WEBVTT 00:37.612 --> 00:45.480 [SPEAKER_00]: My feet start at the end of this road, swollen in the heat of my failings. 00:45.521 --> 00:53.870 [SPEAKER_00]: My fingers bleed from shattered dreams, my throat halted. 00:53.910 --> 01:02.239 [SPEAKER_00]: My stomach churns on endless regrets, and words rehearsed to beg my way back in. 01:02.279 --> 01:07.264 [SPEAKER_00]: I try to grab through a sense of worth, but the air is thin. 01:09.370 --> 01:22.889 [SPEAKER_00]: Ahead of figures stands and I know that I must face him, my shoulders drop, but he's a lower, slumped in the weight of a child lost. 01:22.909 --> 01:30.720 [SPEAKER_00]: His chest heaves in love deep pain, his eyes reach to mine. 01:30.700 --> 01:59.914 [SPEAKER_00]: Am's rise like door lit wings And now he's running his face and song You fall upon me rushing the squandered years in tears And kisses He pulls me close Those walls I built so short So certain within the collapse Now I like petals To the touch of his embrace 02:04.315 --> 02:11.847 [SPEAKER_00]: His words poor, like summer rain, weeping those names, I've so desperately sought. 02:11.887 --> 02:20.400 [SPEAKER_00]: My child, my pleasure, my springtime bloom, my ever after, returned. 02:21.899 --> 02:25.483 [SPEAKER_00]: He holds the bruises like tender flames. 02:25.524 --> 02:29.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Holds the sorrow, holds my mistakes. 02:29.428 --> 02:35.015 [SPEAKER_00]: Takes the heartbreak, the burning shame. 02:35.035 --> 02:48.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And draws me home. 02:48.372 --> 02:49.273 [SPEAKER_01]: Good morning. 02:49.709 --> 02:55.558 [SPEAKER_01]: To every single one of you, to everyone in the room, to everyone online. 02:55.798 --> 02:58.402 [SPEAKER_01]: I am super excited for what we're going to get into today. 02:58.422 --> 03:03.369 [SPEAKER_01]: If the video didn't queue you in, we're going to get into the prodigal sun today. 03:03.409 --> 03:14.485 [SPEAKER_01]: But before we do, I've learned that some churches, not our church, obviously, other churches, will refer to this Sunday as youth pastor Sunday. 03:14.684 --> 03:16.727 [SPEAKER_01]: So my name is Barrett Moore. 03:16.747 --> 03:18.509 [SPEAKER_01]: It's nice to meet you. 03:18.549 --> 03:22.554 [SPEAKER_01]: You can guess what one of my job titles is here at first three. 03:22.594 --> 03:34.009 [SPEAKER_01]: But what that means is that if you're listening right now, you might be the type of person who you're coming to church, no matter what rain or shine, doors are open, you're in the room, right? 03:33.989 --> 03:40.058 [SPEAKER_01]: My also mean that you got dragged here by one of those people that you are staying over with the holiday. 03:40.078 --> 03:42.001 [SPEAKER_01]: So you're with family. 03:42.021 --> 03:43.623 [SPEAKER_01]: They said, hey, we're going to church. 03:43.663 --> 03:45.626 [SPEAKER_01]: You're coming and now you're here. 03:45.686 --> 03:48.530 [SPEAKER_01]: If that's you, super glad that you're here. 03:48.550 --> 03:51.875 [SPEAKER_01]: And then maybe you're just someone somewhere in between. 03:51.895 --> 04:01.689 [SPEAKER_01]: But no matter where you are, no matter where your relationship with Jesus, no matter what your relationship is, with church, I really think I think that this Sunday. 04:01.709 --> 04:03.692 [SPEAKER_01]: And what we're going to talk about. 04:03.807 --> 04:06.996 [SPEAKER_01]: are like perfectly made for each other. 04:07.016 --> 04:18.168 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter where you come from, I think God has something that he's gonna teach us, something hopefully that can encourage you, something that can challenge you for every single one of us no matter where we're at. 04:18.228 --> 04:19.251 [SPEAKER_01]: So, 04:19.231 --> 04:25.523 [SPEAKER_01]: I also, lastly, want to say, I have been praying for every single one of you. 04:25.543 --> 04:32.295 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know every single one of you, but there's whole week I've been talking to God praying that he would use this message to encourage you and to teach you. 04:32.336 --> 04:38.387 [SPEAKER_01]: So, one last time, let's pray that he would do that and then we'll get into it. 04:38.407 --> 04:39.028 [SPEAKER_01]: How's that? 04:39.717 --> 04:43.785 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for this time that we have together. 04:43.805 --> 04:47.952 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for the message that you prepared. 04:47.972 --> 04:57.330 [SPEAKER_01]: I hope that every single one of us, that you would speak to our hearts and the way that only you can, that you would use it to change the way that we see people. 04:57.350 --> 05:01.337 [SPEAKER_01]: And God, I hope that in about 30 minutes from now. 05:01.317 --> 05:07.106 [SPEAKER_01]: The people in this room think differently and see people the way that you would see them. 05:07.146 --> 05:09.069 [SPEAKER_01]: So, Father, use this time. 05:09.109 --> 05:10.731 [SPEAKER_01]: Please, please bless us and teach us. 05:10.751 --> 05:12.934 [SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus name Amen. 05:12.954 --> 05:13.415 [SPEAKER_01]: Amen. 05:13.435 --> 05:13.736 [SPEAKER_01]: All right. 05:13.776 --> 05:17.381 [SPEAKER_01]: So, you can go ahead and if you've got your Bible with you, open up to Luke 15. 05:17.401 --> 05:20.726 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be in Luke 15 this morning. 05:20.746 --> 05:28.658 [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to read along and as we start to spend some time again, the video may be cute you and we're going into one of 05:28.638 --> 05:34.252 [SPEAKER_01]: The most arguably the most famous parable that Jesus ever taught. 05:34.272 --> 05:35.174 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one of the heavy hitters. 05:35.194 --> 05:37.981 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one of the ones that you imagine as Jesus is teaching it. 05:38.001 --> 05:39.424 [SPEAKER_01]: He's like, yeah, this one's making the book. 05:39.484 --> 05:40.828 [SPEAKER_01]: They're writing this one down. 05:40.848 --> 05:45.499 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one of the big ones that we now call the parable of the prodigal son. 05:45.715 --> 05:49.482 [SPEAKER_01]: But as we open up to this parable, we kind of have a question. 05:49.522 --> 05:53.128 [SPEAKER_01]: We want to see how we fit into this. 05:53.148 --> 05:56.133 [SPEAKER_01]: And that doesn't mean that we're going to take the story out of its context. 05:56.153 --> 06:07.032 [SPEAKER_01]: But it does mean that for you, I would ask you to ask to the same question that the crowd who's sitting around Jesus hearing this for the first time that they were asking. 06:07.653 --> 06:11.262 [SPEAKER_01]: Which is what is Jesus saying to me? 06:11.282 --> 06:12.907 [SPEAKER_01]: Where do I fit into this? 06:12.967 --> 06:15.453 [SPEAKER_01]: What is Jesus trying to show me? 06:15.473 --> 06:24.497 [SPEAKER_01]: And you'll see as we get into this parable and the ones proceeding it, that Jesus is kind of painting a picture of really two groups of people. 06:25.068 --> 06:31.234 [SPEAKER_01]: Coincidentally, there are two groups of people sitting right in front of Jesus as he says it. 06:31.254 --> 06:35.578 [SPEAKER_01]: But before we get there, I have something I learned really recently. 06:35.638 --> 06:38.000 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to know if any of you have heard this before. 