Luke 15

Discussion Questions

• Pastor Tommy mentioned that sometimes God allows us to go to a “far country” so that we will long to return home. Have you experienced your own spiritual far country? When you “came to yourself” (Luke 15:17), how had your perspective on “home” changed?
• In verse 22, the father interrupts the younger son mid-speech and tells his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him…” without asking his son to wash up and get the pig smell off of him first. Why is this significant? What does it tell us about how we can approach our Heavenly Father?
• In verse 29, the older brother (basically) tells his father, “You owe me!” Where did this sense of entitlement come from?
• How were the Scribes and Pharisees like the older brother? How do we not turn into the older brother?

Transcript

We do study through books of the Bible here at The Village Chapel. This is your first time, welcome. Anybody who wants a paper copy just lift up your hand and someone can bring one along to you. It’ll be good to have the text in front of us this morning. Also, I want to welcome all those who are worshiping with us online. May the Spirit of God move among you. May those fresh mercies be found by you today. Well, we are continuing our study of the gospel according to Luke. And our text this morning is, in part, about lost things, precious things that have been hopelessly, we think, gone and then they’re found and the subsequent joy when what is precious has been recovered.

When I was about seven years old, my parents took me to a babysitter for the day. We lived near Atlanta, and we were outside the city just enough that the backyard actually butted up against a large forest. There were several other kids that were being watched that day. An older boy and I decided it’d be a good idea to go explore the forest. That was our first problem. I actually don’t remember many details about that day, but I have a few very distinct memories that are seared in my mind. After we had finished exploring for a little bit, there came a point of sudden realization when I knew we were not where we were supposed to be. I was lost. We were out there for several hours into the dark of night. And I remember, this is one of the vivid memories, the police officer’s calling out my name, “Tommy Bailey.” I don’t remember the other boy’s name. But I remember the officer running towards us, and he was talking into his walkie-talkie to tell others that we’d been found. And then I remember the faces of my parents that night. Joy, relief, and even tears, something precious to them had been recovered. I wonder if you have a story like that. You were lost or perhaps you found something precious to you that you thought was just gone.

Well, our text today will be familiar to most of us. It’s a trio of parables that all are making the same point, describing what is precious to God. It’s about lost things, but more than that, it’s about the heart of one who pursues, who runs after, who seeks after, what is lost so it can be brought back to where it belongs. It’s actually this trio of parables. It’s a window into the heart of God. A.W. Tozer tells us in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, which I commend to you, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” All of us have a picture of God in our minds, some kind of picture. Perhaps it’s a frightening picture that leads us to simply cower in fear. Or maybe it’s a picture of a neglectful God that doesn’t care. Or maybe a divine taskmaster that just simply demands more and more performance. Well, I invite you to turn, if you would, to Luke, Chapter 15. Jesus has something to teach us today about what is precious to God, about the character of the true and living God this morning who brings new mercy every day.

Well, let me pray for us and then we’ll dive into the text, if you would: Heavenly Father, we bow before Your presence this morning. Thank You for the great privilege of worshiping You together. And we give You thanks for those new mercies today. We ask that You’d open Your Word to us and open us to Your Word. May Your Spirit be our teacher and may He point us to Jesus, our only hope in life and in death. And we all said, “Amen.”

Well, Luke, Chapter 15, I’m going to read verses one and two, and then Paul in just for a moment. I want to give us some important backstory. Chapter 15, verse 1: “Now the tax collectors and the sinners were all drawing near to hear him [that’s Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives [or waits for] sinners and eats with them.’” So, pause here for a moment. Really from Chapter 11 on up to 15, where we are here today, we’ve seen two different tracks running in the ministry of Jesus. One, the antagonism of the religious leaders, what Luke is calling the Pharisees and the scribes, the moralists and the scribes of the academics who interpret the law, the morals, if you will. So that’s one track from 11 through 15, we see that growing and growing, that antagonism, that hostility. And on another track, we see the crowds growing, thousands in crowds, in fact. There are thousands in the crowds. And here Luke tells us the two different groups that are listening to this particular teaching: tax collectors and sinners on one side, Pharisees and scribes on the other. We see these two tracks coming to a head right here, and we see the tension in the room. Do you see it? The tax collectors were reviled, they were collaborators with the Roman occupying government, they were hated. And the sinners there included with the tax collectors.

