{"id":10,"date":"2009-03-05T22:35:23","date_gmt":"2009-03-05T21:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=10"},"modified":"2009-03-05T22:35:23","modified_gmt":"2009-03-05T21:35:23","slug":"lost-and-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=10","title":{"rendered":"Lost and Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOST and FOUND\tLuke 15<\/p>\n

When I was young we had family holidays on a farm in Devon with Farmer Pugsley and Mrs Pugsley. At Easter of 1963 it snowed \u2013 and we were snowed in. It was lambing time and there were still lambs being born out in the fields but a few of the mothers did not survive the births. So in the evenings we children were invited into the farmers\u2019 living room in front of the log fire to help feed these tiny lambs from bottles. Lost orphan lambs. <\/p>\n

\u201cSuppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.<\/em><\/p>\n

LOST<\/p>\n

How lost people are<\/p>\n

Treasures in heaven or treasures on earth \u2013 people are realizing that the god of shopping and the god of entertainment have nothing to offer them. Realising that the things they have worked for and chased after all their lives are empty and worthless.<\/p>\n

Created for a relationship with God. But human beings have lost their way. Sin is a short word with \u201cI\u201d in the middle. Anybody who puts themselves in the centre of their lives, worships that unholy trinity of \u201cme, myself and I\u201d cuts themselves off from God.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
\nyour sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
\n3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.
\nYour lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
\n4 No-one calls for justice; no-one pleads his case with integrity.
\nThey rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
\n…… 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.
\nTheir thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
\n8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.
\nThey have turned them into crooked roads; no-one who walks in them will know peace.
\n9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us.
\nWe look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
\n10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes.
\nLOST without God<\/em><\/p>\n

We live in a lost world. So many people lost without God \u2013 facing death and the judgment throne of God with no hope whatsoever – and going to a lost eternity without God. <\/p>\n

But God has not given up on all these people!<\/p>\n

FOUND<\/p>\n

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 \u201cSuppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?<\/em><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Cecelia Clephane, 1868
\nThere were ninety and nine that safely lay
\nIn the shelter of the fold.
\nBut one was out on the hills far away,
\nFar off from the gates of gold.
\nAway on the mountains wild and bare.
\nAway from the tender Shepherd’s care.
\n2. Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
\nAre they not enough for Thee?
\nBut the Shepherd made answer: This of Mine
\nHas wandered away from Me;
\nAnd although the road be rough and steep,
\nI go to the desert to find My sheep.
\n3. But none of the ransomed ever knew
\nHow deep were the waters crossed;
\nNor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
\nEre He found His sheep that was lost.
\nOut in the desert He heard its cry,
\nSick and helpless and ready to die.
\n4. Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
\nThat mark out the mountain’s track?
\nThey were shed for one who had gone astray
\nEre the Shepherd could bring him back.
\nLord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?
\nThey’re pierced tonight by many a thorn.
\n5. But all through the mountains, thunder riven
\nAnd up from the rocky steep,
\nThere arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven,
\nRejoice! I have found My sheep!
\nAnd the angels echoed around the throne,
\nRejoice, for the Lord brings back His own! <\/p>\n

God has not given up on all these people who are lost without Him. He has set out to find his lost sheep!<\/p>\n

5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, \u2018Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.\u2019 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.<\/em><\/p>\n

God cares about lost sinners. God cared enough to give his only son so that whoever believes in Him should not die but have eternal life. God offers all the blessings of salvation – forgiveness, new life, Holy Spirit living inside us giving us strength to face the day, happy certainty of heaven. Plenty to rejoice about there!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
\n21 \u201cThe son said to him, \u2018Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.\u2019
\n22 \u201cBut the father said to his servants, \u2018Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let\u2019s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u2019 So they began to celebrate.<\/em>
\nDo you remember what it was like to be lost? Do you remember that time when God found you? And brought you home rejoicing? When you first knew that you were a sinner and wept with that godly sorrow which brings repentance and leads to salvation? That time when you first knew that God had forgiven your sins and given you the gift of eternal life. That time when you first knew for certain you will be going to heaven? That time when all the angels and all the saints in heaven were rejoicing because YOU had been saved!<\/p>\n

