WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:11.300 Alright. Well, hopefully you guys don't look down on me just because I'm a bit of a redneck. Alright? As I've studied the Bible, I've reached the conclusion that Jesus was a redneck too. Alright? 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:34.700 He he had long hair, He worked in construction, and he liked to go fishing with his buddies. So you do the math. To me, that adds up to redneck. Alright? Last week, as we said, Senior Pastor Doug introduced us to this new series called Core, and I've really been looking forward to this series that really is gonna clarify who we are and define where we're headed as a church across all of our campuses. 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:49.525 And he used a great illustration of a pyramid. And I'm not gonna show that, but I'm gonna throw a bunch of screens and definitions at you real quick here at the beginning because the base of the pyramid was Jesus. And from that flows our theology. Right? Our theology flows from Jesus in our in our understanding of the word. 00:00:49.525 --> 00:01:13.425 And our understanding of the word then is a basis for our purpose. And and the church's purpose is the same for for any church. If you don't have this purpose, let's say you're not a church, and that's to glorify God by making disciples. And that purpose then becomes the basis for our mission. And Woodside's specific mission is to help people belong to Christ, grow in Christ, and reach the world for Christ. 00:01:13.425 --> 00:01:43.995 That's our unique mission and then that becomes the basis for our strategy. As we've talked about our strategy is following God's direction into communities as God strengthens his church by transforming lives through the gospel. That's when we're talking about new campuses. The the strategy tells us how we plan to go about fulfilling our purpose and our mission in our corner of the world in in this day and time. And so stemming from our strategy then are our values, our our core values. 00:01:44.375 --> 00:02:25.030 And they tell us what kind of posture we wanna take in the world. You might say they kind of set the perimeter for who we are. They they define how we want to be known and what we would want people to say about us as they as they talk about Woodside Church. They'll, inform and even guide our decisions because we want these core values to be like the the big rocks that that we we hold on to and when all the urgent and the chaotic things of of life happen that that we don't let these things get crowded out because we've said, this is what's most important. So we're gonna cover our core value each week, and today the first one we're gonna talk about is we are family. 00:02:25.330 --> 00:02:58.460 And I'm so glad we're starting here because I think this value sets the stage for all of the other values. Now if you're here for the first time maybe and perhaps you're not even a you wouldn't even consider yourself a a believer and you think, well, this has nothing to do with me, the core values of the church, you've actually picked a fantastic day to be here. Because I would bet or I shouldn't bet in church, I'll say I should contend. Right? I'll contend that your view of God has been shaped by people who call themselves part of God's family. 00:02:58.945 --> 00:03:14.180 In fact, just a quick show of hands. How many of you in the room have ever known somebody who considered themselves a follower of Jesus and were an absolute jerk? You know that person. Some of you are pointing, don't point. Straight up, right? 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:31.945 Straight up. You know them. We don't have to identify them right now, okay? But a number of us have been been turned off maybe to God, maybe to church at some point because of people. And that shouldn't be a shock because people are imperfect and certainly the church is made up of people, but we're supposed to be this family. 00:03:32.405 --> 00:04:07.455 And so here's why this is so important. I'm gonna prove this to you with your own background, your own story. Alright? I'm going to contend that for everybody in the room, there are two groups of people in your life as you think back across your story and your journey up to this point, there are two groups of people who have most defined who you are today. Two groups of people who more than any other groups have shaped the the the father or mother you are, the husband or wife that you are, the the friend that you are, the employee you are. 00:04:07.515 --> 00:04:56.170 And what's interesting is these two groups are not defined based on what they believe. They're not they're not categorized by even whether or not they're Christians. I think as you think about who's impacted you the most, you're going to agree that the two categories of people that have shaped you the most are the people who loved you the most unconditionally and the people who hurt you the most deeply. Isn't that true? That those two types of people, those two groups for you in your story for better or worse, have shaped you and made you the person you are and perhaps the person that you're wanting to be, that influence they had in our lives is multiplied when they're close to us, right? 