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It Is Written Canada

Chris Holland

Lost

Lost Sheep

The Lost Coin

The Prodigal Son

Three Strikes but Not Out

It has stood the test of time. God's book, the Bible, still relevant in today's complex world. It is written sharing messages of hope around the world. The year was 1503 ad the local government official of Florence Pierro Soderini commissioned the artist Leonardo Daci to paint the depiction of the Battle of Guiar in the hall of the 500 in the Palazzo Vecchio, which was the Town Hall of Florence. In 1440, the Battle of Anari was fought between the Republic of Florence and Milan. The Republic of Florence emerged victorious and gained their place as the most important power of Central I Italy. Now it is interesting to note that at the same time that Da Vinci was commissioned for this piece, Michelangelo was also commissioned to paint in the hall of the 500. He though was commissioned to paint the Battle of Casino. The two world renowned painters were side by side in a battle of artists, so to speak. However, Michael Angelo never got past the drawing stage of his work. He abandoned the project. But Da Vinci da Vinci worked with fervor on his scene from Anari, and it was noted as it was completed for its lifelike intensity. However, just a few short years later, the city of Florence was overthrown and it was believed that fire consumed a portion of the hall of 500. Giorgio Vasari was called upon to redecorate and refresh the hall of 500. Now, it was at that time that he painted frescoes over the works of Da Vinci and Michelangelo. However, for many years there were people who believed that this lost work of Da Vinci had somehow survived. Centuries. Later in 2012, there was finally a breakthrough. Mauricio Serini, a fellow of National Geographic and others before him, noted that on Vasari's fresco were the words circa Treva translated into English. It means seek, and he shall find. What a number of scientists began to conclude is that Vasari, in fact had not painted over the works of da Vinci, but had somehow preserved them by painting his frescoes on what was actually a false wall. Vasari's fresco was up for some work of restoration. So scientists took this opportunity and they drilled several holes in the fresco and inserted an endoscope into the wall. And what they found is truly amazing. They found a significant air pocket and discovered forms and figures of what appeared to be Da Vinci's original work. They took samples from the paint from the wall, and they found that the pigments there were similar to those of Da Vinci's work, the Mona Lisa. It was believed that the lost work of Da Vinci had been found. Now, I will tell you there's been some controversy concerning the finding. But what is a reality is that which was lost had been found. You know, original Da Vinci paintings are very valuable, and this story demonstrates to what lengths we will go to find something that's important. Now, last week we began studying Luke chapter 15, and it's three parables, about three valuable things that got lost. Each of them teach us that Jesus himself is on a quest to seek and save something that is lost. And his greatest joy, his greatest joy, is when he finds that which he has been looking for. Now, last week we've studied that first parable of the lost sheep, and we discovered that Jesus is ever concerned with finding you and bringing you into a joyous relationship with him. Today we turn again to Luke 15, and this time we are going to read about a lost coin beginning in verse eight. Or what woman having 10 silver coins if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me. For I have found the peace which I lost. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. You know, in the second of three parables we see and we explore the symbolism that Jesus clearly outlines in defining the characteristic of his mission, the mission of seeking and saving the lost. Have you ever lost something? Certainly you have. And you know how maddening it is to not be able to find it. And that is how in this parable the woman was feeling as she looked for her coin. Now the passage says that it was a silver coin in the original Greek language. It is the word drma. Now, the drma was a Greek coin that was the equivalent of the Roman coin, the denarius. Now you'll remember the denarius is equal to one day's wage. So this silver coin, it was worth something. And we see in the lost coin a symbol of those people who have lost or who are lost in their way of life, lost in their sins. But the key, they do not have any sense of their condition. They are far from God, but are seemingly unconcerned or don't even know what kind of shape they're really in. However, this parable reminds us that God even cares for those who are indifferent to him. The Bible says that she lit a lamp, she swept the room and carefully made her search. Now remember in the previous parable, the sheep was to blame. For its being lost, it somehow wandered away. But in this case, no blame could be put on the coin. No one, no one knows how it got lost. Maybe it was misplaced. But this story continues to emphasize the infinite value that God places upon just one soul. No matter how you feel about your own worth, God places great value on you. Now, I want you to think about the woman's challenge as was common in those days, her home most likely had a dirt floor and not a significant amount of natural light. And a coin falling on the floor would've stirred the loose dust on the floor and the coin would've been easily lost. It would've required a diligent search. Lighting a lamp and sweeping would have been absolutely necessary for any chance of finding that coin. When she finally did find the coin, there was so much excitement that she called her neighbors to celebrate with her. Can you imagine it? If she was that excited about a coin? How much more will heaven celebrate when one sinner is found? You know, searching takes work and diligent effort. But friend, this is what God has done and he what he wants to do for you. He wants us to treat others in the same way. By the way, Jesus lived and taught among the common people, especially those who didn't know God, who were lost, those people who were lost and confused, he was to be an anchor that people could clinging to the very heart of God. The