WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.800 Um, in 2023, we said this is our vision. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:27.359 Really simple, is to simply follow Jesus. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.399 What does it look like to be an apprentice of Jesus? 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:40.159 Something that got lost over the last several years, especially among Christians over the COVID era of life, is Jesus got lost from everything. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:49.840 Our political opinions and preferences got elevated, and Jesus' voice got devalued and lost in the fright. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:01:08.159 And so we said, okay, what does it look like for us as a church to return to Jesus, to really get to know him, fall in love afresh with him, and then become this type of people that would be starting doing the very things Jesus would do if he were here in our place. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.640 That's what it means to be an apprentice. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:15.359 And so we're teaching for the entire year out of the Gospels. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.200 Everything we're teaching is from the Gospels. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:24.799 Our last series that concluded last week on Easter was through Jesus' I Am statements in the Gospel of John. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:28.159 Today we're beginning a new series called Prodigal. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.200 It's now Jesus' most famous parable. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:37.519 In fact, if you've never been to church, you actually know this story, or at least know parts of this story. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.879 At very least, you've seen some TV show called Prodigal or Prodigal's Son. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.280 It's used all the time. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:02:01.680 Now, here's what's interesting is for many of us, we are so familiar with it that we miss out on the significance and the meaning and the point often altogether. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:11.360 And so we're gonna spend four weeks looking and studying and learning about uh what is actually at the very heart of God. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.639 And to begin, I'd just love to ask maybe this question Have you ever wondered what is God really like? 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.120 I don't know if you believe in God or not. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.680 Most of you do, I assume, since we're here all together. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:25.759 But like, what is God really like? 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:28.639 If there is a God, what is he really like? 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:36.639 Is he just this impersonal force that got everything going and just kind of sent the world off spinning, distant, aloof, doesn't care? 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.039 Sometimes it feels that way. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:48.400 Is he this old man in the sky that is kind and you know, well-meaning, but has little to no power? 00:02:48.719 --> 00:03:02.479 Is he angry, has his arms crossed, always waiting and for you to screw up so he can bop you on the head, and you're constantly waiting for, like we said, I think it was last week or a few weeks ago, the other shoe to drop? 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.680 Is he this genie? 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:08.800 Is he this force? 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.919 Like, what is God really like? 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.879 And as we ask that question, we also ask this question and does God really like me? 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:20.159 Does he really like me? 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:25.919 Whatever this God is, does he really like me? 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:28.159 And here's something amazing. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:32.960 And we've said this throughout uh the year so far studying the life of Jesus. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:47.439 The gospel writers, those who were the biographers of Jesus' life, uh, in particular, John said in John chapter 1 that Jesus came to explain the Father, to explain God. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.840 Like when you look at Jesus and you wonder what is God really like, Jesus says, Hello. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.479 Right here, not this, not me, but you know what I mean. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:04.400 Like Jesus is like the explanation, the revelation of who God is. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.479 If you want to know what God cares about, look at Jesus. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:13.759 If you want to know how God responds to injustice, look at Jesus. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:20.720 If you want to know what God gets angry about, look at Jesus. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:28.639 In fact, said another way, the life of Jesus brings into crystal clear clarity the very heart of God. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:32.319 Like, like Jesus. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:42.639 Jesus answers, what is God really like, and whether or not God really likes you or me. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:54.720 That question, what is God like and whether God really likes you or me, is one that we don't just wrestle with. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:07.199 It's one that we've wrestled with for all of humanity, and religious people have a way of answering this, and Jesus had a way of confronting it. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:22.319 What's fascinating is you see uh the setup for the parable of the lost son is Jesus confronting, or really first being accused of something that he got accused of quite a bit, by the way. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:34.079 Um, and then he's confronting a narrow view or understanding of what God is like and who God really likes. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.120 It begins this way. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.639 Says, now tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.480 That's amazing, by the way. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.920 How cool is that? 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:53.360 I know tax day is in a couple days, um, but you if you didn't know, you do have extra time, I've been told, but I'm not giving any tax advice. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.360 I'm not allowed to do that there. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:02.959 Um, but here's what's interesting is in our day, we read this and we're like, yeah, tax collectors, um, we can't even get a hold of one. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:04.720 It wouldn't it be nice to get a hold of one? 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.680 What all you do is get mail from them, right? 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:14.319 Uh in their day, these were the most despised, lowest. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:27.519 This would be a Jewish person who is in cahoots with Rome, who's denied their people and now exploiting them for their own personal gain. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:34.800 And so the minute this would come up, if we were kind of like doing this interactive theater and you heard tax collector, you would boo at that. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:35.600 You want to try that? 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.199 Now, tax collectors, yes, you liked it. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:46.240 Okay, and sinners, and this is just a catch-all for everybody else. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.560 Everybody else, that the type of people that God doesn't like. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.720 That's tax collectors and sinners in their day. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.639 You know who God doesn't like? 