Stories from Above: Lost Coin | Luke 15:1-10

The complaint that sparks Luke 15 is as sharp as it is revealing: “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” We slow down and sit in that moment, because it exposes two kinds of hearts in the room. The tax collectors and the publicly broken are drawing near to Jesus, while the religious experts are grumbling that grace is being handed to the wrong people. From there, we follow Jesus as he answers not with an argument, but with stories designed to reshape what we believe God is like.

We connect Luke 15 to Ezekiel 34, where God condemns leaders who act like wolves instead of shepherds and promises to rescue his scattered sheep himself. That backdrop makes the parables hit harder: the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine to pursue one lost sheep “until he finds it,” and the woman who lights a lamp and sweeps her home until one lost coin is recovered. The searching is relentless, the rescue is personal, and the tone is unmistakable: God is not embarrassed by lost people, and he is not passive about bringing them home.

Then comes the detail we tend to miss: the parties. Jesus says heaven erupts with joy over one sinner who repents, even when the moment on earth is quiet. We talk about why “extravagant grace” can look unreasonable, why no one is a lost cause in the kingdom of God, and how this changes the way a church treats the very people many would rather avoid. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. 

Transcript

Welcome And Series Setup

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Hello and welcome. I'm Pastor Taylor Gearin here at First Baptist Church of El Doredo. I'm glad you've chosen to join us. We're in a series now called Stories from Above, the Parables of Luke. And it's just been a great time hearing these stories of Jesus, these earthly stories that give us a heavenly lesson about what God's up to and how we live in light of the kingdom of God. And so I hope you will enjoy it, and we hope to even see you in person real soon.

Reading Luke 15 And Prayer

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As you are seated, we turn with me to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, 1 through 10, as you are turning there, I will read those verses for us. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. And so he told them this parable. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance. Or what women, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, please speak now through your word. Thank you for the truth of this passage. What a gift this is in Christ's name. Amen.

Why Luke 15 Summarizes Scripture

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Well, the secret is really this that we've been through many sermon series in this room. We've spent all last year walking through Romans, we've walked through uh parts of Isaiah, we've been through Joshua and John, and uh we we've been many different areas of Scripture, but the the secret really is this that every sermon we walk through is is simply Luke 15 in disguise. That's the trick. Uh that it's all Luke chapter 15 in disguise, because I'm convinced of this that Luke chapter 15 uh really summarizes the whole of Scripture. Uh everything you can learn from Scripture, I believe, is summarized in Luke chapter 15. And I'm so delighted now to finally be preaching actually Luke chapter 15. And uh over the next few weeks we'll walk through it today, seeing the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Next week we'll see one lost son, the younger brother. We'll then take the Lord's Supper together before coming back the next week and seeing the older son. So over the next few weeks, that's the trajectory we are heading out on. But I'm excited this morning to begin in Luke chapter 15. But before we do that, I've really got to travel backwards in time because I want to see a few things this morning.

Ezekiel 34 And Unworthy Shepherds

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And the first is this unworthy shepherds. I want to see the idea of some unworthy shepherds. And so I want to travel back in time to Ezekiel. You're welcome to turn there, Ezekiel 34, or it'll be on the screen as we talk about unworthy shepherds. About 500 years before Jesus is telling this parable to the crowd this day in Luke chapter 15. A different story is being told. The people of God have sinned greatly. They were supposed to uh act like the people of God, but instead they acted like the rest of the world, and now they are going to be sent into exile. Babylon has come. The people of God are in great trouble. And Ezekiel comes, this prophet of God, with the word of the Lord, and places a lot of the blame on a certain group. Some very unworthy shepherds that were tasked with leading the people of God, pointing the people of God to the ways of the Lord, but instead of pointing people uh to the ways of God, uh they uh instead of being shepherds, were more like wolves devouring the sheep. Look with me at Ezekiel 34. The word of the Lord came to me, Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says says the Lord God, Ah, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the stray you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill, my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the words of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hands and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves, I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. These are harsh words. Once again, these leaders in Israel were supposed to be leaders in Israel. These so-called men of God were supposed to be men of God. Instead, what we see is they are unworthy shepherds, unworthy of the title they are given. At every step of the way, instead of providing for the sheep, they prey upon the sheep. They are wolves instead of shepherds, and they receive this harsh judgment from the Lord. They have not sought after the sheep, and so instead the Lord says, I will seek after the sheep, and I will cast aside these shepherds. Okay, we fast forward now five hundred years, and we see Jesus speaking before this group of Pharisees, really explaining what the mission of God is like, and explaining this very same idea. That if the so-called men of God, if the so-called shepherds won't seek after the sheep, Jesus says, I will.

