Which of You Does Not Leave the Ninety-Nine? | Pastor Daniel Floyd

♪♪ Welcome, welcome to church. Come on, let's worship today. And we thank you, Lord, all you faithful God. And we bring you our praise, highest praise in the all stars. Oh, come on, we sing, I've found. And I have found the hands that bear the scars will reach down and rescue me. And I have known the love of the Father's heart. I'm a prodigal now redeemed. From where I was to where I'm now. It's overwhelming, thank you God. The more and more I see you move. All around we sing. I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift up, shout today. Oh, when I'm in pain. Well, thank you, how could you bear? You bring the clouds to the air. Oh, I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. Amen, church. Oh, I feel the blood, the thrill to save my life. A debt I cannot repay. And for the cross, you hold it open arms. Salvation, they call my name. From where I was to where I'm now. It's overwhelming, yeah. The more and more I see you move. All around we sing.

I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift up, shout today. Oh, when I'm in pain. Well, thank you, how could you bear? You bring the clouds to the air. I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. Oh, I can't help but dance cause I'm free. Got no chains on me. I'm healed and I'm relieved. I can't help but call on the name. That buried my shame. You're here for us to see. I can't help but dance cause I'm free. Got no chains on me. I'm healed and I'm relieved. I can't help but call on the name. That buried my shame. It opened my grave. I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. I can't help but lift up, shout today. Oh, when I'm in pain. Well, thank you, how could you bear? You bring the clouds to the air. I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. Oh, I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. Oh, I can't help but praise you, praise you Lord. Well, come on, give Him praise church. Come on, can we just tell Him, thank you Lord. Thank you for your goodness God. So we welcome you with praise.

Come on, we welcome you with praise. Almighty God of love. You're welcome. We say to you God, we welcome you with praise. We welcome you with praise. ♪ Almighty God of love ♪ ♪ Oh, even the valley I'll sing of ♪ ♪ Let every heart adore ♪ ♪ Let it show the way ♪ ♪ Almighty God of love ♪ ♪ Oh, come on, church, just so, just so ♪ ♪ We welcome you with praise ♪ ♪ We welcome you with praise ♪ ♪ Almighty, hey ♪ ♪ Be welcome in this place ♪ ♪ We welcome you with praise, oh, come on ♪ ♪ Almighty God of love, be welcome ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll give you my soul, we welcome you with praise ♪ ♪ Oh, we're thanksgiving with gratitude, Almighty God, oh ♪ ♪ Let every heart sing, let every heart adore ♪ ♪ Let every soul awake, Almighty God of love, be welcome ♪ ♪ We welcome you, Lord, we welcome you with praise, oh ♪ ♪ Almighty God of love, be welcome, yeah, so we sing ♪ ♪ Let every heart adore and let every soul awake ♪ ♪ Almighty God of love, be, come on, just sing that again ♪ ♪ Let every heart, let every heart adore ♪ ♪ And let every soul awake, Almighty God of love, be ♪ ♪ We choose today to say, God, that we welcome you ♪ Come on, just tell Him. ♪ We welcome you with praise, Almighty God of love, be welcome ♪

One more time, we say, we welcome you with praise. We welcome you with praise, Almighty God of love, would you be welcome in this place? Amen, amen, thank you, God, you're welcome here, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you. Jesus, Jesus. ♪ Yes, you took the fall once and for all ♪ ♪ Salvation's in your blood, what a worthy name ♪ ♪ Jesus, Son of God, high and lifted up ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, what a worthy name ♪ ♪ Jesus, Son of God, high and lifted up ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, yes, you do, yes, you do ♪ ♪ And hope had grown too cold to resurrect ♪ ♪ You beat the greatest, you will raise the first one from the dead ♪ ♪ And everything you have, preeminence ♪ ♪ The first, the last, the great I am, beginning and the end ♪ ♪ What a worthy name, Jesus, Son of God, high and lifted up ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, what a worthy name ♪ ♪ Jesus, Son of God, high and lifted up ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, yes, you do, yes, you do ♪ ♪ On your head the victors crowned ♪ ♪ Hell retreats and heaven shouts out the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Risen King of righteousness ♪ ♪ Knees will bow and tongues confess ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ On this rock the church will stand ♪ ♪ Songs of joy will rise again ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Christ will reign forevermore ♪ ♪ All the saints and angels will roar ♪

♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a worthy name, Jesus son of God ♪ ♪ You're high and lifted up, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, what a worthy name ♪ ♪ Jesus son of God, you're high and lifted up, you deserve ♪ ♪ On your head the victors crowned ♪ ♪ Hell breaks loose and heaven shouts ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Risen King of righteousness ♪ ♪ Knees will bow and tongues confess ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ On this rock the church will stand ♪ ♪ Songs of joy will rise again, yeah ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Christ will reign forevermore ♪ ♪ All the saints and angels roar ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ At the name, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Yeah, only at Your name, only at Your name ♪ ♪ Knees will bow and tongues confess ♪ ♪ You are worthy, You are holy ♪ Sing, what a worthy name. ♪ What a worthy name, Jesus, Son of God ♪ ♪ High and lifted up, You deserve the praise ♪ ♪ What a worthy name, Jesus, Son of God ♪ ♪ Jesus, Son of God, You're high and lifted up ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Yes, You deserve the praise ♪

