WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.940 And something I think we need to hear as we start 00:00:01.940 --> 00:00:07.459 a new year is that God wants everyone to be a 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:10.009 part of his family. And I don't think that should 00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:11.890 be news. I don't think that should be a new idea. 00:00:11.929 --> 00:00:13.849 But for some reason, it needs to be said. It 00:00:13.849 --> 00:00:16.609 needs to be a reminder for all Christians to 00:00:16.609 --> 00:00:19.309 hear, for all people to hear that God wants everyone 00:00:19.309 --> 00:00:21.850 to be a part of his family. Because sometimes 00:00:21.850 --> 00:00:24.449 we look at the church, we look at God and we 00:00:24.449 --> 00:00:26.829 say, that's a very exclusive thing. The truth 00:00:26.829 --> 00:00:29.149 is, it is not an exclusive thing. It is a very 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:31.829 inclusive thing. The question is, is are you 00:00:31.829 --> 00:00:36.520 going to be included? It's up to you. But it's 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:38.880 also up to me to tell you what you should be 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.100 included in. It's like if I was throwing a party 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:44.299 and I'm having this party and I invite everybody, 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.780 but I don't invite you, you would be very upset 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:50.100 with me, right? Because everyone else got invited 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:52.869 except for you. The same is true for Christians 00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:54.729 that walk around. We talk about how good God 00:00:54.729 --> 00:00:57.490 is and we say, yes, God has done so much good 00:00:57.490 --> 00:00:59.890 in my life. God has blessed me. He saved me. 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:02.130 He's given me the promise of an eternal life 00:01:02.130 --> 00:01:04.310 with him in heaven. And he's done all of these 00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:07.530 good things for me. But we don't tell them what 00:01:07.530 --> 00:01:12.530 he can and wants to do for them. God's party 00:01:12.530 --> 00:01:17.510 is not exclusive. But sometimes we have made 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:20.879 it exclusive. I want to start this series talking 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.120 about the one. I want to start it by telling 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.840 you about all the friends that I have. Believe 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:30.680 it or not, I do have friends. I have a lot of 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.900 friends from different backgrounds. I have a 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:36.239 lot of friends that come from different places. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.480 They come from different life experiences, different 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.579 socioeconomic statuses, different religious groups, 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:44.540 different just cultures in general. I have a 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:47.700 lot of friends that are different. But because 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:49.920 we live in the South, one thing that is pretty 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.900 consistent with our friend groups is most of 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:55.680 our friends have some type of a church background. 00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:59.219 They have some type of Christian background. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.859 Maybe they grew up in the Catholic church or 00:02:01.859 --> 00:02:03.879 they grew up in a Baptist church or they grew 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.299 up with parents that did pray and said they believed 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:08.180 in God. They didn't really go to church, but 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:11.360 they had some type of a faith background. We've 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.840 all got friends that have some type of connection. 00:02:15.689 --> 00:02:18.569 to the church. When I think about my friends, 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:21.889 I can place most of them into just a few categories, 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:24.669 and I'm going to have those on the screen. Maybe 00:02:24.669 --> 00:02:26.469 a little bit small for you to read, so I'll read 00:02:26.469 --> 00:02:28.250 them out loud. I have some friends that grew 00:02:28.250 --> 00:02:30.629 up in the church, but they've wandered from the 00:02:30.629 --> 00:02:33.580 faith. Maybe they just kind of walked away. It 00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:35.620 wasn't that they intentionally walked away, but 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:38.460 you go to college and you stop paying attention 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:40.979 to go into church on Sunday morning. Or maybe 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:43.060 you moved away, you joined the military, and 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:46.099 it was kind of a hassle to get a ride off base 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:49.599 to the church. They drifted. They wandered from 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.159 the faith. Some grew up in a church or in church, 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.259 and they were hurt by the church. They were hurt 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:58.319 by people in the church. Things happened. That 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.280 really just kind of pushed them away. So they 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.539 walked away. Maybe they just really hated the 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.659 doctrine. Maybe they just couldn't deal with 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:08.879 the legalism. Or maybe they couldn't deal with 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.759 the hypocrisy. Or maybe some really traumatic 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:14.080 things happened to them. So they walked away. 