MAIN TEXT - Luke 15:8-10
Well, it is our Month of Missions here at Windham Assembly of God!
So, we are taking some much needed time throughout this month to allow the Lord to renew our heart for Missions by giving extra emphasis to it each week…
→By having a missionary come and share their heart, and by doing Missions!
-Then, we will wrap it up by renewing our MISSIONS FAITH PROMISE together on Sunday; November 3!
-So begin praying now about what the Lord would have you to give – above and beyond the tithe - on a regular basis towards MISSIONS!
Understand this! When we give, we are investing in the Kingdom of God and we are investing in people, and that is NEVER a waste of money!
ILLUSTRATION:
In fact, the story is told of a famous artist who was once asked to paint a picture of a “dying Church…” It was expected that he would paint a small, humble congregation in a dilapidated building. Instead, he painted a stately edifice with a rich pulpit and magnificent windows. However, near the door, someone placed an offering box marked “Missions,” and the slot, which was to receive the contributions, was blocked by cobwebs for lack of use.
Church, my testimony as a Pastor is to the fact that we have seen new life come to each and every Church that has revived her heart for Missions!
-When the Missions giving increased, the finances of the Church increased!
-When people captured the Father’s heart for Missions and gave to Missions, God blessed them!
-As God’s heart began to change the heart of the people to love and participate in Missions, the Church would grow!
How could that be?
Why would that happen?
→Because when you are busy about The Father’s business, He will take care of your business!!!
Once again, I want to repeat to you this statement from last week… It is this!
→God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit each have a HEART FOR MISSIONS!!
-Then us Believers…we are supposed to take on the heart and mind of Christ…
-So, my prayer is that within this month, we will be transformed internally, and adopt for ourselves, a Heart for Missions!
As I shared last week…
→This was God’s heart, and that is why He sent His only Son, Jesus!!
→To SEEK & to SAVE the LOST is one of the primary purposes of Jesus coming to earth in the first place!!
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
So, we need to capture this thought once again Church!
→JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS!!
ILLUSTRATION:
It is estimated, that every day, 230,000 people die around the world.
Of those 230,000 people, the estimate is that 150,000 die without Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
70,000 of those haven’t even had the chance to hear the Gospel!
Each of them, Lost Sheep. Lost Coins and Prodigal Sons or Daughters.
THAT is why there must be MISSIONARIES and PREACHERS!
THAT is why we must be the AMBASSADORS of God!
THAT is why WE need to have the same heart and God does – to reach the Lost at all cost!
Never forget it Church…
“JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS!”
…The Lost Coin…
STAND & READ - Luke 15:8-10
Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!” In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
PRAYER!
INTRODUCTION:
We started reading this Parable of Jesus last week, here in Luke 15…
Although we read three seemingly different stories, some would say that these parables are not three, but one…
-Reason being, is because they each speak of the heart that God has towards the LOST!
-His heart for MISSIONS!
→Jesus finds lost things!!!
Last week, we focused on the illustration that Jesus initially gave the critical Scribes and Pharisees…
-You remember, they were angry that Jesus received sinners and even ate with them! -Luke 15:2
He started sharing about that ONE FOOLISH SHEEP that wandered off on its own to go where it wanted to go!
-And, it is so true that multitudes have wandered off, foolishly…
In fact, Isaiah 53:6 says that, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
-Yet, God loves every single wandering sheep… You and me! NOT because He has a heart for Missions – but because He has a heart for PEOPLE! It is because
He has a heart for PEOPLE that He has a heart for MISSIONS!
And the shepherd in that story depicts for us the heart of the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who will pursue the foolish, wandering sheep…
-Thank you Jesus!
-Praise God that JESUS STILL FINDS LOST THINGS!!!
But, Jesus didn’t stop there with His lesson, because there was something else that He wanted these critical, religious people to see…
…something else that He wants you and me to see as well, so let’s listen…
→Without taking a breath, Jesus goes into this next scenario about a woman who had ten coins, but she had lost one of them.
-Similar to the sheep situation, but different…
-Before, the sheep had a will – as foolish as it may be, and their wills caused their wanderings and led them to be lost…
→But, this coin is different because it couldn’t make any choices, or even move. It is an inanimate object, and it just is.
*So, its circumstance was about what happened to it.
*That is something to take note of…
Nonetheless, we walk into this lesson learning of this woman’s…
POINT ONE: PLIGHT
It reminds me of a math equation…
Martha has ten coins, but she can’t find all of them. She only has nine. So, how many is she missing? More importantly, WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT COIN?