♪ Lord, You deserve the praise ♪ Why don't we just say that today, God? Lord, You're worthy of all of our praise. ♪ You deserve all our praise ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve all the honor ♪ ♪ You deserve all the glory ♪ ♪ We thank You, Jesus ♪ ♪ As we give You the highest praise ♪ ♪ Not for anything that I could gain ♪ ♪ Just to honor You and bring You praise ♪ ♪ Like a fragrance broken on the floor ♪ ♪ May my worship be pure ♪ ♪ There's no motive, there's no hidden cash ♪ ♪ And here's my all and I don't want no share ♪ ♪ And I, like a phrase broken on the floor ♪ ♪ May my worship be pure ♪ And we sing not for anything. ♪ Not for anything that I could gain ♪ It's for you, Jesus. ♪ Just to honor you and bring you praise ♪ ♪ Like a fragrance broken on the floor ♪ ♪ May my worship be pure ♪ ♪ There's no motive, there's no hidden cash ♪ ♪ Here's my all and I don't want it back ♪ ♪ Like a fragrance broken on the floor ♪ ♪ May my worship be pure ♪ Yes, I give you the highest praise. To you, Jesus. ♪ You are Alpha and Omega ♪

♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ You are Alpha and Omega ♪ ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ Come on, we lift it up. ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ You are Alpha and Omega ♪ ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ So we give you all. ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ It's the highest praise, the highest praise. ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ Oh, we give you all. ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ It belongs to you, Jesus. It belongs to you. ♪ We worship you, our Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ Oh, we give you all the glory. ♪ We, we worship You O Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ Come on, let's just give the Lord praise in this place.

Lord, we honor You. Be instructed on the praise. You're worthy Lord, we give You praise, sing it Jesus. We give You praise, sing it Jesus. You're worthy Lord, You're worthy Lord. ♪ Oh You are so worthy, You are so worthy ♪ ♪ You are so worthy, You are so worthy, Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ You are so worthy, You are so worthy, Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Hey, You are so worthy, Jesus Christ, yes You are ♪ ♪ Yes You are, You are so worthy, You are, You are so worthy ♪ ♪ You are so worthy, my Jesus Christ, yes You are ♪ ♪ Yes You are, You are so worthy, You are, You are so worthy ♪ Come on one more time, can we just lift that up and sing it? ♪ You are so worthy, You are so worthy, You are so worthy ♪ ♪ You are so worthy, You are so worthy, Jesus Christ ♪ Yes You're worthy. Come on church, can we just tell Him He's worthy one more time? He's so worthy. He's so worthy and when we declare that He's worthy, we're actually saying He's deserving of something. He's deserving of honor and praise and glory and adoration and our worship, amen, He's worthy. And He's worthy because of many things, but one is because He is our good shepherd, amen. I love how Psalm 23 says this, it says that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Some versions say I have everything that I need. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but as the Psalm continues forward,

it's actually a Psalm about change and transition. I mean, just think about it for a moment. It says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. Wait a minute, I went from green pastures to still waters. Then it says, He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. Wait a minute, now I'm in a path of righteousness. Then it continues to go forward and say, I'm actually in a valley, but I'm not alone. Then it says, I made it to a table and then into a house. That there is this theme that runs through Psalm 23. Actually two things, one is that the shepherd is always with us, that we are never alone. Aren't you thankful that no matter what we go through in life, we are never alone? But the second thing that we see is that God, the good shepherd, is constantly moving us along in change and transition. And he does this not because he's cruel, but because he cares, because he understands that as we move from place to place, we grow. And I say that this morning because I want to share with you about a change that some of you may have already heard, some of you may not have heard. But on April 12th, which is the weekend after. Easter, we are going to be shifting our Saturday service to Sunday. And we'll have two Sunday services. We'll have a nine o'clock service and an eleven o'clock service only. And here's the reason why we're doing that. Because

