Category: Church

Church

Reading the Book of Mormon in 2024

Post author By Graham
Post date December 9, 2023
No Comments on Reading the Book of Mormon in 2024

The scripture that “Come, Follow Me” will be based on in 2024 is the Book of Mormon. I currently work with the youth, and as I was thinking about how I could encourage them to read the Book of Mormon, it got me wondering about how many books/chapters/verses there are, and how many of each you need to get through each day in order to finish the book by the end of the year.

I did some of the work on my own, but also found a couple of helpful sites.

https://scripturetools.net/ has some great stats regarding all of the different scriptures. The Book of Mormon information is at https://scripturetools.net/statistics#bofm

https://church-of-jesus-christ-facts.net/ also has some good information. The Book of Mormon sections is at https://church-of-jesus-christ-facts.net/justfunbomcenter/

The main stats are as follows:

535 pages in the English Book of Mormon
15 books
239 total chapters
6604 total verses

There will be 366 days in 2024 since it is a leap year. That means to finish the book in 2024, you would need to do any of the following:

1.47 pages per day
0.05 books per day
0.66 chapters per day
18.05 verses per day

My spreadsheet with this data is attached.

book_of_mormon_stats Download

In my own personal study, I’ll be finished the book by the end of the year, and will be ready to start over on January 1.

Tags book of mormon, chapters, come follow me, statistics, stats, verses, youth

Church

Consuming vs Contributing at Church

Post author By Graham
Post date January 31, 2022
No Comments on Consuming vs Contributing at Church

Last Saturday we found out that the Church parking lot had not been cleared, so we were unable to have Church in-person. We had a Zoom Sacrament Meeting, but no second hour classes. Since January had a 5th Sunday, rather than holding some kind of combined class, they just pushed the 4th Sunday lessons to the 5th Sunday.

Yesterday I led the discussion in Elders Quorum. Our source was President Dallin H Oaks‘ talk “The Need for a Church” from the October 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was probably my favourite talk from that General Conference. I love church. I love the Church. I wish everyone went to church. I find some much satisfaction and fulfillment when I worship together with other people.

As I was preparing some questions for the discussion, I did a search online to see what current information there was about the prevailing though on going to Church. I came across a post called “Why attending church no longer makes sense” by someone named Carey Nieuwhof. I wasn’t familiar with Carey, but the title certainly got my attention. I read through the post, and discovered that it wasn’t that he is advocating that people stay away from church. It is about our attitude as we go to church.

The main reason I gather with the church is because I am the church.
You don’t attend church. You are the church.
Merely attending church doesn’t make you much of a church because sitting in a back row consuming church doesn’t make you very good at being the church.
I think being the church has something to do with living your life for Christ, demonstrating God’s love by serving others and sharing your faith with people. That’s very different than consuming church in a back row, which you can just as easily do on your back deck.
The reason you would go to church today is that you’ve moved from being a consumer to being a contributor. You don’t just go to be served, you go to serve. There’s something deeply scriptural about that.
…gathering together was Jesus’ idea, not ours…
You are the church. Remember that. And the church is at it’s best when we engage in the mission God has given us.
https://careynieuwhof.com/why-attending-church-no-longer-makes-sense/

I really like that distinction between “consuming” and “contributing”. Of course, if all you can do is get out of bed on a Sunday morning is consume, please do that. It will be beneficial to you. But at some point we need to do more. We need to contribute to the atmosphere, share ideas during lessons/discussion, and minister to others. We need to contribute.

Tags attend church, carey nieuwhof, consume, contribute, dallin h oaks, elders quorum, general conference, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints

Church

English Bible History

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/

The fascinating story of how we got the Bible in its present form actually starts thousands of years ago…

Tags bible, bible history, english bible, history

Church Fun Stuff

Church Bulletin Bloopers

A co-worker of mine, Louise, sent me these:

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”
Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.
The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: “Break Forth Into Joy.”
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours Enjoy!