The Savage Street Blog

Sermon–Morning of 02.07.2010: “Seeing the Invisible Things of God”

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 10:30:05 -0800

Seeing the Invisible Things of God
The heavens and the earth had a cause equal to or greater than itself
Romans 1.20
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 7, AD 2010
Scripture Reader and Reading: Lake – Psa 148.1–6
Prelude:
I. If you have not started yet thinking about how everything got here, start soon.
A. What is all this about?
B. Consider our home Earth.
1. Why did Earth get all the good stuff?
2. Compare her with the rest of the planets.
II. As I stood in line at the pharmacy in a large store in town,
A. I started looking around at the abundance of all the stuff, and then
B. considered that this is multiplied millions of times over the earth, and
1. that everything I saw would soon be replaced with more!
2. How did all that happen?
Persuasion:
I. Examples of Cause and Effect
A. Several illustrations
1. Everything is either a cause or an effect and some causes are effects and vice versa.
2. Consider rain
B. Consider Newton’s Cradle
II. Possible Explanations for the Existence of the Universe [The universe is an effect. What was the cause]
A. It is a figment of someone’s imagination.
B. It created itself.
1. The Big Bang
2. What caused it to expand or inflate when it did?
C. It is eternal.
1. The Big Bang
2. Then Big Crunch
3. Then Big Bang again, ad infinitum
D. It was created.   1 The heavens declare the glory of God;  And the firmament shows His handiwork.  2 Day unto day utters speech,  And night unto night reveals knowledge.  (Psa 19.1, 2)  
1. The heavens declare God’s glory.
a) It does not say it declares God.
b) However, the heavens declare whose glory?
(1) They glorify Him.
(2) They do not alone say He exists, but
(a) the heavens sure tell us
(b) that something or someone wonderful made them!
2. The firmament shows God’s handiwork.
a) It does not say it declares God.
b) However, the firmament shows whose handiwork?
(1) They show tremendous design.
(2) They do not alone tell us who God is, but
(a) the firmament sure tells us
(b) that something or someone knew what He was doing!
III. Cosmological Argument Restrictions
A. By itself does not prove God’s existence.
1. It only argues something or someone equal to or
2. greater than the universe caused it.
B. It creates a frame of mind that is ready to accept the idea of a Creator.
1. Consider Romans 1.18–21
2. Consider Hebrews 3.4   4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God (Heb 3.4).  
a) Observing a house we know that someone made it.
b) However, we only know so much about the builder by means of the house.
Exhortation:
I. He who created all things must have been very interested in our lives.
A. Look at what He provided for us.
B. Has He provided anything else that we do not know about?
1. We find things all the time on earth that benefit us.
2. Does He provide something for me on the inside?
II. He provides His Son Jesus Christ for our hearts.
III. God’s interest is so grand that He does not want us to live for only 80 or 90 years on the earth at the most.

Sunday Adult Class: “Lies About #2: There are many paths to God”

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 09:30:10 -0800

Lies About God #2
There are many paths to God
John 14.6
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 7, AD 2010
Prelude:
I. Current trends
A. The Bible is out, feelings are in
B. What you believe is not important, only that you believe
II. Compare with Romans 1.18–23
Persuasion:
I. The Path to God
A. Approach God in His way
1. Uzziah – 2Ch 26.16–21
2. Ananias and Sapphira – Acts 5.1–11
B. These did approach the wrong God even, but approach Him in the wrong way.
II. Protocol Before God
A. God is high above us
1. Isa 6.1
2. 1Ti 6.13–16   “With what tongue shall I address such majesty, seeing that all men ought to tremble in the presence of even an earthly prince? Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the divine Majesty? The angels surround him. At His nod the earth trembles. And shall I, a miserable pygmy say, ‘I want this, I ask for that’? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the living, eternal and the true God” (Martin Luther).  
3. Gen 32.10
B. We must meet protocol
C. Yet, how can we approach Him?
III. We Need a Mediator
A. What is a mediator? – Job 9.32–35
B. Jesus can represent both parties – Heb 10.11–14
C. Therefore, there is only one path to God – John 14.6

Wednesday Adult Class: “Where Are the Dead?”

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 19:00:23 -0800

Bulletin Articles for February 7, AD 2010

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 18:19:10 -0800

An Offering to the Lord
By Don Ruhl

The Lord liked gifts from Israel, because, although He owns everything, it is the thought that counts. Right? The Book of Leviticus begins with the Lord calling Moses (Lev 1.1) and immediately the Lord addressed the matter of offerings, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock’” (v. 2). The Lord went on to describe that offering and how the priest was to deal with it, saying finally, “And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD” (v. 9b).
When we make financial gifts to the church, especially for preaching, the Lord experiences it as a sweet-smelling aroma (Phi 4.18). Do you want to show the Lord your love as the ancient Israelites could do? Make a gift to the church and the Lord shall receive it as a pleasant experience.

