We're going to be in Luke chapter 15 this morning.
Luke chapter 15. I'm going to tell you all why
you're turning to Luke chapter 15. That's in
the New Testament, close to the front of the
New Testament. I don't know what heaven's going
to be like, but I think it's going to be a lot
like what it was like up here yesterday at the
church. It was a lot of love and a lot of joy.
Just brothers and sisters in Christ. Just loving
each other and serving God and rejoicing in what
we were doing. And I think that that's just probably
a glimpse of what it's going to be like. That's
going to be a good day. When we get to be united
with all the brothers and sisters in Christ,
all the loved ones that have gone before us,
that's a good day. So we thank the Lord that
he gives us little previews of that in this life.
Luke chapter 15. I've got bad news for you today.
We're reading a whole chapter. No, all, I think
31 verses it is. So that's the bad news. But
the good news is, is we're not going to go through
it verse by verse. So we'll probably be out on
time. Unless the Lord changes my heart. You never
know. Sometimes that happens. We might be here
till 5 o 'clock. But we'll go till we get done.
I didn't hear no amens on being here till 5 o
'clock. Nobody amen that. If I'd have said we're
going to be out by 1145, half of y 'all would
have said amen. Say 5 o 'clock. Everybody just
kind of there say, I hope he's joking. I know
exactly what y 'all were thinking. All right.
Luke chapter 15. We're going to read through
the whole chapter. Then we're going to pray.
And then we'll get started. All the tax collectors
and sinners were approaching to listen to him.
That's Jesus. And the Pharisees and scribes were
complaining. This man welcomes sinners and eats
with them. So he told them this parable. What
man among you who has 100 sheep and loses one
of them does not leave the 99 in the open field
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on
his shoulders, and coming home he calls his friends
and neighbors together, saying to them, Rejoice
with me. because I have found my lost sheep.
I tell you, in the same way there will be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than
over ninety -nine righteous people who don't
need repentance. Or what woman who has ten silver
coins, if she loses one coin, does not light
a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully
until she finds it? When she finds it, She calls
her women friends and neighbors together, saying,
Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver
coin I lost. I tell you, in the same way there
is joy in the presence of God's angels over one
sinner who repents. He also said, A man had two
sons. The younger of them said to his father,
Father, Give me the share of the estate I have
coming to me. So he distributed the assets to
them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered
together all he had and traveled to a distant
country, where he squandered his estate in foolish
living. After he had spent everything, a severe
famine struck that country, and he had nothing.
Then he went to work for one of the citizens
of that country who sent him into his fields
to feed pigs. He longed to eat his field from
the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one
would give him any. When he came to his senses,
he said, How many of my father's hired hands
have more than enough food? And here I am dying
of hunger. I'll get up, go to my father, and
say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me like one of your hired
hands. So he got up and went to his father. But
while the son was still a long way off, his father
saw him and was filled with compassion. He threw
his arms around his neck and kissed him. The
son said to him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy
to be called your son. But the father told his
slaves, Quick, bring out the best robe and put
it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals
on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and
slaughter it, and let's celebrate with a feast.
Because this son of mine was dead and is alive
again. He was lost and is found. So they began
to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field.
As he came near the house, he heard music and
dancing. So he summoned one of the servants and
asked what these things meant. Your brother is
here, he told him, and your father has slaughtered
the fattened calf because he has him back safe
and sound. Then he became angry and didn't want
to go in. So his father came out and pleaded
with him. But he replied to his father, Look,
I've been slaving many years from you, and I
have never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never
gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with
my friends. But when this son of yours came,
who has devoured your assets with prostitutes,
you slaughtered the fattened calf for him. Son,
he said to him, you are always with me and everything
I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and
rejoice because this brother of yours was dead
and is alive again. He was lost and is found.
Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you
for these beautiful words, these beautiful parables
that Jesus has shared with us, God. I pray that
as we hear these words, that we would examine
our own lives, God, that your Holy Spirit would
help us to see how they apply to us, dear Lord.
Help us to see who we may be in this story, dear
Lord. Of all the characters and all the situations,
dear Lord, who and where are we in the story?
Are we one who is lost that needs to be found?
