The Relentless of Love God
Who's Your One • Sermon • Submitted
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Opening
Opening
I want to spend a view minutes talking about the Relentless Love of God.
Today is Palm Sunday which historically represents the day Jesus enter Jerusalem on His way to the cross.
I think this is a fitting message because of the journey Jesus had been on that was culminating in what we now call Holy Week.
We are going to be in today as we close our our series “Who’s Your One?”
I am just going to read the first 7 verse but will reference the entire chapter.
God is a GRACIOUS and COMPASSIONATE king.
God is a GRACIOUS and COMPASSIONATE king.
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
There were three groups of people listed here:
The tax collectors
They were men who had bid for the right to collect taxes from their own people to fund the Roman government.
They were know to take more than was needed in order to become rich off their own people, all the while funding a government that was abusive and domineering to the Jewish people.
They were likely the most despised people in the Jewish culture.
The “sinners”
This is not describing your average Joe “we are all sinners”, but a group of people who were outcasts and rejected because they were poor, crippled, blind, lame, or had an occupation that made them “unclean” and, thus, unacceptable in Jewish culture.
These two groups were the socially outcasts, the one’s who would never fit the mold of someone “acceptable”
The one’s who never fit in, who would never
Then there were the Pharisees and scribes
These were the religious elites of the day.
The one’s that made the molds and decided which groups of people fit into those molds.
They would be considered the “righteous” and the “well-behaving”
The ones God would be happy with because of just how good they were.
These were the groups that were so offended by Jesus because He was showing love to the unlovable and criticizing the ones who had truly “earned” the right to be loved.
But they were all there, and today, as I speak, they are all here.
In the audience today there are those that believe here “God’s love you” and “Jesus died for your sin” and shake there head in disbelief.
I have done too much for God to want me or for God to forgive me.
I have gone to far. I am just too broken, too lost, too wayward for Jesus to welcome me.
But hear the message Jesus is speaking in this parable and the parables to follow.
He is speaking to the rejected and broken, the lost and the lonely “You are important to me!” “You are not too far gone. You are not too messed up. You are not a lost cause.”
Hear this my friends, the invitation to receive life in Jesus comes from a gracious and compassionate King.
His grace (unearned favor) never runs out and never has an expiration date
His compassion is displayed in the mission He proclaims over and over again during His earthly life:
He invites anyone “who has ears to hear” (look at )
Jesus himself said:
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31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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The other group is present today as well.
Those that hear “Jesus loves you” and are prone to think “Of course He does”.
You look at your life in comparison to others and think “How could God not love me”
You have either based your relationship with God entirely on how well you behave or you have become so familiar with the beauty of the Gospel message that it doesn’t move your heart to worship and thankfulness.
Or the idea of God’s love for you, displayed in death of Christ for your sin, seems as commonplace as the sky being blue or the grass being green.
It just doesn’t move your heart to worship
Some us are so caught up in how
Either way, we are not much different than the Pharisees and scribes, not moved to compassion for those who were lost or those in need, but rather self-righteous, self-centered, and prone to judgement.
But invitation of Jesus for everlasting and abundant life is to anyone who hears and receives. (look back at 14:35 “Anyone who has ears let him hear.”)
Paul says this:
God is a PASSIONATE and RESILIENT PURSUER of people.
God is a PASSIONATE and RESILIENT PURSUER of people.
Jesus uses these three parables to show the extent of His love.
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
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8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
Don’t miss the significance of these 2 parables.
The shepherd had 100 sheep and was only missing 1.
The woman had 10 coins, each representing a day’s wage. She is missing 1, but still has 9.
Yet in both stories the 1 missing has immense value for the one missing it.
And so the man drops what he is doing, leaves his 99 sheep in what is likely a dangerous situation without his protection, and begins to scour the hills and the valley’s looking for the one.
And the woman fires up at lamp in what is likely a dark cottage, pulls out her broom, and painstakingly sweeps every crack and crevice seeking to hear the sound of the precious coin she has lost.
There doesn’t seem to be anything uniquely valuable about either the missing sheep or the missing coin, but Jesus starts both accounts off with “what man or what woman...” as if to say “Any and everyone of you can relate with these stories.
Get this folks, if you don’t get anything else: YOU ARE THE LOST SHEEP! WE ARE THE LOST COINS!
And Jesus is, or has been, the one who relentlessly, and, yes, recklessly, pursues us in order that He may save us and set us free from our sin.
We are are not uniquely valuable or even worthy of being pursued by Jesus, but is written
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is the beautiful mystery of salvation.
We do not deserve it, we cannot earn it, and we are unable to attain it in our own strength, power, or wisdom.
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Our God is a passionate and relentless pursuer of people.
He is not a passive deity, waiting on us to decide whether or not we are going to trust Him or going to give ourselves to Him.
Nor is He a cheerleader, standing on the sidelines trying to convince us that He really is worthy of giving our lives to.
