Church Of The Lost Sheep

"Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there [at the home of Lazarus] and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he [Jesus] had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him." John 12:9-12 Background The setting was the night before Passover, which Christians have commemorated as Palm Sunday. So on this first Lent, the chief priests who were already upset with Jesus and the New Way are now really, totally, over the top fuming mad because Jesus performed the ultimate miracle -- bringing the dead (Lazarus) back to life. And so they wanted to put an end to this circus, this madness by killing Lazarus. But unknown to them the greatest miracle of Jesus is yet to come, one week from that day, on the first Resurection Sunday (Easter), Jesus Himself resurrecting from the dead. Agenda And because the ch...

"Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial."  John 12:1-7 So after Lazarus has been given a brand new life, John tells us th...

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary "As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:38-42 NLT Martha Mary and Lazarus Scriptures record that Jesus went to visit Martha and Mary, no mention of their brother Lazarus. But who is he anyway? Hard to say, because we know nothing more of Lazarus of Bethany, other than he was the brother of Martha and Mary. That these three sibl...

"Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" James 2:14-17 MSG Faith in Action Yesterday, we talked about "becoming Martha", today we will balance this out and say that becoming Martha is not all a bad thing. And in the same way that becoming Mary is not the 'be all end all'.  James the brother of Jesus taught the early church in the passage above that simply sitting at the feet of Jesus and merely absorbing everything He teaches is not how it's all suppose to be. Becoming a Disciple I ...

“I see what you’ve done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can’t stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out. “But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? A Lucifer fall! “Turn back! Recover your dear early love."  Revelations 2:2-5 MSG First Love In Luke 10, we read about how Jesus was at the house of his friend Lazarus, the one he brought back from the dead, and his sisters Mary and Martha. They all loved Jesus and Jesus loved all of them. We can read this short narrative  here : At the Home of Martha and Mary As you can see, while Martha was "busy" with all the preparations, although she wasn't trying to call attention to herself, it is just in her heart that she felt she needed to do all those "other" things. And unknown to her she was totally missing out on ...