Are we one who is like you, but perhaps our heart
is not in the right place? So God, I pray that
your Holy Spirit would be among us today. I pray
that you would just lead me, that I would preach
and teach in a way that brings glory and honor
to you, that you take away any fear or any pride
that I have today, that you take away any distractions
that the enemy has placed before us, and that
in these few minutes we would seek you. And I
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Oftentimes
when we look at Luke chapter 15, of course there's
a lot of emphasis placed on the last parable
that Jesus gave, the parable of the prodigal
son. And rightly so. It's a great parable. And
really no matter how many times you read it,
it's very powerful because it connects with us
in a way that we can really understand. And that's
the power of the parable. That's the power of
a simple story. that Jesus so often used. A story
that was simple and not even necessarily religious
in what it was talking about, but the connection
to the spiritual point that Jesus was trying
to make was fairly obvious for those who were
really seeking and listening and paying attention
to what Jesus said. And while the... Parable
of the prodigal son is a beautiful parable. Really,
to understand what's going on, we have to read
the whole of chapter 15. It all really goes together.
And what brought this whole set of parables about
was a situation that had arose. And here was
the situation. This is something we see throughout
Jesus' ministry. Jesus, the Son of God, came
into the world. And he did not just go and hang
out with the church folks. Now, Jesus liked the
righteous people. He liked those who loved God.
It was great. He served alongside those people,
and he loved those people. But Jesus didn't just
love the church folks. Jesus loved everybody.
Everybody. The undesirables. The ones that were
evil and horrible, the murderers and the prostitutes
and the tax collectors, the thieves, the liars,
everybody. Jesus didn't pick favorites. He would
associate with the righteous. He would eat with
the sinners. Jesus came to do what he came to
do, and that was to share the love of God and
to let people know and to see his example. that
he was going to be the sacrifice that was going
to be given for us so that our sins could be
forgiven. He came to promote the good news, to
let people know that the kingdom of God had come
near. And the only entrance into the kingdom
of God would be through Jesus Christ. And so
Jesus went and he talked to everybody that he
could encounter. But there were some who had
a problem with that, and we see that at the beginning
of Luke chapter 15. that there were some of these
Pharisees and scribes that were complaining.
And what was their complaint? Their complaint
was this, that he eats with sinners, that he
eats with the evil people, that he welcomes sinners
and eats with them. And they took offense to
that. Now these Pharisees would have probably
considered themselves to be pretty religious.
They probably would have considered themselves
to be holier than thou. I think that's obvious
from their statement. Now wait a minute. This
guy, he's supposed to be somebody. He's supposed
to be representing God, the things that he says,
the things that he does. And yet look at what
he's doing. He's associating with these sinners.
Shouldn't he know better than that? And we have
to pause for a moment here and we have to examine
our own life. Do we ever fall into that trap?
Do we ever think that we are too good to serve
somebody else? You are not. You are not too good
to do anything. You are not too good to do the
dirtiest and the nastiest and the stinkiest and
the hardest jobs. You are not too good for that.
There are things sometimes that God puts in our
path, opportunities that he calls us to, and
we pass them up because they're too nasty and
they're too dirty and they're too scary. And
we might justify it by saying to ourselves, well,
God will just have to send somebody else for
that. Well, maybe he sent you for that. And who
are we that we are too good to help the poorest
of the poor and the worst of the worst? We are
not too good for that. And if we are, then we
need to be careful. Because if we are, even if
we don't utter these words the Pharisees uttered
with our mouth, they are in our heart. And we
are just as guilty if we want to avoid sinners
and avoid those who are least of these. Jesus
calls us who are Christians to minister and to
love those who are the least of these. And whatever
we do to them, Jesus says we have done for him.
So we are not too good. To humble ourselves before
those who are in need and to serve those who
are sinners. Because I've got news for you. You
yourself are a sinner. And if you've called on
Jesus Christ, you are a sinner saved by grace.
And if you've experienced the grace of God, then
how can you not share the grace of God with someone
else? And if you can't share the grace of God
with those you encounter, then perhaps you have
not experienced. The grace of God. So that's
the charge against Jesus. This man, he ain't
nothing because, look, he eats with sinners.
He values these people that have no value. They're
the garbage of society. And Jesus told them a
parable. He tells them a series of parables here.
All with a common theme. He shares a simple parable.
