WELCOME TO THE JACKSON STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST

1. WELCOME TO THE JACKSON STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES

2. Luke 15:11-13 Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.

3. A FATHER WHO MAKES YOU WANT TO GO HOME

4. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL? • The Parable of the Prodigal Son or The Parable of the Loving Father. • Often, we spend our time talking about the son going away. However, the Parable is really about the son coming home. • The chapter is not about getting lost, but rather, about being found. • The coin, the sheep, and the son were all found. • Coins and sheep don’t come home on their own. However, prodigal sons sometimes do.

5. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL? • What was it about the prodigal son’s home that drew him back? What were the recollections of the Father that paved the way for him to return? • The text makes clear that the attitude of the son changed. Luke records, “And when he came to himself…” (Lk. 15:17). He left saying, “Give me…” and he returned saying, “Make me…” He left feeling entitled, and returned, feeling indebted. “I am no more worthy…” This was the turning point of this young’s man’s life. • The prodigal son remembered that even the servants in his father’s house had bread and to spare (Lk. 15:17).

6. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL? • Hopefully, our children will never go astray. • However, if they do, and they certainly can, we want their recollections of home to be such that they will want to come home. • As fathers, we want them to remember us in a positive way.

7. A FATHER WHO WILL ALLOW YOU TO MAKE CHOICES FOR YOUR LIFE.

8. ALLOW YOU TO MAKE CHOICES • The prodigal son requested his inheritance. The father could have refused. • Distribution of the inheritance was usually made at the death of the father. If made earlier, it should have been at the father’s suggestion and not at the son’s request. • The prodigal son’s request shows ingratitude and disrespect. It was as if he couldn’t wait for his father to die.

9. ALLOW YOU TO MAKE CHOICES • The purpose of parenting is to train our children to make good choices in their lives. • Parenting is a job that if it is done right you are no longer needed in that job. • We are not told so, but surely the father tried to talk his son out of the bad choices he was making. • But in the end he allowed him to make his choice and he lived with the consequences of his choice. • If the father had not allowed the son to have his choice, he would have become like his older brother, unthankful and ungrateful for the blessing he had.

10. II. A FATHER WHO WILL GIVE YOU A WARM EMBRACE RATHER THAN A COLD SHOULDER.

11. II. GIVE YOU A WARM EMBRACE • Although the prodigal son showed ingratitude and disrespect for the father in requesting his inheritance and wasting it in the far country, the father showed great love for the son when he returned. • Rather than a cold shoulder, the son received a warm embrace. Luke records, “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Lk. 15:20).

12. II. GIVE YOU A WARM EMBRACE • The father was watching for his son to come home. He had not given up on him. • The father had compassion, and not contempt, in his heart for his son. • The father ran to meet his son. He was ready to forgive. • The father fell on his neck or embraced his son. He didn’t keep his son at arm’s length. • The father kissed his son.

13. II. GIVE YOU A WARM EMBRACE • Some have pictured the prodigal son as knocking on the pig farmer’s door in the far country and handing him back the slop bucket. As the son handed the bucket back, he declared, “I’m going home.” The farmer answered, “When your father sees and smells you, he’ll send you back.” “Mister,” the prodigal said, “You don’t know my father.”

14. III. A FATHER WHO WILL GIVE YOU A SON’S ROBE WHEN YOU ASK FOR A SERVANT’S TOWEL.

15. III. A SON’S ROBE WHEN YOU ASK FOR A SERVANT’S TOWEL. • The prodigal son headed home with the intention of declaring that he was no longer worthy of being called the father’s son. He was asking merely to be as one of his servants (Lk. 15:18-19). • After the son confessed his sin, and before he could request to be a servant, the father called for the best robe, a ring, and sandals to be brought to his son (Lk. 15:22). He was received not as a servant, but rather, as a son.

16. III. A SON’S ROBE WHEN YOU ASK FOR A SERVANT’S TOWEL. • Reminds us of Paul’s plea to Philemon regarding Onesimus. Philemon 1:15-16 15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave--a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. • John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

17. IV.A FATHER WHO WILL GIVE YOU A PLACE AT THE TABLE INSTEAD OF A SEAT IN THE CORNER.

18. IV.A PLACE AT THE TABLE INSTEAD OF A SEAT IN THE CORNER. • The elder brother thought that his brother should be punished, not pitied. He thought that he should be rejected, not received. He thought that he should be flogged, not fed. • The elder brother was angry and wouldn’t go in to the feast (Lk. 15:25-28). • The elder brother wouldn’t even speak of the prodigal as his brother. He said to his father, “Thy son” (Lk. 15:30). • The elder brother rejected the reasoning of his father (Lk. 15:28) and charged his father with favoritism (Lk. 15:29-30). His attitude must have dampened the father’s joy.

19. IV.A PLACE AT THE TABLE INSTEAD OF A SEAT IN THE CORNER. • Unlike the elder brother, the loving father would in no wise cast his penitent child out • John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. • The father commanded the fatted calf to be killed and for there to be a celebration at his son’s return (Lk. 15:23). • The father understood the significance of the occasion. His son, who was dead, was now alive. His son, who was lost, was now found (Lk. 15:24).

20. A FATHER YOU WANT TO COME HOME TO • This story gives us an example of how we should be fathers who a child would want to come home to. • But it also gives us an example of how our heavenly Father will welcome his prodigal children home if we will return to him. • Do you need to come home to your loving Father. He is waiting for you to return.

22. TONIGHT’S SERMONGOD’S LEADERS