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hopethroughscriptureministries · 26 days

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep:

Redemption and Restoration

In the parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus conveys a deep message about the relentless pursuit of redemption and the boundless grace of God. Let us delve into this timeless story and explore its significance in our lives today.

A certain shepherd had a hundred sheep, yet one of them strayed from the fold. Undeterred by the ninety-nine, the shepherd embarked on a relentless search for the lost sheep. He scoured the hills and valleys until, at last, he found the wayward sheep, weary and alone.

Filled with compassion, the shepherd tenderly lifted the sheep onto his shoulders and rejoiced, calling together his friends and neighbors to celebrate the sheep's return. In the same way, Jesus explains, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:3-7).

This parable reminds us of the depth of God's love and his unwavering commitment to seek out and restore the lost. Just as the shepherd pursued the lost sheep, so too does our Heavenly Father pursue each one of us with relentless love and compassion.

No matter how far we may have strayed, God's arms are always open wide, ready to welcome us back into His embrace. His grace knows no bounds, and His forgiveness is freely offered to all who humble themselves and turn back to Him.

The parable of the Lost Sheep challenges us to reflect on our own lives and consider those areas where we may have wandered away from God's path. It beckons us to return to the fold, to repent of our sins, and to experience the joy of reconciliation with our Heavenly Father.

Just as the shepherd rejoiced over the lost sheep's return, so too does God rejoice over each one of us when we turn back to Him. Our repentance brings joy to heaven, and our restored relationship with God brings fulfillment and purpose to our lives.

Broader context:

Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7):

This is the main passage where the parable is found.

God's Pursuit of the Lost:

Ezekiel 34:16 - God seeks out the lost and brings them back to safety.

Isaiah 53:6 - We all, like sheep, have gone astray, but the Lord laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.

Matthew 18:12-14 - Jesus' teaching about the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one lost sheep.

Psalm 119:176 - Like a lost sheep, seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

God's Rejoicing over Repentance:

Luke 15:10 - There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:32 - It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.

Acts 3:19 - Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.

God's Unfailing Love and Faithfulness:

Psalm 23:1-3 - The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

Psalm 36:5 - Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Psalm 136:1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Lamentations 3:22-23 - The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

The Shepherd's Role as a Metaphor for Jesus:

John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Hebrews 13:20 - Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant.

Call to Repentance and Restoration:

Joel 2:12-13 - "Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments."

Revelation 3:20 - Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

The Joy of Salvation:

Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Psalm 51:12 - Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Questions:

Have I strayed from God's path, and if so, am I willing to humble myself and turn back to Him?

Do I fully grasp the depth of God's love and His relentless pursuit of me, even in my moments of wandering?

How can I share the message of God's grace and redemption with others who may feel lost or disconnected from Him?

What steps can I take to deepen my relationship with God and experience the fullness of His joy and restoration in my life?

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your unwavering love and grace, demonstrated to us through the parable of the Lost Sheep. Give us the courage to humble ourselves, repent of our sins, and return to you with open hearts. May we never forget the depth of your love for us and the joy that comes from being reconciled to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

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rossodimarte · 2 years

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Eduard Jacob von Steinle, The lost sheep, etching, 1810

#eduard von steinle #german art #romanticism #lost sheep #jesus #parable

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fantasy-scifi-art · 2 years

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Cheerful Shepherd by Tulio Brito

#Tulio Brito #tuliobf03 #Shepherd #lost sheep #sheep #Index

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coreofthebible · 10 months

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Atonement, part 1

Lately we have been reviewing some of the bigger key doctrines in the Bible, and today we are beginning a study on the topic of the atonement. This is a very complex and involved concept to present, not because it is so extremely difficult to understand, but because we have had a certain view over the centuries that may not reflect what the Bible actually teaches about this critical aspect of the…

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whispersofsilence · 13 years

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I am a lost sheep

I am a lost sheep, in need of herding. I am a lost ship, in need of steering. I am a lost puppy, in need of caring. I am a lost poppy, in need of landing. I am a lost wheel, in need of turning. I am a lost will, in need of everything.

