Lost Sheep

Introduction

How many of you can remember when you got saved?

How many of you can remember what happened to you to make you turn to Jesus

How many of you can remember the first time you heard that Gospel for the first time

How many of you can remember that day.

For some of you it could have been years and years ago you gave your heart to the Lord

For some of you it can be a recent thing that happened for you

For some of you - it’s only recently you decided to take God seriously

But whether it was years ago or it was recently the fact of the Matter is - Jesus Christ loved you and he reached out to you

You were heading down a road to hell but Jesus came and showed his love for you in one way or the other and you are here today

God brought you from the Kingdom of Darkness into his marvelous light

Now I don’t know about you but 1 thing I like to hear in church is testimonies

When you hear testimonies it reminds you of the goodness of God on our lives

That testimony Sherrel gave recently was funny but it touched us when we see God’s hand at work

Now here’s the thing

While I do love to hear testimonies of healing and God delivering people from various ailments etc I believe there is 1 testimony that we all have that trumps every other testimony and that is the testimony of how Jesus saved us.

How God was able to touch your life and bring you to him.

Now everyone’s testmony is different and some have some way more extravagant stories of how God had to reach them

But whether you have an extravagant story or a simple story it is one of the best testimonies you can share

Talk about the cell group by Danny them

Remember the last time I preached I was sharing how my idol when I now got saved was Benny Hinn and I wanted to be flashy like him

Now there was this show on tv with Benny Hinn long time called This is Your Day and in it he will be showing all these marvelous testimonies of people who were touched by the Spirit of God.

There was a line he used to say continuously and it is so truthful and that is

The greatest miracle is not physical in nature - the greatest miracle is spiritual in nature

In other words what he meant is - its not about seeing someone’s leg growing back miraculously or being cured of cancer etc

It’s about seeing a man who lived a lifestyle that was so far from God but then Jesus touched them and now they are living for God

In other words it is seeing Saul; change to Paul

I want to let you know........that you might have many testimonies but the greatest testimony you have is how God transformed you from being a person running after the run things and now running after God

Your salvation testimony is your greatest testimony

I don’t care how extravagant it might be ot not be

That is your greatest testimony

People around you will see it and they will see the change that God has made in your life

People will remember how you used to be by the rum shop every day but now you by the house of God every week

People will remember how you used to be chasing down money all the time but now you giving money to Advance God’s Kingdom

Today I want you to know that you are here today because the Good Shepherd was after you

Jesus loves you and he died for you and he came after you

You matter to him and the people around you matter to him as well

When we go back to Genesis we see that God created everything but when he created everything there was one thing that basically was the crown of all his creation and that was man.

We are more loved than the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea.

He loved Adam and Eve so much that even when they sinned and sin entered the whole World he made a way for mankind to get back to a relationship with him

He did it because we matter to him.

In the beginning God made people good but they found ways to be bad. All of us have left God’s path to follow our own path but we are here today because he rescued us from going down the wrong road.

Today we want to look at the Parable of the Lost Sheep and see what we as Christians can learn from this parable

The greatest communicator ever to walk on this  earth was without question the Lord Jesus Christ   the impact of his words continues to this  day many of his words have been written down   for us so that we might know them.

When Jesus told a story it was never   for the purpose of passing time or to  entertain.

The stories of Jesus were meant   to zero in on the hearts of his listeners and  communicate a lesson they would never forget

Scripture

Matthew 18:10–14 ESV

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Background

we are told at the beginning of the chapter  that this story like all of Jesus stories   was given to deal with a problem that had arisen  in Jesus interaction with the people of his day.   for the Pharisees were angry  that Jesus would spend such  

quality time with these that they  do not consider to be quality at all.

This few verses is one of the clearest and greatest statements in the Word of God concerning the love of God for lost sinners. During His ministry here on earth, Jesus had more trouble from the religious establishment than He did from the lost.

Here, they are upset because He had fellowship with lost men and even ate meals with them. They would have never done that for fear that they would have been contaminated by contact with lost men.

Jesus, however, loved them and wanted to reach them. He knew that, in order to reach them, He had to love them! I don’t know about you, but I am glad that Jesus Christ came to this world to demonstrate the love of God for lost sinners, Rom. 5:8.

