Luke 15:11-32 | The Debaucherous & The Religious (Part 1) | Pastor Daniel Banna

If you turn with me again to the gospel of Luke chapter 15, we will be looking this afternoon at the parable most called or commonly called the parable of the prodigal son. Even though it's clear it's a parable about two brothers. But this afternoon, we will, speak about the little one, the the younger son, the prodigal, son. Now you would see and you would notice that in the beginning of the chapter, we see the crowds of tax collectors and and and sinners drawing near to Jesus to hear his teaching. Now if you have been going to church for a while, I'm sure you know that tax collectors were the evil and, dishonest people of that day.

They were hated almost by everyone. They cheated people. They have defrauded whoever they can defraud. They became rich through dishonest dishonest gain and profit. Those with bad reputation in the in the society of Israel, sinners and dishonest people, started to come to the lord Jesus and and hear him and be with him and listen to him.

Now this did not go very well with the religious elite of Israel, the proud, the arrogant, the Pharisees, the scribes. On the outside, those Pharisees dressed in their religious robes, They walked slowly, I would imagine, heads raised up. They demanded respect. They demanded honor, even the honor that only belonged belonged to God. They were like the fig tree Jesus encounters in his way to Jerusalem.

A fig tree with many, many leaves yet no fruit at all. On the outside, holy and righteous, yet in the inside, dead men's bones. Graves with marble stones, yet nothing inside, tree without fruit awaiting the curse to dry up and to never bear fruit again. They complained. They were mad that Jesus accepted the sinners and ate with them.

You could probably hear them gossiping and slandering our lord among themselves. Jesus knew their thoughts. Jesus knows every man's heart. He knows your heart. Even now, he knows my heart.

He knows what you are thinking. So he begins speaking to them in parables. And in this chapter, we see three parables, not one. In the first parable, we see a man who has 100 sheep. He lost one.

That is 1%. What does he do? He leaves the 99 for the 1%, and when he finds it, he rejoices it and he calls his friends and his neighbors to join him in celebration. And Christ says, how much more there will be joy in heaven with one sinner who repents. Then Jesus moves to the second parable.

In that parable, a woman who has 10 coins but loses one of them. The first parable, 100 sheep, one lost 1%. In the second parable, 10 coins, one lost 10%. What does the woman do? She turns the house side upside down to find the lost coin.

She's not looking at her watch. Oh, it's too late to look. No. No. No.

No. No. No. It's not important. I need to find the lost coin.

It's important for me. And when she finds it, what does she do? She calls her friends. She calls her neighbors. Come celebrate with me.

I have found the lost coin. Now do you think this is exaggeration? You think this is exaggeration? This is joy? How would you feel if you lose 10% of your investment?

How do you feel if you lose 10% of the value of your house? You see, we don't take loss very well, do we? There is always sadness and pain in loss, but there is great joy in gain and in fighting what has been lost. But here, what is lost is so valuable and so important, and Jesus concludes this parable as in the first. There will be joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Now what's more important? A sheep, a coin, or a person who is made in God's image? In finding a lost sheep, we had a great joy. In finding a lost coin, there was great joy. How much more there will be joy when a sinner comes back home, when a sinner comes back to life after he's been dead.

You religious hypocrites, Jesus tells the Pharisees. He often uses this statement. You religious hypocrites. You care about your earthly possessions. You care about sheep, and you care about coins.

Oh, you'd care a lot about that stuff. You religious hypocrites. You care about your earthly treasures that you have accumulated and you don't want to lose any of them. How much more God desires not to lose one of his created image bearers. That is the message Christ is trying to speak to us in this parable.

Now Jesus moves to the third parable, one after the other. And he tell us a man has two sons. One is lost. One sheep out of 100, 1%, great rejoicing. One coin out of 10.

The result, great rejoicing. One son out of two. 50%. What do you expect? Other than greatest rejoicing, isn't it?

Let's begin by reading in verse 11. And he said there was a man who had two sons, and I in honor 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. Now this is outrageous. This is outrageous.

You just don't do that. You will receive the inheritance after the passing of your father. He might write to the well before his death, but you will receive it after his death. What your parents owe you is this, to provide for you shelter, food, clothing as God prospers them when you are underage, to raise you in the fear of the Lord, and to give you the education they can afford. More than that, I don't know if they owe you anything else.

