Church Of The Lost Sheep

A Mother's Request "Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”  Matthew 20:20-23 in the English Standard Version [This is the  8th  message in this series ] A mother more often than not has their children's interests and well-being in mind. This is of course the case when the mother of James and John (sons of Zebedee) knelt at Jesus to request that He grant her sons prominent positions -- the highest positions after Himself in

The Death of Jesus And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:33-34 Why? There will be many points in our lives when we will go through times, even seasons that we do not fully understand. There will be times when we will have questions but we cannot find answers to. No one else seems to know either. And some of us might even question God. Spiritual and religious people have frowned upon this -- man questioning their Maker. In the Old Testament, God responded to Job with “where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?" The Apostle Paul in his letter to the early believers in Rome wrote: "But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?" (Romans 9:20) W

The Lord Will See To It Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it, instead of his son, as a sacrifice to God. So Abraham gave that place a name, “The Lord Provides.” Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord, he will give us what we need.” Genesis 22:13-14 There are many things that are written in the bible that could be hard to understand. Among the many is where this passage is taken from, where Abraham went up the mountain with his own son, Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice to God. Of course this and many others in the bible can be hard to swallow. Of course, especially if you bit off more than you can chew. But it does get easier when you look at the Old Testament stories as a foreshadowing or an image of the New Testament, or the New Covenant that God is making with His children. In this story of the old covenant, Isaac, son of Abraham carried wood on his back up the mountain to be sacrifice

Division “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against. ‘Father will be divided against son     and son against father; mother against daughter     and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law     and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’” Luke 12:49-53 Many new believers assume that once you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, everything will miraculously be a bed of roses. Indeed, everything is changed. A new believer, is redeemed, is reborn -- a new man, or a woman, has a new heart, and is now a child of God. A new believer receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, along with it, peace, j

"Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? " Matthew 15:1-3 Answering A Question With A Question Back when Jesus of Nazareth was walking about and preaching and teaching to multitudes of people 2,000 years ago, groups of people confronted him and asked him multiple questions. Many times Jesus answered them squarely, sometimes figuratively and other times he counter questioned them back. And most times, no one dared to ask him anymore questions after that. And we see instances of these in the narratives of Matthew, Mark. Luke and John, in the pages of the bible. Questions Today, most people still have questions they would want to ask God. Indeed, all of us have. The question really is do we want to hear God's response back? Ma

Certainty It is said that in this world, there are two things that are certain -- death and taxes. I guess, for all of us, this goes without saying. Both of these are tackled by the Gospel writers (see verses from the writings of Matthew below). Tax Season Anyway, today I did my taxes as we do every year around this time. But what really hit me right now is that in just the last five months, as my wife reminded me, I have been to four funerals -- two close family members, one friend and the last, a sister of a friend. Really, not in any other time has the idea of death and the fragility and the shortness of life has been so evident and totally real for me and my family. As we are coping and mourning the lost of loved ones, and symphatizing with friends who also lost loved ones of their own, it is really a tough time. Indeed, we know several people who are battling cancer and other sicknesses and knowing that many others have already lost their battle to these scourge of the

"Everyone will die someday. Death comes to godly and sinful people alike. It comes to good and bad people alike. It comes to “clean” and “unclean” people alike. Those who offer sacrifices and those who don’t offer them also die.  A good person dies,     and so does a sinner. Those who make promises die.     So do those who are afraid to make them." Ecclesiastes 9:2 NIRV Death Comes to All This year, I had my share of funerals, for friends and family members, more than the usual number I suppose. One thing it reminded me is that death comes to all. Thus the saying: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”  Times like this, allow us to contemplate a little bit, about what is this all about. I mean, we get to ask ourselves questions like, what does this all amount to? Or what does my life amount to? Are we here on earth to be mere consumers and then when our time is up, to return to earth and be fertilizer? Humans have

A Psalm of David 1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;     listen to my plea!     Answer me because you are faithful and righteous. 2 Don’t put your servant on trial,     for no one is innocent before you. 3 My enemy has chased me.     He has knocked me to the ground     and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave. 4 I am losing all hope;     I am paralyzed with fear. 5 I remember the days of old.     I ponder all your great works     and think about what you have done. 6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.     I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Selah. 7 Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,     for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me,     or I will die. 8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,     for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk,     for I give myself to you. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;     I run to you to hide me. 10 Teach me to do your will,     for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me fo