Church Of The Lost Sheep

"Jesus' disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest." Luke 9:46 in the Contemporary English Version [This is the  43rd  lesson of this series] Scriptures is clear on how the first followers of Christ made mistakes, how Jesus called them many times for these and how they fell flat on their faces. The problem with many followers today is that we have read about these embarrassing miscues, yet we fall into the same pitfalls ourselves. Who's The Greatest This is a big reason why the whole world has not yet heard of the gospel of Christ, because followers of Christ continue to argue among themselves as who has the best teacher, who has the greatest founder, who has the best church building, who has the most members, who has best bible, who has the greatest worship songs and so on. Now, even those within the same sect and the same congregation are trying to fight among themselves for power, position or influence. For being saved by grace and having n

'And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord  is  upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to  the  poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to  the  captives And recovery of sight to  the  blind, To  set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave  it  back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 14 :17-21 in the New King James Version [This is the  42nd  lesson of this series] In this excerpt taken from the Book of Luke, Jesus of Nazareth, full of the Holy Spirit started to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God. He walked up and down the Judean region, did so for over three years, and left the charge to His

" I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. " -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His closest disciples, 1st century John 15:5 in the Berean Study Bible Version [This is the 4 1st  lesson of this series] We study Scriptures for our own spiritual edification first, and to teach others second. Any other reason is not what it was intended for. We've talked more about this in a lesson in another series. God's Presence Followers of Christ today need to study Scriptures, and they need God's presence. Christ was with His disciples almost 24/7, eating, sleeping, travelling with them from one place to another; teaching them, and sitting in as He was teaching others. While with Him, they too were able to do the impossible, as Jesus did. After Jesus died. Peter and the rest of the disciples went back to doing what they were doing before they met Jesus. Peter along with sev

A New and Living Way "19 Therefore, believers, since we have confidence  and  full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, 20 by this new and living way which He initiated  and  opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great  and  wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, 22 let us approach [God] with a true  and  sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled  clean  from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us seize  and  hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable  and  trustworthy  and  faithful [to His word]; 24 and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, 25 not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging  one ano

A Call to Persevere "19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Placed by the blood of Jesus,  20 by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  24 And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.  25 Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:19-25 in the Berean Study Bible Version [This is the  31st  lesson of  this series ] This lesson follows those of the previous messages ( What is Needed and What is Needed 2 ) where we have discussed verses 19 to 22 of the excerp

The Full Assurance of Faith "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:19-25 in the English Standard Version [This is the  30 th  lesson of  this series ] This lesson is a continuation of the previous message where we discussed the first three verses of this excerpt above from the Book of Hebrews. We shall

A New and Living Way "Therefore, brothers  and sisters , since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is,  through  His flesh, and since  we have  a great priest over the house of God,  let’s approach  God  with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled  clean  from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging  one another ; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Hebrews 10:19-25 in the New American Standard Bible Version [This is the  29 th  lesson of  this series ] According to the Jewish Scriptures , God has not always been unknown. Adam and Eve walked and talke

Jesus Prays for All Believers “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity . Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.' John 17:20-23 in the New International Version [This is the  28 th  lesson of  this series ] Jesus prayed for his disciples and as we read from the excerpt above, He also prayed for all future believers (all of us) those who will believe because of the teachings of the disciples He left in the care of the Holy Spirit.  He prayed that all believers be united. Yet humans being humans, it didn't take long before disunity among them take place, and in time

'John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon  afterward  to speak evil of Me.  For the one who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers  of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him if a heavy millstone is hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea.' Mark 9:38-42 in the New American Standard Bible Version [This is the  27th  lesson of  this series ] This is a segue from the previous lesson . As mature believers and old enough to be able to teach, I notice that Hebrews 5:12 is as relevant today than it was 20 centuries ago. It looks like someone might have just come up with it today,

" In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone . The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1: 5-11 in the New Living Translation Version [This is the  26 th  lesson of  this series] Do n

“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God." Matthew 5:23-24 in the Message Paraphrase Version [This is the  25 th  lesson of  this series ] The Will Smith & Chris Rock Saga Several days ago a scandalous event took place on live TV. People who have not witnessed what had unfolded weren't spared. Because soon enough, everyone heard about this infamous slapping incident. Everyone, prominent people, social media, the news, all are still talking about it a week later. Some have sided with Mr. Smith because for them it was a matter of him defending his wife's honor. Some are siding with Mr.  Rock, applauding how he de-escalated the tense situation. (There is always two sides to a story). An

Jesus told them: "Stop grumbling! No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day." John 6:43-44 in the Contemporary English Version [This is the  24th  lesson of this series] It's taken us a long way to get here. So far, we've had hundreds of lessons since 2012. Related to this teaching, there were:  - 15 Lessons on Spiritual Rebirth ,  - 45 Lessons on Spiritual Infancy ,  - 45 Lessons on Spiritual Adulting and then  -23 previous lessons in this current series about Spiritual Adulthood . If today's lesson goes over our head, then maybe because we didn't take the required prerequisites. This is like taking advance calculus but skipping algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. No, not that we need to study these math subjects. I mean it helps a lot if we do, and if we want to go higher still and understand higher math. Grumbling Among The Brethren In these

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 in the English Standard Version [This is the  23rd lesson of this  series ] There are several themes in the bible that tells us how as believers, we have been united with Christ. It might take some time to look them all up. And we who are united in Christ are all joined together as brothers and sisters in Christ through the blood of Christ (regardless of our ABCDES; age, backgound, class, differences, ethnicity or status or sect). The whole Body of Christ is made up of all us combined. Christ was born in human flesh so He can have communion with us in the physical. Our heavenly Father sent us His Spirit so we can have communion with the Holy Spirit (in the spiritual, for God is spirit). And so we are united with Him in both the physical and the spiritual,