January 27th 2019
Really dirty, they finally called everybody else got Revival turn to Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 10. Luke chapter 15 1 through 10. We're continuing on with her serious resolved. We're we're resolving to look at things differently and do things differently as we entered into this new year were looking at things that you know, what are some things that I resolved to do a little bit differently add as I try to be more like Jesus So today we're looking at Luke chapter 15 the first three and that chapter. Verses 1 through 10. The tax collectors and sinners were all gathered around gathering around to hear him, but the Pharisees and the teacher Salam utter this man welcome centers and eat with them. Then Jesus told them this Parable suppose. One of you has a hundred sheep and losses 9199 suppose. One of you is a hundred sheep and loses one of them is he not leave the 99 in the open country and glasses and when he finds that he puts on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and I found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way that we more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous to your person who do not need to repent or suppose. A woman has lost 10 silver coin has 10 silver coins of this is one does she not light a lamp sweep the house and searched carefully though, she finds it and when she finds it she calls her friends and neighbors together. Joyce's me I have found my lost coin in the same way. I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents how many lost something something something we lose things all the time it Weatherby a wallets Weatherby Keys weather be a cell phone this week. You know who you are. If you're that person that lost all three of these this week your spouse is looking at going to yeah. I know we lost all three of those this week or maybe your teenager has lost all three of those this week, but I know a kid that loses stuff a lot in this room and you know what we lose the exam when we find them we literally dismantle the whole house looking for that never done that you flip open pull off a couch cushion you shove your hands into the recliner feeling around thinking just maybe you're looking in the car you can buy The car because you think maybe I missed the first time he gets to see his looking around in the cracks and crevices retracing your steps. Think about where you were because you want to find them you want to find those thing when you discover them. Once again, when you find whatever it is, you've lost it's a relief. It's a relief when you discover that thing that was missing I like here in stores and I seen them before posted on the internet these stories of people that have lost something and it's been gone for an extended. Of time. Maybe it's a wedding class ring a wedding ring or something like that only be discovered on some beach somewhere in the middle detector and it has an inscription to get back to them. All these years later. I actually have one of those items for a while and it's everyday actually and it's this it's just a little pocket knife and I saw my dad the store the other day and he didn't remember it but it's his long time ago. He's had a couple of them. He was working the garden. Apparently that was behind her house and has a little tiny Square Garden that grew a few things in it, and he was working there. And apparently that was where he lost it will it with the dirt like things do and it was gone. It was there and it's been gone for he replaced it was lost and it been gone for at least a year and went back the next spring Tulsa Garden sure nuff show right back up. There was he didn't need anymore to give it to me and I cleaned it up and I've had it ever since I discovered that the other day and enjoy her and I've lost my other knife go figure if I start carrying this one again. Play it all comes around when you find things like this. Are you technology? We shouldn't lose anything right? Because there's a way to track things like my phone all I have to do I use it frequently find my iPhone you plug into it with something else in your computer and it makes a little ding throughout the house. When you go on this treasure hunt to try and find it you find the couch cushions. We find it like me right in front of you somewhere cuz it was right there all the time but forget about that, but we find these things we look for them. There's no GPS stickers. I seen you can put on stuff will transmit a signal and you can find them and look them up and find out where your keys are where your wallet. I was pretty amazing. But yet we still lose things we hate to lose thing because we place a pretty high value on them. And for example, if you need to go to work and you don't have your car keys there the most valuable thing in the world. What's a point there is nothing more valuable and you have to find them. If you cannot find your wallet or your purse or any of those kind of things. It's pretty important and some of the things like your wallet in your purse. They have important things that I'm like your driver's license and your debit card