We can forget the joy we experienced when God first saved us. We can lose our first love for the Good Shepherd who searched and searched and searched for us until He found us!<\/p>\n

AMAZING GRACE, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me
\nI once was lost but now am found \u2013 was blind but now I see.<\/p>\n

There is so much to rejoice about when a sinner comes back to God! When a sinner truly repents. When they acknowledge how lost they are without God and turn back to Him. When they confess their sins and show their repentance by letting God change their lives.<\/p>\n

Luke 19:8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, \u201cLook, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.\u201d
\n9 Jesus said to him, \u201cToday salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST<\/p>\n

Too many churches have embraced the little bo peep theology.
\n\u201cLittle Bo Peep, she lost her sheep and doesn\u2019t know where to find them.
\nLeave them alone and they\u2019ll come home, wagging their tails behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

God isn\u2019t just sitting around waiting for lost people to come home to Him \u2013 God is the good Shepherd who goes out to search the countryside for those who are lost. And he calls US who he has saved to share in this work of seeking and saving the lost. <\/p>\n

But there is more and more pressures on us as Christians to stay silent. To enjoy our own salvation but not to tell anybody else about it.<\/p>\n

Christian nurse from Weston-super-Mare has been suspended for offering to pray for a patient’s recovery. Community nurse Caroline Petrie, 45, says she asked an elderly woman patient during a home visit if she wanted her to say a prayer for her. The patient complained to the health trust about Mrs Petrie who follows the Baptist faith. She was suspended, without pay, on 17 December and will find out the outcome of her disciplinary meeting next week. <\/p>\n

Radio 2 12-2 Friday \u2013 should Christians be allowed to talk about their faith in the workplace? Nurse and clients \u2013 anybody and colleagues. People are allowed to talk about anything \u2013 politics, football, all kinds of details about their private lives – except Christians arent allowed to share their faith.
\nPostmodernism- the only thing we are sure of is that we can’t be sure about anything. Everybody’s opinions are supposed to be as valid and as valued as anybody else\u2019s. So the one thing which is not allowed is a truth which claims to make other ideas false. Jesus said \u201cI am THE way, THE truth, THE life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d But it is no longer acceptable to say that. Moslems are allowed to say \u201cthere is no God but Allah\u201d, but Christians aren\u2019t allowed to say Jesus is the only way to God. Christians aren\u2019t allowed to say that all the broad roads lead to destruction and only the narrow way leads to life, and few find it! We can’t say that because that would offend people who don’t agree with us, all the people on the broad roads who don\u2019t like to be told that they are heading straight for hell.<\/p>\n

But we cannot stay silent! We dare not! If our salvation brings us joy and peace. If knowing Jesus is the most important thing in our lives, we cannot stay silent! If we really care about our neighbours and friends who are lost without Christ, we will NOT stay silent!<\/p>\n

Matthew 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, \u201cThe harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

God calls US to have compassion on our friends and neighbours and colleagues \u2013 they ARE harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. God calls US to be the workers in His harvest field.<\/p>\n

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

God calls US to go out and seek and save the lost.<\/p>\n

Parable of the wedding banquet
\nLuke 14:21 \u201cThe servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, \u2018Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\u2019
\n22 \u201c \u2018Sir,\u2019 the servant said, \u2018what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.\u2019
\n23 \u201cThen the master told his servant, \u2018Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christians are not called to be a happy club just sitting around enjoying the blessings of salvation \u2013 we are called to be lifeboatmen and mountain rescuers and firemen \u2013 to go out into the streets and alleys and the country lanes to seek and save the lost. <\/p>\n

Have you ever lost anything and had to search for it? I have never lost any sheep. Mercifully we have never lost any of our children for more than a few minutes. We did lose our dog once. In the New Forest our first dog Tara ran off chasing a deer. We called and whistled but she didn\u2019t come back so we began to search for her. It was a very distressing time. We would have stayed in the Forest searching all night if she had not eventually reappeared. But our desperate concern to find our lost dog was only a faint shadow of the concern which Jesus the Good Shepherd has for his Lost Sheep.<\/p>\n

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.\u2019 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOST and FOUND Luke 15 When I was young we had family holidays on a farm in Devon with Farmer Pugsley and Mrs Pugsley.…<\/span><\/p>\n

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