Jesus Christ Is the Great Deliverer!
Kevin J. Hathaway, of the Seventy
Elder Hathaway affirms Jesus Christ delivers the righteous in His time and way.
Open talk in Gospel LibraryIdeas for Opening the Lesson
- Write the words “if,” “how,” and “when” on the board. Read Elder Hathaway’s statement that the question for righteous followers is not if Christ delivers them, but how and when. Invite class members to consider how this distinction shapes their trust in the Savior, without requiring anyone to disclose personal hardships.
- Introduce Elder Hathaway’s account of the freeway accident as his family travels to begin missionary service. Ask class members to identify the difference between immediate relief from a trial and receiving peace within a trial. Use their responses to introduce the talk’s pattern of divine deliverance.
- Display the five parts of the talk’s pattern: opposition, sincere seeking, assurances, enabled enduring, and divine deliverance. Invite class members to silently consider which part speaks most directly to their current circumstances. Explain that the lesson explores how each part points us toward Jesus Christ.
- Read Sister Kenzie Brinkerhoff’s words: “The past few weeks have been the most awful and the most sacred time in my life. I have never clung so tightly to my covenants. I know that Jesus knows what this feels like, and He will heal me.” Invite a brief discussion about how grief and sacred assurance can coexist. Make clear that sharing personal experiences is optional.
- Read the Savior’s invitation, “Be not afraid, only believe.” Give class members a quiet moment to consider a concern they want to entrust to Him. Ask what this invitation teaches about Christ’s character, and explain that His deliverance can come immediately, after waiting, or in the Resurrection.
Topics
Trust Jesus Christ as the Great Deliverer
Jesus Christ understands every kind of mortal suffering because He descends below all things and suffers pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind. His perfect understanding, mercy, and infinite power enable Him to succor and deliver us. Elder Hathaway invites us to trust the certainty of His deliverance while leaving its timing and form to Him.
With perfect understanding and infinite power, He can deliver the righteous from all things, forever. His deliverance is certain; the question for most righteous followers is not if He will deliver but how and when He will do so.
- What does the title “Great Deliverer” teach us about Jesus Christ’s character and mission?
- How does knowing that Jesus Christ comprehends your suffering affect the way you pray?
- What changes in our outlook when we focus on how and when Christ delivers rather than whether He can deliver?
- What experience in your life helps you recognize the Savior’s mercy and understanding?
- How can we strengthen our trust in Christ without assuming that deliverance always means immediate relief?
- What burden do you feel prompted to entrust more fully to Jesus Christ this week?
Turn Toward Christ Amid Questions and Emotions
Opposition reaches everyone, including righteous followers of Jesus Christ. Heartrending questions, grief, and fear are not themselves sin or weakness. Elder Hathaway teaches that these experiences can become sacred opportunities to exercise agency and choose to turn toward the Savior.
Such questions and emotions are not sin or weakness; they can create a sacred space where agency is activated and we choose whether to turn toward Jesus Christ.
- How does Elder Hathaway’s teaching about questions and emotions change the way we understand faithful discipleship?
- What does Joseph Smith’s cry, “O God, where art thou?” teach us about bringing difficult questions to God?
- What does turning toward Jesus Christ look like when grief or fear remains intense?
- What helps you make room for honest emotions while continuing to exercise faith?
- How can our quorum or Relief Society respond more compassionately to someone who expresses painful questions?
- What words or actions help you feel supported during difficulty, and how can you offer that support to others?
Seek Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Sincerely
Sincere spiritual seeking means turning toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through heartfelt prayer, purposeful fasting, and scripture study. Elder Hathaway points to Alma’s people and King Darius as examples of seeking divine help amid distress. These acts of faith draw us closer to Christ as we await deliverance.
Sincere seeking means turning toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through heartfelt prayer, purposeful fasting, and scripture study.
- What makes prayer heartfelt rather than merely routine?
- How can purposeful fasting help us turn toward Christ without treating it as a guarantee of a particular outcome?