at all last step you take if I can't find this. I've got to go through the hassle of getting all new Canton want to have starting all over again and now car keys have got to a point where they're worth more than gold. I should invest in car keys because they're expensive when I was a kid. I could run down to True Value with for less than a dollar. I can replicate any key. I wanted to have if I had an original but this key here that I carry my pocket if somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred fifty bucks to buy another if you like this cuz it has these buttons and it does stuff for the car to make them do things. I'm like all I want the key that starts the thing. I don't need all that they give it to you anyway. We place a high value on things and we would go to Great Lengths to find them and it's interesting that is believer. Sometimes we missed this message when it comes to people we place a high value on finding stuff, right? We place a high value on finding things cuz I got to have that but we take a less intense approach when it comes to finding the lost would take your go out a little bit more half-heartedly. Why didn't say things like, you know what I know this person is far from God right now, but if they are going to try then why should I never bought that were set it out loud if that's how they want to live their life if that's how they want to be then so be it. all of us at one point never have probably gotten frustrated enough, but we thought that our mind even if it was for a split-second even we know we shouldn't have But Jesus says you know what we have to care about. This Jesus in Luke is trying to drive the point home that our heavenly father cares about us and his cry as far as we have to make reaching the lost finding those that are apart from got a top priority. This has to be a top priority for us. This is the mission. This is what we are called to Listen, listen to We Learn and the first is found in Luke chapter 15, and we're going to look at the first couple verses of each of the stories. If you want to try to be there. The first was found Luke 15 verse for sister pulls one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the Sheep until he finds it don't skip down verse 8 or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp and sweep the house a search carefully until she finds it. The Pharisees in Luke chapter 15, they're pretty critical of Jesus. They saw the things that he was doing. They saw how he live in fight. You know what I don't know why you're doing this Jesus. I don't know why you're doing what you're doing. You are associated with the riffraff all the wrong people you're spending time with this doesn't make sense. This is how we operate we are keepers of the wallaby people are apart from the law. I don't want to be around those people. That's not a place. We want to be They're always break critical and a crowd of people had gathered around Jesus and some of them were Pharisees in some of these were the centers they thought of and they gathered around then and she is was welcoming that even went so far as to eat with them. Remember the story of Zacchaeus. We went to his house at 8 with him the people that timer like that's weird. Why would you do that Jesus? You don't go there with those kind of the genes responsible if we're actually three Parables we're looking at the first two of those but it was three Parables that make up Luke chapter 15. Sometimes this chapter of the Bible is called The Lost chapter because it's missing but because it's dealing with three separate stories of Lost. Three separate Stories the Jesus uses three Parables the Jesus uses to drive home the point. The drive home the importance and it must be pretty important. Don't you think that he went to the trouble of telling three stories back-to-back-to-back? Why would he do that? He wants us to get it. If you didn't get it the first time I'm going to have you get it the next time the next time you got understand this explain this to us the first starts out with a search for a lost sheep. Jesus draws them into a story that Demands a response. He pulls them into the store and they have to respond to it. Somehow them where the other the whole idea of God's people as sheep and got himself as a Shepherd. This was something they would have understood if that's what the Pharisees they would have understood that because remember they were looking at the Old Testament. They were looking at those things turn back with me to Psalm 23 for the song verses 1 and 2. The Lord is my what shepherd I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in Green Pastures. He leads me beside. Still Waters So the people to the Pharisees that time I understand that the Lord Our God was referred to as a Shepherd. That was just one place, but they understood that you know what he is our Shepherd. They got that this was directed towards them so they can get the point and that we are his sheep and Gina said there was a hundred sheep in this story, which is a sizable flock and if you have a hundred of anything, if you were missing one, it's not usually that