Pharisees Grumble As Sinners Gather

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Luke 15, verse 1. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Now we're going to talk about the tax collectors and sinners in just a moment, but I want you to see something clearly. It is 500 years later, but there are still some unworthy shepherds among the people of God. There are still these men of God, these Pharisees, who, if you don't know the Pharisees, they are the religious elite. They are supposed to be the ones that instruct the people in the ways of God who care for the people, uh, religiously speaking, looked after the people. These are the priests, these are the supposed to be holy ones. And yet, what are they doing? They're grumbling about the people they are supposed to be caring for. And they look at Jesus, this new teacher in town, and they are furious about the fact that this new rabbi in town would ever associate himself with tax collectors and sinners. Because in the eyes of these unworthy shepherds, these tax collectors and sinners are not people to be loved. They are just broken, dirty people to be moved out of the way. Jesus, you do not want anything to do with them. And here's what I find interesting about Luke chapter 15. It is beautiful in so many ways. And yet, what we need to see in its primary context, it really is a chapter that is start to finish a rebuke of the Pharisees, a rebuke of these so-called shepherds, these unworthy shepherds. That's why, verse 3, so he told them this parable. He sees that the Pharisees, the unworthy shepherds, have a faulty, flawed view of the kingdom of God and how it operates. So Jesus is going to tell them a parable. It's interesting, he says that singular, a parable. He told them this parable and then goes on to tell three parables. And really, Luke chapter 15 is these three parables in one. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and we'll talk about in a few weeks. I'll call it the story of two lost sons. And he wants to, once again, look at these Pharisees and show them once and for all what the kingdom of God is really like. So we've got these unworthy shepherds, but we've also got these unmistakable sinners. Read with me verse one and two again. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. So the tax collectors and sinners, we've talked about these groups before. The tax collectors, uh, these these guys were the worst of the worst. There's no way around it. Uh, you know, I could put a pastoral spin on it and probably say it in a nicer way, but I'll just say it. They're crooks. They're the worst of the worst. What they would do is go around and tell you what you owe in taxes and add a little on top of that for themselves. They'd give to Caesar what he is owed and give to themselves the rest. Not only were they crooks in that sense, but they were also really uh viewed as traitors to their own people. These tax collectors were Jewish individuals who have really uh sold out their Jewish uh brothers and sisters. Because they're Jewish uh brothers and sisters, these are Jewish individuals who have sold out to Rome telling Caesar, I will work for you and I will con my uh Jewish brothers and sisters for the sake of Caesar. These guys are the worst of the worst in every way. No one in society enjoyed being around tax collectors, except for other tax collectors and other sinners. The second group uh that Luke talks about, really the Pharisees speak of, is the sinners. Uh, this is a very general phrase. If you wonder what kind of sinners are involved here, uh you're probably allowed to fill in the blank with anything you'd like. This group was up to no good in every kind of way. They were known in town as sinners. That's not to say that everyone else in town that wasn't a part of this group weren't sinners. We know we've all sinned and fallen short, but these were the people who, outwardly speaking, everyone knows, hey, this is the group of sinners in town. And here's what I find fascinating the the two groups we might least expect to be around this rabbi Jesus, the tax collectors and sinners. Here's what it says they were drawing near to Jesus. What blows me away is not that it says Jesus was seeking them out. Obviously, it's in the character of Jesus, he would do that time and time again. We're literally about to read a story about how he would seek them out. But it's fascinating to me. The sinners and the tax collectors are actually seeking Jesus. The Pharisees, the scribes, they hate this. This man receives sinners and eats with them. He's willing to go to lunch with them, share a meal with them, dine with them. Jesus, don't you know this isn't how rabbis are supposed to act?