00:04:56.605 --> 00:05:22.850 And so we start to recognize there the importance of family. In fact, for some of us it's our story that we had people in our lives who had great theology. They maybe taught Sunday school, knew all the answers, but they were hurting us badly. They were taking the life out of us in in some way because among other things perhaps, they got this value wrong. They they didn't get family. 00:05:23.995 --> 00:05:53.290 And so I want us to understand just how important this this particular value is. If you got your bible and want to grab it, we're gonna turn to Luke 15. New testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter 15 and we're gonna read one of the most famous stories in the world really much much less the the Bible but we often call it the story of of the prodigal son, the prodigal son. And at its core, it's the story about a family. And we're gonna see it's a fairly dysfunctional family but it's a family, just the same. 00:05:53.705 --> 00:06:00.825 Now coincidentally, the book of Luke is written by a guy named Luke. I heard somebody. I knew you were so smart. Good job. Good job. 00:06:00.825 --> 00:06:30.895 Alright. And I'm gonna bet you've heard this story or at least part of this story and Jesus is telling it to explain who who God is. And he's gonna unpack the fact that that the foundation of God's family is the father's extravagant love. And once we understand that, we start to see how we're supposed to function and how we behave as as part of the family. So so Jesus tells us this story to tell who the father is and and a lot about who he can be to us as well. 00:06:30.895 --> 00:06:54.485 So to kind of set the stage, I want to start at the beginning of Luke 15 in verse one. It says, now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable. Now the backstory in case you don't know, Jesus generally hung out with the dregs of society. 00:06:54.705 --> 00:07:02.700 Right? As Bob Goff said a couple weeks ago, the creepy people. Right? That's who he he hung out with. He hung out with the equivalent of pimps and prostitutes and crackheads. 00:07:03.080 --> 00:07:33.970 And and he did it in full view of everybody else including the religious people. He would talk with them and eat with them and listen to them and cry with them. And he offered them unconditional hope and compassion as he got to know them. But he met the worst people in society right where they were and that was weird. The Pharisees thought that was really weird because Jesus really had more in common with them than he did with these people that he was spending so much time with. 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:57.185 Jesus and the Pharisees were almost in complete agreement theologically. And so as they see him doing this and trying to get their minds wrapped around it, they're thinking, does he condone what they're doing? You know, does he support them in this? How else do you explain why they like him and why why he seems to like them? So in response to this question, he tells this story. 00:07:57.405 --> 00:08:19.965 And Jesus recognizes he's talking to two very different groups of people and he really addresses the story to both groups. The first group were the notorious sinners, right? And we have those today. Those are the people who take 27 items through the 15 items or less line, right? The people who go through the light because it was just kinda red. 00:08:19.965 --> 00:08:32.650 You know what I'm talking about? Sinners. And then the second group of people was the religious elite of the day. The the the pious people, the the the churchy people. Right? 00:08:33.030 --> 00:08:38.790 They don't drink. They don't watch rated r movies. They don't smoke. They don't chew. They don't go with girls who do. 00:08:38.790 --> 00:08:55.545 All that kind of thing. Right? And they thought that keeping all the rules would make them right with God, but they didn't understand God's love. They had lots of rules. They didn't have very much love because in the name of hating sin, they started hating sinners. 00:08:56.085 --> 00:09:18.785 And that's why Jesus didn't make any sense to them at all. But Jesus often taught in parables as he does here. It's just a made up story intended to make a point. And he would often use these extreme examples to make the point very very clear. And so Jesus in Luke 15 launches into this parable and we usually think of it as three parables. 00:09:19.085 --> 00:09:52.315 The the the lost sheep, the lost coin, and you might say the lost son, but I'm convinced it's one three part parable. In fact, Luke when he sets it up says, he told not these parables but singular, this parable. Right? So so it's a three part parable I think building to the same central point that that that first you have a guy with a hundred sheep and he loses one and he goes and searches until he finds it. And then there's a second woman with with 10 coins and she loses one and she sweeps the whole house and cleans up until she finds it. 00:09:52.315 --> 00:10:16.475 And in both stories when they found what was lost, they celebrated and called other people in to celebrate with them. And Jesus said, this is heaven. Every time a sinner turns to him, there there's a celebration just like this. And so as Jesus begins to tell this story and comes into part three, he's painting a picture of what god is like. And we'll recognize very quickly that the father in the story is representing god. 00:10:16.535 --> 00:10:38.010 And we'll probably recognize that the son represents us, but which son represents us? Well, that's gonna depend a little bit. Right? So picking it up in verse 11, Jesus said, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. 