“A Church For The Community”
Luke 15
Sermon Series: “Moving Forward”
Introduction: Have you ever lost something? What did you do? Have you ever been lost? How did you feel? How you ever been in a dangerous situation that you had to be rescued from? Can you imagine how it would feel for someone to save your life?
Do you believe that people are spiritually lost if they are away from God? Do you believe people who do not know Christ are in spiritual darkness and need to be rescued from sin and its eternal consequences?
Do you believe God cares about people and wants to rescue them? Do you believe that He wants to work through us to accomplish His rescue mission? Do you care enough about people to help the lost be found?
Here are some principles from Luke 15 that will help us have God’s heart for people and help us be a church for the community.
1. People are of extreme value to God. Each of the three stories in this chapter are about extremely valuable objects. God, in His grace, values us so much that Jesus came to save us. This is not because of any inherent goodness in us but because of His goodness.
2. God is on a search and rescue mission to find those who are lost (see Genesis 3:8-9, Luke 19:10, 2 Peter 3:9). We are so valuable to God that He came and died for us. The cross was God’s great rescue mission for mankind. God is still working today through His Spirit to draw people unto Himself. So repent and come home to Him today.
3. God calls us to join Him in this great search and rescue mission. This is the church’s mission.
4. Heaven throws a party when a lost person is found. We should as well.
Conclusion-Applications: How can we join God in His great rescue mission?
A. Pray for people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:1-8).
B. Give (3 John 5-8).
C. We as individual Christians are to be sharing our faith (John 17:18, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 8:4).
D. We can see our work as our mission and use it for ministry (Matthew 5:13-16).
E. The Church is to be reaching out to the community by sharing the gospel and meeting human needs (Matthew 25:31-46).
Conclusion: Do we have God’s heart for people or are we more concerned for ourselves? What do our actions say (see Jonah 4)?
