LUKE 15; 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But 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. 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
31 The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
1. The Sheep
Isaiah 53:6; All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own.
People like this drift away by accident. They just get so caught up in their life, their troubles, their bills, their kids, their job, that they forget their spiritual life and wander off.
2. The Coin
People like this are people who feel overlooked, not noticed, feel unfriended and devalued and unloved and the result is they get lost.
Genesis 2:18; it’s not good for man to be alone.
3. The Prodigal Son
Walks away deliberately at some point, because of unresolved rejection issues.
Not feeling loved will result in:
- Either you will leave God’s house because it doesn’t feel satisfying and ruin your Christian life.
- Or you will live in the house, but never really belong.
SO WHATS THE SOLUTION
1. Recognize who is missing.
2. Realize what’s really going on.
People unfriend you, the church and God because they feel unloved by either God, people or themselves. They have a spirit of rejection and like sheep they don’t know how to get back.
I want you to write down on the notes 5 people you know who have just wandered off
3. React quickly, overcome your own rejection and make contact
Call them, text them, invite them.
Verse 20 “But 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.
4. Reason with them and help them see the truth
This is what the Father did with his older son, who felt like all his efforts to please and work hard were completely unappreciated.
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
5. Reconnect them to the community with fanfare.
Look at what the shepherd did. Put the sheep on his shoulders and brought him back into the sheep fold, and in the community of other sheep. Look at what the woman did. She is careful and thorough until she is reconnected with her coins. Look at what the dad did. He personally reconnects him back into the family and in relationship with everyone he has left.
THE TAKEAWAY/THE TO DO THIS WEEK
- Who is missing you know?
- Understand why they are missing.
- Overcome your own rejection and react quickly and make contact.
- Reason with them. Talk deep to them.
- Re-engage them. Bring them back. Find a way.