A lot of these people probably would have known
what it was like to raise sheep, have a lot of
sheep. And Jesus says, look, there's a shepherd.
Had a hundred sheep. And one of those sheep were
lost. And what did the shepherd do? He went and
he found that lost sheep. And what did he do
when he found it? He rejoiced. He said, look,
my sheep. I found my sheep. He told everybody
around, I found my sheep. My sheep was lost and
I found him. And what beautiful imagery there
because how does he, not only does he find him,
he doesn't just say, hey sheep, you're over there.
Come on back over here sheep, there you are,
come on. He doesn't do that. It says that he
goes and he places the sheep on his shoulder.
The shepherd goes and he retrieves the sheep.
And there is rejoicing when one that is lost
is found. And Jesus says there's rejoicing in
heaven. over one sinner who comes to repentance.
More so than over 99 who don't need repentance.
Now, he's not saying that there are people that
don't need repentance. He's making a point. He's
saying, look, there are some people who are obedient
to God. There are some people who are following
God. There are some people who are God's children
and they are His. But there are some who are
lost. And it's not that God doesn't love the
99, but He wants the one. He even values the
one. He values the 1%. Even if he's got 99%,
God says, but I want 100%. God is not greedy.
He is just a God who loves you. God values people.
That's kind of the point that Jesus is making
as he goes through these parables, is that God
values people. And maybe you're lost today. Maybe
you're lost today. I want to tell you, you need
to know this today. Listen to this. You are valuable
in the eyes of God. You may not think so. The
world may bully you and push you around and tell
you you're not worth anything, but that is a
lie from the pits of hell. I want to tell you
today that you are valuable in God's sight. So
valuable that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died
on a cross for you. That's how much God loves
you. And he'd have done it even for the one.
And there's rejoicing when a lost soul comes
to Jesus Christ. There's rejoicing when Jesus
Christ, the shepherd, comes and you become a
sheep who is part of his fold. There is rejoicing
that takes place. And Jesus continues on. With
another very simple story. Woman's got ten coins.
She loses one of them. She's frantically sweeping
the house. Trying to find that coin. She finally
finds it. And what does she do? She calls all
of her girlfriends up and says, Hey girls, guess
what? That coin I lost, I finally found it. And
there's rejoicing. And the same idea. There's
rejoicing. In heaven, when the lost is found,
when the sinner comes to repentance. Now notice
as the story progresses what we see. In the first
little parable that Jesus gives about the sheep,
there's 1 % of what the shepherd has that's lost.
And yet he cares about that 1%. Now what about
us? Do we care about the 1 %? Now I suspect we're
all guilty of this. You ever go somewhere? and
you pay for something, well, probably not now
because we don't use cash, but back in the day,
and they'd give you some coins, and you'd drop
a penny, and it would kind of roll like under
the counter or something, and you'd say, oh,
I'm not worried about that. It's just a penny,
right? We're not worried about a penny. If you
lost today, if you lost 1 % of everything you
own, well, it might be kind of a bummer, but
it probably wouldn't bother you too much. But
God's not like us. He values everything. He values
even the 1%. And so that scent that we leave
behind, that we take for granted, God's not like
that. He values things that we don't value more
than we value them. So in the first story, there's
1 % of what the shepherd has that's lost. What
about the second story? Well, there's 1 out of
10 coins. Okay, the percentage is getting greater.
And this is 10%. of what this woman had was lost.
Now, if you lost 10 % of what you had today,
you'd probably be sweeping the house too, right?
You'd probably be looking around. If you had
a $100 bill in your wallet, you had 10 of them
and you lost one of them, well, you're going
to look for that more than you're going to look
for that one cent. And so we see that the value
of the main characters or the main portion of
this story is increasing. It goes from 1 % to
10%. And no matter what the percentage is, it's
all valued by God, but the value of what's in
question is rising throughout the story. The
value is rising and there's excitement because
what is lost is valuable. And the sheep's not
that valuable, but the coin is a little more
valuable. And then we get to the third part of
the story. This is where Jesus is really kind
of bringing the point home. The first two were
kind of real simple stories that they could relate
to and understand. Okay, yeah, one sheep, not
that big a deal. One coin, okay, maybe we'll
look a little more for that. But what do we see
the value in the last story? It's 50%. The man
had two sons and he lost one of those sons. He
lost 50 % of what he had. And what a beautiful
story it is. We see in the story that there's
two sons. And one son says, Dad, I want my inheritance.