one of the things is that we want to cultivate or continue to cultivate a serve culture. You may or may not know this, but only about 15% of people that attend this campus actually serve. And what we want to do is we want to give you an opportunity to get involved more. And what we understand is that if we have two services on Sunday, in fact we've done some research, we talked to other leaders, other churches, when you provide two services on the same day what you do is you give people an opportunity to attend one and to serve one. And so we're gonna do that. Because what we have right now is we've got a Saturday and Sunday and in essence if you attend one and serve one it's taking your whole weekend and taking time away from your family. And so we want to create a better opportunity for people to serve. Also at the 1030 service specifically on Sunday we are knocking on the door of capacity in our elementary kids classrooms. And the last thing we want to do is turn away families amen. And so we understand that if we can create an additional option on Sunday that we can create more capacity so that we can reach more people amen. Because that's what this is about. We want to reach more people for Jesus. But then here's the the third reason is that right now our team is on an every other weekend rotation. And when we move to Sunday services only our Southlake staff will actually be here just about every single weekend which means we get the opportunity to serve you better and to create more community. Because we know that when we're seeing each other more consistently guess what relationships can go deeper. And so we are gonna do this to make sure that we develop more community. And here's what I know though. There's a lot of change happening right. And the reality is is Sam Chan who wrote a book called Leadership Pain he says this he says change equals loss and loss equals pain. Change equals loss and loss equals pain. In other words anytime there's change there's often a loss because you have to let go of something to grab hold of something new. And then sometimes when you let go of something to grab something new that also means there is pain. And so what we know is that for some of us there may be pain in this change. And we want to recognize that. We understand that. But here's what

I love that quote that I gave you that axiom on leadership actually doesn't start with change. It actually starts with growth. He says growth equals change. Change equals loss. Loss equals pain. In other words if we're going to grow we're going to change. And guess what we believe that in aligning on Sundays it's actually going to give us a great opportunity to grow as a church because we're not here to maintain. We're here to move forward and the best is absolutely yet to come for Gateway Church. Come on do you believe that today? God's on the move church. And so I wanted to let you know about this change and actually wanted to take a moment and just pray for you because there's some of us in here today that yes there's change happening at the church but there's also change that's happening in your life. And you just need to be reminded the Good Shepherd is with you. And so I don't want to embarrass you but I would love to pray for if you'd say Jelani that's me I've just got a lot going on in my life there's a lot of change would you just raise your hand I just want to pray for you right now. Father you see the hands that are raised here in this auditorium and the balcony even online. There's a lot of change a lot of things happening in their lives and Lord I pray first and foremost that they would know that the Good Shepherd is with them that you will never leave them nor forsake them. But I also pray father that you would help them to see how you're growing them in the midst of change. That you are moving them to green pastures and to still waters and in fact I pray for the restoration of their souls. I pray against any fear because you said you don't need to fear because I'm with you and so I just speak over them grace mercy and peace in the name of Jesus amen amen come on can we give God praise one more time? Amen well listen it was so great worshiping with you and as we continue in the service today Pastor Daniel has an incredible message for us but before we turn our attention to him why don't you turn to two or three people and just tell them you look so much better than you did last weekend just just tell them Hey, Southlake family, hope you're having a wonderful day at church. What a great day to be in the house of God.

Tammy and I are actually at our Justin campus this morning, getting to visit with just another room in the house. You know, we say we're one church, many locations, one house, many rooms, and we are loving getting to visit and to see and to experience all that God is doing across the life of the church. So I hope you'll lean in today, get out your notes, take some notes, and allow God to speak to you through his word. Hey, I want to say hello to all of our campuses and everyone joining us online or on demand, our gateway gatherings, and of course our prison campuses. I just want to say, as we do every so often, you're not a project to us. You are a part of our church family and we thank God for you. Can we put our hands together at every campus and welcome all those who are with us for the very first time. Come on, let's welcome. Come on, let them know that you love them. Man, we're glad that you're here. I want to, we're in week two of this series called That's a Great Question. This is leading all the way up to Easter. And if you haven't gotten a copy of the devotional guide, we want to make sure that you get that. And I want you to follow along each day. I've been following along with it, doing my devotions out of it. It's been a wonderful guide and it's going to lead us all the way up to Easter. We're in week two of that series. If you miss week one, you can catch it on demand. And we're going to look at Luke chapter 15 today. I'm really excited about this message and I hope you'll catch the heart of it. Luke chapter 15, verse one through seven, scripture says, now the tax collectors and sinners were gathered around to hear him. If you work for the IRS or, you know, the Bible kind of categorizes sinners and then there's tax collectors. So it says, but the Pharisees and were gathered around him to hear him.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they muttered, this is what they were saying under their breath. This man welcomed sinners and eats with them. And then Jesus tells them this parable. So his response to their muttering is a parable. And he says this, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, who does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. And then he calls all of his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way, there'll be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. I want to just to focus on the question that Jesus asked in this text. Question two is all around the idea of who wouldn't leave the 99? Which of you wouldn't leave the 99? Let's pray together. Father, our hearts and minds are open to you. So Holy Spirit speak to us, challenge us, grow us. May we never be the same because of it. And we pray this in Jesus name. Everybody said amen. Amen. Hey, one of my favorite things on the iPhone, if you're a Christian and you have an iPhone, you have an Android. We have a deliverance ministry that'll help you get rid of the green bubbles. Come on somebody, ruining the green. Okay. Anyways, one of my favorite features on this though, is you know how to bring up memories, picture memories?

