I rejoice that as we give Greg some time off with his family, I'm sorry, children may go out to Children's Church, I forgot. I rejoice that as we have given Greg and his family some good time off, we are thankful that they have had a long travel and are hopefully having an enjoyable time in Florida right now as their family gets rest. And we rejoice that our dear brother Blake White is here to bring us God's word. So Blake, if you would come and give us your word. Good morning. Good to be with you. My family is not with me. Unfortunately, again, they weren't here last time. It is a testament to the grace of God that I made it here this morning, and a testament to my wife's competence, because we've got four little ones, four five and under, and two of them have some tummy issues. And if you've been there, that is no fun. So if she's at home caring for them, I think it's just a bug, nothing to worry about, but not fun in the midst of it. This morning, we're gonna look at a parable from our Lord in Luke chapter 15, a couple of parables actually that are well known. So if you've got a Bible, go ahead and turn to Luke chapter 15, where we're going to see a couple of things revealed. We're going to see the heart of God revealed. And we're probably going to have our own hearts challenged and convicted for his glory. So Luke 15. We're going to read the first 10 verses. Luke 15, one to 10. 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 he told them this parable, 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? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing, 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. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman having 10 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 and her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me for I've 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. Father, we're grateful that you've given us your word, grateful that you've preserved your word for us, and I pray that you would convict us this morning, challenge us this morning, inspire us this morning. May we leave here more focused on Christ and his mission than when we came in. We ask for his sake in his strong name, amen. So it's really important to notice the context, really, of any of Jesus' parables, but especially of these in chapter 15. So look again at verse 1. Before we get into the parable, notice what he says. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. He attracted the tax collectors. He attracted the sinners. As you probably know, tax collectors were just extremely notorious. They were hated. They were traitors, right? They were Jewish people who went to work for Rome. And then they would charge arbitrary amounts against their people to pad their own pockets. People hated tax collectors. The Jews especially hated tax collectors. They would use their position to cheat others. because they worked for Rome. And remember, Jews at this time were waiting on God to come and defeat Rome, defeat the enemy, and reestablish his kingdom. That's what they were waiting on. So it wasn't just Jews against tax collectors and Rome. It was God against tax collectors and Rome. And the tax collectors had sided with Rome. They had sided with the enemy over against God and his people. So, not the most popular people in town. They were seen as part of the oppressive, godless regime, and any respectable teacher would avoid them like the plague. Any respectable rabbi would consider them unclean. Any respectable Messiah wouldn't have anything to do with such people, but Jesus attracted such people, along with the sinners, it tells us. Sinners are those that didn't obey the law, clearly, didn't obey the laws that the religious assailant would have added to the law. He attracted such. These Pharisees, these tax collectors and sinners were drawing near and the Pharisees don't like it. So Jesus is attracting them. They were attracted to Jesus and Jesus receives them. Look at verse two. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Scribes were the religious scholars of the day. They were the Bible scholars of the day. The Pharisees were the legit religious people. Sometimes we think about the Pharisees in real negative terms, rightly so, but in their day, they were the ones you would vote for if they ran for office. In their day, they were the moral majority. In their day, you would have wanted your daughter to marry the son of a Pharisee. These were the purists. These were the religious elite. They believed Israel needed to get their act together. They believed that Israel needed to get pure before God would come in and rescue them. Hence, their particular attention to all the rules, even adding to them, because they believed Israel had to get right first, and then God would come. So it makes sense that they were so impatient and frustrated by people who didn't keep the rules, like our sinners and tax collectors. So they don't like it. They don't like the fact that this rabbi is hanging around with and tolerating these sinners. And so it says they grumbled. They grumbled because he's receiving sinners and they prefer to reject sinners. And this has been happening all throughout the Gospel of Luke. We're jumping in in chapter 15, but this has been going on for several chapters. You're familiar with most of these stories, so think back when you have Levi, the tax collector, again hated, the enemy of God, becomes a Christian and starts following Jesus. So Levi, known later as Matthew, invites all his tax collector friends over, throws a party, has a feast because of what happened. And Jesus is there. And I want to look back at Luke chapter five. You can flip there if you want. I love the way Jesus responds in Luke chapter five, verse 30. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I've come not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance. The good news is only good news for sinners. And the good news is only good news for those who know they're sinners. If you don't know yourself as a sinner, Jesus has nothing for you. I love the way one author provocatively put it. Dane Ortlund said, penitent hookers Enter heaven ahead of smug virgins. Penitent hookers enter the kingdom ahead of smug virgins. Jesus didn't come for those who are well, he came for those who are sick and know they're sick. Or in Luke 7, Luke 7, famous story where you have the prostitute comes in, she's weeping tears of repentance. She had heard Jesus teach and she's drying his feet with her hair. Remember in Simon, the Pharisee says, if this man were a real prophet, He would know who he's dealing with and he would kick her out of my house. And what does Jesus do? Reading, reading what Simon was thinking to himself, showing that in fact he was a true prophet. Simon, if you knew. Simon, look at this woman. Simon, learn from her what it means to be the kind of person I'm after. Simon grumbles and Jesus sets up a prostitute as an example over against this religious leader. Or in Luke 18, we have the famous story of the tax collector. in the Pharisee and they're praying, praying near the temple. And the Pharisee, if you remember, he prays and he's thanking God that he's not like the other people. Thank you that I'm not unjust. Thank you that I'm not an adulterer, that I'm not an extortioner, that I'm even like that tax collector over there. And you remember what the tax collector's doing? He's praying, he can't even lift his eyes up to the heavens and he beats his chest and he says, God, be merciful to me. The sinner. Most of our translations say a sinner. There's a definite article in Greek. The sinner. According to him, when you say sinner, who's he thinking about? Right here. Who he's thinking about. And he just prays, God be merciful. And Jesus says, one went down to his house justified. One does not. So Jesus tells a story in which a tax collector is the hero because his heart is contrite. Then we have Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, and the Bible says he was rich, so he had sinned a lot. He had ripped off a lot of religious people and patted his own pockets. He would have been especially hated. And Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see, and Jesus told him, come down, because I'm coming to your house today. And Lou records that when this happens, what do they say? Here's what they say. He's gone in to be the guest of a man who's a sinner. And then in verse 10 of that same story, capping it off, Jesus says, the son of man came to seek and to save people like him, that which was lost. So Jesus loved the outcast. He loved the sinners. He was friends with them. He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, which means he had them in eating and drinking with sinners. He loved to hang out with the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the adulterers, the half-breeds, the unclean, the lepers, the demoniacs. He received them. He treated them like normal people and according to the religious leaders of the day, you just can't do that. His primary demographic was people who didn't have it all together. The broken, the sinful. He received sinners, it says. And not only that, it says he ate with them. He received them and he ate with them. Table fellowship, this idea of sharing your table, it was a really big deal in this culture. First century Mediterranean culture, meals were so much more than just getting nourishment. Meals had become this ceremonially rich symbol of friendship and intimacy and unity. So eating with someone conveyed welcoming them in. And of course the religious people would have nothing to do with it. They thought it would make you unclean. Eating together was a really big deal. Doing lunch was doing theology. Many ways it still is for those with eyes to see. And they grumble. They grumble about it because this one is receiving with and eating with sinners. So Jesus goes into a once upon a time mode. tells a couple stories to teach them about the heart of God. First, we have the lost sheep. Look again at verse three. Luke 15, verse three. So he told them this parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he's lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. 