06:38.040 --> 06:52.313 [SPEAKER_01]: So shout it out if you do, but apparently Americans, when we eat travel internationally, there's something that we do that everyone else, like before we've said a word or done anything, they look at us and they know that, yeah, that's an American. 06:52.333 --> 06:53.033 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you know what it is? 06:53.053 --> 06:53.674 [SPEAKER_01]: Shout it out. 06:54.650 --> 06:58.579 [SPEAKER_01]: Choose, that's a good guess. 06:58.599 --> 07:05.073 [SPEAKER_01]: We hold a door open, that's a good guess, what else? 07:05.093 --> 07:08.702 [SPEAKER_01]: Nice, that's an, what was that? 07:08.722 --> 07:10.245 [SPEAKER_01]: American lean, it's this. 07:11.069 --> 07:15.878 [SPEAKER_01]: This right here, apparently Americans do this and the rest of the world thinks we're crazy for it. 07:15.898 --> 07:18.082 [SPEAKER_01]: But Americans, we don't sit up straight. 07:18.102 --> 07:19.665 [SPEAKER_01]: We're always doing this. 07:19.685 --> 07:21.789 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, we got our foot up on a wall. 07:21.809 --> 07:28.502 [SPEAKER_01]: Before it, I would have thought it's like our volume or we're arrogant or, so there's different guesses for why we do this. 07:28.542 --> 07:33.972 [SPEAKER_01]: But we all like, when we've stood in a line for too long or if you stood in a queue in Europe, 07:33.952 --> 07:35.374 [SPEAKER_01]: We stand like this. 07:35.394 --> 07:38.938 [SPEAKER_01]: Some of the hunches are that maybe it has to do with our work culture. 07:38.958 --> 07:41.922 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, we don't want to be perceived as lazy, so we don't sit. 07:41.942 --> 07:49.793 [SPEAKER_01]: Some people think it's the exact opposite that because we don't have walkable cities, we're like, we just get tired easy, so we want to sit. 07:49.833 --> 07:52.596 [SPEAKER_01]: Whatever it is, there's this thing that we do. 07:52.636 --> 07:57.883 [SPEAKER_01]: We lean, and people know that's an American, before we've said anything. 07:58.471 --> 08:02.697 [SPEAKER_01]: The American Lean, and so the question I have for you is, we're going to Luke 15. 08:02.757 --> 08:11.088 [SPEAKER_01]: As we read this story and as I ask you, the same way that those hearing this parable for the very first time would have done, as you think, where am I in the story? 08:11.108 --> 08:13.391 [SPEAKER_01]: This is your question I want to open up with. 08:13.431 --> 08:15.834 [SPEAKER_01]: What is your Lean? 08:15.854 --> 08:27.870 [SPEAKER_01]: What's the thing that you can see in the story that you can look for to think, okay, this is where I fit in, this is what Jesus means by this, this is what it means for me, 08:28.778 --> 08:34.628 [SPEAKER_01]: So, verse 1, chapter 15, he paints the picture. 08:34.648 --> 08:40.278 [SPEAKER_01]: Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus preach. 08:40.298 --> 08:43.484 [SPEAKER_01]: Tax collectors and every other type of sin. 08:43.504 --> 08:45.848 [SPEAKER_01]: There's probably a political joke there. 08:45.908 --> 08:51.718 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to let you finish it. 08:51.798 --> 08:53.301 [SPEAKER_01]: Verse 2, 08:53.281 --> 08:59.629 [SPEAKER_01]: complaining that he was associating with such sinful people, even eating with them. 09:00.335 --> 09:03.039 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we already have the tension, right? 09:03.059 --> 09:08.247 [SPEAKER_01]: There are two camps, you have those who are in, and those who are out. 09:08.267 --> 09:19.403 [SPEAKER_01]: Those sinners who are actually seeking Jesus, they're actually coming to Him to hear from Him and the religious leaders who complain that Jesus would even associate with these people. 09:19.423 --> 09:20.545 [SPEAKER_01]: There's the tension. 09:20.565 --> 09:24.891 [SPEAKER_01]: So Jesus, seeing the tension, tells them this story. 09:25.512 --> 09:29.920 [SPEAKER_01]: If this is your first time in church, this is your 1000th time in church. 09:29.960 --> 09:32.905 [SPEAKER_01]: You've probably heard this story. 09:32.925 --> 09:37.112 [SPEAKER_01]: If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will he do? 09:37.152 --> 09:43.082 [SPEAKER_01]: Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 09:43.248 --> 09:54.924 [SPEAKER_01]: When he has found a he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders when he arrives he'll call together his friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me because I found my lost sheep in the same way. 09:54.944 --> 10:05.037 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over 99 others, who are righteous and haven't straightaway. 10:05.675 --> 10:08.518 [SPEAKER_01]: And now you may be thinking, okay, this is a different culture. 10:08.538 --> 10:12.323 [SPEAKER_01]: They are grayery in, like the sheep is worth a lot of money. 10:12.343 --> 10:16.268 [SPEAKER_01]: I get that throw in a party for the law. 10:16.288 --> 10:19.171 [SPEAKER_01]: She is a little dramatic, right? 10:19.191 --> 10:21.814 [SPEAKER_01]: We're maybe going a little overboard. 10:21.834 --> 10:25.118 [SPEAKER_01]: But that last verse, that's what makes all the difference. 10:25.138 --> 10:30.084 [SPEAKER_01]: There's more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God. 10:30.104 --> 10:33.268 [SPEAKER_01]: It's an over 99 others who are righteous and haven't strained away. 10:34.025 --> 10:36.652 [SPEAKER_01]: So you may not react that way. 10:36.672 --> 10:42.807 [SPEAKER_01]: You would probably find the sheep, you'd put it in its pen, maybe you'd say thank you to God for it, and then go on with your day. 10:43.228 --> 10:47.760 [SPEAKER_01]: You probably wouldn't throw a party. 10:47.780 --> 10:49.384 [SPEAKER_01]: But the father would. 10:51.676 --> 10:55.983 [SPEAKER_01]: And the Pharisees were reacted to that statement in disgust. 10:56.003 --> 10:58.907 [SPEAKER_01]: You're saying he has more joy for the sinner than for the righteous. 10:58.927 --> 11:01.131 [SPEAKER_01]: So, so God doesn't rejoice in my righteousness. 11:01.171 --> 11:02.813 [SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't matter at all. 11:02.833 --> 11:05.838 [SPEAKER_01]: The many of us can feel that same way. 11:05.858 --> 11:13.049 [SPEAKER_01]: We don't see ourselves as self-righteous, but neither did the Pharisees. 11:13.069 --> 11:18.898 [SPEAKER_01]: We don't see ourselves looking down on other people, but neither did the Pharisees. 11:20.684 --> 11:25.208 [SPEAKER_01]: So Jesus isn't saying here that God doesn't rejoice in righteousness. 11:25.228 --> 11:26.990 [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is the point. 11:27.010 --> 11:31.414 [SPEAKER_01]: Because especially for those of us that maybe you've known Jesus for a while. 11:31.434 --> 11:35.797 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you've been walking alongside him for a long time. 11:35.817 --> 11:41.022 [SPEAKER_01]: If you know the Father, you know the Father rejoices in righteousness. 11:41.042 --> 11:50.050 [SPEAKER_01]: How much more than is he telling you he rejoices in repentance? 11:50.907 --> 11:57.280 [SPEAKER_01]: And now the women who are probably on the fringe of this, they hear woman and they maybe sit up a little bit. 11:57.400 --> 12:00.927 [SPEAKER_01]: Imagine like their ears are perked up, they're where's he going with this? 12:00.947 --> 12:04.194 [SPEAKER_01]: Because women were kind of second-class citizens in this culture. 12:04.214 --> 12:05.857 [SPEAKER_01]: So he's crossing another boundary. 