Do y'all know what I'm? Okay. I know Plano does right now. Plano knows exactly. I can know how to bring up the picture memories. And so the other day I brought up a memory on my pictures and sometimes honestly, I get lost in them. Cause I see one from way back when, and then I see, I scroll through to the next picture, but it was Owen, my 19 year old who's home from college. And it was he and his best friend, Noah, and they're both freshmen in college now. And they were playing tee ball. We went way back. They're playing tee ball. And the picture was the two of them supposed to be playing tee ball, but they were squatting down picking grass in the outfield. Come on. Any parents, any grandparents? Aunt, uncle, niece. Right. We call it swarm soccer. It's like where the whole group of little kids is following the soccer ball around. And this, this would be our boys. They were out. And the best part of, of baseball was the snacks, snacks at the end, right? Little Gatorade, little chips and some cookies or candy, whatever everybody's. giving them right, and I used to say to them, I'd tell you, oh, and you're missing the point, bud. The point is to win. Like we wanna win. Don't let anybody tell you it's to have a good time.

It's not. It's to get a W, can I get a better amen? It's to get a W at the end of the day, you know? We don't give trophy, okay, anyways, it's just personal opinion, but we wanna win. You're missing the point, and I tell you that story to say this is exactly what's happening in the parable we just read. They're missing the point altogether. Jesus, the scene that's being said is this, is he's hanging out with some tax collectors and sinners, and in that custom and in that day, what would happen is tax collectors were often Jewish people that were hired by the Roman government so that they could collect tax on the people and the Jewish people, so they were hated at a level that you can't even wrap your mind around because they felt betrayed, and they felt like these were people that were taking money from their own people, and so this is why they would say sinners and tax collectors. If you're with me, say amen. And it's not that in this scene, Jesus is just having dinner with them or he's just around them, he has brought them in close. This is who Jesus is, and as he brings them in close, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law or the religious people or the church people of the day, they decide to start murmuring. The word murmur means to talk privately

or to kind of grumble under your voice. They didn't have enough courage to say it out loud, so they just kind of grumbled around it. Are you with me? Say amen. And this is what they were saying is that he hangs out with the wrong kind of people. And so Jesus' parable is a response to this perspective by the religious crowd of the day. Matter of fact, the rest of Luke chapter 15 is Jesus responding to the religious leaders of the day and the response they had to Jesus associating with tax collectors and sinners, and he gives this parable. Now, I grew up that a parable, the easy way I remembered it in Sunday school was, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, but it's really even deeper than that. A parable is where Jesus is giving us a little insight into the kingdom of God. He's giving us principles and he's giving us little treasures and he's giving us nuggets in these stories to help us to relate to them. But ultimately what he's undoing is he is unpacking the kingdom of God. But how many of you know that the kingdom of God is upside down and different to the kingdom of this world? That the kingdom of God doesn't think like the kingdom of this world.

And so Jesus gives us parables to help us to begin to think like the kingdom thinks and to value like the kingdom values because Jesus didn't come to establish another political party. And he didn't come to set up ruling and reigning like they thought he would. He came to establish the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God operates on a different set of principles. And this is what Jesus begins to unpack in this parable of the shepherd and of the lost sheep. If you're with me, say amen. And I want us to look at four different thoughts from this parable that I hope will so get ingrained in your heart because this is the heart of the kingdom. This is the heart of God. This is the values that God wants us to have. This is the way he wants us to think about life and see life. Matter of fact, someone wrote once that parables were God's way of revealing truth to the hungry, concealing truth from the hard-hearted and causing us to discover ourselves within the text. And so for those who are hungry, I pray that truth is revealed. For those who are hard-hearted, you may get nothing out of this, but it's not the preacher's fault. I'm just joking.

But I play ultimately that you'll see yourself in the text and say, what is God wanting to say to me? If you're with me, say amen. Let me give you four thoughts. Number thought one, thought number one is this. I want you to see the heart of the shepherd. The heart of the shepherd. Luke chapter 15, verse four says this. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep? Do you see the heart of the shepherd? The 99 matter. Don't get it wrong, but they're not lost. The 99 are not in danger of wolves and of animals tearing them apart. The 99 are safe and they are fine. And Jesus is telling these Pharisees in the kingdom of God, if you've been found, your heart should be for those who have not yet been found. Can I get a better amen? In the kingdom of God. This is what it looks like. Jesus is telling them, this is the heart of the shepherd that the 99 have been found, but what does the shepherd do? He goes and he runs after the one. He runs after the one that is strayed away,

the one that has been lost, the one that is in danger, the one that needs the rescuing of the shepherd. He goes after the one. And can I just be real honest on this beautiful weekend? That sometimes we sound more like the Pharisees than we do the shepherd. Let me ask you this. Could I challenge you a little bit today? Remember, I'm Daniel. I'm your friend. That maybe we don't have the heart of the shepherd when it's been a while since we prayed for someone far from God. That maybe we've lost the heart of the shepherd when it's been a while since we at least just invited somebody to church. That maybe we've lost the heart of the shepherd when it's been a while since we saw the person making our coffee, but never wondered where their soul will spend eternity. That we ran through the store and got the groceries, but never wondered, did the people around me know Jesus? The heart of the shepherd is for the one. Matter of fact, in Matthew, it says this, chapter nine, verse 35 through 36, it says, Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the, everybody say it with me,