00:10:38.545 --> 00:10:50.725 And he divided his property between them. Now just pause here for a sec. Notice, first of all, the son already had a relationship with the father. Right? So this isn't a story about how to begin a relationship. 00:10:50.865 --> 00:11:16.075 He's already got one, but he chooses to walk away from it as we're gonna see. And that's maybe where some of us are. We've got a relationship with God, but but life's not working that great. And we're starting to recognize that knowing God does not equal having no problems. And so this son essentially says, dad, could we just pretend that you're dead and I get the inheritance now? 00:11:16.935 --> 00:11:29.410 And I'm thinking, uh-uh. Right? I'm thinking, I I got three boys. If one of my sons came to me and said, dad, can we pretend you're dead and I get the inheritance? I would say, how about we pretend you're dead and I'll write you out of the will. 00:11:29.410 --> 00:11:43.505 Right? That's how that story goes. But but that's not the way this dad responds at all. That's where part three of the parable is going to really differ from the first two. Because the only way you find the lost sheep is you go and you search until you find it. 00:11:43.505 --> 00:12:03.235 The only way you find a lost coin is you search the whole house until you find it. But the dad decides that's not the best option for finding a lost son. Let me ask you a question. Do you think the father had a fairly good idea what was gonna happen to the money if he gave it to him? I think he probably did. 00:12:03.235 --> 00:12:12.915 Right? Do you think he had a pretty good idea of the road that lay ahead of his son? I think he probably did because he is his son. Right? He he knows it pretty well. 00:12:12.915 --> 00:12:31.325 So why does he do it? Why does he give him the money anyway? Is he psychotic and secretly wants his son to fail or something? I think it's because he wants his son to grow. And he wants his son to learn a lesson that he recognizes he's probably not gonna learn any other way. 00:12:31.385 --> 00:13:01.735 And what the father really really wants is to be reconciled. And he doesn't want it to be because it was forced and manipulated, he wants to be reconciled because it's real. And so Jesus continues and says, not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in reckless living. He started living the high life. He's dating a girl that was on the cover of the swimsuit issue of Fisherman's illustrated. 00:13:01.955 --> 00:13:21.950 Right? TMZ's following him around. He's a big high roller. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 00:13:22.650 --> 00:13:57.210 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. So the son hung around his house for a while, stayed with his dad, and then he decided, this town is just too small for me and my dreams and I've got to set out. And he liquidated everything he could and he he starts out to see the world and have this big grand adventure. But he's living a lifestyle that he can't sustain. And it would seem in a very short period of time, he spent what his father had accumulated over a lifetime. 00:13:57.925 --> 00:14:36.375 Today it would be like you go out and you max out your credit cards and you end up you're living on a friend's couch then you can't even help with rent so your friend kicks you out and now you got nothing. But this father knew that his son had bought into a lie. He was believing the lie that if I could just be in a different place with different people at different income level, that would solve all my problems. I'm not my problem, my family, the people around me, the environment here, that's my problem. And sometimes I think we buy into a similar line about what our real problem is. 00:14:36.755 --> 00:15:11.115 We think our problem is the people we're around. We think our environment's holding us back and and maybe for you it evolves into this thing about I can just never change because of you fill in the blank. That I've been this way as long as I can remember, and I'm never gonna get out of debt, and I'm always gonna be overweight, and the relationship's always gonna stink, and my life's never gonna get easier. I might as well just accept it or run away from it. But here's the thing, if you don't recognize who the father is and what he really has for you, you'll never identify what your real problem is. 00:15:11.330 --> 00:15:29.595 Like the sun here, you'll just relocate it. You'll just take your problem with you wherever you go. So here's the first thing if you're taking notes is we want to recognize who God is. To recognize who God the father is. I think this is a more common issue and challenge than than we might recognize. 00:15:30.055 --> 00:15:41.095 Because one way we I think mess this up is we often view God as a force. Like Star Wars, it's just the force. Right? Impersonal. And maybe that's why we have trouble praying a lot of times. 