Welcome. Let us lift our voices to God and song: How great thou art.
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Scripture Reading Luke 15:11-32 The parable of the Prodigal Son
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 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. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[b] 22 But the father said to his servants,[c] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
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As we journey together into a time of prayer let us sing: Holy Holy Holy
Time of Prayer
"Dear Father, I come before You today in surrender. In surrender of all my mishaps, struggles, and heartache. Sometimes my failures threaten to crush my spirit and my pain threatens to suffocate me. Defeat looms over me. So, today I come to You and ask You to be my strength, wisdom, and cornerstone."
Let us share together in the Lords Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Long Road Home
Sometimes, we come to the conclusion that decisions we’ve taken and the choices we’ve made – simply aren’t working. But turning them around, getting your life sorted – well, that can be a long, hard road. For years, and years, I myself wandered around in a spiritual desert. After all the things I’d done, after the years of wandering out there, I just didn’t know whether He’d really want me and if he did , at what cost? What would I have to give up of the lifestyle that I was accustomed to, in order to have a relationship with him. For me, as it is for so many people, the road home seemed like such a long one. And what would His reaction be when I turned up on His doorstep anyway?
I remember as a child, I did a lot of things wrong and I remember my Mother say to me, “You wait until your father comes home.” I can still remember vividly the sense of dread, of waiting at home for the consequences when my Dad came home again. Do you remember that? I’m sure we’ve all had that experience.
So many people today are wandering in a spiritual desert and the thing that often keeps us from turning around and going to God in the middle of that. The one person that we’re looking for, you know the one thing that can satisfy that longing that we have, the thing that so often stops us, is that sense of dread.
That sense of wondering well how is He going to react? Is it going to be like Dad punishing me when I was a kid? Jesus knew that, Jesus knows that. That’s why he told a story, it’s the story of the prodigal son, the lost son. We all know it so well, I'm sure
A man had a two sons, the younger of them said to his father, “Dad give me the share of the estate that I have coming to me.” so the father distributed the assets to them. Not many days later the younger son gathered together all he had and travelled to a distant country where he squandered his estate on foolish living. After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck the country and he had nothing. And then he went to work for one of the citizens of that land who sent him out into the field to feed the pigs.
When he finally came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s servants have more than enough food and here I am dying of hunger. I’ll get up and I’ll go to my father and say to him, ‘father I’ve sinned against Heaven and against you, I’m not worthy to be called you son anymore, just make me one of your servants’.” And so he got up and he went to his father.
It’s a cycle that began with a desire to do it my way, with a desire to rebel, with a desire for partying and excitement, and all the stuff I guess that we look for as young people, and probably as we get older as well. But I wonder how much of this cycle parallels our lives.
Whether you’ve never met Jesus before, you just have a sense of spiritual longing, or maybe once you walked with him, somewhere along the road either you wandered off, or he somehow seemed to disappear, or maybe you’re trying to walk with him but in a certain area of your life, well there’s something you’re holding back.
Wherever we’re coming from, the same symptoms of spiritual hunger, of emptiness, of something missing, of something not working is what so often people feel. And what happened here for this young man, is when he finally came to his senses, what he did was this. He linked his pain with the initial cause, which was his rebellion. So often we don’t do that, so often we’re suffering and yet we go on deluding ourselves that our choices are fine and everything’s fine.
Of course I can live like this, of course I can reject God’s view on A, B, C and D. And yet, if we’re really honest with ourselves, if we really look at our predicament in our situation in this spiritual wilderness that so many people are walking through. If we’re really honest, we can see that at times the pain and the symptoms come back to a rebellion.
I don’t know what that rebellion looks like in your life, we all rebel in different ways but it’s not rocket science to figure it out. And then this young man-made a pragmatic decision, a selfish decision, not some altruistic decision to say I’m going to go back to my father because my father is a wonderful man. It was a decision that was driven by the hunger in his stomach looking at these pigs day and night. And he made a decision in his best interests to start on that long road home.
