July 31, 2011

Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Joshua: The Lord will be with you!

Lost people: The heart of God

Sermon Series: Kingdom Building Message

Title: Lost People: The heart of God Text: Luke 15:1-24

Message Lost People: The heart of God

Text: Luke 15:1-24

I

Introduction: I think it’s safe to say that we have all lost something in our lives: watches, keys, credit cards…our minds. What did you do when you noticed you lost something? Did you begin to search for it? Often it depends on how valuable the thing you lost was to you.

I wonder what God would say if we asked

• what was valuable,

• of worth to Him

• What really matters to God?

Is that something you would want to know? I hope so, because it has a lot to do with why we are commissioning our ESD Team this morning.

Take out your Bulletin. Look at the front page. Let’s read the text at the bottom together.

Read: Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (ESV)

Lost people matter to God.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Luke 15:1. For it’s there we will discover what lives in the heart of God.

Read: Luke 15:1-24

The parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son have one thing in common: they reveal the heart of God for the lost. So, I want to look at what it means, according to this text, to have a heart for the lost.

I. Compassion

The first thing you will discover is God’s heart of compassion for the lost. The chapter opens with Jesus hanging out with tax collectors and sinners, not the cream of society in Jesus’s day.

The religious leaders accused Jesus of ‘welcoming sinners and eating with them.’ The word ‘welcomes’ means to receive as a friend. This is how Jesus felt about those lost in sin…He compassionately welcomed them as a friend.

Transition: Next, notice in all three parables something has gone missing.

II. Lost

• Did you know there are approximately 800,000 children lost each year. They are not just out late or having a sleepover. They are lost. Lost from their homes, playgrounds and schools. This has caused our country to set up an Amber Alert System.

• Did you know there are approximately 4 billion people who are spiritually lost on this globe we call earth. Perhaps we need some kind of Spiritual Alert System for them. I wonder if it would help us focus more on the spiritually lost around us.

The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. When we talk in the church about the ‘lost,’ we are referring to those who do not yet know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Clearly it’s the spiritually lost who are represented by the lost things in this text.

Transition: Lost people matter to God. Why? Because they are valuable to Him.

III. Worth

Notice that something of great value was lost in each of these parables.

• The sheep was a significant part of the shepherds livelihood.

• The coin was perhaps a tenth of the woman’s entire estate.

• And the son, a foolish son, is a son all the same.

Through these parables Jesus is telling us that the lost matter to God, they are of great value to Him.

• When the shepherd finds his lost sheep, he throws a party.

• When the woman finds her lost coin, she throws a party.

• When the lost son returns to the waiting father, he throws a party.

Now, it cost money to throw a party. Perhaps even more than the cost of what was lost. But it’s worth it. What was lost, is now found!

Transition: Next, since the lost are valuable, they are worth our effort to find them.

IV. Effort

• The shepherd left the flock and went beyond the safety of the pasture, to find the lost sheep.

• The woman tore her house apart looking for her lost coin.

• While the father respected his sons decision, notice he was watching for him every day and when he saw him coming up the drive, he ran to him.

Not only does God’s heart reveal his effort to find the lost, He is persistent.

• The shepherd looked until he found the lost sheep.

• The woman swept until she found her lost coin.

• The father waited everyday till his son came home.

They never gave up hope that the lost would be found. But I’m afraid that’s not how many in the church act. Not only have they given up hope, they fail to search anymore.

• It’s just more comfortable to wait for the lost to come to us.

• It’s just less expensive to wait for the lost to come to us.

• Yes. It is more comfortable to wait for the lost to come to us.

• Yes. It is less expensive to wait for the lost to come to us.

But, remember, God’s heart reveals the lost matter to Him and they are worth the cost to find. Church budgets should reflect that. And PTL it does here at CBC. When you consider the money raised and spent for Kingdom Building and local outreach, you’ll find it’s a significant part of our budget.

CBC has counted the cost and said the lost in Puerto Rico are worth the effort and expanse to send a team there.

And note this is not our first short term trip here at CBC. We’ve sent out numerous individuals and teams over the years because we want to reflect God’s persistence in reaching the lost…

And it doesn’t stop with our ESD Team. In Feb. 2012 Elder Wes and Chris Whalen will be going to Egypt to reach the lost bean people with the compassion of God and the joy of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. All to the glory of God!

Transition: Finally, what happens when the lost are found…God’s heart rejoices!

V. Celebration

• After the lost sheep was found

• After the lost coin was found

• After the lost son was found

They threw a party! They had a great celebration. Listen to this again.

Read: Luke 15:5-6; 9; 23a-24

• And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.

• And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.

• And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate. (ESV)

God, and all of heaven, celebrates when one lost sinner is found. God loves a celebration. Don’t believe that? Oh, I forgot to read a couple verses.

Read: Luke 15:7, 10

• 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.

• Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (ESV)

When it comes to celebrating the lost being found, there are no stuffed shirts in heaven!

Conclusion

I began by asking what matters to God and I said, according to this text, the lost matter to God. But we can’t just leave it there

because while the lost matter to God, they will remain lost unless they matter to us. Here is another text that reveals the heart of God.

Read: 2 Chronicles 16:9a For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…(NIV)

God has a heart for those who are fully committed to Him. And God provides for those who are fully committed to Him. What do the fully committed look like? In the area of Kingdom Building:

• They are the people who look for the lost.

• They are the people who participate in our outreach events.

• They are the people who give sacrificially to help support those who go to the mission field.

• They are the people who, themselves, go on short term or long term kingdom building trips.

I believe you all are aware that we are on this planet for purposes greater than having a career, paying bills, loving our families and fulfilling our roles as good citizens.

• We are called by God to be His ambassadors.

• There is a mission we are called to embrace.

• There are lost people who desperately need to be found.

People of CBC, let’s look for them… together!