Why Sinners Feel Safe Near Jesus

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Here's what I love about Jesus. As you look through the gospel, no one was more serious about the reality of sin than Jesus. Jesus didn't sugarcoat sin. He didn't just kind of wink at sin and sweep it under the rug. He took sin seriously. He he knew there was a proper judgment upon sin. In fact, his whole mission on earth was to bear on himself the judgment for sin. No one takes sin more seriously than the very one Jesus who would take judgment upon himself for your sin and my sin. Jesus takes sin seriously. He doesn't water it down in any way, and yet there's something about Jesus that is so attractive to sinners. This man who tells me the truth about what I've done, I just want to be around him. And that's strange to me. I think of John chapter 4, the the woman at the well. And Jesus just goes down the list of her sins. You've you've been married to uh five men, and the guy you're uh living with now is not your husband. He goes down the list of this woman's past, and then she runs into town because she's had an encounter with Jesus, and she tells everybody, come see a man who told me everything I've ever done. If there was a man in town who knew everything I'd ever done, I'd hope and pray y'all would never meet him. I'd hope and pray you'd stay as far away from me. And you'd probably hope the same for me. There's something in this encounter with Jesus that this woman looks and says, This man knows everything about me, all of my sin, all my brokenness, but there's just something about him I can't explain. Come see him. There's something about Jesus that he takes sin so seriously, and yet tax collectors and sinners, they just want to come be around him. I love a story Martin Lloyd Jones tells, uh, a great preacher in London in the last century, and he talks about preaching a Sunday evening service at the uh University of Oxford, and he was preaching this service as he would preach any service. And afterwards, a lady that was listening in service that lived there in Oxford and was uh involved in the university came up to him and said, Tonight was the most remarkable sermon, it was the most remarkable thing. And she said, It was so fascinating listening to you, because you're the first person who has ever come here, come here to Oxford and preach to us as if we were sinners. You you preach to us as if we were sinners. He asked a little more what she meant by that. He said, You know, everybody comes to Oxford and wants to sound so impressive, wants to tell us something we've never heard before, impress us with their intellect. You just looked at us, gave us the truth of Scripture, and treated us as if we were the sinners that we were. There's just something about Jesus, isn't there? That he talks to us like we're sinners, he tells us the truth about our sin, and yet we're so attracted to him. The sinners and tax collectors want to be around him, and I think it's because we find ourselves in the story here. Adele Ralph Davis tells a great story about a lady many years ago named Edith. This lady named Edith wanted nothing to do with Jesus, nothing to do with church, and yet one evening she found herself in a church service she didn't want to be at. She found herself not really interested in listening to uh the preacher, listening to his sermon. Yet his text that night for Edith was uh out of Luke chapter 15. And as Edith sat there, he she heard the preacher begin speaking out of the King James Version, and the verse said this This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Edith heard that. She was terrified. That this man receives sinners and what she heard and eateth with them. Tax collectors, sinners, and edith. They're all coming. And that was the beginning, and I'm not making that story up, the beginning of Edith's journey towards the truth of the gospel. But the reality is this: what these parables do is invite us into the story. Not just Edith, but the man receives tax collectors and sinners and tailor with them. That somehow I'm invited into this, that I can be a part of this.