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:16.780 And they said, I'm done. I'm done with the whole 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:18.900 Jesus thing. I can't do it anymore. Maybe they 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:21.879 just walked away from church, not Jesus. Some 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.900 believe they found a better way. to live apart 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:27.800 from the church. They believe maybe in a different 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.659 religious group or maybe they've kind of subscribed 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.460 to a different way of thinking. But whatever 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:36.039 it is, they've walked away because they feel 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.500 they found a better way. And then some would 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:42.259 call themselves Christians. They would say that 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:44.900 they are Christ followers, but they're trusting 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:47.930 more in their own goodness than in his. They're 00:03:47.930 --> 00:03:49.889 trusting more in their own self -righteousness 00:03:49.889 --> 00:03:51.969 and their own ability to do right and their own 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:54.349 ability to do good than they are trusting in 00:03:54.349 --> 00:03:58.490 God's. And then some are genuine followers of 00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:01.569 Christ. They're still flawed, but they're faithfully 00:04:01.569 --> 00:04:05.050 following. So we've got these different categories 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:07.250 of our friends. And I think if you're honest 00:04:07.250 --> 00:04:09.789 with yourself, you could probably put a majority 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:14.229 of your friends in those categories. Maybe you 00:04:14.229 --> 00:04:16.829 have friends that come from different faith backgrounds 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:19.149 altogether, and we'll talk about that at some 00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:22.250 point in the series. But this morning, what we're 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:24.970 going to talk about the most is the first friend. 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:28.930 The friend that has the church background, but 00:04:28.930 --> 00:04:31.610 maybe they just kind of drifted. They didn't 00:04:31.610 --> 00:04:34.170 walk away on purpose. They didn't run. They weren't 00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:37.230 pushed out. They just kind of drifted. Because, 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:41.660 again, in the South, We have a lot of friends 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:43.620 that have Christian backgrounds. This is the 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:48.160 Bible Belt, after all. And so we might assume 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:51.660 that they're okay because they have a church 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:54.639 background. But what I want to be very clear 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:58.699 about, and this is one thing that can be painful 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:01.579 for some people to hear, it can feel very judgmental. 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:04.259 And so I want to clarify before I say it that 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:07.829 I am in no way being judgmental. But the truth 00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:10.949 is, is a church background is not the same as 00:05:10.949 --> 00:05:13.970 a relationship with Christ. You can come to church 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:16.149 every Sunday. You can be here every time the 00:05:16.149 --> 00:05:17.930 doors are open. You can participate in all the 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:19.949 events. You can be in all the Bible studies. 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:23.949 You can do everything that the church does. But 00:05:23.949 --> 00:05:28.350 it does not qualify as a relationship with Christ. 00:05:28.550 --> 00:05:31.629 Claiming Christianity is not the same thing as 00:05:31.629 --> 00:05:37.439 following Jesus. I am a very. Christ follower 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.160 type person. I don't really even like to say 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.939 Christian that much anymore. If you'll notice, 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:44.699 sometimes I'll post things on Facebook and I 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.259 like to qualify that these are posts for Christians 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:48.839 because I have a lot of friends on Facebook that 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:50.680 aren't Christians. And I don't want them to hear 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:52.240 me say something about Christians and think I'm 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:53.879 talking to them because I'm not. I'm talking 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:57.870 to the Christ follower. And so we have to understand 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:00.370 that we can claim to be Christians all day long. 00:06:00.449 --> 00:06:02.430 But to the world, all that sounds like is a bunch 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:05.329 of people who occupy a seat on Sunday mornings 00:06:05.329 --> 00:06:06.930 and tell everybody else they're going to hell. 00:06:07.009 --> 00:06:09.910 I want to be a follower of Christ, someone who 00:06:09.910 --> 00:06:14.449 looks and lives like Jesus. That's what we're 00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:18.050 called to. If we're being if we're willing to 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:19.850 be really honest, there may be someone sitting 00:06:19.850 --> 00:06:22.829 in this room today who fits in one of those categories 00:06:22.829 --> 00:06:25.819 that we just mentioned. That fits in the category 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:28.180 of the person that maybe they drifted away or 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:29.720 they were pushed away. Maybe you've been hurt 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:32.160 by the church and so you walked away. I don't 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.220 know which category that we just touched on that 00:06:34.220 --> 00:06:36.819 you fit in, but I would imagine you fit somewhere 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:40.420 in there. And we don't want to sound judgmental, 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:43.199 so we avoid using the word that the Bible uses. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:48.120 And hear me again when I say not being judgmental 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.740 at all, because I fit in this category some days 00:06:50.740 --> 00:06:54.589 of the week. And the word. that we have to use, 00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:58.550 if we're being very honest, is lost. But I want 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:00.350 you to understand that calling somebody lost 00:07:00.350 --> 00:07:03.009 is not a judgmental, it's not a hateful thing 00:07:03.009 --> 00:07:05.129 to say. Calling someone lost isn't an insult. 00:07:05.410 --> 00:07:08.689 To say someone is lost is to say that they have 00:07:08.689 --> 00:07:12.370 value, that they matter. Because you don't lose 00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:14.949 something that doesn't matter to you. It's just 00:07:14.949 --> 00:07:18.250 gone. I'll give you a story, and I did get permission 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:20.629 from Eliza to tell this because I don't want 00:07:20.629 --> 00:07:24.730 to get in trouble. A couple of years ago, Eliza 00:07:24.730 --> 00:07:28.829 lost one of the keys to her car. Conveniently 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:31.089 enough, just a few months before that, she lost 00:07:31.089 --> 00:07:34.769 a key to our other car. So just going to tell 00:07:34.769 --> 00:07:37.470 you really quickly, don't give my wife your keys. 00:07:37.750 --> 00:07:40.129 Don't do that. Love her to death. Hopefully she 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:42.990 doesn't listen to this sermon. But yeah, she 00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:46.009 lost one of her car keys and her car is, well, 00:07:46.209 --> 00:07:50.949 it was fairly newer. I don't know if you know 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:54.050 this, but new car keys are not cheap to replace. 00:07:55.310 --> 00:07:57.889 So I started calling around like, hey, how much 00:07:57.889 --> 00:08:00.649 is it going to be to get a new key? Well, for 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:02.350 her car specifically, it was going to be like 00:08:02.350 --> 00:08:06.810 $300. Car keys today cost anywhere from $100 00:08:06.810 --> 00:08:09.509 to $400 to replace. It seems kind of silly to 00:08:09.509 --> 00:08:13.810 me, but whatever. We looked everywhere for this 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.470 car key. I mean, we checked in the garbage. We 00:08:16.470 --> 00:08:18.550 checked in all of our clothes. We checked every 00:08:18.550 --> 00:08:21.189 inch of that car. We checked all over our apartment. 00:08:21.250 --> 00:08:23.589 We looked everywhere for that key. Why did we 00:08:23.589 --> 00:08:27.129 look for it? Because it had value. Because it 00:08:27.129 --> 00:08:31.629 mattered. And so to say we lost, well, she, make 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:36.129 sure that's clear. She lost her car key was to 00:08:36.129 --> 00:08:40.350 say she lost something of value, of something 00:08:40.350 --> 00:08:43.320 that mattered. And so when we say that people 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:45.779 are lost, when we say that people have wandered 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:47.519 from God or maybe they've walked away from God 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:52.059 and they are his lost sheep. They're his lost 00:08:52.059 --> 00:08:55.299 children. That's not to insult them. It's not 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:57.720 to say anything bad about them. It's to say they 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:00.620 matter to God and they matter to us. If we look 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:02.600 around this room and we see people that maybe 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:04.559 used to go to church with us or be a part of 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.019 our church family, and we say that person is 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:10.039 lost, it's not to say anything bad about them. 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:13.620 It's to say, I miss them. I need them. I want 00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:16.039 them. And so when God says one of his children 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:21.269 is lost, he's saying they matter. Because to 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:26.090 God, every single person has a measurable value. 00:09:27.090 --> 00:09:30.929 They cost a lot more than a car key. And when 00:09:30.929 --> 00:09:36.549 they are lost, God does everything to track them 00:09:36.549 --> 00:09:40.070 down. We saw that with the Israelite people. 00:09:40.330 --> 00:09:43.990 We see that in the way that Jesus goes to the 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:49.240 lost. God values every single person. That's 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.659 why our theme verse for this series is Luke chapter 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:55.000 19, verse 10. For the son of man came to seek 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.940 and to save the lost. That's the mission of Jesus. 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:02.299 That's what Christ came for is to seek and save 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:04.879 the lost. And if we're followers of Jesus, if 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.700 we're going to be like Christ, if we're going 00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:09.320 to do the things that Jesus did, then we don't 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.440 just believe in him. We follow him into his mission. 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:15.919 And if his mission was to come seek and save 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.620 the lost, then what are we supposed to be doing? 