proclaiming the good news of the what? Because that's what he talked about more than anything and healing every disease and sickness. And when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless. Listen, like sheep without a shepherd. The word compassion there in the Greek is this word, it's splung, nizomai. If you wanna impress somebody at lunch tomorrow. That word means this, it means a gut level compassion. It means something that deep within you causes you to feel something because you see someone in their lostness. This is what Jesus saw. He said, they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were harassed, they were helpless. They had nowhere to go. They were the one that is strayed away. That's who he's talking about here. And it says that Jesus himself, when he saw them, he had compassion on them. This is the kind that it's not, I feel sorry for them. It's not, I hate that, I hate they're walking through that. It's not that, it's something that's so deep within you that moves you to go, I've gotta do something about this. I can't just stand by. This is what Jesus said. Matter of fact, Philip Keller, who spent eight years as a shepherd in East Africa, wrote a book on Psalms 23. And he says this, he says that sheep will stray away

and they'll get so exhausted that they'll just lay down. And they have no idea how to get back to the shepherd. This is, I'm wanting you to see, this is the heart of the shepherd that he goes after the one, why? Because the one can't find their way back to the shepherd. He doesn't text them and give them directions. He doesn't say, well, they'll figure it out one day. No, he runs after them. Are you following me? A moment in my life that I'm not extremely proud of is a season in my life where I lost the compassion for the one. Someone who made me aware of a gentleman in our town that was battling brain cancer. And I knew who it was and I had access to go talk with him. And I knew he didn't know the Lord, but I was busy. I was pastoring a growing church. I had a busy schedule. I had requests coming in to speak different places. There was demands on my life. And I never went and had the conversation and the man passed away and I don't know where he is right now. Because I had a season where busyness cost me compassion and I lost the heart of the shepherd. May we never be a place that loses the heart of the shepherd for the one that is far from God. I love what Timothy Keller says.

He said, the gospel is this. We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe. So you're like, I needed to be encouraged this weekend. Here's the encouraging part. Yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. Isn't that great news today. The heart of the shepherd. Number two, I want you to see the pursuit of the shepherd. Luke chapter 15, verse four, the end of the verse, four words that I find so interesting. It says this, he goes searching until he finds it. Until he finds it. It wasn't if he found it. It was until he finds it. Aren't you glad in your own life that Jesus didn't pursue you if, fill in the blank, but he pursued you until he found you? I think sometimes that we categorize who we need to pursue. Like, yeah, we obviously need to pursue the obviously rebellious people. But what about those who life just happened? Sometimes I think we have categories. They're like a sinner, sinner. Come on, get your halo off. We like categorize them.

They're sinner, sinner. And you know, we're even like the Jewish people. There's tax collector. You know, there's a really bad and they definitely need to pursue. But, you know, Philip Keller in his book on Psalm 23 said that a lot of times that the sheep would just stray. It wasn't like a rebellious thing. It wasn't like I'm done with you, shepherd. I don't want to be around you. It was just a stray. And how many of you know that there are people in our life that it's just been a stray? It's not like there's this overt rebellion in their life. There isn't this put my fist up at God. I don't want to serve you anymore. It's just time happens and life happens and disappointments happen and unexpected sensations happen. And there's just a strain. And aren't you thankful that whether it's outright rebellion or it's just, I've let life happen in my life that we serve a God that is in pursuit. That he says, hey, until I find you, I'm coming after you. That I will keep pursuing you. I will keep running after you. It's a compassion that led him to action. The shepherd is like, I'm going to get him. He didn't talk about how ignorant the sheep was. He didn't list all the reasons why the sheep got himself in trouble.

No, he just went and pursued the sheep. He just went and ran after him. You know, it's like we have four kids, right? We have 19, 16, nine and seven. I think that's right. And you would think I was crazy if I ever came to you and they were like, how are your four kids? And I was like, I don't know about one of them, but three out of four ain't bad. It's a pretty good percentage. I mean, they're lost somewhere, but three out of four. I mean, what do you expect? There's four of them and I'm tired and... No, you would think I'd lost my mind. You would think I was a negligent father. If you didn't see me doing anything but doing everything in my power, pulling every string that I had, talking to everybody that I knew to go find that one child that was lost. This is the heart of God to us. Matter of fact, all of Luke 15 is his rebuttal to the Pharisees saying that he hangs out with sinners and tax collectors. How many of you know, if Jesus rebuts your comment with one parable, you should shut your mouth. When he rapid fires three at you, you should really get the point. Can I get a better amen? Because he starts with the lost sheep.

