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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Lost

David Wright

02 The Lost Coin

On Monday afternoon this past May, when Mother Kimmy Simmons could not find her three-year-old little girl, Athena.

She was not in a room where she had been playing prior, and she searched every room of the house in vain.

They lived in a tightly packed neighborhood in Lake Stevens in Washington, just about 30 miles north of Seattle on I-5, and Kimmie began to call all of her neighbors.

Have you seen her out in the street anywhere?

Let me call the neighbors down the street They were looking before long Hundreds were searching for the missing girl Asking around knocking on doors, the police were called, they got involved.

Trying to organize, where are we gonna go, how are we gonna do this, okay, as every minute it heightens a little bit more.

The county search and rescue team joined in.

They tried to organize the volunteers in this search.

How far, based on the time, could she have gotten on foot, they were asking.

Could she have wandered off into the woods nearby their home?

And if so, how far could she have traveled by now?

A helicopter was even called in and became part of the search for three-year-old Asana.

All the while, mother Kimmy Simmons saying things like, it just felt like my stomach dropped out, like my heart stopped beating, like all of a sudden I forgot how to breathe.

And then after 4 agonizing hours, Kimmy's hope that she would ever see her little girl again began to significantly wane.

All the easy solutions had been exasperated.

There was no way she was playing in a neighbor's room at this point.

Everyone in the whole area knew that something was going on.

Kimmy Simmons, the mother, had a sister that was there and she was up in the bedroom of 1 of Kimmy's sons.

It's a good reason to clean up your room, kids.

And as she tried to straighten the covers just a little bit, guess who was inside tucked under the covers of her brother's bed?

Completely unaware that anything was going on.

Didn't know that there was even a problem.

Unaware that she was lost, and of all places she was lost, where?

Today we're continuing our story, we're entitling Lost.

This is actually the second part, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and eventually we will get to The Lost Son.

But we are looking at this piece about the lost coin this morning.

You may recall from 2 weeks ago about the story, the parable, if you will, of the good shepherd that searches until he finds his lost sheep.

And He doesn't reprimand, he doesn't beat up the sheep, but he graciously carries the lamb home on his shoulders, perhaps tucked in his arms, Trying to calm and quiet the little sheep.

We looked at 3 beautiful characteristics of God last week, that God always initiates the seeking.

Secondly, we saw that God is gracious as seen in Romans 5 verse 8 that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

And when Jesus finds the lost, like I mentioned before, he doesn't scold, but he picks them up in his arms.

And thirdly, we saw that God loves to celebrate, a theme that we will see in these very well-known parables.

Often we think of them as parables for children, but they have huge impacts on us as adults as well.

As we see a God that loves to celebrate, loves to rejoice over the lost, that was found.

I can't imagine heaven throwing a party for me.

But they did and But they did, and they did it for you too.

We saw that it is the heart of Christ, And if it's the heart of Jesus, it really ought to be our heart as well.

If we're going to be like Him, then we need to tenaciously pursue the lost, to be abundantly gracious with people.

And to celebrate with heaven over 1 sinner that repents That was last time But this time we're continuing on And we're looking at the parable now of the lost coin.

He told them in succession, 1 right after the next.

And just as a reminder, he's talking to the Pharisees and the scribes that complained.

Because Jesus hung out with the wrong crowd at times.

He was surrounded by tax collectors and sinners.

He wasn't participating in their sinful practices, but was offering them a way out.

And obviously he did it in such a winsome way, we read last time, that this crowd, these sinners if you will, were attracted to him and enjoyed listening to him.

When those people want to hang out with church people, praise the Lord.

And so Jesus had just finished the story of the lost sheep.

He was sought after by the good shepherd and brought home with much celebration and then he goes right into this second story and so we'll pick that up.

We're in Luke chapter 15 and we're just looking at 3 verses this morning.

We read there, or what woman having 10 silver coins, if she loses 1 coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

Verse 9, and when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I lost.

Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 sinner who repents.

So going back to verse 8, reading it now a little bit more microscopically, or what woman having 10 silver coins?

Some have thought that the coins were part of a 10-piece dowry that would be worn by married women, and when a coin was lost, It meant some significant things in regards to her marriage, her reputation, and various things.

Now the coin doesn't know that it's lost.

