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It happened 27 years ago.

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But the emotion of it and the
fear and the terror in my spirit,

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that moment feels like it was
yesterday every time I relive it.

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We were on a family vacation
to Disney world.

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Kids were 3 and 5.

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They loved was exhausting.

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It was expensive, but we were
having a great time.

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So we've been on enough rides.

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We went to this little place
called Honey.

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I Shrunk the kids.

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I think they've taken it out since.

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But it was this little
playground thing.

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You had one interest come in
in this playground.

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It was great for little kids.

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And so the kids were having a
fun time, and Mary Lou said, you

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know, I need a little break.

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I'm going to go get something
to eat, and you can watch them, right?

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And she.

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She'd always taught me to
watch them carefully.

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She said, watch the baby means
actually watch the baby.

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Don't just be in the same room
with the baby.

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So I said, yeah, no problem.

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I got this.

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I can watch the kids.

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And she left.

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And they said, you know, we
want to go back on that slide again.

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There was this big slide.

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You come down three different slides.

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And I was going to crawl up
there one more time, and I thought,

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oh, I can't.

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They'll come down.

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I. I said, yeah, go on up.

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And so I waited at the bottom
of the slide, and no Grady came out,

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and no Madison came out.

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And I started going back and
forth between them.

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And then I started to get
nervous because they weren't there.

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And then I started to look.

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Maybe they were riding one of
those little ant things, and they

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weren't there.

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And I looked in the play.

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D'oh.

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And they weren't there.

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And I crawled up into this
spider web thing, and I'm crawling

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through this with these little
kids, trying to get them out of the

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way, and I hear this announcement.

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Will the father of Grady and
Roger Madison Parrott please come

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to the entrance?

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I thought they'd been abducted.

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So I go to the entrance, and
there they are, and they came running

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to me, and I came running to
them, and I picked them both up,

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and we were crying, and I
said, I'm just so glad to have you

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back.

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And let's not tell mom, Okay?

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We won't tell Mom.

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I put them down.

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Here comes Mary Lou around the
corner with the ice cream.

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Mom, dad lost us.

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Don't ever trust a three year
old unless it's roller coasters.

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They won't give you out on
that one.

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But there's no statute of
limitations on roller coasters, so

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don't say a word, I'm telling you.

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But it was so overwhelming
when I lost them.

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And then when I found them, it
was pure joy.

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When you lose what's valuable
most, you do whatever it takes to

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find it.

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And that's the story Jesus
tells about the lost sheep.

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He says, suppose there's one
of you that has a hundred sheep and

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loses one of them.

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Doesn't he lead the 99 in the
Open country?

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So he'll go after the lost
sheep until he finds it?

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Sheep was a really common
image that Jesus used all through

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the Bible about 200 different times.

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He talks about us as being
sheep and him as the shepherd.

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So this is a very common image
he's talking about very often.

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But it's really a perfect
example of our relationship to Christ

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as sheep, to a shepherd.

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Because sheep are really
absolutely hopeless without the shepherd.

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There's lots of things we have
in common, but there are three common

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characteristics that really
stand out.

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One is sheep are self absorbed.

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And so they tend to wander.

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They just tend to wander off.

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They don't mean to get into
trouble, but they're focused on the

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immediate.

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They're hungry, they're
thirsty, they're bored.

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That butterfly looks
interesting, that groundhog looks

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interesting.

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And so off they go.

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And pretty soon they're so far
away they can't find the shepherd

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because the shepherd doesn't
put up a fence and our shepherd doesn't

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put up a fence for us.

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The way the sheep could stay
close to the shepherd was they recognized

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his voice.

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And as long as they were in
earshot of his voice and could hear

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his voice, and he could always
call them back to him.

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But when they drift so far
away, they got where they couldn't

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hear the voice of the shepherd.

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And their self absorption and
their wandering took them into a

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scary place.

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They weren't lost because they
were rebellious.

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Really, it wasn't intentional.

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Sometimes it's just wandering.

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And Christians are like that.

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Sometimes they don't mean to
walk away from God.

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They're not really rebellious,
they just start wandering.

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But when you're wandering and
you get far enough away from the

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shepherd, as a sheep, you are
always vulnerable.

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They drift from one good thing
to what looks like the next good

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thing.

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And it doesn't really feel
dramatic to the sheep.

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They don't really feel like
they're lost.