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.100 Seeking. Now, we don't do the saving. I want 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:21.980 that to be very clear. But we are supposed to 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:26.559 be seeking the lost. We introduce them to the 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:29.620 one who saves. Every one of us has been lost 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:33.000 at some point. Again, that's why I said calling 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.279 somebody lost is not an insult. We've all been 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:38.899 lost at some point and some may be sitting here 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:43.059 today. In the state of being lost, whether you 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:46.320 realize it or not. That's why for the next month, 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:48.460 we're going to focus on the people that Jesus 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:52.620 values. The lost. Specifically, we're going to 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:56.330 focus on. The one in your life that may be lost. 00:10:56.450 --> 00:10:57.970 The one person that you know. The friend that 00:10:57.970 --> 00:11:00.009 you have. The co -worker. The family member that 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:03.049 is lost. That they're not in a relationship with 00:11:03.049 --> 00:11:05.389 Christ. The person that you can be praying for. 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:08.389 That you can be thinking about in your time of 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:10.929 meditation with God. In your time of prayer. 00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:12.970 In your time of scripture reading. In your fasting. 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:16.570 We're going to be doing a 31 days of prayer and 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:18.470 fasting throughout the month of January. I'm 00:11:18.470 --> 00:11:20.889 just throwing that on you right now. So starting 00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:23.529 on, I think it's Wednesday. and New Year's Day? 00:11:24.669 --> 00:11:27.610 Yes, Thursday is. Thursday is New Year's Day. 00:11:27.710 --> 00:11:29.970 So starting on Thursday, you're going to give 00:11:29.970 --> 00:11:31.690 up something. You don't have to. This is completely 00:11:31.690 --> 00:11:33.850 up to you. I'm encouraging you to. You're going 00:11:33.850 --> 00:11:36.110 to give up something for a month. I'm going to 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:38.350 give up Dr. Pepper. Well, Dr. Pepper and root 00:11:38.350 --> 00:11:40.129 beer. I'm going to give up Dr. Pepper and root 00:11:40.129 --> 00:11:45.090 beer and desserts. The desserts part can be amended. 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:50.090 I'm going to give up sodas for a month. And that's 00:11:50.090 --> 00:11:52.379 going to be what I fast from. And we'll have 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.019 a prayer and fasting guide that we're going to 00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:57.500 send out to you. And each week, the week's prayer 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:01.059 prompts will be printed out for you. But I want 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:03.019 you to think about what you can fast from so 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:05.659 that you can invite God in to do some really 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:08.240 incredible things. But I also want you to be 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:09.940 praying. And our prayer focus is going to be 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.059 on the one. The one in your life that is not 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:15.600 in relationship with Christ. The one in your 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.720 life that's not a follower. Because sometimes 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.039 the Great Commission, that whole go into all 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.740 the worlds and proclaim the gospel can feel kind 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:26.279 of like a daunting task that I have to give the 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:28.960 gospel to everybody. So the challenge is if we 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.320 can just start with one, maybe we can just change 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:34.080 the world. We did the math a few months ago in 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.299 a sermon where I told you, you know, there's 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:39.500 100 people in the room. If you multiply 100 by 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:41.639 two, you get to 200 and you keep multiplying. 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:44.840 If we just start with one, we can change this 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:49.090 county. In just a matter of years, we can bring 00:12:49.090 --> 00:12:52.850 everyone to Christ if we just start with one. 00:12:53.669 --> 00:12:57.309 And so today we begin with the one who has wandered. 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:00.970 So in Luke chapter 15, and this is where the 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:03.029 series is going to kind of be anchored is in 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:05.610 Luke 15. We start in verses one through seven. 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:10.480 We see Jesus, he's receiving some criticism from 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:12.679 the religious elites for the things that he's 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.039 teaching, the things that he's doing. And this 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:17.419 is how he responds to them. It's on the screen, 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.120 but again, it's a little small. So if you want 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.879 to turn there, it's Luke 15 verses 1 through 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:25.039 7. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.639 drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:29.840 the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:32.820 sinners and eats with them. So he told them this 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:36.279 parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:38.720 if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.259 ninety -nine in the open country and go after 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:45.120 the one that is lost until he finds it? And when 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:47.539 he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:50.779 rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:53.500 his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:57.399 Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.000 was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.720 joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:08.179 over ninety nine righteous persons who need no 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:12.460 repentance. I want you to notice first who Jesus 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:16.419 attracts. He attracts religious people, obviously, 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.340 because he's a rabbi. He's a teacher. And so 00:14:18.340 --> 00:14:21.159 religious people are curious about him. But Jesus 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:25.879 also attracts sinners. He attracts outcasts. 