Kingdom Expansion Principles from the Parable of the Lost Sheep — Part 3

Let's read Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 7.

Luke 15:1–7

Luke chapter 15 verse 1. Now the tax collectors

Luke 15:1

and sinners were all gathering around to hear

him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the

law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and eats

with them. Then Jesus told them this parable.

Suppose 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? And when he finds it, he joyfully

puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then

he calls his friends and neighbors together and

says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep.

I tell you that in the same way there will be

more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who

repents than over 99 righteous persons who do

not need to repent. So we have this teaching

of Jesus. Let's just devote our hearts to receiving

from the Lord. Jesus, as we read these words

from you, we just commit our hearts to you. You're

right. We are not. We're asking right now in

your name, Jesus, for your Holy Spirit to come

in supernatural power, take these words, and

radically, permanently change our hearts forever.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right. All the

children that are in service today, I love you.

I'm so glad that you're here. And we're going

to try to really include you in the teaching

and the illustrations today. Stay with me. Parents,

if you didn't get an activity packet for your

kids, there's still some out in the foyer. It

will help them engage with what's going on. So

this Luke chapter 15, we've been here for a few

Luke 15 · chapter mention

weeks. Jesus, this Luke chapter 14, 15, 16, Jesus

Luke 14 · chapter mention

is teaching parables about the kingdom of heaven.

He's teaching his disciples. about this kingdom

that he has brought to the earth and is soon

going to hand over to the New Testament church

to be advanced and strengthened until Jesus returns

again, which we're still waiting on. And so you

and I, we're kingdom people, all right? We are

about the kingdom of heaven. It is our earthly

assignment. Once we get saved, God didn't just

take us out of the earth into heaven because

we have a job to be doing, right? We have a job,

and our job, as Jesus said, I want you to pray

in this way. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed

in honor and glory be to your name. May your

kingdom come on the earth as it is in heaven.

And so we have this mandate from Jesus that our

job is to model, live in the kingdom of heaven

on the earth in such a way that that kingdom

expands. Expands for who? Expands for... all

these names and the millions of others across

the earth who do not have a relationship with

Jesus yet, who if Jesus returned today, right?

And they did not have a relationship with Jesus

or they died this week, would be separated from

God forever in hell. So we owe the world a genuine

expression of the person of Jesus in our lives.

The Scripture says, Christ in me is the hope

of glory. Galatians 2 .20, For I no longer live,

but now Christ lives in me. Right? And so this

expression, we are bringing the kingdom of heaven

to the earth and other lives. And you are doing

that in a wonderful way. You are the most kingdom

-minded group of people I've ever been around.

And I want to say I'm proud of you. Keep going.

And so we're looking at this parable of the lost

sheep and saying, Jesus, would you teach me about

your kingdom? Teach me how the kingdom works,

how it operates. Because how many of you know

the kingdom of heaven operates much differently

than the kingdom of this world? It's very different.

So when we're looking at Jesus' teachings here

and what the scripture says, Just in a little

bit of review over the last couple of weeks and

then we'll kind of get into some new things.

I realize there's a temptation for preachers

in this day. I feel it all the time. There's

a temptation for preachers to always come up

with the latest and greatest revelation that

you've never heard of before. And sometimes that

happens and it's meaningful and it's powerful.

But as we're reviewing these things, it is important

for the people of God to learn through repetition.

of the basic foundations of the kingdom of heaven.

Does that make sense? Alright, so number one,

if you're looking back at a couple weeks ago

in a review, the presence of Jesus in our daily

lives should attract those who are rejected and

bound by their sin. Okay? When this parable starts,

Jesus is there and it says, the tax collectors

and the sinners are gathered around him. Jesus

is living his life in such a way that he is attracting

outcasts and broken sinners, right? The tax collectors

in that day were outcasts. And so we're saying,

Jesus, as you model this kingdom, we want to

be like you. We do understand that, that as Christians

we are to become like Christ. We're to continually

submit ourselves to the power of the word, the

power of the Holy Spirit, to be shaped to become

like Jesus. And in that way, we want to live

our lives in such a way that people are attracted

to Jesus in us. And as we talked about this the

last few weeks, two of the main ways that Jesus

attracted people to him were one, he lived with

the demonstration of the power of God. And then

two, he followed it up with the love of God,

right? He would do miracles. that would attract

people's attention to the power and the greatness

of God, and then he would follow that up by accepting

those that everyone else rejected, by loving

them, receiving them in friendship. All right,

so I just want, let's just say a young person

or a child, 13 years or younger, who would give

me one reason or one way that you right now in

your life could demonstrate the power of God?