Give it to me or I don't want to wait on you
to die. Just give me what's coming to me. Well,
that's a bad place to be. Sometimes you even
see that with people today. That's not a good
place to be. Your heart's in a bad place if that's
where your heart's at. So this young man said,
Dad, I want what's coming to me. Give me my inheritance.
And the father said, Okay, son, if that's what
you want, I'll give it to you. And so the son
receives his inheritance. And guess what he does?
He blows it. He goes out and he lives for the
world and he does all these horrible things and
blows his money and it's gone. And then guess
what happens? Scripture says that a famine comes
into the land. Well, now he's in bad shape. He
was good at home. When he was at home, the father
took care of everything. The father provided
for him. The father protected him. The father
gave him everything that he needed. In the father's
house, he was in a good spot. But he chose to
leave the father's house. And he found himself
in a bad spot. He started feeding pigs. That's
the job that he had, feeding pigs. And it said
he longed to eat from the pig slot, but nobody
would give him any. He didn't even have pig slop
to eat. Boy, it looked pretty good at Daddy's
house. I bet about that point. Isn't that amazing
how it is when we're young? It seems like living
with our parents is the worst thing ever. Like
our parents are just so evil. Like they're anti
-fun. Like they just had us and they just had
a meeting and decided we're not going to do anything
fun for them. We're going to be hard on them.
And then we get to growing up. We can't wait
to get out. And then we get out and we're not
so different from the prodigal son, are we? We
get out working to do things our way, and then
we're eating like Hot Pockets like three times
a day. And then we think, man, when I was at
home, Dad used to make chicken wings, or he'd
make a steak sometimes, and we realized that
maybe being at home wasn't so bad. And the prodigal
son, boy, he was ready to go, and he went, and
he figured out that being apart from the Father
was a bad place to be. So now he's in a bad,
bad place. Now listen, maybe that's where some
of you are today. Because sometimes in life,
we make stupid decisions. I'm not talking about
leaving home. We're talking about a bigger picture
here. Sometimes we do stupid stuff. And we find
ourselves going down a pathway that's leading
us away from God the Father. That's leading us
away from what God desires in our life and what
God calls us to in our life. And if we seek God
and follow Him, God takes care of us and He provides
for us. And it may not always be easy, but God
always comes through. But the moment that we
abandon God and we seek to live for ourselves,
we are in a bad situation. And we find ourselves
living in sin and living for the world and pretty
soon we have hit rock bottom. And that's exactly
where this son was. He had hit rock bottom. And
he knew that he was in a bad shape. He also knew
that there was only one thing he could do. The
scripture says that he came to his senses. I
love that part of it. He came to his senses.
Now maybe God's calling some of us today to come
to our senses. It's time to wake up. It's time
to repent. That's what this is about. These parables,
they have a theme. They're about repentance.
They're about God values people. He values you.
You have value in His sight. He sent Jesus to
die for you so that you would come to Him so
that He could provide for you and take care of
you so that you would live in obedience to Him
under His protection and under His care that
He would guide your path. That's kind of the
theme that we see. Is that you are valued by
God and what God wants is for you to repent of
your sinfulness and to come to Him. Maybe today
there are some of us. Maybe you used to walk
real close to the Lord. Maybe you've never trusted
in the Lord. Maybe you've been living your way
and your sin for a long time. Maybe today the
Holy Spirit is working on your heart and you
feel that conviction and you know today that
you need to seek Him while I pray that today
you would come to your senses. That you would
say, this is foolishness for me to live for the
world and to do the things that I've been doing.
It's foolishness. God, I want to seek You and
I want to come to You. And that's exactly what
the Son does. He realizes that He is in bad shape.
And he comes to his senses and he says to himself,
he says, you know what? He said, even my father's
slaves have it better than I do. I can't even
eat the pig slop. Nobody will even give me that.
Even my father's slaves are better off than me.
So he says to himself, I'll tell you what I'm
going to do. I'll go back. Boy, that's hard.
