MESSAGE: Lost Sheep                               Date: 7/27/2025

SERIES: Parables of Jesus

COMMUNICATOR: Pastor Kevin Geer

CHECK-IN & SHARE WINS: What was one highlight from your week? Where have you seen Jesus at work—in your life or in the world around you? Sharing wins help move the mission of God forward. 

THINK, DISCUSS, LIVE: These questions are great for personal devotions or group discussions. They’re designed to help you grow spiritually, connect more deeply with your Jesus friends, and live out your faith in the world around you.

1. Before you started following Jesus, what’s one area of your life where it was messy, confused, or clearly didn’t reflect Him—and how has following Jesus brought clarity or change to that area? Share your experience.
2. Read Luke 15:1-2. What do you think it means practically for a church to be full of “Luke 15:1 people”? Why do you think this is vital for the kingdom of God? 
3. Why do you think some churches wrestle with welcoming people who are messy, lost, or searching? What happens—in good ways and bad—when churches either embrace or avoid making room for these people?
4. Why do churches (and individuals) sometimes drift toward acting like the complaining religious leaders (v. 2), instead of the people who eagerly came to Jesus (v. 1)? What do you think fuels that attitude?  
5. How can you guard your heart and mind from developing the critical attitude described in Luke 15:2, and what can you do alongside other believers to help each other stay focused on loving lost friends like Jesus did?
6. Read Luke 15:3–7. Why do you think Jesus told this parable, and who was He really speaking to? What truth was He trying to communicate—not just about lost sheep, but about God’s heart and our mission?
7. How might focusing inwardly—on our comfort, preferences, worship style, or what’s familiar—keep the church from pursuing its real mission? In your own words, what is the primary purpose or mission of the church? Does your definition reflect Scripture or cultural preferences? (See Matthew 28:19–20; 1 John 4:7-8; Ephesians 4:12)
8. Where there are sheep, there are wolves. Wolves smile when focus on the mission of the church is lost. What are some things in our church/lives that make a wolf smile?
9. Luke 19:10 says Jesus came to seek and save the lost. What does He call those of us who’ve been found to do? Following Jesus means living counter-intuitively—like first responders who run toward the mess, not away from it. As the Church, how can we take on that same mindset and run toward the confusion, hurt, and pain in the lives of others? What might that look like in your everyday life? 
10. Who is one “Luke 15:1 person” in your life right now—a person searching, messy, or far from God—and what intentional step can you take toward them this week? Invite others to partner with you in prayer for your lost friends. 

TAKING NEW GROUND! This week, take new ground by praying intentionally for your lost friends. Ask God to open doors for you to share His love with them. Remember, God isn’t asking us to fix someone’s mess—that’s Jesus’ job. Our role is simply to love them and introduce them to the One who can truly transform their life.

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL: Update your current position within the Canvas Circle, Jesus Friends Circle, and Lost Friends Circle. In what specific ways are you growing more like Jesus, reflecting His love and teachings to others, and drawing closer to the center of the diagram?

2025 LIFE CHANGE CHALLENGE: We’ve put together a Bible reading plan to help you read through the entire New Testament in one year. Just one chapter a day, five days a week—plus a short bonus passage to reflect on. You can find it on the Canvas Church app—just tap “Bible Reading Plan.” Prefer to listen? That’s an option too! Join us on this life-changing journey with Jesus.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP PRAYER OPTIONS: “A maturing community is a confessing community—not a church without sin, but a church without secrets.”― Tyler Staton, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer

1. Conversational Prayer: Rather than taking turns giving long, formal prayers, try encouraging short, honest, and spontaneous prayers—like you’re having a shared conversation with God. Let each person build on what others have prayed, just like you would in a real conversation.
2. Praise Sentences: Take a moment to offer short sentence prayers of thanks to God for who He is and what He has done this week. Allow multiple people to pray, even more than once. Then, lift up the needs shared within your group. Finish by thanking Him for hearing your prayers.  
3. Prayer Clusters: Meet in groups of two or three (same gender) to share praises and prayer requests. Pray together and for one another during the week. Let those in your group know you prayed—send a quick text of encouragement.

TRY IT… I DARE YOU! In any moment—big or small—pause and ask: “God, what do You want me to know?” Then: “What do You want me to do?” Try it this week and watch how God shows up. And don’t keep it to yourself—bless someone by sharing what He’s doing in and through you!

SOUL SNACK: “Our job is to make the invisible God visible — to mirror and mimic what he is like to the world. We can glorify God by doing our work in such a way that we make the invisible God visible by what we do and how we do it.” John Mark Comer, Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human.