Undeterred Searching For The Lost

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But the Pharisees don't see this yet. And so, verse 3, he tells this story, a story of uh number three, our point here is just undeterred searching. We've seen unworthy shepherds, unmistakable sinners, and now undeterred searching. Look with me, verse four. What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? Again, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he's lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? Again, Jesus is showing the Pharisees a new picture of what the kingdom of God is like. What does it mean to deal with sinners? What does it mean to deal with the worst of the worst, the most broken of the broken? It looks a lot different than the Pharisees think. We look at this as it contradicts what we saw in Ezekiel 34, these unworthy shepherds that they thought their job was to take advantage of the sheep and allow the sheep to serve them. No, no, no. The shepherd looks very different. The shepherd has 99 sheep, or 100 sheep, he loses one, and instead of just being content with the 99, he goes after the one that is lost. And this fascinates me because I'd be tempted as that shepherd to say I'm actually doing okay with 99. Uh when I was in school, if I brought home a test to my parents and it had a 100 on it, they would pat me on the back and tell me, you know, great job. Here's what else is true. If I went home and showed a test to my parents that had a 99 on it, they'd pat me on the back and tell me, good job. That's a great score. I look at this and I say, buddy, you know, you've got 99 sheep. What good is it gonna do for you to risk your own life? Maybe there's a reason that sheep is lost. Maybe, maybe something got the sheep that might could get you if you head out into the wilderness. Why risk yourself for the sake of this sheep when you have 99 others? But what we see, again, uh in contradiction to Ezekiel 34, is this is the kind of shepherd that desires to seek after the one that is lost, that is not content to be at peace with 99, but instead says, I will not rest until that which is lost is now found. And so he goes on this all-out search. Now look with me at verse 8. We're skipping around a little bit, looking at two stories at once. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it. What's interesting about Luke 15 is in these three stories the stakes get higher each time. Story number one, it's one out of a hundred. Story number two, it's one out of ten. Next week we'll see it is one out of two. The stakes rise each time, and here is this woman who has ten silver coins. We're probably left to assume that when it says she has ten silver coins, it's not as if she's got ten silver coins on her and and uh and a lot left in the bank account left over. No, no. It probably means to her name, for her life, she's got ten silver coins. Uh she's not living paycheck to paycheck, she's living day to day. And if a denarius is around one day's wage, she's got about ten days to work with, and she's lost one of those days. So she has ten coins, she loses one, and so she turns the house upside down until she's gonna be able to get a little bit She finds it. Now, in these homes, they would have been probably the single room home, probably very dark, certainly during the evening time, but even in the daytime, the only light coming in through the door, or the door's closed, even the crack under the door, probably a dirt floor, so you could see how a coin could get lost in the dirt and the dust underneath your feet. Or even worse, as far as getting lost, it might have straw that covers the dirt floor. And so you can see how the straw might cover that coin. However, it is lost, we know that it is lost. And what we see is undeterred searching, where this woman turns the house upside down. She sweeps the house diligently, diligently. I like that word. She doesn't stop when she gets tired. She knows that all of her efforts are going to find this lost coin. And it says, she does this until she finds it. We have a funny phrase we use sometimes, don't we, when we're looking for something. You're looking for your keys, you're looking for your wallet, you're looking for the remote, and you'll you'll always say this term after a long search. You'll say, you know what, you won't believe it. It was in the last place I looked. You ever thought about that term? There's really not another possibility, is there? You didn't look at more places after you found it. This woman finds it in the last place she looks. After this undeterred searching, both for the shepherd and this woman, now we see unending celebration.