But this boy felt entitled like many kids today. Oh, so entitled. It wasn't enough for him what he had at his father's house. The presence of the father was not joyful, wasn't fun. He didn't like the rules at home.

He did not like the chores. He did not have a good relationship with his brother, his older brother. He did not like waking up early, going to the field, working the field, milking the cows. He did not like any any any of these things. He desired a life of entertainment, a life of fun, a life of extravagant spending, a life of freedom to do whatever he desires, whatever his heart longs for, to spend it on alcohol and drugs and maybe prostitutes.

It's what he desired. His heart wasn't there with his father. He desired something else. But now, I mean, how can he live this kind of life? He's young.

He he hasn't saved anything yet. He has no money for such living. He he owns no house. He owns no no farm. He owns no properties.

The house belongs to his father. The field is his father's. The bank account is his father's, but he knows one thing. He knows that he will share his father's inheritance with his brother when his father dies. He know that for a fact.

He knows that for a fact. But you see, he can't wait. He can't wait. I mean, he looks at his father, and he doesn't know when his father is going to die. I mean, his father looks still healthy, still strong, And he's not expecting his father to die tomorrow and or next year.

And and with such rude boldness, he asked his father to give him his portion of the inheritance. Give me what belongs to me. I want it now. What he's doing is unheard of, unheard of in Israel. What he's doing in simple words is this.

I can't stand living with you, father. I can't stand living under your roof. I can't stand this life. He's telling his father, I wish you were dead. Give me my money and let me go.

That's what he's telling his dad. Now as much as the request of the young man was outrageous, the response of the father, I think, was so unexpected. So unexpected. Now if I were the father, I will tell him, get out of my house. Get get out of my as as fast as you can.

I owe you nothing. You came to my house empty handed, and you will leave empty handed, and maybe a kick will be appropriate in this situation. But his father response is very unexpected. What does he do? The father, he divide the inheritance between his two sons.

No questions asked. You don't hear the father saying, why son? What is lacking here? What I have done? How did I fail you?

Can can we talk? Let us communicate. Maybe things can get better. No questions asked. The father saw his young son's heart.

He has seen his rebellion, and he knew nothing will satisfy his heart. Nothing says Fireheart as in all house. Let him have it. Let him take it and let him go. Let us see if all the fun and entertainment and pleasures of life he's thinking about.

He's thinking to indulge in will give him the true joy and satisfaction he's looking for. Let him have it his own way. He gives him his portion of the inheritance, which is the third. According to Deuteronomy twenty one seventeen, according to the Levitical law, the first son gets double the portion, so the younger son will get the third. So he got his third.

Now look at verse 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. Not many days later, He's in a hurry to get out. He's in a hurry to get out of his father's house. He's in a hurry to run after the flesh and the desires and the pleasures of the flesh.

Now, he must turn the property into cash. He cannot take the property with him. He must turn the property into cash. Not many days later, he needs to sell it to sell it quickly, and he must sell it cheap. His father's inheritance.

This inheritance which should have been moved from son to grandchild and so on, he sells his father's inheritance. Now my dad, before he passed away, he divided his inheritance among his children, and I'm a youngest of 10 children. Now let me tell you something. My older brother did not get the double portion. Thank God for that.

My dad tried to evenly to divide his whatever he owned, the inheritance between his sons, his children, with one exception. He gave his youngest son, which is me, a bonus, his house. Now my father's strategy was this. My youngest son is far away. I want him to come back.

I want to entice him. So if I give him a house, maybe he'll come back. Maybe he will come back. Now so far, his strategy has not worked, and I have no plans to go back to Israel. But, you know, I'm very limited.

I'm very limited to what I can do with my parents' inheritance even though I am the owner right now. I feel there will be so much disloyalty to my father to sell his house and profit from it. It must remain in the family. Now I know there's something you might not be able to relate to, but this how it is. Now we do understand that the behavior of the son in this parable is so abhorrent, and it shows disrespect and dishonor and disloyalty to the father and to the family.

This is what the son is doing. To sell the property of your ancestors? Not just that, and to move to a far country. And that's the the other evil this young boy did, not just selling his father's inheritance quickly and cheaply, but leaving the land God gave to his people to live in a far land among the pagans. That's what he did.