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It feels fairly normal until
they realize they're all alone and

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they're vulnerable.

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Then they don't know how to
get home.

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And so they're out there
someplace where the risks are enormous.

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When they're away from the
shepherd just because they were wandering.

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Well, the second thing about
sheep is sheep have no way to clean

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themselves up.

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And we have that in common
with sheep as well.

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Sheep are dirty.

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They're not like the little
lamb in the picture at the beginning.

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You know, that's what we
imagine sheep are.

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That's not how sheep are in
the country.

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The wool gets matted, they get filthy.

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They can't clean themselves up.

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They don't have any mechanism
for cleaning themselves up.

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And if the shepherd is not
there, the wool gets so thick and

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so matted and dirty, they will
get sick and, and eventually they

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will die.

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You see, the shepherd is their
only hope of ever getting cleaned

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up.

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Just like us.

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We can't clean ourselves from
the stain of sin.

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Only the shepherd can do that
for us.

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Well, the third thing about
these sheep that we have in common

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is sheep are totally
defenseless on their own.

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Just completely defenseless on
their own.

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They have no defensive capability.

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They can't kick, they can't
bite, they can't run from a lion

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or a wolf.

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They have no offense that
stands up to anything.

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It doesn't mean they don't
think they do like us.

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We think we can handle the
world, but we really are awfully

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vulnerable.

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And sheep are that way.

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They may think they can take
on every challenge alone.

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They can be tough.

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They can feel confident,
determined, self sufficient in all

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their self talk and bluster.

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It doesn't change reality,
does it?

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That's why Jesus uses the
Image in the 23rd Psalm of the rod

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and the staff.

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The rod which is an offensive
weapon to protect sheep.

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And the staff, which is a long
stick with a curl on the end to protect

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and pull them back into safety.

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You see, the bottom line for
sheep is they are lost, no matter

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how far they've gone, if
they're away from the shepherd.

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And if you can't get back on
your own, it doesn't matter where

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you are if you can't hear the
shepherd's voice any longer.

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Now we need to study the
biblical images of sheep because

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they're good lessons about our
relationship to the shepherd.

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But the parable we're looking
at today is not about the sheep,

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it's about who God is.

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And that was the point of the
story Jesus told to tell a story

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about the nature of God, not
about what sheep ought to do or not

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do.

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And so look at the scripture.

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It says that when he found it,
he whoops, that's the wrong scripture.

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I think we got Frank.

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No, that's I'm sorry.

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Yeah, no, that's right.

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And when he found it, he was
joyfully carried home on his shoulders.

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When he arrived, he called
them together with his friends and

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neighbors, rejoice and be with
me, because I found the lost sheep.

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You see, the parable point of
this story is it's not about our

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search for God.

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It's about God's search for us.

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That's what the story of the
lost sheep is about.

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The parable is not how we need
to do better.

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It's about how much God loves
us and how much God values us.

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The scandal, the story which
he told the religious leaders, so

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they were really scandalized
by this, was not that there was one

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sheep lost.

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That was really common.

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It wasn't a big deal.

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The scandal, the shock was
that he would leave 99 in order to

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find the 1.

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And I love how Jesus says it here.

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Of course he would leave the 99.

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It wasn't even a question for Jesus.

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He would leave the 99 for any
one of us.

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And so out of this, we find
some things that are important.

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First, he leaves the 99
because the stakes are so high.

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That's the nature of who God is.

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He doesn't wait, he doesn't
send somebody else.

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He doesn't say, well, let's
see if he comes back.

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He'll probably come back.

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No, the shepherd is in an
urgency, like I was, to find my kids.

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I've got to find them right
now, and I'm going to look until

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I find them.

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See, the cost, the stakes are
so high because we're talking about

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whether or not you're in
eternity with God or not.

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We're talking about the
restoration of this earth as a new

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earth and the way God designed
it and to live and to enjoy him and

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enjoy each other and it
forever in the way he designed it.

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And if you're lost, you won't
be part of that.

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It's not about how to get us
to better behave.

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It's about how to help us to
live now within earshot of the shepherd

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and follow him.

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And so the stakes are so high
that he leaves the 99 in order to

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00:11:07,630 --> 00:11:09,250
find the 1.

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00:11:11,090 --> 00:11:14,050
Secondly, he searched until
the lost one was found.

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00:11:14,050 --> 00:11:16,930
We see in the scripture there
wasn't any time limit.