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.279 He attracts the people that everybody else would 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:33.860 have avoided. He attracts those people. I got 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:36.980 to be very honest here. Sometimes I think Christians 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:40.399 push those people away. We kind of scare them 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:43.629 off. Again, I want to be a Christ follower, a 00:14:43.629 --> 00:14:46.409 disciple of Christ. And if Jesus attracted those 00:14:46.409 --> 00:14:48.649 people, then I want to attract those people. 00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:50.870 Now, what I want to be very clear is I don't 00:14:50.870 --> 00:14:52.389 want to attract those people by doing what they 00:14:52.389 --> 00:14:55.070 do and fitting in with them. But I want to attract 00:14:55.070 --> 00:14:57.509 those people by being so different that when 00:14:57.509 --> 00:15:00.070 they look at me, they see somebody and say, what 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:02.730 in the world is wrong with that guy? I got to 00:15:02.730 --> 00:15:05.669 know some about him. I got to know why he's so 00:15:05.669 --> 00:15:08.139 different. Just imagine what the world would 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:10.720 think, what they would see if Christians actually 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:14.679 look like Jesus. If Jesus attracted those people, 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:18.159 maybe we could too. And so what I want to do 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.460 is live a life that attracts the people that 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.740 everybody else avoids. And Jesus gets criticism 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:26.960 for this. And the religious leaders, they can't 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.899 stand it. So Jesus tells this story. He talks 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:32.600 about a shepherd. The shepherd leaves his 99 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:36.179 sheep because he has 100, math, 99 sheep to go 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:40.340 find one. He goes to find the one, the one that 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.200 wandered off. And without hesitation, when he 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:48.200 finds him, he rejoices. He doesn't scold the 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:50.919 sheep. He doesn't shame the sheep and beat him 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:52.799 over the head with a stick and say, you stupid 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.179 sheep. How could you run away? He doesn't do 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:57.679 that. He puts the sheep over his shoulders. He 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:03.340 carries them home and he throws a party. He calls 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.240 his friends. He says, celebrate with me. What 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:11.559 was lost has been found. You know, something 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.700 we were. I was talking with somebody the other 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:17.799 day about clapping when somebody gives their 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:19.940 life to Christ, celebrating when somebody gives 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:22.120 their life to Christ. Y 'all, heaven throws a 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:26.220 party when someone comes to know Christ as their 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:30.379 Lord and Savior. Heaven rejoices. And so when 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:32.539 somebody gives their life to Christ in these 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:35.019 waters. What are we supposed to do? Just stand 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:38.039 here like good for you, dude. Happy for you. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:42.539 I'll send you a card. No, we celebrate because 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:45.679 what was lost has been found. Here's the point. 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:49.600 Jesus values the one who wanders. He looks at 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.100 the one that kind of drifts off. He says, I still 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:54.519 love you and I'm going to do things. I'm going 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:56.440 to send people your way. I'm going to send things 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.990 your way so that you can be found. I want you 00:17:00.990 --> 00:17:04.230 to be a part of my family. Jesus says the person 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:07.950 that wanders matters. And if we truly value something, 00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:11.069 we go looking for it. So if we're going to be 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.890 like Jesus, then we've got to look at the person 00:17:13.890 --> 00:17:16.549 who's wandered off. And we've got to say, I value 00:17:16.549 --> 00:17:18.750 them. I'm going to go find them. And when I find 00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:22.450 them, I'm going to celebrate. So let me ask you 00:17:22.450 --> 00:17:26.750 today. If someone you love has wandered from 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:32.519 Christ. Why would you not go after them? Why 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:36.180 would you not chase them down? You know, I think 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:40.180 about when my kids, they start, they got, Peyton 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:42.000 got a four -wheeler and Easton got a little go 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.039 -kart for Christmas and they were driving down 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:49.519 the hill right there, the driveway, and Peyton 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.960 started going