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:58.800 Tax collectors and sinners. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.480 This is just a catch-all for all the wrong type of people. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.639 Now, here's what's so funny and interesting. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:09.279 We're all gathering around Jesus. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:12.560 Pastor author Andy Stanley says it this way. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:13.680 I love this line. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.839 People who look nothing like Jesus really liked Jesus. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:38.319 Man, what a call for us as followers of Jesus, that people who look nothing like us, think nothing like us, in the way that we live our lives, in the compellingness of what we hold, the hope that we have, I think they should really like us. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:43.199 And it seems like Jesus really liked them too. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.759 And the text goes on and says, but there's always a but. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:55.360 But the Pharisees, now here's the funny part: if you grew up in church world, when you the minute you hear a Pharisee, you think boo. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.439 Like we, you're like, boo. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:01.360 But that's not who they were. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.000 These were the right people. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:13.360 These were the these were the ones who began to define what God is like and who God liked. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.160 Pharisees and teachers of the law. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:21.920 And these teachers of the law, these are the ones that are held with high esteem, high regard. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:29.360 They're the ones that are looked at to be closest to God, and yet when God stepped onto the planet, they missed him. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.679 They muttered, which is a great word, by the way. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:36.879 Muttered. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:38.240 Muttered. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.840 This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:47.759 Now, here's what's interesting about this. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:54.960 You wouldn't welcome somebody that you disagree with. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:06.399 You wouldn't welcome somebody that you thought was fundamentally opposed to the way you thought God was supposed to be worshipped. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.039 And then it says that he eats with them. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:15.200 In the ancient day, to sit down and share a meal with someone was the sign of full acceptance. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:22.000 It was to say that we are together and I love you, I'm for you, I accept you. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:40.320 A Pharisee and a teacher of the law not only wouldn't welcome someone, they would not let them in their proximity, they wouldn't make eye contact, they would pass by them, they wouldn't look at them, they would ignore them, they would look down upon them, and Jesus says, No, no, no, I welcome you and I'm gonna sit with you. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:47.600 This is amazing, and by the way, a couple things I think we need to hear today. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:48.879 Acceptance. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:54.720 Jesus fully accepted these those tax collectors and sinners. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.679 It did not mean he affirmed their decisions. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:07.519 See, you can fully accept someone, love them, and at the same time go, I don't affirm the direction of your life, I don't affirm the decisions you're making. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:15.759 In fact, Jesus is calling, hey, I long for a different life for you, but it doesn't keep me from sitting at the table with you. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.759 And here's something else that's interesting about Jesus. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.679 Jesus seemed to be very unconcerned what religious people thought of him. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:30.960 You know, I mean, isn't it interesting? 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:40.879 So much of the good that we want to do, think to do, or lean in to do, or maybe God prompts us to do, we're curious and wondering what will someone else think of us? 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.759 What will they, you know, say about us? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:53.120 Jesus seemed to be very unconcerned with what the religious people were gonna think about him. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.360 But he was concerned with what they thought about God. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.519 And that's the reason he tells this story. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.240 Then Jesus told them this parable. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.799 And if you do have your Bible, I just want you to circle the word parable and underline the word them. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:07.279 Okay? 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.159 Circle the word parable, underline the word them. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:11.519 Now, who is the them? 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:12.399 Help me out here. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:13.279 Who is the them? 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:21.200 You guys are actually, I don't mean to you did better than the first service, by the way. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:22.320 Yeah. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.519 Now this is fascinating. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.440 And this will help set up the context for the next several weeks. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:36.159 The audience for the parable of the prodigal son are Pharisees. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:46.399 He's talking to those who think they are right with God, look down on those who are not right with God, and trying to explain the very heart of God. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:52.639 And then it also says parable, but what's here's what's fascinating is Jesus tells three stories, not one. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:57.279 The parable of the prodigal son is the end, the climax. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:05.200 A rabbinic Jewish tradition teaching tool mechanism was that you would use repetition to uh build your point. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:09.840 And uh in their language, they didn't have good, better, best. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:11.360 You used repetition. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:15.919 That's why, like when you see holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:25.360 It is this whole idea that He is the holiest of holy, and we repeat it three times to emphasize it to the utmost. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:39.360 And Jesus then shares three stories that build with clarity, that build with intensity, that show this represents what God is like and who God really likes. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.360 And the first story he tells is the parable of the lost sheep. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:45.840 The parable of lost sheep. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.919 I was let's see if I can hold a mic and a Bible at the same time. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:52.559 Thanks, man. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:54.799 He said, I got it. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:57.679 I don't know that I do, but I'm gonna try. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:59.360 Then Jesus told him this parable. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.200 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.440 That's pretty common in our day, right? 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.360 You had that experience. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.240 Like, man, I just lost a sheep last week. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:16.720 Uh, doesn't he leave the 99 in open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.879 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulder and goes home. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:24.799 Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.039 I have found my lost sheep. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:39.919 I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:43.919 Now, Jesus is flipping the religious paradigm here. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:57.759 Because here's what religion says: fix yourself up, work your way to God, and if you clean yourself up and do the right things, then you'll be accepted by God and accepted by the community. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:07.840 And Jesus says, by the way, the heart of God is when he sees one who's wandered off, he goes and searches for that one. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:09.840 He pursues that one. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.480 It's not a God who says, work your way to me. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.039 It's a God who is working to find you. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:20.159 A God that when he finds the lost sheep, there isn't this shaming. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.080 No, there is rejoicing. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.919 There aren't arms that are cross saying, you know what? 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:28.799 You deserved it. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:33.519 No, there's arms holding and carrying the sheep back. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.480 There isn't scolding, there's a celebration. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.559 He's flipping the paradigm. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:45.919 And then he tells from the lost sheep, there's a hundred and one gets lost, then builds with intensity the lost coin. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:50.320 Or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one of them. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:15:01.919 Now, these ten coins, uh, they would most likely be this woman's dowry that she would have received uh from her family as a bit of an investment, a safeguard, uh, her life savings, if you will. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.559 They're not very worth a whole lot. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:06.720 It's a drachma, it's about a day's wage. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:13.360 She's only about 10 days' wage, but could possibly represent her life savings of what she has. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:18.799 Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:24.480 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together saying, Rejoice with me, I found the lost coin. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:32.639 In the same way, I tell you, there's rejoicing in the presence of angels over God, of God, over one sinner who repents. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:44.960 All of a sudden, Jesus keeps emphasizing what is God like, and who does God like, what is at the very heart of God? 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:55.600 He says, All the people that you tend to look down upon, the people that you think you're better than, the people that you go like, they're, you know what, they don't have their act together. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.399 And all of us have Pharisee in us. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:06.320 All of us have something where we are looking down on someone and feel like we're better than. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.720 And he says, that's come completely opposite of the heart of God. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:16.480 Because the heart of God says it's valuable and it's worth the search. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:20.320 It's like a woman losing one of ten. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:31.440 I was trying to figure out how to like emphasize this because like we we don't have things that we lose all that often that valuable. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.240 Um, and then I realized the remote control. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.799 Have you ever lost the remote control? 00:16:48.000 --> 00:17:07.440 In my house, me, the amount of energy, effort, struggle, intensity that I take to finding a stupid, remote control. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:13.920 I mean, there's cushions flipped up, there's accusations thrown around the house about who had it. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:14.960 Right? 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.920 And it's a stupid little remote control. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:30.160 And God says, you're way, way more valuable than that, and way worth the search for that. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.440 The lost sheep, a hundred, one gets lost. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.880 The lost coin, ten. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:37.279 One gets lost. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.599 And then we come to the lost son. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:48.160 There's actually three characters in the prodigal son, and we're gonna spend the next three weeks looking at each of those from a different perspective. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.920 Next week we're gonna look at the younger brother, which we're really familiar with. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.240 The following week we'll look at the older brother. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.920 Some of you didn't know it actually has two sons in the story. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:03.440 And the point actually is for the second son, it's for the Pharisees. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:04.960 We'll get to that. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.720 And then there's the father. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:15.279 And we're gonna spend the next three weeks looking at each of those angles. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.160 But there's two sides, and one is lost. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:25.519 And here's what all three of these stories have in common. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:35.039 Something valuable was lost, a careful search was made, and a big celebration was thrown. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:40.640 Something valuable was lost, and it builds in intensity, it builds that down into scarcity. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:48.559 There was a hundred, and then there was ten, and then there was two, and it builds in value from sheep to a son. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:53.200 Something valuable was lost. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:09.200 And here's the thing: we need to be reminded so often that you are valuable, and you're valuable not because of what you do or what you did or what's been done to you. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:13.680 You're valuable because God looks at you and says, I love you. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:20.880 You're valuable because you're made in the image of God, you have intrinsic value. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.279 Because I think often some of us just feel like we're a waste. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.960 The things we've done, like, no, God can never really like me. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.240 He knows everything about me. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.160 He's seen all the ugly sides of it. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.279 He knew what I did last week, he knew what I did yesterday. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.079 He knows what I've been doing. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.759 He says, no, no, no, you have no idea. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:47.599 You don't get it. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.920 You're precious to me. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.759 You're the object of my affection. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.480 And as a result, you're worth the search. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.480 You're worth going after. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:08.960 God never looked at you and was like, not this time. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:17.519 Never never said, Well, they had a bad day and they're getting what they deserved. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.559 We think that of ourselves all the time, don't we? 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.039 And somehow we think that's what God thinks about us. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.480 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:42.079 Um because Jesus, if we kind of bring it into our modern day in these stories, he's actually preaching to Christians. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:51.839 He's actually preaching to modern day Pharisees, he's preaching to people who really think they hold the corner on what God is like. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:53.519 Many people like me. 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:03.279 And he says, you know what? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:05.440 I look at you. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:07.759 And I love you. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.799 And your worst day didn't change my love for you. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.319 And on your best day, it didn't change my love for you. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:24.640 And I never looked and wondered, is it worth it? 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:26.880 You're worth it. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:28.880 You're worth it. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.559 And this, by the way, isn't new. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.799 Like Jesus showing up and going, like, this is a new part of God. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:39.519 I hope you kind of like get to see this side of him. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.519 It's what God has been doing from the very beginning. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.799 In Genesis chapter 3, it's known as the fall of man and Adam and Eve. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:58.480 Um, they take of the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil, the one that God said, You can have anything, but not that. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.359 They do that. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:06.240 Moment, their eyes are open, scripture says, and they look at each other naked and like, whoa, whoa. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:06.880 Okay. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:09.599 And shame covered them. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.480 And what do you do when you feel shame? 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:13.519 You hide. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.519 And we've been doing it ever since. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.319 And we cover the parts of ourselves because we feel so shamed. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.160 Unworthy. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:27.839 Unlovable. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:35.599 And God comes in the cool of the day, as he did, as was his habit, to walk with Adam and Eve. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.119 And his first words to them were relational. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:48.640 It wasn't, maybe some of what our parents have said, and these are this has unfortunately come out of my mouth as well. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.599 It wasn't, what did you do? 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:54.720 I've said that to my kids. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.079 Like, what'd you do? 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.200 Are you kidding me? 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:58.720 Really shame-filled words. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:22:59.680 I get it. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.240 It wasn't how could you? 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:04.240 It wasn't what were you thinking? 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:08.480 It wasn't, don't you see what I've done for you? 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:14.480 Isn't that the words that you hear from God all the time, the things that you think he's saying to you? 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:16.960 How could you go down that path? 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:18.559 How could you repeat that mistake? 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.359 How could you? 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.920 Don't you know what I've done for you? 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:33.039 And you heap shame and you go into hiding and you show up to church and you never show the real you because you're afraid that if anybody saw you, they wouldn't like you either. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:42.160 God's first words to Adam and Eve was where are you? 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:44.799 Where are you? 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.960 He's been searching to bring restoration ever since. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:53.039 Where are you? 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.160 It's relational. 00:23:54.400 --> 00:24:01.519 We walk together in the cool of the garden, and you moved, and it breaks my heart, and I want to bring you back. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:02.559 Where are you? 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:09.279 Something valuable was lost, a careful search was made, and a big celebration was thrown. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:17.680 I just honestly think somebody here really needs to know you're worth celebrating. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.960 You're worth celebrating. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.799 Like this is the scripture where we get that heaven throws a party. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.000 How cool is that? 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:33.680 The minute you say yes, you turn from your sins, you turn to Jesus, he says, Welcome home. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:39.279 The minute you say yes, heaven throws a big old party. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.319 And not some lame party that maybe your parents or somebody else used to throw. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:46.480 And you're like, oh, is that what a Christian party's like? 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.119 Because that's that's it's boring. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:50.720 It's just boring. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.000 God does not throw boring parties. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:58.559 Heaven throws this incredible celebration. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:24:59.119 Why? 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:06.000 Because something valuable, you were lost, you were found, and now that you're home, it's worth celebrating. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.359 You are worth celebrating. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:20.480 Jesus, when we look at him, brings into focus the very heart of God. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:21.680 What is God like? 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.359 Look at Jesus. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.240 And does God like you and me? 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:34.000 And Jesus, through these three stories, answers with an emphatic yes. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:51.599 A number of years ago, I was a it was on a Sunday morning just like this, and I often get up pretty early, and um I was headed to a coffee shop to study, and as I go out my driveway, I see across the street a guy leaning up against my neighbor's truck. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.359 And I was like, Oh, is that Jerry? 00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:00.160 I and I look at a little bit closer, and that's not Jerry, but he's leaning up his truck. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:01.440 Jerry does construction. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:16.480 I'm like, I want to make sure he's not trying to steal uh tools from his truck, and I hop in my car and I drive up right next to him, and this guy, college kids, just leaning like this, and he's got his phone, and he's kind of wobbly a little bit. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:22.079 So I pull up and I go, hey man, you doing alright? 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.359 And he's just messing with his phone. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.759 Doesn't even respond. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:34.480 And I go one more time, hey man, you doing alright? 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:40.079 And he kind of takes a step and kind of stumbles a little bit, and he's still messing with his phone. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.680 He's eventually making a phone call. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:44.079 I realize maybe I'm asking the wrong question. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.079 So I ask a different question. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.160 Do you know where you're at? 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:52.240 Because it's clear he's had a rough night. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:27:03.759 And he gets on the phone and is apparently his girlfriend, and apparently uh he was at a party uh that night and got drunk and wandered out the front and got lost. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:07.839 And he'd been wandering the rough streets of Willow Glenn all night long. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:17.839 And and he gets on the phone with his girlfriend, and he's like, How could you guys leave me? 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:18.400 I don't know. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:22.559 I've been wandering, he's just on the phone, and there's this really nice guy talking to me. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:25.839 I'm like, um, and I don't know. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:27.359 I mean, he literally said this. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:28.640 I am not making this up. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:30.880 I think he sent from heaven. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:35.519 That's maybe a little far. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:45.599 I am a pastor, but he gets off, and I look at him and says, Hey, let me give you a ride home. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:47.759 He hops in the car. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.920 We begin to have a conversation, hear about his night, hear what's going on. 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:57.279 And as we're on the way home, he started saying this, and he said it probably ten times. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:00.799 He's like, I can't believe you found me. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:06.319 You saved me, and you're bringing me home. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:07.920 I can't believe it. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:09.920 I just had the roughest night. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.160 I my friends all deserted me. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:14.480 I my girlfriends, she's making fun of me. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:20.400 I can't believe you found me and you saved me and you're bringing me home. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:25.440 You found me and you saved me, and you're bringing me home. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:30.559 And the heart of God, friends, is to welcome you home. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:35.680 You found me. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.920 You saved me, and you're bringing me home. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:54.559 Isn't it interesting as Christians we recognize that grace got us in, but we fail to realize it's grace that keeps us all the way. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:58.079 Grace got you in. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:05.519 But then somewhere along the lines, we start to believe that it's our good deeds, our good works. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:12.480 How many times I read, do this, am I a good boy, good girl, and somehow God will like me or love me or want me even more? 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:13.839 And he's like, no, no, no. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:19.359 Grace got you into the car, and grace keeps you all the way home. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:20.799 Grace is carrying you. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:23.519 It is only by grace we are saved. 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:27.119 It is only by grace and follower of Jesus today. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:29.279 You need his grace afresh. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:38.640 And if you're not a follower of Jesus, we need, and you need his grace afresh. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.160 The heart of God is very simple. 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:47.279 What is God like? 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:50.079 He loves you. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:55.680 He says, You are so valuable. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.839 And I'll go to any lengths. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:13.839 Yes, step into my own creation, suffer at the hands of my own creation, be pushed out onto the cross by those that I created for your sake because of love. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:20.720 That's the whole goal. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:22.880 It's amazing. 00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:32.000 God does not need us to exist, but he is not content to exist without us. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:34.079 And I don't understand that. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:42.559 He says, I so long to be with you. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.799 I'll do whatever it takes. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:50.079 I like how Tim Keller, pastor, author, theologian says it. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:58.240 He says, the gospel is this we're more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:07.920 Yet at the very same time, we're more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:12.480 Jesus, thanks for this moment. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:14.640 Thanks for my friends. 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:25.759 Thanks for the reality and the reminder of your great love, of your heart. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:31.599 And God, I confess that there's Pharisee that comes in mate. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:37.680 Spaces where somehow I think I have to do better, be better. 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:42.880 And honestly, times where I look down and there's judgment in my heart. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:44.400 God, I'm so sorry. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:04.880 God, would you make us a people to simply live in the grace that you daily and freely give. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:13.279 Thank you for your great love, your great care for us. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:17.119 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:21.759 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.000 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:30.079 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.