Talking about at school, sports teams, like your

life that you're rocking right now. One person,

13 years or younger, that will just give me one

way that you can demonstrate the power of God

in your life. Come on. You got this. Anyone?

You have to be 13 or younger. One way you can

demonstrate the power of God. It's going to be

a long morning because we're not leaving until

we get this right here. I don't know what to

tell you. Anyone? One way. Yeah. Okay. Hang on

just one second. What did you say? Being a light.

Okay. Being a light. Right? Being the light of

God in darkness. Excellent. What does anybody

else have? Or how about an adult 13 years or

older? What's one way that you can demonstrate

the power of God? Anyone? Yes, ma 'am. The way

you talk and treat people. Okay. The way you

talk and treat people. Excellent. Okay. Okay.

Fantastic. 13 and under again. Are you with me,

children? What's one way that you can demonstrate

the love of God in your life right now? At school?

At home? How many of you need to demonstrate

the love of God with your sisters and brothers

in your house? Anyone? Okay. Going downhill fast.

All right. 13 and under, a way that you can demonstrate

the love of God right now in your life. Anyone?

Yeah. Holding a sibling through their ups and

downs. Okay. Holding them to or through? Okay,

through. That's better. Yeah. We're really good

at holding our siblings to their ups and downs.

But holding them through, right. Our siblings.

Yes, Lord. We need that. I have a brother I'd

like to really hold to his down right now. But

we're not going to do that because we're modeling

the love of God. Anyone else? Yes. You can love

the unlovable and just really love them like

Jesus loves us. Amen. Finding the unlovely people

are those that are difficult to love and love

them. The presence of Jesus in our daily lives

should attract those who are rejected and bound

by sin. Listen, we need to be living in such

a way that we look around and there's people

wanting Jesus in us. People that are broke. And

so, let's continue to do that. Anybody need that

besides me? I want to live that way. Alright,

number two, the kingdom person welcomes the rejected

and broken. and invites them into genuine fellowship.

All right, Jesus was what the Pharisees and the

teachers of the law who were setting themselves

up against Jesus, what they were muttering about

him is this man welcomes and dines with sinners.

And so as we take a look at this principle, not

only should our lives be attracting them, but

we should be intentionally inviting. People who

are not like us. People who definitely need God

in their lives. They should be invited into our

lives. We should be welcoming Him. When is the

last time that you caught the reputation of being

a friend of sinners? And we've talked about this,

so we're not going to, you know, just... We should

not so insulate ourselves with the church that

we have no contact with people who desperately

need Jesus. They should be an active part of

our lives. They should be our friends. They should

be people that we're inviting into our homes.

And I'm not very good at that, but I want to

grow in that area. And so, we have living in

a way that attracts people, and once God attracts

people, it's being welcoming and inviting them

in. Then number three, The kingdom of heaven

is a culture of actively pursuing those who have

experienced broken fellowship with our Father.

Last week I told you about the story of losing

my daughter when she was very small and just

everything crazy I did to try to find her. It

was literally the most horrifying moments of

my life. And we talked about how the fact that

children, I want all children, I want you to

hear me just for a second. There is nothing that

you will ever experience There's no sin that

you will ever do. There's no horrible thing that

you will ever think about or do that would cause

God to not come after you. He wants you. He loves

you. And adults, can we also just let that absorb

into our hearts? That the Father is a Father

that pursues the lost and the broken. In taking

that, we also want to turn it and begin to model

that in our lives. That we need to be people

who like Jesus because you remember we talked

about this in the Scriptures. He has given us

now the ministry of reconciliation. Every Christ

follower, according to the Scripture, has now

become a minister. It is our job. to be pursuing

the lost and the broken and the rejected and

bringing them back into a relationship with the

Father. All right, kids. I need someone to tell

me the greatest hide -and -seek hiding spot you've

ever had that you were the hardest to find. Can

I get one? Okay. I finally get some hands around

here. I see what's going on. Okay. Best hiding

spot you've ever had, hardest to find. We were

playing in the church. Here, me and Luke, we

went into this big room and hide under the shelf

with all the empty water tanks. Nice. We hide

behind them and they're all going, uh -uh -uh.