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He didn't do a cost benefit
analysis and said, well, you know,

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00:11:20,570 --> 00:11:22,690
I got 99 here, I got one there.

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00:11:22,690 --> 00:11:24,609
It's really not worth risking
these for that one.

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No, he just went and see.

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For a shepherd in biblical
times, that would have been a huge

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00:11:29,410 --> 00:11:35,630
Risk, because the sheep flock
was his economic base.

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That was all he had.

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That's all the assets he had,
was those sheep.

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So he was risking that.

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He was also probably part of a
family as a sheep herder and would

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00:11:47,150 --> 00:11:49,790
have been a younger son who
was out to take care of the sheep.

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So he was risking family
reputation and family interaction

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00:11:54,670 --> 00:11:57,390
dynamics in order to go find
the lost one.

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And then he was risking his
reputation as a shepherd among his

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00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:01,880
peers.

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Everything was on the line,
but it was so important he went to

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find them.

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Because grace is persistent.

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It's not passive.

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And the grace of God, Jesus is
telling us here will come find you.

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You are never, ever too far
gone that God will stop looking for

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you.

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You know, it really doesn't
make any sense to leave the 99 for

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the 1 unless you're the One.

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And then it makes all the
sense in the world.

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Well, thirdly, he carries the
lost sheep home.

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The scripture says so.

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You see that he picks him up
on his shoulders and he carries him

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all the way back.

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We don't know how far that was
probably a long way.

244
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The sheep contributes
absolutely nothing, zero to his own

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recovery.

246
00:13:03,670 --> 00:13:05,030
This is not teamwork.

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00:13:06,950 --> 00:13:09,430
Shepherd says, well, you work
with me and I'll help you get home.

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00:13:09,510 --> 00:13:10,390
It wasn't that.

249
00:13:10,950 --> 00:13:12,710
Shepherd didn't say, well,
this is the way.

250
00:13:12,710 --> 00:13:14,630
Come on, let's hustle up,
let's go.

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00:13:14,790 --> 00:13:15,750
He didn't do that.

252
00:13:16,390 --> 00:13:17,510
This is a rescue.

253
00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:23,300
He was out there alone in a
mess, probably hungry by this time,

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00:13:23,300 --> 00:13:28,060
and he picked him up and he
put him on his shoulders and realize

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00:13:28,060 --> 00:13:29,420
what he put on his shoulders.

256
00:13:30,460 --> 00:13:37,060
That sheep was dirty and messy
and probably pretty gross from what

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00:13:37,060 --> 00:13:37,740
he'd been into.

258
00:13:40,780 --> 00:13:44,550
Where he'd been on his own was
not a good place.

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00:13:46,070 --> 00:13:52,630
But the shepherd gets down in
the mess to pick up the sheep and

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to rescue him and to bring him home.

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00:13:55,230 --> 00:13:59,750
The shepherd gets him out of
the mess even when the shepherd knows

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00:13:59,750 --> 00:14:04,350
he may have to rescue him
again sometime because sheep are

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dumb and they may do it all
over again, just like with us.

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And he does.

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00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,880
Well, fourthly, he celebrates
that the lost sheep is found.

266
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There was no lecture to the sheep.

267
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:23,200
There was no shame.

268
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,920
He didn't put him on probation
for a while.

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00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,960
He didn't try and put him in a
fence for a while.

270
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See, finding him was so
important, he invited everybody else

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00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:35,840
to celebrate with him.

272
00:14:36,780 --> 00:14:40,060
Christ delights when the lost
are restored.

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00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:43,260
He made you, he loves you.

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He sacrificed himself on a
cross for you.

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So of course he's going to
come looking for you if you're away

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from him.

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You are not an inconvenience
to God.

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00:14:56,860 --> 00:15:03,890
You are the reason for his
joy, to bring you back home again.

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00:15:06,290 --> 00:15:08,450
This is the nature of God.

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The parable is about who Jesus
is, not just who sheep are.

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And so he put him on his
shoulders to carry him all the way

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back.

283
00:15:22,690 --> 00:15:27,930
Now the story ends with the
shepherd carrying the sheep on his

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shoulders.

285
00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:31,190
And that's the Christian life.

286
00:15:33,590 --> 00:15:35,830
Not you searching until you
find it.

287
00:15:36,230 --> 00:15:39,030
Not you cleaning yourself up
till you're respectable.