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. Jesus here is simply appealing to their logic, right? You lose 100 sheep, what are you gonna do? I mean, one sheep, what are you gonna do? Are you just gonna say, ah, shucks, count your losses? No, you're gonna go find it. He's just appealing to their logic. Anyone would do that. Anyone's gonna go find their sheep. And he uses this just to show and expose their hypocrisy. And when the person and shepherds found the sheep, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. Probably would have taken people by surprise. I mean, what would we think he would do? Maybe go and just wrap a rope around the thing's neck and drag it home to teach it a lesson for wandering off? Not this shepherd. This shepherd delights to carry it back. He carries it on his shoulders, the dumb sheep's too weak to walk on its own, and he carries it back and says, rejoicing, with joy he does. And he calls up his friends and he throws a party, rejoice me, what was lost is now found. Look at verse seven. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance." Just so, in the same way, when Jesus says that there's righteous persons who need no repentance, he's being ironic. It's a rhetorical effect. He's not saying there actually are people who are righteous and need no repentance, right? There are not and never have been any such people anywhere. We could go to many, many places. Romans 3 is probably the clearest. None is righteous, no, not one. What he's saying is people who think they're righteous and need no repentance like these religious people in the audience. See the deepest distinction between human beings is not between the good guys and the bad guys, it's between those who know they're bad and those who don't know they're bad. And that was the case with these religious leaders. People who think they have it all together bring no joy to heaven. What do they do? They grumble. They grumble. See, when we hear repentance, probably often many of us think about angry street preachers, but repentance is the stuff of joy. It's when we turn from a false God to the one true God, and when sinners do that, there is joy in heaven. I love the way one of the old pastors, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, writes this, the tears of the repentants form the wine of the angels. There's joy in heaven. It's like seeing your, particularly your first child for the first time. I mean, there's nothing, there's no words to describe the way you feel when you see your first child, right? You feel things you didn't know you were even emotionally capable of feeling. And it's that way every time someone turns to the Lord of heaven. That kind of joy. Then we have the parable of the lost coin, verse eight. 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? 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. The lost coin. These coins were drachmas. These were basically a day's wage. So this is a matter of real concern for this woman. So it says she seeks diligently. She sweeps the floor, she lights a lamp, she's committed to finding that which was lost, and when she does, she too throws a party. Friends, get over here, neighbors, come on, it's going down at my place. And then look at verse 10. Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Joy before the angels of God. Who's before the angels of God? God himself. God's not up there with arms crossed. Sinners repenting brings him kingdom-shaking joy. When sinners repent, he's high-fiving, laughing, hugging. You get the idea. He's rejoicing. There's a party up there every time one sinner repents. Saving lost sheep is what he's all about. Pretty straightforward. We see a few things, though, from these parables. First, we see the difference between the gospel and religion. And by religion, I don't mean the type that pleases the Lord, not James 1 type religion, but the gospel of grace versus the type of religion that these Pharisees and scribes were promoting. See the difference really clearly, right? One produces joy in heaven, the other produces grumbling on earth. True gospel Christianity is actually at odds with typical religion and it's important to get this difference right because there are many people who are rejecting religion thinking they're rejecting the gospel. They just don't know what the gospel is. There's also many Christians who are not walking with the joy the gospel brings because they think being religious is what the Christian faith is all about, keeping rules. We've got to get this distinction. The gospel of scandalous grace brings freedom, joy, and life. So here again we have Jesus at odds with the religious leaders. The message of Christianity is not be pure, do good, be better. The message of Christianity is no one is good, no one is pure enough, no one can make it, but Christ was crucified on behalf of sinners. Religion says do, the gospel says done. Religion says it's not finished, the gospel says it is finished. It's no wonder that religious people grumble. Think about it, because religious people don't get the gospel of grace, therefore all of their confidence relies where? Their self and their own performance. And we are fickle people. We might be having a good day, and what happens when we