And we see here that the coin is lost in the home, which is opposite, or different I could say, of the sheep that knows he is lost, that knows she is lost, but does not know the way back.

The coin does not have any capacity, if you will, to understand its lost condition.

It's in some unconsciousness or unconscious state, unconscious of its spiritual state.

And we could say their souls are certainly in peril, but they are both unconscious and unconcerned.

01 The Lost Sheep

This series we're going to be doing just 3 parts.

It's entitled Lost, Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son.

And we're not going to take on all 3 of those today.

We're just going to deal with the first 1.

But in this first 1, every time I think of the lost sheep, I think of this little children's book that we have some very good Australian friends and they gave us this Australian book.

And so that means when you read an Australian book from Australian friends, how do you have to read it?

And children, I know you already had 1 story, but you're going to get another 1 today.

Or they don't get any mention in this story.

All I do is hang around with sheep eat grass wander down to the river for a bit of a drink and eat more grass.

Maybe I could run away and get a bike or join a band.

From behind the rock he snuck behind the tree and from behind the tree he ran over the hills and to the mountains.

It was all capitals I have to read it that way.

He reached the mountains and discovered they were high and steep.

He began climbing higher and higher and it got steeper and steeper and steeper.

He climbed and climbed until he couldn't climb up and he couldn't climb down.

He sat on the edge of the ledge and started thinking I could shout for help.

But what would happen if the shepherd finds me?

He might whack me with a big stick, crack, then grab me by the leg and drag me home, bump, bump, bump, and tie me to a tree without any dinner.

Back home, the shepherd was counting his sheep.

1 Terry, 2 Kevin, 3 Browen, 4 Lucidia, 96 Meredith, 97, the other Meredith, 99, Amir.

The shepherd ran to the rock and found hoofprints leading behind the tree.

He ran behind the tree and found hoofprints leading over the hills to the mountains.

The shepherd climbed higher and higher and it got steeper and steeper and when he thought he couldn't climb any further He wasn't sure if he could climb back down, he heard a noise.

Did he grab Cecil by the leg and drag him down the mountain?

He was so glad that he found his lost sheep that he put Cecil on his shoulders and carried him home.

When they got home, did the shepherd tie Cecil to the tree without any dinner?

Instead he threw a huge party and everyone stayed up way past their bedtime.

We like that little story and the pictures are pretty fun to go along with it.

But really it gets the main gist of the story quite well.

And as we think about this story and sheep and shepherds, I can't help but think in John 10 verse 11 where Jesus says, I am, what kind of shepherd?

Which tells me there must be some bad shepherds that do whack with the stick and drag them home and all these things.

Says the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

If you read the rest of that, it talks about the good shepherd versus a hireling, meaning somebody who really doesn't care about the sheep.

They're just wanting some pay in their pocket, but when something big comes along and the verse talks about a wolf that comes along, the hireling flees but the good shepherd will not flee.

He protects and guards the herd from the wolf.

I guess it begins in verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd.

Because he makes me lie down in green pastures.

Providing and taking care of all the needs.

Maybe you remember some of these pictures as well.

And I remember as a kid, this picture in particular.

There was 1 thing I was always looking for.

Here's the good shepherd, he's damming up this fast-flowing creek to make it nice and slow, and here's the sheep off to the side.

They're all behaving themselves and together, but there's 1 sheep that is starting to stray.

03 The Lost Son

Draper, a Salvation Army doctor in India, who got word of an individual in the hospital that was dying.

He was on his deathbed, so was the rumor going around, and his case was in fact pretty bad.

And as people tried to visit with him, to connect with him, he longed to have some better understanding of issues as it related to salvation, But he was really struggling to get that full picture.

And I can just imagine people going in and giving all of these phrases that we use so often in church that mean something to us, but don't necessarily mean something to other people.

You know, they might come in and say, well, you need to be born again.

Well, you need to put on his robe of righteousness.

Okay, does that mean I need to take this off and where do I get that?

And everybody that went in came up with another, you need to follow the lamb wherever it goes.

Is there a lamb allowed in the hospital and I follow it?

And 1 thing after the next, and as they tried to simplify it and break it down, he just became so frustrated that finally Dr.

