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So part of God’s Story is about a shepherd and a lost sheep, and it goes like this.

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching people about God’s love. And sometimes, people wanted to spend time with Jesus after he got finished teaching -- so they would invite him over for dinner. Jesus loved to spend time with people. Jesus would even hang out with people who no one else wanted to hang out with.

This bothered some other people called Pharisees. Pharisees were religious experts who thought it was WRONG for Jesus to spend time with certain kinds of people. One day, the Pharisees muttered, “Jesus welcomes sinners -- and eats with them!”

But Jesus knew God still loves people, even when we make wrong choices. So Jesus told the Pharisees a story to teach them a lesson about God. These stories were called “parables.”

This is the Parable of the One Lost Sheep. Jesus said:

Suppose you were a shepherd with one hundred sheep.
And one of your sheep got lost. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine, in open country, and go after the sheep until you found it? And when you found it, you would joyfully put the sheep on your shoulders and take it home. And when you got home, you would call your friends and neighbors together and say, “Rejoice with me! I have found my lost sheep!”

The people listening were probably thinking about the shepherds they knew. Good shepherds paid attention to their sheep, they knew each one by name, and they kept them safe from danger. They would have remembered the poems by the prophet Ezekiel and King David where God said he was like a shepherd. Of course a good shepherd would want ALL of his sheep to be safe, and would do whatever it took to rescue his one lost sheep -- even risking his own life!

Then Jesus explained the parable to the Pharisees. “In the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.”

See, the ninety-nine sheep are like people who already believe in Jesus. The lost sheep are like the people who don’t know how much God loves them, or that Jesus came to rescue them. And Jesus is the good shepherd, who was willing to lay down his own life to rescue his lost sheep.

Jesus said that he “came to seek and save those who are lost”.

When a person starts to follow Jesus, Jesus said it’s like a party in heaven! We don’t really know exactly what a party in heaven looks like. But since God made everything, and God is the reason good things like love and fun and laughter exist, a party in heaven is probably bigger and better than anything we could imagine. And Jesus wants everyone to know that it’s a party where EVERYONE is invited.

Because EVERY single person matters to God.

And THAT’s the story of the shepherd and one lost sheep.

In case you missed it, here’s the quick version.

Jesus told stories called parables. One parable is about a shepherd and one hundred sheep. One sheep got lost. The shepherd left the ninety-nine. The lost sheep was found! The shepherd threw a party. Because God cares about every single person.

And THAT’s a part of God’s Story.

Sources: Matt 18:1-14, Luke 15:1-7, Ezekiel 34:11-16