have a good day if we're not walking in line with the truth of the gospel? We become proud. It breeds a superiority complex. Religion makes you reject those unlike you and elevate yourself and this was the problem of the Pharisees. They thought they were better, they were self-righteous so they looked down on these sinners and tax collectors. Religion also makes you grumble because you feel like God owes you. You're doing good, especially when you're doing good. You're keeping your end of the deal. So when something goes wrong, hey, what happened, God? Why aren't you keeping your end of the deal? You feel entitled. On the other hand, for the religious folks, if you're having a bad day, which is most days, if we're honest, if we're not performing well, we despair. We're insecure, again, because our confidence is in ourself. We don't walk in the joy and freedom that the gospel brings. Some of you have been part of churches before that are characterized by joylessness, judgmentalism, legalism. Those churches have lost focus on the gospel. Because the gospel frees us from these things. It frees us from pride and despair. It frees us from pride because it levels the playing field. We realize we're no better than anyone. There's nothing we can do to be made right with God. We're all sinners in need of grace. That's humbling. There's nothing we can do to make him love us more or less because it's not about us if we're in Christ. It's about him. If you're in Christ, you could obey him perfectly for 10,000 years. He would love you no more than he does at this moment because you're in Christ. He doesn't love some future better version of you. If you're in Christ, he loves you perfectly right now because your life is hidden in Christ. Gospel frees us from despair, it frees us from pride. In fact, it produces humility in us, because we realize we're sinners who deserve condemnation, but we've got grace. So it becomes really hard to look down on other people when we ourselves are on our knees kneeling at the foot of the cross. And this should affect the culture of the church. This should affect the culture of the church. The culture of the church should be more like a waiting room for a hospital than a waiting room for an interview. You know the difference, right? You go to an interview, put on your suit and tie, looking clean, trying to look impressive, trying to look competent, trying to compete with others in the room. Versus a culture of the waiting room at the hospital, you couldn't care less, could you? You just keep your pajamas on, much less put a suit on, and you're in the room and you assume and you expect everyone in here is here because they're needy. They don't have it all, they need help. That's the culture the gospel should bring, a humility and a confidence, but not a confidence in ourselves, but a confidence in the work of another. The gospel frees us from despair because our confidence doesn't lie in ourselves. Sin though we will, Jesus died for sinners. We'll remain a mess in process for life, but our standing is secure in him rather than feeling entitled to anything. The gospel produces a deep gratitude. We deserve nothing but condemnation and we received righteousness and adoption as sons and daughters. Religion produces guilt, fear, despair, and condescension, and the gospel produces assurance, humility, confidence, generosity, and service. Again, to just summarize it, religion produces grumbling, the gospel produces joy. I wonder how many of us are more grumblers or more joy-filled people. So it reveals the distinction between the gospel and religion. It also reveals the heart of God. Here we have the picture of a shepherd leaving the 99 and going after the lost one. We have a picture of a woman diligently seeking the lost coin. This is a picture of Jesus seeking the lost. That's why he came, Luke 19.10, for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. The lost ones are incredibly valuable to God. When you lose something, you can be preoccupied with it. You ever lost something valuable? Man, you ever lost a wedding ring? No. You ever lost a kid at SeaWorld? Hey, don't judge me. That place is crazy. What do you do when you find them? You find a ring. You find it. There is joy. There is relief. Have you seen a teenager lose their cell phones these days? There is preoccupation. Have you ever lost a credit card? The one thing you don't do when you lose a credit card is worry and be concerned about the ones you still have. If I lose my MasterCard, I don't call my wife. Hey, Alicia, guess what? I've still got my Amazon Visa in my wallet. It's doing just fine. I'm not worried about what I have. I'm worried about that which was lost. I'm preoccupied with it. We were at Great Wolf Lodge a few months ago. Anyone heard of Great Wolf Lodge? This place is crazy. It's an indoor water park. It was founded in Wisconsin. They have to get creative when it comes to water parks when you live in Wisconsin. But it's great. So you'll go from 30 degree weather wearing your winter coat and walk in, put on your board shorts, and it's an indoor water park. And once you get over the blast of chlorine, It's a lot