6-8-25 CCOG Sunday Morning Service Recovering What's Lost: Finding Value in Dark Places

Have you ever found yourself in a dark place, covered in the mud and dirt of poor decisions, wondering if you could ever be restored to your former glory? In this powerful message from Cavewood Church of God, we journey through the parable of the lost coin from Luke 15, uncovering profound truths about God's relentless pursuit of what belongs to Him.

Unlike the lost sheep or the prodigal son, the lost coin had no awareness of its misplaced condition—much like many who sit in church pews today, participating in worship while spiritually disconnected without even realizing it. The missing coin was part of a woman's engagement headdress, symbolizing commitment and belonging. When one piece went missing, all attention focused on the absence rather than the nine remaining coins. This mirrors our own experience; we notice what's gone rather than what remains.

The sermon reveals three powerful steps in the recovery process: First, the woman lit a candle, bringing light to darkness—just as Jesus illuminates our darkest situations. Second, she swept the house, removing dirt and debris—representing how we must clean out things from our lives that bury our true purpose. Finally, she searched diligently, getting down on hands and knees if necessary, not caring about appearances but determined to find what was lost. Sometimes recovery isn't pretty, but the value of what's being sought makes the effort worthwhile.

Perhaps most striking is that while the woman's friends weren't part of the search party, they were invited to the celebration afterward. How many of us show up only for celebrations but avoid the messy work of restoration? God sees value in us even in our worst condition. No matter how far you've wandered or how much dirt covers you, your worth has never diminished in His eyes. He specializes in recovery and restoration—it's the very heart of His mission.

Have you given up on something God is still searching for? Join us at Cavewood Church of God where the fire still burns on the altar and restoration awaits.

Chapters

• 0:24 Please Can't Work It Out
• 0:50 Introduction to the 421 Show
• 2:02 Opening Prayer and Scripture
• 5:02 The Parable of the Lost Coin
• 8:44 Finding Light in Dark Places
• 16:58 The Search for What's Lost
• 23:58 The Joy of Restoration
• 28:05 Invitation and Closing
• 31:25 Service Information and Contact

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Please Can't work it out. Please can't work it out. Please can't work it out. Please can't work it out. That problem that I had, I just couldn't seem to solve. I tried and I tried, but I can't get deeper involved. So I turned it over to Jesus and I stopped worrying about it, turned it over to the Lord. Hey, you're listening to the Capewood Church of God's live audio recording of the Sunday morning service on the 421 Show. Hey, go check out our website for more content and information at hor421showbuzzsproutcom. You can also stream the show on Apple, spotify or a platform of your choosing. If you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal, slash hor421 or you can go through our website, hor421showbuzzsproutcom. For contact information, you can email at hor421ministries at gmailcom. Phone number is 239-849-1502.

Speaker 2: 1:42

Come on, praise the Lord this morning. William, Come on, you can do better. Ain't it funny how the Lord works things out. Amen, luke, chapter 15.

Speaker 2: 2:17

We thank you, lord, this shouldn't take very long. In other words, worship team, don't get comfortable, because I don't believe I can do anything more than what the Holy Ghost has already done this morning. But Pastor John will strike me if I don't give you some Scripture today. Luke, chapter 15, three verses, beginning in verse 8. Says either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, do it not light a candle and sweep the house and seek? What Diligency? I can't even say that. That's why I had you all say it. In other words, she's going to put her whole heart into it until she find it. And when she hath found it, and when she had found it, she called her friends and her neighbors together, saying Rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Can we pray? Heavenly father, we come to you this morning. We're just so thankful for this time together. Lord, lord, we thank you for the unity that's in the K Wood church of God. Lord, it was such unity that you found a church of 120 believers over 2,000 years ago to birth your Holy Spirit in Lord, this morning I pray that you will clean us up and find us a church worthy to display your spirit and your power on full display. At the church of God this morning, lord, I pray that you will use this word to comfort the people, to encourage the people today. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen and amen, amen.

Speaker 2: 5:02

Now this is the middle of three parables that Jesus was talking about in Luke 15. And he had a unique audience he was preaching to. He was preaching to the tax collectors, sinners, and even the Pharisees and scribes. He first began his first parable out when he was talking about the lost sheep and how that when one went astray, that he would leave the 99 and go after the one that went astray. And then we come to this parable of the lost coin, and I'll get more in depth to that in just a few minutes.

