Lost and Found: Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached through all of Luke 15, the three parables Jesus told in a row about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The thread running through all three is the same: something valuable is lost, someone searches for it, and when it is found there is celebration. The context is Jesus receiving tax collectors and sinners while the Pharisees and scribes complain about it. The setting...

Read together

1. Luke 15:1-32 the main text for the sermon, all three parables read and expounded
2. Ezekiel 34 briefly mentioned as a possible background to the shepherd imagery, a story of bad shepherds
3. 1 Peter quoted in the benediction: all like sheep were going astray but have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray pointed out that the Pharisees and scribes had some biblical backing for separating themselves from sinners, yet Jesus ate with them anyway. Where do you think the line is between avoiding bad influences and being willing to sit down with people others write off?
2. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd searches until he finds it, living or dead, and comes home rejoicing rather than scolding. What does that picture tell you about how God responds when someone who has wandered comes back?
3. Pastor Ray walked through the math on the lost coin, putting it at roughly $167 for a single coin, and then shared the story of Tanya searching through the night for her grandmother's earring. Has losing something valuable ever changed the way you thought about what it means to be found? How does that connect to what Jesus is saying about joy in heaven?
4. The younger son rehearsed a speech all the way home asking to be treated as a hired laborer, but the father interrupted him before he could finish it and dressed him like royalty. What does that interruption say about the kind of welcome God offers, and does it change how you think about approaching Him after you have made a mess of things?
5. The older brother had stayed, worked hard and never disobeyed, yet he was furious rather than glad when his brother came home. Pastor Ray said Jesus was essentially pleading with the Pharisees through this part of the story. Is there any way the older brother's attitude shows up in us, and what would it look like to move from that posture to the father's posture?