The Great Shepherd

A  lot of people can quote the twenty-third Psalm or at least get a good start on it but have you really thought about the words? David's words reveal that he is extremely close with God, I don't think that anybody else has ever spoken of their relationship with almighty God in such a warm affectionate manner.

Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

God cares for and protects His sheep

I found a Bible study that points out that many of the compound names for Jehovah in the Old Testament focus on the type of relationship that David talks about in Psalm 23:

"I shall not want” Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14)

"He leads me beside still waters” Jehovah-shalom, “the Lord our peace” (Judges 6:24)

"He restoreth my soul” Jehovah-Rophe, “the Lord who heals” (Exodus 15:26)

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness” Jehovah-Tsidkenu, “the Lord our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16)

"thou art with me” Jehovah-shammah, “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35)

"presence of mine enemies” Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord our banner” (Exodus 17:15)

"anointest my head” Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, “the Lord who sanctifies” (Leviticus 20:8)

Jesus is the Shepherd that gave His life.

The Good Shepherd loves his sheep and He makes His love known by the great lengths that He will go to in order to take care of them. Under the old covenant in the Old Testament, the sheep died for the shepherd, but under the new covenant, the Shepherd died for the sheep!

John 10:27-28 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus left the riches of heaven to join us in our world and experience our heartache but He went way beyond our experience and suffered much more than most of us will ever endure. Jesus is the Shepherd that we need, the only source of salvation, safety, and sustenance for the sheep, His personal care for the sheep makes it possible to have a full and rewarding life if we follow the Shepherd.

Light Of The World

There has been nothing but darkness in the land, the Bible and world history tell us that when Jesus came to our world it was a very dark time. The world was in turmoil as various conquering empires came and then they fell as they became the conquered.

After the Babylonian captivity the Jews had to deal with the Persians and the Greeks and finally the Romans came along. Each of these groups brought wars to Israel, changes in their government and attempts to change their religious beliefs.

The Bible tells us that at just the right time Jesus came into our world, I have to wonder if maybe part of it being the right time meant that the world was so dark that surely the people would take notice of the Light and come running to it.

John 12:46  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark.

But man has an appetite for darkness and his passions will push him further and further into the dark as he continues to look for what he is missing. We keep looking for the good life where it cannot be found. Even if we say that we hate the dark we still have a carnal desire to plunge deeper and deeper into the blackness to find our own answers.

Light is a characteristic of God that the Messiah was predicted to have. (Isaiah 9:2, 49:6, 60:1) Everybody in the temple knew that Jesus was telling them that he is the Messiah, they know that the light of the Messiah is what their hopes have been longing for, but this guy doesn't look like a Messiah to them.

Suddenly, in this dark world where immorality, injustice, and sin is glorified, the Great Light appears and it cannot be hidden, Jesus gave light to everyone, too bad that everyone didn't welcome the light.

John 3:19-21 And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.

God sent light into our world because we needed the light. He gave us the sun for physical life on this planet and he gave us the Son so that we could have spiritual life.There wasn't any way that we could get out of the dark on our own, out of God's love and mercy he gave us light so that we wouldn't have to live without hope in darkness, misery and death.

I need to love the Light and allow it to expose the things that God wants to change in me. I need to allow the Light to shine through me so that the world can see the truth of the gospel and have the opportunity to see their sin, choose to repent and live in the light.

Also Know As God

John 1:1-5 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

This is a different genealogy from what you see at the beginning of Matthew and Luke's gospels, they both show us the human genealogy of Jesus, but John goes way back beyond the humanness of Jesus and he points out the fact that Jesus is God and since He is then He always existed with God.

The four books of the Bible that tell us about Jesus time on earth are written to different audiences and therefore they give us a different perspective on who Jesus is. Matthew shows us Jesus as the Messiah and King of Israel, in Mark there isn't a genealogy because Christ is presented as a Lowly Servant which wouldn't have His lineage tracked, in Luke He is the Son of Man rejected by Israel. John the apostle and author of this book wants us to know that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus Christ is nothing less that God in a body, He isn't some mystic, divine being up in heaven somewhere and He isn't an angel that got a promotion. Jesus was there with God in the beginning when God decided to create, Jesus was there when God gave physical life to this world and now he has come to earth to give us spiritual life.

It is amazing that the world is still talking about this man. Every other great man in history combined doesn't get the amount of attention that Jesus gets. In his book "Jesus: Why The World Is Still fascinated With Him" Tim LaHaye states:

"The philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who together are said to have formed the philosophical foundation of Western culture. And yet, despite being in the public eye for only three and a half years, Jesus and His teachings have arguably impacted the world far more than the collective erudition of these three great philosophers whose combined careers totaled more than 150 years."

There are people who love Him and swear that He is who He claimed to be and there are others that will bend over backwards to distort the truth. There are plenty of religions in the world today that blaspheme against Jesus saying He was not God, some religions even go as far as to claim that Jesus didn't even claim to be God.