No God is active.
He zealously and actively pursues the hearts of those far from Him.
In Christ, God became man, He came on a mission of rescue, because there was no other way for man to be saved than for Jesus to come and die and rise again.
But it did not stop after He died or after His resurrection. Still today Jesus is in pursuit of those far from Him, through the power of the Spirit and the Ministry of the church.
Last week, in the middle of the largest season of isolation in the history of America, when we expected ministry to slow to a near halt, we had to figure out a way to gather for a baptism for a young girl who came here from thousands of miles away.
But God does not let the circumstance of our finite world slow down His infinite plans for the lives of His people.
God saw fit to bring her here from the far reaches of the earth, to place her in a family that is serious about following Jesus, a family who together began to pray and share with this girls, and in God’s timing, and in God’s power, and by His relentless pursuing, He saved her and has eternally changed her.
Regardless of where you come from, what you have done or not done, regardless of your family history, or whatever else you may point to, I trust that if you are here today, then the creator of the universe, the one that holds the universe in the palm of His hands is in active pursuit of you.
Your job is simply this: be the sheep, be the coin, be the wayward son and let the rejoicing begin as you cross over from death to life in Jesus.
God is a WONDERFULLY JUBILANT savior.
God is a WONDERFULLY JUBILANT savior.
Luke 15:
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
luke 15:
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
luke 15:
32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
Each one of the parable end the same…with rejoicing.
The rejoicing is because the lost thing was found, the person who was wayward had come home.
The word Jesus uses is a word He uses often… REPENT
Repentance is the mental, spiritual and physical turning away from sin and turning toward Christ.
It is the turning away from the pursuit of pleasure and satisfaction in the things of this world toward finding eternal joy and everlasting satisfaction in Jesus.
It is a transition worship
Worship is simply centering our life on something we find worthy. (worth-ship)
Repentance is shifting our Worth-ship from stuff and people to Jesus.
And when someone does this, when someone repents, there is a huge party thrown in Heaven.
This is why we love Baptisms, because they are a very small glimpse at really amazing, heavenly party as someone who was lost has now been found.
This is what is so cool about the Gospel.
Salvation is motivated by God
It is accomplished by Jesus through the cross and the Spirit through His pursuit
And God is the one that is more excited than anyone.
Today there are those listening that have this feeling in their stomach and this thought in their heads that I have been talking about them the whole time.
Let me tell you something… even though I may not know you, I assure you the God does and I am confident in the fact that He is pursuing you.
So if that is you there really is only one thing for you to do today, receive Him.
Right now where you sit you can pray what ever prayer comes to your heart.
Poor out your heart to Him
Confess your sin
Ask Him for forgiveness
Turn to Him and believe.
And know that as you do this there is a party starting in Heaven that has no match on earth.
And last word on that. Reach out to us and let us know you of the decision you have made today so that we can rejoice along with you.
God is…SO we are
God is…SO we are
I have a quick word for Christians to end out time today.
Listen to Paul
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The truth of these parables are a realized truth for us.
We were the lost sheep and the lost coin who has been found, we were the wayward son whom there has been a party thrown in our honor.
We have been saved “by grace through faith” and it was not because we were uniquely valuable or particularly worthy. In actuality, we are only worthy of punishment and damnation.
BUT GOD has saved us! Fight to keep that truth as awe-inducing today as it was when you first came to faith.
But also understand there is a reason for your salvation.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We are His (God’s) workmanship. He has a purpose for us in granting us salvation, and His purpose mirrors His character.
God is a gracious and compassionate King and so we love because He first loved us ()
God is a passionate and relentless pursuer of people and so we are sent to make disciples of the nations ()
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13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
We are God’s agents of pursuit.
We have been calling you to pray for One person whom you will intentionally share Christ with and invite to Easter next week.
This is the reason: because it is your calling! It is OUR calling. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”
God is a wonderfully jubilant savior and so we are a people who celebrate life transformation.
We may be in a season where things seem to constantly overwhelm us and prompt us to fear, but much of that fear come from a place of self-focus.
When we are focused intently on our security, safety or even our comfort, when it is threatened we begin to fear and fret.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
This week we will celebrate OUR RISEN LORD, the greatest event in human history.
And though it brings great peace and is a reason for rejoicing, it is also an opportunity to let God use our witness to bring others to Him.
So I want to give you a selfish reason to invite and share this week
I want to you invite (personally invite) your ONE to our online Easter service and I want you to follow up with them and pray for an opportunity and a willingness to share Jesus with them for the simply reason that you will have the opportunity to party like the angels when ONE sinner repents.
Seek your joy in the things that bring joy to our Father in heaven.
So go and pray;
Pray for God to give you boldness
Pray for God to give them a willingness
Pray for God to give you an opportunity
Pray for God to save them
And rejoice with God when He does it!!