of fun. Well, Alicia lost her cell phone there for a couple days, and so we thought, you know, you're looking under the beds. We're calling it, you know, we're texting it. If you find this, turn it into the front door. I'm leaving voicemails like, hey, if you find this phone, it's my wife's. Could you please return it? I'll call back. Look at listening. Can't hear it at all. Hey, this is again. Listen, God will judge you if you stole this phone. I'm a pastor. I've got a direct line. Turn it into the front desk. So for two days we're looking, we're there two days and going back to the front desk every half hour just trying to find the thing and then we go back and get in the car, put back on our winter coats, it's in her jacket pocket. So there's joy, right? She found her phone and I saved a few hundred dollars. There's joy when you find that which was lost. When you lose something valuable, you're preoccupied with that until you find it. The sheep here is lost. The sheep strays off, and I love that there's not scolding here, but there's searching. Jesus cares about the lost. He diligently seeks, and when he finds one, there's a party in heaven. Let me say that if you're here and you don't know the Lord, if you're lost, The shepherd cares for you, could it be that the reason you're here is because he's seeking you? Could it be that he's drawing you to himself? You're not here by accident, I assure you. Come to the Lord, we're lost without him. So we see the heart of God. Two implications here though. First implication, we should be thankful as Christians. Christians should be the most grateful people on earth. Prophet Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. It's funny. It's an interesting image, isn't it? We've gone astray and we've turned inward. All we have turned inward. God could have left us just turning inward. You and I both have friends and family that are just continually turned inward. Romans 3, again, none is righteous, no not one, no one understands, no one seeks for God, all have turned aside. And this is why for a couple of hundred years the church has sung with gratitude, Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood. Even more famously, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Friends, we were the dumb wandering sheep in danger of being devoured and he diligently finds us and he gently carries us home rejoicing all the way. I love the way Peter puts it over in 1 Peter 2. Verse 24, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you've been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. So we should be thankful from this parable. And the second thing, we should be like him. We see the heart of Jesus revealed here and we see the heart of the religious revealed here as well. What do they care about? They care about their own tribe, their own way, their own comfort. They were ingrown. I love the title of the book by Jack Miller, Jack Miller, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church. Love the title of that book. The Pharisees were extremely ingrown. Not Jesus, though. Jesus cares about the lost. In fact, we see he prioritizes seeking the lost. The shepherd leaves the 99. Presumably he left someone to care for them, but we don't know that. What we do know is he left the 99 and he goes after the one that's lost. He prioritizes. God wants us to know his heart and his priority. He leaves the 99 and seeks the one. He prioritizes seeking the lost and he diligently seeks it, lights a lamp, sweeps the floor. I wonder what this might mean for our priorities. How committed are we to causing the angels to throw a party in heaven? Where does our effort go? I think too much of our effort, our energy, our time, our priorities, our prayers, our finances go to the 99 that are found or the nine that are found. Way too many churches are ingrown, having forgotten their commission, even stronger, having forgotten the reason for their existence. I mean, what is the whole point of this thing? So that we would have healthy, holy huddles? Partly, yes. Bible scholars? Partly, yes. Social clubs? Partly, yes. One hour a week of attendance looking forward? Partly, yes. But God has so much more in store. The Pharisees had forgotten the big picture. I love Sherlock Holmes. One time Sherlock Holmes and the good Dr. Watson went on a camping trip and after dinner and a good bottle of wine, they retire for the night and they go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes up, nudges his faithful friend, says, Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see. I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes, replies Watson. And what do you deduce from that? Watson ponders for a minute and says, well, astronomically, there are millions and millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Meteorologically, I see that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. But what does this tell you, Holmes? Moment of silence. Watson, you fool, he says, someone has stolen our tent. Let's not get some details right. That was the problem with the Pharisees. A focus on the details, having forgotten the bigger picture. The bigger picture