Jesus Warned Us
By Don Ruhl

No one should be led astray by false christs and false prophets, because Jesus warned, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt 24.23, 24). False christs and false prophets will not appear to be false. Their arguments and works will be very good, deceiving, if possible, the least likely people. Therefore, bury your nose in the Scriptures that you might know all things, preventing anyone from successfully deceiving you. Just remember that someone will try to deceive you and he or she will seem like the genuine article at first, but remember what else Jesus also said, “See, I have told you beforehand” (v. 25). Do not think you cannot be deceived or that someone will not try it.

Sermon–Evening of 01.31.2010: “Where Do We Turn?”

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:00:48 -0800

Nathan House, Preached in GP OR 1/31/10 PM; OT, I Kings-II Chron
Where do we turn when we are in need?
A lesson from the life of King Asa

I. II Chronicles 16:1-6- Who do you turn to when you are confronted by an enemy? 1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3"There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me." 4And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
a. Robbing the house of God
b. A successful plan? Did Asa’s plan work? Was this successful? By mans standards it seems like a good idea. He was able to buy out an enemy and save himself and Judah.
i. But how do we measure success? What should Asa have done? Is the success of his plan measured simply by the fact that the plan itself worked? Who does he turn to when he is facing his enemies?
ii. Do we ever find ourselves working to fix our problems, enlisting help from others, while never turning to God?
c. Asa was considered a great king- yet here, when he should have turned to God, he does not.
II. II Chronicles 16:7-10- Are we ever guilty of forgetting who helped us in the past? At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars." 10Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
a. For info on the battle with the Ethiopians see II Chron 14:9ff
i. Million men
ii. 300 Chariots
iii. Asa cried to the LORD (14:11-12)
b. Who helped you in the past? Asa has forgotten how he has made it thus far. How he has been helped in the past.
i. How human it is to forget and take for granted the blessings we have received in the past.
ii. Do we forget that God has been there in the past for us before? Do we forget how he has taken care of us? How he has helped us when we asked him?
iii. We need to be very careful that we do not forget God. Do we know why we are where we are?
c. As a result of Asa’s failure, his enemy, the Syrian’s escaped (v 7). What is implied in that statement? It is implied that God was going to throw down Asa’s enemies.
i. Have there ever been times when God was going to bring down the enemies in your life, the hardships in your life if you had relied upon him? Looked to him?
ii. Because Asa did not rely on him this ultimate deliverance never came.
d. Taking responsibility (v 10)- It is amazing how often we want and look for someone to blame for our own failures. It was Asa’s failure but he intended for someone else to pay the price.
III. II Chronicles 16:11-13- Who do you turn to when struggling with your health?  11 The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.
a. Who do we turn to? Is there anything wrong with turning to physicians? Does God expect us to use wisdom and seek advice?
b. What was the problem with what Asa did? Ultimately we always need to turn to God.
IV. Take Home Lessons
a. Rely on God through every hard time
i. Whether it is physically hard times, mentally hard times or spiritually hard times. God is the right answer for every time.
ii. Matthew 11:28-30- Turning to Jesus in hard times “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
iii. Understand that God LOOKS, SEEKS, SEARCHES to deliver those who trust in Him. So why would we not turn to Him? Notice verse 9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
b. Remember that success is not measured by human standards
i. You may find that your problem has been taken care of. You may find that the strategy you employed worked. You may find that the guidance someone gave you was effective.
ii. But true success comes from doing all things with God in mind, in heart and in soul.
iii. We may think we know success—but the success we experience may pail in comparison the success God was going to grant us. Remember that Asa may have escaped for now and become a vassal of Syria… they may have been spared, but God implies that Judah would not have simply been spared by Syria but would have thrown her down.
iv. Success is not measured by human standards. Success is measured by our willingness to turn it over to God.
c. Remember who has helped you in the past
d. We may find ourselves turning to family, or friends, or the preacher or the elders… and there is nothing wrong in turning to them for encouragement or counsel, but ultimately, we have to turn to God- to Jesus Christ- no where else can salvation be found. No where else can we find ultimate blessings, ultimate protection, ultimate healing, ultimate comfort…ultimate salvation.  Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

Sermon–Morning of 01.31.2010: “God and You”