big of a deal if it's something like that. You said, you know what that happens. You know, there is Sweet Factory these kind of things then as a farmer as a Rancher you be thinking of the prophets in the losses and there's things you lose in and you kind of factor that into your budget and you know, you look at that goal at those kind of things happen, but this isn't how this Shepherd approach this when he counted 98 99 99 99 it wasn't a hundred is like I got to find this sheet. That's what happened in the story. So he leaves the 99 the open field and takes off to go find the sheep. That is missing. This is so much different than the view that they would have had. He goes out to find that the story The Coin functions in the same way. The woman has 10 coins and she has nine other but one of them was that they figured they were talking about ordinary drachmas. We don't know the exact denomination what the amount was there different theories on that how much they were worth, but it was an ordinary sum of money. But we do know this that was she lost one of them. She decided to go on the hunt decide to go fine. What was La Shish? But the house and looked for this coin that was lost. These Parables should bring his paws and cause us to think for a minute that should cause us as we read them. Hopefully, we don't read through them and say that's a nice story about losing stuff. I hope I find my keys today. I hope I get home. I cell phones on the table where I think I left it or how is communion devotions on the end table where it was the week before hopefully this easy Howard. Hopefully all those things are there. Hopefully we can find them. But it goes much more than that. It's deeper than that these Parables have to cause us to think for a minute. How passionate am I? About taking the gospel through the Lost World. Am I passionate about this? Am I passionate about those people that are lost do I care that much because I can tell you you're surrounded by people that don't know who Jesus is every day. You work with them you're related to them. So if you live with them who don't know who Jesus is are we passionate about it or we just become numb to it. So, you know what just the way it is people are people people are this way. It's unfortunate. It's sad or we look at the same. You know, what I'm passionate about this I care about this my Lord was passionate about this. So I'm to be passionate about it to I'm going to reach out and seek that which is lost. I'm a result to look at people differently. Now. I'm a result to look at people like Jesus looks like the matter. I'm a look at them like a lost sheep for a lost point and I'm going to tear this world apart and do my part to see if they're found again. Hopefully we're doing that. Approaching it in this way. if we rate the importance of reaching out into a world on a scale of 1 to 10 don't answer this but in your own mind by our own actions, I have to ask myself if I read this on a scale of 1 to 10 by what I do not what I would say because if I don't know what I would say it was so what's a 10 write this important, but if I look at it
How would it rent? Would it make the chart? Would it be a 1257? What is it? Is it important to us to go out and take the gospel to a lost world? And secondly, I have to ask myself. Who do I think this responsibility belongs to? The first question answer the question would probably be a 10 but we still may not act like it's our job. Is he often times? We look at reaching the lost as the job of the pasture by John ehret how I have a part of that. You know, I'm a part of that. I'm a I am one of you though you see I have people in my life that I have to take the gospel to you as well. But here's the thing. I don't know and I will probably never meet your co-workers. I probably won't I'll never meet all of your family because there's some you won't want me to meet right you want a baby. I like we don't talk about this again cuz you know, but we have to ask yourself. Am I doing a good job of taking that message out because the pastor our elders we are just last week or deacons the enemy we're never going to see all those people who have to ask yourself. Am I actually doing my part am I taking the gospel my taking The good news of Jesus my shining my life to them. Like I talk about Matthew 5 my shining my light on my faith in Christ to them because I can tell you if you're counting on me to do it for the oldest to do it with Dickinson do it you are going to be sadly disappointed because I'm not going to probably have contact with them. I probably not going to see them. I don't know the people you come in contact every with every day, but that's okay because God has a room today. There's seventy-five of us in this building last week of 86 week before their 89 there in this room and all of us have a group of people write who's in your circle of people who's in your circle of influence on them crossover, but some of them don't if all of us were passionate about taking the gospel to wash world this room would be full and that would it be it would be because we be taking that and leaning out over here then