of what is the people of God for? Think with me. These are passages you know. Genesis chapter 12, the forming of the people of God. God calls out Abraham, this moon worshiper, and says, I'm going to make you into a great nation, the family of Israel. I'm going to bless you, give you a land great name. And there's a purpose clause in Genesis 12, 3, so that through you the nations might be blessed. Right from the get-go, right from the beginning of the formation of the people of God, it was always a, so that people. Not blessed so you can sit around and talk about your blessing. Blessed in order that the world would be blessed through you and the family grows. God makes good on his word. And then God calls them out of slavery to Egypt and makes a covenant with them. In Exodus 19, he says that, if you will keep my word, you will be a kingdom of priests. What do priests do? They mediate. They mediate between God and man. And in this case, the whole nation of Israel was to mediate between God and the nations, pointing them to the way of God. That was the reason for their existence, to be a kingdom of priests, blessed in order to be a blessing. The Pharisees forgot that. Isaiah later would say that they would be a light to the nations, and of course we know they failed again and again and again because they didn't have full and final forgiveness and they didn't have the gift of the Spirit, but the church does. That's why Peter quotes this very passage, Exodus 19, and says, the church, you will be a kingdom of priests so that you might declare the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into light. It's the reason we exist, to bring glory to God by seeking the lost. We need to recover what it means to be a Christian. We need to recover what it means to be the church. blessed in order to be a blessing. The church is God's family of missionary servants who are sent as disciples who make disciples for the glory of God. We need to be about seeking the lost because our King is about seeking the lost. You ever wonder why Jesus came and left? According to the Jews, Jesus would just come back, the King would come back and set it all up, right? Nothing in the Old Testament that really points to the fact that he would come once Be victorious, leave, and come back. Well, we have the answer in the New Testament, right there in the book of Acts, chapter one. We are to be witnesses. You will be witnesses. Not you'll witness, or you'll have these activities where you'll witness. You will be witnesses. This will be part of what it means to be the people of God. This is the era of witness, and the victory's been won. It's like V-Day and D-Day for you war history buffs. You are a missionary. You are called to make disciples, every one of you, if you're a Christian. The Great Commission is still the Great Commission. We treat this command like we treat Siri, or what would it used to be, TomTom, whatever the GPS things are, right? So you're using a smartphone and you're getting directions, and you know where you're going, but you've got it plugged in just in case. And they say, hey, take a ride on Avenue G. And I think, well, I know a better way. I'm going to go to Avenue H. So I pass it up, and what does Siri say to me? recalculating. She adjusts to what I say, and we treat the Great Commission that way. He'll adjust to my life rather than we adjusting to his life. He's given us a commission, and it is great, and the Great Commission is not just for people leaving the country. It's not just about Africa. He's given us the word. He's the authority. We flex to him. He's not our co-pilot. Listen, if Jesus is your co-pilot, someone's in the wrong seat. You're in a stretcher on the back. He's driving this thing. I love the way the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, put it. If Jesus is precious to you, You will not be able to keep your good news to yourself. You'll be whispering it into your child's ear. You'll be telling it to your husband. You'll be earnestly imparting it to your friend. Every Christian here is either a missionary or an imposter. Every Christian is a missionary or an imposter. Recollect that. You either try to spread abroad the kingdom of Christ or else you do not love him at all. It cannot be that there is a high appreciation of Jesus and a totally silent tongue about him. Be wise in your generation and speak of him in fitting ways and at fitting times and so in every place proclaim the fact that Jesus is most precious to your soul. I think too many of us are content merely to try to live faithful Christian lives. We're too content just to say, well, I'm just going to be a faithful Christian. I'm going to live out the gospel or live out the implications of the gospel. Maybe you've heard a quote that's sometimes attributed to Francis of Assisi. We're not actually sure if he said it. But the quote is, preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. Very popular sentiment among Christians today. patently false. Makes no sense. It's like me saying, hey, send me a text message. If necessary, use the alphabet. Tell my wife, hey, give me a kiss, babe. If necessary, use your