In His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord proclaimed the significance of the newly restored Church of Jesus Christ. He declared the Church to be “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:30). This lesson is intended to help students feel the importance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the only true church.
Possible Learning Activities
The Lord’s Church
To begin the lesson, you could share the following question and its accompanying statements and invite several students to share their answers.
Why might some people agree or disagree with the following statements?
I don’t think I need a church.
All churches are equally true.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church.
You might ask students to silently evaluate their own views on these statements.
With so many different religions and opinions, it can be difficult to know what is true. The Lord has given us direction through the scriptures to help us have confidence in what is true and to know what He wants for us.
As a preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed a warning “unto all people” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:4). As part of His message, He made a clear statement about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 1:30, and look for how the Lord describes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Doctrine and Covenants 1:30 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.
What did you find?
“The only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth”
Consider inviting students to mark in their scriptures the phrase in the heading above. Take some time to help students understand what it means that the Church is both true and living. The following is one way you could do this:
Make two columns on the board. Invite students to study the handout and mark phrases that help them understand how the Church is both “true” and “living.”
The True and Living Church
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
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Elder David A. Bednar
The Lord has declared that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30). This restored Church is true because it is the Savior’s Church; He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And it is a living church because of the workings and gifts of the Holy Ghost. (David A. Bednar, “Receive the Holy Ghost,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 97)
President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:
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President Dallin H. Oaks
Three features—(1) fulness of doctrine, (2) power of the priesthood, and (3) testimony of Jesus Christ—explain why God has declared … that this is the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth. …
The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is comprehensive, universal, merciful, and true. …
Having the power of the priesthood, the leaders and duly authorized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are empowered to perform the required priesthood ordinances, such as baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the administration of the sacrament.
The keys of the priesthood, held by our beloved prophet … and every other prophet and President of the Church, entitle him to revelation in behalf of the entire Church. This Church is “living” because we have prophets who continue to give us the word of the Lord that is needed for our time.
The third reason why we are the only true Church is that we have the revealed truth about the nature of God and our relationship to Him, and we therefore have a unique testimony of Jesus Christ. (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Only True and Living Church,” New Era, Aug. 2011, 3–5)
Invite students to share what they marked. They could write what they found in the two columns on the board. Consider asking students how the Lord blesses us through each aspect of His Church that they marked. To help students understand President Oaks’s point about our unique testimony of Christ, consider asking them to brainstorm truths about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ they have learned through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or modern prophets. They could add their thoughts to the “True” column.
If needed, help students understand that the Lord’s testimony declaring The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be “the only true and living church” does not mean that other churches do not possess any truth.
Blessings of Jesus Christ’s Church
After stating the Church is “the only true and living church,” the Savior included some reasons why He restored His Church. Read Doctrine and Covenants 1:31–33, looking for what He taught.
Students could turn to a partner and summarize what they learned from these verses. They could also discuss the following question together.
How does Jesus Christ’s true and living Church help you turn to Him for forgiveness?
Provide students with an opportunity to express what they have learned during this lesson. One way to do this is to have students write a response to the following scenario in their study journals. When finished, consider inviting several students to share what they wrote.
Imagine someone asks you what makes your church different than others. How could you respond to this person in a way that may help them want to know more about the Church? You might include the following in your answer:
What you learned today from the Lord’s testimony about His Church and how you feel about that testimony
Ways you have felt or seen that the Church is true or living
Blessings you have experienced as a member of Christ’s Church
You might conclude by sharing your own testimony of the blessings of Jesus Christ’s true and living Church and how belonging to it has helped you come closer to the Savior.
Memorize
You may want to help students memorize the reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase is “The only true and living church.” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”