That's hard, ain't it, right? That's hard when
you mess up and you leave home or you have an
argument with your parents and they say, well,
my house, I mean, my roof, my rules. And then
you say something like, well, it's time for me
to find a new roof. And then you go out and find
a new roof and you find out things under your
roof are pretty bad. And then you've got to make
that trip back home. And you've got to say, Diddy,
can I move back in for a couple months? Boy,
that's tough right there. That's exactly what
he had to do. He said, I'm going to go back and
I'm going to just tell my daddy. I'm going to
say this. I'm going to say, look, if you would
just let me come and be one of your hired hands,
if you just let me come be your slave, I have
sinned against heaven. I've sinned against God.
I've sinned against you. Father, I know that
I have done wrong. I know that I have and I'm
not asking to be your son again. I'm not asking
for the benefits of the son. I'm just asking
if I could just come and work for you. If I could
just be a slave for you. And so there's his little
speech he's going to give. He's ready to give
it. And so he heads back on his way. And I bet
you he is. Boy, that's a tough walk. That's a
tough walk. And he gets close to the house. And
his father runs out and says, boy, I told you
so. No, that's not what he says at all, praise
the Lord. If you're a father, maybe you don't
need to say that too. He doesn't say that at
all. He gets close to the house and he sees his
son in the distance and he knows it's his son.
And he runs out to him and gives him a big old
embrace. My son is home. He rejoices that his
son is home. That that which is lost is found.
The same that we see in the other parables. He
rejoices that the one he had lost was found.
And he tells everybody, my son has come home.
And then the son gives us a little speech. He
says, dad, I know I've sinned against God. And
I've sinned against you. If I could just be your
slave. You know what the father does? He says,
bring my son a robe, put a ring on my son's finger,
prepare a feast for my son, for my son has come
home. It's hard for us sometimes when we have
been living in sin. We have done some wretched
stuff. I'm talking about some wretched stuff.
Every one of us. We have done some stuff that
we are so ashamed of. We have done some stuff
that is so evil. Maybe even last night. Maybe
even this morning. Stuff that you just feel that
conviction about now. And you know that you've
done wrong. And you know that you are sinful.
And it's hard for us sometimes in the midst of
our sin, in the midst of our darkness, and all
the evil that's within us. Sometimes it's hard
for us to come before the Lord and there's probably
a part of you that says, I've done too much and
there's no hope and God doesn't love me. But
I want to tell you today that if you would come
to your senses, if you would come to your senses,
if you would take that step and you would go
before the Father and humble yourself before
Him, God will embrace you as a son. If we would
humble ourselves as the son did, the scripture
says that we are slaves of God. If we humble
ourselves as slaves of God and say, God, I know
that I'm a sinner and I know that I don't deserve
your grace, but God, if you would just forgive
me and just give me the crumbs, God, I don't
want anything. Just give me enough to get by,
dear Lord. If we humble ourselves as slaves,
God accepts us as sons. And he lets us eat of
the feast of the table. I don't know what the
son felt. I suspect a lot of relief. I suspect
the burden of preparing that speech. He probably
said it a thousand times before he got there.
And knowing what he was going back to and knowing
what he had done, I suspect the burden of that
was heavy on him. But I would just bet you anything.
That the moment his father come and embraced
him and welcomed him home as a son, that instantly
his burden was lifted. There's a lot of burden
in this world. Some of you came into this room
today carrying a lot of burden because of your
sins and your decisions. But I want to tell you
today, in the Father's house, there is peace,
there is grace, there is mercy. And the moment
you seek God, the moment that you ask Him to
forgive you, the moment that you humble yourself
before Him, in an instant your burden will be
lifted. You might have brought it in here today,
but I'm going to tell you through Jesus Christ,
you do not have to take it with you when you
leave. And so everybody is feasting and celebrating
and having a big party because that which is
lost is found. The lost son has returned. And
everybody is happy except for the other son.
The other son's out there working. He hears what's
going on. He says, hey, what's going on up there
at the house? They said, oh, wait, you didn't
know? Your brother's home. Your brother's home.
He didn't say hallelujah. He was mad as could
be. He finds out that his daddy had killed a
fatted calf. Are you kidding me? The fatted calf?
He probably says, I've been eating Hot Pockets
all my life, and he gets a fatty cat. And he
goes to his father, and he's so angry. He's so
angry. He says, why are you doing this? This
son of yours went out, and he took your money,
and he wasted it on junk and on prostitutes and
on the things of the world. And now he comes
back into the picture, and you're going to celebrate?