12:05.877 --> 12:07.039 [SPEAKER_01]: He's bringing them in. 12:07.200 --> 12:11.869 [SPEAKER_01]: He says they're supposed to woman, has 10 silver coins and loses one. 12:12.001 --> 12:17.569 [SPEAKER_01]: Once she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it, and when she finds it. 12:17.589 --> 12:22.897 [SPEAKER_01]: She will call in her friends and neighbors and save her joys with me, because I have found my lost coin. 12:22.917 --> 12:29.066 [SPEAKER_01]: In the same way, there is a joy in the presence of God's anger, banjoes, when even one sinner depends. 12:29.086 --> 12:33.433 [SPEAKER_01]: And all the women would have immediately understood what Jesus was talking about here. 12:33.473 --> 12:40.523 [SPEAKER_01]: These coins, these ten coins, were woven into the fabric of something called a bukaya. 12:40.790 --> 12:44.234 [SPEAKER_01]: It's this Hebrew headdress that's used in the engagement process. 12:44.254 --> 12:50.360 [SPEAKER_01]: It kind of symbolizes the exchange of wealth between the father and the soon to be husband. 12:50.380 --> 12:53.063 [SPEAKER_01]: You can think of it like a symbol of a dowry. 12:53.083 --> 12:55.786 [SPEAKER_01]: And the women would have all known what Jesus was talking about. 12:55.806 --> 12:59.330 [SPEAKER_01]: So for us today, what would that look like to lose a coin? 12:59.350 --> 13:05.937 [SPEAKER_01]: It might be like if you look down and you're engagement ring, the setting is empty. 13:06.136 --> 13:08.559 [SPEAKER_01]: You look down to like where did the diamond go? 13:08.580 --> 13:10.602 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, you probably tear the house up. 13:10.663 --> 13:12.445 [SPEAKER_01]: You wake up one day and that's empty. 13:12.485 --> 13:14.448 [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to pull up the carpet. 13:14.488 --> 13:15.229 [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to sweep. 13:15.249 --> 13:16.351 [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to move the couch. 13:16.371 --> 13:18.594 [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to undo the fitted sheets. 13:18.614 --> 13:20.657 [SPEAKER_01]: Even, you're going to check the sink drain. 13:20.677 --> 13:28.268 [SPEAKER_01]: And then when you finally find that diamond, you're going to have a party. 13:28.288 --> 13:29.089 [SPEAKER_01]: But then again, 13:30.672 --> 13:33.136 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you wouldn't have a party. 13:33.176 --> 13:34.979 [SPEAKER_01]: You might call your friends. 13:34.999 --> 13:37.182 [SPEAKER_01]: If you told your friends, oh my goodness, I lost the dime. 13:37.202 --> 13:38.704 [SPEAKER_01]: And you might call them and say, look what I found. 13:38.724 --> 13:43.091 [SPEAKER_01]: You might send them a picture with a diamond in your hand, right? 13:43.111 --> 13:47.117 [SPEAKER_01]: You probably wouldn't have a party. 13:47.137 --> 13:50.542 [SPEAKER_01]: But God would. 13:50.602 --> 13:52.746 [SPEAKER_01]: And now Jesus is looking around. 13:52.766 --> 13:55.390 [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe he sees some confusion. 13:55.410 --> 13:58.975 [SPEAKER_01]: He might even see some frustration from the Pharisees. 13:59.528 --> 14:09.983 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you see these people on both sides of this aisle, leaning in, thinking where is he going with this? 14:10.003 --> 14:14.670 [SPEAKER_01]: And to illustrate the point further, Jesus told him this story. 14:14.690 --> 14:22.161 [SPEAKER_01]: And here it is, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then a man had two sons. 14:22.985 --> 14:27.589 [SPEAKER_01]: The younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now before you die. 14:27.609 --> 14:31.213 [SPEAKER_01]: So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 14:31.233 --> 14:34.376 [SPEAKER_01]: And now this is a story that's been taught about as much as any other. 14:34.416 --> 14:36.458 [SPEAKER_01]: Many of us have heard it before. 14:36.498 --> 14:43.704 [SPEAKER_01]: Again, if you're not really around church often, you've likely heard at least bits and pieces of the story before. 14:43.724 --> 14:49.870 [SPEAKER_01]: But for those of us that may be having, the younger brother here is essentially looking the father in the face. 14:50.035 --> 14:54.510 [SPEAKER_01]: And saying, I'd be better off if you were dead. 14:54.550 --> 14:57.981 [SPEAKER_01]: So we just kind of pretend you're dead and fast forward. 14:58.001 --> 14:59.927 [SPEAKER_01]: So I can have your stuff. 15:00.194 --> 15:11.527 [SPEAKER_01]: And everyone hearing, I mean, the sinners and the religious people, they both would have heard this and understood the insult that that kind of a question would bring. 15:11.568 --> 15:14.511 [SPEAKER_01]: How absurd that moment would be. 15:14.531 --> 15:24.303 [SPEAKER_01]: They'd expect the Father to kick this unout to say, you're gone, you're not getting anything, given nothing, say, how dare you, you're no son of mine. 15:24.323 --> 15:28.007 [SPEAKER_01]: But instead, the Father obliges. 15:28.223 --> 15:31.987 [SPEAKER_01]: She divides the wealth, which wouldn't have been an easy task. 15:32.007 --> 15:39.616 [SPEAKER_01]: We're talking land, we're talking property, you're talking whatever cash he has, you're talking cattle, you're talking crops. 15:39.636 --> 15:44.862 [SPEAKER_01]: This would have been an endeavor to split everything down the middle for his two sons. 15:44.962 --> 15:47.665 [SPEAKER_01]: One pastor said it like this, I really enjoyed it. 15:47.685 --> 15:53.672 [SPEAKER_01]: The father even now, even in that moment, wanted his son to turn back. 15:53.692 --> 15:57.336 [SPEAKER_01]: And at this request, if the shortest path back, 15:57.468 --> 16:01.020 [SPEAKER_01]: Was to let his son go, and so be it. 16:01.040 --> 16:03.989 [SPEAKER_01]: So a few days later, this son packed all his belongings. 16:04.009 --> 16:08.524 [SPEAKER_01]: He moves to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 16:08.858 --> 16:19.916 [SPEAKER_01]: So you get the image that the sun not only took all this stuff, but he then, he liquidates, sells it all, he wants cash, and he goes to Vegas and blows it, right? 16:19.936 --> 16:35.862 [SPEAKER_01]: So what that means for the father is, you split your wealth in half, and this thing that you've grown, this business, or this land that you've worked hard to cultivate, it's not just like the family business has gone to the sun, it's like it's gone. 16:35.842 --> 16:37.905 [SPEAKER_01]: The property has vanished. 16:37.945 --> 16:41.209 [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't exist anymore. 16:41.289 --> 16:44.653 [SPEAKER_01]: And about that time, his money ran out. 16:44.673 --> 16:48.098 [SPEAKER_01]: A great fame and swept over the land he began to starve. 16:48.118 --> 16:56.128 [SPEAKER_01]: He persuaded a local farmer to hire him and the man sent him into the fields to feed the pigs. 16:56.148 --> 17:01.275 [SPEAKER_01]: And once again, everyone listening would have understood the implication of that. 17:01.728 --> 17:10.716 [SPEAKER_01]: He's now not only separated from his father, he hasn't just lost the wealth, he's not just separated from his family, but he's now ceremonially unclean as well. 17:10.736 --> 17:15.259 [SPEAKER_01]: He's now separated from temple worship. 17:15.279 --> 17:23.647 [SPEAKER_01]: The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave him anything. 17:23.667 --> 17:31.313 [SPEAKER_01]: When he finally came to a senses, he said to himself, at home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare and hear 17:31.495 --> 17:35.620 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll go home to my father and say, and here's the speech. 