So we had a change of plans with Thirty.One last night. Instead of studying in 1 Peter, Ashleigh felt the calling to study about the lost sheep. Now, we're not talking about literal sheep. See how Jesus describes the unsaved and those wandering away from God as "lost sheep" in John 10:1-21:
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?"
But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"Then, we looked at Luke 15:1-10. I'm going to share 1-7:
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him [Jesus]. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Then Jesus told them this parable: 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.Going after lost sheep is God going after sinners , putting them on His shoulders is Him uplifting the fallen. If we were somewhere with Jesus along with a bunch of people, and we wandered off. We had a bad day, we didn't really feel like talking to anybody we just wanted to go away and relieve some stress in some other kind of way, I guarantee you Jesus would leave and come check on us. He would come find us and ask what was going on. He would say, "Why don't you come back. I can help you, we can get through this together. Let me bring you home." Jesus will go after that
one sheep that is missing. Aren't we suppose to try and be as much like Jesus a possible? Why don't we go after that
one? We all know who our
"one person" is.
God will always give us an opportunity to speak to "
the one". Why do we sometimes run and hide? Are we afraid of what they will think of us? Are we afraid of what other people will think of us? Are we afraid we won't say the right things? Jesus said not to be afraid (Mark 5:36). When we leave the heard, that is, our Christian friends, Church, Bible Study, Scarred, The Basement, ect., we're more susceptible to the wolf (aka, Satan). We're more prone to be attacked because we're out there all alone. We've wandered away from God, and everything else we once did that was associated with Him. But there's hope, even if we wander away, that doesn't mean we're not a Christian. NOTHING an take that away. If your the lost sheep, or you feel close to the fence, about to escape, your Salvation will never wander or escape.
Here are all the scriptures we studied as well:
"Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." Matthew 10:6"He [Jesus] answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Matthew 15:24"Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Psalm 44:22 -- This is what happens when we wander from the herd.
"Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Psalm 100:3"When he saw the crowds, he [Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16 -- As Christians we're being sent out like "the one" sheep in a pack of wolves. We have to be strong, able to get in anywhere to anybody like snakes, and be innocent like doves.
Our job as Christians is to go out and find "The One". Be as much like Jesus as possible. Will we be "the one" or, will we help and make a difference in the life of "The One"?
Some of the Thirty.One girls are planning on going to Stadium Fest. Here's some info:
::Stadium Fest:: April 25th – Saturday - Stadium Fest @ Samford University w/ Louie Gigilo, Chris Tomlin & Jeremy Camp. This is a FREE Concert. For more information you can log onto
www.stadiumfest.org. Let us know if anyone is interested!
