Church Of The Lost Sheep

'"Because a loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him - we'll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn't mine. It's the message of the Father who sent me. "I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left - feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught.' -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century, speaking to His disciples John 14:23-27 in the Message Paraphrase Version [This is the  17th  lesson of  this series ] Love Is How We Are Able To See People are b

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century John 13:34-35 in the Tree of Life Version [This is the  16th  lesson of  this series ] Legacy of Love Jesus didn't leave behind a religion. Jesus left a legacy. It is His love. It is the same selfless love He left His disciples. And this love is the evidence that they were His followers. This is how they are different than everyone else, from those who do not believe in God and from those who do, particularly distinguishing them from those whose relationship with God is all based on head knowledge, on showmanship, on rituals and traditions, from legalists and the religious. The main issue we see with Christ followers today is that as long as they identify or worse lift up their pastor, minister, church leader, their congregation, their church nam

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

" 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

"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful." -Apostle Paul writing to the Leader of the 1st church in Ephesus, 1st century 2 Timothy 2:24 in the New International Version [This is the  11t h  lesson of this  series ] The Apostle Paul started the 1st church in the city of Ephesus. He then moved to plant another church in another city. He left Timothy to lead the church in Ephesus. Paul is aware that being a church leader is not going to be easy. There will be frustrations, misunderstandings, disagreements, differences in opinion and even divisions. This is why he was writing letters of instructions to Timothy. Love The teacher should rise above these and be able to instruct with love. They should be able to show kindness, gentleness and self-control. They are to be calm, tempered and patient, and their words and actions reflecting grace, mercy and the love of Our heavenly Father.  Image Credit: dailyverses.n

" Every Scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God’s approval. They equip God’s servants so that they are completely prepared to do good things." -Apostle Paul writing to Timothy, 1st century 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in God's Word Translation [This is the  8t h  lesson of this  series ] Christians are fun people to be with. The funniest thing is that whenever a fellow Christian say something, other believers find the smallest thing to criticize, completely overlooking all other things said they are agreeable with. That is our human nature at work, our eyes are drawn to that tiny smudge on an otherwise completley clean and pressed white shirt someone is wearing. Always. It is like an itch that we need to get rid of.  With brothers and sisters in the faith like that, who needs enemies? No wonder Christ has not returned for His bride yet. Even after 2,000 years t

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love." -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century John 15:9-10 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 4th lesson in this  series ] In the previous lesson , we have talked about why we need to abide in Christ. Abiding in (or remaining with) Christ also involves abiding in His love. Love Begets Love God is love. The Father loves the Son. And the Son loves us. We love them and others. This is what it means to remain in God's love. The ones we love, we keep their commands. And it's not that God's commands are complicated. They aren't. We have talked about them multiple times. It is embedded in the excerpt above and it's essence. God's commands are not even commands, they are merely natural offshoots of His love (like a new branch sprouting out

" Now the end of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for prayer. Above all, keep your love for one another constant, for “love covers a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable one to another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the many-sided grace of God." 1 Peter 4:7-10 [This is the  40th  message of this series] This lesson is intended for mature believers (or adulting believers). For a more orderly study, please go through all the previous messages first, if you haven't yet. 1 Peter [This will be the  10th  and last lesson in this  series  within a series] Living the Blessed Life Peter instructed the first church (among other things) to be good stewards. Good Stewards Now we finally come to the meat and potatoes of how to live the blessed life . So after having gone through the appetizers , we now are going to consume the main course , the fundamental truth about living the bl

"But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect ." 1 Peter 3:15 [This is the 7th lesson of this  series ] Everything about the new creation in Christ is summed up in one word -- love. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Loved God loved us regardless of who we are and what we have done. He loved us first. And gave us the power and the opportunity to love Him back in return, and love others including the most unlovable person in the room with us -- ourselves. Grace This love is called grace. We did not earn it. We do not deserve it. It is a gift. Why? So we do not go overboard , take credit or think we have no need of God. Oh and believe me, we need God, every minute and every second of the day. Teach Why? Because we are

" Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony." -Apostle Paul, 1st century Colossians 3:14 [This is the  23rd message of this series] This lesson is intended for mature believers (or adulting believers). For a more orderly study, please go through all the  previous messages  f irst, if you haven't yet. New Nature This is the  8th part of this series , within a series. To continue, we were talking about how Apostle Paul is telling the first church in Colassae what "to do",  in place of things they started to quit doing. Agape Love "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:6-8 The Apostle Paul in

"Loved ones, let us love one another, for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. The love of God was revealed among us by this—that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins." -the Apostle John writing to the 1st church, 1st century 1 John 4:7-10 [This is the  4th message of  this series ] God Reveals Himself We have already talked about how God is spirit. He is unseen. Today we will add that God is love, which though may also be unseen was revealed in the flesh, in humanform -- a person who lived among us.  From Above People have long been waiting and searching for extra terrestrial beings or aliens .  [ SETI ] But all along this phenomenon has already been written about and revealed through Scriptures in the form of angels  (and dem

' But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side. But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’ Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” “The one who showed him mercy,” replied

"Let all that you do be done in love." -Apostle Paul writing to the first church in Corinth, 1st Century 1 Corinthians 16:14 [45th and possibly the last message of the New Believer Series] Fot sure, this has been a long series and we pray that you have been blessed as much as we have in sharing these lessons with you. Now, you should be ready to move on from spiritual infancy -- move on to feeding on solid food (the meat of the Word of God) from the milk of the Word. With the power of the Holy Spirit, Scriptures, and brothers and sisters in Christ (the fellowship of the saints) we are being equipped, our mind is being renewed and our spirit being built up, daily as we walk with Christ. Doing Everything With Love Everything starts and ends with God's love. Apart from God, we can do nothing. Whatever good that we do is because of Him, because He first loved us. When we think about what Jesus has done and how God so loved us so, we are able to love Him back and lov

"Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone." -The Apostle Paul writing to the first believers in the City of Rome, 1st century Romans 12:14-18 [ 4th message of the  Why I Don't Believe Series ] In the first three messages of this series we talked about how people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have taken a hard stance against it and is standing their ground, immovable, unshakeable.  Human Nature As we discussed, this is understandable as all of us do not want anyone to tell us what to do or what to believe in. The bib

" Little children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and, as I said to the Judeans, `Where I am going, you cannot come,' now I say it to you as well. "I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other."  -Jesus of Nazareth John 13:33-34 [22nd message of the New Believer Series] In the preceding message of this series we have read that we will discuss about the two commandments that Jesus gave His disciples. All throughout this series, we have centered on (and will continue to center on) God's mercy, God's grace, God's goodness and God's love. But we will also balance this with God's justice and expectations. Old Testament Jesus said He came not to abolish the law (of the Old Testament) but to fulfill it. God gave His people His law to live by -- rules and regulations, dos and don'ts that together are impossib