17:35.680 --> 17:40.466 [SPEAKER_01]: Father, I send against both heaven and you, and I'm no longer worthy of being called your son. 17:40.486 --> 17:42.789 [SPEAKER_01]: Please take me on as a hired servant. 17:42.809 --> 17:47.656 [SPEAKER_01]: He prepares the speech, he knows his only option is to tut-tale and run. 17:47.736 --> 17:50.499 [SPEAKER_01]: And I want you to understand the gravity of this. 17:50.539 --> 17:53.503 [SPEAKER_01]: I understand the economics of this. 17:53.753 --> 18:03.408 [SPEAKER_01]: The sun is telling the father that I want to come back in the half that I left you, live off it again. 18:03.488 --> 18:05.091 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what he's asking. 18:05.111 --> 18:12.923 [SPEAKER_01]: Not just you take care of me, but can you take care of me again with the half that I left you and my brother? 18:12.943 --> 18:20.875 [SPEAKER_01]: So he prepares the speech, he has no clue how his father is going to take it, how he's going to respond, so he returned home to his father. 18:21.091 --> 18:24.036 [SPEAKER_01]: And if you've heard the story, this is the part where the music picks up, right? 18:24.056 --> 18:26.179 [SPEAKER_01]: And the cameras go slow motion. 18:26.199 --> 18:31.087 [SPEAKER_01]: And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming, filled with love and compassion. 18:31.127 --> 18:35.274 [SPEAKER_01]: He ran to his son and braced him and kissed him. 18:35.294 --> 18:37.257 [SPEAKER_01]: ceremonially unclean. 18:37.277 --> 18:43.588 [SPEAKER_01]: The stench of pigs and dirt still on him, but the father is filled with love and compassion. 18:43.608 --> 18:44.449 [SPEAKER_01]: And he kisses him. 18:45.644 --> 18:50.691 [SPEAKER_01]: Son said to him father of syndicants both heaven and you, and I'm no longer being worthy. 18:50.771 --> 18:56.319 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm no longer worthy being called your son and in our most reliable manuscripts, it actually stops there. 18:56.339 --> 19:09.258 [SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't even get the chance to ask to be a servant before the father stops him and says, quick, bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. 19:09.278 --> 19:13.744 [SPEAKER_01]: Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet and the imagery is clear. 19:14.163 --> 19:16.065 [SPEAKER_01]: He's not just saying, you're back. 19:16.085 --> 19:17.807 [SPEAKER_01]: He's not just saying, you can be a servant. 19:17.847 --> 19:21.831 [SPEAKER_01]: He's saying, you are my son. 19:21.851 --> 19:33.404 [SPEAKER_01]: That ring tells you not marked by the sin, not marked by what you've done, not marked by your mistake, but marked by the fathers love for him. 19:33.424 --> 19:36.408 [SPEAKER_01]: You are my son. 19:36.428 --> 19:37.168 [SPEAKER_01]: Kill the calf. 19:37.208 --> 19:37.869 [SPEAKER_01]: We've been fattening. 19:37.949 --> 19:44.136 [SPEAKER_01]: We must celebrate with a feast for this son of mine 19:44.251 --> 19:48.435 [SPEAKER_01]: He was lost, but now he's found. 19:48.455 --> 19:52.178 [SPEAKER_01]: So the party began. 19:52.238 --> 19:59.125 [SPEAKER_01]: You may not have thrown a party, but the father does. 19:59.165 --> 20:02.628 [SPEAKER_01]: For many of us, the story could end right there. 20:02.648 --> 20:03.469 [SPEAKER_01]: It's beautiful. 20:03.509 --> 20:05.791 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you were the prodigal. 20:05.831 --> 20:09.254 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe today you know a prodigal. 20:09.274 --> 20:13.498 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe today you are the prodigal. 20:14.103 --> 20:17.908 [SPEAKER_01]: that the Father is looking at you and wanting you to come back home. 20:17.928 --> 20:19.189 [SPEAKER_01]: That the Father still loves you. 20:19.209 --> 20:21.872 [SPEAKER_01]: He's not looking at you with condemnation. 20:21.892 --> 20:29.502 [SPEAKER_01]: He wants to embrace you, a Father that wants to see you come home, a Father that's full of love and compassion. 20:29.522 --> 20:39.013 [SPEAKER_01]: But for many others of us, especially those of us who have maybe known Jesus a long time, for us, the story continues. 20:40.040 --> 20:50.532 [SPEAKER_01]: You can imagine again the crowd of sinners and religious people and how either of them play out the side-general mind, how either of them taking the story at this point. 20:50.552 --> 20:51.794 [SPEAKER_01]: What are they hearing? 20:51.834 --> 20:53.736 [SPEAKER_01]: What are they hearing about the people across from them? 20:53.776 --> 20:55.919 [SPEAKER_01]: What are they hearing about themselves? 20:55.939 --> 21:00.784 [SPEAKER_01]: What are their perspectives and how does it shape how they've heard this story? 21:00.804 --> 21:09.895 [SPEAKER_01]: Because then Jesus does it again and he introduces that second brother from earlier. 21:10.853 --> 21:16.160 [SPEAKER_01]: When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 21:16.200 --> 21:18.724 [SPEAKER_01]: Your brother is back, he was told. 21:18.744 --> 21:20.887 [SPEAKER_01]: And your father has killed the fattened calf. 21:20.927 --> 21:25.453 [SPEAKER_01]: We are celebrating because of his say for a turn. 21:25.473 --> 21:30.279 [SPEAKER_01]: But the older brother hadn't seen the father's response. 21:30.299 --> 21:36.748 [SPEAKER_01]: The older brother didn't know his brother has returned because he was out in the field working. 21:36.768 --> 21:40.253 [SPEAKER_01]: No one even came to tell him that his brother was back. 21:41.245 --> 21:43.548 [SPEAKER_01]: He's out here doing what he's supposed to do. 21:43.588 --> 21:47.935 [SPEAKER_01]: And he feels like the father doesn't even care about him. 21:47.975 --> 21:50.678 [SPEAKER_01]: Imagine being in that moment. 21:50.699 --> 21:53.603 [SPEAKER_01]: You're like, my brother's back. 21:53.703 --> 21:57.548 [SPEAKER_01]: And he didn't even tell me. 21:57.568 --> 22:02.055 [SPEAKER_01]: And so he responds the way that I think any of us would respond. 22:02.075 --> 22:05.059 [SPEAKER_01]: The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. 22:06.035 --> 22:23.679 [SPEAKER_01]: His father came out and begged him, but he replied, all these years, I've slaved for you, and never once, refused to do a single thing and in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 22:23.719 --> 22:28.465 [SPEAKER_01]: Yet this son of yours, not his brother. 22:30.385 --> 22:36.395 [SPEAKER_01]: This son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes. 22:36.435 --> 22:39.901 [SPEAKER_01]: You celebrate by killing the fatten calf. 22:39.921 --> 22:47.774 [SPEAKER_01]: I think if we're honest, especially those of us who have known Jesus a while, we would react the exact same way. 22:47.794 --> 22:50.719 [SPEAKER_01]: He feels left behind while his brother was given a party. 22:50.739 --> 22:52.883 [SPEAKER_01]: He had done everything right. 22:53.183 --> 22:55.386 [SPEAKER_01]: And got nothing for it. 22:55.406 --> 23:00.814 [SPEAKER_01]: He feels like his brother's recklessness is being repaid while his righteousness wasn't even acknowledge. 23:00.834 --> 23:03.217 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what he's feeling. 23:03.237 --> 23:08.104 [SPEAKER_01]: But the father's response, this moment shows everything. 23:08.124 --> 23:14.492 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're the older brother or if you're the younger brother, this is what your father thinks of you. 23:14.512 --> 23:21.402 [SPEAKER_01]: His father said to him, look, dear son, you've always stayed by me and everything I have is yours. 