upon themselves are named right they were born and our family and you're one of us and we don't leave you behind sometimes we think I do I don't know if I'm going to be good enough I don't know if I'm going to make it and you and I is as fathers are saying of course you are your eyes I would never leave you behind in John 17 the Lord asks that the father I want these people whom you've given me to be with me where I am so apparently it wouldn't be heaven without you so you can trust him that he wants you there with him if you wants you he's not going to give up on you Jacob chapter 5 I'm reminded that the tree is saved not because the tree does anything right it's cuz the gardener refuses to give up on the tree and that's the same thing with you you're going to make it not because you're so amazing but because you have an amazing Gardener who refuses to give up on you
 yeah it exactly because it's what he's done not what we've done but what he's done and we're going to repent we're going to come to the sacrament table hungry we're going to be there and just being there to taking that that's super motivated to me you know when I was a bishop I thought we're not supposed to have visual aids during soccer meeting talks you know we don't use PowerPoint stuff there is a visual aid in the chapel that Sacrament table is bolted to the floor it's going to be there every week in the Lord saying come back and let's do this again I love that I think so too there's this old Story I Heard a man who was visiting a church once since he walked in before it's a car meeting started turned around and walked right back out and his friend said what's wrong and he said I can't go in there whose body is underneath that white cloth up there you got a body up there that's I got to want to go in there and the guy said that's not a body it's just the bread and water and then he realizes how would I be acting if that really was the savior's body laying up there
 underneath that cloth in that can have impact on the way you feel I know I have students who say that they keep the hymn book open and read through the lyrics of the hymn it helps them you know have more powerful reflective moment any other tips you would give for having a powerful reflective moment during the most important 15 minutes of the week yeah I think that's what you just said is really nice there because when I was a little kid Mama take about Jesus and all I could think of was like the picture a picture of Jesus in my mind and then your grandpa dies and your grandma dies and other people in your life that are important to you and when it says in Remer to the body of the ice on my favorite thing to think of is that his body was not there when they went in Resurrection morning and that that means all those other people I will be resurrected to my grandma my grandpa and that all of them will see them again and that he was the first fruits of the
 Resurrection in all those events that Gethsemane in the crucifixion on the crossing and the resurrection are all kind of together in the sacrament to remember his sacrifice for us so I'm glad you said that cuz that's what I like to think about he's not here he is risen as he said and don't feel too guilty or past Ackerman experiences if you've been like all I haven't been taking it as seriously as I have that's why the Lord gives us so many chances you haven't I promised wherever you are you have seven days in which you're going to get to try again you're going to get the dragon so go ahead and try again this Sunday to have a powerful reflective reverent moment and what's interesting to me John is just 15 minutes your week can make a difference for every other minute of your week been how many minutes are are in a week but there's a bunch and this this is just 15 of them but man they'll probably make a big difference for every other one that's the focal point of all of it is to go take the sacrament and
 just one more thing that I think is so interesting is that when the Apostle Paul describes the armor of God in Ephesians 6 everything except for the very last item is defensive it's a breastplate of righteousness Shield of Faith helmet of salvation ever everything is defensive armor and the last thing Paul says and take the sword of the spirit of another way to think of the sacraments I'm going to rearm Elder Holland said once it are we just on the defensive or we just going to get beat up he said no we're giving a weapon you are giving it I am giving it and he said the thing that actually allows us to do battle with the world is the sword of the spirit and the last thing the priest will say is that they may always have his Spirit to be with them so I think about rearming as I go back into school and to work until the world I've got the spirit to be with me I'm armed and I'm going to be okay beautiful John by the way that's why we love you so much we hope you'll join us on our full podcast it's called follow him look at sup wherever you get your podcast
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