Of course, all of us are sinners, but what they have in mind here, what Luke has in mind, are the public notorious sinners. You know what I’m talking about? So, tax collectors and sinners were on one side and the Pharisees and the scribes on the other. Now look with me if you would, just a little bit up from 15, the very end of chapter 14. From 11 through 14, Jesus has been teaching about what it means to be His disciple. And He ends His previous teaching with, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And then 15 verse one, listen who’s hearing, who’s listening in, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him. They’re drawing near. The Pharisees and the scribes are drawing back. So that’s the setting of the story here. And then I think this story, these three parables really are for both groups, but there’s an emphasis on the Pharisees. The Pharisees and the scribes, they were grumbling, they had a problem with Jesus’ dining with and receiving these tax collectors and sinners.

So, Jesus says, “Let me tell you a story. You’re upset about the way that the kingdom of God works. Let me tell you a story.” Verse three, he says, “So he told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having 100 sheep, if he lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.’” Anytime you see the word joy or rejoicing, underline that, I encourage you to do that this morning. Verse six, “’And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have just found my sheep that was lost.” And verse seven here, in case they don’t get the idea of this story, Jesus actually interprets it for them. “’Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.’” Do you see the tension there?

There’s some tension going on here. Jesus is saying, “Oh, you’re upset about these tax collectors and sinners that are drawing near. You’re grumbling about it. I’m going to tell you this story, one out of 100. Hey, did you get that? Did you understand that story? Let me tell you another one.” Verse eight, “Or what woman, having 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so,” Jesus interprets this parable as well, “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” You see the tension?

I’m imagining Him staring at the Pharisees. “You’re grumbling about the tax collectors and sinners. One out of 100, did you get that? Did you get the math there? One out of 10, did you get the math? Let me tell you another story…” Verse 11, “And he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” And he divided his property between them. [13] Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed pigs.” Of course, if you know a little bit about the Jewish culture of that time and of today, to feed pigs would have been the lowest of vocations for a young Jewish man.

This is how far he had fallen. Verse 16, it actually gets worse. “And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. ” Verse 17, “But when he came to himself,” when he came to his senses, ah, there’s some joy there, “He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…” we always sin against Heaven first. “I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.'” The son here writes a little speech that he’s going to give to his father. So, what’s the father going to do? Verse 20, “He arose and he came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Underline all the things that the father has done here so far, and there’s many more to come. And now the son’s going to give his speech: “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'” And the father won’t even let him finish his speech. His father interrupts and says to his servants, “’Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.’” Sons aren’t barefoot. Put shoes on his feet. “’…and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

Now we could stop reading right there. That’s the same pattern that we’ve been reading with the lost sheep and the lost coin. Something lost is found and they celebrate. But Jesus keeps on teaching. Remember who the audience is here. We have the notorious sinners over on this side and we have the grumbling religious moralists on this side. Verse 25, “Now his older son was in the field. [He was in the backyard.] And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’” Now to fit the pattern, something lost has been found. The older brother should be celebrating. No, verse 28, the pattern’s broken. This doesn’t seem to fit. “He was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’”

You can’t even call him his brother. “This son of yours.” Now we see the response of the father to the older son, verse 31. “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad.” And that word there, chai-ros, is the same as rejoice. “’It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother,’” There’s a correction. It’s not just my son, it’s your brother. “’This your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” This is the reading of God’s Word. And we all said, “Thanks be to God.” Charles Dickens once called this parable of Jesus the greatest short story ever written. And I tend to agree with him. But far more than that, I think we see in this trio of parables the very heart of the Christian faith. A vivid illustration from the mouth of Jesus, about the heart of Jesus, demonstrating the love of Jesus for sinners. Hear this: Lost people are precious to God. A shepherd leaves 99 of his flock to go on a search to find the one. There’s an absurdity to that story, isn’t there? And it illustrates just how precious those who are lost are to our Lord. And when He finds the lost sheep, He hoists it upon His shoulders and carries it home, rejoicing along the way. Isn’t that a picture of the good news of Jesus seeking and finding and taking the burden on Himself?