maybe go to other churches whatever but people will be coming to No, Cry. Left and right and we were passing about that if we're excited about that because that's the only people going to know if we got to tell people it's our job. We have responsibilities 2nd Corinthians 5:20. We read this countless times. I've read it right here countless times but we are there for Christ ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ. We have you reconciled to God we are ambassadors. That's our job representing Our God our creator. We're here on his behalf our job tell people about Christ the point people to him. But how we live how we talked how we were there to serve to love is Jesus did that's what we're called to do. Hopefully were trying to live out this example this model of what it means to be a Christian what it means to be a follower of Christ taking the message. to all creation
what we were doing that hopefully it's a value in itself important to us have a question for you. This is a question. But another raise your hand question, but how many feet on the ground? How do you pick up change when you see it on the ground I do but I will tell you not always I have Criterion because of course I have crashed standard people and these are my standards. I make some evaluations. Now. This doesn't always help me decide but sometimes I look at the money on the ground I debate. How pretty my knee by dipping he feels that day if I want to bend over and pick up this Penny on the ground. It's a penny I look at it. I go. I got a couple of them and I don't think I need that so I might let it go. Now if I was a coin collector, I might want to pick it up because you never know what could be a rare one, but I'm not a coin collector. So sometimes I'll let him pass but I have another Criterion. Well first denominations, I always try to pick up quarters because Vans quarter right quarters. You got to find those dimes. Those are pretty good Nichols other locations Hit or Miss. I have a second Criterion. I look at the location of the money. Okay, if money is on the bathroom floor of any establishment. Somebody else can have it. Especially the men's room if I walk in the men's room and there is a if there's a nickel Land by the urinal, I'm like, I'll pass guys who exactly what I'm talking about. You pastel not worth it not worth it at all or if it's laying if I'm walking along I find it laying in the mud and I see that it's a penny or nickel and I go mad at it dirty if I bent down to pick that up, but I have to wipe it all off and kind of dirty and I don't know if I want to do that and you know, where am I going to put it cuz it's all in my truck why proper they're Kleenex and I'm stuck with this dirty nickel like not worth it. Let it ride. On the sunny days when it's nice outside and it's laying there that's fair game. But otherwise, I have to evaluate durably by other criteria. I don't want to thank you see this. I think a lot it all happens, but I but it's like computer just happened just like that. Don't ask me why she said doesn't cuz it Doesn't but if I'm in a real big hurry if I have somewhere to be and I see a penny and I'm like, I'm going to stop and pick that thing up. I just I was it really worth it. If I'm in a hurry and Mike, I've got to be somewhere. I'm running late. I might just blow Paso by somebody else can have and I'm out. I got to go. I got somewhere to be This all seems so when you guys laughing and it was kind of goofy, but it's true. I have to I have by the way how much effort involved is involved how messy the situation and how busy I am. I right now. Those are my valuation with that. How do I decide some puppy sound smoother some of you often times? We evaluate people in that same way, right? We evaluate people where they're at off in the washer and difficult situations. They've gotten themselves into this spiral that's gone down. This thing's impossible. There's no way I can give you this without being made a mess of my own life. I'm going to get drug into their mess. I'm going to get drug into this. I don't want any part of it. I walk away not worth it. Or we look at their life when we evaluate them as a person really quick and arm is that you know what they've always been this way. They will always be that way. I've known them for a long time. They always seem to go back to being this way. I'm going to let it go. They're not viable Messi. Why would never say something is not viable. What kind of act like it sometimes we kind of act like there's some people more valuable than others, but I would never do that. It happens. It happens people do often we look at that Missy, you know, I just don't know if I could do it. That's what I'm less busy. When I have less stuff on my weight. I have great plans for how I'm going to win the loss and save the world and be the greatest evangelist in the world. But right now my kids are young or right now, my job is busy right now. I have lots of stuff going on in my life my personal life and try to do some other things trying to get my business going to try to do whatever it is. Whatever reason we have later on. I'll do it.