23:21.500 --> 23:29.410 [SPEAKER_01]: We had to celebrate this happy day for your brother was dead and has come back to life. 23:29.430 --> 23:34.176 [SPEAKER_01]: He was lost but now he is found. 23:34.236 --> 23:39.022 [SPEAKER_01]: We can't begin to fathom the love of the Father. 23:39.042 --> 23:45.951 [SPEAKER_01]: No mention of his sin, no mention of the wrongdoing, no mention of the money or the cost. 23:45.971 --> 23:48.114 [SPEAKER_01]: His son was dead. 23:48.134 --> 23:49.195 [SPEAKER_01]: And now he's alive. 23:51.031 --> 23:58.181 [SPEAKER_01]: He was lost, and I didn't know if he was going to come back. 23:58.201 --> 24:04.170 [SPEAKER_01]: Those of you who maybe you have someone in your life who fits this description, you may be feeling the same thing. 24:04.190 --> 24:05.812 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know if they were going to come back. 24:05.832 --> 24:07.715 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know how it was going to work itself out. 24:07.735 --> 24:10.359 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know if the relationship was going to get better. 24:10.379 --> 24:12.441 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know if things would ever improve. 24:12.462 --> 24:17.188 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know if they were alive. 24:17.228 --> 24:19.131 [SPEAKER_01]: They were dead, but now they're alive. 24:21.676 --> 24:23.558 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know if I'd ever get back to where we were. 24:23.578 --> 24:25.159 [SPEAKER_01]: He was lost but son. 24:25.220 --> 24:30.345 [SPEAKER_01]: Your brother has been found. 24:30.365 --> 24:33.808 [SPEAKER_01]: That's where Jesus ends the peril. 24:33.828 --> 24:37.011 [SPEAKER_01]: That's the end. 24:37.031 --> 24:41.896 [SPEAKER_01]: And I wonder if to the Pharisees in the crowd. 24:41.916 --> 24:44.639 [SPEAKER_01]: And to us today in this crap. 24:44.659 --> 24:46.941 [SPEAKER_01]: If Jesus isn't posing a question, 24:48.305 --> 25:01.891 [SPEAKER_01]: that if you find yourself in the position of the older brother, if you know Jesus, if you know the love of your father, will you join the party, or will you stay outside? 25:01.911 --> 25:05.638 [SPEAKER_01]: Your father wants you to join, and you know why? 25:06.057 --> 25:08.680 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you know why the father says that you should celebrate? 25:08.700 --> 25:17.650 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter who the prodigal is, no matter what they've done, no matter where they've been, no matter what label or description they fit. 25:17.670 --> 25:24.217 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter what or who the prodigal is, do you know why your father wants to celebrate when they come back home? 25:24.237 --> 25:30.204 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you know why your father wants you to celebrate when they come back home? 25:30.224 --> 25:33.668 [SPEAKER_01]: She comes no matter who they are, no matter what they've done. 25:35.268 --> 25:48.603 [SPEAKER_01]: They are your brother, they are your sister and their lost and your father wants them to be found. 25:48.623 --> 25:51.926 [SPEAKER_01]: That's why we celebrate. 25:51.946 --> 25:55.450 [SPEAKER_01]: If it's not personal yet, let's try to make it personal. 25:55.490 --> 26:02.338 [SPEAKER_01]: Both sons want the things of the father without the father himself. 26:03.584 --> 26:05.367 [SPEAKER_01]: They're both doing the same thing. 26:05.467 --> 26:08.172 [SPEAKER_01]: One of them's a little bit trickier about it. 26:08.192 --> 26:09.835 [SPEAKER_01]: Because one, he takes the father's wealth. 26:09.875 --> 26:10.436 [SPEAKER_01]: He squawneres it. 26:10.456 --> 26:12.840 [SPEAKER_01]: He wants the father saying he doesn't care about the father. 26:12.860 --> 26:24.119 [SPEAKER_01]: But the other, the danger for many of us, the pitfall, is to become not righteous but self-righteous. 26:24.139 --> 26:26.884 [SPEAKER_01]: And you see it in the way the father of the son responds to the father. 26:26.904 --> 26:29.288 [SPEAKER_01]: He says, I've done all this. 26:29.605 --> 26:31.147 [SPEAKER_01]: I've never messed up. 26:31.288 --> 26:33.611 [SPEAKER_01]: I did what I was supposed to do. 26:33.651 --> 26:36.376 [SPEAKER_01]: Why don't I get a reward? 26:36.396 --> 26:38.799 [SPEAKER_01]: And what does the Father tell him? 26:38.819 --> 26:42.365 [SPEAKER_01]: Everything I have is yours. 26:42.385 --> 26:43.026 [SPEAKER_01]: Are we living? 26:43.046 --> 26:47.072 [SPEAKER_01]: Like everything he has is ours. 26:47.092 --> 26:57.148 [SPEAKER_01]: If we follow in our inner, a lot of times we live, like if we follow in obedience, if we're a good Christian, if we're living in comfort, then God will keep us comfortable. 26:57.938 --> 27:08.150 [SPEAKER_01]: that if we do the things we're supposed to do, that God will keep his end of the bargain and will have a good, comfortable life, and we end up feeling like we deserve it. 27:08.170 --> 27:16.820 [SPEAKER_01]: And ultimately, the danger is to look down on someone else because maybe they don't deserve it. 27:16.840 --> 27:25.009 [SPEAKER_01]: We separate ourselves from the sheep and the coin and the sun that's lost because of the good that we do. 27:25.883 --> 27:28.846 [SPEAKER_01]: And we lose side of the good that our father has done. 27:28.866 --> 27:32.509 [SPEAKER_01]: The love that was shown to us. 27:32.529 --> 27:34.211 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's the sin, that's the tragedy. 27:34.231 --> 27:39.937 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not just that the older brother looks down on his younger brother. 27:39.957 --> 27:51.207 [SPEAKER_01]: The real sin is that he doesn't look at his younger brother the way that the father has looked at him, that he separated his good deeds from the love that the father has shown him. 27:51.227 --> 27:53.950 [SPEAKER_01]: He was righteous, but self-righteous. 27:54.284 --> 28:02.045 [SPEAKER_01]: He had the things of the Father, without the heart of the Father. 28:02.065 --> 28:10.487 [SPEAKER_01]: Tim Keller says it like this, most of us think that God wants good people, but Jesus shows us that God wants new people. 28:13.977 --> 28:23.811 [SPEAKER_01]: This is something I wasn't planning on discussing in this message, but as we talked with the other pastors, and we kind of helped each other build these messages, it came up that I want to clarify this. 28:23.871 --> 28:25.013 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to be crystal clear. 28:25.033 --> 28:27.537 [SPEAKER_01]: So you're going to learn a little theology word for you. 28:27.557 --> 28:30.762 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're writing this down, it's worth 15 points in scrabble. 28:30.782 --> 28:33.025 [SPEAKER_01]: The word is satiriology. 28:33.045 --> 28:35.509 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's the study of salvation. 28:35.529 --> 28:43.360 [SPEAKER_01]: So as we talk about loving others and believing in God and which is more important, which one do I need to focus on? 28:44.032 --> 28:48.638 [SPEAKER_01]: I just want to start here as a foundation. 28:48.658 --> 28:50.200 [SPEAKER_01]: This is from the Protestant Reformation. 28:50.220 --> 28:52.323 [SPEAKER_01]: It's called the Solas. 28:52.343 --> 28:59.872 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is how we understand our salvation ever since then by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 28:59.892 --> 29:06.040 [SPEAKER_01]: By grace alone, not because we deserved it, but because we didn't deserve it, and God gave His Son anyway. 