lost and found

Good morning all,
This morning's reading from Timothy shows us Paul reflecting on his past as a persecutor of the church he now serves. In his own life he sees God's amazing love because he has been forgiven so much. He's not only been forgiven; he's also been freed to serve God powerfully as an evangelist. When Paul talks about God's grace, sin and forgiveness it is personal. Sin and forgiveness come into focus in our Gospel passage as well. Luke shows Jesus eating with society's outcasts and earning the whispered rebukes of the "religious people." Jesus, like Paul argues that God has a special love for sinners who repent. God is a shepherd who searches far and wide for one lost sheep, God is a woman who searches the house from wall to wall for one lost coin. God took on flesh in Jesus to seek and save lost sinners. There's nothing that needs to separate us from God. Let us come home and show others the way.

God bless,
Sam

1 Timothy 1:12-17
12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the foremost. 16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

*Luke 15:1-10
1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3So he told them this parable: 4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."