We don't always have later on. We don't always have another opportunity. We're not called to evaluate when I called to evaluate. Somebody's Worth not called to evaluate. Is it worth our effort to do that? But we are called to do is show mercy and Grace like it's been shown to us because everybody in this room has been showing grace and mercy by our creator everyone of us have And if you don't think you've been showing grace and mercy, I pasur minute reflect upon that for a minute because all of us have all of us were lost. If not for Christ all of us were lost without him all of us sinners in need of a savior everybody. Everybody that we may have money in our bank account. We may have a decent married when they have all of those things, but without Jesus with lost Without Jesus were lost and all of us have this Mission we've been called too and that's to seek the Lost. There's a second part of the store that I love and that is this you celebrate that which is found. We celebrate that the next must we learn from these Parables as we find that's lost. We will celebrate turn back me to Luke 15 Luke 15 verse 5 and when he finds that 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 that we will rejoice in heaven or one sinner who repents over ninety-nine righteous persons. Do not need to repent. Skip down me again verse 9 and when she finds it she calls her friends and neighbors together says Rejoice with me. I have found my Lost poem in the same way. I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repents. The West we were we going to celebrate the image if you seen the image before of the shepherd with a sheep on her shoulders you seen that image. That's Victory, right? That's something to celebrate. That was you. That was me. I was all of us. We were that sheep up on the shoulder to the shepherd being carried back to the fly. That was each and everyone of us. We got that ride before we can relate and that somebody that can relate we need to celebrate we can celebrate that we were lost and that were found Jesus trying to drive the point home to the Pharisees every person matters. Every person matters everybody matters in spite what you think first sees everybody matters in spite of what you may have been told and then taught and then passed out everybody matters this matters. What a person accept Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior Jimmy cost to celebrate rejoice. You see the Pharisees at that point where place are real high value on people they were concerned with the law and how they look and what they were doing. And if everybody else thought they look good, but they were concerned with the other people that were there.
For us we looking for the last ridiculous. How could they be thinking that way? That's that's not good thing. He I would never think that way but we do it all the time. We do it all the time. The people we do this all the time we get focused on celebrating the wrong things. Let me have been divided to a point of shut down over what they celebrate what I mean is this the type of music the length of sermon the color of carpet the programs we like and what we don't like those things that we celebrate we're celebrating those things if we're celebrating those things are so important to us. We will divide everything. Over that over these issues over these things all of us. I get sucked into this the reason we get to celebrate the wrong stuff. as far as of Jesus, we have to celebrate the lost that are found 35 9 Psalm 35 9
73059 it goes like this in my soul will rejoice in the Lord and the light and his salvation. The song that says my soul rejoice in the Lord and we're delighted this is what David say we Delight in his salvation for what he's done. We can celebrate that and they'll widen that.
Swift ask yourself do we Delight do we celebrate the stuff? Not the stuff? That's all the stuff that's inside. These four walls good stuff. It's okay stuff, but the best stuff which is people knowing Christ. Hearing Christ hearing the gospel message. When did remember that? Our purpose is to live out the calling it was given to his Matthew 28. Remember Go Make Disciples preached teeth baptized. Are we doing that? That's what we celebrate. That's what we do when people come to the who their lord and savior as we can celebrate we can be excited for it. And just a week or so. There's going to be a big game on NFL on TV. It's a NFL game so big in fact that you may have call it Super K name because you have to pay money for that. So let's just say there's going to be a football game what to say the two best teams depending on your opinion and officiating all that, but we'll say it the two best teams in the NFL are going to be playing and after that game some people. Trophy people lined the streets and celebrate the Victory and I was thinking about this last Sunday as the teams were finalized as those two teams are finalized. What is all said and done the work and preparation of money that I'm the Blood The Sweat The Tears that went into it, but in the end, there's only one Victory right one celebration. Until next year all those people you're not going to remember 5 years from now unless you're a Saints fan you'll never let it go but besides that you know, but I remember 5 years from now through the teams were remember those four teams that played if your rules Sports guy, you might remember who played the Superbowl this year, but you're not going to remember most of the details you just won't because it doesn't matter. It's not a big deal at you move on to the next thing in our churches in our community. We should be having celebrations like when they're going to be having pretty soon after that game every week. You see for being a follower of Christ. No off-season everyday is a Super Bowl every day. We have to show up ready to play every day. Even if we're