The Lost Coin Series

INTRODUCTION

• Have you ever lost something?

• Something you needed or valued?

• Well, you are not alone!

• According to a survey from a few years ago, Americans " spend 2.5 days a year looking for misplaced items.”

• The most misplaced items are “TV remotes (45%), phones (33%), car & keys (28%), glasses (27%), shoes (24%) and wallets/purses (20%).”

• Unfortunately, not all these items are found, costing a whopping $2.7 billion a year to replace.

• (“Lost and Found: The Average American Spends 2.5 Days Each Year Looking for Lost Items Collectively Costing U.S. Households $2.7 Billion Annually in Replacement Costs,” PR Newswire, May 2, 2017, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lost-and-found-the-average-american-spends-25-days-each-year-looking-for-lost-items-collectively-costing-us-households-27-billion-annually-in-replacement-costs-300449305.html).

• Only 2.5 days a year?

• I wish!

• Have you ever lost a pet?

• What runs through your mind?

• When you love the pet, you hurt for the lost pet, and you pray and do whatever you can to find it.

• I see missing pet posts all the time on Facebook.

• Why do you look so hard?

• Why do you care?

• There are plenty of other dogs and cats to replace the lost one with.

• We know why.

• We love and care for them so much!

• Jesus uses this parable to continue to explain why He was eating with the dreaded tax collectors and sinners.

• Also, the Parable of the Lost Coin reminds us that we are all valuable to God.

• Just like the woman in the story, God searches for us when we are lost, and when we are found, He celebrates with joy.

• It's easy to feel disconnected from God at times, but we must remember that He never gives up on us.

• When we are lost, we can feel cold and lonely.

• When we feel disconnected, it is not a good feeling.

• Imagine how the God who created you and loves you feels when you are lost.

• Today we will look at the Parable of the Lost Coin together.

• We will study Luke 15:8-10, and we will begin with verse 8.

Luke 15:8 (NET 2nd ed.)

8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it?

SERMON

I. A time to panic.

• When we lose something important, it can cause us to panic and feel a sense of despair.

• Years ago, I used to get our paycheck from the company, and many of us would run to Gerbes during our dinner break to cash the check.

• On one occasion, I did that and lost my wallet, with my entire paycheck in cash in the wallet!

• I was in a panic.

• I searched high and low, hoping to find my wallet.

• I did find the wallet with everything still in the wallet in the bathroom.

• It had fallen out of my back pocket.

• The woman in the parable loses one of her ten silver coins, causing her to panic.

• Women in this region would often receive ten silver coins as a wedding gift.

• For centuries, women in this region would wear these small coins as an ornamental fringe around the forehead.

• Besides their monetary value, these coins held sentimental value like a wedding ring; losing one would be extremely distressing.

• The coin itself was worth about one day's wage for the average laborer, or about 17 cents.

• This could indicate that this woman was poor; she could not afford to lose anything she had, and she would have had very little margin in her life.

• Once the panic subsides, what do you do when you lose something of value?

• You begin the search.

• I cannot tell you how many times I have misplaced something.

• I received a leather bracelet from my Men’s Covenant group.

• I wore it all the time until one day, it disappeared.

• And so you know, I had a spot that I placed it when I took it off.

• I was sad when I could not find it.

• I searched and searched, and I still have yet to find it.

• The item has value to me, so I spent much time searching for it.

• Once the woman realizes she has lost her coin, she lights a candle and sweeps the house looking for the lost coin.

• Even though the woman had nine more, the one that was lost mattered!

• When you see the lost people in your life, what effort are you willing to expend to seek to find them and bring them to Jesus?

• The parable of the lost sheep represented a scene in the country and had to do with sheep; this was especially interesting to men.