288
00:15:39,190 --> 00:15:42,950
Not you earning your place
somehow so that the shepherd will

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00:15:42,950 --> 00:15:43,670
accept you.

290
00:15:44,870 --> 00:15:51,710
It is being carried all the
way home, just like you are straight

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00:15:51,710 --> 00:15:53,430
out of the mess you've created.

292
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,040
You are not saved because you
finally found God.

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00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,200
You are saved because God came
looking for you.

294
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:09,840
And he hasn't stopped
rejoicing ever since that time.

295
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,240
Jesus told that detail, I
think, on purpose.

296
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:20,200
It's not an accidental imagery
of the shepherd with this sheep on

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his shoulders.

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00:16:21,610 --> 00:16:23,050
Because this is the gospel.

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00:16:23,850 --> 00:16:29,050
Jesus is showing us exactly
what he would do on the cross for

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00:16:29,050 --> 00:16:29,450
us.

301
00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:34,810
He did not save us from a distance.

302
00:16:35,130 --> 00:16:37,130
He did not wait for us to get clean.

303
00:16:37,130 --> 00:16:41,650
He did not rescue the polished
version of us that looks good to

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00:16:41,650 --> 00:16:42,170
each other.

305
00:16:43,370 --> 00:16:47,780
He took the mess onto himself,
onto his shoulders.

306
00:16:48,340 --> 00:16:50,420
And he carries the sheep back.

307
00:16:50,580 --> 00:16:55,460
Rejoicing, he says, not
frustrated, not embarrassed.

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00:16:56,340 --> 00:17:01,380
Rejoicing, happy that he's
found the lost one.

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00:17:03,620 --> 00:17:07,460
God is not disgusted by your mess.

310
00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:10,740
God's not shocked by your weakness.

311
00:17:11,860 --> 00:17:13,860
Now religion tells you to hide
your dirt.

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00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:16,950
Jesus carries it on his shoulder.

313
00:17:17,750 --> 00:17:19,830
Religion tells you to scrub up harder.

314
00:17:21,030 --> 00:17:23,590
Jesus said it is finished.

315
00:17:26,150 --> 00:17:30,470
When the shepherd arrives
home, he doesn't isolate the sheep.

316
00:17:30,870 --> 00:17:32,310
He doesn't restrict the sheep.

317
00:17:32,390 --> 00:17:33,630
He throws a celebration.

318
00:17:33,630 --> 00:17:36,870
He invites everybody to come
and be part of it.

319
00:17:37,990 --> 00:17:41,350
You see, you and I are not
loved because we're improved.

320
00:17:41,990 --> 00:17:44,790
We're not accepted because we behaved.

321
00:17:45,270 --> 00:17:47,750
We're not held because we
stayed clean.

322
00:17:49,590 --> 00:17:51,990
You and I are loved because he
carried us.

323
00:17:53,430 --> 00:17:57,590
We're accepted because he
finished the work on the cross.

324
00:17:59,190 --> 00:18:02,310
We're held because he chose us.

325
00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:08,680
If that doesn't make you fall
in love with God and want to be close

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00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,440
to the shepherd, nothing will.

327
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,120
God, who puts your dirtiest
mess on his shoulders.

328
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,160
A savior who absorbs the shame
instead of avoiding it.

329
00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,440
The Father who rejoices over
you while you're still a mess.

330
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:31,200
That's who God is.

331
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,120
It's not a fragile love.

332
00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:35,570
It's not a conditional love.

333
00:18:36,370 --> 00:18:39,090
It's a love that looks like
the cross.

334
00:18:41,490 --> 00:18:45,650
See, finding you when you were
lost is not a burden to God.

335
00:18:46,130 --> 00:18:47,090
It's a joy.

336
00:18:48,210 --> 00:18:49,890
And he carried you home.

337
00:18:50,930 --> 00:18:55,810
And he would carry you again
without hesitation.

338
00:18:56,690 --> 00:18:58,130
Not one bit.

339
00:18:59,900 --> 00:19:00,660
Let's pray together.

340
00:19:00,660 --> 00:19:01,660
Our benediction.

341
00:19:02,220 --> 00:19:05,100
No eye has seen, no ear is heard.

342
00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:10,140
No mind has conceived what God
has prepared for those who love him.

343
00:19:10,460 --> 00:19:11,180
God bless.

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00:19:11,180 --> 00:19:12,540
Glad you're back in chapel.