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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

One Heart at a Time: Christ’s Mission Continues

Because he lives, he will guide us into 2026 with purpose.

Imagine a company with 99 loyal, high-paying clients.

Would you really ignore all of them just to chase 1 client who hasn't paid a dime yet.

Would you drop everyone to tutor the 1 kid who's failing miserably?

You're at a big party with 99 friends having a good time, a great time in fact.

Would you leave all of them to comfort the 1 friend who stepped outside crying?

A shepherd has 99 healthy sheep grazing safely.

Would you risk the whole flock to rescue the 1 that wandered into a wolf's territory?

Church, I believe that any good shepherd, every good shepherd, would prioritize the 1 lost sheep over the ninety-nine.

And for Christ, His mission is personal, very personal, because He values each heart.

My message today is entitled, 1 Heart at a time.

Father, we pause for we are compelled to pray before we open the Word of God and invite and ask for the Holy Spirit to be the 1 who deeply impresses us with a message that would not come from my own lips but a message that comes from your throne.

So Lord we ask that in this very moment you would now speak to us through your holy living word and we thank you for answering this prayer in Jesus name amen open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 18 Matthew chapter 18 Matthew chapter 18 and I'll be reading verse 12.

If a man has 100 sheep and 1 of them goes astray, does he not leave the 99 and go to the mountains to seek the 1 that is straying?

Would you believe that a good shepherd would do this?

Why would a good shepherd leave 99 sheep for just 1?

Well, first of all, sheep are born to stick together.

For those who have ever witnessed a herd of sheep, you understand what I'm saying.

They have this natural instinct that allows a shepherd to lead 100 sheep or even more into the wilderness and know that without a doubt, he's not gonna lose a single 1 Because they stick together.

So let's not be too hard on the shepherd for choosing to leave them together, quietly grazing, in order to go and look for the 1 lost sheep.

I got to believe that this shepherd knew what he was doing.

But this is where the story gets a little bit uncomfortable for some of us.

Because if we're honest with ourselves, most of us would not have left the 99 sheep.

I mean, I'll be honest with you, at a moment's notice, when I have to make a choice, I wouldn't be too quick to want to leave the 99.

We like knowing that things are under control.

But the shepherd isn't driven by convenience.

He's thinking about a name, a face, a sheep that didn't make it back.

And suddenly the shepherd, the story rather, it's not just about what the shepherd does or doesn't do.

It's about What kind of love refuses to leave anybody behind?

You know, as you contemplate the character of God, and you take a look at the way He operates with a lost planet of ours, God notices 1 who is lost, even 1, because every heart matters.

Every 1, every single heart matters to God.

White, who was a prolific writer, author, and inspired writer in the 19th century, she wrote these words.

In fact, I would like for us to read them together.

Christ would have died for 1 soul in order that that 1 might live through the eternal ages.

And as we think about what we just read, it's precisely the point that Jesus wanted to drive home when telling the parable.

And I want us to just kind of ponder this simple thought that for just 1, God would have carried on with His plans of salvation.

You know, the parable of the lost sheep reveals the heart of Christ as the good shepherd, and 1 who refuses to abandon even 1 soul.

And when a single shepherd, a single sheep, wanders into the wilderness, a single 1, what does the shepherd do?

He goes after it fully aware of the danger.

See, this is where we just kind of read through the parable and don't take a moment to just pause and just let the scenes unfold.

Because we can miss some important details, some context.

Think about this, in Bible times, we're talking about centuries, millenniums ago, but even this day in that region, The wilderness, the wilderness was not a national park where you would just go and spend the day at the wilderness.

No, The wilderness is the very place that you avoid at all cost.

Because the wilderness meant cliffs, drop-offs, with no borders, no fence.

It meant rocky paths and deadly predators.

The wilderness, we're talking wolves, lions, bears, snakes, scorpions.

To search for 1 lost sheep was to risk everything.

Let's go over to that gospel just for a moment.

We're going to go in our Bibles here a little, there a little.

In John chapter 10, Jesus once again is heard teaching and using this imagery, this word picture of a shepherd with his sheep.

No wonder that David was inspired to write Psalms 23.

In John chapter 10, John chapter 10, in this chapter, John records Jesus' teaching of the Good Shepherd.

1 who calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

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One Heart at a Time: Christ’s Mission Continues

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