Church Of The Lost Sheep

" For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 in the English Standard Version [This is the  10t h  lesson of this  series ] Image Credit: Bible.com God's Word is useful for teaching and training -- tenderly and lovingly showing us the Truth. God's Word exposes our rebellion, our pride, our arrogance, our ignorance and our hidden agenda. God's Word corrects our missteps, lights our path so we can see the Way, this makes us to plan accordingly and to make the right decisions. The Word of God picks us up when we are down (not kick us while we are at our lowest, guilt-trip us, mock us or force us to quit). This is all so that we can do what God has called us to do and live a life more abundantly. And so we can teach others not merely because of head knowledge but because we personally are ...

“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century John 15:7-8 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 5th and last lesson in this short  series ] Finally living the fruitful life involves abiding (remaining) in God's Word.  God's word is the bible. And in the bible, it is written that the Word who was made flesh is Christ Jesus, born of the virgin, in Bethlehem, came out of Egypt, grew up in Nazareth, suffered and died for our sins, and He rose again. God's word created the heavens and the earth. God's word has power. God's word is eternal. God's word will not return void. God's word is Love. God's word is God. When Christians abide in the word it means they meditate on the word and the word permeates their hearts and minds. The result is a change f...

"Congenial conversation—what a pleasure!     The right word at the right time—beautiful!" Proverbs 15:23 MSG [This is the 15th message in this series] In this series we are highlighting two-liner verses from the Book of Proverbs. Discerning In the previous lesson from this series, we have delved deep on discernment We shall continue on with this and look at this gift of the Holy Spirit in action. Words There is an old saying that goes like: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. This is actually a common day proverb. It has been around for a long time, but largely inaccurate. [It is human made] Our words have real and lasting power. Words have the ability to build up and the power to tear down. It is a tool and a weapon. What we are now or where we are at, are largely shaped by the words we have said in the past, or the words spoken by others. Joy A good word can encourage. It can lift people up. It can turn someone'...

  'On the first day of the week we met to break bread together. Paul spoke to the people until midnight because he was leaving the next morning. In the upstairs room where we were meeting, there were a lot of lamps. A young man by the name of Eutychus was sitting on a window sill. While Paul was speaking, the young man got very sleepy. Finally, he went to sleep and fell three floors all the way down to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. Paul went down and bent over Eutychus. He took him in his arms and said, “Don’t worry! He’s alive.” After Paul had gone back upstairs, he broke bread, and ate with us. He then spoke until dawn and left. Then the followers took the young man home alive and were very happy.' -Luke, writing about the Apostle Paul, 1st century Acts 20:7-12 This story is not supposed to be funny, but in a way it is. Think about it, Paul preaching his long sermon has caused this young man to fall asleep (which is not unusual). What...

Greeting "From the church leader. To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love because we share the truth. Encouragement for Gaius Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you’re doing well in every other way and that you’re healthy."   3 John 1-2 GW The bible is one very long book. For sure, many will not undertake to read all of it. Now what some people may not know is that the bible is not just one book. It is a compilation of several books -- total of 66* books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. Several of these books are long and a little hard to read. Some are nevertheless short and could be read in 10 to 15 minutes. Although short, some are easy to misunderstand or easy to miss what it is trying to teach those who read them. Shortest Books of the Bibl e The three shortest books of the bible are all just one chapter long, barely 300 words each. They are all short enough to read through during your morning or afternoon coffee...

The Word Becomes Human "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was already with God in the beginning. Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him." John 1:1-3 6th Part This is the 6th message in this series. And again we are looking at the Apostle John's words. In the Beginning Before the world begun, there was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Nothing that exists was made without the Word. Genesis 1 says "In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said , “Let there be light!” So there was light." God (the Father) created heaven and earth. God (the Spirit) hovered over space. And God (the Word) was spoken. Everything that exists was "spoken" into existence. 6th Day It is not without a reason that we will delve into these passages where a few verses later i...

"Also, let Christ’s peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. Be thankful. Let Christ’s word with all its wisdom and richness live in you. Use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about God’s kindness. Sing to God in your hearts."   Colossians 3:15-16 On this 5th part of this series, we will talk about 5 things that the Apostle Paul talked about while mentioning the word of Christ Jesus. It is uncanny that this 5th part is more like "taking a five" (taking a short break), as it will be a little different from the earlier messages. How so? It has five points which Paul was talking about with the short passage above. This was  from Paul's letter to the first believers in the ancient city of Colossae. One which needs to be repeated to every church in every city in their time as well as in ours. 1. The church should allow the "peace" of Christ to control them. 2. Paul remi...

"From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I was sent to lead God’s chosen people to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to a godly life. My message is based on the confidence of eternal life. God, who never lies, promised this eternal life before the world began. God has revealed this in every era by spreading his word. I was entrusted with this word by the command of God our Savior." Titus 1:1-3 So on this 4th installment of this series, we will continue looking at the Word. In the first of this series, we have the Prophet Isaiah talking about this. Then the Apostle Peter and then the Apostle John . Now in the passage above, we are looking at the Apostle Paul writing to Titus. Word If you haven't read the first three messages in this series, you could read them through the links above. To recap, we have already mentioned that Jesus is the Word -- the Word who became flesh. God sent us His Word, so that we are finally able to ...

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Peter 1:23 This will be the third in this series about the Word. And today we come across this commonly misunderstood and polarizing term 'born again'. [If you miss the first two messages, here is Word 1 and here is Word 2 ]. Word Now in the short passage above, Peter writing to the early believers of the First Century, who were "suffering" for following the Word (Jesus of Nazareth) is reiterating what would be a common concept to his readers in his day that they were reborn (born again) not of the normal human way (perishable - meaning having a best before date). But that they were "born again" through the imperishable (no expiration date). How? By the living Word of God. It wasn't by the usual human way, but by Jesus, the Word who became flesh -- the supernatural way. This Word is both living and endu...

John’s Reason for Writing "The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. This life was revealed to us. We have seen it, and we testify about it. We are reporting to you about this eternal life that was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us. This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that we can be completely filled with joy." 1 John 1:1-4 Joy Joy is a good reason to share the Good Word. And this is the very reason these pesky Christians have eversince talked to people they get in contact with. This actually was making their joy complete. And Luke wrote that "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." So even the an...

"so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 Sticks and Stones The old saying goes, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'. This has already been proven untrue by a multitude of people, including mental health professionals. In fact words hurt, and they cut deeper and longer lasting. It Will Not Return Void The prophet Isaiah already said it 3,000 years ago that his word will not come back empty-handed. Meaning, it will do the work it was sent out to do. It will complete the assignment given it. Now words can be negative or it can be positive -- encouraging or disheartening, uplifting or damaging, to push up or to pull down, good or evil. Jesus Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ is the Word -- the Word who became flesh. God sent us His Word, so we can get to know and understand Him. He is the (Goo...

"Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it." John 20:30-31 MSG Scriptures declare that the spoken word is God's way to perform miracles. The written Word is God's way to make people believe -- the Book of John being a good place to start. The entire bible contains the words "it is written" about 100 times (more or less, depending on the version).  It is mostly used by the gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as Paul, particularly in his letters to the Corinthian and Roman churches. (The believers in Corinth and Rome were probably the most hard headed among the early believers, outside of Israel.) God did not provide any other means by which people (other than Jesus) to believe in Him.  Word The same way God spoke mira...