These people are drawn to him and the interesting thing  that needs to be made here   is that they're not drawn to the Pharisees they're  not drawn to the teachers of the law because every time they would approach those  people they would be reminded of their mistakes

they would be reminded of their shortcomings they  would be reminded of their flaws and their sins   and so they were drawn to Jesus because  there was something different about Jesus   and the difference was was that he loved them  and that he cared for them

A few weeks ago in Youth Service Lisa was telling you the Youths about the Fruit of the Spirit and was reminding them of the importance of Love.

If we are fasting but we not demonstrating love we are dieting.

Sometimes we as Christians can behave just like the religious people in Jesus’s Day

We lack love even though we perform all the right religious rituals.

In order to teach this truth of Love to these religious, but hard hearted men, Jesus told them a series of three parables. In this chapter, Jesus reminds them that every life is valuable to the Lord. In this first parable, the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus shows the pharisees how God feels about the lost.

This is not a reminder to Pharisees only but Pentecostals as well who may feel they are holier than everyone.

The Shepherd’s Love

Matthew 18:12 ESV

12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

We see here that Jesus is speaking of how much God loves his sheep and when he says sheep he is speaking about me and you

As Brother Ray insulted me many years ago - we are sheep - we are likened to sheep

And God cares when we go astray

A sheep is known to stray and a sheep is known to have a shepherd

Jesus here is not just talking about any Shepherd but a Good Shepherd

There are good shepherds and there are bad shepherd’s

The Good Shepherd will be concerned about his fellow sheep

You see it says that he will leave the 99 to go after the one

Today I want to let you know that Jesus cares about the one

Jesus will go after the one

Jesus loves the one

He does not love the way we love

We are quick to say - Walk out of my life nah

You walk out - I doh care

We are quick to cut ties with people we once held in high esteem

Jesus is not quick to cut ties with his sheep

He loves them so much - they mean the world to him

Jesus loves the one

Can we as believers say - we love the one -

Or are we concerned that we have 99 still

You see the one matters to God and the one should matter to you

Jesus could have said that 1 sheep that went astray can be replaced with another sheep

Forget that one

businessman today would tell you   take your losses and go on but not the good  shepherd

The Good shepherd doesn't   look at the one and say man good riddance  that that sheep's made some dumb decisions   so let's go ahead and leave him where he's at

he  doesn't say well I've got 99 really good sheep   that haven't left me so I'm gonna hold on to them  because that person should know better

he doesn't say  man that sheep's a moron I can't believe that that sheep would do that

But Jesus loves the one and goes after that 1 sheep that wanders away

Sometimes we can be too comfortable seeing 99 people remain that we dont care about the one

Sometimes I believe churches can get a little too caught up in the numbers game

If i have 100 members and 1 goes astray I still have a big church

that’s not how Jesus sees it

Jesus sees the one

Jesus cries out for the one

Jesus know that when the one goes astray he can be eaten by the wolves

Jesus goes after the one to save them

Are you going to be like Jesus and care for the one

Run after the one

Remember as I said in the beginnng you were once the one and Jesus came looking for you

If he came for you - would you go for others

A young couple was on their honeymoon. They were driving through a small town at night when a deer ran in front of their car. The man swerved and hit a telephone pole.

2. He was alright, but his young wife was bleeding profusely. The man knew if he didn’t get her to a doctor right away, she would bleed to death.

3. He looked down the street and saw a sign that said, “Dr. Rufus Jones, Internal Medicine.” He picked up his wife and ran down the street.

4. He pounded on the door. “Dr. Jones! Dr. Jones!” An old man came to the door and said, “Yes?” “My wife is bleeding. She’s dying. Please save her!”

5. Much to the young man’s surprise the old man said, “I’m sorry son, I can’t help you. I stopped practicing medicine many years ago. I don’t have any equipment or medical supplies here any more.”

6. Overcome with emotion, the young man said, “Dr. Jones, if you can no longer help hurting people, then please take down the sign!”

7 If we’re not going to really walk with Jesus, we need to take down the sign of “Christian.” If we don’t have enough of God to help others, we need to repent and get back our First Love!