a little too fast. So I had to 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:54.180 run and catch him, right? Because I didn't want 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:57.549 him to drift down the hill. Because what's at 00:17:57.549 --> 00:18:02.650 the bottom of the hill? A highway. Right. When 00:18:02.650 --> 00:18:07.269 Jesus sees us drifting, he does what he can to 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:10.789 catch us. And when we see the people we love 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:14.170 drifting down a hill, we know what's at the bottom 00:18:14.170 --> 00:18:17.710 of that hill. So why would we not chase them 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:23.630 to catch them? And I use the word wander. I use 00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:25.910 the word drift because a sheep doesn't typically 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:28.529 leave intentionally. Sheep aren't they're not 00:18:28.529 --> 00:18:30.910 the type to run away and just go do their own 00:18:30.910 --> 00:18:33.549 thing because they want to. Sheep are kind of 00:18:33.549 --> 00:18:36.549 dumb. And so if a sheep gets lost, it's because 00:18:36.549 --> 00:18:39.289 it wandered off or drifted off from the rest 00:18:39.289 --> 00:18:44.269 of the flock. And so we look at a sheep and we 00:18:44.269 --> 00:18:47.950 say, well, it's gone. It's lost because it kind 00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:53.380 of slowly, subtly. sometimes unnoticed, drifts 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:56.500 away from the flock. I want you to think about 00:18:56.500 --> 00:19:00.400 a car that's not actively being steered. If you 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:01.980 take your hands off the steering wheel, maybe 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:04.039 if your front end alignment's good, you can stay 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.440 in the lane for a good while. But if it's not, 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:08.740 you're going to just slowly drift. And before 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:11.859 long, you end up in the median, or hopefully 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:13.980 that's all that happens is you just end up in 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:16.160 the median. I can remember one time when I was 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.119 in high school. My grandma and I, we had to drive 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:19.740 to Jackson, Mississippi. So about a three hour 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:22.920 drive. And well, I say my grandma and I, I drove 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.299 because my grandma doesn't drive far. And so 00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:27.880 I drove, but I was really tired. And so on our 00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:29.640 way back, I fell asleep and I had sunglasses 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:31.700 on. So my grandma didn't realize I'd fallen asleep. 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:35.440 And so all of a sudden the truck just starts 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.500 drifting into the median. And I guess my grandma 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:42.680 maybe wasn't paying attention because before 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:44.799 long we were in the median and I kind of had 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:49.130 to. Get back on the road. I wasn't paying attention. 00:19:50.190 --> 00:19:53.130 I wasn't being conscious about keeping it on 00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:56.529 the road. And before long, we were in danger. 00:19:57.509 --> 00:20:00.250 That's what happens sometimes. Life gets busy, 00:20:00.309 --> 00:20:03.210 right? We go to, like I said, we go to college 00:20:03.210 --> 00:20:05.690 and we stop. going to church on Sunday or maybe 00:20:05.690 --> 00:20:08.250 work gets busy and we miss Wednesday night because 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:10.769 it's been a long week or things get hard. So 00:20:10.769 --> 00:20:13.170 we don't pray as much as we should. And life 00:20:13.170 --> 00:20:15.869 is kind of chaotic. So we don't have the time 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:17.990 to sit down and read our Bible and spend time 00:20:17.990 --> 00:20:20.049 with God. And these things happen and things 00:20:20.049 --> 00:20:22.509 build up. And before long, we have not been to 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:24.769 church in a long time. We haven't talked to God 00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:26.769 in a long time. And it's not because we don't 00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:29.970 want to. We just aren't thinking about it. We 00:20:29.970 --> 00:20:33.420 drift. You know exactly what that's like because 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:35.799 it's happened to you. I mean, I shouldn't just 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:38.099 put that on you, but I would imagine it's happened 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:40.420 to you, especially if you work and have kids. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.359 Things get chaotic. And all of a sudden, the 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:46.380 thing to take the back seat is the God that you 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:48.380 can't see with your eyes. And so it's easy to 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:53.680 just put him on the back burner. We drift. That's 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.960 why I'm preaching this, because there are people 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.339 in this room that have drifted and there are 00:20:58.339 --> 00:21:00.440 a ton of people out there that have drifted. 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:03.940 And I have three specific reasons for this lesson. 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:07.140 The first one is we have to be intentional if 00:21:07.140 --> 00:21:08.940 we want to stay close to the shepherd, if we 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:10.980 want to stay on the road, if we want to stay 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:13.400 on the path that leads to that home in heaven 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:15.819 with God. We've got to be intentional about it 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.819 because it can be very easy to just drift off. 