Come Follow Me: Priesthood Keys

I missed a post about last weeks lesson.  A fellow leader name Holly had the girls play a fun version of Priesthood Jeopardy {found here}.

This week I was able to teach the girls about Priesthood Keys.  I found this to be a hard lesson because it can be difficult to explain what they are.  But I did it and now know more about them than ever {the best part about teaching is learning more than you knew before}.

I started the lesson with this short video from Elder Perry about Priesthood keys:

 

After showing the girls that great video, I asked them: What are priesthood keys? {We found the answer in True to the Faith.}

To further explain the keys in the priesthood, I turned to the Gospel Principles lesson about the priesthood:

There is a difference between being ordained to an office in the priesthood and receiving keys of the priesthood. President Joseph F. Smith taught: “The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man ordained to any degree of the Priesthood has this authority delegated to him. “But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. In their fullness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality. His Priesthood is not increased by this special appointment; … the president of an elders’ quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in the … quorum, or in other words, the keys of that division of that work” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 141; italics in original).

 After explaining that all men with the priesthood have keys delegated to them while they hold certain callings, we explored what the different quorums provided as their priesthood duties:

• President of the Church: keys of the kingdom
• First Presidency / twelve apostles: keys to the dispensation of the fullness of times
• Melchizedek Priesthood: keys of confirmation of the Holy Ghost, keys to the administration of temple work, keys to missionary work, and keys of healing of the sick
• Aaronic Priesthood: keys to the administration of the sacrament, keys to baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and keys to various acts of service

I know there are so many great ways that I have been blessed by those that were using their Priesthood Keys in their roles in the church.   I am happy that I was able to teach this lesson to gain a greater knowledge of this gospel principle.

P.S.  along with the resources I have previously linked to in the post you will find helpful doctrine here and on Mormon.org