JOE: Welcome to FJM TV. I'm Joe Jordan. Today, I just wanted to
share some things with you that have been on my heart, that the
Lord put on my heart called lost and found, lost and found. And,
you know, it seems like at some point we're all lost. But I'm so
grateful that Jesus knows how to find us. When we're on Skid Row
at Fred Jordan Missions, working with some that really, really,
really get lost, it's amazing to see how even the most lost
person on this planet, whether they have nothing, they're
homeless, they're unsheltered, they're hungry, they have no
clothes, they could be walking naked on the streets of downtown
Los Angeles, they could be high as a kite and not all there, but
it's amazing, as lost as people are, Jesus knows how to find us.
And I'm just amazed by that. And I'll be sharing some of those
stories with you today and sharing from God's Word. I'm
excited because Fred Jordan Mission this year is in its 80th
year of full-Time ministry, from '44 to '24. 80 years of serving
Jesus by serving others. 80 years of declaring and
demonstrating the love of Jesus with those who are hurting,
homeless, and helpless. And it's such an awesome privilege, and
so much of it is because of partners and friends like you.
But today I want to share with you our partners and our
friends. And maybe you're viewing for the very first time,
you're like, who is this? Well, we're an 80-year-old mission on
Skid Row in downtown LA that serves about a thousand a day.
We love to give everything we can that Jesus provides to us,
to those who have needs. But most of all, we love to give
them the greatest gift of all, Jesus, because we are all so
lost at some point and especially those on Skid Row,
but Jesus knows how to find us no matter where we are. And
today, as I share with you about Lost and Found, I just want to
share with you how the simple thought of lost and found can be
the most important thing in your life. The joy of finding
something that's lost, I don't know about for you, but for me
it's really exciting sometimes. If you lose your car keys or you
can't find some money or you lose your credit card, it feels
so good when you find it, doesn't it? In fact, I remember
one time I didn't even realize it, but I picked up a box that I
had on my shelf in the closet, and I guess I'd stashed a couple
hundred dollars in it because it was five or six years later, I
didn't even realize it but I opened this box to see what it
was, and there was $200 in it. Now, you would say it wasn't
lost because it was in my closet, but I had lost it I
thought, or I put it there and stashed it and I forgot where it
was. So to me, it was lost. And when I found it, it was
exciting. I remember once I used my ATM card too to get my kids
food when they were younger, and for whatever reason I stuck it
just in the little spot on my steering wheel when I drove away
and I didn't put it back in my wallet. And somehow, some way in
turning and heading home with the kids and all the chaos of
that... Kids are fun, you know, and trying to feed them and get
them going on the way home is kind of crazy sometimes. And
when I got home, I looked at my wallet and there was no ATM card
and I was just kind of frantic for a minute, like, oh, it's
lost. I better call the bank. I better cancel it. And I was a
little stressed about it, but sure enough I looked long enough
and there it was, it fell down and bounced off and went under
my seat and it was sitting under this piece of vinyl with a
little wire from my seat kind of over it, and I pulled it out and
it was exciting. So when we lose things and they're found, it can
be a really great feeling, but, you know, it can be even deeper
than that emotionally if we lose things like our pet, sometimes a
marriage can be lost, sometimes a career, a dream. I remember
also losing our child. Y1ou're like, what? You lost your child?
Yeah, we did, but it was only for about 30 seconds, but it was
the worst 30 seconds of our life. It was Bryce, our son. He
was probably about two and a half years old, and we were at
this little indoor kind of carnival and we were getting
Brooke on this little ride so that she could go around on
these little ponies or something, and Bryce was
standing right there with us. He wasn't tall enough to get on it.
And so he was right between Chris and I, and the next second
we looked down and there was no more Bryce. Where's Bryce?
Where's Bryce? We both went into panic mode. Lord Jesus, help us
find Bryce. We directly in our minds and our hearts started
looking, but we directly went to Jesus and just said, God, please
help us find our son, and the worry and the just panic set on
us. But we knew that God was with us and we were just going
to trust him to get us back to our son. Anyway, we went over a
couple rides where he was watching this little train go
around and he loved the little train. And sure enough, there he
was, but he wasn't there by himself. He was in the arms of a
lady who worked there and she said, is this your son? And it's
like, yes. We grabbed him. And I'll tell you from that moment
on, I don't think that either one of us let him go for the
next week because we found him. But it was such a scary moment.
