Scripture referenced 8 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Luke 15 previous week's study covering the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son parables
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable.
4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’
10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11 He said, “A certain man had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.
27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
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Keep this verse
Luke 15 (lost sheep parable)
quoted directly: what man among you if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them doesn't leave the other 99 in open pasture and go after the one that's lost
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable.
4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’
10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11 He said, “A certain man had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.
27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Luke 15 (lost sheep parable)
quoted: when he's found it he puts it up on his shoulders rejoicing, and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who have no need of repentance
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable.
4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’
10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11 He said, “A certain man had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.
27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
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Psalm 23
read and expounded in full as the main sermon text, chosen for comfort after deaths in the congregation
1 Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
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Ezekiel 34
woe to bad shepherds who fed themselves and not the flock, followed by God's promise to search for his sheep himself
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought.”
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
8 “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd. My shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep.”
9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
11 “‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture; and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on fat pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh.
16 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.”’
17 “As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but must you foul the residue with your feet?
19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.’
20 “Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
22 therefore will I save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
25 “‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.
30 They will know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.
31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
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Romans 8:38-39
read as closing comfort: neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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1 Thessalonians 3
benediction: may the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else
1 Therefore when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone,
2 and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith;
3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
4 For most certainly, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened, and you know.
5 For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.
6 But when Timothy came just now to us from you, and brought us glad news of your faith and love, and that you have good memories of us always, longing to see us, even as we also long to see you;
7 for this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith.
8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanksgiving can we render again to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our God;
10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face, and may perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you;
12 and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you,
13 to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
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1 Thessalonians 5
benediction follow-up: encourage one another and build each other up
1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
4 But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.
5 You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,
6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.
8 But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
12 But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,
13 and to respect and honor them in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.
15 See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good, for one another, and for all.
16 Rejoice always.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
19 Don’t quench the Spirit.
20 Don’t despise prophesies.
21 Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray stepped away from the regular Luke series this week because of two deaths in the congregation, including Steve Marsteller's passing on Wednesday and Moosey Woodling's funeral the day before. Comforted by Psalm 23 during Moosey's service, he felt led to slow down and walk through all six verses. It was not his normal style, but the moment called for it.
What was said
The message grew out of the previous week's study in Luke 15, where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep, then carries him home on his shoulders rejoicing. Pastor Ray had always read the line about the ninety-nine who need no repentance as a sideways remark toward the self-righteous Pharisees. But he said he got pushed on that reading this week, and he came around to thinking Jesus may be making a serious point: the body of Christ gathered together is a safe place, and wandering away from it puts a sheep in real danger.
Psalm 23 opens with the Lord as shepherd, and Pastor Ray paused on every word of that phrase. The "the" is definite and singular. "Lord" carries authority. "My" brings it close and personal. He recalled Max Lucado doing an impromptu chapel service at a Costa Rica language school and opening with exactly that observation, holding up his fist and working through it word by word. After twenty-two psalms calling God king, rock, and shield, David lands on shepherd, one of the most intimate images in the whole collection.
"I shall not want" is future tense, and Pastor Ray read it as a settled confidence rather than a current feeling. He used the example of his younger brother Toby, who as a teenager had no anxiety about money because he knew their father had him covered. That is the posture David is writing from. Paul echoes it in prison, writing that he has learned contentment in both abundance and want.
The green pastures and still waters are restorative images, and Pastor Ray tied them directly to the soul-weariness that grief and hard news produce. He moved from those images into the shepherd leading, and stopped to note that leading requires following. Jesus has already walked the hardest possible path, tempted at the start of his ministry and crucified at the end, and he is out ahead of his people on the path of righteousness. That path does not go around the valley of the shadow of death. It goes through it.
At verse four the psalm shifts from shepherd to friend. The rod is a cudgel, a weapon against wolves. The staff keeps the sheep close. Both together are a comfort because they mean the shepherd has faced this darkness before and is equipped for it. Pastor Ray said this is not a fifty-fifty contest between good and evil where the outcome is uncertain. God wins.
The table prepared in the presence of enemies, Pastor Ray suggested, points toward something more than a meal under siege. He connected it to what the Pharisees complained about in Luke 15: that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. The table is open. Former enemies get a seat. The anointing and the overflowing cup are lavish, not minimal, and the chesed, God's steadfast love, that follows all the days of a life does not stop even on the dark days.
Pastor Ray closed by reading from Ezekiel 34, the condemnation of shepherds who fed themselves and left the sick, broken, and scattered flock unattended. He set that against God's own promise in the same chapter to search for his sheep himself, and against Romans 8:38-39, which was printed in Moosey Woodling's funeral program under a photograph of her chopping wood. Nothing in creation, Paul writes, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Ray said he has always read the line about '99 righteous persons who need no repentance' as a sideways comment toward the Pharisees, but then got challenged on that this week. He landed on the idea that the 99 represent safety in the body of Christ together. Which reading resonates more with you, and why?
- Pastor Ray walked through Psalm 23 describing God as both shepherd and friend, and pointed out the shift that happens partway through the psalm from talking about God to talking directly to Him. Have you ever noticed that shift before, and what does it tell you about the kind of relationship David had with God?
and 3 more questions in the guide
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