I would say that most people LOVE stories! It’s why some movies make HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! We want to escape from reality for a bit and be taken on a journey through our imagination. There actually isn’t a lot of difference between sitting in a movie theatre, and being a kid, sitting on the lap of your mom or dad while they read you a story. (Except a movie might not help you learn to read and its budget is a whole lot bigger).
Jesus was an amazing storyteller! In the Bible, Jesus’ stories are called PARABLES- which means that they’re made-up stories that communicate to us some important truth about God or life (they have a moral). The reason why Jesus told stories is because he lived during a time before TV and the Internet, and he KNEW that people would remember a story WAY better than they could ever remember a bunch of facts, and if they remembered the story, then hopefully, they would remember what the story meant and would be able to pass it on to other people!
This week we kicked off a new series called, “THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD”, by looking at three stories Jesus told about people who lost something valuable.
STORY 1: THE LOST SHEEP (Luke 15: 1-7)
STORY 2: THE LOST COIN (Luke 15: 8-10)
STORY 3: THE LOST SON (Luke 15: 11-31)
You can read all of the above stories here.
All of Jesus's stories here have a few things in common. They all involve something that was lost. The thing/person/animal that was lost was incredibly valuable to the person who lost them. They searched for the thing that was lost (The dad didn't leave home, but the Bible says he was on the lookout for when the son decided to return). In all of the cases, when the thing that was lost was found, there was a huge celebration. As we talked about, parables are stories meant to convey some truth about God and life…and there’s really ONE BIG THING that Jesus’ “lost stories” tell us.
“LOSTNESS” ISN’T GOOD
In all of these cases, the caretaker of the sheep, the owner of the coin, and the dad were all pretty stressed—they were sad—they were worried, they were freaked out—and these are all pictures of God.
Last week, I talked about how God is our creator—that he designed all of nature and humanity and that WE”RE HERE FOR A REASON. We’re not a result of some cosmic accident where we have no purpose. The Bible tells us that one of the main reasons why we exist is to know God and to have a friendship with him. To be close to our Creator and to live life the way he designed it to be lived so that we’re happy and fulfilled and have as few bumps and scrapes as possible.
I remember one time when I couldn’t find my daughter at the playground, and in those few seconds (which seemed like an eternity) the worst things flashed through my mind. Someone kidnapped my kid, my kid is lost forever, my kid is in trouble or hurt somewhere and I can’t help her. In those few seconds I felt complete fear and horror.
Thankfully, I ended up spotting her, and when that happened, all of those fears suddenly melted away and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. My heart rate returned to normal. But that experience reminded me just how much I love my kids and how much of a wreck I would be if either of them ended up being lost or in trouble.
Jesus is telling this story to remind us that God loves us like a good parent loves their kid, and that if we don’t know God…if, like the son in the story, we walk away from the closeness of our Heavenly dad and live life apart from him, we’re in trouble. The word the Bible uses to describe this ”trouble” is “sin”, which basically means to go your own way instead of God’s way—to choose to do life without him—and this is a bad thing, not only because we’ll likely make a lot of bad choices and live with a lot of regrets in life, but because we’re separated from the God who loves us. The Bible says that if we’re separated from God, we’ll never be a part of heaven one day!
That separation HORRIFIES GOD like it HORRIFIED me when I couldn’t find my daughter on the playground. These three stories Jesus told reminds us just how much God loves each one of us- that we are VALUABLE to him! That we are meant to be “in his sheep pen” or “in his pocket” or “in his living room”. We’re meant to be close to him! We're meant to "do life" with him!
At the end of all these stories, when the person who represents God finds the thing that’s lost, the person becomes super excited! They jump up and down! They call their friends! They throw a huge party! This reminds us that being SAVED FROM SIN—being forgiven of all of the bad things we’ve ever done—and having a restored relationship with God, is a HUGE DEAL. In fact, Jesus said that when a person who is lost returns to a friendship with God, there are angels in heaven throwing a huge party! They’re dancing! They’re cheering! They’re screaming! All of heaven is celebrating!
These three stories that Jesus told tell us something really important—that we are MEANT to know and follow God—that we are ALL MEANT to be close to him- that he doesn’t want any of us to be lost and to live life and spend eternity without him! The really great news is that, just like the son in the story, even if we’ve done stupid things and made a lot of terrible mistakes. Even if we’ve done things that we know God isn’t proud of—he offers us forgiveness and a brand new start. The thing he wants most is for us to be found, for us to come home!
I remember one time when I couldn’t find my daughter at the playground, and in those few seconds (which seemed like an eternity) the worst things flashed through my mind. Someone kidnapped my kid, my kid is lost forever, my kid is in trouble or hurt somewhere and I can’t help her. In those few seconds I felt complete fear and horror.
Thankfully, I ended up spotting her, and when that happened, all of those fears suddenly melted away and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. My heart rate returned to normal. But that experience reminded me just how much I love my kids and how much of a wreck I would be if either of them ended up being lost or in trouble.
Jesus is telling this story to remind us that God loves us like a good parent loves their kid, and that if we don’t know God…if, like the son in the story, we walk away from the closeness of our Heavenly dad and live life apart from him, we’re in trouble. The word the Bible uses to describe this ”trouble” is “sin”, which basically means to go your own way instead of God’s way—to choose to do life without him—and this is a bad thing, not only because we’ll likely make a lot of bad choices and live with a lot of regrets in life, but because we’re separated from the God who loves us. The Bible says that if we’re separated from God, we’ll never be a part of heaven one day!
That separation HORRIFIES GOD like it HORRIFIED me when I couldn’t find my daughter on the playground. These three stories Jesus told reminds us just how much God loves each one of us- that we are VALUABLE to him! That we are meant to be “in his sheep pen” or “in his pocket” or “in his living room”. We’re meant to be close to him! We're meant to "do life" with him!
At the end of all these stories, when the person who represents God finds the thing that’s lost, the person becomes super excited! They jump up and down! They call their friends! They throw a huge party! This reminds us that being SAVED FROM SIN—being forgiven of all of the bad things we’ve ever done—and having a restored relationship with God, is a HUGE DEAL. In fact, Jesus said that when a person who is lost returns to a friendship with God, there are angels in heaven throwing a huge party! They’re dancing! They’re cheering! They’re screaming! All of heaven is celebrating!
These three stories that Jesus told tell us something really important—that we are MEANT to know and follow God—that we are ALL MEANT to be close to him- that he doesn’t want any of us to be lost and to live life and spend eternity without him! The really great news is that, just like the son in the story, even if we’ve done stupid things and made a lot of terrible mistakes. Even if we’ve done things that we know God isn’t proud of—he offers us forgiveness and a brand new start. The thing he wants most is for us to be found, for us to come home!
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. Do you remember a time when your teen was lost or you discovered that he/she was in trouble? Talk about it. How did it make you feel in that moment? Remind your teen that this is how God feels if you don't have a close relationship with him.
2. Ask your teen what they think it might mean to "stay close to God". Ask them about Jesus' story about the lost son. What might that mean for us?
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