We are one church. We love God, love people, love
His mission, and love His church.
Welcome to the One Church podcast.
Do you? Remember a time in your life
when you felt really alone or isolated?
As soon as I asked myself that question, I thought of two
incidents. 1 was the first day I arrived at the Cambridgeshire
High School for Girls which was back in 1971.
Believe it or not it was the end of my first year of secondary
school and my family had moved from being up in the northeast
in Whitley Bay. I had a lovely childhood, I was
at the local grammar school, loads of friends so settled and
my dad got a job in Cambridge. So the whole family moved down
to Cambridge and the first day in this school, not only was it
a very strict school, it was strict uniform, but I actually
didn't have a uniform at that point.
And my mum and dad in their wisdom decided, oh, we'll send
Susan for the last few days of the term after these girls that
had the whole year, you know, making friends and everything.
And there I arrived and it was days of mini skirts.
So I had this mini pink dress and it was covered in flowers.
And then in the office there they had this ridiculous thing
where they wouldn't let you take money into school unless you had
a purse belt. Anybody heard of a purse belt?
You had to wear this belt around your waist, which was part of
the uniform and it had a little zip in it and you kept your bus
pass in there and your money and everything.
And so they insisted I had a purse belt which made my dress
even shorter. And I was just stood there
feeling extremely like a fish out of water.
And of course, didn't really settle or make friends on that
very last couple of days of the term.
I'll tell you the rest of that story later.
The second incident I thought of was Fast forward about 15 years
from there and sitting on a cold day in a park in Beeston, just
on the outskirts of Nottingham, 2 little boys playing on the
swings and just feeling like really at a low ebb and feeling
a bit isolated and alone. At that moment.
My oldest son Sam had just been diagnosed with severe autism.
Our younger son, Tom, he was just a little toddler at that
point and we weren't able to go to any groups or anything, even
though I'd set up some of these groups myself because Sam just
couldn't handle it. So we were there in the park and
I just remember crying out to God at that moment on one of
those occasions, I didn't yet know the Good Shepherd on one.
I did know the Good Shepherd, but and I was surrounded by
people in both. But what was the question in my
heart was it was really, you know, God, do you see me?
You know in all these other millions of people of the in the
world am I of value and I hope today is going to answer that
question for each of us that each one of us have amazing
value to God. So so far in our Jesus said
series we've looked at when you pray a prayer pattern.
I wonder how your devotions are doing after that wonderful
message we've thought of how Jesus said you are the light of
the world. How bold are we being?
Who have you invited to Mark Ritchie.
Let's let's all get out there and invite somebody, ask, seek,
knock. We looked at a couple of weeks
ago, being persistent in our prayers.
And then last week, the thief or the shepherd, the thief who
comes to steal, kill and destroy.
And yet the Good Shepherd who came to give life to the full.
And today this is for you if you want to know if you really
matter, if you're seen, if you're loved, if you're
celebrated. And it'll challenge us as well
to be like Jesus and to search for the one.
Because today the Jesus said is Jesus said, won't he search for
or won't he go after the 1? So here's the passage, Matthew
1812 to 14. Jesus said if a man has 100
sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do?
Won't he leave the 99 others on the hills and go out to search
for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you
the truth, He will rejoice over it more than over the 99 that
didn't wander away. In the same way, it is not my
Heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should
perish. So Jesus is speaking to his
followers. He's saying everyone matters
that God hears the cry of the most humble.
He's telling us because He's just brought a little child and
said we must come become like little children.
He's saying be like a little child, be like a helpless sheep,
call out to God. And this story turns our ideas
of what is important and who is important on their head as well.
Because what does God see? This shows us God's heart is for
the hidden. God's heart is for the one who's
in need, the one who knows their need, the one who cries out.
And notice the shepherd doesn't go after the sheep because it
was the best sheep or the fattest sheep or the most
deserving sheep. In fact, he went after the
naughty 1, didn't he? He went after the one that
wandered away. He missed him or her.
He wanted them back in the sheepfold, safe in his care.
What an amazing story, just so simple, so deep and full of
revelation about the heart of the shepherd.
And I believe today we're going to just go on a bit of a journey
into the heart of Jesus, which is for you.
So Jesus is speaking to people in the Middle East. 2000 years
ago, they would really understand the whole picture of
sheep and shepherds, probably more than most of us would.
They'd also understand that God often spoke about his people as
sheep and spoke about the leaders of the people as
shepherds and about himself as the great shepherd of his
people. And Jesus has already said I am
the Good Shepherd. He says he's the Good Shepherd.
So what does the Good Shepherd think and feel about the one
sheep that wanders away that gets lost?
Well, firstly, he cares for the one.
