Kingdom Servants - 2 - Leave Behind

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10

Luke 15:1–10 NIV

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 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. 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

9/14/2025

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Ministry Celebration

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Ministry Celebration

John Newton sharing about Emmuas Walk

Opening Prayer:

Merciful God,

your desire to bring us into your commonwealth

is so great that you seek us

in the places of our ignorance,

and the forgotten corners where we hide in despair.

Gather us into your loving embrace,

and pour upon us your wise and holy Spirit,

so that we may become faithful servants

in whom you rejoice with all the company of heaven. Amen.

Leave Behind

Everyone Gets Lost Sometimes

Everyone gets lost sometimes. Some people are better at finding their way around than others. Some people think they are better at finding their way around than others.

But being lost or found has less to do with knowing where you are and more to do with knowing where you're going, and who you are with. Young children can be playing in the park, feeling very familiar and comfortable with the swings, slides, and playground equipment they are well-acquainted with. They can tell you exactly where they are. But if they lose sight of mom or dad or family and friends they are with, and find themselves alone or surrounded by strangers, they will suddenly feel lost, even if they know exactly where they are.

Parents have a similar feeling when they're out shopping and suddenly lose sight of their children or grandchildren. They can tell you exactly where they are and how to get there. But when those little ones are suddenly not with them, they feel lost.

In many ways, it's the same when we lose our loved ones. Whether they lived with us and we saw them often, or we just always had a strong sense of where they were, and that they were okay, when they are gone, we feel lost. Even when we know where we are, and we know that someday we'll be reunited again together in heaven, we still feel lost.

Getting lost happens to everybody. And that means we usually need to be found more than once in our lives. Jesus found Peter, lost in a fishing boat, twice. Once at the beginning of his ministry, and once right before he ascended into heaven. And both times, he had to call Peter out of that boat and ask him to follow him.

When have you been lost and Jesus had to come and find you?

Who did he send as his representative, as his disciple maker, to bring you back to his people, his family, his flock?

Jesus taught with his words and his example that the heart of God is always seeking the lost. Working to find them and bring them back home. That is why disciple-makers equip their disciples to care for each other, so the family of faith stays strong even as the shepherd goes after the lost.

Training Disciples

When God brings people into your life for us to disciple, we must learn to trust Him and His plan to see it through. We see this all throughout creation. God puts people into families—parents and children, whether biologically connected or adopted. There are always a select few who say, “These are my people,” and who wrap their arms around the others, keeping them safe and helping them grow as God intends. And then there are the children, the little disciples. They know who loves them well, who is their shelter, and who makes them feel at home. Most people, and even most animals, seem content to stay in these small family units as long as possible.

Jesus started out making disciples the same way. He called them one by one, by name, to leave their former life and be born again into His family, where He watched over them, cared for them, kept them safe, and helped them grow into the disciples God wanted them to be. They loved every minute of it—spending their days with Jesus, watching Him do amazing things, receiving His love, and having their own personal Savior leading them into new life.

But Jesus knew the harvest was plentiful and the workers were few. Twelve disciples were not enough. So he went after seventy-two. At some point, every leader becomes spread too thin. Our minds and hearts can only give so much attention before there’s not enough of us to go around.

There comes a time when the mama bird pushes the baby birds out of the nest to teach them to fly. She knows she has the capacity to give birth to hundreds of young in her lifetime, but that will never happen if her first batch never leaves. She still swoops down to catch them when they fall, but she knows they must grow strong enough to fly on their own.

In the same way, Jesus took His disciples with Him into the crowds—preaching, teaching, healing, serving, and inviting others into God’s Kingdom. But there came a day when they had watched enough. He sent them out ahead of him to preach, teach, heal, and serve, doing the very things they had once only watched him do. Then He met them again to hear their stories and to strengthen their trust in Him, even when He wasn’t physically beside them. They needed this because Jesus kept bringing in more disciples. The twelve, like older brothers, had to help raise the younger ones under Jesus’ care.

It was only then that they truly learned what it meant to make disciples of Jesus—training their disciples to make disciples as well.

God has a remarkable way of raising up shepherds from within His flock. If a shepherd never trains the sheep to help shepherd the others, he or she will never be free to seek after the lost.

And the same is true for us. If our church family does not raise up one another to shepherd and care for each other, but instead relies on one or two leaders to hold everything together, our family will not grow. It will slowly fall apart, one lost sheep at a time. But when we trust God enough to raise up new shepherds among us, the family stays strong—and Jesus, our good Shepherd, can go out to find the lost and bring them home.

Persistence

This first parable Jesus tells about seeking after the lost shows that the shepherd is willing to leave the entire flock behind and go after one lost sheep. But if the flock is untrained, the shepherd risks losing them all. That’s why discipleship matters. If we want to have a heart for the lost, we have to do more than baptize and welcome them in. We must train them to be disciples, or they may be the last lost ones we ever find.