And for you, there might be things that you've lost in your
life or there might be a marriage that could have been
lost, a pet. I know when you lose your pet, they're like your
children. It's so scary. We had a dog once that we lost for
about a week. We finally found him three cities over. Lived in
Covina, we found him over in Arcadia in a dog shelter. And I
don't know how he got there exactly, but he got out and he
ran off. And sure enough, our dog was gone, but we found him.
And it's exciting and it feels good when you find something
that was lost. But what about those things that we lose,
doesn't matter if it's big or small, and we don't get them
back? That can be a really trying experience. And I have a
question for you today. Is there something that you've lost? Have
you lost something in your life? Have you lost direction,
fulfillment, significance? Have you lost opportunities, dreams?
Have you maybe lost hope? Have you lost a relationship or
something else that is near and dear to you? Well, I want you to
know today that we can look to the great restorer of things
that were lost. Jesus. He is the restorer. He is the one that can
take things that are lost and find them. He can take things
that were hidden or where we couldn't see them and restore
those to us. My prayer today for you is that whatever has been
lost, whatever has been taken, whatever has been just stripped
out of your hands for whatever reason, that you would look to
the great restorer of all things, Jesus. And whether it's
a person, whether it's lost hope, your heart, because of
what Jesus did on the cross for you and me, we can have hope. We
can know that Jesus is there, that He is there to find us and
find what we have lost. I remember being lost and not
knowing Jesus. I remember being hopeless and not having a
relationship with Jesus and how important it was for me to find
the truth. The Bible says the truth is what sets us free. And
so one day I remember just kind of reflecting back on all that
my mom and dad had taught me and all the Bible that I had
learned, and I remember that the Bible says that Jesus came to
seek and save that which was lost, and that emptiness that I
felt inside could be healed. That emptiness and brokenness I
felt inside could be restored if I would look to the restorer of
all things, Jesus. And that's what I did. And when I gave my
heart and life to Jesus, He restored everything that I had
lost. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: Jesus once said, what you do for the least of these
you do for me. With your generous support, Fred Jordan
Mission has been fulfilling this calling for over 80 years by
feeding hungry people here on Skid Row. Together we made a
difference. Together we have given hope to those less
fortunate, and together we have demonstrated the love of Jesus
to those in need. We deeply appreciate your support and we
ask that you please continue to give to this life-changing
mission. Go online to give at fjm.org, whatever the amount,
great or small, your donation is greatly appreciated.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more.
Visit us at social.fjm.org.
JOE: Well, welcome back. We're talking about Lost and Found.
And today, if you find yourself at a loss, if you find yourself
lost or feeling like you're lost or something in your life is
lost or missing, I want you to know this and my prayer for you
is this, is that Jesus would be the restorer of what was lost
because you don't have to stay lost. As I was just sharing a
minute ago, when I was lost, Jesus found me. He knocked on my
heart. He gave me the faith to believe in Him and trust in Him,
and I did, and I received Him as my Lord and Savior. I asked
forgiveness of my sins, and He came into my heart. Many times
since then, over the last 36 years, we lost my son for about
30 seconds or a minute, and that was terrible, but God helped us
to find him. And I remember losing our dog, and a week later
Jesus helped us and led us to the right city, a few cities
over, and we found him. And so that which was lost doesn't need
to stay lost forever. And especially people. Maybe you
have a child today, a grandchild, maybe you have a
spouse that is lost and needs to know Jesus. I want you to know
this. The Bible says that as long as there is breath in us,
there is hope. Don't give up hope. Trust Jesus, because He
can restore anything and He is able to restore that right
relationship with God the Father because of what He did on the
cross when he died for our sins. And I just want to encourage you
with that, to look to Jesus, to look to His Word, to believe in
Jesus, and to give Jesus the opportunity to find that which
is missing in your life and be the great restorer. I love Luke
chapter 15, and it says this in Luke chapter 15 because there's
several parables that I want to share with you. Basically, a
parable is a simple story that is used to illustrate a moral or
a spiritual lesson. It gives a setting, it describes an action,
and it shows a result. And as we look over into Luke 15 verse 4,
it says this, Jesus tells us it's a parable of the lost
sheep, and I'm going to read it to you. What man of you having a
hundred sheep, if one of them gets lost, would leave the 99 in
the wilderness and go after the one which was lost until he
finds it? And when he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders
rejoicing, and when he comes home, he calls together all of
his friends and all of his neighbors saying to them,
rejoice with me for I have found my lost sheep. I say to you that
likewise, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance.