very heart of Jesus is an unquenchable desire to reach out to people and help them find their way. You know, in our culture today, it's easy to dismiss as insignificant or even bothersome to our busy lives, those who have the greatest needs, the poor, the needy, the people suffering from disease and terminal sickness. People that just need someone to talk to. It's easy to discard them, but Jesus, Jesus pursued those kinds of people. Maybe you are one of those kinds of people, friend. There's hope. He searches for you and he searches for them. He's intensely interested in you to pick you up from the dusty floor of life and show you that there is an escape plan. Have you already been found by Jesus? Then share the love and hope he has given you with others around you. What is the value of human life for Jesus? It is of infinite value. So much so that he was willing to die for you and to die for me. The promise of scripture is this. God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. One John three 16 states by this we know love because he laid down his life for us. If God places that kind of value upon you, each of us must value others in the same light. On May the 28th, 1708, the San Jose, a 1066 tons ship that had been built in 1696 was equipped with 60 cannons and its set sale for Europe from the Spanish colonies in the new world, its plan was to first stop in Cartena in route to Havana and then onto Europe. It was an important ship holding a stash of gold and silver coins and emeralds from the minds of Peru. The San Jose was carrying such a particularly large treasure that this treasure would provide the needed funding for the war of Spanish succession. It was a conflict that saw the Spanish and French against the English. Each year, the Spanish fleets would escort treasures back to Europe. However, in a recent expedition, the English fleet had destroyed a portion of the Spanish fleet. So in turn, small French warships took over the responsibility of escorting those treasures. The San Jose was part of the first group to make the long voyage. In six years, Louis the 14th desperately needed the treasure to continue funding the war. However, the French ships were delayed. So the commander of the Spanish Fleet Admiral Jose Fernandez Des Tilian count of Casa Allegra, he made the decision to go ahead without them. With more than 500 men aboard the San Jose, they unfortunately encountered the English fleet and a battle ensued off the coast of Cartena Cannons blasted back and forth, and finally the San Jose was set a blaze, and it began to take on water. With structural damage beyond repair, the San Jose sank to the depths of the Caribbean ocean. The treasure sank with it, and the ship remained there for hundreds of years. In November of 2015, the Colombian government claimed ecstatically to have found and identified the lost San Jose. A US firm then claimed that they are actually ones that had found the shipwreck first in 1981. And then on top of all of that, the Spanish government laid their claim on their hundreds year old treasure. Why did everyone have such an interest in this lost ship? Because of the value of the precious cargo, the precious treasure that was on that ship, it is estimated that the treasure on that ship is valued at four to 17 billion. Now, it was a prize that was sought after heavily treasure hunters throughout modern history soughted out the Colombian government, threw their diligence, searching, finally found the treasure. And while that treasure has yet to be recovered, the treasure has been found. My dear friend, Jesus Christ wants to find you. You are that precious treasure. You are his precious treasure. Jesus said these words in John 10 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. His seeking for you led to his death. He desires to find you so much that he was willing to give up his life for you. One John four states in this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him in. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. There is no better news for you. There is no better news for me than that. Lost and found. It is God's quest to bring you back to him fully. This is most clearly revealed in the often quoted passage of John three 16 and 17. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And now listen to this, friends, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Friend Jesus loves you so much. Are you lonely? In Jesus', most desperate time of need, the disciples left him alone. Have you felt abandoned by someone? Maybe you've even felt abandoned by God himself, friend. Remember on the cross of cra Calvary, Jesus agonizingly cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you wanna be found today? Do you wanna start over? Do you want a new life? Jesus resurrection from the dead, paved the way for you Through baptism, you can be symbolically buried as Christ was buried and then be raised symbolically as he was raised. Then Jesus promises that he will give you the ability to live a new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus understands your every need. And my dear friend, I want to share with you, you will never be satisfied while you lay on the dusty floor. Jesus earnest and urgently is seeking for you as a precious and valued treasure. He knows your worth. He knows The Price that he paid for you. And He says, you are worth it to me. But here's the question for you. What is he worth to you? Dear friend, he's been searching for you. Why don't you respond to his call today and invite him into your life that you would be found by him? Dear heavenly Father, I want to pray for each and every individual that was listening today. We want to be found by you. You died, that we might live. So today we choose to be found and live in you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Hi everyone. If you're like me, you've got great memories of growing up. You know, as a child having oatmeal for breakfast, my mom used to make oatmeal and we just loved it. So delicious. Raisins and nuts and other things. Coconut inside. How do you make your oatmeal today? I've got a really great recipe for you. This one is a baked oatmeal. Now oats are so fabulous. They're high in fiber, they're good for lowering your blood cholesterol, and all kinds of other wonderful things that they do in your body. So how do you do yours? Today