"The God of the Lost" - by God, as preached by Mac Brunson of First Baptist of Jacksonville - morning service

-topic  scripture: Luke 15:1-2 (even though i'd read a little further to make sure you get the whole jist of the message)

->Luke shows God's heart for the lost

- A little background info about parables:

        a) a pararble is a story with a very significant, profound message/ meaning

        b) its NOT allegorical!! meaning, it's not an allegory

        c) it discusses the ethics of Jesus' character

        d) theological issues

        e) is it saying something about our savior??

*Reminder: Luke is not writing to the Jews (the children of God), but rather the gentiles, who were considered "lost"

Q: do i really care about lost people? Do i really care about the fact that there are millions of  lost people being condemned to eternal damnation everyday?

1) The Action of God towards the lost

-Man feels that it is "politically incorrect" to say a) that Jesus is the only way and b) that without Jesus, you're going to hell

-man has always been trying to perfect itself -> now it's to the point where man feels that its close enough to being able to correct itself

-but the sad truth is that man is helplessly lost! We are sinners in desperate need of a savior-> so what does Luke say about God's heart towards the lost??

*Q: Where are you?? (the question God asks Adam in the garden-> refer to Genesis 3)

 -> In sin, Adam was hiding from God. But God came down, and sought after Adam (another reference-> Ez. 34)

 2) The Attraction of Jesus to the Lost

      Luke 15:1-2 (refer back to Luke 14:25 as well)

- Here, Jesus associates with 3 groups of people:

     Group #1: The disciples -> Jesus is giving them instruction

     Group #2: The Pharisees -> these were like the high priests that talked bad about Jesus and wanted Him dead because through Jeses' righteousness, their own errors/ flaws were revealed to the people

     Group #3: The Crowd(s) -> Jesus is trying to encourage these people

- the mindset of the pharisees in lamen terms: DON'T go near a sinner, EVEN when trying to share the gospel with them (the pharisees thought these people basically should be condemned for their sins, etc)

Crazy seeing Jesus with these people-> a man who has dinner with sinners?

(reference to acts 24: 15)

-> ***Jesus does NOT save u because he is attracted to your sin, but because he's a savior! He doesn't love you because there's something in you to love, but because that's who he is! God is love. (-> John 3:16. He either loves us or he doesnt! but, its pretty clear that God DOES indeed love us you guys)

***There is nothing in you worthy of salvation. But God loves you. That's who He is! There's nothing in us thats "lovable" or even "likable"

3)The reaction of heaven to the lost being saved (ref. to vs 7)

-God is NOt a genie in a BOOK (catch how i didnt say bottle, but "book") -> you can't just "rub" (open) the book, and poof! He answers instantaneously.

(ok he referenced a LOT of scriptures at this part so im just going to give you the list. i don't think i got em all, but from the few i have you should get what he was talking about. Dt. 36, Is62:5, Jer32:41, Rom15:13, acts54, etc)

-Joy in heaven-> when a lost person is found

man.. i wish i took better notes, i was kinda off today- cramp in the hand or something. But this was such a powerful msg. Even though it talks about God and His love for the lost, i think we can shift it to show how we as believers are expected to recipricate this same love that God showed us to other people as well. that make sense? Hopefully it does. Feel free to share this on your wall so others can see it as well