And they never found you? You had to eventually

come out? I love it when that happens. All right.

I had one. Yes? No? Yes? All right. Best hiding

place ever? In the washer. In the washer? Like

your washing machine that you put clothes in?

All right. It was a few years ago, but one time

I was at my birthday party, and I hid on top

of our fridge in our laundry room, and I eventually

came out because I won, and I didn't tell them,

and I used that hiding spot like three rounds.

Nice. Oh, man, I feel like we could go the rest

of the service on this one. All right, last one.

Go ahead. Under a house. Under the house, yes.

You know you're the bomb at hide -and -go -seek

when you just have to come out of your hiding

spot because no one could ever find you, right?

Your pastors and elders, we have a retreat every

year where we get together and think about you

a lot and play ridiculous games and love each

other. And a number of years ago, we played adult

hide -and -seek at a house. It's been a number

of years ago. We had an elder. Does anybody know

Andy Wright? He's kind of an elderly man now.

This was a long time ago. Andy Wright, he's not

a small guy. And we could not find him anywhere

in the house that went to the retreat. Couldn't

find him anywhere. He eventually called out and

gave up. And when you walked into a closet, he

was at the top, spider -manned against the wall.

Like up at the top of the closet, a grown, large

man with no hair on his head. So, you know, and

we're talking about hide and seek. Here, come

with me here. David, David was a guy that loved

God. Anybody love God? David was a guy that loved

God. He was also a guy that had some major struggles.

And anybody have major struggles? Anyway, love

God and have major struggles. Right. But he said,

no matter where I go, God finds me. I can make

my bed in hell, in Hades, in Sheol, the place

of the dead, and he will find me. There's a concept

that we need to start understanding in the parable

of the lost sheep. You'll never... have to announce

your hiding spot because God gave up looking

for you. It's never going to happen. And you

may think you have the most well -crafted hiding

place, but He knows and He's coming after you.

Why? Because He has discipline in His hands?

No, because He wants you. We're talking about

people... Not only lost people, but remember

Jesus in the parable, he's talking to Jews. He's

talking about Israelites who are now in broken

fellowship out of covenant with God. So it's

not just your lost buddy that needs to be found.

There are times when you are in brokenness. When

you're in separation from fellowship with God.

When your fellowship has been broken and God

is pursuing you. And now, who here? will say,

I will now be the person that will not stop looking.

God did it for you. Who will be the one that

now says, now that I'm a minister of reconciliation,

I will not stop looking. There's no place I won't

go. I will even go into a small closet and look

for a large man in a ridiculous place. Because

I'm not going to stop pursuing those who need

to be found. Amen? Thanks, man. Alright, number

four. In the kingdom, the helplessness of the

lost sheep is fully understood. There's no expectation

for the lost to make their way to the shepherd.

The shepherd radically pursues them. Does this

make sense to you? There's a tendency for the

church to expect lost, broken, hurting people

to get their act together and then we'll bring

them to the Lord. But if you notice in the story,

there's one lost sheep. Jesus goes and finds

them. We wrote in here, religion says, yes, the

good shepherd is gracious. So the lost sheep

should climb out of the briars and make their

way to him. But the kingdom understands that

the lost sheep will never return on their own.

And that's why the shepherd will pursue them

until he finds them. That's what it says. It

says in verse four, suppose one of you has 100

sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave

the 99 in the open country and go after the lost

sheep until he finds it? All right, one more

time. Are there any children here that will tell

us a time when their parents got really lost?

Is there any children? This is like a time for

you to really tell stories on your parents. Are

there any children that remember a time where

your parents got really lost? Okay. You're all

over it today. We were in this huge parking lot,

and it was like yesterday, too, because we were

in the mall, and they lost the parking spot,

so we had to go through each row and find it.

Until you found the car. Pushing the button,

is that what we did? Excuse me. Anybody else?

Want to tell on your parents, time that they

got lost, really lost? You could tell on yours.

You're telling on your kids, your parents, or

your husband. Okay, awesome. So when I was a

little girl, we went to California to go to Disney,

and this was way back before Maps Go and all

that. Actually, it was Maps Go. What are the

big books we had that opened up? Anyway, so she

had a big map. So we leave the airport, and we

are supposed to be headed toward the direction

we're supposed to go. We get an hour down the

road, and she realizes she had the map upside

down, and we were going the wrong way. Bonus.