He did not just relocate to another city in Israel. No. He left the land of Israel, the land of his ancestors, the land of promise, his father's house and moved as far as he could. Now when he got there, what did he do? He did not invest the money to make more money and nothing profitable.

Now what Jesus in this parable tells us that this boy spent everything he has, All the cash he took with him in reckless living. Reckless living. Wild living. This is what the dictionary puts the word reckless. This is how the the sovereignty explains it.

Showing a lack of care about risks or danger and acting without thinking about the results of your actions. Now if you live in the standards of verse 13, reckless living, not long after you will find yourself living in the standards of verse 14 to 16. Now you'll see that. Look at verse 14. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

The money would not last forever. Now the money are gone is gone. He spent it on lavish lifestyle. A lot of money usually means a lot of friends, a lot of wants, a lot of expenses, reckless, no longer using his little brain, alcohol affecting his thinking, drugs affecting his actions, illegitimate sexual relationships blinding his judgments, there's nothing left. Now the money is spent and gone, and the severe famine has plagued the country where he lives, yet he is still in sin, still in rebellion.

He can't do the things he's done before. He can't hang out. He hang out with the same friends. I mean, he cannot buy a beer for anyone anymore, so why should I hang out with you? You have nothing, no benefits to be with you.

You are a foreigner anyway. There's no friends. By now, he's alone. He has nothing to offer to anyone. Alone, hungry, and with nothing, he began to search for some work.

Any work he must eat to survive till the next day. Verse 15. So he went and hired himself out of one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to be fed with the pots that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. This is extreme.

This is so extreme. And Jesus in this parable wants to show us several extremes that we may pay attention to what he's saying, to the heart of the message. He's giving us this extreme that you even now may pay attention to this message. In the first scene, we see the boy in his loving father house. Now he's in the field of a pagan man.

In the first scene, he's in Israel among his own people. Now he's in a foreign land among the pigs. In the first scene, he has shelter. He has food. He has honor and respected as a son.

Now he has no food, no shelter, no honor. He eat just like a slave. In the first scene, he must abide by his father's rule, but right now, he must obey his master's commands. Which one is better? Now the the the Pharisees hearing this, I'm telling you, they are in complete shock.

What are you talking about, Rabbi? We can't believe you are speaking this way. We don't understand. This cannot happen. A Jewish boy feeding pigs and eating pigs' food?

No way. We can't accept that. Just think about it. Think about it. A hungry pig and a hungry boy fighting for the same food.

Who will win? My guess is the pig. Now this is the first part of this parable. Now where did your imagination go as we've talked about these six verses? What did you think about each one of us?

Whom did you think about? Did you remain in the text of this father and son? Or maybe these verses took you to a far country. You journeyed in for a period of time. Or maybe these verses take out of our country someone you love still even this very day there.

What we have seen so far is a picture of someone, a man, a woman who makes the decision to leave the stability of the home for something else, for the pleasures of sin. Someone who may have been raised in a Christian family, he may have tasted the goodness of God. His family was not perfect. His father and mother both were weak. They made many mistakes.

They they were not like the father in this parable. Who could be fully like this father? They had their own shortcomings, and and and they have mishandled many situations. But, nevertheless, they raised their child according to what they thought was best for him, considering their own falling nature. The son or daughter left for a while, did not even keep in touch.

He didn't. She didn't care about even asking about their parents any longer. Their only goal in life became to enjoy sin for the moment. They indulged in sin. Oh, they they enjoyed the pleasures of this world to gratify the flesh.

Many of us have been there. Right? Many of us have been there. We have hurt many people by our behavior. We have hurt our parents.

We have hurt our children. We have hurt our spouses. We have hurt ourselves. Some of us still in that place. Why?

For a momentary pleasure of sin. We thought one day we will find true happiness, and we'll find satisfaction happily ever after, but this day this day never came. We we found ourselves lonely, alone, and some of us may be at the brink of suicide. But god, hallelujah, but god in his great love and mercy and compassion who loved us so much illuminated our hearts to see our wretched condition. And there in our mud and mire and our filth and dirt, he stretched his hand and rescued us.

And now we stand satisfied in him, and now we stand to testify that nothing in this world was worth it. Those who have experienced Christ are able to testify. They are able to say these words. The life for the flesh was not worth it. All was vain.