00:15:41.095 --> 00:15:54.975 But how many of you on your phone, you've got a GPS that will talk to you? You've got a GPS that talks when you're driving around. Siri or I call mine Ethel. Right? At home now, for Christmas, we got the Alexa, the little dot thing and all. 00:15:55.055 --> 00:16:06.975 But with with Siri or Ethel, you ask her a question, she gives you an answer, and she's always right. Right? You don't listen to her, you end up wrong. She's always with me. She's always right. 00:16:06.975 --> 00:16:15.420 Kinda like God. Right? He's always with me. He's always right, but but do I have a relationship with Ethel? No. 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:53.915 Because Ethel and Siri aren't aren't people. And so I wanna just ask you, do you really view God as someone you can talk with? Do you view God as being just as real as as I am standing in front of you? That he's sitting right there with you and beside you right now because if you don't, then then you'll take this approach where you think you've made a deal with God somehow as this impersonal force, but that you don't have a relationship with him. I think that's why a lot of us struggle to hear from him, why a lot of us struggle to to to know his will, to to even pray because because we relate to him as a force. 00:16:53.915 --> 00:16:56.415 And Jesus says, no. No. No. No. He's a father. 00:16:57.275 --> 00:17:28.775 And for some of us, that father idea takes us in a whole different direction because we start to think that god is unpleasable. That that we want God's approval and God's affirmation, but we're convinced we can never ever have it. And maybe it's because you had a father, you had parents that that put unreasonable demands on your life and and you couldn't ever live up to those. And so now no matter how hard you try, you just never feel like you're good enough. If you do good in life and you get b's, God wanted a's, right? 00:17:29.395 --> 00:17:52.155 But that's not how the dad in this story is pictured at all. He lets the son go. And when the son runs out of money and all his friends have defriended him on Facebook, then the problems really start. Right? Then the the famine hits and the economy goes in the tank and kinda when it rains, it pours and he hits rock bottom. 00:17:52.455 --> 00:18:13.330 It's kind of like some of the celebrities, the the athletes that blow through all the money thinking it's gonna continue forever, but it doesn't and that's what he finds out. And now he's he's at the bottom. He's feeding pigs which are unclean to Jews and he wants to even eat their food. He's broke, he's hurting and and he's humiliated. Verse seventeen seventeen. 00:18:14.270 --> 00:18:39.360 But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And I think as the Pharisees hear this part of the story, they're liking it. 00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:48.265 Right? Because they're like, yeah, that son got what he deserved. He rebelled, and now he's getting paid back. He got what he had coming. And finally, Jesus is making some sense with one of these parables. 00:18:48.265 --> 00:19:07.280 Right? We're liking it. And so he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt if Jesus had Paul there and asked Paul's there and asked the Pharisees, what did he feel? They'd have probably said anger. 00:19:07.820 --> 00:19:37.935 Right? He felt anger because the the son had had rebelled, he had humiliated him, he took advantage of his dad, he had no business even coming back. Of course, the father's gonna be angry at him, but Jesus says he felt compassion and he ran and embraced him and kissed him. Kids not even home yet when the father spots him out there coming down the road. And I think that's a beautiful picture of the father waiting for us, watching for us. 00:19:37.935 --> 00:20:01.140 See this story is way more about the father than it is about the son. A father who will never give up on you no matter how far you run. Here's the second thing in the notes, repent of who you are. Repent of who you are. Repent is just a churchy word that means change directions to say, I'm not the boss of me anymore. 00:20:01.665 --> 00:20:12.465 I'm giving you control. You're in charge. But it doesn't mean I'm promising to be perfect from now on. So that's what we get that wrong. But we see all through the bible that's not what it means at all. 00:20:12.465 --> 00:20:41.955 David, who God said was a man after his own heart, went on to be an adulterer and then a murderer and then tried to pull off this whole big cover up. He was far from perfect. And then Abraham, who gets held up in the new testament as a model of persevering faith, he doubted God to the point that he said his wife was his sister and that the king was welcome to sleep with her. That's not just a slight moral lapse, that's disturbing behavior. Right? 00:20:43.090 --> 00:20:58.185 You pull that that stunt and you won't land on the church prayer list, you'll land on Jerry Springer with that one. Right? And that's just twisted. So what is repentance? Repentance means recognizing God's authority. 00:20:58.725 --> 00:21:22.660 Even though my heart is still weak, even though I'm still divided, even though I still get pulled in different directions, I recognize God's authority. It breaks my heart when I hear people say, I am so messed up and jacked up. God would never want anything to do with me. When the truth is, God is not done with you. No matter what you've done, who you did it with, how long you did it, he's hopeful. 