The online
Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Archives Free email subscription Listen to these messages Follow Daily Encouragement on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn <Previous Message Next Message> Monday, August 29, 2016
Lancaster County Working Windmill "Redeemed By The Blood Of The Lamb" Message Summary: “The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement.” - Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia Listen to this message on your audio player. "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). "Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18.19). "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation" (Hebrews 5:9). Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am. For over 40 years Brooksyne and I have been donating blood, beginning in our college years in Springfield, Missouri before we got married. Periodically in our Daily Encouragement messages we share with our readers an illustration from our blood donating experiences. A Community Blood Drive is held every two months at a local hardware store here in Mount Joy where the self-contained "Bloodmobile" is set up in the parking lot. In fact it will be here again this coming Saturday and we will once again be donating. From the outset we want to make it clear that the motivation for our donating lifesaving blood is to help others who are in need of blood due to surgery, trauma or other medical reasons. Ester benefitted many times from blood donations during her open heart surgeries and about fourteen years ago I was given two pints of blood to replenish the loss of blood during a major operation. Most readily donate blood because of the obvious need but Blood Centers also offer additional incentives such as several seen on the poster. We can always manage to find something at JB Hostetter hardware store for $5.00 or combine our vouchers for $10.00 of a higher priced item. For several years now they have offered two ticket vouchers for our local Minor League baseball team, the Lancaster Barnstormers. In early July when we were in line waiting to donate, a lady offered us her ticket vouchers since she didn't plan to use them. Stephen accepted them gladly informing her that we used the vouchers in the past to take others to the game such as our Amish and Zimbabwean friends. Other donors apparently overheard our conversation and also offered their vouchers as they did not expect to use so we walked out with 14 vouchers! Last week we mentioned a visit to an Amish home in which the young father is dying of cancer and shared about it in this message: "The God On The Mountain, Is Still God In The Valley". Knowing how hard this is on the children I offered to take the two young sons to a Barnstormer baseball game, their very first. Friday evening we went, along with their cousins, so it was quite a sight, this big English guy old enough to be their grandpa, walking along with little Amish boys. The boys enjoyed the baseball game, since they play baseball during recess outside their one room schoolhouse, as well as the fireworks after the game. We even saw Mad Chad, the chainsaw juggler, so they had quite a good time. But our spiritual lesson today comes from my observation of what was printed on the ticket. Where the price of the ticket is indicated rather than a dollar amount it states "Blood". In a sense our tickets were paid for due to our donation of blood along with the other donors who gave us their vouchers. Now that was a significant donation since the field box seats where we sat run for $12.00 each which would have set me back $60.00. But it doesn't compare to an infinitely greater blood donation. Today's first Scripture text is a part of the Apostle Paul's departing message to the Ephesian elders. He reminds them to "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). What a marvel to consider that He purchased the church of God with His own blood. And we can further individualize this purchase (redemption) with a powerful truth from the Apostle Peter in our second text, "Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." As an old chorus states, "He paid a debt He did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song, Amazing Grace. Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay." The final Scripture selection today has two words revealing the infinite value of Christ's blood sacrifice; He is the source of "eternal salvation". “The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement.” - Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever, I am. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, I am eternally grateful for Jesus who imputed His righteousness in me, just as You imputed my sin into the sinless Lamb of God who poured out His life for me on the cross. Through this merciful and selfless sacrifice of Christ I am justified. Jesus truly paid the price for my salvation just as if I'd died for my sins and yet He removed the penalty of sin for those of us who truly repent and believe. Thank You for this wondrous eternal gift paid in full by the atoning work of Your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen. Today we will share some thought-provoking messages seen on church signs here in Lancaster County. We drove by this church sign in E-town on Saturday and "Pray Pal" caught our eye. This was on our church sign yesterday. Our pastor's wife's name is Faithe, so some may have read it: "Faithe makes one fine pillow." We pass this church weekly near Ephrata PA and often receive a dose of inspiration. A good message for all of us on a church sign north of Mount Joy! Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Redeemed" Video Gaither Vocal Band "Only By The Blood" Video Brian Free and Assurance "Redeemed" Video Big Daddy Weave "That's What The Blood Is For" Video Jason Crabb "He Took My Place" Video Jason Bare I heard this song for the first time this morning as I was listening to WDAC, our local Christian radio station and realized what a great message as it related to our theme today. Finally today: To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.) We
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Please Note: Our chaplain agency is unable to provide a receipt if the donation is made through PayPal. However we provide this option due to the convenience, international supporters, and for those who may not be concerned regarding receiving an official receipt. Click here to donate using PayPal. Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact. Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." © Copyright 2016 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |