So if you've been to Fort Mountain, there is
a stone tower on the top. It was built in the
1930s, which is in the midst of the Great Depression.
And so it was built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps. You may have heard of that organization,
which was started during the Depression to give
people, particularly young men, to give them
the opportunity to work, to have a job. During
the Depression. And they built many state parks
and national parks and roads and different things
like that. And so in the 1930s, they were building
that state park atop Fort Mountain. And there
was a gentleman, a stonemason by the name of
Arnold Bailey. And he was part of that crew.
And they were there on top of the mountain away
from their family. They would be able to send
money back home to their family. And Arnold,
the stonemason, I think he was missing his sweetheart
a little bit. Because he took the opportunity
and he took one stone and he carved it into the
shape of a heart. And if you go to that stone
tower atop Fort Mountain, and if you look just
over one of the windows, you'll still see a heart
-shaped stone. sitting in the side of that building.
And I guess this romantic gesture worked because
he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and they
were married for 59 years. So he did one little
thing to show a little snippet of God's love,
of his love for someone else. What can we do
to show love towards other people? I want to
turn to... Luke chapter 15. Open up your Bibles
to Luke chapter 15. Today we're going to look
at a parable that Jesus told, and then we're
going to explore some stories of one disciple
in particular which seemed to live out that parable.
Now in Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three parables.
The first one that we're going to look at, and
then he talks about a lost coin. And then he
talks about a son who was lost and returned home.
But the first parable is about a sheep. So we're
going to go to Luke chapter 15, and we're going
to look at verse 4 or verse 3. So he spoke this
parable to them, saying, What man of you, having
a hundred sheep, this is a familiar story, you
know this story, if he loses one of them, does
not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after
the one which is lost until he finds it. You've
seen the pictures. You've heard this story. You've
imagined a shepherd at the end of the day. The
sheep are coming back into the sheepfold, and
he's counting, you know, 84, 85, 96, 97, 98,
99. Something's missing. What do you think he
did? Do you think he pulled them all back out
and had them go through again and counted them
all one more time? 72, 73, 86, 87, 98, 99. And
it says he left those sheep there and he began
to retrace his steps. And you've imagined this
story or seen the pictures. Maybe he walks beside
the green pastures. He goes by the still waters.
He walks through the valley of the shadow until
eventually he hears something. He hears the little,
anybody got a good sheep cry? All right, very
good. That was really good. He heard that and
saunters over to perhaps a bush or a ditch or
somewhere where this sheep is stuck. And it says
that verse 5, when he has found it, he doesn't
just lead it back, but he lays it on his shoulders
rejoicing. And when he comes home, It's not just
a celebration for himself, but he calls together
his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice
with me, for I have found my sheep, which was
lost. That's a pretty neat story. We've heard
that many times. And Jesus tells it also in Matthew.
But I like verse 7 that he mentions in Luke.
He says, I say to you that likewise there will
be more joy. Where? In heaven. Over one sinner
who repents than over 99 just persons who need
no repentance. So this is a picture of a sheep
who has escaped, who has wandered off, who is
in the wrong place. And the shepherd, which symbolizes
the Savior, comes. Following after, not letting
that sheep remain apart from where he needs to
be. Jesus goes on a relentless pursuit of every
person who has strayed away from him. And guess
what? That's us. Even though we're all here in
church today, at some point in our life, we have
been that little sheep because the Bible says
that all have sinned and all have fallen short.
Of the glory of God. So that's each one of us.
And at some point in our life, we have allowed
Jesus to come after us, to put us on his shoulders,
to bring us back to where we need to be. And
it says he does that joyfully. That's each one
of us. If that's not you yet, if you haven't
allowed that Savior to carry you back, then...
Maybe today's the day to do that, to say, Jesus,
I want you to be my Savior. Usually we do an
appeal maybe at the end of the sermon, but why
not right here at the beginning? If you haven't
accepted Jesus as your Savior, I challenge you,
pull out one of those little pink cards in front
of you and say, I accept Jesus as my Savior.
Give it to me at the end. I want to be baptized.
Let's begin that process and make that happen
because that's what it's all about. All have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,
and our Savior, like a shepherd, chases after
us. Now we have to look at the context of this
story for just a moment. So let's go back to
verse 1, Luke 15 and verse 1. It says, Then all
of the tax collectors and the sinners drew near
to him to hear him. So Jesus is there. There's
this crowd of people, which some might say are
not the most popular people, the sinners and
the tax collectors and the Pharisees and the
scribes. So we've got the religious people now.
They complained, saying, this man receives sinners
and eats with them. How dare he? And it's in
the context of that complaint of that crowd of
religious people complaining about Jesus welcoming
sinners and tax collectors that had made people
uncomfortable. And Jesus told this story of pursuing
the lost sheep and bringing them back. Jesus
didn't care if it made other people uncomfortable.
Jesus was welcoming to those sinners. And those
tax collectors, Jesus chased after them. He spent
time with them. And it says that when one person
repents, there's joy. There's a celebration that
takes place, not just on earth, but a celebration
in heaven. There's joy when one person repents.
And we have that same feeling. If we see one
person accept Jesus, if we see somebody get in
the baptistry and get baptized, we celebrate.
Because we know there's a celebration going on
in heaven when that happens. But then we could
say, okay, we celebrate. But then what? Now,
someone has accepted Jesus. Someone has become
a part of a church family. Then what? Are they
still welcomed a month later? Are they still
a part of who we want to be? Maybe they dress
a little bit differently than we expect them
to. Maybe they eat a little bit differently than
we hope they would. Maybe their background's
not the same as ours. Are we still going to be
as excited that they're here when maybe they
sit in our pew? Have mercy. Don't sit in my seat.
What do we do with that? Let's turn over to John
chapter 21. Because there's one of the disciples
of Jesus who heard that parable, because he was
one of the inner three, one of the closest ones,
and he probably didn't imagine it, but it wasn't
too long later that Peter kind of became like
this wandering sheep. Because it was on the night
of the crucifixion, even though Peter had promised
Jesus, even if everybody else forsakes you, I'm
going to be by you. I'm not going to forsake
you. And when that crowd came to Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane, Peter was there. He was
swinging that sword. He was chopping ears off.
He followed along at a distance after Jesus was
arrested. He made his way into the court place,
into where the people were. He was standing close
by until somebody asked him about it. Hey, don't
you know this guy? Aren't you one of his followers?
Your accent sounds like you're from, you must
know Jesus. No, I don't know. No, I do not know
him. And about that time, anybody got a rooster
call? Eh, the lamb was better. Okay, that second
one could work. The rooster crowed. And Peter
realized, I promised Jesus that I wasn't going
to leave him, and here I have denied him. And
as Jesus went to the cross and he died for our
sins, he rested in the grave, he was resurrected
on Sunday, and when someone came to the tomb,
they said, go and tell the disciples and Peter
that the tomb is empty. Is he still part of this
group? And then sometime later, we don't know
exactly how long, Peter decides in John 21, in
verse 3, Peter said to them, I am going fishing.
That's what he knew. He was going back to that.
I'm going to go fishing. Probably still wracked
with guilt. Unsure of where he stood in his relationship
with Jesus. I am going fishing. And a group of
them said, okay, we'll go with you. It says that
they spent the night, verse 3, they went out
and immediately got into the boat, and that night
they caught nothing. That seems to have happened
to them a couple of times, so that was also familiar
to them. And as they're coming back towards shore
with their boat empty, with their nets empty,
they see someone on the beach, they don't know
who it is, and a voice calls out, did you catch
any fish? That would probably make them really
upset to have to answer that, no. And then the
voice says, well, throw your net on the other
side of the boat. And that might have annoyed
them a little bit. We know how to fish. We're
fishermen. But they did it. And as soon as the
net entered the water, a miracle happened. Because
those fish came out of nowhere and began to fill
that net. And it was so full that they couldn't
even pull the net in. And the boat was even almost
sinking. And Peter had experienced this before.
And he dove in the water. He said, it's the Lord.
He swims to shore. And it's Jesus. And Jesus
is there, and they dragged the fish up 153. They
counted them, and Jesus had a fish breakfast
for them, and they ate breakfast together. And
after breakfast, Jesus has a conversation with
Peter. And I'm not sure, was the whole group
there? Were they sitting around the campfire?
Or maybe Jesus took Peter off a little bit. I'm
not sure how that went down. But it says in verse
15, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said
to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord,
you know that I love you. And so Jesus said to
him, feed my lambs. And then it happened again
a second time. Verse 16, do you love me more
than these? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
And then the response is similar, but not quite
the same. Tend my sheep. And then verse 17, he
said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah,
do you love me? And it says Peter was grieved
because he asked him another time. And he said,
Lord, you know all things. You know that I love
you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Peter
had denied Jesus three times. And now three times,
Jesus is, in essence, restoring Peter. Now, there's
two different words here that are used for love.
In our English word, we use the word love, and
it covers a lot of emotions and a lot of different
things. But in Greek, there's multiple words.
And if you look at different Bible commentaries,
some will say, yeah, there's two different words
here. Maybe it doesn't matter. Others will say,
maybe it does matter. So when Jesus asked Peter
the first two times, he used the word agape,
which is an unconditional love, a God -like love,
a love that is going to love no matter what.
Do you agape me? And when Peter responded, he
said, well, Lord, you know that I, he used a
different word. He used phileo. Philos, which
would be like Philadelphia, which is the city
of what? Brotherly love. So not an unconditional
love, but a love of friendship, the way you appreciate
your friend or your companion. And so Jesus says,
do you agape me? And Peter says, well, I philos
you. I love you like a brother. Do you love me
unconditionally? I love you like a brother. And
then the third time Jesus asked the question,
He changes the word. He says, do you love me
like a brother? And that grieved Peter, and Peter
said, yes, Lord, you know I love you like a brother.
And so, again, some commentators would say, oh,
you can use those interchangeably. Others would
say, even though Peter in this moment could not
acknowledge that he had a complete and perfect
God -like love, Jesus still gave him a mission.
Jesus still gave him a role to do. He said, feed
my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. And I
don't think Jesus was saying, Peter, you need
to go start a ranch. You need to go start a farm,
get a flock, get some livestock to care for.
That's not what Jesus is saying. Because you
can look in many places, for instance, like John
chapter 10, where Jesus says, I am the good shepherd
and my sheep. Hear my voice. Many sheep I have
who are not of this fold. Jesus is talking about
his people, his followers, those who are accepting
him. Jesus is telling Peter, take care. of those
who are accepting me. Peter, even though you
denied me three times, I'm reclaiming you three
times, and I'm giving you a mission. You've got
to take care of those that are coming after you.
Even though you were the little sheep who was
wandering off, now you have to take care of the
sheep that are going to come after you. Jesus
was the good shepherd, and we, the followers
of Jesus, are the flock, are the sheep. Turn
over just a page or two. We're going to go to
Acts chapter 2 because we're going to see that
Peter took this to heart. Now, Acts chapter 2
is not too long after John 21. We don't know
exactly how long, but Acts chapter 2 is on the
day of Pentecost, which was 50 days after the
resurrection. So 50 days after that crucifixion
story was the day of Pentecost. And in Acts chapter
2, The apostles had been in the upper room for
10 days. Somewhere before that, they had met
Jesus by the lakeshore. They had gone fishing.
Jesus said, feed my lambs. And so then after
10 days of praying together in the upper room,
on that day of Pentecost, it says the Holy Spirit
fell like tongues of fire. It says the place
was shaken. The building was shaken. The town
was shaken. There was enough to draw people to
see what was going on. And those disciples began
to stand up and teach and to preach. And it says
they preached in different languages. And it
lists off about 15 or so different languages
that people were from. And they said, we all
hear it in our own language. And it records the
sermon of Peter. The one that Jesus had said,
feed my lambs, feed my sheep. And Jesus, if you
were to read Acts chapter 2, he talks about this
Jesus who had been crucified. This group, you
guys crucified him, is what he tells them. He
talks about grace. He talks about a resurrection.
He talks about salvation. And as Peter is preaching,
he doesn't get to say, and in conclusion, our
final text is, he doesn't get to that point.
Because the people say, wait, stop. We like what
you're saying. What must we do to be saved? It
says in verse 37, when they heard this, they
were cut to the heart and they said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren,
what shall we do? Then in verse 38, Peter said
to them, repent. and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. What shall we do? Repent
and be baptized. If you haven't been baptized,
I'm going to say it again. Take out one of those
little cards. Write it down. Let's begin to make
that happen. And on this day, the Spirit was
poured out in a powerful way because in verse
41, it says, who gladly received his word, were
baptized, and that day, how many? 3 ,000 people
were baptized on one day. 3 ,000. What an incredible
miracle that was, because they started the day
120 in the upper room, and they ended the day
3 ,120. now coming together. Imagine what would
happen. We've got some visitors here. You may
not know what we're in the midst of, but we've
got some young people, some college -age students
from Southern in the SALT program with It Is
Written in Southern, and they are knocking on
doors, meeting people in our community. And at
the end of October, we're going to have an evangelistic
series. And what if we had 3 ,000 people? They
got baptized. They wouldn't fit in here, for
one. Okay, so maybe that's too big of a dream
here. What about 300? Amen. We could squeeze.
What about 30? Amen. 30. Is that something we
could pray for? 30 people? 30 people that would
say, Jesus, I want to take a stand for you. I've
discovered something new. I want to commit myself
to you. I want to be baptized. And heaven would
rejoice because heaven rejoices when one person
comes. What about 30? But then I'm going to ask
the question, what then? Okay, 30 people, what?
What then? Well, what happened with 3 ,000 here?
120 to 3 ,000. They had to do something with
them. Remember, Peter had been told by Jesus,
feed my lamb, take care of these people. Verse
42 gives us a little hint. It says they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Okay,
there's 3 ,000 people. And we could look down
at verse 46. It says, So continuing daily with
one accord in the temple and breaking bread from
house to house, they ate their food with gladness
and simplicity of heart, praising God and having
favor with all the people. And the Lord added
to the church daily those who were being saved.
So maybe we can learn something here. See how
they cared for the sheep, cared for the flock?
Maybe we could come up with some categories here.
And there's other categories that we could come
up with. But one thing they did, they continued
in the apostles' doctrine. Well, the apostles
wrote the New Testament, basically. So studying
the Bible, studying God's Word, Bible study.
That seems like an important thing. that we need
to help people to do. We have a Bible study that
meets every Saturday morning at 9 .30. We call
it Sabbath School. There's one upstairs in Español.
Also, Feliz Sabado to those who are here with
our Spanish Sabbath School. We have a women's
Bible study that meets on Tuesday morning. We
have a Bible study that meets Wednesday evening.
Next Sabbath, as Cindy mentioned during the announcement
time, do you want to learn how to help study
the Bible with somebody? Stay by after church
next week, and Felicia, one of the salt leaders,
is going to be doing a training session. So that's
something they did. They got people continuing
to study the Bible. And then it says fellowship.
Fellowship. What's that? Well, that's... Spending
time together. That's enjoying each other's company.
That's sitting by somebody new at a potluck.
That's coming to sit by a fire and roast a potato
at a church social and enjoying time with somebody
else, fellowshipping, having fun together. And
then it says breaking bread, eating from house
to house. How many have to eat today? At least
one time. Okay, maybe you're fasting today. You're
going to have to eat in the next few days. It's
something we do. And we can do it together at
a potluck. Maybe invite somebody to your home
and get to know somebody in a different way.
There are few things in life more intimate than
eating with someone else, than eating together,
eating with another person. And then the final
one, it says they continued in prayer. Or if
we look down, they were in the temple. They were
praising God. That's our worship time. That's
our prayer time together. And so this is how
Peter and those other church leaders begun to
envelop, begin to tend and care for the sheep
that were brought into their fold on that day.
Now, there's been studies. that have been shown
that when someone joins a new church or a new
group, whether it's through baptism or maybe
even someone has transferred from another church
in the area. I know some have done that. If you
haven't and would like to, fill out that card.
If you've moved from another place and have decided
to join a church, maybe there's some that need
to do that. Whenever you join a church within
six months, Within a year, statistics show that
you need to have made some connections. You need
to have met some other people besides yourself
and your own family. Anybody have a guess what
a number is? How many connections do people need
to have within the first few months or a year?
There's kind of a number. I see 10 out there.
Five. Any other guesses? It's kind of almost
a biblical number. Seven. Seven is the number
that a lot of studies show, that if you have
seven connections, seven people, seven people
that you could say, hey, how's your day going?
Maybe somebody that you could say, hey, I need
you to pray for this situation. Maybe somebody
that you could say, hey, could you come and water
my plants? I'm going out of town for a few days.