That story to me is amazing because here He is talking,
Jesus' telling the story and He's saying that, you know, the
guy's got a hundred sheep and one of his little lambs, they go
off and they wander and they get in trouble, they're in the
wilderness, but he leaves the 99 because when they're in the
sheep fold in the herd, there's 99 of 'em. So they're pretty
safe compared to the one little one roaming through those woods
where the bears and the lions and all the animals are that
would just love to have him as their dinner. And the man goes
because he cared so much about that one lamb. That one lamb was
so important to him that he goes to find the one little lamb and
then he found him. He put it on his back and carried it all the
way home and put it back with the other 99. He cared so much
about that one little lamb. But then it goes on to say that he
rejoiced, all of his friends he asked to rejoice with him about
finding that one little lamb. But it goes on to talk about how
heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to know Jesus. It talks
about how there could be 99 people in heaven that don't need
forgiveness because they already have it. They're justified by
faith in Jesus. But that one lost person, heaven celebrates
when that person repents and comes to know Jesus. That's
talking about us, us people. We're like little lambs. We have
a great shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd. And then the Bible
talks about Jesus being the good shepherd who shepherds over us
and watches over us. But you know what? Sometimes, like my
life, I strayed off into the wilderness, into the darkness,
trying to do my own things, whether it was partying or find
yourself, get caught up in fame or sports or whatever that
identity is that you want to try to find on your own. You get
lost up. Some people in drugs and alcohol, some people in all
kinds of craziness and they get bound by that. But Jesus, the
good shepherd, He goes out and finds and seeks us out because
He wants to find that one lost lamb, that one lost person.
That's what He did to me. He found me at my worst. And you
have stories, I'm sure. Those of you who are viewing today who
know Jesus, remember back and reflect back on the time that
you were lost, whether you're a little boy or girl or in your
twenties or in your fifties or in your eighties or wherever you
were in your life, reflect back on those times when you were
lost and now you're found, and how important that was that
Jesus would go after you and after me to save us so we
wouldn't be eaten by the bears and the wolves and slaughtered
out in this crazy world. That shepherd went and he found his
one and saved him, and Jesus is out every day to seek and save
that which was lost. We see that in God's Word here. In verse
eight, it goes on to tell of a parable of a lost coin, talks
about a woman who had 10 silver coins and she lost one and she
searched everywhere for that coin. And one day as she was
cleaning, she found that coin, and when she did, she went to
her friends and her neighbor saying, rejoice. The Bible says,
rejoice with me for I have found the one piece which I lost. The
Word of God says, likewise, I say to you that there is joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
It's just amazing to me, again, the story of the lost coin, like
the sheep, she loses the coin. It's important to her, it's
valuable to her, it means something to her, and she loses
it. Yet she seeks diligently and cleans until she finds it. And
as Jesus tells this story, then at the end of the story, Jesus
of course ties it back into us and Him and the relationship
with God when it says there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over a sinner who is saved, who comes to
repentance, it goes on in verse 11 and tells the parable of a
lost son. And this is a parable that I love because it reminds
me of me. It's the prodigal son. This son, there was two of them.