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:30:10 -0800

God and You
Second Corinthians 6.18
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 31, AD 2010
Scripture Reader and Reading: Kadin – Isa 49.13–16
Prelude:
I. There is something very special that God wants with you.
A. Listen to this as though spoken to you,
B. for surely it was meant for you!   18 “I will be a Father to you,  And you shall be My sons and daughters,  Says the LORD Almighty.”  (2Co 6.18)  
II. Let us think about this One who wants to be your Father.
Persuasion:
I. Does God Exist?
A. Consider an idea on God’s existence that is not often used.
1. Most arguments use science or logic or both.
2. The one I propose may use both, but in a secondary sense.
B. We know God exists because beauty exists.   11 He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecc 3.11).  
1. Do you agree that all of nature is beautiful in its time?
2. How did it get that beauty?
a) Do you think it happened by accident, or
b) do you see an Artist at work?
C. Even as a tear is more than salt, carbon, and water, but is sadness, sorrow, or love,
1. so, beauty in nature is more than laws, objects, and scientific explanations.
2. Beauty in nature appeals to the heart.
a) What does the beauty tell your heart?
b) Does it say that it came from an explosion or from an Artist?
D. Consider the rose.
1. Its symmetrical shape, bold colors, and pleasing aroma say something.
2. Does it not say that its Maker appreciates beauty?
a) Are there only natural and scientific explanations for such beauty?
b) A few items of beauty might be an accident, but a whole universe?
(1) Beauty is no accident.
(2) Try to paint something beautiful or write a beautiful song?
E. Beauty is the extras of life.
1. God made what was needed for life.
2. Then He threw in countless extras!   1 The heavens declare the glory of God;  And the firmament shows His handiwork.  (Psa 19.1)   Likewise:  The flowers declare the glory of God;  And the forest shows His handiwork.  
F. So then, even as design requires a Designer, so artwork requires an Artist.
II. What Is God Like?
A. His appearance is gloriously beautiful.   27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around (Eze 1.27).  
B. His nature is gloriously holy.   1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;  The whole earth is full of His glory!”   4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke (Isa 6.1–4)  
C. Here is the best way to know what God is like,   1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. … 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. … 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1.1–3, 14, 18).  
III. Can I Know God?
A. Would an artist create so that you would not notice?
1. If the artist is kind and knows what you admire in beauty,
2. would such an artist remain silent?
B. God created artwork to get our attention.
1. Then He communicates to us in a clear message.
2. That is what the Bible is about.
C. He gave us
1. His work in nature, and
2. His word in the Bible
a) so that we can know Him.
D. Perhaps He seems distant to you because you cannot see Him, but
1. when you contemplate His works in creation and
2. when you meditate in His words in the Bible,
a) you will discover that not only does He exist, but
b) that you can know Him.
IV. Does God Know Me?
A. I know Him because He is one, but does He know me, one among six billion?
B. Here is the way that I look at it.
1. What was involved in creating the universe with all things working intricately with one another?
2. What is involved in coordinating all the details of the universe and the earth right now?
C. The simultaneous details with which God is able to work stuns me.
1. Can He then know me among the hundreds of millions who live on the earth?
2. Yes, and He even knows me in ways that show just how intimate He knows me.   7 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered… (Luke 12.7).   1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.  2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;  You understand my thought afar off.  3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,  And are acquainted with all my ways.  4 For there is not a word on my tongue,  But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. …  15 My frame was not hidden from You,  When I was made in secret,  And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. …  16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written,  The days fashioned for me,  When as yet there were none of them.  (Psa 139.1–4, 15, 16)  
V. Is God Involved in My Life?
A. If everything I have shown you today is true, and
1. I believe it is,
2. then the question becomes,
a) How can He, from His perspective,
b) not be involved in my life?
B. He has been involved even before I knew Him,   17 “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14.17).  
Exhortation:
I. He wants you involved in His life!

Sunday Young Adult Class: “The Landowner”

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:31:02 -0800

Nathan House, Parables of Christ, 2010
The Parable of the Landowner
Matthew 21:33-46 (Also Mk 12:1-12, Lk 20:9-18)