-Well, Jesus says there is ONE missing, and He calls it a LOST COIN!
Now, again we could say, “Big deal! You still have the other nine.”
But, there is something special about these coins…
-More than just them being of monetary value, as we would first assume…
-But, if we were to think about the culture back in Jesus’ day and what these ten coins might be about, we would learn that they were something so much more than coins you just toss into a coin jar or leave at a register for the next guy who needs a penny so he won’t have to break a dollar…
In Jesus’ day, women who were engaged didn’t wear engagement rings like our ladies do today… No.
-But, they did wear something as a sign of engagement.
→It was a headdress that had 10 silver coins in it! Worn proudly upon her head to announce that she was taken and is loyal to a specific man.
So, this loss would be similar to a lady loosing a stone out of her engagement ring, or the ring itself…
-So it makes complete sense why she turns the house upside down to find this one lost silver coin.
-After all, no woman would want to confess to her fiancé’ or husband, that they have lost their ring.
****************************************
However… I am not sure that this WOMAN is the focus of Jesus’ story here.
→I tend to think that the COIN is something Jesus is pointing out to His listeners; after all, this parable is all about LOST THINGS.
-And as we keep in mind that JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS, it draws our attention to the LOST thing – the LOST COIN.
→That is just what the woman herself does too – she focuses her attention upon the single LOST COIN!
Before I go on, let me tell you something about that LOST COIN…
-To some, it may appear to have little to no value.
-It could be replaced by another coin, and then forgotten.
-It could be ignored, because I am sure it wasn’t the first coin ever lost out of an engagement headdress.
-Yet, this woman COULD NOT ignore the loss of this single coin!
→More than it’s MONETARY value that it had… (because it could have taken years to save for these particular coins)
→This lost coin also had SENTIMENTAL value!
-That is more than the sheep… They were a form of currency, and showed a person’s wealth.
-Yet, this particular LOST COIN was not only valuable, but was irreplaceable because of its sentimental value!
*Therefore, it was priceless!!!
• Isn’t it good to know that if you and I are that LOST COIN, we are valuable to God too?!
→But not just valuable in the sense that we cost something…
-Although, we have been “bought with a price” the Bible says in I Corinthians 6:20 & 7:23.
-Purchased with the precious blood of Jesus!
→Therefore, we also have tremendous sentimental value in His eyes too!!!
-It has been said before that we are God’s twice!
*He not only paid for us by the blood of Jesus…
*But, He created us first! You read of it back in Genesis!
That is why He is passionate about you/people and wants you/them to surrender to Him!
In fact, Jesus made this statement about a coin in the Gospel of Matthew…
Matthew 22:19-21 – “Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar's.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's.”
-Jesus’ greatest desire is that you and I - who are each created in His image - would be given to Him!
Friends! You were made in His image, and He loves you tremendously, and that is why God has this tremendous heart for MISSIONS - because He has a heart for the LOST!
Church! JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS!
• Won’t you surrender your life to Jesus today? He is pursuing you!!
And that is just what we see this diligent woman did after she discovers she lost a coin…
Like Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on the Dukes of Hazard, she was in hot pursuit!
POINT TWO: PURSUIT
And notice that we don’t find her taking a casual look around the house for this lost coin!
-She doesn’t give it a “man look” as my wife says… ☺
-This woman makes this pursuit her one and only focus! To search out the whole house – from top to bottom – to find that one lost coin!
Luke 15:8 - Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
She takes a great deal of care, and great pains to find this lost coin!
-She turns on all the lights.
-Sweeps the whole house out.
-Searches with a fine tooth comb, as they say, turning hew home upside-down to find this valuable coin!
→This woman depicts for us, the work of the Holy Spirit of God that searches intently for the LOST people of this world!
Romans 8:27 - …and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
John 16:13 - But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
John 16:8 - And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…
-So, not only does Jesus or God the Father have a heart for the LOST and for MISSIONS…
-The Holy Spirit plays a major role in finding the souls of this world!
-It is the work of the Holy Spirit that draws the hearts of men toward God!!
Today, all over the world – and even within this room – the Holy Spirit is searching for the LOST!
-The LIGHT of the World, Jesus, is illuminating the world!
-All the while, the Holy Spirit is frantically sweeping throughout the world to find the valuable and lost coin!!!
→The God-head is always engaged in MISSIONS!
Engaging the Lost to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ!