We were running after shadows that we could never reach, happiness that never lasted, that was never real. I know some of who are hearing me today are still in that far country, And I would tell you this afternoon, if you have not figured it out yet, let me remind you there is nothing there that truly satisfies, nothing there that can bring true joy. You will live empty. You will live empty, hurt, if not dead, if not dead. Many many don't get the chance even to come back home.

They are dead because they decided to take that last one more dose. Few years ago, friend called me to tell me her 28 years old son died. I often hear of young men and women die, and and you don't know how to react when you hear if a wrong young child dies. She told me, Daniel, you know, we are not religious. We have not been in church in years probably since our marriage.

They had money. They had influence in the community. They had everything. Literally everything but God. The son has struggled with drugs since his teenage years, and his parents spent tens of thousands of dollars to rehabilitate him.

And when they thought it's okay with him now, the phone call the phone rang, your son is dead. Now she's asking me if I was willing to speak at his funeral. She said, I had no priest. I have nobody. I don't know anybody.

For a moment, I thought, no. How could I? What I would what I would say. They don't know the Lord. And as as far as I know, this man's life was was life of indulgence in sin and reckless living.

Of course, I hoped. I hoped, and and I hoped that this man before his death came to know the Lord, but I don't know that. The only thing I know that he never was a believer. At the end, I said, I'll do it. I'll do it.

I'll let you talk. I remember the funeral home was full full of people, mostly unbelievers. I had only one thing in mind. When I stood to speak and since there was no one else speaking, I knew I could speak as long as I want. I want her to be sensitive.

I want her to to be comforting. And many of these people, and happiness were very high in society. But being sensitive and comforting does not mean to lie. I could not lie to them. I could not tell them he's in a better place.

I could not tell them you'll see him again. I could not promise them any of these things. I could not lie to them. You know how many times I heard a lying clergy person in a funeral. Oh, when person dies, he's so he was so good.

He was amazing. He was wonderful man and a woman. What I could do is one thing, speak about Christ. Speak about Christ's love, not mention one word about this man, and I did it. I was comforting.

I was sensitive, but I had to speak the truth about Christ and the way of salvation and ask people to repent and come to Jesus. For in Jesus alone, there is salvation and eternal life. My friend, there is no guarantee that you will see another day. There is no guarantee. I pray that all of us all of us will live to see Christ at his coming, but tomorrow, for many of us, will never come.

This is true to so many people. So I want to ask you, are you still in the far country? Are you still under the impression that you will find happiness, true happiness, and satisfaction there? Haven't you realized that money cannot buy through happiness? Power cannot buy joy.

Fame cannot satisfy. You have not discovered that yet. When you hear of celebrities committing suicide, haven't you realized that? How miserable the rich can be sometime. Haven't you realized that yet?

God is calling you to come home. Come home before it's too late, before the light the night comes. Listen to what king Solomon said about trying things. In Ecclesiastes chapter two verse four, he says these things. Now listen to this.

Listen to these words. He said, I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens on parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which of to water the forest of growing trees.

I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great position of hearse and flocks more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of men. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Also, my wisdom remained with me, and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure. For my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Verse 11, he says, then I consider all that my hands has done and the toll I had expended in doing it. And behold, all was vanity and striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

And then in chapter 12, he says in the same book, he says, verse one, remember now your creator. Not tomorrow, now. Remember now your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them before the sun and light and the moon and the stars are darkened. Today is the day of salvation. If we go back to Luke 15 and verse 17, it's the beginning of the good news.

It's the beginning of the good news, and I pray that some of us, even this day, this day will be the beginning of good news. We see the beginning of the work of the holy spirit in the heart. Oh, would you let the Holy Spirit begin to work in your heart today? The boy becomes aware of his wretched condition. He began reasoning within himself.

He cannot take it any longer. You see, he could have spared himself all the pain and all the lost if he did not act so foolishly, but he must be the consequences of his sin, the consequences of his foolishness, and he did. He lost everything. He can't get back what he lost. It's lost.

Forever lost. But the door is not shut yet. Praise god. He did not shut the door yet. The door is still open.

There's still opportunity. There's still a second chance. But a day is coming. A day is coming when that door will be shut permanently. There will be no longer second chances.

