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By Sydney Walker, Church News
One afternoon several years ago, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his father visited the great cathedral at Chartres near Paris. An expert on the cathedral pointed out three sets of Chartres stained-glass windows and explained that they tell a story.
The first windows show Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden. The second recount the parable of the good Samaritan. And the third depict the Lord’s Second Coming.
“Taken together, these stained-glass windows can describe our eternal journey. They invite us to welcome all with room in His Inn,” said Elder Gong in a new Church Inspirational Message video released Aug. 18 titled “Room in the Inn.”
“Jesus Christ invites us to become, like Him, a good Samaritan, to make His Inn (His Church) a refuge for all from life’s bruises and storms,” he said. “We prepare for His promised Second Coming as each day we do unto ‘the least of these’ as we would unto Him. ‘The least of these’ is each of us.”
Elder Gong’s narration for the video is based on his April 2021 general conference talk “Room in the Inn.” With brightly colored, animated stain-glass scenes on screen, he explains what can be learned about Jesus Christ and oneself while welcoming all to His Inn.
“As our hearts change and we receive His image in our countenance, we see Him and ourselves in His Church,” Elder Gong said. “In Him, we find clarity, not dissonance. In Him, we find cause to do good, reason to be good, and increasing capacity to become better. In Him, we discover abiding faith, liberating selflessness, caring change, and trust in God. In His Inn, we find and deepen our personal relationship with God, our Father, and Jesus Christ.”
Gong video
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the Saturday morning session of the 191st Annual General Conference in Salt Lake City on April 3, 2021.© 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
He entreats His disciples to make His Inn “a place of grace and space,” where there is room for all, Elder Gong continued. “As disciples of Jesus Christ, we’re all equal, with no second-class groups. We mourn, rejoice, and are there for each other. ...
“We rejoice that God loves His children in our different backgrounds and circumstances, in every nation, kindred, and tongue, with room for all in His Inn.”
In His Inn, disciples of Christ learn that perfect is in Him and not in the world. “Our Savior, Jesus Christ, knows everything about us we don’t want anyone else to know, and He still loves us. His is a gospel of second and third chances, made possible by His atoning sacrifice.
“He invites each of us to be a good Samaritan, less judgmental and more forgiving of ourselves and of each other, even as we strive more fully to keep His commandments.”
Elder Gong concludes: “As we create room in His Inn, welcoming all, our Good Samaritan can heal us on our dusty mortal roads. With perfect love, our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, promise ‘peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.’”
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