When The Lost Are Found

"So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’" Luke 15:3-5

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then 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.’" Luke 15:8-9

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate." Luke 15:23-24

Jesus told these three powerful parables to illustrate His attitude toward the lost. He longs for them. He loves them. He looks for them hoping they will receive His love.

Peter said it this way, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Jesus portrays His love for lost people in two ways. First, we see His love demonstrated in the urgency with which He searches for the lost - the sheep, the coin and the son. When we lose something we love it shows!

Second, Jesus' love for the lost is shown in the way He celebrates when the lost is found! When the lost sheep was found and brought back to the fold there was a great celebration! When the lost coin was found and returned to its proper place there was a celebration! And after the lost son returned there was a banquet to celebrate his return!

The three parables also demonstrate what Jesus hopes for those who follow Him.

He wants you to seek lost people with an urgency. If lost people really matter to you it will show. You will intentionally and persistently look for opportunities to win their friendship so you can witness to them so you can win them to faith.

When you do win them there should be a great celebration to match the celebration happening in Heaven! A celebration like we had at FredWes last Sunday when we baptized eight new believers!

From the day FredWes was launched it has been about reaching the lost. Actually, before it was launched it was about reaching the lost. That is what fueled the vision and lead Pastor Gerald and Brenda to Fredericksburg. It has been the driving force in every location and relocation the church has had. It must be the driving force behind our relocation to New Post and the Capital Campaign to help us get there.

If if becomes about anything other than reaching lost people it isn't worth doing.

What is it worth to you to reach a lost family member or friend?

Think about it.

September 3, 2016

"Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:1-2

I want you to notice two very different attitudes toward sinners and one important attitude by sinners.

The differences in these attitudes mark the difference between a dynamic church and a dying church.

So, let's look at this!

First we focus on the Pharisees. Based on their complaints toward Jesus it is quite apparent how they felt about the tax collectors and pharisees. They weren't very subtle about it so I'm sure those two groups felt the disdain and rejection of the religious establishment of their day.

Also, I'm fairly sure the tax collectors and sinners heard the Pharisees and they criticized Jesus for the company He was keeping.

On the other hand, Jesus welcomed tax-collectors and sinners. He did it for a very simple reason, He came to seek and save those who are lost. He was drawn to their spiritual hunger and their openness to the truth of His teaching. And, unlike the Pharisees, these guys were very aware of their sinfulness.

Let me ask you, would you rather go to a place where you don't feel welcome or to a person who is always glad to see you?

So did the tax collectors and the sinners. As the text says, "All the tax-collectors and Pharisees were coming to hear Him."

Well, no wonder sinners and tax-collectors (all of them) came to hear what Jesus had to say. Through His compassion toward them and dialogue with them He had won a measure of their trust. His words contained truth and life and love while the Jewish religious leaders spoke prejudice and criticism.

The Pharisees and religious leaders symbolize a church that is dying. A church that is legalistic, self-focused, self-satisfied, self-righteous and suspicious of anyone who isn't exactly like them. I wouldn't go to a church like that and neither would you. So, why would you think a lost person would show up there. In fact, if you care about lost people you pray they don't go to a church like that either!

Unfortunately there are far too many churches like that.

Contrast that to a dynamic church that wants sinners to come and welcomes them warmly into their fellowship! A dynamic church speaks truth and honors God's Word and challenges hearers to apply it to daily living. A dynamic church is committed to praying for lost people and intentionally builds relationships with lost people so that the Holy Spirit begins working in lost people to draw them toward worship and the Word.

This is the vision I have for FredWes. This is what "loving people to LIFE means"! We want to be people who build winning relationships with unsaved people so they feel comfortable when we invite them. We want to welcome them warmly when they come to investigate faith at FredWes. We want to lovingly confront them with the simple truth of the Gospel.

There are reasons churches die and there are reasons churches become dynamic. This story clearly illustrates the difference.

Will you help me make FredWes a place where lost people want to "come and hear"?

When The Lost Are Found

"So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’" Luke 15:3-5

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then 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.’" Luke 15:8-9

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate." Luke 15:23-24

Jesus told these three powerful parables to illustrate His attitude toward the lost. He longs for them. He loves them. He looks for them hoping they will receive His love.

Peter said it this way, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Jesus portrays His love for lost people in two ways. First, we see His love demonstrated in the urgency with which He searches for the lost - the sheep, the coin and the son. When we lose something we love it shows!

Second, Jesus' love for the lost is shown in the way He celebrates when the lost is found! When the lost sheep was found and brought back to the fold there was a great celebration! When the lost coin was found and returned to its proper place there was a celebration! And after the lost son returned there was a banquet to celebrate his return!