Speaker 2: 5:40

But following this one, there's a very popular scripture that I love. It's the parable of the prodigal son. And you know, there's something unique about the coin in this situation, because the lost item, so to speak, didn't even realize it was lost. You'll get that in just a minute. You see, in the first parable, when the sheep left the herd. I'm sure, brother Steve, that it realized that at some point in time that it wasn't surrounded with other sheep. I'm sure that it realized that the territory it was in was not familiar. And I'm sure that, even though that sheep is found to be some of the dumbest animals alive, I would like to think that this sheep thought well, there's a possibility, I'm somewhere where I don't belong and somewhere where I don't know where I'm at.

Speaker 2: 6:35

And then you've got the parable of the lost son, or the prodigal son, so to speak. And the Bible says that when he came to himself, he realized that he had messed up. He realized that he was lost from under the father's provisions. So we've got a sheep and a son who may realize their condition, but we've got a coin here that has no idea that it's lost, can I tell you today. But we've got a coin here that has no ideal that it's lost, can I tell you today.

Speaker 2: 7:07

There's also some unique characteristics about each story. The sheep was lost in the wilderness, the son was lost in a faraway country, but the coin was lost in the house. Come on. So what does my Bible tell me about that, brother Steve? That they can be some lost people that come right inside the cable church of God even, and sit down and they can tithe and they can offer and they can sing along with the worship songs. And they can be lost and not even realize it, not even know what's going on. But ain't it wonderful to know that that isn't the fate of the lost coin in this situation, because it had somebody who was looking for it.

Speaker 2: 7:57

Can I tell you this morning you may be sitting under the sound of my voice and you may have no idea about your needed relationship with the Lord. You need a relationship with the Lord. You need a relationship with the Lord. You say, well, I don't belong to him. Oh, yes, you do. You just don't know it yet, you ain't confessed it yet, but you belong to him. You see, you've been bought with a price, a price that you couldn't pay and I couldn't pay. You belong to the Lord, and the first parable says that he'll leave the 99 to find the one that has went astray, the other one, the third parable in this one is sometimes we come to ourselves and realize we've made mistakes, brother Steve, and then in some instances you may not even know that you need found. You may not even know that you need found. You may not even know that you need. I live a good life. I do good things. I do good deeds. That isn't what it's all about. The Bible says that you must be born again. You've got to have an encounter with Jesus and I told you I'm not going to be long, I'm going to try to rush through this second part of it, because there's so much to these three verses. I could preach a minute on these.

Speaker 2: 9:12

But this coin was part of a collection. Did it not say that there were 10 pieces of silver Back in Bible times? They would make a headdress out of these coins, so to speak. And this woman probably make a headdress out of these coins, so to speak. And this woman probably had a headdress with these 10 coins seated inside the headdress and she wore it as a symbol that she was engaged, that she was going to be married, and every time she went out she could put that thing on full display and everybody would see it and everybody would know her marital status, that she is engaged. But all of a sudden she found out that one of the coins was missing.

Speaker 2: 9:51

So what is everybody's attention usually drawn to? Thank you, brother Steve, you're paying attention. This one, the missing one. It doesn't matter how good the other nine look. If there's one missing Now, we can shine them up and we can polish them and we can have them look all good and all dandy, but if you show up with an empty slot, somebody's going to notice. Case in point I can cut the grass at my house, brother Tyler and I can do a phenomenal job on the whole yard, but if I miss one patch, oh, I'm going to hear about it. Why don't you get that over there? While you're doing it, your attention is automatically drawn to those things that are not intact and not where it should be Now.

Speaker 2: 10:44

This woman was wearing this as a token of her love and affection and her commitment to her partner, and it reminds me I'm gonna tell this story on Kayla too. I'll be in a doghouse about it, but I'll buy some Mexican for her later and she'll be fine, amen. When we first got engaged. I'm telling this one. I give her a ring, right, that's what people does. And this particular ring had stones and diamonds on it. Right, that's what we do. Right, brother Steve? We try to satisfy them. So we'll buy them a nice ring and it's got some diamonds on it. And all of a sudden she comes to me after wearing it a couple weeks later and she says I didn't want to tell you this, but one of the diamonds is missing from the ring. Now she kind of accused me of buying her a cheap ring, you know, but it is what it is.

