June 7 - The Priesthood

What is the priesthood?  How do the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods relate to each other?  What are priesthood keys, priesthood authority, offices of the priesthood, ordinances of the priesthood?  How is "ordaining" different from "setting apart"?  How can the priesthood bless our lives?

For our discussion today, we relied heavily on the following texts:

• Duties of the Aaronic Priesthood in D&C 20:46–59 
• Explanation of the Melchizedek Priesthood in “Melchizedek Priesthood,” Bible Dictionary
• The power of the priesthood is dependent upon principles of righteousness in D&C 121:34–46
• The oath and covenant of the priesthood in D&C 84:33–44
•  More information about the priesthood from Pres. Boyd K. Packer in “What Every Elder Should Know—and Every Sister as Well,” Ensign, Feb. 1993, 7–13
•  The responsibilities of priesthood holders as outlined in the priesthood manual True to the Faith, 2004, 124-128

We discussed some of the history of the priesthood, how the priesthood was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, and how it blesses our lives today.

The priesthood has always been given to a specific God-selected subgroup of believers.  During the time of the Israelites, for example, only the Levites were allowed to hold the priesthood and officiate in certain ordinances.  Even though not all members of the church today hold the priesthood, having access to it blesses all of our lives.

We have two homework assignments over the next couple of weeks that we will use in our lesson on June 21:

• Where did your name come from (first, middle, and last)?  Why did your parents give you that name?  What meaning or significance does it have?  Where does your last name come from and what history does it have?
• Bring a your priesthood line of authority or your dad's or brother's or grandfather's (or another close priesthood holder's) priesthood line of authority.