The Church is established as the Lord's people become
truly converted to His gospel and experience
a mighty change of heart.
Church leaders lovingly invite others to repent and make
needed changes that will help them become
true followers of Christ.
In the last couple of months or so,
the elders had started talking about Andrew Bernard, who
is a returned missionary and who has not been out to church
for a long time.
But he has shown a keen interest in talking about the gospel
again.
Andrew, a less-active member, told the missionaries
that he would attend church one Sunday.
When he didn't come, the bishop gathered several ward leaders
in the hallway to make a plan to reach out
to him quickly before his desire to return was lost.
As they spoke together, they felt impressed
that the bishop himself should make a visit.
Hi, I'm Bishop [INAUDIBLE].
What I wanted to make sure of with Andrew
was not just that I was there to be someone
to have general chitchat about or just become a friend,
if you like.
I actually wanted to go there as well with the message
that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true
and the power of the Atonement is there for everyone.
So I shared with him the parable of the prodigal son,
and we emphasized a few principles in there
about repentance and about the door always
being open for anyone who might want to return to the gospel
again.
As the bishop taught Andrew from the scriptures,
the Spirit of the Lord was strong.
The bishop bore testimony of the love of the Savior,
and Andrew could feel that love.
I left with him the invitation to come back to church again.
As Church leaders lovingly invite
others to come unto Christ through repentance,
the Spirit touches hearts and motivates people to action.
Though each must choose to respond to those promptings,
those who act in faith are changed
through the Savior's Atonement.
As they become truly converted, real growth occurs,
and the Lord's Church is established.
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