Then he goes to the lost coin, right? If you know the text. Chapter 15, verse eight, what does it says? It says, or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins, talking about a widow and loses one of them. Says, does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully? Everybody say the next word together, switch carefully until. She doesn't just like, well, I guess that coin's gone. Well, I guess I'll just have to make some more coins. I guess I'll have to go get a job. No, but the Bible says that she searches and she searches. God, I just want you to see, Jesus is trying to give us this picture of the heart of the father, of the kingdom of God, that it is a kingdom that is pursuing after the lost. That those who are far from God, that those who don't know Jesus. of Jesus, that this is the heart of our God, and this is the kingdom of God, that we run after the lost, the lost that is next door to us, the lost that is in the nation, the lost that is globally, we run after the lost, that he searches for it. And if a sheep is that important and a coin is that important,

how much more is a son? And the prodigal son says, he finally comes to his senses. If you know the story, he comes back and it says, so he got up and he went to his father, and while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, which I don't know, because the text doesn't tell us, but I don't know if that dad didn't just like, get on the porch every day, at a certain time hoping he would see the son come down the road. But here's what I do know, is that as soon as he got his eyes on him, the Bible said he had compassion on him. You know what that Greek word is for compassion? It's the same word Jesus had in Matthew. It's a gut level. It's a deep within him, that caused him to run after his son, and to throw his arms around him, and to kiss him and to love him. And if we're to have the heart of the father, this is the heart you and I got to have. That there's something in us that goes, I just can't let lost sheep be around me, without doing something about it. The lost friend, the lost aunt,

the lost family member, the lost coworker, the lost student on your football team, the lost student, in the dorm room, in the cul-de-sac, are y'all with me? This is the heart, this is why we as a church, can never stop pursuing the one. You know why? Because the grace of God at some point pursued me, and pursued you, and aren't you thankful? Aren't you thankful? I think it was Charles Spurgeon that called him, the Holy Spirit, the hound of heaven. Aren't you thankful that the hound of heaven wouldn't let you go? Wouldn't stop running after you? Aren't you thankful that there was someone, it may have been a parent, it may have been a Sunday school teacher, it may have been a coworker, it may have been a friend. Aren't you thankful that they inside of them, got compassion on you, and a compassion that moved them, to share Jesus with you, to invite you to a church? And I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm not gonna lie to you,

I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm not gonna lie to you to go to church, to show you the gospel, to love you with compassion. Man, I'm so thankful, my mom is here this week, and it was my mom, who cared enough to show me Jesus, and it changed my life. Why? Because that is who our shepherd is. Our shepherd is one who pursues, the lost. I like to say it this way, I think we ought to do anything short of sin, to reach lost people. If you got to bribe them with lunch, take them somewhere good. I'm not saying you like kidnap them, to bring them to church, but whatever it takes everybody. Because the shepherd pursues, he pursues the one, that's far from him. Number three, I want you to see this, the grace of the shepherd. It's one of my favorite parts, the grace of the shepherd. Says this in verse five and seven of Luke 15, it said, and when he finds it,

being the sheep, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and goes home. And then he goes back to the sheep, and then he calls his friends and neighbors together, and says, rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more, these aren't my words, this is God's words. There's more rejoicing in heaven, over one sinner who repents, than over 99 righteous persons, who do not need to repent. You know what I just picture, every time that we're together, and every time someone slips up their hand, and every time someone responds to the gospel, that heaven is just like, I don't know what the party looks like, but it's gotta be fun. Just in heaven. I mean, just think that for a moment, that as we end our times together every week, and people respond to the gospel of Jesus, there's like a party thrown in heaven. Like they're breaking out charcuterie boards, they're, come on somebody, like they're serving cant,

like I don't know what it looks like, I don't know if it's dancing, but I'm just saying, there's a party going on. and on in heaven every time. And I think this is probably the part of the story that got the Pharisees so messed up. I imagine they hated this part of the story because how many of you know that religious people, they want you to come to God, but they want you to come to God and they want you to make sure you know how bad you were before you came to God. But the shepherd, he doesn't even tell the sheep, you dumb sheep, you could have got yourself killed. Do you know why you got yourself in that problem? Do you know how you, can I tell you somebody, someone that's in a ditch doesn't need to be told how they got in the ditch. They just need somebody that'll love them enough to get them out of the ditch. Come on, can I get a better amen in God's house today? He didn't worry about how the sheep strayed away. He didn't worry about what caused the sheep to strayed away. All he did is he found it and he put it on his shoulders and he brought it home and he called everybody around him. And he said, let's have a party because the sheep was lost and now it's found.