Jesus said if a man has 100 sheep and one of them wanders
away, what will he do? Now I always imagine like 100
lovely fat fluffy sheep and one of them has has got, you know,
wandered off, got lost. Sheep can wander.
I remember going through a walk with David on the Cliff top path
in North Yorkshire and the coast and seeing a sheep that had
obviously wandered away from its flock and obviously been curious
of the Cliff and fallen down. It was on the ledge.
We weren't able to reach it anyway and I hope the farmer
managed to find it. But an eastern shepherd would
have had this very close personal relationship with his
flock of sheep. Probably knew by name.
So when it says the shepherd calls his sheep in the Bible,
you know, you can imagine the shepherd having names for a
sheep, like maybe spot because they've got a spot on their back
or curly top because they've got curly hair or something like
that. And, you know, did the shepherd
say here, oh, well, you know, I've got 99 sheep, I can spare
one, especially one that goes wandering off.
No, it doesn't say that at all. He cares.
Jesus is letting us see something of his beautiful,
caring heart. You think of a person who's dear
to you, maybe your husband, your wife or a friend.
How would you describe them to somebody else?
Well, you might describe, oh, their height, their hair colour,
their mannerisms, their hobbies, their gifts, their background.
And it's one thing to describe them in all those ways, but it's
another thing, a deeper thing to describe their heart, especially
their heart for you. How could I describe?
I was thinking about my relationship with David, my
husband. You know, how would I describe
his heart for me? It's more than just something
that you can write down. It's maybe expressed in a look
or a glance or a moment where you just catch each other's eye.
You may know and you may say things about Jesus that Jesus
died for you. He rose from the dead.
But how can we describe his heart?
And do we have any real idea of the depth of his love for us?
And here Jesus is saying his heart cares.
And far from caring, especially for the ones that we might view
as worthy of being cared for or deserving, actually in a very,
very special way, He's drawn to our sin.
He's drawn to our shame. He's drawn to our need.
It only takes the cry for him to come running.
So take heart today because Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus,
who's the all powerful, who's able to save the lion and the
lamb, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end, He cares for
you. Now each little section through
this message, I want it to be quite devotional.
We're just going to stop and we're going to pray.
We're going to lift our hearts to him.
So will you pray with me? Let's just pray this out loud,
just for a moment. Jesus, thank you that you care
for the one, thank you that you care for me.
Just think about that for a moment.
Thank you, you care for me. Give me your heart to care for
the one too. So this turns us outwards as
well. So the Good Shepherd cares, and
because he cares, he goes after the 1.
Won't he leave the 99 others on the hills and go out to search
for the one that is lost? Now, for some reason, when I
think of this story, I think of the 99.
They're sort of in sunshine on the green grass and having a
lovely time eating the grass and, and just contented.
And then as soon as I think of the picture of the shepherd
going after the one, it's like he goes into a sort of
microclimate and there's the storm is coming and the rain's
coming and the wind's coming and he's fighting against the
elements to get to this sheep. Do you ever think like that?
I don't know when you think about this story and actually I
think that's not a bad way of thinking about this picture that
reflects the heart of Jesus because his heart has always
been moved by the one and he's always acted in response.
And this is what compassion is. When it says Jesus in the Bible
had compassion, you know, he saw the crowd.
They were like sheep without a shepherd.
They were helpless. And it says he had compassion on
them. That word compassion actually is
like being cut to the heart. It's like you're inside is being
turned over. It's a a complete emotional
reaction. You know, Jesus is God and man
and he is now forever man. He's man in the heavens now
interceding for us, and he will brave the elements to reach us.
And you know, even though tired and grieving at times, when he
was on the earth, he had mercy on the 1.
He didn't just wave his hand over people, He individually
went to people. He healed them, He touched them.
And back in Exodus, you can see this through the whole Bible,
how God feels and hears the cry of his people and does something
in Exodus. He says I've heard the cry of my
people and I have come to rescue them.
And he sends Moses and rescues his people out of Egypt.
Jesus came after all the ones just after he'd called and
saved. One called Zacchaeus, a tax
collector. He sums up his ministry and he
says this for the Son of man came to seek and to save the
lost. This is how he summed up what
his life was for. And he did.
He did everything needed. It was his heart of love that
caused him to come down to die a criminal's death, to carry the
weight of your sin and my sin to rise, to ascend to the highest
place and now to make intercession for us.
So can we really sit here and say, oh, I'm not good enough?
Or can we sit here and refuse that gift?
Or can we even be a little bit blase?
You know, he's gone to the greatest lengths possible to
save us. Let that touch us today.
Let's pray this little prayer. Jesus, thank you that you go
after the One. Thank you that you come after
me. Just see him coming to you in
your need. Give me your heart to go after
the One too. So he cares he goes after, and
he hears the cry of the One. And if he finds it again, we
imagine this shepherd up on the hills around the crags, looking
under the bushes, searching. How is he going to know where
the sheep is? Well, just maybe he's going to
hear that little cry. You know, maybe the silly sheep
is stuck in a thorn Bush, stranded in a stream somewhere.