29:07.235 --> 29:18.469 [SPEAKER_01]: Through faith alone, not by anything you've done or can do, not by anything I've done or can do, but by accepting who God is and the work that He has already done. 29:18.489 --> 29:35.571 [SPEAKER_01]: And in Christ alone, that our God's work was completed on the cross, in the Godband Jesus Christ, that by no other name can we be saved, that through His life, His death, His resurrection alone, we've been made right with the Father, and we can be made new, 29:36.715 --> 29:41.562 [SPEAKER_01]: So what does that mean for our story? 29:41.582 --> 29:47.249 [SPEAKER_01]: What does that mean for how we look at the law sheep or the law son? 29:47.270 --> 29:49.833 [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is what it means for you. 29:49.853 --> 29:54.820 [SPEAKER_01]: True belief leads to true love. 29:54.880 --> 30:00.748 [SPEAKER_01]: Not that one is more important, but that one in a sense precedes the other. 30:01.505 --> 30:09.457 [SPEAKER_01]: that true belief in God, knowing who your father is and what he's done for you, who Christ is and why he would go to the cross. 30:09.477 --> 30:18.130 [SPEAKER_01]: When you know that, when you accept that, you will then live out of that, the true love that Jesus is calling you to. 30:18.151 --> 30:20.494 [SPEAKER_01]: We don't love so we can receive something from the Father. 30:20.534 --> 30:25.322 [SPEAKER_01]: We love because we have received something from the Father. 30:25.342 --> 30:30.229 [SPEAKER_01]: We give the love that was given to us, 30:31.205 --> 30:36.533 [SPEAKER_01]: In the story of the prodigal son ends with that decision, will you love the way the father loves? 30:36.553 --> 30:41.761 [SPEAKER_01]: Because of who he is and what he has given to you? 30:41.782 --> 30:44.566 [SPEAKER_01]: Will you let the love, this is from our pastor Kyle. 30:44.586 --> 30:46.649 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not smart enough to come up with this. 30:46.669 --> 30:51.837 [SPEAKER_01]: But will you let the love that's come to you flow through you? 30:51.857 --> 30:56.665 [SPEAKER_01]: Will you let the love that was shown to you by the father flow through you? 30:56.685 --> 30:58.748 [SPEAKER_01]: To the law sheep who he wants to come back? 31:00.382 --> 31:06.670 [SPEAKER_01]: This is why that foundational statement of my grace at loan through faith alone and Christ alone is so important. 31:06.690 --> 31:12.258 [SPEAKER_01]: Because it is more important that we show love or that we have faith. 31:12.278 --> 31:17.524 [SPEAKER_01]: I believe James, the brother of Jesus, would actually take that question and he turns it on its head. 31:17.584 --> 31:21.369 [SPEAKER_01]: James 214, what good is it dear brothers and sisters? 31:21.389 --> 31:27.958 [SPEAKER_01]: If you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions, can that kind of faith save anyone? 31:29.423 --> 31:32.447 [SPEAKER_01]: Someone in the room needs to hear that. 31:32.467 --> 31:35.691 [SPEAKER_01]: This is our call to repent. 31:35.731 --> 31:46.145 [SPEAKER_01]: If you relate to the older brother, do you have a faith, a faith that stays in your heart rather than moving to your hands and your feet? 31:46.165 --> 31:49.750 [SPEAKER_01]: A faith that's up here without being out there. 31:49.770 --> 31:57.760 [SPEAKER_01]: Because James is saying here, that faith, it won't save you. 32:00.524 --> 32:06.090 [SPEAKER_01]: James 217, so you see, faith by itself isn't enough. 32:06.151 --> 32:13.299 [SPEAKER_01]: Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 32:13.319 --> 32:16.122 [SPEAKER_01]: Spoke to pastor Andrew this week. 32:16.162 --> 32:20.567 [SPEAKER_01]: Very wise, he helped me, we talked for a while and he helped me kind of chew on this. 32:20.587 --> 32:24.712 [SPEAKER_01]: Try to try to get to what's the heart of this. 32:24.772 --> 32:28.236 [SPEAKER_01]: Help me understand what James is saying here, all timidly. 32:28.840 --> 32:32.804 [SPEAKER_01]: is that you can't separate faith and belief. 32:32.824 --> 32:36.327 [SPEAKER_01]: You can't separate faith and actions. 32:36.347 --> 32:39.771 [SPEAKER_01]: They have to be connected because they flow from each other. 32:39.791 --> 32:42.634 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the difference, Andrew said. 32:42.654 --> 32:46.257 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the difference between knowledge and belief. 32:46.277 --> 32:58.189 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the difference between knowing it or believing it, because true belief, when you know who got it, when you know what he's done for you, that's what leads us into the love that he calls us to. 32:59.587 --> 33:03.572 [SPEAKER_01]: You can't divorce the two, you can't have one without the other. 33:03.592 --> 33:10.600 [SPEAKER_01]: But what that means is that if you relate to the older brother, it's not enough to say we love those people. 33:10.620 --> 33:24.436 [SPEAKER_01]: Whoever those people might be to you, the people that you'd rather not interact with, the people that you'd rather not touch, the people that you'd rather keep at an arms distance, it means you can't love them from an arms distance. 33:24.456 --> 33:27.079 [SPEAKER_01]: We can't say we love people, 33:28.105 --> 33:35.816 [SPEAKER_01]: If we don't actually go and love people, it's not enough for it to be up here. 33:35.836 --> 33:38.600 [SPEAKER_01]: It has to be in your hands and in your feet. 33:38.620 --> 33:42.286 [SPEAKER_01]: I love that scene and I love that's felt. 33:42.306 --> 33:47.193 [SPEAKER_01]: So like just recently, I was getting to tattoo and my tattoo artist. 33:47.233 --> 33:52.080 [SPEAKER_01]: I've talked in before, and the first time I went to and he asked me, yeah, so what do you do for work? 33:52.120 --> 33:55.024 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, I'm a youth pastor, and he said, cool, we're gonna stop talking. 33:56.152 --> 34:01.397 [SPEAKER_01]: Second time, I go to him and he actually asked me this time. 34:01.417 --> 34:02.458 [SPEAKER_01]: So what do you do for work again? 34:02.478 --> 34:04.920 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, yeah, I'm a youth pastor. 34:04.980 --> 34:07.723 [SPEAKER_01]: And he goes, tell me more about that. 34:07.743 --> 34:11.787 [SPEAKER_01]: And at first, he was kind of thinking like, what does that look like as a job? 34:11.807 --> 34:13.348 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, do you work three hours a week? 34:13.368 --> 34:15.190 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, no, I have an office. 34:15.250 --> 34:16.892 [SPEAKER_01]: I have, I do stuff. 34:17.012 --> 34:18.033 [SPEAKER_01]: I respond to emails. 34:19.214 --> 34:22.137 [SPEAKER_01]: And he's like, OK, so like, what do you do with the students? 34:22.157 --> 34:25.720 [SPEAKER_01]: And we talk, we talk, and over like three hours 34:26.257 --> 34:38.962 [SPEAKER_01]: He ends up telling me that he has a history with religion, that in his past, he's had a bad experience to make him not really want anything to do with Jesus. 34:38.982 --> 34:44.873 [SPEAKER_01]: And so in this three-hour conversation, just answering questions, again, to talk to this guy, it was awesome. 34:45.578 --> 34:49.523 [SPEAKER_01]: I ended up at some point asking, like, do you know what Jesus says? 34:49.543 --> 34:52.146 [SPEAKER_01]: A Christian should be known by. 34:52.186 --> 34:55.490 [SPEAKER_01]: How should people know that you're a Christian? 34:55.510 --> 34:59.214 [SPEAKER_01]: And he says, I don't know, probably something like believing in Jesus. 