Again, not your typical dry council Sunday

Family.

What's the big deal?

Why are they so important that it is the entire focus of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)?

And why is it the one thing Satan is trying so hard to destroy with homosexuality, divorce, abortion, premarital sex, cohabitation?

The talks several Sundays ago were about protecting our families and the last one was particularly good. Even Erik on the way home commented on what a good talk it was. That says something if an 11-year-old boy sits up and listens.

"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;" -Moses 6:59

The speaker gave an analogy of entering a family through physical birth and entering into God's family through spiritual birth.

Water
Physical birth: Baby is completely surrounded by amniotic fluid.
Spiritual birth:  At baptism one must be completely submerged in water just like a baby is totally submerged within it's mother.

Blood
Physical birth: There is blood associated with birth. BUT it isn't the baby's blood that is spilt to give life, it is the mother's.
Spiritual birth: To give us new life spiritually, someone else had to spill their blood. Christ spilt his blood to give us new life through the atonement.

Spirit
Physical birth: At some point during pregnancy, a spirit enters the body. To have a baby there must be a mother and a father. A baby takes on the name of his father at birth.
Spiritual birth: At some point in our spiritual birth we have to allow the spirit of Christ of enter our body. During baptism we covenant to take on the name of Christ. This is why Christ is also considered our Father, the Father of our spirits. It is He who makes it possible for our re"birth".

Eternal life is God's life which is family life. We are here to learn to love being a mother (or a father). Our whole focus should be on the family, and at the judgment day we will have the choice . . .

God's life that includes families

or not.