Awesome. All right. We can be done ratting on

other people. How many of you would just say

like physically, I have been a place where I

have been completely lost. Like I'm not rhetorically

like lost, lost. Okay, when you're at a place

where you're completely lost and you have no

idea where to go or how to get there, do you

at some point just go, I'm tired of being lost.

I'm going to no longer be lost. I'm found now.

Now I know where I am. It doesn't work like that.

When you're lost, somebody that knows has defined

you and bring you back to the place, right? You

don't just go, oh man, I'm lost. I don't want

to be lost anymore. We have to have this mindset.

Lost people act like lost people. Broken people

act like broken people because they are and we

were. So the expectation, is not for them to

find themselves, come to their senses and come

back. We must have the heart of the shepherd

that pursues them into the mess, into the grossness,

into the uncomfortability, the inconvenience.

Does that make sense? This is what it looks like

to be a kingdom person. A kingdom person is not,

look, I'm in the kingdom of heaven and you're

not, and I hope someday you make it. The kingdom

looks like this. I've been... found and brought

into the family of the kingdom of heaven. Now

I will go out and I will not stop looking for

the people that cannot find their way here. Okay.

Alright, so that was pretty much the review.

Alright, so number five. We're going to finish

up here in just a moment. Number five. This is

kingdom principles. In the kingdom, the pursuit

of those with broken fellowship should defy human

logic and abandon the world's pursuit. of personal

gain. Think about that. When we look at what

Jesus is telling the parable, here in verse 3,

then Jesus told them this parable. Suppose one

of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.

And he asks this question, does he not leave

the 99 in the open country and go after the lost

sheep until he finds it? I was reading, you know,

and studying this passage over the last few weeks,

I was... reading several commentaries, and the

commentators were writing that if Jesus asked

this question to a group of actual shepherds

in that day, the answer to his question would

be a resounding no. No. It makes no sense to

leave 99 safe sheep and put them in the open

country to pursue the one. It is illogical. And

we've grown up hearing the story like, well,

of course. He leaves the 99 and goes after the

1. You understand that the shepherd's livelihood

is dependent on the 99 found and not the 1 lost.

And so when Jesus is teaching this, He's counter...

He's getting us to think against the way of the

world. The way of the world says stay safe, stay

logical, use human reasoning, go with that, use

what protects you and preserves you. But Jesus

says the good shepherd leaves 99 safe sheep in

the open country because he's so desperate to

find the one lost one. And it's completely self

-sacrificial. It's completely denying self. And

so, as we are saying, Jesus, I want, because

you know, Jesus is calling us to be ministers

of reconciliation. We are the under -shepherds,

under the good shepherd. And as we're doing that,

we need to come into this understanding that

as Jesus calls us to pursue the lost, the broken,

to reach out, to go into their worlds, it will

defy logic. Can I ask this question as we leave

this part? What keeps us from going after the

broken and fleeing person? Is it our dignity?

Is it our reputation? Is it the preciousness

of our time? Is it even possibly our career?

Or even our personal gain? And then just let

me follow up with this thought. Aren't we so

glad that Jesus didn't let these things stop

Him from pursuing us? And we no longer have the

right to let them stop us. Hey, children, teenagers,

if you're going to be a kingdom young man or

young woman, it will most likely cost you popularity,

friends, comfort, even some of your own dignity

of like, what are people going to think about

me? Adults. If you're going to be a serious kingdom

person, going after, actively pursuing, it's

going to cost you. But that's exactly why we're

consecrating ourselves this month. It is no longer

our lives to hold, right? We belong to Him. And

so we're committing. Could we do that just right

here? Could we just pause and say, God, I repent.

I repent for it being about me. and I'm willing

to lay those things down and commit to be a person

of radical pursuit. Can we just commit that to

the Lord right now? Good job. We're going to

get out early. Can we do this last one, number

six? I think this one's really important to us.

In the kingdom, finding the lost and broken is

not the end goal. It is only the beginning of

a restoration process. of carrying people back

into the family of God and helping them understand

their divine purpose as an under -shepherd themselves.

Are you with me? Think about this. When we look

at the story, it says, suppose one of you has

a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he

not leave the 99 in the open country and go after

the lost sheep until he finds it? Does the parable

end there? No, it doesn't. It says, and when

he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

and goes home. And then he gathers people around

to rejoice. In the kingdom, finding the lost

and broken is not the end goal. It is only the

beginning of the restoration process. Can we

step out of just like a parable that we've heard

2 ,000 times if you've been in church all your

life and think about it. When you are going,

Anybody ever gone after or tried to treat, surround,

gather up an animal that's actually strayed and

been lost? Okay. When you find that animal, what's

it like? That animal normally is like, I'm so

glad you found me. Thank you. It's not like that.