The second parable, about the lost coin, carries the same rhythm but adds a new layer. The shepherd hears the sheep’s cry, but a coin makes no sound. It is silent and hidden, unable to call for help. Sometimes it’s stuck under a bed, lost in a corner, or passed from hand to hand before someone notices it is missing.

There are people just like that. Some have been lost for so long they don’t even know it. They don’t know if they belong anywhere. They’re simply surviving, waiting for someone to notice they’re gone. The woman in the parable knew a coin was missing. Even without sound or clues, she searched with persistence until she found it, and her joy overflowed when it was restored to her.

So it is with us. Many of the lost around us will never wander into a church on Sunday. Illness, work, fractured families, and limited schedules keep them away. They are still God’s people, and He still calls us to seek them. That means leaving the porch, going out, and searching for them until we find them.

Some don’t even know they’re lost. They’ve heard of Jesus, maybe even been to church, but His call hasn’t gripped their hearts yet. Evangelism researchers say it often takes dozens of encounters with the gospel before someone responds. That requires persistence. The devil doesn’t need to prove Christianity wrong—he only needs to convince us to quit searching.

The parable of the lost coin teaches us this: to seek the silent, to notice the hidden, to persist in finding those who cannot call out for themselves.

But persistence is not only for the seekers—it is for those left behind as well. Whereas the shepherd may only be gone for hours, the woman searching for her coin might be gone for days. If the flock at home is fragile, or if disciples are left to fend for themselves too long, they may not last and get lost themselves before the shepherd or coin seeker returns.

Building Families

So how did Jesus do it? He built a family. He spent time with His disciples one-on-one, calling them by name, caring for them individually. But he also knit them into teams. When He sent them into ministry, it was never alone. At the very least, He sent them in pairs, and often as larger groups who could lean on each other.

By doing this, He gave them durability. Teams that prayed together, served together, and corrected one another could endure hardship. Even when Jesus was crucified and the disciples scattered, they came back together. They gathered in their grief, and after the resurrection, they became the Church. They carried each other, strengthened one another, and raised up the next generation of disciples.

That same model sustains us today. It is easy to have a heart for the lost. It is much harder to follow through. If we don’t trust Jesus enough to build teams of disciples, we risk chasing the same lost people again and again, pouring ourselves out without teaching them how to stand and seek with Him.

But when disciples care for one another as family, they free the shepherd to search. They give the persistence needed for a lifetime of mission. And together, they become the kind of church that lasts.

How do we do it?

We want to love like Jesus. We want to have a heart for the lost like Jesus—because we love Him, and because we know what it means to be lost ourselves. We remember how important it was when He sent someone to find us.

But we’re also aware of our own limitations. Many of us feel our plates are full just caring for the people already in our lives. So the question is: how do we train those very people so they not only stay safe and close to Jesus, but also grow to serve alongside us as disciple makers?

We train them the same way Jesus trained His disciples—by leading through example.

We start by inviting them to watch us. Watch as we pray for ourselves and others, as we open Scripture and share how Jesus speaks to us through it, as we use our gifts to serve. We give them a living picture of what discipleship looks like.

Then we invite them to help us. Help us pray. Help us read and share from Scripture. Help us serve others. We guide them gently, encourage them when they stumble, and thank them for their help.

Once that foundation is set, we take a step back and say, “Now you lead, and I will help you.” We allow them to take the reins while we support, without rushing in to take over. We want their faith rooted in Jesus’ leadership, not in ours.

Finally, we reach the stage of I watch you. Here we step back even further, not to abandon them, but to encourage them, to share wisdom, and most of all to stay in relationship. Our presence reminds them that just as we are with them, Jesus is always with them.

You watch me. You help me. I help you. I watch you. That’s how Jesus trained His disciples. And that’s how we raise up new disciples today.

So, brothers and sisters—do you have a heart for the lost?

And are you willing to do something about it?

Look at the people God has placed in your life. Where are they in this process?

Are they still watching you? Are they helping? Have they begun to lead?

Or are you watching them grow into disciple makers themselves?

This is the work that frees us to love like Jesus, to leave the ninety-nine safe in the care of one another, so we can join our Good Shepherd in seeking the lost and bringing them home.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we struggle each day to follow you faithfully. That makes your command to raise up new disciples feel impossible. If we can’t get it right, how can we lead anyone else? But you remind us that you are all we need. You’ve given us your Word. You’ve placed flesh-and-blood examples in our lives who have led us closer to you. And most of all, you yourself are always with us.

Help us to trust you enough to jump in with both feet. Help us to follow your example, to train others as you trained your disciples, and to believe that you are at work in those who are watching us right now. Help us follow You faithfully in all that we do. In your name we pray, amen.