by Dale Reeves and Brian Boroff

Story Pastor

 

If you were present last Sunday at Christ’s Church, then you were given the opportunity to pick up a “One More” card in which you were encouraged to pray for, pursue, and then celebrate a “One More” in your life. This is someone who does not currently have a one-on-one relationship with Christ, but someone whom God has put on your heart that you need to introduce to Jesus. Our lead pastor Brad Wilson taught from Luke 15 last Sunday, and he posed this penetrating question:

 

“If Jesus relentlessly pursues the lost, don’t you think we should do the same? Who’s that person in your life that you are losing sleep over?”

 

In case you missed that teaching, you can check it out here.

 

A Shepherd’s Heart

My good friend and fellow staff member at Christ’s Church, Brian Boroff, posted these words early this week:

 

“After Easter, it’s tempting to drift back into the rhythms of normal everyday life. But keep in mind, the resurrection didn’t just save us for Heaven someday. Eternity starts now and Christ’s resurrection commissioned us to carry Heaven’s hope into today. Jesus makes the heart of God beautifully clear in one of his simplest parables:

 

‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?’ (Luke 15:4, NIV).

 

It’s a staggering picture. Most of us would think, Ninety-nine out of a hundred is a pretty good success rate. But God’s math doesn’t settle for almost. His love doesn’t calculate risks and rewards. His love pursues the one who wandered. He leaves the comfort of the crowd to chase after the heart that has drifted away. This is who he is! Our God searches, calls out, and then carries the found one home with rejoicing. Jesus said another time, ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10, NIV).

 

The Good Shepherd does not simply know his sheep; he lays down his life for them (see John 10:14, 15). You and I were once those lost sheep, carried home on his shoulders by grace. Now we are invited—even commanded—to carry his heart for others. True leadership in the kingdom of God isn’t just about tending the ninety-nine. It is about pursuing the one. It’s not about managing results but about loving relentlessly. It’s about noticing the lost colleague, the hurting neighbor, the wandering friend, and choosing to move toward them instead of away.

 

This is uncomfortable. It interrupts schedules, and it risks rejection—but this is exactly the way of Christ, and every time we step into it, Heaven leans in and angels prepare to rejoice. Jesus concludes his story about the ninety-nine sheep and the one more with these words: ‘In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!’ (Luke 15:7, NLT).

 

Are you ready to send the text? To start the conversation? To extend an invitation? Today, I encourage you to pause and pray, ‘Lord, open my eyes. Who is THE ONE you want me to pursue with your love today?’”

 

The Lion and the Lamb

I love the graphic on the front of the cards that we distributed last Sunday at Christ’s Church. Look again at the title image for today’s blog. Pictured on the front is a single lamb walking in a field, but if you look closer, and focus in on the puddle to the bottom of the lamb you will see the reflection of a lion. The Bible tells us that our Lord Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); he is also the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). Jesus was the perfect, spotless lamb that had never sinned and thus became the ultimate atoning sacrifice for all our sins. He was greater than all the animal sacrifices that the priests offered for the sins of the people all throughout the Old Testament, and it was the shedding of Jesus’ innocent blood on the cross of Calvary that has given us permission to ask God for forgiveness of all our sins. The book of Hebrews tells us, “For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22, NLT).

 

But not only is Jesus our perfect sacrificial Lamb, he is also a roaring Lion. He is strong, he is mighty, he is fierce, he is majestic, he is King, he has all authority and dominion. Just as a lion is the “king of the beasts,” our Lord and Messiah Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and our Good Shepherd, desperately longs for the lambs that have gone astray to be found and brought back into his fold. He knows that within those lambs that have chosen their own path to walk there could be the heart of a lion just waiting to be discovered. And you never know if your “One More” might have the heart of a lion that you will help set at liberty as you introduce them to your Lord Jesus. You never know how your small act of obedience might echo in eternity.

 

After fifteen years in regional and national business development roles, Brian Boroff decided to follow a calling to serve Christ’s kingdom full-time. He leads C-Suite for Christ Cincinnati as the market president and is on staff at Christ’s Church as resident. Brian, and his wife Jill, reside in the Kings Local School community along with their two daughters Jacey and Braylee.