Speaker 2: 11:56

One of the diamonds was missing from the ring. It wasn't fully intact and it drawed her attention and she couldn't focus on the stones that was still set and the diamond that was still in place. Her attention was to the one that was missing. Now, the difference is we had no idea where she could have lost this thing at, because we you know, we're we was from Leslie County at the time, you know we went to the Walmart and had her. That's a hard half drive, you know. So it's untelling where that thing could have been. So we knew there was no use probably looking for this item because it was long gone, right. So our next thing is what do we do? And then we think well, the ring's under warranty, contrary to her belief at the time. So we take it back to the jewelry store and they replace it with a brand new ring. They didn't set the stone. They replaced it with something new, just like the one she had, which is a miracle within itself, brother Steve, you know. But given the circumstances, they replaced what she had lost.

Speaker 2: 13:04

So here we have a woman in the Bible who has lost something that she was given. Can you put verse 8 back up there if you don't mind? First of all, she realized that she had lost something, something that was a part of other things. There were 10 pieces, one was gone missing, and the first thing she did to find it was, the Bible says, she lit a candle. In today's world, we would simply turn on a light or turn on a lamp or something. Do you see where she lost this?

Speaker 2: 13:45

She lost this in the house, in a dark place. Can I tell you this morning that the enemy would love nothing more than to get you secluded into a dark place when he can come along and steal something for you. I'm going to expose every devil in hell this morning, because if the devil can find you in a unique place by yourself, in a dark place, how many has been in a dark place before I've been in a dark place? How many has been in a dark place before. I've been in a dark place before Amen. I've been in dark places before where I tried to find a fix for it. I tried to find alcohol, I tried to find everything that I knew to fix my condition and I was in a dark place.

Speaker 2: 14:34

This woman found herself in a very dark place and then she realized she had lost something. So the first thing she needed to do was bring some light to the situation. What does Jesus say? That he is in the Bible. When you're in a dark place, let me go ahead and tell you you need to bring some light in to the situation, because when you bring the light of the world into the problem, that's when you're able to see what's missing, where you need to go looking for it and where you need to recover it. But you have to turn on the light first. Now there's some other things that she done. The Bible said the next thing she done was she beginning to sweep the house. Oh, I could preach right here just for a minute, if you don't mind, even though sometimes we've turned the light on and we've invited Jesus in to help us. I'm coming down here so I can relate to you. Is that okay? Because I'm preaching to me here too.

Speaker 2: 15:45

Sometimes, when we invite Jesus into our lives and into our situations, there's also some things that we've got to take out and remove. You see, in these houses, the floor in this place was a typical ground that you see today, which is full of just dirt and people tracking it in, and you know how things are. Leanne can relate to dirt and mud, right, I mean, she hates it. That's her worst enemy, that's her kryptonite is mud and dirt, right. So here we go.

Speaker 2: 16:15

We've got a woman who is living on bare ground floors in her house. She's lit up the area, she can see everything around her, but there's some dirt that's got to go because she has lost something important. And sometimes the enemy will come in and try to throw dirt on top of it and try to throw some mud on top of it. So, even though you've got Jesus in the situation, he likes to come in and say you'll never get it back, you'll never recover it because it's been too long, it's fell by the wayside, it's no use in looking for it. You might as well give up.

Speaker 2: 16:57

But if you will start removing things out of your life and begin to move in ground that don't belong in your house. To begin with, you will separate yourself from it and it from you. Then you will expose what the devil has tried to bury. But it takes an act that we must do. Do you see? She didn't sit around and pull up a chair and expect for the coin to uncover itself. She had to get up and put forth some effort. She had to get up and grab a broom and start sweeping out some dirt that didn't belong. She had to get rid of some mud that didn't belong in her house. To get rid of some mud that didn't belong in her house, can I tell you this morning he's waiting on some of you to get rid of some mud and some dirt in your house so he can expose the goods that's never lost its value since he gave it to you.

