Church Of The Lost Sheep

  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him."  -John the Apostle, circa 1st century So this year's Advent Season has reached its height, today -- Christmas Day, when Christians the world over commemorated the birth of the Savior of the world. The short story is that Our heavenly Father gave to us His Son, to be born as one of us, to live among us so as to regain or bring us (back) everlasting life. He came not to point to us our faults, our mistakes, miscues and hard headedness but instead show us the way and light our path to come back to Him who gave us life. To all who believe, merry Christmas and to all the rest may we take time to read or watch the story of the Light of the world -- Jesus of Nazareth. The History Channel: The Nativity Advent Series

  "From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!" -John the Apostle, circa 1st century Before there were live streaming and internet (up to the second) news, there was cable TV. Before that news were broadcasted on air, transmitted to our televisions and radios. Prior to that it was printed on paper, posters or periodicals or a person would yell them out to people gathered around a public or private plac

  "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He created all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether they are kings or lords, rulers or powers—everything has been created through him and for him." Colossians 1:15-16 In the previous message , we touched on how that bright light in the heavens was pointing to the True Light who came down to live among us. On that day this was apparent only to those who were seeking this Light. Today we will continue to dwell on this point that the light from the heavens pointed to the newborn King, the Savior of the world, who is that light that opens up our eyes. Christmas Star, December 21, 2020 In the Beginning The opening line of the first book of the Old Testament bible reads: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." [Genesis 1:1] The opening line of the Gospel According to John says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

  "The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." -John the Apostle circa 1st Century John 1:9-14 Last night Jupiter and Saturn appeared as a bright star, visible to the naked eye for a few hours to those who were anticipating and looking for it. This became possible when in their race around the sun the paths of these two giant planets crossed, the closest it had been and last visible on earth in the year 1226. Christmas Star

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,..." "...and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations." Matthew 1:1-2, ... 16-17 The bible mentions lists of genealogies and people normally skip through them, we all do. We even cut off a big portion from the excerpt above. Genealogy The Jews of old were meticulous in their record keeping. They were probably the original inspiration for genealogy websites and DNA tracing businesses. The Jewish people always had a thing for looking into who begot who and who were the parents of

  "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” -Jesus of Nazareth Luke 19:10 Jesus has been called out for hanging out with immoral (or sinful) people. And in one of these instances (as we read in the passage above), He responded by saying because He came to find and save the lost -- like you and me. This is what advent is all about. First Advent Jesus was born quite like a normal person as He would be in that place and time, except with a little more scandal than an ordinary newborn. So some people were already biased against Him, calling Him out whenever there seems to be something off about Him. And there will always be something off about Him anyway as He is nothing but ordinary. He is out of this world, to say the least.  Jesus and Scriptures refer to Him(self) as the Son of Man and also the Son of God. And that is because He is both -- fully human, fully divine.  After He had fulfilled what He had come to do (to seek and save the lost), we who He had

Trusting in the Lord My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation."   Proverbs 3:1-4 Christmas Day is here, for half of the world it is already the day after. Like in the previous years, this day too will entirely come and go. Many of us, would have received gifts, but for many the real gifts are the gifts that last -- joyful memories, kindness, loyalty, faithfulness, forgiveness, grace, mercy and love - real love. Let us learn to give them out and receive them from others and from God. Heaven came down that first Christmas morning, a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed inside a box, a manger. Let us receive Him in our heart and then

"Let go [of your concerns]! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth." Psalm 46:10 (a song of the descendants of Korah) We are on our last leg of our Christmas countdown. Initially, we were counting down the days, then the hours, now Christmas is almost here and many could no longer wait. Some are stressing out or just barely hanging on as they run to and fro to finish off their holiday wishlist. The rest couldn't care less about what all the fuss is all about over Christmas. A few have not even heard of Christ. Some really do not want to believe or worse cannot make themselves believe. For many of them, the holiday stress some people are carrying with them now, they carry themselves everyday. But what did the psalmist tell us, it is about time to let go of our concerns... then we will know that God is God and He rules the nations and He rules the earth. Letting Go In our own personal Christmas story, we have learned to let

"God is our refuge and strength,     always ready to help in times of trouble."  Psalm 46:1 (a song of the descendants of Korah) We are one more day closer to Christmas Day, as the countdown continues. For some of us, the worst is over. We have found an amazing outfit. We have bought the right gift. We have planned the perfect meal. And everything else is set. For the rest, one or all of these or more are still unchecked on their holiday wishlist. And the stress and the worry is rising every day. If we pause for a few minutes here and ponder about Joseph and Mary that first Christmas day. Do we think our present concerns will pale in comparison to theirs? Promised Child I do hope so. Mary is just about ready to give birth to the promised Messiah. Everyone knew of the prophesies. Generations of hopeful believers have come and gone but the prophesies about the Messiah have yet to be fulfilled. Now it will, finally. Mary and Joseph have been chosen to bear an

"Truly my soul finds rest in God;     my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."  Psalm 62:1-2 (a Psalm of David) For many, Christmas is a time for merry making, gift giving and family reunions. Hopes and expectations are high but most of the time, things just don't turn up like one would expect them to be. For many, this time of the year is their saddest and hardest. Why? For a variety of personal reasons. And the many others that are common to all. But also because we have all forgotten what the season is really all about. Love Came Down Real love came down that first Christmas morning -- the Bethlehem Star shining down. The animals are the silent witnesses. The manger the resting place for the newborn. And the lowly shepherds are the first guests, the only guests. Nothing fancy, no high hopes, no high expectations. Today with a couple of days before Christmas, the stresses are high

"Be careful that you do not forget the Lord." Deuteronomy 6:12a Season's Greetings I know it is fashionable to greet people with "Happy Holidays" or "Yuletide Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas", for it is the "politically correct" way. I understand that not everyone believes in Christ and others do not believe in God. But at this time of the year everyone is celebrating one thing or another. Celebration And Christians do need to be sure that they know what they are celebrating. On a sidenote, I do see why some people who do not share the Christian belief would want to deny those who do of their right and freedom to celebrate and commemorate their holiday -- celebrating the birth of Christ. To Each His Own For as we have already said, this is the season to celebrate and different people do celebrate different things and in different ways -- even Black Friday (even on Thursday or starting the week of), Cyber Mo

The Shepherds and the Angels "And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Just then, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph

Happy Birthday Jesus Okay today 12-25, Christians celebrate Christmas by feasting and by giving or exchanging gifts with one another. Now Christmas is suppose to commemorate the birth or the birthday of Jesus. Obviously nobody knows the actual day when Jesus was born but then again some people do not believe that he was a real person to begin with. Anyway we will not talk about that today, for today is Christmas day. And today and every December 25th is Happy birthday Jesus day! Let us read a short narrative from scriptures, from the book of Luke: The Birth of Jesus In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register