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The
Joy of Finding the Lost Drachma
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2
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In the same way, I tell you, there is
rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents." [Luke 15:10]
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3
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Many people gathered
around Jesus to listen to his words.
And Jesus told them a
story.
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4
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Jesus told them about a
woman who had ten silver coins.
There are different kinds
of money according to the currency of each country. Korea uses won and the
U.S.A. uses dollars.
There was money named
drachmas in Judea where Jesus was.
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5
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A woman had been given
ten silver coins by her groom when she got married.
At that time, when a man
married a woman, the groom gave ten silver coins to the bride.This was a very
important gift.
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6
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Then, after being given
the ten drachmas, the bride put them together on a string and wore it on her
head.
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7
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One day when the woman
tried to wear it, she found that one of them was missing.
The woman was surprised.
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8
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"There should be
ten? Where is the other one?"
So after counting again
several times and she still had only nine. She realized that she had lost one
of the coins.
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9
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She began to search right
away for that very valuable coin that was lost.
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10
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Thinking of all of the
places where she had been, she looked for it in every likely place.
She looked near the bed
and the closet.
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11
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It was not easy to find
that lost coin. But she never gave up.
She didn't want to even
rest from looking for it because it had such a special meaning.
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12
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After a long time,
finally she found the lost coin.
How pleased she was! She
started dancing and running around the whole room with the coin.
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13
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The woman prepared
delicious food.
And she gathered her
friends to share the pleasure that she had found her lost coin.
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14
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She excitingly told the
gathered friends the story that she had lost one of the coins but now had
found it again.
They were pleased, too.
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15
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After finishing telling
the story, Jesus said to people. "In the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
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16
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Today, Jesus teaches us a
very important thing that we should do as believers in Jesus.
We should bring friends
who have stopped believing in God back to God.
If I try to bring a
friend of mine to God, Jesus will be very pleased.
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17
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Therefore, we should try
to pray and bring our friends to God for Jesus to rejoice. I hope that you
will come to worship at church with one of your friends next Sunday.
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