It will be darkness. That's why God says today is a day of salvation. It is a favorable time today. Verse 17. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's higher 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. I'm no

longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. In the first two parables, we saw a picture of God looking for the lost. In the first, he's looking for this lost sheep until he finds it. In the second, he's looking for the lost coin until it's found.

But in this parable, we see the responsibility of man, responsibility of man towards god. Listen. It's always god who takes the initiative. It's always God who takes the initiative, never man. He took the initiative when he sent Jesus.

He took it and was waiting for you to turn back and repent. While we were sinner sinners, all we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. Without God working first in the heart, man is never able to desire God or seek him. Now God in his sovereignty and wisdom, he allowed this man to go deeper and deeper and deeper in their sin in his sin and suffer the consequences while giving him the opportunity again and again to repent and turn back to him. Now this boy had no thought of God when he had plenty like many, even today.

He had no thought of God when he was indulging in his sin, but now everything is taken away. Having nothing, he begins to reason. But why wait so long? Why why wait so long? Why do you wait until you lost everything?

God is saying even now to those who are still far away, why are you waiting for? It's been so long since you've been in the in a far country. Come back home. The door is still open. Why?

Why suffer so much? Come to your senses right now. In his despair and hopeless state, this boy began reasoning correctly. He is now on the right path. But would his father receive him?

Would would would would would his father take him back after what he has done? Would his father accept him? He brought his father so much shame especially in the culture of that day, the culture of honor and shame as it is today in many Arabic countries, but he has no hope. He he is sorry, really sorry for what he has done. He he is repentant.

He is seeing nothing. He's not seeking that his father would would accept him as a son, but even just as a servant. I'm I'm not asking for anything but to give me some food. He knows he deserves nothing. His father has the full right to reject him, to to shun him, to to shut the door in his face, but with the attitude of a repentant person.

Broken, he returns to his father not knowing what to expect. Verse 20 is is is is a shocking verse. Unexpected action. For the Pharisees, this is completely unacceptable. We just can't accept it.

And he arose and 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. I can't imagine some of these hypocrites. Probably, I I can't I I honestly, I imagine now they are probably closing their ears. They can't hear these words.

The father running toward his son? The father does not run. You know that? The father is is culturally is unacceptable for the father to run toward the son. You don't.

Don't tell us that the father is running toward the son? But this is what it tells us. The father, he saw the son, and he was running toward him. For the Pharisees, the son must be killed. The law of Moses tells us what to do with the rebellious son.

Get rid of him permanently. That's what we expect, father. But the father does not care about your tradition, what's acceptable or what's not. He He's not care about what the people may say. While the young boy was still a long way off, the eyes of the father saw him.

The father has been waiting and waiting and waiting for his son's return. He may have been looking every morning and every evening toward the horizon waiting for his son's return. Oh, he's not remembering his son's mistakes. He's not desiring anything but his son's well-being. His sons return unharmed.

That's the only thing the father desires. Filled with compassion and love, he does not wait until his son arrives home. He runs toward him. He embraces him and he kissed him, and the word in Greek there implies kissing him and kissing him and kissing him and hugging him and loving him and showing him all type of compassion. My son my son is back.

That is the heart of the father, our God, the father God. Verse 21, we see the boy's statement. He has thought about what he's going to say to his father. I'm sure he's been rehearsing this for so many times. I have no doubt.

I mean, you rehearse it and rehearse it and rehearse it and rehearse it and, yeah, I'm good to meet the father. I don't know what to expect. Surely, he did not expect such welcome. He did not expect such welcome. Had they had hugged him and kissed him first before even his the boy could utter one single word, but he returned.

Remember? He returned. Now the son confesses his sins. Verse 21. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and and and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

I've sinned against heaven. Heaven speaks of God and against you. I dishonored you, and this was sin against God who commanded me to honor my father and my mother. I sinned against God when I left and I went to a foreign country when I should have stayed with my own people in the land you have given us. I have sinned against God when I had a company of evildoers, when I lived an immortal life, but I also have sinned against you, and I do not deserve to be your son.

You see, he skips the words he rehearsed so many times in verse 19. He skips them. He doesn't say, make me make me like one of your hired servants. He doesn't say that. He has no need to say to say these words.

