CORRECTIONAL MINISTRY

Beloved remember, before you became born again, you were living in sin. People sacrificed their time preaching to you in fellowships, streets, work place, pubilc vehicles etc. Born again friends of yours spoke to you severally about Jesus, but you snubbed them and didn't listen to them. But that did not stop them from loving you or make them give up on you. They also exhibited unimaginable level of patience as born again christians, by the help of the Holy Spirit. They kept praying for you to give your life to Jesus and also hoping that one day you will accept Jesus and surrender your life to 'Him'. God in his infinit mercy, was equally patient with you out of love, despite the countless times you dissappointed and disobeyed 'Him'. Because of the love God has for you as a sinner, 'He' kept his promise which was revealed to Apostle Paul, who said in the book of Romans 8:35,38-39 ........ [35] "Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can

“I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. … As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-18.   The prayer of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage carries a lot of deep-seated messages which we see clearly manifested even in our first reading and in our day to day life today. Jesus’ prayer is not only descriptive, it is in a sense prophetic. *First, Jesus summarizes the struggles and challenges of Christianity as hatred from the world.* The world hates us because we do not belong here. The world has never liked Christians so much so that it is a contradiction to be Christian and worldly at the same time. We cannot have two masters. We cannot make the world love us by force. Just yesterday, I saw a video of a woman taking an oath of office into a political