Luke 15:1-10 (New Living Translation)

15 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

I. The obstacle to finding (vv. 1-2)
• Notorious

are drawn to Jesus.
• Pharisees complain but disciples search for

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solutions.
• Some things can only be found by

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. (Mt. 17:21)
• Complaining is

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and

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communication.
• There is no point to complaining about what

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.
II. Finding what we value (vv. 3-6)
• The Gospel needs to be

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, but truth never changes.
• Every person

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for what they value.
• Christians don’t

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but rather are

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by Jesus to serve.
• Shepherds are not

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to lose one sheep.
•

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is the proper response to finding, repentance, restoration.
III. The joy in finding (vv. 7-10)
• All searching, prayer, fasting, and worship is not

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.
• If God is in us, then we are

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over lost people being saved.
• Unconditional love is never unconditional

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.
• Repentance is the

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to God’s invitation for heaven.
• If God is in us, then we experience

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worship.
• Some things are only found at the

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.

1. Read Luke 15:1-2. Why do the Pharisees complain in these verses? What things are we prone to complain about? Why is complaining not spiritually productive speech? What kind of speech is it? Explain.
2. Why should disciples of Jesus look for spiritual solutions rather than complain? What are examples of spiritual solutions to problems and decisions we face?
3. Read Luke 15:3-7. Discuss how the Pharisees, known as “the shepherds of Israel,” were not acting like shepherds. How does knowing this change the “feel” of the story Jesus told? How can we act like the Pharisees and be prone to complaint with discipleship, in our chosen professions we are called by God to, and in relationships?
4. Read Luke 15:8-10. Who is looking for a silver coin and what lengths does she go to find it? To what lengths should we go to find a Christian who strays from Christianity or inviting non-Christian people to church?
5. Why do God’s angels rejoice (v. 10) and how does knowing this instruct what healthy worship looks like for Christians? Do you rejoice when someone is found, repents, and is restored to relationship with Christ?
6. What else stood out to you in the sermon that you have questions about in this passage of Scripture?