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#20260412 - God Has A Plan - Luke 15 & 1 Sam 16 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
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resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
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into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
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dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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Amen. All right, we're going to be in
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Proverbs chapter 3. And before we get in to Proverbs
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chapter 3, I don't know about you, but I like to make plans.
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I have the privilege of making plans like dinner date plans for
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me and my wife. And I say privilege because it
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is a privilege to make these plans.
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When we get to go out on a on a dinner date, it's really special
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and I get to choose where we go. Eat.
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And when I say I get to choose, what really happens is I'm
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choosing 2 places typically, maybe more that I know my wife
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likes to eat at, that she enjoys.
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And I do this so that I can have a time of blessing.
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For me and my wife, like if she's not happy, you guys know
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the term happy wife equals happy life.
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Yeah. And so I've learned in we've
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only been married a couple years, I've learned.
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That if I don't plan with her in mind, those plans can go off
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pretty badly. Even if I send her the same two
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places that we've been countless times before, she still looks up
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the menu to order the same thing she's ordered five times before.
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But it's good to learn that I need to submit myself to her in
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this way so that I can bless us in my plan making ability.
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Now, as you can see behind me, the title is God has a plan and
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it's important for us in the similar vein to think through
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our plan making and seeing if it really aligns with the Lords
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plan for our life. And that could be difficult at
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times. I've heard messages before, been
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to conferences before where you know they kind of build up to
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this is how you can know the plan for your life is actually
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from the Lord. This is how you can know if what
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you're planning really aligns with what the Lord's planning.
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And I'm just going to give it to you right in the beginning
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before we even jump in to Luke 15.
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It's found in Proverbs chapter 3.
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And you'll be familiar with these verses because Pastor Ed
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likes to refer to this as one of his life verses.
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But starting in verse 5 and 6, if you would pick up with me and
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verse 5, it says trust in the Lord with all your heart and
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lean not on your own understanding in all your ways.
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Acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
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It's really as simple as these 4 lines in these two verses.
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Now, the first step in knowing if your plans will align with
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God's plans are do you trust the Lord with all of your heart?
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Do you trust the Lord with all of your heart?
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Trust is a product of relationship.
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So either A1 to one relationship, because I know
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you, because I've been through things with you, I trust you.
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Or I don't trust you. Or because I know so and so who
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knows you very well and trust you with their life, I trust.
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You with this? Portion of my life.
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Relationship is key in your ability to trust the Lord.
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If you don't have a real relationship with Jesus, with
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your Lord and Savior, it's going to be really difficult for you
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to trust Him with all of your heart.
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Now that might seem simple, but it does take some time to to
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produce action. It does take some time for you
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to develop a discipline of learning how to trust the Lord
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in everything, in all things. But it starts with your
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relationship. Do you know Him?
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Do you know how He thinks about things?
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Do you know His character? Do you know what biblical
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principles apply to your situation?
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Well, I'm not sure. How would I know that?
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Well, you know that by getting to know your Lord and Savior.
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You know that by studying His word, by spending time in
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prayer, by submitting yourself to Bible studies, by reading
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different commentaries, understanding who the Lord is in
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your life, who He desires to be in your life.
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That's how you develop trust. That's how we do.
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Step 1. So do you trust the Lord?
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Do you have a real relationship with the Lord?
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The next one is you have to put to death the pride in your life,
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The next sentence in verse 5 says, and lean not on your own.
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Understanding this is challenging because after you've
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lived a little bit, after you've experienced quite a bit, you
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kind of grow into this person that has all the answers or
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you're like me and you just like to have a quick resolution to
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the problem that's in front of you, to the situation that you
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would just like solved. And because it worked
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previously, it's obviously going to work again this time.
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And so we start making decisions, leaning on our own
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understanding instead of acknowledging the Lord or
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instead of asking the Lord, Hey Lord, what do you think about
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this? I know it seems similar to what
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I've done before. I know it seems similar to what
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you've brought me through before, but it is.
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A new situation. And it's important for us that
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before we make those decisions. That we don't lean on our own
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understanding because it's something we've been through
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before or it's something that's familiar with us or we've seen
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something like it, and therefore this is the answer.
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But we do what's in the first sentence of verse 6 in all of
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our ways, we acknowledge Him, and that's a big.
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Task that's really challenging. I'm not even going to say that
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this is something super easy, that this is something that
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comes really easily for any of us, but to acknowledge God and
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not some of our ways, not just the hard things, but in all of
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our ways is a challenging statement to read from
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Scripture. All of your ways means all of
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your ways and what happens here as you read this, you kind of
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think through like, well, what is that?
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Like, how do I accomplish that? What does that look like
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practically? I know that when I read
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scripture, I try to apply it practically, like how do I put
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this in action? A real simple one for you to
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process and how you do this or how you accomplish this is
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putting a filter on your thoughts.
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It's one thing to process something that's being said to
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you or something that you're seeing, something that you're
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looking at for the first time, but then immediately processing
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through the filter of what does God think about this?
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Not just how I'm processing, but what does God think about this?
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How would God react to this? What does Scripture say about
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this? If someone sins against you,
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what should I be doing about this?