They had a father who had riches. He asked that he would
divide it up and let him go off and have his time. So he split
up the inheritance, sent the kid off, and the kid went and did
his thing. He partied. He went crazy back in those days and did
whatever he did and he lost it all. Before you know it, he was
cleaning up after pigs and pigpens. He went from royalty
and royal family, basically down to feeding pigs than a pigpen,
and he decided to go back to his dad and return to him because it
would be better to repent and tell his dad, sorry, dad, I
squandered everything. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I will be
your servant. And so he went back. When his father saw him,
his father didn't make him a servant. He repented and
everything, but his father didn't make him a servant. It's
amazing what his father did. His father restored him. He said to
all of his servants, bring the fatted cow. Let's have a party.
Put the best robe him, a ring on his finger, put sandals on his
feet, for my son has returned. And I love it. It says, my son
has returned. He was valuable, he was important. And just like
this story of the lost coin, the lost son and the lost sheep, we
are important to Jesus. God has unconditional love for us. He
seeks out every one of us. He wants every one of us to repent
and come to know him. And today, if something's missing or stolen
or you're lost today, just look to Jesus and say, Jesus, I trust
you. Come into my heart and life. Save me and restore a
relationship with you in Jesus' name, and He will. If you're
lost, you can be found today in Jesus. Stay tuned.
JOE: Here at Fred Jordan Missions, every day we see all,
all types of people. I remember as a kid, my father, Fred, and
my mom, Willie, teaching me a song about Jesus loves the
little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white,
we are all precious in God's sight. I still know that song.
I taught it to my children, and that's exactly what we see here
at Fred Jordan Mission every day. Red and yellow, black and
white. Every single person that you could think of from children
all the way to seniors are here on the streets living in LA, and
they come to our doors to be loved on, to be shared with that
Jesus loves you and Jesus saves. We hand out water, we hand out
drinks, we hand out snacks. We preach the gospel. We have hot
meals, we do special events. But if you want to know who comes
through our doors, it's all of us. There's no certain person,
there's no certain look, but like I said in that song, red
and yellow, black and white, we're all precious in God's
sight, that's who we see here every day at Fred Jordan
Mission. People from all around this country that end up on
these streets can come through our door and we will serve them
as we declare and demonstrate the love of Jesus to those
in need.
JOE: Well, welcome back. Again, Lost and Found. If you have
anything lost in your life, Jesus is there to find it and
help restore it. And hopefully, if you don't know Jesus, just
like those on Skid Row that we serve every day, you'll just
open your heart and let Jesus find you and restore you. I love
when we share Jesus in the chapel and God's word in the
chapel at the mission because people are so lost and they get
found. There's men and young people who come and they're so
out of it, and yet God heals them. He delivers them. He
saves them. He restores their mind and their hearts, and it's
all because of friends and partners like you. Will you
continue to stand with us and help us as we declare and
demonstrate the love of Jesus to those in need, those who are
hungry, those who are helpless? Because with your partnership,
we are making eternal differences. God bless you.
JOE: I grew up with great Christian parents, Fred and
Willie Jordan, who literally met the needs of the homeless, the
poor, and the needy around the world. They blessed and shared
the gospel, the resurrection story with literally tens of
millions of people, fed tens of millions of people, and we still
do feed hundreds of thousands of people. For 80 years, we've
carried on the torch and the calling and the legacy that God
gave my father because of friends and partners like you.
Together we do extraordinary things, reaching people for
Jesus, and that's because of you. Thank you so much for all
you do. Keep us in your prayers and whatever you can do, whether
you give $5 or $25 or $50, just know this. God takes it all. He
puts it all together, and then He uses us at Fred Jordan
Mission to reach the least of these.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
Visit us at social.fjm.org
FEMALE: (Singing) When the night comes and there's no one, and
you feel hopeless and abandoned, just take my hand and lift your
eyes. Change is coming. Love has arrived. We will overcome
this sorrow. We will see the dawn tomorrow. We will soldier
on down this road as we reach for hope, reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: Please, will you join us in feeding hungry children
and their families by phoning today? 844-FJM-FOOD or donating
online, fjm.org. That's fjm.org. Or mail your check to Fred
Jordan Mission, PO Box 12345, Covina, California 91722.
Please, will you help?
FEMALE: (Singing) Reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: The preceding program was sponsored by generous
friends and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.