February 22, 2026 from Erie, PA - Discipleship Essentials: Seeking & Celebrating

The narrative of Luke 15 centers the text: the lost sheep gets found, laid on strong shoulders, and carried home with rejoicing. The account frames human confusion and loss as common realities—grief, disorientation, and the slow drifting that follows personal crises. The good shepherd does not abandon a single wandering life; divine love pursues, finds, and bears the recovered soul. That persistent seeking reframes failure and absence not as final verdicts but as opportunities for rescue and restoration.

Honest self-awareness matters: recognizing when identity, ability, or circumstance has changed opens the door to receiving help. Acceptance of limitation does not dishonor devotion; it invites assistance and communal care. Discipleship requires both readiness to be led and readiness to stretch oneself in costly love for others. Active discipleship looks like searching for the missing, offering tangible care, and sometimes waiting prayerfully for God to turn a heart.

Practical compassion demands humility and imagination. Empathy must start from the admission, “I cannot fully know this person’s path,” and move toward solidarity—welcoming the migrant, embracing the wounded, listening without quick judgment. A warm, watchful fellowship prepares a place where return and repentance feel possible. The proper response to a soul’s return goes beyond polite acknowledgement: it celebrates grace loudly and rejoices with full-hearted gladness.

Holy communion enters as the sustaining gift for this life of seeking and rejoicing. The sacrament supplies the life of Christ needed to change will and character, to take small steps away from prodigality and toward fullness. Each celebration of the Lord’s table renews resolve to carry others, to accept being carried, and to run toward the great physician when healing feels out of reach. The final hope remains a coming consummation when every will aligns with the Shepherd’s will and every lost one stands safely in the fold.

Key Takeaways

• 1. God relentlessly seeks the lost. The parable portrays divine action as pursuit, not passive waiting. Lostness never removes someone from the shepherd’s attention; grace goes after the person and rejoices over recovery. That pursuit reframes shame as an encounter with rescuing love rather than a final status. [33:17]
• 2. Allow others to carry you. Admitting inability opens space for real help; pride often prolongs wandering. Receiving assistance models trust in God’s provision mediated through people, and it spares further harm. Letting oneself be carried teaches dependence that deepens spiritual maturity. [33:33]
• 3. Stretch into costly discipleship. Discipleship asks for a yes that endures and for actions that inconvenience comfort. Seeking the one lost may require risk, time, and resources, but such costs participate in God’s restorative work. True following balances being led and leading with sacrificial love. [38:25]
• 4. Cultivate a welcoming, patient fellowship. Warmth and welcome bridge isolation and enable return; empathy must precede judgment. A congregation that envelops the stranger practices sacramental hospitality and becomes a conduit of grace. Persistent, patient invitation often outlasts the fastest arguments or best logic. [45:45]
• 5. Holy Communion renews and completes. The sacrament supplies the life and nature of Christ that enables turning and transformation. Communion functions as both pledge and instrument of the victory that reshapes will and heals the soul. Regular reception strengthens the resolve to seek, to welcome, and to rejoice together. [68:16]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [20:28] - Invocation and Thanksgiving
• [24:22] - Announcement: Communion for the Departed
• [25:01] - Luke 15: The Lost Sheep Parable
• [28:39] - What It Means To Be Lost
• [33:17] - The Shepherd Carries the Sheep
• [36:49] - Allowing Help and Being Carried
• [41:07] - Turning Home: The Prodigal’s Return
• [45:45] - Warm Fellowship and Empathy
• [48:03] - Rejoicing Over Recovery
• [67:49] - Preparing for Holy Communion
• [68:16] - Consecration and Communion Liturgy
• [78:02] - Run to the Great Physician
• [84:46] - Closing Prayer and Blessing

1. What does the shepherd do immediately after finding the lost sheep?
2. According to the parable, who does the shepherd invite to rejoice with him?
3. What reasons were given in the sermon for why someone might feel lost? [28:39]
4. How does the sermon describe the shepherd’s attitude toward the one lost sheep? [31:26]

1. Why does the shepherd carry the sheep on his shoulders instead of leading it back?
2. What does this parable reveal about God’s perspective on those who are lost?
3. How does the idea of “being carried” relate to receiving help from others or from God? [33:33]
4. In what ways can a congregation become a place where “return feels possible”? [45:45]

1. When have you experienced a sense of being “lost”—through grief, confusion, or drifting? What helped you most during that time?
2. Pride often keeps us from admitting we need help. What is one area right now where you need to “allow yourself to be carried”? [36:29]
3. Who in your life might feel isolated or far from God? What’s one practical way you can offer warmth or welcome to them this week?
4. How can we celebrate others’ spiritual restoration without comparing it to our own journey? [48:31]
5. Holy Communion is described as a source of strength for both seeking and rejoicing. How does receiving the sacrament change your willingness to help others? [01:08:16]
6. What would it look like to “stretch into costly discipleship” in your current season—whether in time, resources, or emotional availability? [38:25]
7. How can we cultivate a community where people aren’t afraid to say, “I’m not okay,” and still feel fully loved?