How have the Lord's servants brought glad tidings of great joy to your soul?
"7 And behold, an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would not receive me." (Helaman 13: 7)
"3 But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart." (Helaman 13: 3)
"9 And behold, thus hath the Lord commanded me, by his angel, that I should come and tell this thing unto you; yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy these things unto you; yea, he hath said unto me: Cry unto this people, repent and prepare the way of the Lord." (Helaman 14: 9)
"6 Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people." (Helaman 13: 6)
"13 And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits." (Helaman 14: 13)
"14 And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled." (Helaman 16: 14)
And here's the introductory commentary to this week's reading assignment: "September 9–15: “Glad Tidings of Great Joy” Helaman 13–16" :
"The first time Samuel the Lamanite tried to share “glad tidings” in Zarahemla (Helaman 13:7), he was rejected and cast out by the hard-hearted Nephites. You might say it was as if they had built an impenetrable wall around their hearts that prevented them from receiving Samuel’s message. Samuel understood the importance of the message he bore and demonstrated faith by following God’s commandment “that he should return again, and prophesy” (Helaman 13:3). Like Samuel, we all encounter walls as we “prepare the way of the Lord” (Helaman 14:9) and strive to follow His prophets. And like Samuel, we too bear witness of Jesus Christ, “who surely shall come,” and invite all to “believe on his name” (Helaman 13:6; 14:13). Not everyone will listen, and some may actively oppose us. But those who believe in this message with faith in Christ find that it truly is a message of “glad tidings of great joy” (Helaman 16:14)."
Before, the Nephites would preach to the Lamanites because the Lamanites needed to repent. This time, it's the other way around--a Lamanite prophet preached to the Nephites because they were the ones who needed to repent. This is also happening in our time now, those who previously taught others to repent turned out to be the ones who need to repent.
As human beings all of us have the naturaly tendency to make mistakes and commit sins. Even the preacher is not exempted. And as we go through our life's journey, we would make mistakes and commit sins from time to time. That's why God provided a way for us to become free from the effects of committing sins. He sent His Only Begotten Son to sacrifice for our us by taking upon Him the punishments for our sins so that we don't need to be punished if we take responsibility by making the choice to repent.
That the Son of God came down on earth and paid the price for our sins so we can be forgiven, cleansed, return to God's presence, and have eternal life--that's "glad tidings of great joy". And we're able to hear this from the Lord's servants, the prophets whom He called and sent to proclaim His words to all of God's children on earth.
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