lips. Doesn't work. Can't preach the gospel without using words. The gospel consists in words. The gospel is words. We've got to use our lips. We've got to open our mouths. I was reading a book many of you are familiar with, Don Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, and in there he speaks of a story about a man who went to a church in the Northwest and became a Christian. And he comes back and he tells his boss, he's excited, hey, guess what happened this weekend? I became a Christian. And the boss said, that's great. I'm a Christian too, and I've been praying for you for years. And the employee says back, wait a minute, you're a Christian? Why didn't you ever tell me? You're the reason I have not become a Christian all these years. You're the reason I had no interest in becoming a Christian. And the boss says, wait a minute, wait a minute. How can that be? I've worked really hard to live out a faithful Christian witness to you. And he says, no. The employee says, no, you have, you have. That's the problem. I assumed that I could be like you and live a happy, fulfilled life without Jesus because you were doing it. So I had no interest in the gospel. Morality, good Christian morality without declaration of the gospel will send people to hell if you don't share the ground of the reason we are different, namely Jesus Christ crucified and the power of the Holy Spirit. So are we prioritizing the lost? Are we like Jesus in this regard? A couple things, just ask about our prayer life. Do we pray for lost people to come to faith by name? Let me encourage you, let me challenge you to do this. Begin to pray daily for someone you know who doesn't know the Lord that they'd be saved. And you say, I don't know anyone. Well, here's a new challenge. Find someone, meet someone, and begin to pray, Lord, bring them in. Don't we believe in the power of sovereign grace in here? Are we asking the Lord to do it? He uses means. Let's pray. Let's pray like God answers prayers. If God answered the prayers of every one of you today, for the last month, how many people would be coming to know the Lord? I don't know what you guys do for kids in nursery here, but volunteer in the nursery. In churches, you have the largest concentration of unbelievers in the nursery and in the kids. You've got a captive audience. Get in there, love all those kids, be a consistent example, and share the gospel. Be like Jesus in sharing your table, your dinner table. To share a meal is to share life. Let's recapture hospitality, Christian hospitality. The dinner table ought to be the most sacred spot in the house. So if you have a dinner table, you have a platform for ministry. Sharing meals was part of the mission of Jesus. Here's how one author puts it. Jesus didn't run projects, establish ministries, create programs, or put on events. He ate meals. If you routinely share meals and you have a passion for Jesus, then you'll be doing mission. It's not that meals save people. People are saved through the gospel message, but meals will create a natural opportunity to share that message in the context that resonates powerfully with what you're saying. So be hospitable. Share your table. Use your table to welcome, to listen, to care, to provide. Let's redeem it. And then we see Jesus hanging around with those that are far from God. I wonder, do we? I am challenged by this. Do we hang around with the outcasts? Jesus attracted them. Seek to befriend the sinners and the tax collectors. Will it get messy? Absolutely. Will you be accused of stuff? Jesus was. One has said the ship is safest in the port, but that's not what ships are made for. It'll get messy. Jesus clearly spoke the truth. We know Jesus didn't compromise on that, but he did so in such a posture and such a tone that rather than repelling those that are far from God, he attracted them. We need to aspire to this. So here Jesus shows us his heart and he shows us his priorities. So friends, let's get off the sidelines. Let's get in the game. We get to be a part of this. Some of us need to get off our blessed assurance. We need to quit sitting on the premises and start get going, standing on the promises. We get to be a part of this. Jesus promised us this in John 10. He says, I have other sheep that are not of this fold. They will hear my voice. I must bring them in. They're going to hear his voice through our voice. That's the amazing privilege we have, to speak the gospel. And when we do, and when God delights to do so, he will draw his lost sheep home. Luke 9, 10, 10, he came to seek and save the lost. May we be a people, a community that knows why we exist, to bring glory to God by doing the same. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and preserving this for us. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for Calling us effectively to yourself, seeking us and saving us. Wandering though we were, you brought us back and you brought us back rejoicing. Thank you for revealing yourself, for revealing your hearts. And I pray that you would empower us to be a people that are all about you and all about helping others know you. For the strong name of Jesus we pray, amen.