00:21:23.495 --> 00:21:57.905 He's the father waiting expectantly watching for you to return at any moment. So I said, I've got three boys and and and we've had a couple of instances especially when they they were smaller and younger where a kid would go missing for a little bit. Whether for a few moments or or a few minutes, but if you're a parent, that's a scary couple of minutes, isn't it? When when you don't know where your kid is, when when that happens, cooth goes out the window. You don't care if you're in Walmart and you're making a scene, you're hollering for your kid at the top of your lungs as loud as you can. 00:21:57.905 --> 00:22:19.000 You want to find him. And the worst for me was one time after church, our church that I was at previously was meeting in a school, in a rented school facility. And we'd finished church services for the day and and I got to the Mexican restaurant and I walked in and my wife said, where's Daniel? I said, what do you mean where's Daniel? Right? 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:41.770 Daniel's about six or seven at the time, and I realized I've left him all alone at the school. About six or seven minutes away from from where where the restaurant was. So I jump in my truck and I'm two wheeling around curves and stuff and getting there as fast as I could. And if I didn't feel bad enough about it, when I got there, the kid put daggers in my heart. Alright? 00:22:41.830 --> 00:22:48.630 You gotta hear what this kid said. He's such a drama queen for a boy. Right? I feel so bad. I'm like, Daniel, I'm so sorry. 00:22:48.630 --> 00:23:03.275 Oh, you know, he's crying and stuff in the parking lot. I'm like, oh, my dad heart is just melting. I'm like, I'll never leave you again. I promise I'll keep you. And he said, dad, I was walking around the parking lot and was back by the dumpsters and I saw a rotten tomato on the ground. 00:23:04.290 --> 00:23:21.595 And I thought maybe I should just eat it because I didn't know when I would ever get to eat again. Like, dude, I was gone ten minutes, really. Killing me. Killing me. But you rush back in that moment. 00:23:21.595 --> 00:23:35.640 Right? It doesn't matter. Whatever it takes. And so when Jesus says the father ran to his son, I think especially in that culture, ears perked up because they would have thought, well, I never saw my dad run. Right? 00:23:36.260 --> 00:23:51.265 Old men don't run. This was extreme for an affluent landowner to to just take off running especially in front of the villagers showed a complete lack of of self respect, I think. Think about Downton Abbey. You know you've watched it. Alright? 00:23:52.285 --> 00:24:02.065 Imagine if Lord Grantham just lost his mind and went running out through the yard about something. Alright? It's just not dignified. And so so not only that, in that culture men wore robes. Right? 00:24:02.340 --> 00:24:22.465 And running in a dress is hard or so I've been told. I don't know firsthand just to be clear. Right? So he would have had to have hiked his robe slash dress up to go run and show his bare legs which is even more unheard of. The closest equivalent I can think of in our environment is is a guy goes running out of the house in his underwear. 00:24:22.465 --> 00:24:36.450 Right? It's just it's unseemly. But he didn't care what other people thought because he was willing to go to extremes for his son. So look at what happens, verse 21. The son said to him, he starts his little speech, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:55.675 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this, my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. 00:24:55.975 --> 00:25:08.760 And they began to celebrate. Here's the third thing guys, return to the family. Return to the family. The the dad cuts him off in the middle of his little, memorized speech. He didn't even finish it. 00:25:08.760 --> 00:25:32.040 The the son's not even asking to be a full time servant if you read the wording carefully. He he wants him just hire him as a day laborer because I think by his logic, he thought that's all he could really expect. But here's the problem with his little speech. Imagine if one of my boys came to me and said, Dad, I've been super good lately. I think I'm worthy to be called your son. 00:25:32.100 --> 00:26:00.570 I'd be like, what are you talking about worthy, right? Go go put the pajamas on that I bought for you, get back down here and eat the meal that I provided for you so you can go get to bed in the bedroom that I have given you, what are you talking about worthy? It has nothing to do with that. I love my kids and they're great, alright? But they're not my kids because of their worth, they're my children because of their birth. 00:26:01.110 --> 00:26:19.775 Right? And because they were born into my family, I love giving them things and pouring and showering my love for them. No baby is ever born because of their own efforts. Okay? During no birth does the does the doctor get a megaphone and yell down the birth canal, come on, kids. 00:26:19.775 --> 00:26:25.795 You can do it. Work harder. You know? The the the child has nothing to do with it. Right? 