When you find a lost animal, they're scared.

They're aggressive. They may be wounded. And

so what do you have to do? You find the animal,

but then you have to have a gentleness about

you to approach them in their situation. You

have to sweet talk them and maybe have some sweet

feed or some range cubes or some cracked corn,

something that's right. And you have to get there

and then you have to be gentle and pick them

up. And then it says, and he puts that sheep

on his shoulders and carries them home. All right,

are you okay with one last illustration? I need

a strong adult with a good back. You're going

to like this. Strong adult with a good back.

Anyone? All right, excellent. All right, would

you go out that door just for a second? Yeah,

that one. All right, I need a small child, and

it doesn't matter how good your back is, but

I need you to be small, okay? You in the red,

small. Okay, come up here. Hey, make sure Trenton's

not cheating. Hey, keep them out there. Hey,

don't cheat. Look the other way. All right. Let's

hide you up here. Maybe we should have asked

Brad and Valerie about this, but it's okay. We'll

be all right. All right. How small can you get

behind that box? Excellent. All right. Good job.

All right. When I say start, I just want you

to start going like, help me. Not real loud,

just a little soft. So let's try it. Just say

it. Okay, it's going to have to be louder than

that. He's got to hear you over there. All right,

say it a little louder. Okay. Okay, Trenton,

you ready? Strong back. All right, so what you're

doing is somewhere in this room is hidden a really

big child, and you're going to carry them, okay?

All right, so you're just going to have to find

them. All right, go ahead and start. I'm ready.

You too. You too, hidden person. No, you're just

going to have to listen and look. A little louder.

Keep going. Hidden person. Keep saying it. A

little louder. All right. You found him. Okay.

Stay right there. Okay. Now, you found him. Excellent.

You already just took all the excellent. You

picked him up. You put him on your shoulders.

And now you have to carry him home. So he now

goes home with you today. And his parents don't

mind. But seriously, I want you to very carefully

carry him right back out the back door you came

from. It is a strong back. Come back to me just

for a second. And then we're going to get out

of here. The end result. Can you... Can you try

to see this from God's perspective? When he sees

a lost sheep, broken, scared, separated, he's

outside of time. What he sees when he sees a

lost sheep is a victorious shepherd that will

go find other lost sheep. Do you understand that?

That's how God sees you. Some of you are like,

I love God and I also have a lot of struggles.

God sees that. But he doesn't see you as a person

struggling. He sees you at who you can and will

be, his divine purpose for your life. And I need

you to get this picture of Jesus' life. Jesus

didn't go and find disciples as tax collectors

and then say, hey, I found you, and then leave.

What did he do? He found them. He called them

into relationship. He discipled them. He empowered

them. And then he sent them out into the cities

and said, go in my name, cast out demons, heal

the sick, preach the gospel. Because the point

was not finding lost sheep. The point was finding

future shepherds. And so as we begin to be people

who are operating in the kingdom of heaven, when

you find a little boy stuck behind a wooden box,

What I need you to see is a shepherd who's now,

it's his purpose to go and find other lost sheep.

Do you understand that it's not the church's

job to make disciples, it's disciples' job to

make disciples? And so a kingdom person stops

seeing their co -worker who's struggling with

depression again. And you're like, really bro,

how many times are we going to pray through this,

counsel through this? No, a kingdom person says,

Here's a sheep that's in brokenness. I will find

them. I will go after them. I will be Christ

to them. I will live my life with them in discipleship

until they're at the point that they're going

and finding lost people, lost sheep. And that's

the way the kingdom of heaven expands on the

earth. And so I want to say I'm really proud

of you for being people who are embracing the

kingdom lifestyle. I'm always reminded of this

place where the Apostle Paul says, I no longer

look at people in the flesh. That always catches

my heart. Because if we're going to be kingdom

people, we can't see people for who they currently

are. Just like God doesn't look at us that way.

We see them for their potential in the kingdom

of heaven as discipled, healed, victorious people

who are now going. and gathering other lost sheep.

Okay? I think that that's plenty for today. Kids,

you guys have been awesome today. Thank you for

being here, being patient and kind.