We’re not told in this story what the journey on the road was like; we know that this young man went to some far off distant country. How long was the journey home? Weeks, month’s maybe-walking? He certainly couldn’t afford to pay for a lift. So as he was trudging along the dirt road step by step, days went by.
On this journey, on this long road home, what was he feeling, what was he thinking, what was going through his mind? Well we’re not told but we can have a fairly good guess – anger; “it’s not fair; it’s just not fair that it’s worked out this way. Why was there a famine just when I was partying?”
Maybe some remorse? “How can I be so stupid and waste all that money, and do that to my Dad?” We certainly know there was hunger; he had no money so he was living as best he could at a time of famine, off the land traveling home. What about the embarrassment? “What will my brother say? What will the other servants say?” His low expectations of his Dad; “oh I won’t be taken back as a son, I’ll go as a servant.” His apprehension: “what will my Dad say?
Whichever path we walk, I wonder whether sitting at the other end of that turn around decision, on the outer end of that lonely road back, we don’t experience a similar cocktail of emotions, trudging through the wilderness, it’s not working, it’s time to head towards God.
Look at them all; anger, remorse, hunger, embarrassment, apprehension – they’re very human, they’re very predictable, and so often they stop us even from trying. We start with good intentions to head back towards God, but our feelings get the better of us, and the gentle nudging and the calling that’s been happening deep down somewhere in our spirits. Well, we just don’t follow it through.
Well, eventually the son arrived home, and a robe was waiting for him. The robe is a symbol of honour, the ring is a symbol of the family signet – you belong to us. And the party was a barbecue; it was a celebration! Because “this son of mine who was dead is alive again. The one that was lost is found again.”
Not a word of condemnation, no scalding, total acceptance for no other reason than this boy was Dad’s son. Jesus is saying here, ‘You have to understand something. This is what you dad is like, this is what God’s like.’ It’s crazy isn't it.
We don’t know how long he stayed feeding the pigs but I’m sure he spent time putting going home off. All the time delaying with the apprehension of going back to his father and what that would mean. It’s like us, all the time wandering in a spiritual wilderness and Jesus is saying, “No, no, don’t you understand, don’t you get it, this is what your father is like. He’s waiting on the road for you, he’s straining, looking, can’t wait to see you back with Him again.” “My son was lost and now he’s found, my daughter was lost and now she’s found.”
What about you? Have you spent anytime wandering round in a spiritual wilderness, apprehensive about going home? Come on, what rebellion is keeping us from God? What is it that’s stopping us from going back? Is it fear, is it embarrassment, is it this sense of ‘well I’m not good enough?’
Look, while the son was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion, he ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said to the father, “Dad I’ve sinned against you, I’m not worthy to be your son.” But the father said, “quick bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and slaughter the fattened calf and let’s celebrate, let’s party, my son’s back.”
Now the older brother was out in the field and as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing so he called one of the servants over and said, “What’s going on?” And the servant said, “your brother’s back and your father’s slaughtered the fattened calf because he’s back safe and sound.”
This older brother became really angry and didn’t want to go in so his father came out and pleaded with him but the son replied, “Look Dad I’ve been slaving my guts out here for years for you. I’ve never disobeyed you, I’ve never rebelled against you, but you haven’t even given me as much as a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who devoured your assets with prostitutes comes back you slaughter a fattened calf.”
The Dad says, ‘Son, you’re always with me, everything I have is yours, but we have to celebrate, we have to rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and he’s alive again, he was lost and he’s found.’
See when we’re out in that wilderness we expect everyone including God to react like the older brother. That’s why Jesus put the older brother in the story, that’s how people react, they want to judge us, they want to condemn us. And the biggest thing that Jesus is saying here is God is not like that at all. God is the father on the road waiting for you, waiting for you to come back and be with him. That’s the point. Amen
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They need you they need me they need Christ
The Lord bless Thee and keep thee
The make his face shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee
And give thee peace
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