00:26:27.010 --> 00:27:07.320 And so forgiveness isn't based on what we do, it's on what he has done. So notice as the son comes home there's no lecture, there's nothing about him smelling like pigs, about how dirty he is or how bad he messed up, no what were you thinking, the dad doesn't bring up the past at all. He just throws his arms around him and kisses him. The the boy was just looking for things to get a little bit better, But once he got in a right relationship with the father, everything else got upgraded. He got a better robe, he got a better ring, he got better shoes, he got a better meal, all these things. 00:27:07.585 --> 00:27:48.535 He didn't have the power to change any of those things. But when he returned to the family, the father changed all the rest and gave it to him as a gift. You might be at a point where all you know is things have got to get better. And when you take a step to a right relationship with him, when you take the step to a right being a right part of the family, God gives you all these other things as a bonus. Now if you heard this story when you were growing up as a kid at vacation bible school or Sunday school or something, this is probably the point where it ended because it wraps up nice and neat, makes for a really nice ending. 00:27:48.995 --> 00:28:04.210 But how many sons did the father have? Two. Right? Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 00:28:04.525 --> 00:28:24.560 And he said to him, your brother has come. Your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. Yay. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your commands. 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:54.610 Not ever? Really? Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends, But when this son of yours came, not the brother of mine, this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed a fattened calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this brother was dead and is alive. 00:28:55.070 --> 00:29:11.835 He was lost and is found. Do you ever feel like let's be honest, we're in church. Alright? Do you ever feel like God hasn't blessed you the way you thought he would? Maybe the way you thought he should? 00:29:11.835 --> 00:29:19.060 I'll admit that I've been there. Right? You ever been there where it's like, man, I'm doing the right thing. I've sacrificed. I've given this. 00:29:19.060 --> 00:29:34.345 I've been I'm, you know, sucking it up and doing it, but I'm not seeing the results. My my life's not reflecting it. I'm seeing other people get what maybe I thought I should have. The older brother is so there. He's like, the fattened calf? 00:29:34.345 --> 00:29:43.040 Really? That was supposed to be for my wedding. And of all people, why do you do it for him? And he became angry. You ever met an angry Christian? 00:29:44.700 --> 00:30:21.310 Did you go to school with with an angry nun when you were a kid maybe? Or ever ever met an angry preacher, one of these guys who preaches about hell like he's just looking forward to seeing people go there, you know, just mad about it? If you're an angry Christian, you know why you're angry? It's because you think you deserve something from God and that somebody else is gonna get it. It makes you mad because you stayed in the marriage and you raised the kids right and you tithe and you serve and the holier you get, the angrier you get because you deserve better. 00:30:21.865 --> 00:30:33.085 The father says, you've always been with me. That that that's all I've ever wanted. That's what I value most. And you still have your full inheritance, son. You're not out anything. 00:30:33.385 --> 00:30:47.690 All that I have is now yours. He already took his part, but he wasn't with us and now he is. It's not about performance. It's not about what he did. It's not about how he needs to reap what he sowed. 00:30:47.690 --> 00:31:06.130 It's about he's back. He's back. And so that's why the fourth thing we wanna see is we need to rejoice together, to rejoice together. He tells the older brother, it's not about you. I can imagine him saying, you and your brother in there, you've got the same misunderstanding. 00:31:06.670 --> 00:31:18.545 You think he's not good enough for the family, and he thinks he's not good enough for the family either. But but it's not about that. It's not about being good enough. Just like with you, it's not about being good enough. It's not about what you've done. 00:31:18.545 --> 00:31:37.170 It's not about cleaning yourself up. It's about coming home. Right? So just to recap the parable, there's a hundred sheep, one was lost, it was found, they celebrate. 10 coins, 1 was lost, sweep the house, it's found, then they celebrate. 00:31:38.190 --> 00:31:54.855 Two sons, one was lost. I wanna say he's found, but guess what? There's one son still outside as the story ends. One son we're still wondering, is he ever gonna come in the house? Is he ever gonna be a a part of the family again? 00:31:55.475 --> 00:32:24.895 See, the the tragedy of the older brother is he assumed that the younger brother was inferior and so that made him superior. And that kept him from celebrating what had happened. And if we're honest, some of us, especially some of us have been doing this church thing for a while, we relate more to the older brother. That I've been faithful. I've been in church and if we're not careful, we can get so self righteous. 