1. Background: There had been a discussion on where Christ’s authority comes from. Then there is the Parable of the two sons which demonstrated that the Jewish leaders were rejecting the way of righteous and the sinners were better off than they were.
2. Who is the master of the house (v 33)?
3. What does the vineyard represent? How was the vineyard cared for?
a. The vineyard was God’s people, in this case, the nation of Jews.
b. It was protected (wall)
c. It was prepared (dug a press, built a tower)
d. What does this show about the landowner?
4. Who did he “lease” it to? This is a reference to the leaders—the princes, the priests, those who ruled the nation of Israel.
5. Verse 34- Do you expect something for your labor? The owner had labored and prepared the place for the tenants. They were supposed to care for it and yield a return to the master. There was a time when the fruit would need to be gathered.
6. What do we learn about the master from verses 34-37? The master is persistent. He continues to expect something and continues to send his servants.
a. Who were the servants that God sent into his vineyard? Is the description of their treatment accurate with OT scripture? Consider the treatment of Jeremiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Stephen, etc.
b. Mark 12:6 states that the father sent his “beloved son”. What does this demonstrate about the master?
7. Verse 39 indicates that the tenants killed and threw out the “beloved son”. To discard a body without a burial was a sign of contempt. It was an insult on top of a murder. What does this demonstrate about the tenants?
a. What were the tenants hoping to gain by this abuse and killing of those sent by the master? They were doing it for material gain (v 38)
b. “Jewish law provided that a piece of property unclaimed by an heir would be declared “ownerless, “and could be claimed by anyone.” Wessel and Lane
8. How does verse 42 fit in with the thrust of the parable? Christ quotes Ps 118:22-23 to them and applies it to their rejection of him. They would reject the long awaited Messiah, and this Messiah would be the one who would become the most important piece in the structure of the Kingdom.
9. To whom does Christ refer to when he states the Kingdom of God will be given to others (v 43)?
a. It will be given to a different nation, a Holy nation—the church (I Pt 2:9). It would be made up of all people- Gentile and Jew alike.
b. How would the Jewish elite have felt about such a statement?
i. Luke tells us that when Christ made this statement they cried out “may it never be” or “surely not” Lk 20:16
10. Christ has in the last few minutes of conversation accused them of being the disobedient son (v 30-31), the money grubbing tenants, and finally climaxing in the demonstration that they were murderers. Luke 20:19 tells us that after this  “The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.”
11. Notes and Thoughts
a. This parable is NOT teaching that God was an unaware husbandman. He did know they would kill his beloved son. How does this make God’s decision more impacting?
b. God expects a return on his investment
i. He has protected it, cared for it and he will come and expect fruit.
c. What character of God do we see in his sending of the servants? God is persistent.
i. Mark 12:5 says that after sending two slaves he sent “many others” and finally he sent his own “beloved son”.
1. He would be taken out of the vineyard and killed. Read Heb 13:12
ii. God has given mankind untold opportunities to turn to him.
d. We see in this passage the viciousness and materialistic ways of mankind.

i. “The tenants had had possession of the land for so long that they thought of it as theirs. Even so, the Jewish hierarchy had ceased to think of themselves merely as God’s servants, commissioned to carry out His will. Rather, they considered the Israelite nation their exclusive property.” Roper

a. Ultimate judgment- God is persistent in reaching out to us culminating in the sending of his own son. Yet this act of mercy is not limitless in that there will come a time when those who have rejected his servants and his son will be brought to an end.

Sunday Adult Class: “Lies About God #1: God is whatever we conceive him to be”

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:30:26 -0800

Lies About God #1
God is whatever we conceive Him to be
Psalm 145.1–3
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 31, AD 2010
Prelude:
I. “What I believe about God is the most important thing about me” (A. W. Tozer).
A. Therefore, I must see God clearly.
B. 2Ch 20.12
C. See Him as He has chosen to reveal Himself.
II. A clear picture of God gives me a clear picture of myself.
A. Isa 6.1–5
B. We are God’s image, but we still fall short.
III. Lie #1: God Is Whatever We Conceive Him to Be
Persuasion:
I. Desiring to Know God
A. Psa 42.1
B. Psa 63.1
C. Augustine of Hippo,   “Great art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is thy power, and infinite is thy wisdom.” [Psa 145.3; 147.5] And man desires to praise thee, for he is a part of thy creation; he bears his mortality about with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof that thou dost resist the proud. Still he desires to praise thee, this man who is only a small part of thy creation. Thou hast prompted him, that he should delight to praise thee, for thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee.”  
II. Man Wants a Customized God
A. The word “God” has become a canvas on which we paint what suits our tastes.
B. Why do we want a customized God?
1. Why did Israel make the golden cafe?
2. Exo 32.1
3. Israel wanted a God they could manage.
C. However, God is not like us.
1. Psa 50.21

Bulletin Articles for January 31, 2010

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:15:18 -0800

A Willing Gift
By Don Ruhl

Even during the days of the Old Testament, God wanted His people to give because they wanted to. He said to Moses, “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering” (Exo 25.2). Since this particular gift was for the tabernacle, He explained what the gift was to be.
God wants you to give, but He wants you to do it voluntarily. Do you give every first day of the week into the treasury of the church?