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:21.119 And before long, we're the sheep that's wandered 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:22.839 away that needs somebody to come find him. And 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:24.819 if we're not careful, we may never be found. 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:27.240 We've got to be intentional. The second thing 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:30.440 is, is if you've wandered, if you are lost. I 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:32.880 want you to hear this clearly. You can come home. 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.299 There is not a better time than right now to 00:21:37.299 --> 00:21:39.619 come home. And the third is, is if someone you 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:42.160 love has wandered, you better go find them. I 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.779 better go find them. If someone you love has 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:48.119 wandered and if you want to be like Jesus, if 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:51.019 I want to be like Jesus, I better go find them. 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:54.299 Because they're not just going to find their 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:56.019 way home on their own. That's another thing about 00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:59.369 sheep. Again, sheep are dumb. I'm not calling 00:21:59.369 --> 00:22:02.150 our loved ones dumb. I'm just saying we're all 00:22:02.150 --> 00:22:06.450 sheep. Sheep, when they wander, they're stuck 00:22:06.450 --> 00:22:09.269 because they're not smart enough to find the 00:22:09.269 --> 00:22:11.789 shepherd, to find the flock. They're not smart 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:13.650 enough. You know, if you get lost in the woods, 00:22:13.710 --> 00:22:15.369 it's like, OK, if I just walk this direction 00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:17.970 long enough, I will find my way home. Right. 00:22:18.589 --> 00:22:20.809 It's not like that. Sheep, when they get lost, 00:22:20.950 --> 00:22:22.849 they're lost until someone goes to find them. 00:22:22.950 --> 00:22:25.250 And so if our friends are lost, we better go 00:22:25.250 --> 00:22:28.430 find them. To follow Jesus is to see people the 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:30.910 way he sees them. And Jesus doesn't look at the 00:22:30.910 --> 00:22:32.809 lost sheep and say, well, that was their fault. 00:22:32.930 --> 00:22:34.970 I hope they find their way home. He looks at 00:22:34.970 --> 00:22:37.789 them. He goes after them. And there are thousands 00:22:37.789 --> 00:22:39.930 of people in our community with church backgrounds 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:43.250 who have simply drifted away from Christ. You 00:22:43.250 --> 00:22:46.230 know those people. I don't because I'm new here. 00:22:46.529 --> 00:22:49.410 But you know those people. The people that sat 00:22:49.410 --> 00:22:53.130 in these chairs not too long ago. The people 00:22:53.130 --> 00:22:55.069 that you grew up going to church with, the people 00:22:55.069 --> 00:22:56.710 that you went on the youth group trips with, 00:22:56.769 --> 00:22:58.950 the people that you maybe went to a Christian 00:22:58.950 --> 00:23:00.950 college with and now they could care less about 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:06.049 talking to God. You know those people. And if 00:23:06.049 --> 00:23:10.569 you see them the way Jesus sees them, we should 00:23:10.569 --> 00:23:13.910 go find them. The next thing I want you to notice 00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:16.630 what happens when the sheep is found again, and 00:23:16.630 --> 00:23:19.089 I really want to emphasize this point, is there 00:23:19.089 --> 00:23:24.140 is a celebration. There's not condemnation. Full 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:26.359 transparency, I got the idea for this series 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.000 from a preacher in Texas named Rick Ashley. And 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:32.559 one thing that Rick says in his sermon on the 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.720 sheep is he doesn't pick the sheep up and beat 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.180 him over the head with his club and say, you 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:38.720 stupid sheep, how dare you walk away? And he 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.960 doesn't do that. He throws a party. And I say 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.160 that, I said that twice now, maybe three times 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:45.960 in this lesson, because I want that message to 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:48.880 be very clear. I can't speak for all of you, 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.160 but I know I can speak for myself. And I think 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:53.160 I can speak for Chad and Phil as the shepherds. 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:55.880 We're going to celebrate when people come to 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:58.740 know Christ. And we're going to be a church that 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:01.500 welcomes the lost. We're going to be a people 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:04.599 that when people say, I want to know Jesus, we're 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:06.299 going to do everything we can to make sure they 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:08.740 get to know him. And when they find him, when 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:10.799 they give their life to him, we are going to 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:14.579 be a people that throw a party with heaven. Now, 00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:16.440 we may not have a real party, although that'd 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:19.200 be kind of fun, right? Baptism parties. We should 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:22.079 work on that. We're going to be a people that 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.599 celebrate when somebody comes to know the greatest 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.119 gift. that was ever given. When somebody comes 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:30.200 to know the good shepherd, when somebody comes 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:35.420 to know the God that loves to give abundant life 00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:38.420 to his children, we're going to celebrate that. 