Heaven’s Joy And Extravagant Grace

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Go with me back to verse five. Back to the story of the lost sheep. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. Look first with me, the care of the shepherd in this moment. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. The care that exists, he doesn't scold the sheep. I'm not sure what good that would do, but he doesn't do it. He doesn't scold the sheep. He gently puts that sheep on his shoulders and rejoices personally, but then the rejoice rejoicing expands. Verse 6, and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. So not only is there rejoicing in his own heart, as he has the sheep on his shoulders and heads home, he then calls a party together, rejoice with me and celebrate. And then Jesus steps out of the parable to really speak to the Pharisees once again about what the kingdom of God is like. Verse 7, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who have no need of repentance. What is Jesus saying in this moment? That when one sinner who is lost is found, who comes home, there is rejoicing in heaven. There are angels rejoicing in heaven. And I love the idea of this, that even in seemingly quiet moments here on earth, there are celebrations in heaven. I I think this morning about a couple things. I think about the persecuted church around the world. I think of the church that maybe in a region where Christianity is banned and it is very dangerous for them to come and worship, and they've got to meet maybe very quietly in a dark basement where nothing can be found out, where they they can't sing loud like we did this morning. Everything is quiet and it's a little dark, and we speak to each other quietly, though we do have the joy of the Lord. And in this quiet little basement church, where there is even fear of outward persecution, they may not throw a big party in that moment, but when one sinner comes to know the Lord in some uh quiet basement in a persecuted region of our world, they may be quiet in that moment, and yet all of heaven is getting noise complaints. Why? Because there is a celebration that is unending over one sinner who comes home. I think as we're just a couple weeks away from vacation Bible school, I think, Lord, would it be the case that that one child comes to know the Lord at VBS and maybe they hear something in a lesson, they hear something in in our large group time, whatever it may be, one child comes to know the Lord. And it may be that a conversation happens over a snack at a table in the fellowship hall, and what seems like a quiet conversation there, we know that all of heaven is rejoicing. Do you know that that is the case when sinners come home? That when this homecoming takes place, that heaven is rejoicing. Do you know that if you know Jesus Christ, when you came to salvation, I don't care what that looked like. It may be some, you say, an extravagant story, praise God. It may be what you call just some, oh, you know, Pastor, it's kind of a boring story. We talked before, I grew up in church, you know. I just I walked down an aisle one day. It wasn't all that exciting, was it? And I gotta tell you this, it was the most exciting thing. You went from death to life, and guess what? All of heaven was rejoicing in that moment. Now back to this woman with the ten silver coins, verse nine. And when she found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. She finds her coin, she's got all of them back, she calls all of her friends and neighbors, rejoice with me. I found the coin that I have lost. Verse 10, Jesus says a similar thing, just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. What does Jesus want the Pharisees to see in this moment? That the Pharisees think that these sinners and these tax collectors are just people that need to get out of the way so that the religious people can come through. They're just people that need to move to the side, and and and if down the road they can clean themselves up enough and and and you know, start obeying from time to time and get this thing right and look the part. If they can do all these things, maybe at that point they can come into our presence. But for now, move to the side because the religious people are here. And Jesus wants to show these sinners and these tax collectors, these are the very people I'm after. These are the people that I am seeking that I delight to save. And here's what I'm thinking about a little bit. Have you ever thought about the fact that extravagant grace doesn't make a lot of sense? In the world's eyes, I mean, extravagant grace does not make a lot of sense. In God's eyes, it makes perfect sense. But in the world's eyes, does extravagant grace make a lot of sense? We've already talked. Does it make sense for a shepherd to leave 99 sheep in the open country and go after the one who was lost? Extravagant grace doesn't have to make sense in the world's eyes. How about this? Does this make sense? That a uh a a woman has 10 coins, she loses one of them, she finds the one. Have you ever thought about this? And then she hosts a massive party. I would imagine scripture doesn't say it, but if I could read between the lines, there might have been a cost for that party. She might have spent a little money to host that party. And yet here she was, concerned about one lost coin, and then the whole party comes over and she plays the host for all these folks. Extravagant grace doesn't always make sense. And if you want to know the number one way or the number one proof that extravagant grace doesn't make sense, look no further than me and look no further than you. The fact that you and I have received extravagant grace, that you and I can look at uh in the mirror of our lives and see the places we've fallen short of God's glorious standard. And yet, when we were the lost sheep or the lost coin, or a couple weeks ago when when we were the ones in the highways and the hedges that the master of the banquet came to look for, Christ Jesus found us. That's really what the gospel is all about. And I wonder two things. One, if you feel like that lost sheep this morning, do you do you know that there's a Savior that looks for you? That is not done searching for you. I also wonder this. If you know that Savior well, do you know that you and I now have the privilege of uh joining the search party with our Savior? Going out to the highways and hedges and looking for the lost sheep and the lost coin and hoping to bring them home to our Lord Jesus to celebrate in the banquet with us. I run back to Ezekiel 34 because the shepherds have dropped the ball, just like the Pharisees have dropped the ball. But it's interesting because uh the Lord promises that he's going to send a shepherd.

The Good Shepherd Still Seeks Today

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And it's interesting who he says he is uh going to send there. In uh Ezekiel chapter 34, verse 23 and 24, he says this, and I will set up over for them, over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord, I have spoken. These people who their shepherds have devoured them, instead the Lord said, I am going to send you a better shepherd. My servant David. Now that's good news, isn't it? There's just one problem. When this was written, David's been dead about five hundred years. That means David's not coming. At least that David. What the Lord is thinking about is a future David, from the line of David, a son of David, as he's called, the person of, you guessed it, Jesus Christ. Can't help but think of John chapter 10, where what does Jesus say? I am the good shepherd. When Jesus is describing to the Pharisees what the kingdom of God looks like, he's really describing what his own seeking and searching looks like. I just want to tell you this morning, as we close in a moment, that this isn't just some feel-good story from many years ago, that this is still the business of the Lord even today. Uh the following story, I've got full permission and blessing to tell, and I'm honored to get to do it. But you all know our friend Barry and Cynthia Hendricks right here, and and uh they've been out the last few weeks for good reason. Barry's uh mother had been on hospice, and just a few nights ago, uh Barry's mother passed away. And it's been interesting hearing stories and walking through that and and getting a chat with Barry and Cynthia, and Barry's been talking and uh he loves his mother dearly. Dearly, dearly, but over the course of her life he he knew something. He knew that she did not know the Lord. That over the course of her life she's just shown no evidence of knowing Jesus personally, and that has kept Barry up at night, that has devastated Barry deeply because certainly as his mother was put on hospice, Barry knew that her earthly life was coming to a close very soon. Yet she didn't know the Lord. And it was interesting, Barry wasn't here a couple weeks ago on Mother's Day. They were at home, and if they had our sermon on, they probably did what many do at home and press mute. And for a few minutes he looked over at his mom. And Barry just took this opportunity, an opportunity he had taken many times before, but he just took the opportunity two weeks ago on Mother's Day morning to once again tell his mother about the things of the Lord, about the truth of Jesus Christ, about the fact that we are all sinners, about the fact that there is a Savior that forgives sins, that died for your sins, about the truth that uh his mother even now can come to know Jesus personally. And as they were having that conversation in that moment, tears started to stream down Barry's mother's eyes. For the first time in her life, she really did come to a deep realization that she was in a sinner in need of a savior. She wept over the truth of her sin. Like we read this morning, sin wasn't sugar-coated, wasn't swept under the rug. It is true, I am a sinner. And in that moment, with Barry, a very quiet moment in their home, though all heaven was rejoicing, Barry's mother came to know Jesus Christ for the first time. And again, in this quiet moment of this sweet woman on hospice, nearing the end of her days, she came to know the Lord, and it was quiet there in East Camden, yet all of heaven was rejoicing. And then I can't help but think about three mornings ago when she breathed her last here, she breathed her first with Jesus Christ because of what she did two weeks before. Why? How does that happen? It's because Luke chapter 15 is still the word of God. It's because there is a good shepherd that still seeks after the sheep. It's because when something is lost, there is a savior who delights to go and find it. It's because in the economy of God, in the kingdom of God, there is no such thing as a lost cause. There is no such thing as a sinner who is too far gone. There is no such thing as a person for whom it is too late. There is only a savior who loves and cares for his sheep. As a church, do we share that same love for sinners and tax collectors? And as an individual, have you experienced that same type of love in your own life for yourself? I want to pray for us now, and after that, we're going to worship together. But maybe you want to respond this morning. You want to know the Savior for yourself. Maybe you want to come join this church family. You want a pastor to pray over you, whatever that looks like, I invite you to respond. Would you pray with me now? Lord, thank you that you are about the business of saving that which is lost. What a privilege it is to know you, to be known by you. What a gift it is to know the Good Shepherd. Lord, if there's any in this room that this morning need to know that you are seeking for them, would they know it today? And would they be found by you this morning? However, any needs to be to respond, would they do so now with boldness? And I just thank you for the truth of your word. Would we worship you now as we respond in Christ's name? Amen. Would you stand now? I'll be right down front as you respond.