And if you read the one about the coin, she has celebrated. And if you read about the prodigal son, it says he embraced him, he blessed him, put a robe on him, and then he threw a party for him. And the religious son was like, why didn't I get a party? You know what the father said to him? Basically, you could have had a party every day of your life because you were in the house. My son who was lost is now found and we need to celebrate. Here's the pattern. They find him, embrace him, bless him, and then celebrate him. He found the son, he embraced the son, he blessed him. This is the heart of God. And then he celebrated him. He found him, he embraced him, he blessed him, and then he celebrated him. You know what that's called? It's called grace. Because the sheep didn't deserve a party and the prodigal son didn't deserve a party. But how many of you are grateful that God is not fair? That he gives us what we do not deserve and that's called grace. My Sunday school teacher taught it like this, the acronym, it's God's riches at Christ's expense. That's what grace is. It's God giving me what I do not deserve. I don't deserve his forgiveness.

I don't deserve his kindness. I don't deserve his mercy. I don't deserve heaven. But he found me and he embraced me and he blessed me and he celebrated me. And that's called grace, everybody. May we be a place of grace for everyone who walks through our doors. I was thinking about this this week, in the first year of the church that Tammy and I got to start in Virginia. I'll never forget this little single mom. She couldn't have been more than 20 something. And at that size of the church, if you knew, everybody knew. You know, you walk in the door, it's like a new person, get them. And this little mom came in with a car seat. You know, the car seat thing, all by herself, bag, young. And you could see the weight and the shame on her. Head down, kind of set in the back. Soon as service was over, went right to her. So glad that you're here. What's your name? Talked to her, came back the next week, came back the next week, came back the next week. Saw shame start to lift off her life. Saw a smile start to come on her face. Met her husband at the church. Got married, took that little girl as his own. Ended up leading one of the major areas

as a volunteer of the church. And I remember as the years went on, I would say, what was it that kept you coming back? She goes, I just received so much grace. She said, I came to church expecting to be condemned because I had a baby and I wasn't married. But y'all showed me so much grace and it changed my life. The Bible doesn't say it's the condemnation of people that leads people to repentance. It's the kindness of God. So if it's the kindness of God. that leads people to repentance, shouldn't it be the kindness of God's people that help lead people to see the beautiful grace of God? May they say about us, we're a people of grace, just like the shepherd. Final thought I want you to see is the purpose of the shepherd. And I'm not talking about the shepherd in the parable, I'm talking about the chief shepherd, Jesus. And we see the purpose of the shepherd in Luke chapter 19, four chapters later. You know the story, Zacchaeus up in the tree, come down, I'm going to your house today. Anybody grew up in, okay. You had to grow up in Sunday school to know that. And once again, the Bible says the Pharisees and the teachers of the law mutter because he's going to hang out with a tax collector. And Zacchaeus says, he meets Jesus, he says,

I'll sell and give back and I'll make right everywhere I've made it wrong and I'll do above and beyond. And he says, today salvation has come into your house in the very next verse, verse 10 says this in chapter 19, for the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. You want a mission statement for the life of Jesus? That's it. And so if that's the purpose of the shepherd, should it not be the purpose of our lives? That we get the amazing privilege, think about this, to join Jesus in his mission of seeking and saving. The lost, let's not get it backwards. It's not Jesus come join me in my mission of building what I want to build. Sure, God blesses us and God does wonderful things in our life. But the way it really is, is Jesus, I get to join you in your mission of seeking and saving the lost. You know why? Because found people should go find people. And if you've been found, guess what? You get to join Jesus on the mission of finding people. Why? Because that's who the great shepherd is. And aren't you thankful today, that one day when you were the lost sheep, you were the lost coin and you were the prodigal that the great shepherd came and looked for you. Amen, everybody.

Amen. Do you receive the word of God today? Will you pray with me? Every head bowed, every eye closed at all of our locations today. Maybe you're here today and where you find yourself in the story, is that you're the lost sheep. That you've strayed away and you feel the pursuit of the shepherd. The love of God, the grace of God coming towards you today. And you need to respond. You want that grace of God to be poured out in your life. You know in your heart that you're far from God. You know in your heart that you're far from God, but you don't have to live life that way. For the son of man came to seek and to save those who were lost. So if you say, pastor, that's me today at any one of our locations, maybe you're online, maybe you're watching on demand later in the week or at another time, you'd say, I need a fresh start today. You know, the Bible gives you this promise. If anybody be in Christ, they're a brand new creation. All things pass away and everything becomes new. So if that's you today, you'd say, I need that fresh start or I've strayed away and I need to come back to God. Then in just a moment, we're gonna pray together as a church. There's nothing special about the prayer.

It's just me helping you express to God your heart. The Bible says that if you'll confess him as Lord with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, then you will be saved. So if today that's your heart and you want that, then before we pray, I just wanna know who I'm praying with. No one's looking around. No one embarrassed you or come to you. Just myself or the pastor at your campus. But if you'd say, that's me. And when I get to three, I just want you to shoot your hand up high enough, long enough for myself or the pastor at your location to see and then we're gonna pray together. But if God is speaking to you today, then you respond now while the time is right. Time is available. On three, you shoot your hand up. One, two, three. You just shoot it up high all over the room. God bless you. I see you. Keep it up. Just keep your hand up. Every location. God bless you. Incredible. Thank you. God sees you more importantly.

