Parables: The Lost Sheep
Luke 15:1-7 NLT
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! 3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
I. The lost are our priority-vs1-2
“Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!”
Mark 2:15-17 NLT
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” 17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
II. The lost need seeking-vs3-4
3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
Matthew 9:37-38 NLT
37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
III. The found are celebrated-vs5-7
5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Luke 15:10 NLT
10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Tools for witnessing to the lost:
The Roman Road-
Romans 3:23
“23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Romans 5:8
“8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Romans 6:23
’23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:1
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Romans 10:9-10
“9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”