He is in PURSUIT of those who have, at no specific fault of their own have fell between the cracks…
He PURSUES the hearts of people all over the world that have undiscovered, yet tremendous value to God and His Kingdom…
Likewise, we need to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and PURSUE the LOST COINS in the world that others have overlooked and have written off…
-They may have been reduced to little value in the world’s eyes…
-But, in God’s eyes, they are priceless!!!
-You are priceless, and don’t you forget it!
-Not only that, but you hold great sentimental value in God’s heart as well! He has purchased you twice over!!
→So let’s get a heart for MISSIONS and start searching for the LOST COINS Church!
Jesus put it like this…
John 4:35 - Do you not say, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest?” Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
It is time to PURSUE the lost, Church!
Jesus said that there are plenty of LOST COINS just waiting to be found!
-So get out your metal detectors and find them because Jesus loves them! JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS!!!
When we do find them, there will be great cause for…
POINT THREE: PRAISE
Just like we read in the previous portion about finding Lost Sheep…
When this woman finds her Lost Coin, she has reason to PRAISE!!!
-And so does all of Heaven!!!
Luke 15:9-10
When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!” In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
So, here is another reason for great celebration – because one LOST COIN is found!
Maybe she called all her friends up to ask for prayer to find that lost coin…
Maybe she was saying that her fiancé was going to be so angry, so come help me find it…
Maybe she just couldn’t keep it to herself, she just had to tell someone…
I want you to know today Church, that this is the kind of joy that will come to a people who have the heart of God – a heart for people and a heart for missions!
-Because they know the value of one person!
-THAT is why all the shouting and all the PRAISING!
And THAT is why all of HEAVEN rejoices too!
-They know the value of man…
-They also know the loss that is felt if the LOST soul is not found.
• Aren’t you glad to know the JESUS FINDS LOT THINGS, Church?!
So, I say again…
Let’s start a celebration in Heaven!
Let’s stir up some PRAISE in the presence of God!
→Let’s have a heart for people – a heart for MISSIONS!!
AS WE CLOSE:
Let’s praise God that HE STILL FINDS LOST THINGS!
The stories are all similar, in that…
1. Something is first lost. All humanity was lost and in need of a Savior!
2. But, someone searches for the lost thing. And God won’t rest until all come to a saving knowledge of Christ!
3. Then, that thing is found! The great news is that people are being saved on a regular basis! That there is still power in the Blood, and people are being saved and delivered daily, around the world!
4. Finally, people and all of Heaven rejoice! Which still takes place today when a new name is written into the Lamb’s Book of Life! People on earth and the host of Heaven and thrilled!
What is different is the LOST THING…
Last week, we learned that Jesus still finds those who have foolishly wandered off and gotten themselves lost…
This time, we learn that Jesus pursues those that have fell through the cracks of life…
That lost coin didn’t loss itself and it wasn’t on purpose…
-Life took it’s toll on that piece and it let loose.
-By no choice of its own, that coin was a victim of circumstance and was subject to falling between the cracks and could have been easily forgotten.
-And at that point, all of its value could have been forfeited because of being over-looked and forgotten.
-The world could have just passed it by… But God couldn’t allow it!!!
→Today, God is searching for you LOST COIN!
God is in the business of FINDING LOST THINGS, and we need to become partners with Him!!
The truth is, that lost coin, even though it was lost, still had value – even if it were lost in the dust – dirty and forgotten.
No matter where it is, it had value and purpose!
This morning, the world is full of lost coins… And so are Churches!
Some are here today…
-They may dress nicely, and have a great smile – but they are lost!
I have great news for you today LOST COIN – the Holy Spirit of God is searching for you and others like you!
-You may not look like much…
-And you might not feel like much…
-But the Gospel truth is God loves you and is searching for you!
-More than that, He knows right where you are and prays for you to surrender to Him today!
The Bible says that His eye is on the sparrow, and He is watching over you…
It also tells us that He has the hairs of our head counted…
And I tend to believe that when that Lost Coin fell to the ground – off that beautiful headdress – God knew right where it landed!!!
-He knows where you, LOST COINS, are at today!
-And He is still searching LOST COINS out all over the world!
→JESUS FINDS LOST THINGS!!!
• Lost Coin, will you come to Jesus this morning?
• Will you have a heart for people, and for Missions?
ALTAR CALL:
Salvation…
Pray for those who are bruised and battered by life – LOST COINS
To have a Heart for Missions!
