The Church is established
as the Lord's people become truly converted to His
gospel and experience a mighty change of heart.
Church leaders lovingly invite
others to repent and make needed changes that
will help them become true followers of Christ. In the last couple
of months or so, the elders had started talking
about Andrew Bernard, who is a returned missionary and
who has not been out to church for a long time. But he has shown a keen interest
in talking about the gospel again. Andrew, a less-active
member, told the missionaries that he would attend
church one Sunday. When he didn't come, the bishop
gathered several ward leaders in the hallway to make
a plan to reach out to him quickly before his
desire to return was lost. As they spoke together,
they felt impressed that the bishop himself
should make a visit. Hi, I'm Bishop [INAUDIBLE]. What I wanted to make
sure of with Andrew was not just that I
was there to be someone to have general chitchat
about or just become a friend, if you like. I actually wanted to go there
as well with the message that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is true and the power of the Atonement
is there for everyone. So I shared with him the
parable of the prodigal son, and we emphasized a
few principles in there about repentance and
about the door always being open for anyone who might
want to return to the gospel again. As the bishop taught
Andrew from the scriptures, the Spirit of the
Lord was strong. The bishop bore testimony
of the love of the Savior, and Andrew could feel that love.
I left with him the invitation
to come back to church again. As Church leaders
lovingly invite others to come unto
Christ through repentance, the Spirit touches hearts and
motivates people to action. Though each must choose to
respond to those promptings, those who act in
faith are changed through the Savior's Atonement. As they become truly
converted, real growth occurs, and the Lord's Church
is established. [MUSIC PLAYING]