Can we celebrate Jehovah Jireh! The God who sees and the God who provides.

This year, 2025, is the year we Engage with God and Engage our Faith.

Engage with God and Engage your faith.

We are going after the detached, the drifted, and those who Don't Know!

Luke 19:9-10 “9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Our focus in 2025 is to ENGAGE

Pursuit – to hunt, track down, go after, to seek with great intensity. From Heaven to Earth for You!!!

You will never have a heart for what you do not pray for.

Luke 15:1-7

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Understanding the Context:

Luke 15:1-2 begins: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

You have 2 groups of people gathering around Jesus:

1. Sinners and Tax Collectors

These men and women correspond to the younger brother. They observed neither the moral laws of the Bible nor the rules for ceremonial purity followed by religious Jews. They engaged in "wild living." Like so many in Jesus’s day and our day, they abandoned the faith of their families and the history of knowing that God was in relentless Pursuit of them.

2. Pharisees and Scribes

The second group of listeners was the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law,” who were represented by a person we will discover more about leading up to Easter. They held to their traditions, laws, and works based morality of their upbringing. They studied and obeyed the Scripture. They performed acts of worship and constantly offered words that they considered prayer.

But Jesus said in Matthew 15:6b-9:

So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Isaiah 29:13 and Ezekiel 7-9.)

If you are struggling to Engage with God, could it be that you are praying from the traditions of your heritage rather than the power and leading of the Holy Spirit?

God wants a heart in Pursuit of Him that resembles His Pursuit of us.

I want us to align our hearts and our passion for the drifted, detached, and those who don't know to become a burning focus, which is the priority, not the afterthought.

To do that, pray with me: "God, give me the heart of "The Shepherd."

The Shepherd Protects

Psalm 23:4 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The presence of the Shepherd doesn’t eliminate the dark valley—but it removes the fear of it.

The rod and staff were tools of both defense and guidance. The Shepherd protects us by walking with us and fighting for us.

God doesn’t just send protection; He is our protection.

The valley is real, but so is the Shepherd. His presence makes all the difference.

Sheep are timid and defenseless, but their safety is found in the Shepherd.

The Shepherd Prepares

Psalm 23:5–6

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The table is not just survival—it is abundance, even in the middle of the conflict.

Goodness and mercy are not passive traits; they actively pursue the believer, just like the Shepherd pursued the lost sheep.

The Shepherd not only brings us out of the valley, but He brings us into the blessing. The blessing is not some thing. The blessing is Him.

He prepares for us—meaning He is intentional about proving he is not mad at us but rejoices with us.

The Shepherd not only rescues but also restores because that is the Shepherd's reward!

Now consider this:

·   What if it was you trapped in drugs, desperation, and depression, and the church people next to you walked by your brokenness and said, “Just get over it.”

·   What if it was you stuck in suicidal actions, self-mutilation, and childhood abuses as you wake up screaming in terror from the nightmares. With all the cries for help, church people who post scriptures on social media get society's approval but shun you.

·   What if it was you drowning in debt with no hope, so you numb the pain with pills, alcohol, and substances. Not because you want to but because it is the only thing that eases the pain. Every night, you numb the pain, but you wake up hating yourself the next morning. Rather than asking you, "What's going on?" the church person in your life makes the snide comment, "Dang, you look rough today."

The Shepherd is sincere, while the church person criticizes.

You will never have a heart for what you do not pray for. But now let your prayers drive you to Pursue.

I need to repent; I do not have enough baseball cards in my Bible.

How are you going to approach this week? Eyes Open:  We look for every available means, at every available time, to reach every available person through service and giving.