The Lord Has Need of Your Things
By Don Ruhl

Jesus approached Jerusalem (Mat 21.1), and He sent two of His disciples ahead, telling them to go to a certain village where they would find a donkey and a colt with her (v. 2). The disciples were to bring the donkey and colt to Jesus, and if the owners objected, Jesus said, “And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them’” (v. 3). When the owner discovered that the Lord needed the donkey and her colt, the owner would release them.
Wow! Am I like that? Am I willing for the Lord to take my things when He needs them?

Sermon–Evening of 01.24.2010: “Church Growth” (Part 9): Lostology (Part 1)

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:17:20 -0800

Church Growth (Part 9)
Lostology (Part 1)
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 24, AD 2010
Scripture Reader and Reading: Caleb – Luke 15.8–10
Prelude:
I. To reach the lost, we have to understand the lost.
II. Four lessons of six points each on “lostology.”
A. I gleaned these ideas from:
B. Out of Their Faces and into Their Shoes: How to Understand Spiritually Lost People and Give Them Directions to God by John Kramp
C. And my own experience
III. Both Christians and non-Christians do not like evangelism.
A. Let us try empathy, that is, being in their shoes.
1. This way it becomes natural rather than a planned speech.
2. We want conversation, not a high-pressure sales pitch.
a) However, we have a hard time talking.
b) We know what they need, but we forget
(1) how they think, and
(2) how they feel.
B. We have been on the inside for so long, we forget just what it was like being lost.
IV. Jesus knew about the lost.
A. Luke 19 shows Jesus meeting Zacchaeus,   9 And Jesus said to [Zacchaeus], “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19.9, 10).  
B. By identifying Zacchaeus, and all of us as “lost,” Jesus implied some things:
1. We are not where we are supposed to be.
2. Jesus values our relationship.
a) He illustrated that with three parables in Luke 15.
(1) The shepherd celebrated with his friends and neighbors.
(2) The woman also celebrated with her friends and neighbors.
(3) The father threw a party!
C. Why did people call Jesus, “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 11.19)?
1. God as Jesus lived among the lost, and
2. the lost loved Him for it.
a) Contrast that with the Pharisees who never connected with the world, because
b) They kept themselves separate from the world.
V. 24 laws of “lostology”
A. help us to understand the lost and
B. help us to communicate with them without being annoying.
Persuasion:
I. Number 1: Being Lost Can Be Fun   12 There is a way that seems right to a man… (Pro 14.12a) 
A. Do you think the following pictures secular people?
1. They are miserable.
2. They have problems with relationships.
3. They feel the emptiness of their lives.
4. They worry about eternity.
B. Many of them have
1. lives of purpose,
2. loving families,
3. close friends they enjoy, and
4. many things they enjoy doing.
C. Luke 15 shows the prodigal son had “fun” for a while. (vv. 13, 30)
D. Hebrews 11.25 Moses knew of the pleasures of sin.
E. They enjoy doing evil things,   23 To do evil is like sport to a fool…  (Pro 10.23a)  
1. And they enjoy the good things of life also.
2. The consequences of such a life do not come until later.
II. Number 2: No One Gets Lost on Purpose   10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1Ti 6.10).  
A. Who gets lost on purpose?
1. When you enter a strange town, do you try to get lost?
2. Do you get lost although you did not want to?
3. Do you get lost before you realize that you are lost?
B. Think of the lost things of Luke 15:
1. The sheep was lost through preoccupation.
2. The coin was lost through the carelessness of another.
3. The son was lost through miscalculation.
III. Number 3: It Is Easy to Get Lost   13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Matt 7.13).  
A. We have to work to avoid getting lost.
1. Do nothing and you end up lost.
B. The lost do not have the training of the Scriptures. Therefore:
1. We cannot make them feel stupid.
2. We cannot be turned away by their language.
3. Expect them to test us.
C. That is just the way they live.
IV. Number 4: You Can Be Lost and Not Know It   21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21).  
V. Number 5: You Cannot Force People to Admit They Are Lost   51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7.51).  
VI. Number 6: Admitting You Are Lost Is the First Step in the Right Direction   17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’” (Luke 15.17).  
A. In many cases, people have to come to that realization on their own.
Exhortation:
I. Look back on your own conversion, especially if you were not reared in the church.
II. Look to someone dear to you and see the difference in thinking from before and after.
III. Rededicate yourself.