Come unto Christ
Open talk in Gospel LibraryIdeas for Opening the Lesson
- Display the words “Trespassers will be prosecuted” and ask what feelings that sign creates. Read Elder Dube’s account of President Oaks requesting its removal, then ask how the Savior’s invitation differs from the message on the sign. Introduce the lesson as an exploration of how we receive Christ’s invitation and extend it to others.
- Write these two statements on the board: “I must perfect myself before coming to Christ” and “I come to Christ to be perfected.” Invite class members to explain the difference, then read Elder Dube’s statement: “We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.” Ask how this truth changes the way we approach the Savior.
- Read Moroni’s invitation as quoted in the talk: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … deny yourselves of all ungodliness.” Write “Come,” “Deny yourselves,” and “Be perfected in Him” on the board. Invite class members to identify what these phrases teach about our choices and the Savior’s power.
- Introduce Randall and Laurin Child’s experience, then read Laurin’s answer to prayer: “Randall doesn’t need to be perfect. He needs to do the very best he can.” Give class members a quiet moment to consider how this message applies to their own efforts to follow Christ. Invite discussion without asking anyone to disclose private struggles.
- Invite class members to think silently of someone whose kindness helps them feel welcome at church or closer to Jesus Christ. Ask a few volunteers to describe the qualities that make that person’s influence meaningful. Connect their observations to Elder Dube’s invitation to help one person come unto Christ.
Topics
Welcome All Through the Savior’s Love
Elder Dube presents Jesus Christ’s suffering and atoning sacrifice as evidence of His love for all of God’s children. President Oaks’s request to remove an exclusionary sign illustrates how that love shapes the way disciples welcome others. The Savior’s invitation encourages us to love others as He does.
President Oaks taught, “Jesus Christ did all of this because He loves all of the children of God.”
- What does Elder Dube’s testimony of the Savior’s suffering teach us about Christ’s love for each person?
- How does the story about the mission office sign help us recognize messages of exclusion we may unintentionally communicate?
- When do you feel especially aware that the Savior’s invitation includes you?
- What attitudes or habits can we change to help people feel welcome in our quorum or Relief Society?
- What experiences help you understand how another person’s Christlike love can draw someone closer to the Savior?
Move Toward Christ Through Faith
Elder Dube teaches that coming unto Christ requires action: we choose to move from our current place to a better place. He also invites those whose testimony feels less certain to come unto Christ and embrace His promise of joy. His invitation encourages a faithful response rather than waiting until every uncertainty disappears.
Come: It’s an action. We choose to move from our current place to a better place.
- What does it mean to move toward Christ in the circumstances of everyday life?
- What is one small action that helps you exercise faith when you feel uncertain or discouraged?
- How can we respond with love when someone says, “My testimony is not as certain as it once was”?
- What experiences show you that turning toward Christ can bring joy even while questions or challenges remain?
- What step toward the Savior do you feel prompted to take this week?
Surrender What Holds You Back
Elder Dube describes denying ourselves as surrendering the things that keep us from moving toward Christ. He identifies addiction, doubt, pride, pain, grief, guilt, and materialism as things the adversary can use to make us feel unworthy to approach the Savior. Christ’s grace helps us let go of barriers rather than treating those barriers as reasons to stay away.
The adversary wants to hang that sign on the gate of our heart. Addiction, doubt, pride, pain, grief, guilt, materialism—or whatever is holding us back—he tells us this makes us unworthy to come unto Christ.
- How does Elder Dube’s explanation of surrender deepen your understanding of “deny yourselves of all ungodliness”?
- How can we distinguish an invitation to repent from the discouraging message that we should stay away from Christ?
- Without sharing anything private, what helps you recognize when something is holding you back spiritually?
- What experiences help you see that the Savior offers help with a struggle rather than requiring you to overcome it alone first?
- How can we support someone experiencing grief, pain, or doubt without assuming that the struggle reflects personal wrongdoing?
Receive Christ’s Grace Without Demanding Immediate Perfection
Elder Dube teaches that we come to Christ with a willing heart so He can perfect us; we do not perfect ourselves before approaching Him. President Nelson’s teaching places complete perfection after the Resurrection and only through the Lord. Randall and Laurin Child’s experience illustrates how sincere effort, prayer, trust, and the Savior’s grace work together.
We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.
- How does this statement change the way we understand repentance and spiritual growth?
- What does coming to Christ with a willing heart look like when our progress feels slow?
- How does President Nelson’s teaching about perfection help us hold realistic expectations while continuing to keep the commandments?
- How can Laurin’s answer, “He needs to do the very best he can,” encourage sincere effort without becoming an excuse to avoid change?
- What experiences help you recognize the Savior’s grace in your efforts to become more like Him?
Minister With Prayer, Empathy, and Meaningful Invitations
The visit to Randall and Laurin Child shows how ministering can create an opportunity for spiritual progress. Elder Dube prays for words, expresses empathy, and invites the couple to choose a date for their temple sealing. Laurin’s prayerful support also illustrates how love and trust can strengthen someone who is trying to change.
“Heavenly Father,” I pleaded, “please put words in my mouth.”
- What do you notice about the way Elder Dube approaches a struggle he does not personally share?
- How can prayer prepare us to listen and respond when we do not know what to say?
- What makes an invitation loving and helpful rather than pressuring or judgmental?
- What does Laurin’s support teach us about helping a loved one who is working through a difficult change?
- What experiences show you the value of making time for a ministering visit even when life feels busy?
Invite One Person to Come Unto Christ
Elder Dube invites each of us to find one person and encourage that person to exercise faith in Christ, follow His teachings, or meet with the missionaries. He teaches that losing ourselves in helping others come unto Christ helps us find solutions to our own problems. His closing invitation connects outward-looking service with the Savior’s promise that those who lose their lives for His sake find them.
My humble invitation to us all: Will you find one person and invite him or her to come unto Christ by exercising faith to follow His teachings, or invite a friend to meet with the missionaries?
- Who comes to mind as you consider Elder Dube’s invitation to find one person?
- What are some natural, respectful ways to invite someone to follow a teaching of Jesus Christ?
- How can we prepare to invite a friend to meet with the missionaries while respecting that person’s agency?
- What experiences help you understand the Savior’s promise that losing your life for His sake helps you find it?
- What practical step can you take this week to act on Elder Dube’s invitation?
Additional Discussion Questions
- How do Elder Dube’s three key truths—come, deny yourselves, and be perfected in Him—work together?
- What does this talk teach about the relationship between our effort and the Savior’s power?
- How can our quorum or Relief Society become a place where people feel safe seeking help before their struggles are resolved?
- What is the difference between helping someone come unto Christ and simply urging that person to try harder?
- How can we teach the importance of commandments while also making clear that Christ welcomes those who need help changing?
- What does the Childs’ experience teach about pursuing temple blessings with faith and a willing heart?
- How can we offer hope to someone whose testimony feels uncertain without minimizing that person’s questions?
- What helps us trust the Savior’s promise of joy when spiritual growth includes difficult work?
- How might helping another person come unto Christ change the way we see our own problems?
- Which teaching or invitation in this talk most influences your next step, and how can you make that step specific?
