(Luke 15:8-10)----"THE VALUE OF JUST ONE"
Intro: Not long ago, I noticed a few pennies lying in the bottom of the washing machine. I thought, "I should reach in there and get those pennies." Instead, I let them ride around in the washer one more time. As I walk through the house, I usually see pennies lying here and there about the place. Usually, I don't bother to pick them up. Most of us are the same way! Why? We don't attach much value to just one penny. We say, "It just isn't worth the effort!" (Especially with my back problems!)
But if we would take the time to pick up each penny we found, in short order, we would have a dollar, then two, then ten, etc. Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned."  
In this parable, Jesus tells the story of a woman who lost one coin. Instead of shrugging her shoulders and walking away, she went about the process of finding that coin and restoring it to its proper place. This parable, as well as the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Prodigal Son, was designed to teach us that God sees the value of just one!
For a few minutes, I want to see why this woman attached such value to just one coin and why she went to such lengths to insure that it was restored to its proper place.  She teaches us The Value Of Just One.
I. THERE IS A PURPOSE ATTACHED TO THIS COIN
In that day, married women wore a headband that was made up of coins strung together. These coins were given to the bride by her father when she was married. This headband served several functions in the life of the married woman of that time.
1. It declared her status as a married women. It told other men that she was unavailable. It served the same purpose as our wedding ring.
2. Those coins also declared her independence. They were a constant reminder to her husband that if he divorced her, she was able to make a fresh start. She might be his wife, but she could make it without him. This one coin was the equivalent of 1 days wages. Evidently, she and her husband were very poor, because she only possessed 10 coins. Many wealthy women wore headbands comprised of dozens of coins
3. It was used to identify sinful women. When a woman had been guilty of unfaithfulness, a coin was sometimes removed from her headband to tell everyone who saw her that she was an adulteress.   In other words, these coins were there to bring glory to the bride! As long as that coin was missing, her beauty was marred and incomplete! With this in mind, it is easy to see why the loss of one coin was enough to cause this woman to fly into action to find it.
So now we can see why the coin was precious to this woman.  It had absolutely not value at all while it was lost! It was good for nothing! It could not adorn her head. It could not grace her life. It could not be used to provide the essentials of life. It was useless as long as it was lost. That is why it was imperative that it be found! It was just one piece of silver, but it was worth everything!
The object of this parable is to teach the value of one sinner to the Lord. You see, like that lost silver, people were not created to live lives of sin and disobedience to the Lord! God made man for one purpose: for His Own glory (or) adornment, Isa. 43:7! When God made man, He made him in His image, Gen. 1:26. He made man for fellowship, so that He could walk with man in the cool of the Garden of Eden, Gen. 3:8. When man sinned, he became like this lost coin!  His sin separated him from the presence of God.  A life lived for the Lord is a beautiful and powerful thing, but a lost life is of no value at all! But, when that life is found and restored to its proper place by the power of God, that life can be all God designed it to be in the first place!  (God, unlike this woman, is complete WITH or WITHOUT us,; but we do serve a function in his eternal plans!)
II. THERE IS A PLAN ATTACHED TO THIS COIN
When this woman realizes that a coin has been lost, she springs into action to see that it is restored. She lights a light, begins to move things about and to sweep and search the house until the coin is found. She had a will to find it, she worked to find and in the end, she won because she found it!
That coin was lost in the darkness (Houses in that day had no windows), it was lost in the dirt (Houses in that day had dirt floors, dirt would marr the image on the coin!), it was lost in disuse(A lost coin cannot be used), and it was lost in the dwelling (It was lost in the house). Lost men are everywhere!  I have found lost coins in the car, in the yard and one the street. I have also found them in the house. The same is true with lost men, even in the house of the Lord!  In her search, she is a picture of God! He has done everything that is necessary for the salvation of lost people. 
We may wonder why this woman went to all this trouble over one coin. We spend more than a days wage on a room for vacation, or we blow that much on fishing worms and shotgun shells, or a few rounds of golf!  When it comes to people, we live in a society that places little value on the individual. Think of child abuse, or the fact that we are reduced to mere numbers (Social Security Number; Inspector #12, etc.). But, from God's perspective, every person has value! He loves those who are lost and He labors to find them and save them! 
III. THERE IS PRAISE ATTACHED TO THIS COIN
When this woman found that coin, she called her friends and neighbors together and said, "Let's have a party! I found the coin that was lost!" And they began to rejoice!   Verse 10 makes the transition to Heaven. We are told that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. Heaven gets excited when a lost one is found! Why? Something of value has been restored to its proper place. God is glorified. A soul misses Hell. That which was unusable is available for the Master's use....,that which was dirty is now clean and beautiful by the grace of God!   Nothing honors God like a soul being saved!
Conc: If there is a final word it is this: God is interested in what others think is worthless! He doesn't care what you may think about your own worth. He does not care what others may think about your worth. He looks at you through the eyes of His love and grace and sees you as being worthy of His Son. If you are like that coin, lost in the darkness, the dirt and the disuse of your sin, the Lord invites you to come unto him now!