If any of you who've got children ever lost one of your
children? Yes, I think probably most of
us, at least for a little while. We've had that horrible panic
moment. I remember having it at Skegness
on a crowded beach, it was a kids trip to the seaside and
asked Samuel, our oldest son, who was the one definitely most
prone to getting lost and wandering off.
He wandered off and for a moment it was like Oh no, where is he
and you're running around looking just praying that you
find him. I remember after dinner once on
a Sunday we were at David's mum and dad's house.
We used to go every Sunday for Sunday lunch and great grandma
used to give the boys 20P pocket money and grandma and granddad
used to give them a pound so they used to have £1.20.
Samuel unbeknown to us took his 20P and something twigged in his
little brain and we looked around and said where's Samuel
And we only found him actually coming back from having gone
across the village green across the road and had a ride for his
20P on the little horse that was outside the Co-op and then he
was on his way back. He got into numerous scrapes,
but every time we would listen out for his cry when he was
stuck in my friend's water bottle up to his neck because he
loved water. But we listen for that cry, you
know, and the shepherd listening for the cry, maybe he's calling
out, you know, curly top, curly top, and there's a little bar
and it's enough. The God we serve is not far off.
It says in Psalm 145, this isn't just the Jesus of the New
Testament because there isn't a a difference.
God is God through the whole of the Bible, and Psalm 145 says
the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him.
In truth, our God, the true God, he doesn't wait till we're
cleaned up, till we're doing well, till we're obeying all the
rules. This wandering sheep wasn't all
that. Romans 10/13 says everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
You know, could that be any more clear?
If you're wondering today, is it possible?
Can I be saved? Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved, as simple as that.
And that's the only difference between whether we will find our
way into that sheepfold or not is the call on the name of the
Lord. The message paraphrase of that
verse says everyone who calls help, God gets help.
You know, do we really get that? Let's pray Jesus, thank you that
you hear the cry of the one. Thank you that you hear my cry.
Give me your heart to hear the cry of the one too.
And Jesus sees the one, the shepherd sees the one.
And if he finds it, the shepherd's gone out.
He's searched, he's heard the cry, and now he sees the one.
He's been looking for the wandering sheep.
Maybe he sees a little bit of fluffy wool sticking out from
behind a Bush. Recently my Bible reading led me
to Hagar back in Genesis, the servant to Sarah who was the
wife of Abraham, and she's forced to have a child by
Abraham in their attempt to have a son and heir.
In all accounts, quite an abusive situation, and she gives
birth to a baby called Ishmael. Eventually, Abraham and Sarah
have their own miracle baby, and a bit later, Sarah sends Hagar
out into the wilderness, facing starvation, alone, afraid, with
a baby. And an Angel of the Lord visits
her, saves her life, gives promises about her son,
potentially an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament, and
she's told to return. And this is what it says in
Genesis 16, right back at the beginning of the Bible.
Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord who
had spoken to her. She said you are the God who
sees me in all the mess she's seen and all through the Bible
we can trace that theme that God sees me.
He sees the individual. He sees the one.
Jesus sees the one turning around.
It says in John 1 when he saw some disciples or people who
wanted to be as disciples following him, Jesus saw them
following and asked, what do you want?
Tax collectors and sinners? He saw.
Jesus went on from there, it says in Matthew 9 and he saw a
man named Matthew Nathaniel. He says I saw you under the fig
tree, even on the cross. Jesus saw John in the crowd.
He saw his mother. And in agony he says, here's
your son, here's your mother. He cares.
He sees the Good Shepherd sees the one.
Let's just pray this little prayer together.
Jesus, thank you that you see the one.
Thank you that you see me. Give me your heart to see the
One too. So he cares, He goes, he hears,
he sees, and he rejoices over the One.
He will rejoice over it more than over the 99 that didn't
wander away. Those of you who've experienced
losing a child who's wandered off, how did you feel when you
saw that child and when you held them in their arms?
Again, if you're anything like me, you've felt a mixture of a
bit angry and and very happy at the same time because it's like,
how could you wander off and yet you're so happy that you've got
your child back? What gives Jesus joy?
Have you ever thought about that?
What makes Jesus happy? The Bible tells us that joy kept
him going in his mission. Hebrews 12 says for the joy set
before him, he endured the cross, despising it's shame.
What was the joy that was waiting for Jesus after the
cross? Just imagine a very clever, very
compassionate Dr going to a remote tribe somewhere like
Brazil maybe right deep in the jungle and they know they have
the cure for a terrible sickness that these tribes people have
been facing. They have the the cure.
