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CHRIST, THE LAMB OF GODLambing in New ZealandDate: 6/2006.101 DCFC Sunday School 2006 - Ruth 3 Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks P133 The beautiful green hills of NZ, a country known for its sheep industry are dotted everywhere with white sheep. During the yearly lambing season, thousands of baby lambs are born. Unfortunately, some lambs’ die at birth. Many mother sheep are also lost during lambing season; they die giving birth. In an attempt to save the orphaned lambs, the shepherds match baby lambs who have lost their mothers with mother sheep who have lost their lambs. It is not as easy as it sounds, though - a mother sheep won’t accept a lamb and nurse it unless it is her own. How then, do shepherds get a mother sheep to accept an orphaned lamb as her own? The process is as old as shepherding itself. The mother's own lamb, which had died, is skinned and the skin of the dead lamb is draped over the living lamb as it is placed by the adoptive mother’s side. The mother sheep then smells the skin and accepts the orphaned lamb as her own. Application: Lambing season in New Zealand reminds us of what JC did for us on the Cross. When John wrote in Revelation 7:14 and Revelation 12:11 of our being saved by "the blood of the Lamb," it was in terms that people in agrarian societies vividly understood. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he... has destroyed the barrier the dividing wall of hostility..." (Ephesians 2:13-14). because of Christ's blood, God accepts us as His own. Once we were orphans, but now we are God's adopted children. Gal 3:36-27; Is 61:10; Zechariah 3:1-4, Romans 13:14
Date: 3/1998.1765 Under the Old Testament system, every worshiper had to bring his own lamb. If he had no lamb, he had to buy a lamb. He could not borrow a lamb. No one could give him a lamb. He had to provide his own lamb. In the New Testament everything is reversed. God provides the Lamb! -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997). See: Genesis 22:7-8; John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19
Bride of ChristNov 13 2011 DCFC English [Jesus came to the world to...] John 10:1-18 – Lay down His life Joni Erickson Tada, a quadriplegic who was paralyzed in a diving accident as a teenager, talks about her wedding day. She says, “I felt awkward as my girlfriends strained to shift my paralyzed body into a cumbersome wedding gown. No amount of corseting and binding my body gave me a perfect shape. The dress just didn’t fit well. Then, as I was wheeling into the church, I glanced down and noticed that I’d accidentally run over the hem of my dress, leaving a greasy tire mark. My paralyzed hands couldn’t hold the bouquet of daisies that lay off-center on my lap. And my chair, though decorated for the wedding, was still a big, clunky gray machine with belts, gears, and ball bearings. I certainly didn’t feel like the picture-perfect bride in a bridal magazine. I inched my chair closer to the last pew to catch a glimpse of Ken in front. There he was, standing tall and stately in his formal attire. I saw him looking for me, craning his neck to look up the aisle. My face flushed, and I suddenly couldn’t wait to be with him. I had seen my beloved. The love in Ken’s face had washed away all my feelings of unworthiness. I was his pure and perfect bride. How easy it is for us to think that we’re utterly unlovely — especially to someone as lovely as Christ. But he loves us with the bright eyes of a Bridegroom’s love and cannot wait for the day we are united with him forever.” And we, unattractive, frightened, paralyzed and imperfect, yet wild with hope, come to the wedding feast of the Lamb. We feel inadequate and unworthy, yet our eyes are fixed on Christ. We are overwhelmed with emotion as we know that we are loved and accepted just as we are, and that the wedding will bring about a transformation. The blood and water that flowed from his side has released us from our bondage, healed our brokenness and cleansed us from our sin. We become the Bride of Christ, not just in theory or potentially, but in reality. And there, together with him and all the redeemed, we will taste the new wine of the kingdom. Just as I amNov 06 2011 DCFC English [Jesus came to the world to...] John 6:24-37 – be the bread of life CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT learned an important lesson about Jesus one sleepless night in 1834. She was an invalid, so when her family held a bazaar in Brighton, England, to raise money to build a school, she could only watch from afar. That night she was overwhelmed by her helplessness and could not sleep. But her sadness turned to joy when she realized that God accepted her just as she was. Her experience inspired these well loved words: "Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, 0 Lamb of God, I come! I come!" When she published the poem in The Invalid’s Hymn Book she included with it John 6:37. CHRIST, SINNER’S FRIEND Poem - The Watered LiliesDate: 6/2006.101 The Best Loved Poems of the American People P308 The Master stood in His garden, Among the lilies fair, Which His own right hand had planted, And trained with tend ‘rest care. He looked at their snowy blossoms, And marked with observant eye That the flowers were sadly drooping, For their leaves were parched and dry. "My lilies need to be watered," The Heavenly Master said; "Wherein shall I draw it for them, And raise each drooping head?" Close to his feet on the pathway, Empty and frail and small, An earthen vessel was lying, Which seemed no used at all; But the Master saw and raised it From the dust in which it lay, And smiled as He gently whispered, "This shall do My work today: "it's is but an earthen vessel, But it lay so close to Me; It is small, but it is empty - That is all it needs to be." So to the fountain He took it, And filled it full to the brim; How glad was the earthen vessel To be of some use to Him! He poured forth the living water Over His lilies fair, Until the vessel was empty, And again He filled it there. He watered the drooping lilies Until they revived again; And the Master saw with pleasure That His labor had not been vain. His own hand had drawn the water Which refreshed the thirsty flowers; But He used the earthen vessel To convey the living showers. And to itself it whispered, As He laid it aside once more, "Still will I lie in His pathway. Just where I did before. "Close would I keep to the Master Empty would I remain, And perhaps some day He may use me To water His flowers again." CHRIST, SINNER’S FRIEND The Empty ChairDate: 5/2007.101 Hot Illustrations Brennan Manning tells the following story of an old man who was dying of cancer. The man’s daughter had asked the local priest to come and pray with her father. When the priest arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. I guess you were expecting me, he said. No, who are you? I’m the new associate at your parish, the priest replied. When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up. Oh yeah, the chair, said the bedridden man. Would you mind closing the door? Puzzled, the priest shut the door. I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter, said the man. But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At the Sunday Mass I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head?/p> I abandoned any attempt at prayer, the old man continued, until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, love, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, he’ll be with you always. Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now. So, Father, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, shed either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm. The priest was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the rectory. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the priest that her daddy had died that afternoon. Did he seem to die in peace? he asked. Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, Father. In fact, beyond strange, it’s kind of weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed. (From Abbas Child by Brennan Manning, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994, pg. 126-7) Where to Take It from Here... John, who was known as the beloved disciple, wrote twice in his Gospel of the time that he laid his head on Jesus chest in a moment of intimacy. (John 13:23, John 13:25; John 21:20) It was a special memory for John, one that assured him that he was indeed a disciple whom Jesus loved. Brennan Manning writes, The Christ of faith is no less accessible to us in his present risenness than was the Christ of history in his human flesh to the beloved disciple. We can have the same kind of relationship with Jesus that John did. Do you have that kind of relationship with Jesus? Are you and Jesus so close that you can converse with him as you would with a friend? Do you know that he loves you passionately and that he is interested in you and wants to listen to everything that you have to say? Can you lay your head on his chest and feel his heartbeat? That’s the kind of relationship that Jesus wants to have with you.
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