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Seeking the Lost Sheep in the Mountains Matthew 18:12<\/p><\/div>\n
He asked how many of the men wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine safe sheep and go search for one that was lost. When he found it, he would rejoice and ask his neighbors to rejoice with him.<\/p>\n
We often use this parable to talk about fallen Christians. However, Jesus is responding to a complaint against His evangelism. With that in mind, we see some interesting points about bringing in lost sheep.<\/p>\n
First, we can’t find the lost sheep if all we hang out with are the saved sheep. Jesus was receiving sinners because that was where He could find lost sheep. If we want to bring in the lost, we have to go out to them.<\/p>\n
Second, when the lost sheep is brought back to the fold, it won’t look like the rest. Because the lost sheep was not in the fold, it has gone without food. It will be emaciated. Its wool was likely caught in brambles and thickets. It may have even been attacked by predators. When we bring the lost in, they won’t look like us. Their hair may be different. Their clothes may be different. They may have tattoos and body piercings. Sadly, many sheepfolds want all the sheep to look just like us before they can come in. We need to be ready to accept the sheep as they are. Some differences don’t matter at all; the others will change as the lost person becomes a Christian and more Christ-like.<\/p>\n
Third, sometimes we go out into the wilderness and see all kinds of creatures, but only find one lost sheep. Jesus told this parable in response to His being around a whole bunch of sinners. He was looking for one lost sheep. Too often we get caught up in analysis paralysis trying to convert the world. Instead, just look for one more lost sheep. Once you find one, go back out and look for one more.<\/p>\n
Fourth, rejoice when the lost sheep comes into the fold. No matter what he or she looks like at first. No matter if they came from a false religion, no religion, or one of our own families, we should rejoice with all our brethren. Welcome the new sheep into the fold, enfolding them in our love and fellowship.<\/p>\n
Finally, the fact that Jesus had to tell this parable at all demonstrates that we have to be prepared for some seeming sheep to look down on us. We have to be ready to do all of this in the face of opposition. Regrettably, some sheep don’t want to bring in the lost. They just want to hang out together while the fold dwindles and dies. We will have to do this work in spite of them because we care about the lost sheep.<\/p>\n
Let’s get out into the open country and find some lost sheep.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Edwin Crozier via\u00a0Gospel Power, Vol. 14, No. 28, July 15, 2007 In Luke 15:1,2, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled against Jesus saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Jesus responded with a parable of a lost sheep. He asked how many of the men wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine safe sheep and go…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[536,451],"class_list":["post-57975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-preaching","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47091,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-lost-sheep\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":0},"title":"The Lost Sheep","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 15:1-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When people can\u2019t fault a person, they will sometimes seek to find fault in the way someone does things. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is how the Pharisees and Scribes sought to degrade Jesus\u2019 reputation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t something they would do. In fact, they implied it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86010,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/199-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":1},"title":"1>99","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry In Luke 15:3, Jesus poses a simple question that pierces through the layers of our comfort and complacency: \"What man among you\u2026?\" Even though it's the opener to the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus isn't asking about animals; he's focusing on people. He's challenging us to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/compassion-for-the-lost-in-this-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":2},"title":"Compassion for the Lost in This World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer With so much turmoil in the world, so much chaos and confusion, we should be reminded of how disciples should think of and respond to the world. This passage in Matthew 9:36-38 captures a very important principle. \"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92143,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-friend-of-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":3},"title":"Jesus, the Friend of Sinners","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Text: Luke 19:1-10 Jesus makes a friend Astounding! The Creator of the universe walking around in a human body on dusty roads here on Planet Earth and into the home of a man nobody liked. Jesus paid a price to make this friend. This is the third\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14879,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-point-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":4},"title":"The Point of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I know that one should not have high expectations of religious memes, but the one below grinds my gears. Every time I saw it, I rolled my eyes a little bit harder, until I knew that either I\u2019d have to write about it, or my eyes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/prodigal-son-300x293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53245,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-other-sheep-of-john-1016\/","url_meta":{"origin":57975,"position":5},"title":"The Other Sheep of John 10:16","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matt Allen via The Jackson Drive Reporter, Sept. 6, 2009. John 10:16\u00a0has served as a major claim for the legitimacy of Mormon teaching for many years. Upon reading the passage of Scripture -- by itself -- it first appears that they (Mormons) could have a point. \"And other sheep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/sheep-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}