The picture is not just a frustrated shepherd, but one that rather has delight and can’t help but rejoice. We have a woman who loses one of 10 coins, and she sweeps the house, she shines the light of her lamp. She searches feverishly until she sees the gleam of that little piece of metal out of place. And she picks it up, she throws a party, and her entire community is invited. Did you notice that? I must rejoice. Jesus makes it plain what these parables are about. Look with me again at verse 10. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God, over one sinner who repents.” The parables illustrate the reality of what happens in the heavenly places when even one person hears the call of Jesus and turns to Him in repentance and faith, a celebration, a party, a feast. Lost people are precious to God. Fresh mercy and grace are available to all who turn to Him. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. The shepherd seeks after the lost sheep, there’s value there. The woman seeks after the lost coin, she cherishes it. The father goes out to both sons, they’re precious to him

Fleming Rutledge, she puts it so well. “God is on the move toward us, not the other way around. In the very midst of our confusion and incapacity, we are met by the oncoming Lord.” The apostle Paul says it differently, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses.” In other words, we were enemies of God. He “made us alive together in Christ – by grace, you have been saved…” Church, we say amen to that. The first two parables serve as a preface, shining a light on the third. What we typically call The Prodigal Son, actually I think we need to use the words of Jesus there at verse 11. I don’t think the parable should be called The Prodigal Son, it should be the parable of The Two Lost Sons. I’d love for us to look a little more closely at the way Jesus preaches the good news from this story.

Number one, I think we see a son who’s lost in a far country. There are many ways in which we can find ourselves lost. “The heart of man is deceitful. Who can understand it?” the prophet Jeremiah tells us. There are many ways for us to be lost. Being lost means that we’re turned away from God, we’re ignoring His presence, we’re foolishly living as if God doesn’t matter. He has no bearing on me; He has no claim on me. And again, let’s remember the audience to whom Jesus is speaking here in this moment. Notoriously public sinners on one hand, self-righteous moralists on the other. That first group would have intuitively identified with the younger son who went his way to a far country. Maybe you do too. Far from the father’s presence, his protection, his people. We could summarize the heart posture of the younger son as a self-centered hedonist. I want what I want, and I want it now. Look with me again if you would at verse 11. “There was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that’s coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.” The first words we have from the younger brother are, “Give me.” Put another way, “Father, I don’t want you, I want your stuff. You’re not dying fast enough.” That’s what the son’s saying. That’s what the original hears of this story would have heard.

In the original language, actually, if you look at verse 12, the original language, the word for father’s property is bios or bios in Greek, it’s life. The younger son is saying, in essence, “Give me my share of your life now.” Now what would have really shocked, I think, the original listeners is the way that the father responded to this foolish son. He granted him his request. The Ten Commandments begin with how we relate to God. But the first commandment that speaks of how we relate to one another is what? Honor your father and your mother. And this son with contempt brings dishonor to the father. Unless we think the father was simply weak or that it didn’t cost him anything to grant this request, allowing his son to take his inheritance would have brought immense shame to the father. Immense shame to the entire household. The community would have been buzzing. There would have been gossip all around, maybe even grumbling about the response of the father to this foolish young man. The shame fell on the father. It was costly what this father did.

And as we continue to read the story, the younger son makes his next foolish mistake. He takes his money, and he goes to a far country. He couldn’t wait to get away from the presence of his father, protection of his household, his provision, the resources that had always been available to him. Now I think that we can be honest in this room that reckless living can actually be pleasurable for a time. A party without boundaries feels like freedom for a little while. But that pseudo freedom was hollow. An empty well that did run dry. The money dried up. His new supposed friends were nowhere to be found. We see that there, at verse 16, no one gave him anything. He was living the high life in the city until his money ran out. H.B. Charles summarized it this way. It’s not on the screen. “He simply said this, the party was over.”

But then Jesus says, he came to his senses. He came to himself; he hit rock bottom. He recognized his desperate need. And here, friends, look at this. It is a vivid picture of repentance. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. I’ve tried everything my own way and it led me here. I’m lost. I sinned against Heaven and against my dad. I must go home. He must have been exhausted, wouldn’t you think? This pseudo freedom, he thought complete autonomy was freedom, but it was in fact slavery. And broken by his own foolishness, humbled by his own presumption and pride. Look, sometimes God allows us to go to the far country so that we come to our senses. Sometimes he allows us to go to the far country so that we might come home. Are you there now? Charles Spurgeon said, “No eye is quicker to see the mercy of God than the eye washed with the tears of repentance.” If you hear nothing else, hear this: Lost people are precious to God. These parables are telling one story.

Number two, I think we see another lost son, not lost in a far country. It’s more like he’s lost in the backyard. That is to say, he was around the father’s household but not interested in being near the heart of the father. Working for him in the fields, in the backyard, but harboring a posture of heart that actually wasn’t all that different from the younger son. “Father, I want your stuff, but I don’t want you.” Actually, it’s even a bit worse. Father, you owe me. Let’s read it again at verse 28. I think it bears reading again. “But he [the older son] was angry and he refused to go in” to the party for his brother. His father came out and pleaded with him and he answered his father, “Look these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.” Everything was about him. He didn’t even include his father in the celebration here, the fictional celebration he has in mind. But this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fat and calf for him.”

That hardened and bitter heart of the older son had no capacity to see the kindness of the Lord right in front of him. He couldn’t rejoice in the grace given to the younger brother and he couldn’t delight in the grace the father had continually provided him. Everything he had was by grace. Everything he had was by grace. The father is so tender to him at verse 31. That moralistic framework, if you will, of understanding the character of the father had reduced him simply to a mechanical vending machine. I put the right amount of work in, and he owes me. That was the economy of the older son. I put the right amount of work in and then he owes me. Everything the older son had was a gift from the hand of the father. His provision, his work, his food, his shelter, his protection. We should give thanks that not everyone has to learn the goodness of God in the far country. That’s true, not everyone has to learn it that way. But for those who have grown up in the church, for those who understand the basics of the Gospel, the second son is a warning to examine our own hearts.

We sing “Morning by morning, new mercies I see.” Some of us can be tempted to think, “What a magnificent truth, not so much for me, but she really needs it. Oh, and he really needs it.” No one says that out loud, of course, we’re all good Southerners, but how easy is it? I’m telling you the truth, how easy is it for me to forget how deeply I need His grace. I’m saved by His grace, I’m sustained by His grace, by faith alone and Christ alone. It’s not on the slides, but Ortberg says, “One of the hardest things in the world is to stop being a prodigal son without turning into the elder brother.” The apostle Paul calls it a gift of grace, and he ends that whole section with, “so that we may not boast.” There is no boasting. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There aren’t really bad sinners over here and slightly better sinners over here. All have fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by grace as a gift through the Lord Jesus Christ to be received by faith. If we don’t understand that, we either have a diminished view of the holiness of God or a diminished view, understanding, of how deeply sinful we are, apart from Christ.

Our rebellion may not be as public, breaking the outward rules for all to see, but learn from Jesus. Do you remember the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus actually elevates things. He says, “You have heard it said, and I say to you.” For example, “You have heard it said, you shall not murder, but I say to you, even if you have anger in your heart, you’re condemned.” He elevates it. He tells us how deep our depravity is. And Jesus in this moment was making a way. He was making a way for the religious moralists to repent for the ways in which they had been delighting in their own righteousness. That’s a dangerous place to be. Not realizing their own righteousness could never save them.

Even those things that the Gospel produces in us, like growth in holiness, that is a gift from God. And we’re to work out that holiness by the power of the spirit, but a heart that wants to grow in holiness, that is a gift from God. You and I desperately need Jesus. Paul Tripp said, “Grace is only ever attractive to sinners.” We could sit with that for a while. The religious leaders weren’t driven to tears. Often, I’ll read this story and I’m driven to tears, but the religious leaders, they weren’t. They became even more angry, and we’ll read that in the rest of the book of Luke. This parable actually doesn’t end with a tidy bow. We don’t know the end of the older brother’s story. But I think the tender words of the father to the older son that we see is actually an invitation to the Pharisees and the scribes to turn in faith and repentance to Him. Do you have ears to hear? Do you see that there are two lost sons in this story? Do you see your own need for my mercy and grace? Come and join the feast. Come and join the party. In the fellowship of the forgiven, and that’s who was having the party, there’s no grumbling, there’s only rejoicing. Lost people are precious to God, the self-centered hedonist, and the self-righteous, moralist both. Where might you be today?

Chesterton said, “It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands.” Lastly, both sons were sought by a pursuing father. So, these parables certainly expose the hearts of the younger and the older son, but our reading of this teaching would be impoverished, it would be inadequate, if we didn’t notice that Jesus actually was shining a bright light on the lavish love that pours out of the father for both sons. C.S. Lewis said, “The human soul is not the seeker, but the sought: it is God who seeks, who descends from the other world to find and heal man.” See, the Pharisees actually had some concept of repentance. They understood contrition. What would have been unexpected for them was a God who seeks unclean sinners. That would have been new for them. He goes to them, God goes to unclean sinners, runs after them in order to restore them.

Where you’re reading along, from verse 20 on, the younger son, as he’s coming home. The father does so many things, so many initiatives towards him. Let me actually put him up on the screen. You might underline him in your Bible if you haven’t already. The father sees the son coming. He felt compassion on him. He ran to him and that would have brought so much shame on the father. An adult man, adult Jewish man, doesn’t raise up his robe to run. Again, he absorbs the shame to restore the son. He embraced him. He kissed him. A tender affection. He interrupted his speech. Repentance is by grace. Restoration is by grace. Not negotiation. He clothed him. “Bring him the best robe,” he said. He put a ring on his finger, a sign of authority and belonging. He put shoes on his feet. Sons aren’t barefoot, sons wear shoes. And he threw a feast for the entire community. This is really important. It was public. There was communal joy and restoration for all to see. The expectation in that day for a wayward son or a daughter returning after foolishly bringing shame upon the household, the expectation would have been a shunning ceremony or even worse.

But the father in this story throws a restoration ceremony, a feast, breaking the categories of every listener in the crowd, the tax collector and sinner, the Pharisees and the scribes, breaking every category they had. They had never heard good news like this. That’s why grace is so amazing. The younger son, his first words were, “Give me.” He came to his senses, and he wrote a speech that ended with, “Hire me.” The father, in his mercy, interrupted him mid-speech, didn’t even let him finish his prepared words, and he said, “No, no, no, no, no. You belong to me. You’re a part of the family now. Welcome to the fellowship of the forgiven.” Look with me at verse 22. There’s so much packed in this little thing. Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. Bring the robe quickly. I almost passed by that word. He didn’t say, “Go wash him up first. Son, go brush your teeth. You smell like a pigsty.” No, he didn’t do that. He said, “Bring a robe quickly right now, just as he is.” Not only that, put on the best robe. Likely the father’s own robe. Put it on him.

I don’t know where you are this morning, but don’t miss this. What mercy, it should have been a shunning ceremony. And what grace the father restores him back to the family. And did you notice the younger son, everything that he thought he could find in the far country? The father provides for him here as he always had: Clothing, a ring that says, “You belong to the family,” shoes on his feet, food for his belly, the loving embrace of his father. “All I have needed, thy hand hath provided.” This kind of extravagant outpouring of mercy would have brought even more shame on the father, but he absorbs it. He bears it for his own, for his son was dead and is now alive. How could he not?

But it wasn’t only the younger son that the father pursued. The father goes out to the older son who was angry. The older son refused to come into the party. That would have been a huge sign of disrespect. The expectation would have been simply cutting him off from the family, but no, the father mercifully goes after him too, absorbing even more shame on himself, pleading with the older son. Come out of the backyard and into the house. Join the feast. Lost people are precious to our Lord. Where might you be today? The famous hymn by John Newton, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found was blind, but now I see.” Can you sing that song with honesty? To be a part of the fellowship of the forgiven, we must admit our need for grace, our need for forgiveness, our need for someone to bear the guilt and shame of a wretch like me. That’s why grace is amazing. Perhaps you find yourself in a far country, you know you’re lost, not where you’re supposed to be. Hear the call of Jesus to turn to Him. Repentance is actually twofold. It’s a turning away from our sin and rebellion, and faith is a turning towards Jesus for our salvation. Our only hope in life and in death is to turn to Him.

Or perhaps you’ve been a believer for many years, and you’ve lost the joy of your salvation. Grace no longer seems amazing to you. Look to the cross. See afresh the extent to which He pursued, rescued and restored you. Ask the Spirit to restore to you the joy of your salvation. Another of my favorite hymns from Philip Bliss: Bearing Shame – bearing shame and scoffing rude my shame, in my place He condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with His blood. And we all said, church: “Hallelujah. What a savior.” It’s our practice here at TVC on the first Sunday of the month to come to the Lord’s table. And what a fitting parable for us on this day. We come to rejoice in what Christ has done for us. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper weaves together at least three things.

First, it looks back to remember Christ’s death for us, what He bore for us on the cross. Second, we pay attention to the present moment in which He meets with us by his Spirit. It’s a mystery, but He nurtures us and strengthens us. And third, we look to the future when in that day, in the certain hope of that day when He comes, He will unite us fully with Christ and we’ll feast together at His table. And that’s what the feast in this story is pointing forward to that day when He returns. So, friends, on the night that He was betrayed, He sat around a table with His disciples, and He broke the bread, and He said, “This is my body broken for you.” And He took the cup, and He said, “This is the blood, this is my blood of the new covenant. Drink in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Until that day of feasting arrives. If you want to see what judgment looks like, this is from D.A. Carson. “If you want to see what judgment looks like, go to the cross. If you want to see what love looks like, go to the cross.” I don’t know where you are in your walk with the Lord, and in just a moment we’re going to stand together, there’s no reason for anyone in this room to leave this place. Unsure if this grace and mercy is for you? It is. It’s for all who recognize their need and turn to Him. Maybe you have identified with one of these lost sons or somewhere in between. He’s eager to welcome you into the fellowship with the forgiven. I hope you know that lost people are precious to God. Let’s pray together: Holy Spirit, as we come to the table, we pray for Your enabling grace to cultivate in our hearts a deeper love for You today. May our hearts rejoice in Your amazing grace. If there are those among us who do not know You, I pray You might stir their hearts that they would turn to You today in repentance and faith, calling on You, Jesus, as savior and Lord. Open all of our eyes that we might see the wonders of the crucified and risen Christ and be assured of His love for us. In the matchless name of Jesus, we all said, “Amen.”

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“Jesus What A Friend For Sinners“ by John Wilbur Chapman, Rowland Hugh Prichard, and Matthew S. Smith
“Lift High The Name“ by Ed Cash, Fionan DeBarra, Keith Getty, and Kristyn Getty
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness“ by Thomas Obediah Chisholm and William Marion Runyan
“He Is“ by David Crowder, Hank Bentley, and Jeff Pardo
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690

Call To Worship: Give Thanks to The Lord
1 Chronicles 16:8-13, 34

Leader: Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; Make known his deeds among the peoples!
Women: Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Tell of all His wondrous works!

Leader: Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
Men: Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His presence continually!

Leader: Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles and the judgments He has uttered.
Women: O offspring of Israel His servant, Children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

All: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; For His steadfast love endures forever!

Confession of Faith:

O Lord, You who are all merciful, Take away our sins from us. Kindle within us the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Take away these hearts of stone from us and give us hearts of flesh and blood, hearts to love and adore You, hearts which may delight in You, love You, and please You, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Ambrose of Milan, a 4th-century bishop

Classic Prayer: Martin Luther 1483-1546

Behold, Lord, I am an empty vessel that needs to be filled. Oh Lord, fill me. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me to the point of zeal so that my love may reach my neighbor. I do not have a steadfast belief. I suffer from doubt, and I am unable to trust completely. Oh Lord, help me. Increase my faith and strengthen my trust. All my good treasure is stored in you.

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