The Value Of Every Soul

Matthew 18:13 ESV

13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

The next thing I want to point out is the value of every soul

What are things that we hold in high value for

Those who know me well know that I value Apple when it comes to tech

Has Apple phone, Apple Tablet, Apple Computer

For me I hold Apple Products in High Value

It’s Valuable to me

Now for other people what they value is a Big Car,

Ladies nowadays value plenty shoes

Some have a different color shoe to match their different color outfits

Some people value jerwellery

Have 14 carrot diamond rings etc

There are many things that we value but here what

What we consider valueable God doesnt consider valuable

The most valuable thing in this entire world is your soul

God is not in the money making businees but he is in the soul winning business

When Jesus met his Disciples for the first time he told them

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men

Stop fishing for fish and start fishing for souls

Your soul is so valuable that there are two Kingdoms at war for your soul

Their is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness

The Devil is after your soul and not just your soul but the soul of everyone on this earth

Jesus knows that when a sheep goes astray and he is on his own, his soul can be in danger

When someone whom we called Brother or whom we called Sister falls by the wayside or goes astray or leaves the flock the Bible says that the Shepherd is concerned

You see here is this - the shepherd doesnt go after the one because he want to boast i have a 100 sheep in my fold

Or I have a congregation of 100 - 3 digits - talk nah......How much people ciming to your church - I have 3 digits

The Shepherd doesnt go after the one because he losing tithing money or he losing offering money.....

The Shepherd goes after the one because he loves the sheep and he is concerned for their soul

How many people you know who may have gone astray and is in danger of being eaten up by the wolf

Their souls are in danger and what are you concerned with?

Most of the time we wrapped up in our own lives - we don’t have time to think about anyone else’s lives

We value money more than we value souls

We so busy with othr things we cant even send a text message - a whatsapp

It free but we wrapped up in other things

Talk about me calling Richard

How often do we pray for someone other than ourselves and our own families

The devil wants to destroy the family of God

We meet here on Thursdays to pray for the families of God

This verse says how there is great rejoicing when he gets back his lost sheep.

The most valuable thing you own is your soul

Don’t play with it

Mark 8:36 ESV

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Reasons for Straying

Now as a sheep it is possible to stray away from the sheep fold.

Now what are some reasons that many people stray away from God and his people

I remember once in a Youth Ministry training the Pastor was sharing some reasons why some youths who were once active in Youth Group suddenly stop coming to Youth Group and I belive it is applicable to the church as well.

Influence of Parents

Some young people might only be coming to church because their parents forcing them to come and when they no longer under their parents influence they will just stop coming.

Now we not in youth group this morning but this reason can still be applied to the adults in our church

E.g the Men. When you look around how much men you see following the Lord today

A lot of men come to church because their wife making them come

A lot of men might even be active in the church but if their wives stop nagging them or their wives break up with them or something so - they can go astray

Years ago my dad used to promise me KFC just to come to church

Lack of a Genuine Relationship with Christ

Some people may appear to be following the Lord, they may appear to be so involved in church and all of its activities but the truth is as Pastor has been preaching these last few weeks - they have no altar established

The lack a genuine relationship with God

They might appear to be serving God and involved in the things of God but they might be doing it for the wrong reasons

If you lack a relationship with Christ is just a matter of time before you go astray

Some people have a relationship with Church but not with Christ

Personal Disobedience

A lot of people sad to say not interested in living God’s way.

Some sheep stray because they dont want any shepherd or anyone telling them how to live their life

They want to live life their way and not God’s way

They enjoy sin and living in sin and they not comfortable being among God’s people because their conscience will bother them when the Word of God is being preached

When someone is living a disobedient lifestyle is just a matter of time before they drift away from the herd

Tomorrow is Carnival - Pastor Diandra was telling the youths recently that it might be Trinidad’s culture but it’s not our culture

A lot of church people was fasting in January not to draw closer to God but to look good for Carnival

Loss of confidence in the Bible

A lot of Church people are believing the lie that the Bible is not relevant today

A lot of Church people are looking for teachers who will twist the Words of the Bible to make it convenient for them

People are losing confidence in what God’s Word says and they are buidling their own doctrines and forming their own religions

The New Age movement is one example

When Russell Moore, the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, was interviewed recently on NPR, he told a chilling story about preaching. A number of pastors, he said, had reported to him essentially the same experience. They would be preaching on a passage like the Sermon on the Mount, including sayings such as "turn the other cheek," "blessed are the merciful" or "love your enemies" only to find themselves sharply

attacked at the church door. "Where'd you get that nonsense?" some aggrieved

parishioner inevitably would ask.

"From Jesus Christ, the startled pastor would respond.

"I was literally quoting Jesus Christ." Far from mumbling out an embarrassed apology, the critic would instead walk away, scoffing, "Yeah, but

that doesn't work anymore. That's weak."