00:32:25.630 --> 00:32:59.920 We can start to to look down on on other people and elevate ourselves and put them down. Some of us relate more to the one we call the prodigal son. That you know things between you and God are are not what they should be, they're they're not what you want them to be. But God has the same message for both of us. That there is nothing you could ever do good enough that would cause me to love you anymore, and there's nothing you could ever do bad enough that would cause me to love you any less. 00:33:00.940 --> 00:33:20.510 My love for you is unconditional. You've got it all 100% no matter what you do. That's the big idea today guys is that God's gracious love is welcoming us all back home. It's for all of us. So let me ask you a question. 00:33:22.490 --> 00:33:56.320 If Jesus could show up at your house, your apartment this afternoon, and say just one thing to you, what do you think Jesus wants to say to you? Because I think for most of us deep down, we're pretty sure that what Jesus wants to say is something to correct us. That that that that maybe maybe he would even even shut us, but but we think he would wanna point out where we're blowing it the worst. You've got to quit losing it with your kids. You gotta get your act together. 00:33:56.320 --> 00:34:13.745 You gotta quit looking at that stuff on the internet. And you did what on the first date? Are you kidding me? We are convinced that he would tell us where we're messing up. But I'm convinced that if Jesus could tell you just one thing, it would be how much he loves you. 00:34:14.510 --> 00:34:46.660 Right now, just as you are, he runs to you because like any good father, it's not about what he wants from you, it's about what he wants for you. He runs to you. Jesus sees your sin more clearly than anybody and yet he loves you more than anyone else ever has. He's not gonna write you off because you had an abortion or because you're addicted to prescription meds or because of the stuff you look at online. Is he grieved by your sin? 00:34:46.960 --> 00:35:14.830 Yes, because it's destroying you and and he hates that, but it does not change the fact that he loves you. If anything, it makes him that much more determined to reach you, to rescue you, to forgive you, to bring you in as part of his family. That's why Jesus came. Jesus came for the people whose relationship with God was busted up and broken. And ultimately, that's all of us. 00:35:15.370 --> 00:35:30.665 That's all of us. Right? Yes, sir. My kids, even at this age, they they love still to play hide and seek. And, I don't know about you if you played when you were growing up, but did you ever have that one kid that was so good at hiding that nobody could ever find him? 00:35:30.885 --> 00:35:43.050 Right? Well, we would play it and when that kid would be hiding, we couldn't find him. If we didn't like him, we'd just go start playing something else, right? We'd just leave him out there and have a new game. And for all I know, there's a kid in my neighborhood still hiding under a pile of leaves somewhere. 00:35:43.050 --> 00:36:05.155 I don't know. But what's even better than hide and seek is a game called sardines. And that's where the person who is it goes and hides, and everybody else goes and tries to find them. And when you find them, you hide with them and then somebody else. And so the group begins to grow and they're all hiding and trying to hide behind the same tree and then somebody giggles and everybody gets found out. 00:36:05.155 --> 00:36:29.505 But I think that's a great picture of how the family is supposed to be. That we come together every week and we all pile in and we get found all over again. Get found by God, get found by each other. See, God wants to have a relationship with you and then that becomes the basis for how we relate to one another. Don't be the kid that hides so good that nobody can find them. 00:36:29.565 --> 00:36:38.705 Alright? Get found. Come home. Be a part of the family. Let's bow our heads right now guys and let's just close our eyes. 00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:58.035 And I wanna pray especially for you, in fact just show of hands real quick. If you would say, there's a step that I recognize I need to take. There's some sort of step I need to take toward Jesus, towards being a part of the family in a healthy way. Would you just raise your hand right now and say, that's me. I want to pray especially for you. 00:36:58.175 --> 00:37:18.260 Lots of hands. Let's pray. Father God, I just thank you for your love for us. When I read this story and I recognize that it's about your unconditional love, it's just overwhelming every single time. And so I thank you for not giving up on us. 00:37:18.260 --> 00:38:00.865 I thank you for running to us and for forgiving us when we come home. And as we turn towards you, as we turn toward home and toward the family, we plead for your strength to give us the power to do what you'd have us to do, and then we trust you to do what we're not capable of doing. Father, we recognize that the family that you're leading us to create is so different from the world that we usually live in. We wanna become more and more of the kind of community that you intend for us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. 00:38:01.085 --> 00:38:01.585 Amen.