The three parables also demonstrate what Jesus hopes for those who follow Him.

He wants you to seek lost people with an urgency. If lost people really matter to you it will show. You will intentionally and persistently look for opportunities to win their friendship so you can witness to them so you can win them to faith.

When you do win them there should be a great celebration to match the celebration happening in Heaven! A celebration like we had at FredWes last Sunday when we baptized eight new believers!

From the day FredWes was launched it has been about reaching the lost. Actually, before it was launched it was about reaching the lost. That is what fueled the vision and lead Pastor Gerald and Brenda to Fredericksburg. It has been the driving force in every location and relocation the church has had. It must be the driving force behind our relocation to New Post and the Capital Campaign to help us get there.

If if becomes about anything other than reaching lost people it isn't worth doing.

What is it worth to you to reach a lost family member or friend?

Think about it.

September 1, 2016

“Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?" Luke 15:4

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them," Luke 15:8

"because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate." Luke 15:24

Luke 15 is a chapter about what moves God's heart and the thing that God is passionate about is finding those who are lost!

So, what does it mean to be lost? If we don't understand the peril of lostness we won't possess the urgency of seeking the lost.

The lostness referred to here in these stories refers specifically to the spiritual condition of the lost one.

Being lost means:

• Being Disoriented

People were created for fellowship with God. Sin separates people from God. As Blaise Pascal insight-fully declared, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart." Until He is allowed to fill that spiritual void a person is lost and disoriented.

The sheep and the son were the two antimate beings in the three parables Jesus told. They were obviously disoriented as the longing in their hearts caused them to wonder from their place of safety and security. The further away they drifted the more disoriented they became.

• Being Displaced

The coin became lost when someone carelessly dropped it, or moved it or hid it in the wrong place. It had no way of returning to its rightful place. Until found it would remain displaced.

Lostness involves displacement. Adam's rebellion caused the human race to become displaced from the purpose and will of God. So you and me and everyone else comes into the world displaced.

• Being Deceived

Jeremiah the Prophet wrote, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"

Because we are born with flawed judgment and deceitful heart, we don't even know we are lost and drifting ever further from God. 

That is how the sheep wondered away from its shepherd. It is why the son rejected the love and lavish provision of his father fulling expecting to satisfy the evil desires of his selfish heart.

• Being Disconnected

The result or by-product of being disoriented, displaced and deceived is a life disconnected from God's presence, God's power, God's purpose, God's peace, God's promises and God's pardon for their sins.

When you are disconnected from God your chances of connecting in healthy relationships with others greatly decreases.

The disconnected life is another sad consequence of being lost in sin.

• Being Dead

The lost coin was lost but obviously as an inanimate object it was not dead. But the lost sheep was headed to a certain death unguarded by the shepherd. It was only a matter of time until a wolf or a mountain lion preyed on the helpless sheep and shredding it to pieces. And the rebellious son who wandered away from his generous father was gone so long that he was presumed dead by his family.

The Bible talked about the spiritual condition of a person lost in sin, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins." Ephesians 2:1.

Being spiritually lost is a pitiful condition. It is a perilous condition. It is a condition that you are powerful to reverse or reform. 

Only God can rescue lost people. Only His Son Jesus could provide for their salvation. That is why He came to seek and to save those who are lost!

That means you! That means me! That means once we are found by Jesus we must join him in the search for others who are lost!

Are you part of the search?

Little Lost Boy

“Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?" Luke 15:4

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them," Luke 15:8

"because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate." Luke 15:24

Nowadays with GPS devices it is hard to get lost. It's very likely that most people under age forty have never known how it feels to be lost. That is probably a good thing but it dulls the impact of the three parables Jesus told Luke 15 because each parable is about something of great value that was lost.

When my three were little tykes I took them to Six Flags Park near Chicago. There was a ride all three of them wanted to go on in a nearby section of the park. The two oldest promised they would take special care of little Marcus if I let them go. So I agreed. I sat and waited for them to return.

Some thirty minutes later Matt and Bradi came running up filled with excitement telling me how great the ride was. As I tried to share in their excitement I couldn't help but notice little Marcus was missing. It was apparent they hadn't yet noticed.

We urgently began the search for a knee-high kid in a swarming mass of humanity. I tried not to show on the outside the panic that was overwhelming me on the inside. He could be merely lost in the crowd or he could be kidnapped and long gone by now.

I had the older two lead me in retracing the path they had taken to get from where they were to where they met up with me. I did my best to follow them, avoid the crowd, pray and look for Marcus all at the same time. By then I was in full fatherhood mode and I really think for those few minutes I had x-ray vision. Really!