You can be the stray

I have just shared 4 reasons and there are many more reasons that can cause a sheep to stray

Here is what I want you all to know

That stray sheep can be you - Yes you

Now you might be thinking that could never be me

I love the Lord, I know my Bible, I coming to church all my life

Not me, I will never stray for God , Nothing could ever cause me to fall

Really?

Are you so super spiritual that it can’t happen to you?

1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV

12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

I have been coming to church for so long that I have seen and witness with my own eyes that anyone can stray

People who are Pastors, people who are leaders they have all fallen and strayed

There is no one who is immune from straying

People does make some bad decisions and leave the church then realize the importance of a pastor and a church

None of us are perfect

it doesn't matter how badly your life has  been marred or defiled by sin.

He receives sinners

In the Bible we see many examples of Great men of God who had times when they fell badly

Peter told Jesus - me, I will never let you down, I am your man, then he denied Jesus not once, not twice but three times

David was a man after god’s own heart but he fell badly with Batsheba

Elijah wanted to give up on life when he felt that there was no more prophets of God in Israel

I dont care how close you might be to God right now, sometimes circumstances and situations can happen in our lives and we can stray

In the book of King we read of King Joash who started well but ended badly

Share my experience when I was down

Never think that you so Holy or put someone in a pedestal that they are too strong to be weak

Jesus told Peter I have prayed for you

It’s not we holding on to God - it is God holding on to us

We can’t keep ourselves but he can

if you have ever felt lost in a crowd   if you have ever felt I'm just a number among  many people

I hope you take heart by this story   I hope you understand the value that you have  to God the father that he would write about you

in this story that if one sheep goes astray  the shepherd is concerned and goes after   the one

that he valued you enough to leave the  99 to find the one you you were that valuable

Our Role As Shepherds

Today as I wrap up this message I want to challenge everyone of you here

We all have a role here like the Shepherd - we need to look out for one another

Some say that’s not my wock - The Shepherd is Pastor - the Shepherd is Diandra for the Youths - The Shepherd is Neisha for the Sunday School

I would say we all have a role in this together

We need to have the heart that Jesus has

When you go to heaven you might meet someone who says I am here because of you

Matthew Jesus Warns Against Looking Down on Others / 18:10–14 / 118

Just as a shepherd is concerned enough about one lost sheep to go search the hills for it, so God is concerned about every believer no matter how small or weak his or her faith might be (he is “not wanting anyone to perish,” 2 Peter 3:9 NIV). A sheep that is not “found” (that is, one that willingly refuses faith) will face a consequence—that sheep will remain lost. But God does not want that to happen. What wonderful love! God rejoicing in us! God rejoicing when a “lost” person is “found!” And God wants faithful believers to be part of the rescue team. Our follow-through care of new Christians, our small group ministry, and our individual contact with fellow believers should demonstrate the Great Shepherd’s care for his sheep.

Conclusion

I want to challenge us all to see the need to reach out to someone

Think of someone in your life who is far from God

They may have been close at one point but now they are far from God

The truth is we never know how we would respond in the future to what life sends our way

You can lose a loved one as Neisha had in the past and be discouraged

You can get angry with God

Recently Pastor Elvis and Family lost their son and it still affecting the Bishop up to this day

Sometimes The Pastor might need someone to preach to him

Sometimes the counsellor might need someone to counsel them

Sometimes that person who always there for everyone like a Sister Maria needs someone to be there for them when they fall

Kevin padna who gone after money

Things can happen in our lives to cause us to stray

Before you get vex and judge them - why not reach out to them

If God could touch you then he can touch them

Leave the comfort of your house and go reach out to them

Take up your phone and call them

for some of you that can be a family member

A friend

A coworker

A neighbor

Call that one

Reach out to that one

Pray for that one

God is concerned about the one

Do we value the one

What would you do today to reach out to the one

Text the one

Becuase Jesus loves the one and so should we

this is your story this  is my story this is all of our stories that at one  time we were the one sheep

we were the one because   of our own foolishness and because of our own  reckless decision making

we ran from God and

Jesus   in his heart for us did not chase us down and then  wet us up s for our for our shortcomings

he didn't look at us leaving and say good riddance

no he  chases us down he leaves the 99 to go and find   the one

I pray that Matthew Chapter 18 challenges us to reach out to the one