YOU ARE VALUABLE TO THE LORD
Luke 15:8-10
Jesus was conducting a Bible Study when some of the highly
placed city
leaders began murmuring about who He hung around with. The
Pharisees and the
lawyers complained that Jesus taught the Word of God and ate
with tax collectors and
sinners like you and me.
Jesus told a series of three parables indicating the value
He places on our souls.
The first parable was about a lost sheep. Sheep follow their
noses in search of food
and can easily get lost.
The third parable was about a lost son. The son made a
conscience decision to separate
himself from the father.
The second parable is about a coin that got lost due to the
carelessness of its owner.
The coin had no conscience of being lost. It was not aware
that it was out of place.
8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses
one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she
finds it?
9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors
together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'
10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The woman represents the local church. The coins represents
church members.
The desire to find the lost coin is the power of the Holy
Spirit.
There are some important lessons in this parable
YOU HAVE VALUE
1. You are valued by the Lord.
a You are valued
enough for Jesus to select you. Eph
1:4
b. You are valued
enough for Jesus to put in His select group.
c. You are valued
enough for Jesus to keep track of you.
b. You are valued
enough for God's grace and mercy.
e. You are
valued enough for God to let you get
lost so you will
learn the
value of being in His company.
2. You are part of an elect group. Isa 44:1
a. I can imagine
the woman spent some time putting
together this collection.
b. She chose each
piece.
3. You were selected by the Father to be in glory with Jesus
3. You are wanted. Jesus wanted you enough to select you
4. You have Jesus looking after you.
5. You are loved by Jesus.
YOU HAVE PURPOSE
1. Silver in it
purified form is bright and shiny.
2. Sliver reflects
light.
3. It is the Word
that polishes you to a bright shine.
4. We were given the
Word to reflect to others.
5. When others see
us, they ought to see a reflection of the owner, Jesus.
The coin was not always lost.
1. It was part of a
collection
2. In some way, it
got lost or separated from the other nine.
a. In the course of time we can get separated
from the church.
b. Since we live in the flesh, we face the
world's opinions, ideas and
sinful
attitudes each day.
c. We can
easily lose our focus and stray away
d. Even though
you stray or back slide, you didn't lose
your value,
you just lost your focus.
YOU HAVE A
PLACE
1. The lost coin was
just as valuable as the other nine.
a. The owner did
not seek a replacement.
b. God does not
have a replacement plan, He has a revival plan.
b. The owner wanted to find the lost coin
because it was valuable to the
collection.
2. God has gifted
each of us with gifts to spread the
Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
a. Ephesians 4:11 -12 " And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some,
evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of
Christ:
b. Like bricks
on a house, each one supports another.
If one is
missing, the structure suffers.
c. Often times
the church seeks replacement members.
One leaves
and we get replacement.
God don't want replacements, He wants repentance.
d. When we have
not seen someone in a while, we should make
it our
business to check on them .
YOU HAVE A MISSION
The text says she turn on the light.
I am told that
during time of this parable, houses did not have many
windows. The windows
they had would have been covered to keep
out the sun.
Therefore a candle light or oil lamp would be necessary
to see inside the house.
1. The Word of God
is the lamp for our feet. Psalms
119:105, Proverbs 6:23
2. Jesus said I am
the light of the World John 8:12
3. Some times we
needed to turn on the light, that is return to the Word
of God, so we
can see our sins and short coming clearly.
4. We are
responsible for ourselves and others around us.
a. What could we have done to keep the lost
member?
b. We need to
examine ourselves to see why we didn't meet the needs of
one that is
lost.
YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO STIR UP YOUR SOUL
1. The text says the owner swept the house.
Since the houses were dimly lighted, dust
could accumulate and
not be noticed.
2. Since we live in a
world that is blind to the Word of God,
we can
easily be blinded
by it dust.
a. Sometimes, we
may be the reason someone gets lost.
b. We may need to clean up our stuff before we
can see the needs of others.
c. Sweeping may
stir up the dust and uncover the light.
d. When we examine
our selves, we will discover that we have
collected a
lot of clutter that has hidden the Word from our hearts.
e. When our light
start shining, other will be affected.
WE HAVE A MISSION
A. Notice the coin was lost in the house.
1. We have to be
careful that the truth is always taught.
2. We have to be
careful that we are not causing confusion.
3. We need to study
the Word to know it for ourselves.
4.We need to know if
those who heard the Word understand the Word
5. We need to know
how to apply the Word to our daily lives.
B. There are at least two reasons that people get lost in
the Church
1. They are ignored by other members.
a. They are made
to feel like they are just a number on the roll.
b. I have some
old coins.
I have not
looked at them in quite awhile.
I really
can't tell you how many coins are in the collection.
In
fact, I have lost interest in the collection.
c. Maybe that is
what we do to each other in the Church
d. Do you ever sit next to someone in the church
and don't ask their name?
e. Maybe we are
not interested enough in others to find out how they are
doing.
f. It is our job
to get to know those around us.
g. Perhaps the
lost were never encouraged by other
members.
2. Their are those who don't want to be known, so they hide
in the pews
a. They don't what
be part of any activity in the church
b. They run from
the responsibility of service.
c. They don't see
the value of fellowship.
C. YOU HAVE A SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION
1. To find the lost, you have to take time and look.
2. To identify the lost you have to know what you are
looking for.
a. The lost are
inactive
b. The lost don't
show up for church on a regular basis.
c. The lost hang
around the wrong crowd
d. They come to church out of tradition.
e. The lost come
to be entertained.
f. The lost don't
see the relevance of the Word to their lives.
YOU HAVE REASON TO BE JOYFUL
A. We should rejoice when we others come to Christ.
1. You have a second
chance to make people feel welcome.
2. You have a second
chance to encourage.
3. You have a second
chance to get to know the lost.
4. You have a second
chance to get involved with the lost.
B. We should call our friends to share in the joy of those
who come to
Christ.
1. The angels in
heaven rejoice when one sinner is saved.
2. In the same
light we should celebrate with those
who come to
Christ.
3. We should make a
big deal out of the recovery of the lost.
THANK GOD FOR SELECTING US
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
For more lessons, follow me
on facebook or
visit my blogs,
goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
and www.revmmitchell.com
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