I'm going to be using some fruits, some nuts, some hemp seeds, and it's gonna be so delicious. So let's start. First of all, I've got one apple and I've diced it into nice large chunks. I'm gonna add it to this casserole dish that's already greased. So we're just gonna put it on the bottom there. And then I'm also gonna use a nice pier. I like to use bosque piers cuz they're much sweeter. I find I like the fruit. They're really sweet. So we're gonna add that. We've got it on the bottom there. And then we are going to use a banana as well. This is chock full of fabulous fruits. It's gonna be more like dessert. Dessert for breakfast. Now there's a really neat thing that your kids will probably love. Okay, so we've got our fruit base. Then look what I've got here. Some beautiful raisins, some dates and some coconuts. Gonna put those in as well. Sprinkle all of that. And then the dates are gonna just add the really yummy sweetness. And there's a lot of fiber going on in dates as well. So this is gonna be a fibrous kind of brecky. And then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna sprinkle in some of the oats, not all of it yet, cuz I'm gonna layer it kind of. So I've got some there. And then I'm going to add the coconut sprinkle on that. Shredded coconut. We don't want Sweden's coconut, just the the unsweetened one is good. And now look hemp seeds, fabulous protein, omega three and six fatty acids. Here we go. We're gonna sprinkle that in as well. This breakfast is totally, totally nutritious. Then I'm gonna sprinkle on some more of the oats. Just get it into all the, the nooks and crannies. Perfect. All right. And now I'm gonna add some milk. I like to use an almond's milk, and I'm to the milk. I'm gonna add some vanilla, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of cinnamon. So I'm gonna put that all in there. There you go. A little bit of salt just to bring out the flavors. That's how we're doing the salt. And then cinnamon is so medicinally good for us. So I just put big splashes of cinnamon in there. Then we are just gonna mix that around a little bit. And then we're gonna pour it directly on top of the oats. Okay, here we go. Now I need two cups of this. I'll do it again, but I'd like to just do it nice and carefully so that I'm getting the top of the oats. They're just soaking everything beautifully. So when it's finished, when it's finished baking, we've got a nice, soft, wonderful oat oatmeal. All right. And then I'll do that just one more time and a little milk. Add some more of the cinnamon, some more of the vanilla, and a little dash of the salt. Again, perk up those flavors. Mix it all together. And again, you can add more exotic things, like a nice cardamom, and that will just add a really unique kind of flavor to the whole thing. Okay? So pouring it on, just soak that all up there. And then we're going to put it in the oven. We're going to bake this at 350 for about 40 minutes, and it's gonna bubble, it's gonna get golden, and it's gonna just scent your kitchen. So deliciously. All right, so I'm gonna put this aside for now because now what we're going to do is we are going to make a cashew cream to go on top of this. So it's already decadent with all the fruits, but the cashew cream is just gonna kick it up a notch. So what I've got here are some dates that are soaked, about six dates. I've got about three quarter cup of cashews that have been softened, they've been soaked for a while just to soften them up. And then I'm gonna add about a cup of water. All right? And then we are gonna whizz that all together in our wonderful Vitamix machine. Now, I like to talk about Vitamix machines, not because I'm selling anything, but because I really swear by them. They're gonna get your product nice and creamy, very smooth, so luscious. And that's what you want in this cashew cream. So here we go. I'm gonna just turn that on. Turn it up. There you go. And so what we're gonna do now, this is the one you just saw me make. Beautiful. And this is one that's been baked already, and it's got the nice golden color at the top. It's ready to go. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to portion this out so you can see how wonderful this is gonna look. But let me just clear off some of these things first. Okay, here we go. And just comes out like a nice casserole there. Oh, and look at the beautiful fruits that are there. And then what we wanna do with this is to just pour some of that cashew cream on top. It's a beautiful consistency. Look at this cream. Oh, isn't that awesome? Look at that. And it's gonna be nice and sweet from the dates, and it's gonna be totally nutritious. Not like you're regular creams, cashews. You've got the wonderful fats in there, the healthy fats. You've got the dates that are sweet and that have the fiber. So this is a totally nutritious, nutritious dish for you. Here you go. Isn't that excellent? You can go to our website. It is written canada.ca for this recipe and so many others, and for health tips and so much more. Enjoy your breakfast and I'll see you next time, My dear friend. When we have been found by Jesus, Jesus then wants to become our teacher, that we would then become his disciple, a learner of Jesus. And so today I'd like to offer you the book Christ's Object Lessons. In that book, you'll find an array of the teachings of Jesus and help you in your relationship with him. Here's the information you need to receive today's offer. To request today's offer, just log on to www dot. It is written canada.ca. That's www dot. It is written Canada ca. If you prefer, you may call Tollfree at one eight eighty eight call I w. That's one eight eighty eight. Call I w. Or if you wish, you may write to us at it is written Box 2010 Oshawa Ontario, L 1 8 74. My dear friend, just like that lost coin sitting on the dusty ground. Many of us find challenges in life that have us feeling low, that have us feeling dirty. Jesus wants to find you to clean you and to make you whole. I hope you found wholeness in him today. Please join us again next week. Until then, remember, it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

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Series

Lost

The Lost Coin

Parent Series

Sponsor

Other Teachings in Series

Lost Sheep

The Lost Coin

The Prodigal Son

Three Strikes but Not Out

Sound Doctrine