Maybe somebody that if you miss church, somebody
would notice. And they would call you up and
say, hey, we missed you. Oh, I was sick. Well,
what can we do for you? If people need seven
connections, guess what? of those connections.
And so that's an opportunity that each one of
us have to help people continue in the teaching,
to fellowship, to break bread together, to be
in prayer. That's what a church is, a gathering
together and making sure that we can keep a connection
so that as people come, they're going to stay.
They're not going to come and go. We don't really
have a back door. I think maybe we do over here.
out the back door, but they're going to stay
and be part of the church. I want to look at
one more passage here, still with Peter, but
we're going to go to 1 Peter, way back almost
to the end of the Bible, the book of 1 Peter.
We're going to look at chapter 5. Peter is now
writing to believers who are scattered throughout
the land, and he's writing to a group of them
in 1 Peter chapter 5. And he says, the elders
who are among you I exhort. I am a fellow elder
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and
also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed.
Yes, we acknowledge and we know that elder is
a specific role in the church, a leadership role.
But I think that Peter could also be talking
to those who have been believers longer. than
somebody else. They're elder believers compared
to a new believer, compared to one of these little
lambs. Because notice verse 2. Just like Jesus
told Peter, Peter said, Shepherd the flock of
God which was among you, serving as overseers,
not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest
gain, but eagerly, not as being lords or masters,
over those entrusted to you, but by being examples
to the flock. That's what we're supposed to be.
As we're making a connection with somebody, we're
supposed to be an example to them, an example
of how to study the Word, an example of how to
fellowship with other believers, an example of
how to pray, how to enjoy each other's company.
And then notice verse 4. It says, That's not
us. That's Jesus. When the chief shepherd appears,
you will receive the crown of glory that does
not fade away. And isn't that what we want? That
eternal life with Jesus to receive. It's not
about a crown, but it's about spending eternity
with Jesus. But as a part of that, we can receive
this crown of Christ's glory that will not fade
away. Let's make sure that we are taking part
in being a connection with somebody else. There's
an old story, you probably have heard it in some
other sermon, of a church service that was going
on and suddenly the back door opens. And what's
the natural response when you hear the back door
open? Everybody turns to look. The service is
midway done and the door opens and in walks somebody.
And man, he is not... Dressed very nice. His
jeans are torn. He's a little dirty. He may even
smell if you get too close to him. And he begins
to walk down the aisle. And he's looking for
a place to sit. And thankfully, like here, there's
not too many seats along the aisle. So he gets
closer and closer. And maybe there's a seat there
next to Paul. But Paul, you know, he leans over
just a little bit. Because he's not sure about
that. No, the other way, the other way. And this
young man doesn't really have a place to sit.
And he comes all the way down. And finally he
just plops down right in the middle of the aisle
and sits down. And about that time, another noise,
another sound, because someone stands up in the
back. And this is the elder of the church. And
he begins to make his way down. And everybody's
eyes are now riveted on him because they know
that, okay, he's going to help them find a seat,
maybe somewhere else, maybe in the mother's room.
Maybe he'll give them some food, you know, from
the pot. He's going to move him out of there,
surely. And so all eyes are watching, and as
he gets closer, breath is held. There's a confrontation
that's about to take place. And the old elder
comes, and he puts his hand on the shoulder of
the young man, and he... uses the shoulder to
support him as he sits down beside him. And they
watch the rest of the service together because
he said, you know, in his mind, this is someone
who needs to hear about Jesus. And I want to
help him hear about Jesus. Let's make sure that
in all we do, we are doing something to help
other people hear about Jesus. Let's bow our
heads for prayer. Dear God, What an awesome privilege
it is that you chase after us. Even though we're
that little lamb that has run away, you are the
good shepherd who pursues after us and loves
us. And Lord, you've invited us to take care
of your flock, to feed your sheep. And Lord,
we're imperfect. We make mistakes. We stray.
We continue to be distracted. But Lord, help
us to serve you. Help us to look for ways that
we can meet someone new, that we can learn a
name, that we can notice when somebody isn't
here, that we can invite somebody to join us
for a Bible study, that we can invite someone
to sit next to us at a fellowship dinner. Because
those little things can make a huge impact as
we help others to learn about you. In your name
we pray, amen.