They have an injection they can give or pills they can give or
something. It's going to solve their
sickness. But because of fear, because of
mistrust, these jungle people, they don't want to receive.
But one day a young man steps out of the crowd and says, I'll
try. Because the others have all
relied on their own ways, their traditional ways.
They don't want to know. But this young man is prepared
to try. And as soon as he does, of
course, he's healed. And then others begin to try as
well. What, what joy does that doctor
feel that suddenly the mission that he's been on, he he people
are receiving what he can give. And you know, when you come to
Jesus in all your mess, you bring him joy.
He's done everything. He has the cure for sin.
He has the cure for suffering. And when we hold back in the
shadows, when we hold back fearful, we miss out and we deny
him as well that joy. But he loves to scoop up
sinners. He loves to rejoice that they're
found, and now he rejoices over you and me.
If we are found and we're in his arms, he rejoices over us.
It says in the Bible with singing, the Lord your God is
with you, the mighty warrior who saves, He will take great
delight in you, in his love. He will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
You know, picture singing to a child.
If you can think, you know how much God rejoices over you, that
he sings over you. Jesus, let's pray together.
Thank you that you rejoice over the One.
Thank you that you rejoice over me.
Give me your heart to rejoice over the 1-2.
And finally he gives life to the One.
This is Jesus telling the reason that He told this story.
In the same way, it is not my Heavenly Father's will that even
one of these little ones should perish.
If that doesn't answer your doubts, maybe does God care?
I don't know what will. This is so clear.
And this sheep story, it has a happy ending.
It's a you story, isn't it? You know, it's open to all.
The sheep jumps into the shepherd's arms.
He's carried home on his shoulder, rejoiced over, safe.
And Jesus says this is so clear. God's heart is that all would be
saved, that none would perish. But this, the sheep, you know,
could have refused help, run away, stayed in the wilderness.
And we also can choose to perish if we stay stubborn, if we
refuse to repent. God is just, you know, he can't
overlook, he can't ignore sin. And we will face the
consequences if we don't choose to go with the shepherd.
But he's done everything for us. You know, often we say, well, we
want God to get rid of evil in the world.
We look at the news and we say, wow, all those things that are
happening, Lord, will you deal with it?
But The thing is that we are infected by evil ourselves.
So we all deserve hell. We all deserve judgement and we
have a choice now. We've been given free will and
if we choose to reject Jesus offer of eternal life, he'll
take us at our word. The writer CS Lewis said, and I
quoted this last week, but I'm going to quote it again.
In the end, only two kinds of people, those who say to God,
your will be done, and those to whom God in the end will say
your will be done. You know, can we imagine the
terror of life forever without God, without anything good,
separated, alienated? But the good news of this story
is that God has done everything so that we don't have to face
that the offer still stands until our dying breath, and it
stands for the people around us as well, or until Jesus returns.
His heart is for us to be rescued.
This is how God loved the world, says John 316.
He gave his one and only Son so that everyone, everyone who
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
He's done everything for us to have life.
And this is the message as well that we share with others, with
everyone, everyone that we meet. Let's just pray this little
prayer. Jesus, thank you that you give
life to the one. Thank you that you give life to
me. Give me your heart to share your
life with the one too. Jesus said if a man has 100
sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do?
Won't he leave the 99 on the hills and go out to search for
the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you
the truth, he'll rejoice over it more than over the 99 that
didn't wander away. In the same way, it's not my
Heavenly Father's will that any, even one of those little ones
should perish. So first of all, think of
yourself as the one you know for me.
And the stories from the start, let me tell you the end of those
stories. Well, that school, the Cambridge
High School for Girls, turned out to be an amazing school for
me, and it turned out to be the place where I was welcomed by an
amazing group of people. The next year, and within a year
and a half or a couple of years, I'd given my life to Jesus.
I found Jesus at that school and I'd cried out to him.
The story at the park, that moment is still a moment I
remember as a moment where I met Jesus, a moment where Jesus came
and told me that he loved me, where he told me that he cared
for me, where he told me that he saw me.
And it certainly wasn't the end of any of our stories.
Just see the beautiful heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
He goes after the 1. You know he cares.
He cares for you, he goes after you, hears your cry, he sees
you, he rejoices over you, he gives you life.
And this is life that goes beyond this life, beyond the
grave and lasts forever. So firstly, I'm speaking to
someone in this room. If you're listening to this and
you know that you're a wandering sheep, maybe you're saying in
your heart, but I'm not a good person or even I don't really
matter. Well, you know, that's a good
place to start because we've all, every single one of us
fallen short of God's standard. But This is why Jesus is the
Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
He's done it all. He sees you.
He's coming to find you. If you just call out to him,
even today, he comes running. So I invite you today to come to
the cross and to receive this life.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards
you and give you peace.