Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Do We Really Know Jesus?

“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? 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.’  In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”” – Luke 15:8-10.  

How well do you know Jesus? We think we know Jesus. We’re involved in church. We participate in a small group. We have a daily quiet time. We can list many things Jesus did, and we can recite any number of Bible verses. But do we really know Jesus because there is a difference between head-based, knowledge of who God is versus a heart-based, life-changing faith that comes from walking with God.

In Jesus’ day, the pharisees were know-it-alls. They knew the Bible, the religious rules, and even the proper prayers. They believed they knew God. Then Jesus showed up and started breaking all these religious, manmade rules and traditions. Jesus even spent time with thieves, prostitutes, and tax collectors – society’s outcasts. The pharisees didn’t believe in spending time with known sinners.  

When confronted by these religious leaders, Jesus responded with a story: A woman lost one of only ten coins. In a desperate search, she combed through her home from top to bottom in search of this valuable coin. Finally, when she found it, she called her friends and neighbors over for a celebratory feast because what was once lost was found. 

This parable illustrates the fundamental truth that throughout our lives, God has pursued us. So great is God’s desire for a restored relationship with us that the One, true God, the King of kings and Lord of lords came down off His throne to die an unjustified and sacrificial death. We don’t deserve it, nor can we fathom His grace and love.

I hope the reality of that truth has sunk in fully. Do you fully grasp the depth of God’s love that He is pursuing us? You were the coin that was so valuable God worked and searched until he had it back in His possession. You are of such value to the only One who truly decides the worth of things that He pursued you. Don’t let that truth pass you by today. Instead, make it the foundation for every decision, thought, and action in your life.

Pursuing goes both ways. We need to pursue God in the same way He pursues us. No part of our lives should be off-limits to God. In Psalm 27:8 David says, “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” God is calling out to you, saying, “come talk to me.”  Psalm 34:10 promises us that “…but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.” God will always respond to your pursuit because He wants a relationship with you.  He’s already promised that to you. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. Take a few minutes and think of a time when you were lost or when you lost something or someone. Describe the feelings of lost. Describe the feelings of being found.
  1. What can we do this week to better pursue God?  

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