Draper went in and he decided to simply open up his Bible and he turned to Luke chapter 15, the parable of the lost son.

And you won't find in this parable words like justification and sanctification and glorification and all of these other things, but they're all here.

They're all inserted in this parable that Jesus Himself taught to help us better understand with our finite minds this idea of salvation and some of the pitfalls that we can find ourselves in.

And when he read this parable to this dying young man at 25, he got it.

And he was converted before he passed away.

And so I wanna look at that parable, powerful parable that we wanna look at this morning as we continue the last part in this series, lost sheep, the lost coin, and today the lost son.

We might even be able to say the lost sons if we wanted to do that.

And I think it's important to continue to emphasize each time the audience with which Jesus is sharing this parable to, it's in those first 2 verses of Luke chapter 15, if you have your Bibles open.

But it says, then all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to him, to Jesus, to hear him.

They like to be in his presence, which is an interesting dynamic when sinners desire to be in the presence of a holy God.

But in verse 2, and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them.

And so again, that is the context of these 3 parables that we've been looking at.

And the first 1, Jesus talks about this lost sheep, and it talks about how he leaves the 99 and goes in search of the 1 until he finds it.

He doesn't scold, he doesn't drive that lost sheep home, but scoops up the little lamb in his arms or places it on his shoulders and takes him home.

And not only that, but we read how there's a huge party in heaven, much rejoicing in heaven over 1 lost sheep that's found.

We looked a couple weeks ago at the lost coin that is lost in the house, doesn't know that it's lost, and the woman, because she has lost something very precious to her in her own home, she lights the lamp, which is God's word, seeking that the Holy Spirit will cast light on her situation that she may see clearly and might reclaim that child of hers which is lost.

Yes, it can be a church member and someone lost within the church, but it can also be within our very home.

And after much searching, the lost coin is found.

We looked at this quotation, but those who've been guilty of neglect are not to despair.

The woman whose coin was lost searched until she found it.

So in love and faith and prayer, let parents work for their households until with joy they can come to God saying behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given to me." Help us Lord as parents in our efforts to be good Christians to be good leaders or whatever it might be, to lose those closest to us.

And again, when the coin was found, there was great rejoicing as a symbol of the rejoicing that takes place in heaven.

The party that was thrown for you and for me.

And so I want to look at this third parable in a series.

We're beginning now, Luke chapter 15, I hope you're already there, and we're beginning in verse 11.

And notice in all 3, in this third category especially I should say, the prodigal son knows his way back home.

In the first 2 parables, there's an all out search for the lost.

Every resource is channeled to bring the lost back home.

But in this third category, the son willingly, this time, leaves the home.

He knows where home is, he's grown up there, he knows the area well, but he has made a decided decision in his mind, I'm leaving." And we see a father that respects the son's decision and prayerfully waits at home.

Because the reality exists, there are situations the parent can run and they can find the child and they can say what are you doing here?

Did you not get the hint and the door can be slammed?

No, there's times that you stay at home and you pray.

So let's pick up this story now, verse 11.

Then he said, a certain man had 2 sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.

So here we have the younger brother, he become weary of the restraint of his father's house and the son acknowledges no obligation to the father.

You think back to those hardy days, you had to have some good, you know, sons and daughters to keep the household running.

He feels no obligation, nor does he express any gratitude to his father, Yet he still wants to claim the privileges of a son.

And virtually says, dad, I wish you were dead so I could get my share.

Perhaps because he's the youngest and there's just 2, there might be more along the way.

There's a world to see and you're standing in my way.

You give me what's rightfully mine and you do it right now.

Give me all the benefits." And he's asking for this while he's virtually severing the relationship.

He wants separation from the rules From his dad's way of doing things he wants independence.

He wants freedom no more restrictions No more getting up early.

Well you gotta eat this and you gotta eat that.

But he still wants to claim all the good in His eyes.

And so reading the last part of verse 12, so He divided to them His livelihood.

That's a pretty gracious father right there, don't you think?

Son, that's the dumbest idea I think I've ever heard.

Why don't you get off this land before I kick you off this land?

Is that what you read, the last part of verse 12?

Is there some emotion wrapped up in those few words that we just read?

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Series

Lost

02 The Lost Coin

Transcript

Parent Series

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Recorded

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God’s ROI

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