tired, even if we don't want to do it, even if we got to fight with her wife, even if we are dog ate a chocolate bunny or a crock of Santa Claus, I made a mess all over that never happened to me. But it did. It was bad. She didn't even all those things. We have to be ready because we're celebrating something this important life and death is on the line. We have to be taking that message or we need an individual working towards that we engage in our community and people in our life in such a way that they're being transformed. If we're not we need to be if we're not engaging people everyday that you can hear about Christ. We need to be and I don't necessarily mean that means we're getting in people's face all the time and being a Bible over their heads or anything like that, but it means that we care about people enough to get involved in their life to know who they are to know about them to be able to say handprint, cruising. You bite into a Bible study to invite into a worship service to Bring them with us when we're going somewhere. Maybe it'll last week. We had Winter Jam baby. It's inviting. So is that like that said? Hey, I'll pay your way. If you want to come along and hear some Christian music you want to do something like that. Whatever it is, whatever kind of connects with us or with then we can do that. We need to have a heart that's making and reaching the side making recent people are top priority. We have to speak honestly in all that we do with all my heart and celebrate those victories when people accept Christ Our Lord and Savior we need to do this again and again, and again, it's my prayer Christian church. We are disciples all of us who were making disciples. Again, it's not just my job. I am one of 75 in this room. That is our jobs to make disciples to take the gospel. Are we doing that? Are we doing this thing before our our invitation and I'm going to give you a chance to pray for yourself, but I want you to think everybody knows some people in their life that don't know who Christ is all you have people that you interact with everyday and you might look at them kind of like the penny on the bathroom floor. Is that the lost cause I ain't touching that with a ten-foot pole that maybe we should I want you to pray for them pray for those people. I'm just a few seconds. I want you to add them to your prayer list everyday be praying for them and asked God how you can intersect in their life in some way that you can show Jesus to that whatever that looks like and it may look different for different people how that's going to look. But I want you to pray for those people think about those people pray for those people and maybe when you get home ride him down talking with your Bible, sweetie, you stumble upon that list every time you open your Bible pray for them and encourage them. Would you pray with me?
Father God I thank you that you have placed people in our lives Lord there there by that on accident or there people there you place there for us and sometimes we miss it. We're sorry for that but help us to be people that are in tune with your spirit and with your spirit where it's leading us help us to be not ashamed of the Gospel help us to be able to preach the word in season and out of season that are ambassadors for you. There are so many people in our lives that need to know Christ Lord help us to be a beacon of Truth in life to them or to give us the words to say or how to say but we shouldn't have was not to say what we should stay and help us to just communicate clearly and with love above all. Lord I thank you God for your mercy to us. I thank you for the ride that we took on your shoulders when you found us a sawdust you save this Lord. We love you. And we thank you. We love for us in Christ and we pray. The first time ever time invitation and we invite anybody that has yet to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior come as we stand and sing together. Yes.
What?
About that. I'm still alive travel back in time. I didn't have a DeLorean.
Yeah, that was that was a one-time thing. All right now.
I was only offered to give you a nickel for everytime. I miss something but I would go broke and I'm not even Dave Ramsey could save me from that so. Turn your attention to the bulletin and it fits into what's in there this couple of different announcements regarding his breakfast and some free Bible reading. Look at those take a look at that for details of anybody else is the other announcements today.
All right. If not, how would you goes with prayer?
I only have one question Matt. What if there was $100 bill laying on the bathroom floor?
Let's go. Do I have my father in prayer? Precious Lord has we come now to the close of the service today.
I asked your father. I just want to give thanks. Thanks to you thanks for your your son's death on the cross that through belief in him. We can have eternal salvation. We can have a home in heaven with you. Want to give thanks for you father for being there when we need you. Answering our prayers guiding that's giving us strength when we need it. We just thank you Father. Thank you. Would you ask you dear father to be with our men and women in the armed services throughout the world where they were there serving? Be with a man and women in government father that they could reach out to you first.
Listen to your advice take it to heart and then make the important decisions that they must make. It'd be a much better world if they can and I pray that somehow that they could reach out to you take your advice listen to it. Put it in their hearts and live by. We're asking to have their father just to be with us each and every one of us as we go about our separate ways. Help us father to reach out to you listening to you. Also Father. Taking your advice and following you. This reactor father in Jesus name. Amen. Stanford