God's Relentless Pursuit

Roundtable Notes

People are Lost - People with problems, that make me feel comfortable

Different, Unaccepted, Sinned; Physical

Prisoner, suicidal, homeless, the hypocrite, completely unaware of their need Christian???

The 99

The gift, the safety of community

Warning - the Pharisee

Christ’s mission

Pursue us, even if it’s just us; pick us up, protect, bring us back

Our Christ like mission

Notice that someone is lost

Seek the one

Identify the need - God noticed us

Notice the lost - we were / are a lost people

Cautionary: Pharisee - plank in the eye

Sermon

Sermon Roundtable: what is it?

Sermon by committee? We read, study the passage together, reflect, how does this apply to me, the church?

Series: God’s The Pursuit

E.g. (signing Fred’s house - resources, time,

Think of something you have pursued. Relationship? Opportunities? A wise purchase?

Why do we pursue things? Because we need - or think we do. Or just selfishly, foolishly want. Or we see it’s value. You only look for things that are important.

Ever heard someone say, “I found Jesus” I found “He’s not lost”

God pursues us - even when we are unwilling, incapable, unable to seek God

Introduction - about the one being singled out, as one being valued (signing a house)

Today’s Gospel lesson - the Shepherd - has 100 sheep, loses one - makes economical sense to cut your losses, but the shepherd looks for it and brings it back.

Why listen? / Rejection, painful and prevalent problem - the opposite self, church

If you know the pain of rejection…see God’s profound acceptance

If you don’t know the pain of rejection inside of others...let this be a challenge to look for it (not just be sensitive that others might feel that way)

Who are the lost? One of the Sheep

E.g. living on a sheep farm

We didn’t have any experienced shepherds on the sermon roundtable, but just enough to know that sheep - aren’t intelligent animal, prone to wander, get lost and not know how to get back.

Why people are rejected?

Our sermon roundtable gave examples of who are the lost:

Some were different of no fault of their own: physical deformities, mental illness; homeless

Some had made serious mistakes, and were living in sins (tax collectors), (sinners); recently incarcerated, cruel, exploitative, ...and the religious hypocrites

Who are these sinners? We never really answered this question. But we did know that they were judged. Looked down upon, to the point that they were not supposed to eat with them.

Roundtable: the sinners had this in common: they made God’s people uncomfortable, so they were rejected by the people of God. They were excluded.

What it’s like to be rejected - even if for understandable reason

This is not just a story of how the church should just accept everyone. We might be a part of that 99. Or we might be the one.

E.g. of emotional pain: family, failure, abuse...rejection. Not being noticed. Being noticed but being rejected...because they are the outsider, they are judged, they are lost. They are that one sheep who leaves the comfort and safety of the 99

Christ’s - mission of pursuing, finding, and rescuing the lost

God is less interested in attendance, then he is

Pursue us, even if it’s just us; pick us up, protect, bring us back

Wandering made us into unlikeable people - God is all the more motivated

Include among the lost - not just the the rejected - but the people doing the rejecting: the pharisee knew right from wrong; disassociate, get them straight

Our mission of pursuing, finding, and rescuing the lost

Pursue the unlikeable. - accept everyone? It’s easy to feel when you are being accepted. Reality = we don’t like everyone? Some make us feel uncomfortable, some are hard to tolerate.

Pursue those who have hurt us?

Notice the lost - Seek the one -

Identify the need - God noticed us

Notice the lost - we were / are a lost people

Welcome the lost - we are welcomed people

Stories of acceptance - McDonalds, spaghetti