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Showing posts with the label Gather

Gathered, but also brought

“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.” (John 10:14-15) We have all probably read or heard this portion of scripture at one time or another, but I never really caught something that Jesus was saying until this morning. Read that passage again with me and stop at the sentence where Jesus talks about having other sheep in addition to those in this pen. Did you ...

Watch your step!

We are so blessed to live in a country where we can worship freely. There are still a multitude of people in this world who must live 'undercover' because of their belief in Jesus Christ - because it is not a 'permitted' religion within the country where they reside. The places of worship for these individuals are sometimes the tiny living rooms of a group of believers where someone opens the meeting with prayer, shares a thing or two from the scripture, all the while longing for a trained pastor to be their shepherd. In some senses, those believers are closely worshiping together in much the same way the early church did - or even as the nation of Israel did until Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. They open their homes, gather under a large tree in shade of the day, or find a shelter somewhere just so they can be together and share from the Word of God. This is the heart that drives them - not that they have to 'go to' church - for they 'are' the c...