Loving The Lost (Introduction) pt. 1

Loving The Lost (Introduction) pt. 1

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

Over the next few blogs I want us to explore one of the Bible’s most powerful chapters, Luke 15. These parables spoken by Jesus transformed the lives of those who heard back then, and continue to do so today. 

I was six years old and had no idea where my parents were. Every time we went to Walmart, mom would tell us to stay by her side. But I saw the coolest toy dinosaur I had ever seen. So I went to go look at it, and got lost. I ran up and down aisles but I couldn’t find her. So I started crying and just stood there. Eventually mom found me, and apparently they had been announcing over the loud speaker that my mom was up at the front, but I never heard. 

It’s a terrible feeling to be lost. We’ve all experienced it before. There’s a very special chapter in the book of Luke. It’s called by many, “God’s Lost and Found Department.” Luke 15 contains three parables that convey God’s love for the lost. If we want to be a true child of God we must love what the Father loves. In this chapter we find three examples of the lost and God’s love for them. In this chapter, one of the things that stands out the most is God’s concern for sinners, but also His overflowing joy for their return. In this chapter we will understand better God’s love for mankind and the value of a soul. The true Christian will try to imitate this same love for the lost soul that is found here in this chapter. 

I encourage you to read Luke 15 with God’s powerful love in mind. See you next week.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Friday’s Column: Learning From Lehman

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Kason Eubanks

A little boy was riding his bike in the cemetery while his mother ran.  Obviously this mother isn’t very bright because who in the world runs in a cemetery surrounded by dead bodies.  Anyway, this boy rode his bike along the path and eventually could not find his mother.   After looking and calling for her, he became frantic.   His mother was also frantic at the far end of the cemetery. She picked up her pace and ran to retrace her steps. The further she ran the more frantic she became. Almost in tears she saw no sign of the little boy. She ran to the gate leading out of the cemetery. And that is where the little boy was. The boy was very young and I don’t know a lot about this story but what I do know is that I have a lifelong fear of cemeteries.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

We read about a woman in Luke 15:8.  It states, “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” This woman in the parable of the lost coin lit a lamp.  She uses the light to see. She knows the light is what she should follow to find the coin.  She also swept the WHOLE house.  She uses her physical energy to find the coin.  She doesn’t wait for the coin to just reappear; she puts effort into looking for it, and she receives her reward by finding the coin.  She spends time rejoicing with her neighbors.

If you lost a coin, would you search your whole house? Would you turn your house upside down just to find one coin? If I lost a coin I would not care one bit about that one coin that I lost. Matter of fact, I have lost a bunch of coins and I have never swept the house just to find them.  

It may be that you haven’t searched for God so you can have a home in heaven in the end, and maybe it is that you want to fix that issue. Or maybe you need to get your life on track. Whatever your need may be, do not remain lost!