Study Guide for "Jesus Lives to Lift"

Elder Patrick Kearon uses his experiences flying gliders to illustrate how Jesus Christ lifts us spiritually. Just as a glider pilot learns to find rising air and avoid sinking air, we can learn to recognize the Holy Spirit’s influence, turn away from spiritual decline, and draw closer to the Saviour. This study guide invites you to consider how you experience spiritual lift, sustain communion with God, and help others rise in the love of Jesus Christ.

Before Reading

Before reading or listening to the talk, consider the following questions:

What does the image of Jesus Christ lifting you suggest about His character and His relationship with you?
When do you feel drawn closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
What habits or influences help you grow spiritually, and which ones draw you away from the Saviour?
How can you recognize gradual spiritual decline before it becomes more pronounced?
As you read, what invitations help you identify a next step in your discipleship?

Topics

Trust Jesus Christ to Lift You

Elder Kearon places the Saviour’s desire to lift us at the heart of our faith. Scriptural accounts of Jesus rescuing, healing, and raising people reveal His power and compassion. These accounts invite us to trust that He also wants to lift us from our own despair and spiritual darkness.

At the heart of our faith is the glorious truth that we have an adoring Father in Heaven, whose Son, our Saviour, loves to lift!

Our Saviour constantly sought out the most desperate souls sinking into darkness and dread and lifted them up. And He wants to lift you!

And when we sink, our gentle Saviour is there to lift us up as we turn to Him.

What do the scriptural examples Elder Kearon shares teach about the Saviour’s character?
How does Elder Kearon connect Heavenly Father’s love with the Saviour’s desire to lift us?
What does the speaker invite us to do when we experience spiritual sink?
Where in my life do I most need the Saviour’s lifting power?
What experiences help me trust that Jesus Christ wants to lift me personally?
What does turning to the Saviour look like in the difficulty I face today?

Discern Spiritual Lift and Turn Away from Sink

Through the grace of Jesus Christ, we can learn to recognize spiritual lift and spiritual sink. Elder Kearon compares sensitivity to the Holy Spirit with a pilot’s ability to feel unseen rising air. He encourages us to notice influences that draw us toward the Redeemer and to turn decisively away from those that lead us away.

Through the amazing grace of Jesus Christ, we can avoid spiritual sink and find spiritual lift.

Spiritual lift cannot be seen, but as we learn to discern and act upon the sensitive impressions of the Holy Spirit, we can feel it—as surely as I felt the rising air lift a wing beneath me.

Pay close attention to the sweet, peaceful feelings that come when you choose spiritual lift, the rising forces that bring you into the Saviour’s loving upward pull.

Likewise, pay attention to the dim and dampening feelings that lead away from the Redeemer and His infinite love.

What makes feeling lift in a glider a useful comparison for discerning the Holy Spirit?
According to Elder Kearon, what distinguishes spiritual lift from spiritual sink?
Why does recognizing spiritual impressions need to lead to action?
When do I recognize spiritual lift, and what helps me become more attentive to it?
Which activities or influences draw me toward the Saviour’s love and peace?
What influence in my life calls for a decisive change of direction?
How can I respond more promptly to an impression from the Holy Spirit?

Sustain Communion with God to Avoid Spiritual Drift

Elder Kearon warns that spiritual decline can happen gradually and without deliberate intent. Neglecting the practices that draw us closer to God carries a quiet cost. Sustaining communion with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit helps us continue to seek spiritual lift rather than drift away.

In gliding, if you are not actively climbing in lift, you are descending.

How easy it is to slowly slip from spiritual heights we have worked so hard to climb when we neglect the practices and behaviours that brought us there.

We want lift—its joy and blessings—but we may not recognise the quiet cost of neglecting vital communion with our Father, Saviour, and the Holy Spirit.

Why can gradual spiritual decline be difficult to recognize?
How does neglect differ from an intentional decision to turn away from God?
What role does communion with the Father, Saviour, and Holy Spirit play in sustaining spiritual growth?
Which practices most consistently help me commune with God?
Where do I notice neglect weakening my spiritual attentiveness?
What small, specific change can I make this week to strengthen my communion with God?
How can I regularly assess my spiritual direction without becoming discouraged?

Rejoice in Christ’s Redeeming Love

Elder Kearon presents Ammon’s praise as a powerful example of the transition from spiritual darkness to divine light. Redemption brings freedom, love, and gratitude that words cannot fully express. Ammon’s testimony helps us recognize and appreciate the profound lift that comes through God’s mercy and power.

Ammon then tries to express his thanksgiving: “Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.”

Ammon cannot begin to describe this profound transition from devastating sink to the most glorious lift. And I haven’t met anyone who can.

The language of the Spirit of God is not a language of words.

How does Ammon’s description illustrate the contrast between spiritual sink and spiritual lift?
What qualities of God does Ammon praise?
What does Elder Kearon teach about the limits of words in describing spiritual experiences?
How do I recognize the Saviour’s redeeming love in my life?
What spiritual experience feels greater than my ability to describe it?
What can I record about that experience to help me remember God’s mercy?
How can I express gratitude for the spiritual lift I receive through Jesus Christ?

Help Others Rise in the Saviour’s Love

Spiritual lift is something we can seek and share with others. Elder Kearon encourages us to learn from faithful guides, join people who are growing spiritually, and help others discover the lifting power of Jesus Christ. He describes this service as a joyful opportunity connected to our covenant responsibility to assist the Lord in fulfilling His promises.

And oh! the joy that comes when others experience lift, circling upward with us in the love and light of Jesus Christ!

As children of the covenant, we are privileged with the responsibility of assisting the Lord in fulfilling His promises to all His children.

Helping others turn from sink and into the lift of Jesus Christ is our glorious opportunity and brings joy beyond compare.

Find a faithful guide and learn from them where lift is found.

And when you find lift yourself, show someone else where and how to rise!

How does Elder Kearon connect helping others with covenant responsibility?
What can we learn from faithful people who are experiencing spiritual lift?
Why is helping others turn toward Jesus Christ a source of joy?
Who helps me find spiritual lift, and what can I learn from that person?
How do my relationships influence my spiritual direction?
Who might welcome encouragement or companionship in drawing closer to the Saviour?
What specific experience or practice can I share to help someone recognize Christ’s lifting power?

Keep Turning toward Jesus Christ

Elder Kearon teaches that living in spiritual lift involves simple, continuing choices to turn toward the Saviour. We listen to the Holy Spirit, learn from faithful disciples, watch for spiritual sink, and help others rise. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and His promise of being lifted up at the last day give these daily choices an eternal direction.

The Saviour’s promise is “If ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.”

None of this is complicated; we simply need to keep turning toward the Saviour, into the source of lift, and keep choosing to rise into the light rather than drift imperceptibly into the shadow.

Remember: our Father sent His magnificent Son to be lifted up upon the cross that thereby He might draw all of us into His loving embrace.

Your Saviour is your lift. He is your ever-rising air. There is no limit to how high you can climb with Him. Jesus Christ lives to lift.

What simple actions does Elder Kearon identify as ways to live in spiritual lift?
How does the Saviour’s sacrifice relate to His desire to draw us to Him?
How does the promise of being lifted up at the last day give perspective to daily discipleship?
Which invitation in this talk do I feel most prompted to act on now?
What does choosing to turn toward Jesus Christ look like in my daily routine?
How does the Saviour’s promise strengthen my hope as I work through setbacks?
What specific commitment can I record, and when will I reflect on my progress?