- How does scripture study help you seek the Savior during uncertainty?
- What do the examples of Alma’s people and King Darius teach us about seeking help when circumstances seem beyond our control?
- What helps you continue seeking God when answers do not come quickly?
- Which practice—prayer, fasting, or scripture study—do you feel invited to approach more purposefully this week?
Recognize Christ’s Assurances While Keeping Covenants
As we humbly and patiently keep our covenants, the Savior visits us in our afflictions and brings assurances of deliverance. These assurances include peace, faith, and hope, even when the trial continues. Sister Kenzie Brinkerhoff’s testimony illustrates how deep grief can coexist with sacred confidence in Christ’s understanding and healing power.
As we humbly and patiently keep our covenants, the Savior will visit us in our afflictions and bring assurances of deliverance.
- How does an assurance of deliverance differ from the removal of a trial?
- What stands out to you in Kenzie’s statement that her experience is both awful and sacred?
- How do covenants help us stay connected to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ during grief?
- What forms of peace, faith, or hope help you recognize the Savior’s care?
- How can we support someone who does not currently recognize an assurance of peace, without judging their faith?
- What can you do to notice and remember the Savior’s assurances more intentionally?
Receive Christ’s Grace to Endure and Grow
The grace of Jesus Christ provides enabling power rather than necessarily removing the pain of affliction. Through that grace, we receive strength beyond our own, act within our capacity, and trust God with what we cannot control. Elder Hathaway teaches that this help is available to all who turn to Jesus Christ.
This grace does not remove the pain and difficulty of affliction; it is an enabling power that allows us, after all we can do, to receive divine strength beyond our own and lay hold on eternal promises through Jesus Christ.
- How does the talk distinguish enduring through Christ’s grace from simply trying harder on our own?
- What does “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power” mean when our energy or capacity is limited?
- How can we combine faithful action with the invitation to “stand still” and trust God?
- Where do you recognize strength beyond your own in your daily life?
- How do prayer, obedience, and covenant keeping help us turn toward the Savior’s enabling grace?
- How can we help one another endure without suggesting that faith eliminates grief or pain?
Wait Faithfully for Christ’s Time and Way
Jesus Christ delivers in His time and way, and waiting can bring spiritual growth and deeper conversion. Elder Hathaway emphasizes that the Lord does not forget us or take joy in our suffering. The account of Jairus points to Christ’s power beyond mortal timelines, while the talk reminds us that some miracles await the Resurrection.
In His time and way, Jesus Christ will deliver you. Some miracles are immediate, some come after long waiting, and some await the Resurrection.
- What helps you trust that the Lord is not delayed, distracted, or forgetful when relief does not come?
- How can waiting upon the Lord deepen conversion without making suffering itself seem desirable?
- What does the account of Jairus teach us about situations that appear beyond hope?
- How does the promise of the Resurrection shape our understanding of deliverance from death and lasting loss?
- What does “Be not afraid, only believe” invite us to do while fear or sorrow remains?
- How can we speak about miracles in ways that strengthen both those who receive immediate relief and those who continue to wait?
Additional Discussion Questions
- How do the five parts of Elder Hathaway’s pattern help you recognize the Savior’s work in your life?
- What does the freeway account teach us about the difference between serving faithfully and living without opposition?
- How do Kenzie’s experience and the account of Jairus help us avoid expecting deliverance to look the same for everyone?
- What assumptions about righteousness and suffering does this talk invite us to reconsider?
- How can our quorum or Relief Society become a place where people can express both faith and unresolved pain?
- What role can we play in offering practical help while someone waits for divine deliverance?
- How does Elder Patrick Kearon’s witness about the seemingly impossible strengthen your confidence in Jesus Christ?
- Which phrase from this talk helps you turn toward the Savior, and how can you keep it present in your daily life?
- How can we share experiences of divine help while honoring the privacy and different circumstances of others?
- What specific action does this talk invite you to take this week to seek Christ, receive His grace, or support someone in affliction?