#sheep #lost sheep #life #poetry #poem #Poems #poems on tumblr #poets on tumblr #poets of tumblr #original poem #original poetry #original writing #creative writing #writing #lost in life

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crazycarss · 7 months

Video

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The Lost Sheep - Cunning Fox | Good Care Taker and Sheeps Diorama | Farm...

#lost sheep #sheep #cunning fox #diorama #farmanimals

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ono-ayano · 8 months

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solo exhibition 『Lost Sheep』

@eight art house 2023.02

photo by Mizuno Shigetomo (eight art house)

#anime and manga #art #artists on tumblr #artwork #painting #japanese painting #character art #character #eight art house #art exhibition #solo exhibition #Lost Sheep #sheep #onoayano

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deremerstudios · 8 months

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REDEMPTIVE REWRITE: RECKLESS LOVE

Is it Reckless to Sing of God's "Reckless" Love? In this inaugural post of Redemptive Rewrites, we take a deep dive into the nature and wonder of God's love, and seek to tweak Reckless Love to more accurately represent God's glorious love.

Is it Reckless to Sing of God’s “Reckless” Love? Tweaking popular Christian worship songs to more clearly express glorious Biblical truths If you’re like me, you’ve come across the occasional worship song that you love, save a line or two that just doesn’t seem quite right. Often, the problem is simply a word or phrase that can be a bit ambiguous, misleading, or theologically askew. All it…

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#Book 2 #Christian #God #Lavish Love #Lost Sheep #Matthew 18 #Music #Ninety-nine #Parable #Reckless Love #Redemptive Rewrite #Song #Theology #two books #Worship

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biblebloodhound · 1 year

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Care For the Flock (Ezekiel 34:1-16)

For what does it profit a person to gain the world but lose their life because they was too pre-occupied with everything but caring for the flock?

The Lord God said: Ezekiel, son of man, Israel’s leaders are like shepherds taking care of my sheep, the people of Israel. But I want you to condemn these leaders and tell them: I, the Lord God, say you shepherds of Israel are doomed! You take care of yourselves while ignoring my sheep. You drink their milk and use their wool to make your clothes. Then you butcher the best ones for food. But…

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#care #christian ministry #christian mission #ezekiel 34 #god cares #god&039;s care #god&039;s grace #god&039;s heart #grace #lost sheep #pastoral care #pastoral ministry #prophet ezekiel #salvation #sinners #spiritual care #spiritual rescue #spiritual restoration #the lost

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deweybertolini · 1 year

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A Not-So-Trivial Pursuit

I’m so glad that God created a thing called “next week.” Because last week, there was a glaring omission in our discussion. One that we address in this week’s PODCAST. And in addressing it, we will once again see and hear the beautiful heart of a gentle Jesus. Thank you for listening, and for sharing this message!!! Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it…

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#9 marks #Christ #Church Discipline #excommunicate #Jesus #judge #judging #lamb #lost sheep #Matthew 18

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coreofthebible · 5 months

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Resurrection part 3: Daniel's "end of days" resurrection prophecy

We are continuing the third essay today in a four-part series on the topic of resurrection. So far in our exploration of this far-reaching topic, we have viewed instances of individual, bodily resurrections throughout the Bible. We also looked at what Yeshua taught about all the righteous throughout the history of Israel who were still considered as alive to God, since “God is not the God of the…

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dwuerch-blog · 1 year

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Lost & Found

A friend posted: “Praise report… my engagement ring had lost the diamond about 2 weeks ago. Bruce and I tore apart the house and cars looking for it. No diamond. We pretty much chalked it up to being lost. We have had a lot of challenges financially and we felt Satan has just been testing our patience and pocketbooks lately. God says to stay strong in Him. He promises always to be with us. This…

