From Lost to Found: The Shepherd's Pursuit and Restoration

If you understand, the sheep did not find the shepherd. The shepherd found the sheep. The coin did not roll back to the woman. She searched for it until it was found. The son did not reserve restoration. He had left. He had run away. The Bible says he was living with riotous living, and he wasted all that he had. But the father looked for him every day. The father went outside on the road where he would come back, and every day, he looked for him. He waited for him. He watched for him. He was seeking for him. [01:09:41] (37 seconds)  #HeFindsTheLost

David Wilkerson looked in his eyes and he said, Jesus loves you. The hateful, sinful, probably demon possessed, Nikki Cruz looked back at him and said, I'll kill you. David Wilkerson said, cut me in a thousand pieces and every piece will love you because Jesus loves you. Nikki had never heard anything like that, then he walked off. But through a series of events, and if you wanna know the story, two great stories. The cross and the switchblade written by David Wilkerson tells much part of the story. And then Nikki's own book, Run Baby Run. [01:21:02] (59 seconds)  #RadicalLoveSaves

You see the clothes that the father said to put on him represented covering. It represented his identity being restored to him. The ring represented authority. It represented relationship. When god saves somebody, he doesn't just clean them up. He brings them back into his family or into his family. And the shoes represented freedom Yeah. Because all servants had no shoes. They were barefooted. But he said, put shoes on his feet. Put sandals on his feet. And what the father was saying is, you are my son. [01:12:45] (42 seconds)  #RestoredIdentityInChrist

You see, the prodigal, when he came back, he expected rejection. He came to himself, the Bible says, and he went home. And he said, even the servants in my father's house eat better than I'm eating, and they are taken better care of than I am taking care of myself right now. And he went home just hoping to find a place as a servant in his father's house. He thought he would be rejected, but instead, he received restoration. Instead, everything turned around. Instead of being lost, he was now found. [01:12:12] (33 seconds)  #ReturnToRestoration

Oh, you didn't hear me. Found people matter to God. People that are lost matter to God. He left 99 and went to the one. Found people matter to God. As I said a couple weeks ago when we talked about lost, if you have three children and you're in the mall and one gets lost, you don't say, well, I got two more. That's not what you do depending on which child it is. Right? But that's not what you do. You say, my child is lost, and you do everything, whatever it takes to find the one that is lost. [01:14:26] (44 seconds)  #FoundPeopleMatter

You've gotten all the other things. You've tried so many things, and those things might bring some happiness, temporary happiness for a while, but you know something's still missing, and you've been searching and you've been looking. Well, I came here today to tell you what it is. It's just one thing that can fill that void. There's only one thing that can fill that empty spot. Only one thing. It's a right relationship with the creator of the universe. His name is Jesus. And it's a journey. It starts off by recognizing that Jesus is the king of kings and the lord of lords. [01:27:01] (49 seconds)  #JesusFillsTheVoid

I have a feeling that some of you know people that are lost. But because of things they have done, you have written some of them off. Maybe you're thinking of somebody in particular. You've written them off thinking there's no hope. He will never be saved. She can never be saved. Because of who they are, because of what they've done. But the truth is, Jesus specializes in hard cases. For him, it's an easy thing. He knows how to get their attention. He knows how to prick their spirit. He knows how to wake them up in the night. [01:24:01] (50 seconds)  #JesusSpecializesInHope

He knows how to keep them awake throughout the night where they're restless and they can't get in his sleep. He knows how to wear them out in the daytime. He knows how to put the pressure on. Because he loves them more than you if they're your family. He loves them more than this church put together. He loves them because from the foundation of the world, he knew who they were. Before they were formed in their mother's womb, he knew who they were. And maybe even you are here today, and somebody invited you and you're thinking, I wish you'd quit so I can go eat. [01:24:51] (47 seconds)  #FoundAfter42Years