When He Comes Again – New Testament

“When He Comes Again” is the “suggested song” for the New Testament lesson “The Son of Man Shall Come” studying JS Matt 1; Matthew 24-25; Mark 12-13; Luke 21.
Songwriting is the act of baring one's soul to another in the form of words and music.

“When He Comes Again” is the “suggested song” for the New Testament lesson “The Son of Man Shall Come” studying JS Matt 1; Matthew 24-25; Mark 12-13; Luke 21.

The suggested song for April 17-23rd’s Come Follow Me lesson is “Jesus Said Love Everyone”. It is a short, sweet and simple song found in the Primary Children’s Songbook. It has a clear message…. to love everyone! I appreciate the Parable of the Good Samaritan and included some clips from the film the Church of Jesus Christ made for it, along with another modern day example of a “good Samaritan”. If you haven’t watched these full videos, they can be found in this week’s Come Follow Me Lesson.

The suggested song for this special Easter week topic is “Jesus Has Risen.” As I was looking over this song in the Primary Songbook, I noticed the song next to it is “To Think About Jesus.” I played around with both of them and decided to combine the two into a medley. “To Think About Jesus” is one of my Mother’s favorite primary songs. She plays the piano and has accompanied for Primary many times. I felt that combining the two songs adds to the depth of the arrangement. I hope you enjoy!

This week’s suggested song is “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man” from the LDS Children’s Songbook. This song is a beloved song to sing during Primary at our church. All the youngest kids especially love it and you can’t forget to do the hand motions when you sing it: “the rock” (plant right fist in palm of left hand), “rains” (let hands descend from high in the air), “floods” (raise hands with palms up), “Sand” (wiggle fingers and move arms back and forth in front of body), and “washed away” (wiggle fingers and move arms out away from the body)! 🙂

“Baptism” is a song from the LDS Children’s Songbook – it speaks of the baptism of Jesus Christ and shares an invitation to follow in his example. Blake Roberts, a young man from my ward/church congregation here in Tucson, joined me for this song. His pure, innocent sound was perfect for it.

This week we are revisiting the Christmas story in our New Testament Come Follow Me lesson, titled “We Have Come to Worship Him.” What a privilege it is to take another look at this beautiful description of the Savior’s birth as it is found in Matthew 2 and Luke 2. “Stars Were Gleaming” is the recommended song for this lesson and comes from the LDS Primary Children’s songbook and, as is usually the case, the lyrics fit perfectly with the scripture passages in this section.

Happy New Year! We are officially diving into the New Testament Come Follow Me schedule for 2023. This week’s lesson is titled “Be It unto Me according to Thy Word” and covers Matthew 1 and Luke 1. “He Sent His Son” is the recommended song for this lesson and comes from the LDS Primary Children’s songbook. Four or so years ago, I wrote a second verse to this song (the original has only one verse), no rhyme or reason why, I just felt like doing it one day, ha ha.

Here is my vocal arrangement of “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus” The original song is found in the LDS Children’s Songbook; which is the suggested song for this week’s Come Follow Me lesson on Haggai & Zechariah 1-3; 7-14. The manual this week references Sister Carol F. McConkie when she said “Holiness is making the choices that will keep the Holy Ghost as our guide. Holiness is setting aside our natural tendencies and becoming ‘a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord’ [Mosiah 3:19]. … Our hope for holiness is centered in Christ, in His mercy and His grace” (“The Beauty of Holiness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 9–10).

Here is my vocal arrangement of “Seek the Lord Early.” The original song is found in the LDS Children’s Songbook; which is the suggested song for this week’s Come Follow Me lesson on Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah. In regards to this study section, the manual says, “Reading the Old Testament often means reading prophecies about destruction. The Lord frequently called prophets to warn the wicked that His judgments were upon them. The ministries of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are good examples. In dreadful detail, these prophets foretold the downfall of cities that, at the time, seemed strong and powerful—Nineveh, Babylon, and even Jerusalem. The descriptions of destruction are tempered by invitations to come unto Christ and receive His mercy: “Seek ye the Lord … ; seek righteousness, seek meekness” (Zephaniah 2:3). This was the Lord’s way anciently, and it is His way today. “His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk 3:6).

This week, I am posting a vocal arrangement of our Come Follow Me suggested song, “I Want to Live the Gospel” found in the LDS Children’s Songbook. My arrangement may sound a bit different than the original, both rhythmically and melodically. I also wrote two short additional verses to add to the length and depth of the song. This week’s Come Follow Me Lesson is on the book of Daniel and there are quite a few examples of Daniel and other figures living gospel principles in the face of great adversity.