1 John 1:1-2 We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This One who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us.

John, who was probably Jesus closest friend, gave us his testimony about Jesus, John wants you to know what he saw and heard and why his life was so radically changed. His experiences with Jesus are very important to him and he wants us to know Jesus the way that he did after spending three years with him. John heard the claims by Jesus, he saw the proof in how He lived, and the things that He did, it all made sense to him that Jesus really was God and our Savior.

Jesus referred to himself as:

✔  the Bread of Life, (John 6:35-51) ✔  the Light of the World, (John 8:12) ✔  the Door, (John 10:7-9) ✔  the Good Shepherd, (John 10:11-14) ✔  the Resurrection and the Life, (John 11:25) ✔  the Way the Truth and the Life, (John 14:6) ✔  the True Vine (John 15:1-5)

JESUS QUESTION IS FOR ALL OF US

Luke 9:20 Then He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah sent from God!"

Is He a radical thirty year old carpenter that left the family business and got Himself killed for no reason? Did He fake the fulfillment of prophecy? Could a man possibly be born in the right circumstances in order to fulfill hundreds of prophecies in order to trick us? How could His miracles have tricked so many? If He is just a liar then why is the world still so obsessed over one liar?

If Jesus is really the only son of God, fully God revealed to us in a body, then the question that Jesus asked Peter is the most important one that we need to answer as well. "But who do you say I am?"

What if He really is who he claimed to be? If He told us the truth about being God then everything else that He said should be extremely important to us as well. We should be digging into God's to find out what He wants us to know and what He wants us to do.

Introducing Taylor Lightsey

TLightsey

By Taylor Lightsey

Hey there. My name is Taylor and I am a procrastinator; hence why this introduction blog is coming out weeks after I arrived at Grace Falls to serve as a summer ministry intern... but better late than never I suppose.

I am originally from Lake Placid. No, not New York, but Florida. Yes, there really is a Lake Placid in Florida. No, that's not where the movie was filmed. Yes, we do have alligators.

I like photography, traveling, coffee, and long walks to the fridge. My friends are like family to me, the only marathon I've got in me is going to be on Netflix, I absolutely love Florida, and my weaknesses include cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and a man with nice facial hair.

Amidst all the complications that life brings, my story remains simple. My relationship with God began at a young age, although I do not know the day or even the year it happened, I know that my confidence lies in knowing that I became aware of my need for God a long time ago and He has been present in my life ever since.

My journey with God has been hard, exciting, confusing, stretching, adventurous, and most of all absolutely beautiful; and I can say already at 23 years old that it is a marathon, and it is absolutely worth it. All that truly lasts in this world is the Word of God and the souls of men and I pray that the way I steward the relationships, money, talents, time, and opportunities that the Lord has given me will clearly reflect that.

Although I have walked with God for most of my life, in my first year of college I got to the point where I wanted to want more but I wasn't even quite sure what I wanted. That year, a family came into my life, and for the first time I realized what it meant to choose the life of a disciple. Salvation is free but discipleship is costly.

God used this family to radically change my life by being a living example of what it looks like to pursue God whole heartedly and what it looks like as the gospel begins to penetrate every aspect of your life.

After that change began in my life, I decided that just as that family was used by God to drastically change my life— if I could be that for someone else, then I want to be there. That desire eventually brought me to Grace Falls.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. (Acts 20:24)

Because the northeast is such a different world than the southern Bible belt from which I originate, I am excited to know that my worldview will be expanded. My favorite part of traveling is always that experiencing a new place, new foods, and different peoples never fails to expand my view of who God is.

The glory of God is thriving in the middle of this living room-styled gathering, through the most unlikely of people, and in an area where the tradition of church is so foreign that the concept that God really loves them is breaking news.

The ministry here is not to just see people "get saved," but to help them to recognize that their need is so much deeper than just a way to heaven. Ultimately, their need is to be in right relationship with their Creator. Just like any relationship, to experience the full goodness of it is to pursue it, so we are here to walk that road with them. More than just the saving power of the gospel is the sanctifying power of the gospel –Because the gospel changes everything.

Unsung Heroes

By Taylor Lightsey

Ziegler Elementary School is comprised of five to six hundred students from kindergarten to eighth grade. More than a building for learning, this school is a haven for many of its students. Locked down from the outside this concrete building with no air conditioning (a foreign concept to this Floridian) is nestled in the middle of a low-income, high-crime profiled neighborhood in northern Philadelphia. Parallel-parked cars crowd the roads and each tiny town house sits but a few feet away from its neighbor. Many of the students at Ziegler walk to school through this same concrete jungle in which they wouldn't dare play basketball in for fear of the violence that has enveloped this little neighborhood.

The biggest challenge these children face growing up is being overcome by a worldview that limits them to dropping out before completing high school and naturally sliding into the same impoverished lifestyle led by the previous generation.

Where I come from, you ask a small child what they want to be when they grow up and expect a bright eyed response of becoming a ballerina, an astronaut, and at least one dreamer who claims that they will surely be a pirate.

