PRAYER
Holy and gracious God,
As we gather in this sacred space, we pause to acknowledge Your presence. In these moments of quiet reflection, we bring before You our hopes, fears, and deepest longings to live lives that matter.
Lord, we confess that too often, fear holds us back. We see the needs in our community—in our neighbors, in our schools, in our workplaces—and we hesitate. We calculate the risks, count the costs, and look for reasons to stay comfortable rather than step out in faith.
Yet You call us to more. You call us to be agents of Your grace in LaPorte County and beyond. Like the father who ran to embrace his prodigal son, You invite us to move beyond our comfort zones, cross boundaries, and extend grace even when it doesn’t make sense.
As we conclude our On Mission series, stir within us a holy discontent with playing it safe. Give us the courage to be Your hands and feet in tangible ways. Help us see that our mission field isn’t somewhere far away—it’s right here, in our neighborhoods, at our dinner tables, and in our everyday encounters.
Transform our fears into stepping stones of faith. Turn our worries into windows for Your grace to shine through. Make us a church that doesn’t just talk about mission but lives it out with bold love and radical welcome.
We pray this in Jesus’s name, who showed us what it means to love without limits and serve without fear.
Amen.
SERMON
POINT: Courage starts when we leave our
POINT: Fear is a reaction; courage is a
“Faith is better understood as a verb than a noun, as a process than a possession. It is on-again-off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure where you’re going but going anyway. A journey without maps.” —- Frederick Buechner (Wishful Thinking)
POINT: Grace serves as the
Luke 15:11-24 NIV
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. —New International Version
POINT: Your mission lies at the
- Acknowledge Your
- Embrace Your
- Step Out in
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen
Amen.