34:59.234 --> 35:00.376 [SPEAKER_01]: You got to know the right stuff. 35:00.396 --> 35:01.577 [SPEAKER_01]: You've been baptized. 35:01.597 --> 35:04.981 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, no, it's actually, it's pretty cool. 35:05.001 --> 35:09.647 [SPEAKER_01]: He says that we should be known by our love for one another. 35:09.667 --> 35:11.990 [SPEAKER_01]: John 1334 through 35. 35:12.030 --> 35:14.092 [SPEAKER_01]: A new command I give you. 35:14.132 --> 35:14.893 [SPEAKER_01]: Love one another. 35:15.717 --> 35:18.800 [SPEAKER_01]: As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35:18.840 --> 35:25.706 [SPEAKER_01]: By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. 35:25.726 --> 35:32.652 [SPEAKER_01]: Above any and everything else, that's how we're meant to be known to a world that's looking at us. 35:32.712 --> 35:38.797 [SPEAKER_01]: That's how they're going to see the Savior through the way that we love one another. 35:38.837 --> 35:44.442 [SPEAKER_01]: So to answer a question that I posed earlier, 35:45.687 --> 35:51.996 [SPEAKER_01]: Our lean is love, that's what makes us stand out, that's how they know. 35:52.036 --> 35:54.560 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe there is something that Jesus. 35:54.580 --> 35:59.066 [SPEAKER_01]: And do you remember the first time that you heard about a God who loved you? 35:59.086 --> 36:04.714 [SPEAKER_01]: A God who would step down from heaven, who would go to a cross to make a way for you? 36:04.734 --> 36:08.960 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you remember what it felt like the first time you learned that they got of the universe? 36:09.000 --> 36:11.063 [SPEAKER_01]: Love drew that much. 36:11.123 --> 36:14.007 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I got to see it, maybe for the first time. 36:14.172 --> 36:22.546 [SPEAKER_01]: In this tattoo artist, hearing that that's a different Jesus than I've heard about before. 36:22.566 --> 36:28.816 [SPEAKER_01]: A God that loves, a God that isn't looking at you with condemnation, but wanting to embrace you. 36:28.836 --> 36:31.641 [SPEAKER_01]: That's a different gospel than a lot of people have heard. 36:32.903 --> 36:38.429 [SPEAKER_01]: So this verse, I'm going to mention, it's probably when I preach on more than anything. 36:38.469 --> 36:41.093 [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I probably go to it too much. 36:41.233 --> 36:45.117 [SPEAKER_01]: I've taught it so many times on this stage, but I want to do it one more time. 36:45.137 --> 36:53.167 [SPEAKER_01]: Y'all Romans 5, a God demonstrates His own love for us in this while we were still sinners. 36:53.187 --> 36:54.929 [SPEAKER_01]: Christ died for us. 36:54.949 --> 37:00.235 [SPEAKER_01]: While you were still the prodigal, while you were still the lost sheep, while you were still a lost coin. 37:00.315 --> 37:02.117 [SPEAKER_01]: That's when Jesus died for you. 37:03.515 --> 37:06.579 [SPEAKER_01]: And he died for the people who are still wandering. 37:06.659 --> 37:08.701 [SPEAKER_01]: That when he died for you. 37:08.721 --> 37:14.167 [SPEAKER_01]: Not because you'd done anything to earn it, because you couldn't do anything to earn it. 37:14.187 --> 37:25.340 [SPEAKER_01]: And so the older brother, he has the same response that many of those who stand before Jesus and say, Lord, Lord, didn't I do all these things for you? 37:25.360 --> 37:28.003 [SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus tells him, I never knew you. 37:29.435 --> 37:32.238 [SPEAKER_01]: But I did all the right stuff. 37:32.338 --> 37:33.319 [SPEAKER_01]: I never messed up. 37:33.399 --> 37:34.821 [SPEAKER_01]: I always followed. 37:34.841 --> 37:37.744 [SPEAKER_01]: He's like, but you didn't know me. 37:37.764 --> 37:40.386 [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't know you. 37:40.406 --> 37:45.011 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is the call to love one another as Jesus loved us. 37:45.071 --> 37:50.417 [SPEAKER_01]: A love that came to us goes through us, to love our brother as the Father has loved us. 37:50.437 --> 37:56.623 [SPEAKER_01]: To love a world that's far from God, so that by His love, given to you, 37:58.088 --> 38:04.478 [SPEAKER_01]: By his love, given to you and flowing through you, that world might come closer than him. 38:04.498 --> 38:08.804 [SPEAKER_01]: That while we were still sinners, he'd already built the road back. 38:08.824 --> 38:23.286 [SPEAKER_01]: And so if you played no part in your salvation, if you were a lost sheep, we can't look down on a brother who is still lost because we've been found. 38:23.306 --> 38:26.290 [SPEAKER_01]: Self-righteousness must die. 38:28.666 --> 38:35.055 [SPEAKER_01]: You aren't more valuable than the lost person, because of the good that you do. 38:35.075 --> 38:40.723 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what the Pharisees thought, and it led many of them to hell. 38:40.743 --> 38:48.034 [SPEAKER_01]: While you were still a sinner, Christ died for you, that made you right. 38:48.054 --> 38:52.540 [SPEAKER_01]: So for about five years now, I've had this verse on my resume. 38:52.620 --> 38:58.048 [SPEAKER_01]: Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth. 38:58.518 --> 39:10.170 [SPEAKER_01]: Not just with our mouths, but with our hands and our feet that we actually go love the people who may be up to this point, we've kept at norms like that we love those people. 39:10.190 --> 39:17.198 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the people who make it easy, not the people who look or talk or think or act or vote like we do. 39:17.218 --> 39:22.483 [SPEAKER_01]: But the people who don't because God loves them and he wants them to come back. 39:23.172 --> 39:27.740 [SPEAKER_01]: In the same way as a younger son, the call of the father to his older son isn't condemnation. 39:27.760 --> 39:38.959 [SPEAKER_01]: It's an invitation to join the party, to love the way that he loves, to see people, the way that you're heavenly Father sees people. 39:38.979 --> 39:48.015 [SPEAKER_01]: So if we strip away the labels, and you strip away the rhetoric, and you see the person across from you no matter what they've done, no matter where they've been, no matter who they are. 39:48.772 --> 40:04.944 [SPEAKER_01]: And you see them as someone made in the image of God, who has a story, who's been through things that you don't know, who had a life that got them to where they are, and you see that person as someone lost, whose father wants them to be found. 40:04.964 --> 40:09.413 [SPEAKER_01]: You'll begin to see them within ounce of the love that your father has shown you. 40:11.333 --> 40:15.980 [SPEAKER_01]: Love one another can't be an idea of loving someone far off. 40:16.000 --> 40:19.364 [SPEAKER_01]: It has to be real and felt and seen. 40:19.404 --> 40:26.895 [SPEAKER_01]: A real love, Love one another can exist in the ether. 40:26.915 --> 40:31.441 [SPEAKER_01]: It has to exist out there and in here. 40:31.461 --> 40:41.155 [SPEAKER_01]: Feed up to hit the ground and hands have to reach out and people have to feel and see the real love that our father has given to us. 40:42.097 --> 40:46.424 [SPEAKER_01]: Those people do not exist. 40:46.444 --> 40:53.155 [SPEAKER_01]: Those people do not exist in the kingdom of God. 40:53.175 --> 40:54.296 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't say this, flippantly. 40:54.377 --> 40:58.703 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't say this with an ounce of humor or irony. 40:58.723 --> 41:02.429 [SPEAKER_01]: This is the best way I can find to say this. 41:02.449 --> 41:06.636 [SPEAKER_01]: For the love of God, love people who are different than you. 41:07.915 --> 41:12.943 [SPEAKER_01]: For the love of God, the love that was given to you. 41:12.963 --> 41:18.451 [SPEAKER_01]: For that reason, go love people who are still far off. 41:18.471 --> 41:22.517 [SPEAKER_01]: Go love people who are still wandering, people who disagree with you. 41:22.537 --> 41:26.443 [SPEAKER_01]: People who don't look like you, people who don't act like you. 41:26.463 --> 41:30.089 [SPEAKER_01]: You can't divorce the love of God from the character of God. 41:30.109 --> 41:36.859 [SPEAKER_01]: You can't outgrow or outeducate or outintellect or out mature or grow beyond the love of God. 41:37.328 --> 41:42.054 [SPEAKER_01]: That that is what he wants you to show. 41:42.074 --> 41:45.739 [SPEAKER_01]: So what do we do? 41:45.759 --> 41:48.864 [SPEAKER_01]: What do we do? 41:48.884 --> 41:51.828 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's a start. 41:51.848 --> 41:55.913 [SPEAKER_01]: Go make friends you disagree with. 41:55.933 --> 42:07.048 [SPEAKER_01]: Go make friends who don't believe what you believe who don't see the world the way you see it who haven't lived the life that you've lived. 42:08.429 --> 42:10.292 [SPEAKER_01]: For some of us, that's a hard question. 42:10.332 --> 42:13.697 [SPEAKER_01]: Some of them, I feel working in a church if I can be transparent. 42:13.737 --> 42:16.822 [SPEAKER_01]: My co-workers are Christians. 42:16.842 --> 42:19.806 [SPEAKER_01]: I get to surround myself with Christians and the communities amazing. 42:19.846 --> 42:21.549 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not a bad thing. 42:21.569 --> 42:32.466 [SPEAKER_01]: But how many of my people, how many of my friends, how much of my community outside of here, looks and thinks and acts the way that I do. 42:32.486 --> 42:37.373 [SPEAKER_01]: For all of us, how many of the people in your life look and think and act the way that you do? 42:41.285 --> 42:48.559 [SPEAKER_01]: Make friends you disagree with, grow and build and strengthen relationships with people who live radically different lives than you. 42:48.579 --> 42:52.507 [SPEAKER_01]: Because what if this is my dream? 42:52.527 --> 42:54.551 [SPEAKER_01]: What if insane Lewis? 42:54.571 --> 42:59.801 [SPEAKER_01]: When people heard the name first free, they know that's that church that loves people. 42:59.822 --> 43:01.605 [SPEAKER_01]: What if that's what this place was known for? 43:02.547 --> 43:06.751 [SPEAKER_01]: What if people heard first free and they said, yeah, maybe I don't believe everything they believe. 43:06.771 --> 43:09.093 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I'm not sure about Jesus yet. 43:09.153 --> 43:15.259 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure about everything they teach, but they love people really, really well. 43:15.319 --> 43:17.601 [SPEAKER_01]: What if that's what we were known for? 43:17.621 --> 43:19.623 [SPEAKER_01]: What would it lead this place to look like? 43:19.643 --> 43:22.646 [SPEAKER_01]: How would it change this place? 43:22.686 --> 43:24.868 [SPEAKER_01]: How would it change you? 43:24.888 --> 43:28.952 [SPEAKER_01]: What does love require? 43:28.972 --> 43:32.115 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's some good first steps. 43:33.175 --> 43:53.155 [SPEAKER_01]: If someone's been on your mind through this message, if God's put someone on your heart, if there's someone who you've been thinking of, if there's a prodigal or a lost sheep that's been on your heart reach out, maybe before you leave this building, make a call, shoot a text, say hi to that person you haven't said hi to in a while. 43:53.175 --> 43:58.000 [SPEAKER_01]: Reach out to someone who is far from God. 43:58.020 --> 44:00.803 [SPEAKER_01]: And then second, we have to go out. 44:01.880 --> 44:09.790 [SPEAKER_01]: Reach out you can do today, go out, you've got to do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. 44:09.810 --> 44:18.180 [SPEAKER_01]: Go into circles, find communities where not everybody thinks and believes the same thing you do. 44:18.200 --> 44:25.789 [SPEAKER_01]: Go live in a world of people who have different lives in you. 44:25.809 --> 44:29.153 [SPEAKER_01]: What if we could save the people who are still far from their Heavenly Father? 44:30.365 --> 44:34.951 [SPEAKER_01]: Because they met a Christian who loves like the father loves. 44:34.971 --> 44:38.375 [SPEAKER_01]: What if someone would turn back because of the love that you showed them? 44:38.395 --> 44:44.062 [SPEAKER_01]: The love that your father showed to you going through you? 44:44.082 --> 44:45.704 [SPEAKER_01]: What would it look like? 44:45.724 --> 44:50.550 [SPEAKER_01]: And then lastly, reach out, go out, and then invite in. 44:51.728 --> 44:58.679 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them into a community, into the same party that the father, whether you're the older son or the younger son. 44:58.699 --> 45:02.425 [SPEAKER_01]: The same party the fathers invited you to join. 45:02.445 --> 45:05.550 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them in, and here's the important part. 45:05.570 --> 45:12.060 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them in exactly as they are. 45:12.080 --> 45:19.592 [SPEAKER_01]: Not with prerequisites, not with conditions, but invite them exactly where they are exactly as they are. 45:20.028 --> 45:24.995 [SPEAKER_01]: To come back and see the love of their father at this place. 45:25.015 --> 45:32.165 [SPEAKER_01]: To join a community of people that will love them well, whether or not they believe what we believe. 45:32.185 --> 45:36.752 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them in with the smell of sin and pig still on them. 45:36.792 --> 45:39.476 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them in. 45:39.496 --> 45:45.505 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter what they've done no matter where they are, no matter how you might see them, see them the way the father does. 45:45.545 --> 45:47.447 [SPEAKER_01]: Invite them in. 45:47.467 --> 45:47.908 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's pray. 45:50.555 --> 45:53.799 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for our time together this morning. 45:53.839 --> 45:58.105 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for such an incredible year at God. 45:58.125 --> 46:06.856 [SPEAKER_01]: And for all the lives that we in this building have gotten to see change because of the love that you've shown God. 46:06.876 --> 46:17.389 [SPEAKER_01]: We pray that as we go out into 2026 as we take a moment where things feel new God, we would remember that you're not 46:18.314 --> 46:23.419 [SPEAKER_01]: As interested in good people, as you are in new people. 46:23.479 --> 46:28.424 [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to pray that no longer how long we've known you, if we're here today and we don't know you. 46:28.444 --> 46:31.547 [SPEAKER_01]: I pray that you would make us new. 46:31.587 --> 46:38.214 [SPEAKER_01]: Make new the people who have never taken the first step and make new the people that have walked with you for decades. 46:38.234 --> 46:41.977 [SPEAKER_01]: Father, please make us new. 46:41.997 --> 46:46.802 [SPEAKER_01]: Help us to see the world and to see people the way that you see people. 46:47.474 --> 46:51.453 [SPEAKER_01]: so that we can love the way that you love. 46:51.473 --> 46:53.181 [SPEAKER_01]: Jesus holy name, amen.