He saw his father's love and acceptance, and now he leaves it to the father. He leaves it to the father to appoint him to the to the position he wants him to be in, a servant, a child, whatever you want, dad. Whatever you want. It's up to you. He has complete trust in the father's love.

Now, you would think the father's actions up to this point are enough. I mean, isn't it enough? He kissed him. He hugged him. He showed him love and compassion.

Isn't that enough? No. There's not one word of rebuke. Not one word. Why have you done so?

Not one word to make him feel guilty or unworthy. Not one single word. Oh, you deserve it. You deserved what happened to you. None of these at all.

None. The the boy is repentant. The the boy is broken. He recognized his sin, and he's putting his his trust fully in God. There is no need to pass any judgment on him right now.

It's time for something else. It's time to rejoice. It's time to celebrate. Verse 22 to 24. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring in his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and marry, for this my son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry. What Jesus is saying here is this. If there is such great joy with one sheep lost, if there is such great joy when one coin is lost when it is found, how much more there is joy when a child, when a repentant sinner comes back to god? How much more? The boy was dead the moment he took his part of the inheritance and left whom he was as dead.

It is fitting right now to rejoice, to be merry, to celebrate a lost man found, and a dead son coming back to life. It is surely fitting. Take off the old stinky clothes. Wash him and put him put on him the best suit in house. Put a ring in his finger and new sandals in his feet and to complete the celebration.

No good celebration without good food is there. Let us kill the fattened calf. Let us kill the fattened calf. And the party, the holy party. There's unholy parties all around.

The holy party began. Now I know there are many of us today, many of us are like this young man. There are some of us some will be listening to this message maybe in the weeks ahead, and they are like this prodigal son. Maybe you think your sin is so great. God cannot accept you.

You're wrong. If you think I know to do this, and I I need to do this, I need to do this before God will accept me, again, you are wrong. You may think, you know, I'm not bad enough. Again, you are wrong. You're very bad, and you're on your way to hell.

This is how bad you are. But there is room for you. The door is still open for sinners, for every sinner to come back home. No one can save you but Jesus. You might be coming to church every Sunday.

You might be set having such some fun and you enjoy and some satisfaction in being in church. The church cannot save you. Jesus can. Jesus saves. Maybe you think, I'll do both.

I'll be close enough to the father's home, but not very far from the foreign land. Somewhere in the middle, I can get the best of the two. Oh, wretched man. Oh, wretched man. How could you think this is possible?

Abandon your foolish ideas and come to Jesus. Come home. Come broken. Come repentant. Come in faith.

And I tell you, like this loving, compassionate father in this story, you will hear the word of no condemnation from God. You will hear from the

word of God, I accept you. He will shower you with his love. He will shower you with his acceptance. He will shower you with kisses from above, kisses and hugs of

a loving father. He will take away all your filth. He will wash you clean, and you will be clean as white as snow. Yes. As we have sang, white as snow.

You will long no longer be a slave. You will be a child. You will be a son, and you will be a daughter. Heaven is waiting. The angels of God are waiting to celebrate your homecoming.

The robe is ready. The sandals are ready. The fattened cow is ready to be slaughtered and the party to begin. Would you come today? Would you come today?

Let's pray.

Our god, there is no one like you, loving, compassionate, patient. Lord, you have waited for us for so long waiting and waiting and waiting.

You have stretched your arms

first. You took us from our mire. You took us from where we were in sin. You gave us life when we didn't even desire it in the beginning. We were indulging in sin.

You loved us first. Lord, we thank you for your love. We thank you that you still call sinners to come back home. There is room. There is room.

Lord, we thank you. The door is still open. There's still second chances. Lord, we pray that even this day, many will come to you. One, many will discover that you are a good father, a father who would never remind me of the sins, but will wash all those sins away, will make them clean, will make them pure, will give them a new heart, a new mind to love you and serve you.

Lord, we worship you. Lord, we thank you because you are so loving, and you are so good. You have been so good, lord god, to us. You've been so good, lord. We worship you and praise you.

We thank you, god, for this message. Lord, we pray that no one will stay in their stubbornness of heart. Nobody will will stay in the far country when they hear this message, but they will hear the voice of God calling, come back home. Come home. There is complete forgiveness.

There's a new robe, new ring, new sandals, new life in Jesus Christ. Lord, we give you the glory and the honor and praise. Amen.