Speaker 2: 17:53

You see, I can relate to this BrotherC, because at 12 years old I was a preacher. I preached the gospel. I was called into the ministry at 12. Nobody will ever convince me different, because I heard from the Lord and I laid in a pool of mud for a season. I found myself in a dark place and I found myself getting buried and covered up with some nasty stuff, with some dirt and some mud and some things that didn't belong. But I'm so thankful that God didn't leave me there. I'm so thankful that, even through the mud, even through the situation that I gave him, he came in and cleaned house and he found it and he picked me up out of the mud and he dusted me off and I got the same value today as I had 36, 37 years ago. You see, the coin never lost its value. Even though it was misplaced and even though it was buried under some dirt and some mud, it was still worth the exact amount that it was worth when it was lost.

Speaker 2: 19:10

I think there's a portion of Scripture that says God's gifts and callings are without repentance. So if God has called you through it and he's called you years ago and he's put a calling on your life, you can't get away from it. Baby, no matter how far you come or no matter how much mud and dirt that's been placed on top of you, you will come to the surface because you've got a man who will not give up on you, who will not leave you in your condition. He don't care if it's mud, he's got to go through, steve. He don't care if it's water, he's got to walk on. He's going to make it to you, if you will call on name of the Lord.

Speaker 2: 20:00

See, the third thing in this parable says that she put some heart into her searching. Go on to the next verse there, if you don't mind, too, I'm going to tie these together and I told you I'm going to wrap it up. She put some heart in her searching, brother Steve. That means to me what I like to think. She realized what she lost still held its value, thank you, holy Ghost and the thing that it belonged to would never be the same until it was returned. You see, the devil tries to lie to some of you and tell you you don't belong and you'll never be a part of. Let me go ahead and squash that lie from the enemy right now. We wouldn't be worth what we are today if you're gone tomorrow. Everybody has an important part in this. It's not about one person. It is about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And if you're not here, we've got a missing void, we've got a missing cone and we've got to go looking for somebody or something.

Speaker 2: 21:25

But what I like to think happened is this woman had found herself in a state of desperation, brother Steve. She had lit up the situation. She had cleaned up all she could, but it still wasn't enough. She had to get down on all fours. Sometimes it ain't pretty. Sometimes we got to humble ourselves and get down in the mud and the dirt that we've lost things in. And what I like to think is she probably didn't care how her hair and her makeup looked and she probably didn't think too much about the dirt that was going under her fingernails. Can I tell you, looking for stuff and recovering stuff sometimes ain't pretty. Sometimes you gotta fight for it, sometimes you gotta dig for it. Sometimes it may make you look a mess and look a fool, but I'm telling you how you've got to recover. What the enemy has tried to take from you is wholeheartedly seek the Lord and His face. If you will lift up hands, even when you don't feel like it, even in the toughest season, if you will lift up your hands and you don't worry about what you look like and what the people think you look like, even if it looks ignorant, with you down and humbling yourself on all fours, you've got to get a hold of Jesus. He's the only one that can restore it.

Speaker 2: 23:01

I like to think she was down on all fours, digging through the dirt, the mud, the debris and moving things out of the way until she found. Did you hear what I said? The Bible says seek and you shall what I said. The Bible says seek and you shall find right. She was searching with everything in her because she desperately wanted it back and she found it. But what does the next verse say? When she found it, she called her friends and her neighbors together. I want to stop right there. Notice, her friends and her neighbors never showed up to the search party. Amen, amen. What are you saying?

Speaker 2: 24:01

I'm saying sometimes your friends and your neighbors won't always be there for you. Sometimes, when you're down in the dirt and the mud and it's looking bad and it's looking ugly and nobody's around to help you, sometimes they will not be there. Sometimes you've got to do it by yourself. Sometimes you may be looking for something that seems like there's no hope in you ever finding, but you got to keep looking because you know the true value in it. It means more to you than it means other people sometimes. Now, I don't want that to be discouraging to you, but that's just the world we live in, right?