As we got near the ride they had recently left there was a sudden momentary parting of the crowd and there he stood! At six years old he had the presence of mind to stay put knowing we would eventually come back to find him.

In those desperate minutes I think I experienced the sort of heart-wrenching pain and anxiety the shepherd and the woman and the father felt in Jesus' parables.

That's exactly the point of these stories. We need to understand the angst and heartbreak God endures for each and every lost soul on earth.

We need to make sure we don't break His heart by staying lost.

And, most importantly, we must share His urgency to find those who are lost. I try to stay in touch with how I felt that day I looked for my lost boy.

That's why FredWes was founded.

That's how FredWes has grown.

That's why FredWes must do two services really well so we will have room to keep reaching lost people and loving them to life.

That's why FredWes must do what it takes to get to New Post in a larger place to have more space to reach more people in more ways.

That's why FredWes will some day launch a new congregation in a new place where more lost people can be found and claimed and loved to life.

Three simple stories remind us of why FredWes exists and what must drive us to our future - we once were lost but now we're found and we have become a search party.

As lost as there is one lost soul we can reach in NoVA we must not stop searching.

August 30, 2016

"Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2

When you are in leadership as Jesus was it is not unusual to be criticized. It goes with the territory. 

To some degree, the sort of criticism you receive can be indicative of how you lead and can dicative also be of who you are leading. Some criticism is unfair and unfounded but some is right on the money! 

In this situation, the criticism leveled against Jesus was entirely accurate though done in a mean spirit. Their attempts to discredit the ministry of Jesus actually defined his ministry, and at the same time, betrayed their complete misunderstanding of Jesus. They were about religion, He was about relationship. They were about reputation. He was about redemption. They were about self-righteousness. Jesus was about salvation.

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" was the complaint they made against Him! Jesus' response was, "EXACTLY!" And He could have continued, "Why don't you?"

As usual for the Pharisees, in their attempts to indict Him they succeeded in exposing their selves.

If I am going to be criticized, and I will be, one of the criticisms I will welcome is, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

I would be very encouraged if sinners were coming to hear me preach and teach!

I hope it will be said of FredWes, "They welcome sinners and fellowships with them."

Even if that allegation is made as a criticism I would receive it as a compliment!

What about you?

August 29, 2016

"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." II Corinthians 12:10

Glorying in your weakness is a foreign concept for most believers today. I have a feeling it was not largely embraced back in Paul's day either. It's a tough one to comprehend!

But, judging by what Paul says here in this verse, once you learn it and live it then you can be free of the fear and dread of adverse circumstances because each difficulty becomes and occasion for fresh grace from God!

Maybe a better way of getting your mind around this concept is to realize that we probably never would have heard about Paul or Peter or Job if it had not been for the way God's strength was made perfect in their sufferings.

Paul was the most accomplished of the three. He was highly educated, highly motivated, highly articulate and highly focused on whatever task he chose. He was one of the greatest Pharisees of his day. But how many other Pharisees can you name? Most people who knew Pharisees tried to forget about them!

But Paul is famous, and respected and beloved 2,000 years after his death! However, he is not remembered because of his strengths as a Pharisee he is remembered because of all he suffered in serving Christ and the Church!

Peter was pretty much the opposite of Paul, rough, rugged, uncultured and uneducated. He was a fisherman who spent his nights on the Sea of Galilee, his morning cleaning nets and days catching a bit of rest to prepare for another night on the Sea.

From the glimpses provided by the Gospel it seems that Peter tended toward impatience and impulsiveness. He had a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. The one time he got it right he found himself being rebuked by Jesus just a few minutes later.

Peter denied Jesus three times and eventually went back to fishing. He had an undistinguished career as a disciple of Jesus.

But on the day of Pentecost He found the All-Sufficiency of God. That was a game-changer for him and he became one of the foremost apostles. But the truth is we remember Paul more for his weaknesses and failures than for His successes. 

God's strength was made perfect in his weakness!

Job was a righteous man who seemingly had no weakness - at least no obvious ones. In fact, Job was so good God was bragging to Satan about Job. Only by allowing the devil to test and try Job did he show how to find his sufficiency in God.

When we first meet Job he is a wealthy man. The last we see of Job his wealth has been fully restored. But Job is known centuries later not for his wealth but for his weakness that he suffered at the hand of the evil one.

God's strength is made perfect in your weakness. Therefore, as Paul writes to the Corinthian Church, embrace your weaknesses. Don't try to impress God with your strengths but trust His sufficiency in your failures and weaknesses. When you are at your weakest God is at His best.