Old Testament

Psalms

Proverbs

Gospel

Epistals

Psa 8

Prov 4:1-9

Mat 5:38-48

Acts 5:1-16

Gen 14:14, “When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”

Dear brothers and sisters,

Loving greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today let us see the importance of helping one another in the time of their need. Here we see a good example of love, concern and care. We know earlier Abraham and Lot were living together and later because of the constant frictions among their servants as in Gen 13:6 & 7, “But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot.” So, they have to separate in peace as Abraham advised in different directions in search of good water for their cattle as in Gen 13:8, “So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.”

After Lot departed from Abraham there came a big crisis in the life of Lot. The four different kings together came against the Sodom Gomorrah, where Lot was living and taken all the inhabitants as their captive along with their things as in Gen 14:11 & 12, “The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.” Some how one of the servants escaped from there and conveyed the news to Abraham. Immediately without wasting any time Abraham gathered all the men servants who worked in his house, around 318 of them, and went against the four kings and their army. Usually, no one will dare to do such a thing, by going against the kings and their armies. If Lot is living along with Abraham, he was bound to help him in such a situation. But here, Lot has left him long back and living in another place, so Abraham could have easily given an excuse for not protecting or rescuing his relative. But he had a genuine love and concern for his relative, though he had left him on his own free will and gone away Abraham could not ignore him when he was in real trouble. He really risked his own life to free him seeing that God helped him to free Lot and all his household things as in Gen 14:16, “He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.” We use to say “a friend in need is a friend indeed” thus we have to help one another to build the kingdom of God.

May the lord help each one of us today to have some similar concern for our brothers and that we may help those who are in danger of their life by praying for them and helping them in the real time of their need. Amen.

Your Web-Site Pastor,
Rev. Dr. T. Marcus Devasahayam

Web-site: www.barodabibleclub.org e-mail: marcusbbc@yahoo.com Mobile: 91-9327243600 ,Church 3096882 / 5540651.
Res : 3, 2nd floor, Arpita Complex, Priyalaxmi Mills Road, Vadodara – 390003, Gujarat, India, Phone:91-265-2335651.

Mat 5:46 & 47, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Psa 8:2, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

Mat 5:40 to 48; “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

World

1 The unprecedented harvest being won in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Christianity has slightly declined as a percentage of the world’s population
2 The expansion of Evangelicals since 1960. They numbered 84.5 million (2.8%) in 1960, but in 2000 they were 420 million (6.9%)
3 The spread of Pentecostalism has been astonishing
4 The huge impact of the Charismatic movement on almost every denomination and megabloc
5 The strength and growth of the Church in lands that have, or have had, severe persecution
6 The manifest failure of human ideologies, which became more obvious in the 1980s and ‘90s
a) The collapse of Communism as a global threat, and the bankruptcy of atheism has caused significant turning to Christ in answer to prayer
b) Fundamentalist Islam has gained in political power and its ability to cause havoc in the world through subversion and sometimes terrorism, but has lost credibility in the minds of many Muslims
c) The Buddhist world has long proved a tough challenge with few major breakthroughs, but the rising tide of interest and concern for the Buddhist heartlands of Tibet and Mongolia is bearing fruit
7 The globalization of the world missions movement
a) The USA still remains the largest foreign missionary-sending nation, but South Korea has replaced the UK as the second
b) India’s missionary movement has grown enormously even as the foreign component has dwindled
8 The AD2000 and Beyond Movement launched in 1989 proved to be the most global, focused movement for world evangelization that there ever has been
a) The 10/40 Window focus was brilliantly successful
b) A great increase in research into the world’s peoples — at a global level in producing the Joshua Project List (JPL) of unreached peoples
c) The Joshua Project I was launched in 1995 to facilitate strategic planning, coordinated research and cooperative church planting during the remaining years of the 20th Century
d) A Church for every people — how far was the goal achieved
e) The gospel for every person. The Mark 16:15 version of the Great Commission exhorts preaching the gospel to every person
The sobering fact is that even with all this activity, probably 15-25% of the world’s population has not really heard the gospel in such a way as to respond to the offer of eternal salvation in Jesus Christ