One-Week 2

Luke 15:1–7 NIV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

So Jesus is spending time with “sinners”. And this made the pharisees MAD.

They were under the impression that they were God’s people.

But to them, that meant everyone else was the enemy.

And Jesus radically challenged that assumption.

There’s three big things we need to understand about God and his priorities.

FIRST:

The lost are the first priority to God

STORY ABOUT ONE ACTUALLY IMPORTANT THING THAT QUICKLY TOOK PRIORITY OVER SOMETHING ELSE THAT ‘SEEMED’ IMPORTANT

Jesus was talking to a group of pharisees in this verse we read earlier. And they had this view, that God had ordained their efforts.

But Jesus doesn’t say, no you guys are off base. He doesn’t say, No, actually, the gentiles are the ones that God loves, not you.

What he says is - Don’t you realize God would do anything to find one of his sheep that’s lost?

Then he continues through Luke 15 to tell 3 separate stories about how much God cares about finding the lost.

God cares so much about the people who have wandered away from him, and don’t know him.

Peter even talks about, in God’s moving and planning, He’s watching out for the lost.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Peter here was talking about the final judgment, and how some people were going to sit around and say, ‘well, where is it then?’ (like - if it was real, it would have happened already).

Peter says - God is not dragging his heels. He’s holding out to make sure He can rescue as many people as physically possible.

So what does that mean for us as Church goers?

If we want God to move in us, we need to let him move us out. Because that’s where the Spirit is driving to. That’s where God’s heart bends towards in a huge way.

That involves rewriting our priorities.

It also involves making sure we’re celebrating the right things.

SECOND:

Finding the lost is the biggest victory we can have

STORY ABOUT A LITTLE, MEANINGLESS VICTORY COMPARED AGAINST A MEANINGFUL VICTORY

God celebrates over our life, and our faithfulness.

But Jesus says - heaven has a bigger party over a single person who comes back, than 99 who never left.

That means - if we want to be a church that Heaven celebrates - we need to seek out the lost!

And believe me - that’s something we can get behind. If you’ve ever had someone you know and care about turn to, or return to the Lord - you know it’s a big thing.

Even apart from faith. If you’ve ever had someone lost to addiction, or depression, or something, and then seen them be able to turn around again. That’s a kind of joy that pales in comparison to everything else.

Hard situations have a way of showing us what priorities are actually important.

But we don’t actually need those hard times. We just need enough awareness to take a step back and say, ya, but is THIS what’s most important?

1 Corinthians 3:12–14 NIV

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.

So Paul says, one day, we’re going to see what things are ACTUALLY worth.

THIRD:

This starts with all of us prioritizing it

STORY ABOUT A TIME PEOPLE DIDN’T WORK TOGETHER, SO THEIR WORK WAS ULTIMATELY MEANINGLESS

Matthew 5:13–16 NIV

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

How many times have we prayed for God to send light into a situation - but not moved ourselves? How many times have we asked God to help someone - but not put in effort ourselves?

That’s not meant as a condemnation. But Jesus does says - we’re the salt, we’re the light.

Not that he won’t ever answer prayer without us. He obviously does.

But that his PLAN is to bless the whole world, to increase his kingdom, through us.

The world needs the things that God offers through us.

Jesus teaches two big things through this verse.

The first is - that

God will use us to bring about His plans

And that’s a scary thing, because it’s gonna involve getting out of our comfort zones.

but it’s also a comforthing thing, because he’s promised to be there every single step of the way.

But the second is -

we need to stop trying to get out of it

Story of Esther - Could have missed God’s opportunity for her life!

What good is salt that isn’t salty?

What good is a town that’s hidden?

What good is a lamp under a bowl?

Our push with this series is ‘Reaching every ONE we can’.

Big question:

Who is your ‘one’?

The truth is - Every single one of us needs a ‘One’.

That person that you want to see healed. Restored. Made whole. Saved by Jesus.

This is a challenge to be more specific, more personal, than simply a generic term.

We’re supposed to care so much about the lost that we’re willing to drop everything and start looking.

Who is that ‘one’ that you’d be willing to flip the couches for?

In the future weeks, we’ll talk about what it takes to become a couch-flipping kind of Christian.

Now, I want to be clear.

I don’t believe we just hover on this ‘only people we know’ idea.

Some of us are called to reach lots. Or go far.

But every one of us is called to reach someone. And even those on missions, in ministry - we all need our ones as well.

We’re gonna take some time now, and talk together about those ‘ones’.

We want to collectively pray for your one as a church, and we want to collectively celebrate with you as the ones are found.

Couple leaders with some notepads. Please gather around them. They will take notes, and we’ll all pray over these names.

We’ll hold onto these names as leadership, keep praying about them, and keep checking in. And we’re expecting lots of good news!

You don’t have to share any details about what’s going on if you don’t want to - but we want to be able to pair with you on your specific prayer journey here.