It's beautiful. You can put it down. Church, let's pray this out loud together for the benefit of those who just slipped their hand up. Just say, Jesus, I need you. I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. I believe you died for me. I believe God raised you from the dead. Today, I make you my Lord and Savior. Thank you for a brand new beginning. In Jesus' name. Everybody said a big amen. Come on, let's celebrate those who made that decision. Amen. Come on, church, you can do better than that. We had hands go up all over the auditorium. Heaven is celebrating. We are celebrating you. If you made a decision to give your life to Jesus Christ, we want you to know we are so proud of you. You just made the best decision ever. And listen, that's not the end, that's just the beginning. We actually wanna help you take some next steps in your spiritual journey. And really, there's two ways that you can do that. First of all, you can just text the word Jesus to 71010. That will give us a chance to follow up with you. But secondly, we would love to personally pray with you and walk with you and help you take next steps. And so here's what that looks like.

In a moment, I'm going to invite everyone to stand up here in the auditorium. And we're gonna have prayer team members come to the front of the auditorium. We'll also have prayer team members there in the balcony. But they would love the opportunity to pray with you personally and give you a Bible if you need it, but just give you some direction on how to take your next steps. Also, I just want you to know, when I have everyone stand up, if you're here today and you've got a prayer need, we would love the opportunity to pray with you. You don't need to be embarrassed. You don't need to be a member here. This is what church is about. We would love the opportunity to pray with you. And so in a moment, when I have us stand up, if you have a prayer need, you just come forward. But the other thing that's gonna happen, because church isn't over, we're actually gonna go into one more chorus of a worship song. And this is gonna give us an opportunity just to respond to the message that we've heard and focus our eyes on Jesus. And so I wanna encourage you, if you have a prayer need or if you gave your life to Jesus,

or when we stand up, maybe you just wanna lift your arms up and worship, this is our opportunity to respond to the message. And I encourage you to do that. So I wanna invite you right now, just stand to your feet. Wanna invite our prayer team to come forward. And if you have a prayer need, you just start making your way forward as well. If you're there in the balcony, you can find one of our leaders there. We would love the opportunity to pray with you. And if you're not coming forward, I just wanna encourage you right now, would you just lift your voices and join us as we worship the Lord? Come on, let's worship together. ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ ♪ And holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those You are holy ♪ ♪ And holy, there is no one like You ♪ ♪ There is none beside You ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me who You are and fill me with Your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ Amen, amen. Listen, I wanna let you know

that even as we get ready to close, if you have a prayer need, we're gonna stay here as long as we need to pray with you. We'd love the opportunity to pray with you. So if you're carrying something in, we don't want you to leave with that. Let us pray with you and agree with God to move in your life. So I encourage you to keep coming forward. Just a couple of reminders for you. On your way out today, we have still some of our reading plans. Remember, our reading plans coincide with the series that we're in, and it's just a tool to help you grow in your relationship with the Lord. So make sure you grab one of those. Also, as Pastor Daniel talked about, just a heart for the lost, we have some invite cards for you that you can grab to invite people to Easter. And remember, this is our opportunity to take people that are close to us, but maybe far from God, and we wanna invite them to church and see God do an amazing thing in their lives. So make sure you grab some of those invite cards. Also, this Wednesday, we have community night. How many of you have been to one of our community nights before?

Just raise your hand up high. Okay, if you've never been to a community night, would you raise your hand up? We just wanna judge you in our hearts. I'm just kidding, I'm totally kidding. We're not gonna do that. But I do wanna let you know that community night for us, this Wednesday night at six o'clock, we'll share a meal together, but then at seven o'clock, we have classes and groups for everybody. And really, it's just our opportunity to create some relationships, some community, to get to know each other. And so I encourage you, we have kids ministry available. So if you have a chance this Wednesday, come out, meet some people, connect with us, and enjoy a time of fellowship. Lastly, if you are new to Gateway Church, we are so honored that you chose to be with us this weekend. And we would love the opportunity to personally meet you. There's an area called Connect Central, which is located in the lobby. And I'll be there along with some of our leaders. We'd love to shake your hand to meet you, to answer any questions that you have. And so if you have a moment after service, just stop by Connect Central. And if you can't do that for whatever reason, or maybe you're joining us online, you can simply text the word connect to 71010,

and we can follow up with you there. Let me pray a blessing over you today out of Numbers chapter six. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Amen. God bless you. We love you. We'll see you next weekend. Star Searchers Track 1 Jesus worthy of everything Worthy of all I can bring With the breath in our lungs we will sing forever Shout for a calling we will make away Where there seems to be no way There's nothing he can't do He's the God of the breakthrough Shout to the victory ahead We remind our souls again There's nothing he can't do He's the God of the breakthrough