And the father says, son, you're always here
with me. Everything I have is yours. You've been
in my presence. You've been in my household.
You have been my son throughout all of this.
But your brother had left. He was lost. I didn't
know if I would ever see him again. But he came
back. That which is lost was found. We have to
rejoice when that which is lost is found. And
Jesus ends the parable there. All of these parables
have a common theme. In each one, the value of
what was lost increases from 1 % to 10 % to 50%.
And in each case, there is rejoicing. Over that
which is lost. The Pharisees and the scribes
came to Jesus. And says how dare he eat with
sinners. And through these parables what Jesus
is telling us. Is that Jesus values sinners.
Praise the Lord. Because that's every one of
us. Jesus values you today. The question is,
of all of these characters we see in Luke chapter
15, which one do you most relate to today? Are
you the lost sheep that needs to be rescued?
Are you the lost son who has gone astray and
lived for himself and lived for the world? Are
you the father who longs for your children to
be restored to you? Are you the Pharisees and
the scribes and the other brother who are angry
at the grace of God? Who are angry because God
loves sinners? I don't know who you are in the
story today. Perhaps you're the brother who has
strayed and today you feel like you need to come
to your senses. Well, praise God. But who we
do not want to be today is the other brother.
Who we do not want to be today are the Pharisees
and the scribes. We don't want to be those who
look down upon sinners. We want to be those who
rejoice when sinners are saved. And we need to
be reminded that we ourselves are sinners. That
it is God's grace that has saved us. That it
is the love of Jesus Christ on the cross. That
has saved us. Who are we today. To not love others.
Let us not avoid sinners. Let us love sinners.
Let us follow the example of Jesus Christ. That
we can bring the love of God. And the love of
Jesus Christ. And the compassion of Jesus Christ.
And the message of hope. To those who need to
hear it. Perhaps you need a message of hope today.
And the hope that we see in this story and the
hope that we have in Jesus Christ is that you
are valued by God. Whether it's the 1 % or whether
it's the 50%, God values every soul. We see that
in this parable. God values you today. God loves
you today. If you've not followed Jesus Christ,
I pray that today you'd come to your senses and
seek Him. Let's pray. God, we thank you for this
good word. Dear Lord, I pray that we would never
fall into that trap of thinking that we are holier
than thou, thinking that we are somehow better
than anyone else, dear Lord. We thank you that
Jesus came to save sinners, and perhaps we need
to follow the words of Paul in which he says
that... Jesus came to save sinners of which I
am the worst, dear Lord. We need to realize just
how bad our sin is. And God, maybe our sin is
ever before us. And the pain of our sin is ever
before us. And the condemnation of our sin is
ever before us, dear Lord. And I pray that there
is one that is burdened down with their sin today.
I pray that they would just seek you right now.
I pray that they would come before you and know
that you love them dear Lord. That you sent Jesus
Christ to die for them. And that today Jesus
wants to bring you into the kingdom. But God
as we see in the story of the prodigal son. We
have to make that choice. We have to come to
our senses. So I pray God if there is one today
that is just struggling under the weight of their
sin. That today that they would repent. that
they would ask for forgiveness, that they would
accept Jesus Christ and put their faith in Him,
to know that He has died on a cross and His life
was given so that they could be forgiven. God,
I pray that if there is some burden with sin
today, that they would know that You value them,
that You are worth something to them, that You
love everybody. We see that in the Scriptures
time and again with Jesus, God. He loves everybody,
all of us here today. God, maybe there are some
here today and maybe they're yours. But maybe
they're like that prodigal son who has wandered
away. I pray today that they would come home.
That they would come to their senses, dear Lord.
I pray, God, that we would be those who rejoice.
That we don't just seek judgment and punishment
for sinners, dear Lord. But that we seek restoration,
God. We ourselves are sinners. And yet you were
gracious to us. So God, our desire should be
for your grace to extend to others. So let us
be those who long to see lost souls saved. Let
us be those who rejoice, dear Lord, over that
which is lost and is found in Jesus Christ. I
thank you for each one that's here. I pray that
you bless them, God. And as we take these few
moments to close, God, if you've spoken to anyone
today, I pray that they would respond to you
today. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen.