STORYTELLER: The Prodigal Party
Pastor Brian Schafer
June 16, 2024
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Luke 15:7
There is more rejoicing in HEAVEN…over ONE SINNER who repents than over 99 righteous people who do not need to repent.
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Question: What is the AIM of our church? Why do we exist?
Answer: To start
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Luke 15:1-2
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people - even eating with them!
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A wise proverb: A compliment from a fool is an insult, and an insult from a fool is a compliment. (The Pharisees are trying to insult Jesus, and he takes it as a compliment.)
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2 DIAGNOSTIC QUESTIONS
(1) Who are you befriending?
(2) Who are you frustrating?
Jesus consistently befriended sinners, and he consistently frustrated Pharisees.
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Take your own notes here…
The 3 stories that Jesus tells in Luke 15 follow the same pattern:
LOST –> FOUND –> PARTY!
LUKE 15:20-24
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ SO THE PARTY BEGAN…
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The most powerful means in the world for leading people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus is not finger-pointing, blaming, shaming, or winning an argument. The most powerful means in the world for leading people to Jesus is UNDESERVED GRACE. This is the heart of the father to the son, and we pray that it’s the heart of us towards everyong.
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ASSIGNMENT THIS WEEK: Throw a 3-minute party for someone. (Meaning: Love someone when they least expect it and least deserve it, and when you can’t get anything out of it. Why? Because that is who Jesus is and what Jesus does.)
Take your own notes here…
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Luke 15:25-30
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. 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 you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
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“We become what we behold” - William Blake
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Your FOCUS determines your REALITY.
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The older brother was focused on himself - how good and righteous he was - and he couldn’t even see the bigger picture: His own brother was as good as dead, but now he’s alive. Instead of PARTYING, he’s POUTING.
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When you are consciously aware of how much grace you have received through Jesus, then you will live out of an overflow of that grace towards everyone.
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Take your own notes here…
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