Luke chapter 15 if you have your Bibles there now. Luke 15 is about three parables that Jesus teaches

with one single theme that ties all three parables together. Now for those of you who are new to church

or to Bible terms, let me just define a parable. A parable is the use of an illustration,

often taken from everyday life, to communicate a deeper moral truth or a spiritual lesson. It's a

tool that Jesus used to get across a particular point that might otherwise not be so

obvious, at least on the surface. And the particular point that Jesus is going to make with

these three parables here in Luke 15, listen, is that all people are lost. Spiritually speaking,

all people are lost. Andually speaking. All people are lost.

And those who are found have a role in helping those who are lost.

That's what these parables are about.

But the fact is that some people don't know that they're lost.

Some know that they're lost, but they don't want to be found. And still others want to be found,

but they feel too ashamed or confused about how to get there. And so that's what these three

parables are about, and thus they need to be understood together. And so here they are. I'm just

going to throw the summary of these parables on the screen for you.

Parable number one is about the parable of the lost sheep. That's verses 1 through 7.

Parable number 2 is about the lost coin. That's verses 8 through 10.

And then the third and the longest and the most familiar of the parables, verses 11 to 32, is the parable of the lost

son, otherwise known as the prodigal son. Now, too often that last parable about the prodigal

son is taught all by itself. It's the most popular one of the three, but it can only be best understood in light of the first two.

So we're going to be looking at all three together today.

And I'm going to read the first two before we pray.

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