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:41.500 The church should reflect the heart of heaven. 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:44.519 So this month, we're committing ourselves to 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:46.920 prayer. We're going to commit ourselves to fasting. 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:49.579 I couldn't think of a better way to start our 00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:52.579 new year, my first full year with you as a congregation. 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:55.240 I couldn't think of a better way to start us 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:58.319 off than praying to God for the people that we 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:01.259 know that are lost. to praying to God for our 00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:03.740 church to be a church family that welcomes the 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:06.000 loss. I couldn't think of a better way than saying, 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:07.940 I'm going to give something up. I'm going to 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:10.599 pour something out so that God can fill me up 00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:13.220 in a better way through fasting. That's a spiritual 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:15.420 discipline that we neglect, but I think we need 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:17.460 to focus on a little bit more because I'm going 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:20.160 to let something go so that God can give something 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:23.799 better. And y 'all know how much I love Dr. Pepper. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:26.779 To say God can give me something better than 00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:29.950 Dr. Pepper is saying something. But let me tell 00:25:29.950 --> 00:25:32.549 you, if we have one baptism this year, that'll 00:25:32.549 --> 00:25:35.630 be better than a month without Dr. Pepper. Because 00:25:35.630 --> 00:25:38.890 that is what we're here for. We're here to find 00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:42.910 the lost. So this month we commit to praying 00:25:42.910 --> 00:25:45.710 for the lost. We commit to fasting so that God 00:25:45.710 --> 00:25:47.950 can open our eyes for the lost. This isn't a 00:25:47.950 --> 00:25:49.730 ritual. This isn't something that we're doing 00:25:49.730 --> 00:25:51.910 because it's a cool thing to do. This is about 00:25:51.910 --> 00:25:55.400 love. This is about loving our neighbor and loving 00:25:55.400 --> 00:25:57.839 each other as God has loved us. So we're starting 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:00.059 with one because trying to reach everyone can 00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:03.279 feel a little bit intimidating. And our prayer 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:05.720 and fasting guide is going to be, well, it's 00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:09.380 already made. It's designed to help us do this 00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:11.519 intentionally so that daily we can pray for our 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:14.700 one and daily we can listen for God's leading 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:18.119 and maybe look for God's prompting. And really 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:19.940 intentionally what we want to do is we want to 00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:23.339 prepare prayer with loving and faithful action. 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:26.900 Because we can pray all day long. We can ask 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:29.079 God for things. We can talk to God about things. 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:32.859 But if we are not a people of action with our 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:35.400 prayer, then we're just people that make wishes 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:39.619 to God. And every time you see people in Scripture 00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:42.319 come to know God, there's an action that they've 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:45.079 got to be involved in. You look at the blind 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:47.950 man. Jesus tells him. He says, go. Wash your 00:26:47.950 --> 00:26:51.509 face in the pool. You look at the lame man. He 00:26:51.509 --> 00:26:53.829 says, get up, walk. We can't just be people that 00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:55.390 say, I'm going to pray. I'm going to trust God 00:26:55.390 --> 00:26:58.049 to do it. We got to work with him. We have to 00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:03.250 serve with him. So we do this not to fix people, 00:27:03.349 --> 00:27:06.549 not to argue with people, but to seek, to invite, 00:27:06.849 --> 00:27:11.390 to care, trusting that God will do what only 00:27:11.390 --> 00:27:15.960 God can do. And as people return. whether they 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:19.099 come quickly or they kind of trickle in, as people 00:27:19.099 --> 00:27:24.240 return to God, we rejoice together. We celebrate. 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:27.480 This morning, if there's somebody in here with 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:30.279 a heart that is troubled, if you feel like you're 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:32.539 that sheep that's wandered off, if you feel like 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:35.200 you fit into the category of lost, wherever you 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:37.759 stand today, if you're just hurting, if you need 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:39.859 to come to know Jesus for the first time, if 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:41.819 you're ready to give your life to him, the water 00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:45.670 is always ready. If you need anything, We're 00:27:45.670 --> 00:27:47.950 a church that loves to pray for people. We're 00:27:47.950 --> 00:27:49.349 a church that loves to serve people. We're a 00:27:49.349 --> 00:27:51.609 church that loves to sit with people, grieve 00:27:51.609 --> 00:27:53.730 with people, rejoice with people, whatever you 00:27:53.730 --> 00:27:57.509 need. This is a time of invitation made specifically 00:27:57.509 --> 00:28:01.269 for you. I hope you'll take it as we stand and 00:28:01.269 --> 00:28:01.690 as we sing.