Speaker 2: 24:45

Sometimes we don't have friends that's going to show up and be part of the search party. Sometimes they just want to show up when the celebration's going on, steve. Sometimes they want to come up when the party's going good, when everything is fine and dandy and everything's being restored, but where is the friends and the family when they're needed to search and look for the lost thing? I hope to think that they're sitting in a pew in Catewood Church of God today. I hope to think that if I lose something, I've got some people who's going to surround me, who's going to say you know what, I'm going to help you look for it. It may not mean much to me and it may not catapult me to where I want to go, but it means a lot to you and it's going to help you if we restore this thing. So what if it happens that some of our teenagers I'm going to steal this one, pastor, john, I'm preaching better than you all acting.

Speaker 2: 25:46

What happens when some of our teenagers don't show up for a Sunday morning church service? Do we wait on one to go looking for it? Because it means more for the pastor and the numbers and all this. It means more to him than it does. Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no. You see, those missing teenagers still have the value that he's seen in them before he gave them birth. Right, he said in one place I knew you before I formed you. They had value before they were even formed in the womb. They may be one of those teenagers, maybe the next pastor to this church, that's going to lead your lost husband or daughter or son or whatever, to the Lord.

Speaker 2: 26:35

So it is our job to go out and look for the ones that are lost. But what if they're in a mess? What if they're in mud? What if they're not supposed to be what? They're doing, things they know they shouldn't be doing good, bring them to church and show them that there's still fire on the altar, that God is still able to save and restore everything that is lost. But it's easier when we get on Facebook and talk about them. It's easier when we get on Facebook and talk about them. It's easier when we get on Facebook and run them down.

Speaker 2: 27:04

It's easier to come up here and declare that, oh, the devil pulled them back. The devil's got to hold on them. I have come today to declare the word of the Lord they will not have their family. They will not have their church. The only thing this belongs to is the Lord himself church. The only thing this belongs to is the Lord Himself. What are we supposed to do about it? I'm glad you asked. We gotta go looking. Same value they had placed in them two weeks ago when they got down in the altar and started praying. Same value they had placed in them two weeks ago when they got down in the altar and started praying. Same value they hold today in the kingdom. We may have to wash the dirt off of them and we may have to wash the mud off of them, but we gotta get them back because they're the missing piece to an engagement that we have with the bridegroom. Do you get what I'm saying today? We've got to go looking. I'm gonna close if they to come back to the music. I told you all you're not always going to have a crowd of support around you. Some people, brother Steve is even going to have a crowd of support around you. Some people, brother Steve is even going to look at you and tell you you're crazy for looking.

Speaker 2: 29:11

That diamond we lost years ago. We may never see it again. We've replaced it since. I've not forgot about it. Does that make sense to some of you all? Ten years ago we lost a diamond and I still haven't forgot about the diamond that we lost. I'm so thankful that when I turned 32 years old, the Lord hadn't forgot about the diamond that he lost 20 years prior. You may be here this morning and I don't know who I'm talking to. You may be in a backslidden position and you may think there's no way I'll get back to where I once was. You may be in a backslidden position and you may think there's no way I'll get back to where I once was. I've gone too far. I've done too many things. Can I tell you that we serve a God who is awesome at recovery. He specializes in it. Some of you all could testify. Some of you could write books, because God sees value in you even in your worst condition. Will you stand with me this morning?

Speaker 1: 31:25

Hey, you've been listening to the Cavewood Church of God's live audio recording of the Sunday morning service. Hey, if you're looking for a church to attend, please come and join us at the Cavewood Church of God located in Cavewood, kentucky. Service time Sunday schools at 10.30 am. Sunday morning service is 11.30 am.

Speaker 2: 31:51

Wednesdays is.

Speaker 1: 31:52

Wednesday night at 6.30 pm. Hey, please go check out our website for more content and information at HOR421. Showbuzzsproutcom. You can find us on Facebook. Show is recorded live edited at the 421 studio. Contact information for all your studio needs you can email at 421ministries at gmailcom. Phone number is 239-849-1502. For 915. Go to that pain, that would not move.

Speaker 2: 32:39

Had me praying in the upper room, that burning, that I bore.

Speaker 1: 32:44

Had me wondering just how much more. So I turned it over to Jesus and I stopped waiting.