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#blog #christian #come home #compassionate #family of god #God&039;s family #good news #inspiration #lost and found #lost coin #lost diamond #lost sheep #lost son #luke 15:8-10 #parable #redemption story #rejoicing over one sinner #valuable

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friarmusings · 2 years

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Lostness

The Israelites in the first reading are lost but they don’t know it yet. St. Paul knows he was lost and has been found. Like Moses, St. Paul is preaching to religious insiders. Jesus is preaching to insiders, telling these parables to religious insiders who are pretty sure they’ve got it all down and could never imagine they are lost. Could never imagine that “lost” is not always out there beyond…

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#Lost coin #Lost sheep #lost things

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firstumcschenectady · 2 years

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“Are We Lost?” based on Luke 15:1-10

In simpler times I have heard the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep in simpler ways. One can take the perspective of the 99 sheep or the 9 coins and be rather irked at the ways the 1 is celebrated. One can take the perspective of the seeker, and join in the joy of finding the one. One can take the perspective of the outside observer and wonder if leaving 99 sheep unattended is really the best way to move towards having 100 sheep, or if throwing a party worth more than the found coin is the best use of money.

Of course, there is the most obvious option of taking the perspective of the lost sheep and being grateful for the shepherd who comes looking and rescues one from peril (or perhaps pulls you out of a great tasting meadow, who knows?) Identifying with the sheep is a little easier than the coin, but nevertheless, the awareness that when we're lost we need help is an easy one to turn to.

These times, beloveds, are not simple times.

In this time when I read the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin I think to myself, “are we lost or found?” and I find that the answer is “I don't know.” Or, more honestly, the answer is “Yes, we are lost. Yes, we are found. Yes.”

I remember preaching in 2016 about the articles I was seeing about how the 2016 election cycle was doing heavy damage to our country's mental health, and therapists were urging people to engage in breaks from the news, in meditation, in breathing exercises. They were worried about the stress destabilizing us individually and collectively. I remember seeing what they were talking about, in myself and in this church. Tempers were shorter, nuance got lost, there was more right/wrong and us/them thinking. Schenectady Clergy Against Hate grew out of that the time, because of the radical increase in hate crimes.

Here is the bad news. At this point I think of 2016 as a simpler time.

Sure, there were oodles of stress. Sure I saw myself, others, and the church community get worse at basic functioning. Sure, The United Methodist Church was a dumpster fire. Sure, polarization was at all time highs. But, that level of communal chronic stress was at that point relatively new. (We didn't know it then.)

For me, the Trump presidency was a daily kick in the gut, or more specifically in every value I hold dear. And, because I'm not actually interested in dismissing people because they think differently from me, I'm aware that for those whose values were upheld by the Trump presidency, the squeals of horror and outrage about everything he did ALSO shook them to the core. And, let us never forget, that foreign adversaries have taken advantage of differences between us to further polarization, because it benefits THEM for us to have more HATE in our society.

So, the stress of the election didn't settle down. Things kept getting worse. Then there was the 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church when our denomination doubled down on homophobia and it became clear that our church at large is not centered in the love of God. That was a blow, at least to me.

Then the COVID pandemic began, and we're sure sick of talking about it, not to mention living it, I know. But it is relevant here. The pandemic shook every single part of our society and our lives. And nothing is the same.

And quite often we HATE that. Fine, quite often I hate that. It is disconcerting. It is depressing. It is overwhelming. And then there are the STILL present challenges of determining where the right balances are between risks of infecting others with a serious illness and risks of disconnection and loneliness (which itself can also be deadly), and the simple deciding is exhausting.

The stress level has been rising since 2016, sometimes just a slow steady beat upwards, sometimes in leaps. There are PHYSIOLOGICAL facts about stress. It makes us less creative. It makes us less compassionate. It pushes us into black and white thinking. It leads us into in-group thinking, and making enemies of others. It makes us selfish.

None of which look anything like following Jesus. Right?

That's a little squirmy for me. That the impacts of stress impede the capacity to follow Jesus. Because I don't really get to control the world and the stresses it throws at me, nor at us. All of which gets me around to why I think the answer is “yes, we're lost.”

But perhaps you'd like to hear why I think the answer is ALSO, “yes, we're found?”

The starting and ending point of “we're found' are quite simple: I do not believe it is possible to wander away from God. Or, at least, it is not possible to wander beyond the reaches of God's love. And, as God is everywhere, anywhere we are is with God, and God knows where we are, so we are found. (By God.)

But, in case that isn't actually enough for you (although, it is rather a lot), I'd like to point out what you are doing RIGHT NOW. You are listening to a sermon. Now, I don't know all of your personal reasons for why you do that, but I know some things. I know you have lots of other things you could be doing, and when you do this you are making a choice. There seems to be strong evidence that you would listen to a sermon because you are interested in what makes a good life and/or in how to live a Godly life and/or in considering how to get from the world as it is to the world as God would have it be. It could be you are looking for reasons for hope, or looking for analysis of what's going on, or to make meaning of the world, or to make meaning of life, or maybe you are mostly doing this because other people you like also do this and you want to connect with them.

Those, dear ones, are really beautiful reasons to do a thing.

I remain shocked that this thing we know as church exists. Hear me out! So, a bunch of people connect with each other and are connected by their shared commitment to God and living as followers of Jesus. So they create spaces to work together and worship together. They give significant gifts of time to caring for the needs of the church and the community, to learning together and playing together and doing important things together.

Then, and this is the one that keeps on shocking me, they give MONEY to the church. Enough to PAY STAFF even (AND take care of the building, another miracle). Staff to help take care of the resources (sexton, building), staff to take care of the community (breakfast cook), staff to take care of the communication and connections (administrative assistant), and even staff to take the time to listen to the world and the Bible and the people and try to help make sense of things (pastor.)

I am amazed that you all do this. It is INSANE.

You realize how much time, energy, money, and frustration you've given to this place right? When people say “church family” they may in fact be reflecting that some of the demands family puts on our lives is similar to the demands church puts on their lives.

But this is also GOOD NEWS. Because in the midst of this world, people are giving of themselves in hope that what we do together is part of building better lives and a better world. Lives are changed here, by friendship, by theology, by study, by singing, by hope. We are more together than we could ever be apart.

And even now, even when everything is different, even when showing up is in multiple mediums and often feels SO strange compared to what we knew in the past – even now, you all keep on caring enough to listen, to try, to work towards good. And that's about as “found” as I can imagine existing. I am, quite honestly, profoundly moved that you exist and keep on keeping on.

There is a final piece to this though. It isn't just that we are lost and we are found, as two separate pieces. It is also that we are lost and found, both at the same time, and that has its own truth. This week I got an email from a clergy coach who talked about this, and while I want to share everything Rev. Lauren Stephens-Reed said, I'm condensing to this:

leading innovation is about getting people to co-create the future with you. This kind of approach is warranted when your purpose is clear but the future is not. Is there any better descriptor of - any greater need in - this time in the Church, in the world?

I do believe our purpose is clear. We are co-creating the kindom of God with God. We work together to promote the idea that the kindom and its values are important, to help each other learn in order to build the kindom, and to help each other live its values. We don't know everything, but we do know that some of the prime values of the kindom are love, justice, compassion, and inclusion, so we work on those. We are going it TOGETHER because we believe we are more together than apart.

So, we don't know how to get to the future.

That's OK.

God does, and God will lead us, TOGETHER.

We are lost dear ones, and we are found, dear ones. And it is hard but it is OK. Thanks be to God. Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron First United Methodist Church of Schenectady 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 Pronouns: she/her/hers http://fumcschenectady.org/ https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

September 11, 2022

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