On our first day at Ziegler, as we asked this same question we quickly realized that to ask them to dream was foreign, unfathomable. Most of the children's spirit to dream has long ago been disheartened as they grow up witnessing divorce, domestic violence, abandonment, adoption, drugs, gang violence, murder, etc.

Dreaming is not the only rare commodity around Ziegler Elementary. For the vast majority, also unfamiliar to these children are organized sports, problem resolution, and school spirit—really… spirit in general. This community is in a drought; void of the fruit of the spirit and the living water that is the gospel.

Our goal as a team of 6-8 was to throw these 550 students the first spirit week Ziegler had ever seen. On paper it sounds impossible, but serving a God who can't be summed up in simple text, we were blessed beyond our means. Especially with such a small team, I knew God would have to do something drastic here. He would have to be the one to move in the hearts of these kids to let them be spirit filled. We could have had all the supplies and ideas in the world, but God would ultimately have to do the heart work.

Going in, being firmly grounded on a plan of action— that rug was quickly ripped out from under us and that is when I believe the Holy Spirit took over. Through the medium of stickers, coloring sheets, silly dances, competitive games, candy giveaways, a school painting project, and organized sports, we brought the students daily virtuous lessons of Hope, Individuality, Self Control, and Friendship.

The same kids who are daily serenaded with violence rather than resolution and raising your voice rather than reasoning, were so quick to respond to our questions of what it means to have hope and to be a friend.

The same kids whose view of love has been severely fractured by their environment were quick to light up as they saw us walking down the hall, learn our names, and race to wrap their arms around our waists for a quick embrace between classes.

Our goal was to give the kids 5 days to take ownership, to reclaim their right to dream beyond what society expects of them; to give them back a hope that, where they come from, does not have to dictate who they will become because that is not where their identity lies.

Society says anonymous; God says priceless. Society says they've already failed so why bother; God says that Christ came so we have life and have it abundantly.

These kids are hungry; hungry for more than their school certified free meals that most of them depend on, they are hungry for the love of Christ. I was privileged to be the hands and feet to represent this love to them last week and challenged to pray for the unsung heroes that have dedicated their life's work to influencing the beautiful little souls that walk the halls of Ziegler Elementary School.

Spirit Week Report

By Jenn Kingsley

After being here for a couple of weeks without her, my fellow intern Taylor finally got to Atlantic City on May 31. Right away, we were presented with a bunch of materials and given the assignment to determine a curriculum plan for Spirit Week at Ziegler School in the inner city of Philadelphia.

Taylor and I spent hours of work brainstorming and reading through the material that was given to us. We had no idea what was in store for us for the up coming week, but we wanted to be fully prepared for whatever came our way.

The Grace Falls family partnered with Northeast Community Outreach, with the help of three women from Dayspring Baptist in Mobile, Alabama, Ed from Heritage Baptist in Cantonment, FL and Toby and Kyleen of Impact International Ministries in Kentucky, worked hard to make this a fun-filled week for students and faculty.

I was terrified to get up in front of 200+ kids and teach them principles such as hope, individuality, self-control, and friendship. On Monday I quickly noticed that the curriculum that Taylor and I had put together was not going to relate to students in the urban environment. As a team, we all worked together to adjust our plans and come up with activities that would be best suited for these students.

I am a very structured person, I like plans, and to know what is in store. As I served at Ziegler, God really worked with me to trust in His plans and to be able to go with the flow. To be honest, I am so thankful that this is how things worked out. I learned that I do not need to rely on my own plans and schedule, but rely on the Lord’s plans for me.

Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.

Continuously all week long Exodus 14:13 kept coming to my mind. So often I like to have control over a situation I knew that God was reminding me to just stand still, don't stress out, because the Lord always has the right things planed.

Our team lead assemblies everyday that included interactive videos and games so we could reach out and get personal with the students. As the week progressed, we began to build relationships with these students. I would walk down the hallways and was bombarded with hugs from kids that were so excited that a group of individuals would come to their school everyday of the week to show them love, compassion, and most of all, have some fun! To say the least, I felt like a celebrity that week.

Out of the 550 students in the school, this one little kindergartner really stood out to me. Her name was Charlie; she has the brightest blue eyes and beautiful curly hair. The timid look on her face immediately got my attention. Throughout the week I was able to get to know more about her through talking, laughter, and dancing, of course! Every time we passed each other in the hallway we always gave each other this goofy face, followed by heart felt laughter. She really won me over.

Though our team was not able to teach theses principles in a biblical perspective, Christ revealed Himself throughout the week. The children really took in and understood what we were teaching. Though this was the first of many projects being done at Ziegler School, I am so blessed to just have been able to be apart of a great team that spent time at this school. Being able to come alongside the great kids and faculty to encourage, uplift, and just love on this community has really touched my heart.

I am excited to see what is in store in the future with Northeast Community Outreach and Ziegler School!