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According to the word of God, processing your thoughts through
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the filter of what God says is really.
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Important. It's a discipline that you have
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to pray through. It's a discipline you have to
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practice. It's a discipline that you have
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to put in action regularly. And I will tell you that it
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slows you down a little bit. However, it does help process
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faster If you know his word, if you know what he thinks about
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situations, it's always good to double check.
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It's always good to seek him out.
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It's always good to get prayerful counsel.
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It's always good to go and receive godly counsel, but it's.
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Helps if you know His word, if you know what He thinks, it's
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easier to filter your thoughts and emotions and the situations
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and relationships and the things that come up on a daily basis.
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If you know what he thinks and what he says, it's really easy
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actually to start processing your thoughts through the lens
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of what God sees. But it does take time and it
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does take discipline to learn how to do that.
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And lastly, we're given a promise at the end of verse 6.
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It says if we do these things, that He shall direct your paths.
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I think what's important to realize is that it doesn't say
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he'll take those steps for you. He'll move your legs for you.
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He'll make the actions for you. We still have the responsibility
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to be good stewards of our time, to be good stewards of our
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actions, to be good stewards of our thoughts, to be good
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stewards of the free will that He has entrusted to us.
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However, when we go through those first few lines and we
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start applying it to our life, the promises, He's going to
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direct those steps, the promises our paths will align with God's
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plan for our life. Our plans are no longer our
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plans, but we're actually planning our life according to
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how God desires us to live and to walk.
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And that's a sweet promise because I know, like me, I'm
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sure that you have made some plans that have not ended well.
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You have made some plans that have not necessarily followed
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the guidelines that God would have for you.
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And you've suffered the consequences for it.
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And I will tell you that just because you would make a plan
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that does align with God's plan for your life that there are no
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consequences or there there are no hardships.
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I would say there's a phrase it's always better to experience
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and suffer through the consequences of obedience
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rather. Than the consequences of
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disobedience. And I would agree with that.
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I think even if we suffer, it's better to suffer knowing we're
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within God's plan than suffering because we are outside of God's
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plan in our life. Because the world simply is
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marred by sin. Therefore we will be affected by
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sin. Not because that is God's plan
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for our life, but because God's plan for our life is that we
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live in this world that's marred by sin to represent him well,
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which means that we will suffer even within God's plan.
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However, it is so much better to suffer knowing God is with you
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than suffer because you are outside of God's plan for your
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life. Does that make sense?
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Are we tracking? Are you here with me this
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morning? Good.
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Because in Luke 15, we're going to be looking at a situation
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where the plan goes completely off for this young man and.
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We're going to be. Introduced to not only the young
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man, the prodigal son, we're going to be introduced to his
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father and also his older brother.
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And today we're going to end a little bit early so that there's
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a response time at the end. Because I think the Lord shows
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us in Luke 15 three things that we can respond to as a church.
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And these three things may be for you today and maybe for you
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tomorrow, maybe for someone, you know, a month from now.
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But these three things are very important for us as we jump in
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to the word for us to be aware of.
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So if you would turn with me to Luke 15, we're going to start in
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verse 11. Luke 15, starting in verse 11,
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we're going to read through the end of the chapter.
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Says this. Then he said, Speaking of Jesus,
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a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his
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father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to
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me. So he divided to them his
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livelihood, and not many days after the younger son gathered
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all together journey to a far country, and there wasted his
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possessions with prodigal living.
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In verse 14. When he spent all, there arose a
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severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
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Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,
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and and he sent him into the. Fields to feed.
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Swine and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods
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that the swine ate and no one gave him anything but in verse
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17, when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father
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tired servants have bread enough to spare and I perish with
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hunger. I will arise and go to my father
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and I will say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and
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before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
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Make me like one of your hired servants and he arose and came
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to his father in verse 20. But when he was still a great
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way off, his father saw. Him and had compassion and ran
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and fell on his neck and kissed him.
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And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and
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in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
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But the Father said to his servants, bring out the best
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robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his
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feet, and bring a fatted calf here, and kill it, and let us
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eat and be merry, for my son was dead and is alive again.
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He was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.
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Now in verse 25, his older son was in the field, and as he came
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and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
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So he called out to one of the servants and asked what these
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things meant. And he said to him, Your brother
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has come, and because he has received him safe and sound,
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your father has killed the fatted calf.
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But he was angry and would not go in.
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Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
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So he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years
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I've been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at
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any time, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I may make
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merry with my friends. But as soon as the son of yours
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came, who devoured your livelihood with harlots, you
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killed the fatted calf for him. And the father said to him, Son,
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you are always with me, and all that I have is.
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Yours it was right that we should make merry and be glad,
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for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is
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found. Jesus shares the story with
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those around him, and it's really important for us to to
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kind of grasp the situation that's being presented by Jesus.
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The Son comes to his father. It seems that his father has
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great wealth, great possessions, and he demands his inheritance
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early and culturally and even today, typically an inheritance
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will come to the sons, typically the older sons culturally during
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this time, first, when the father was close to death or
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haves already passed or had already passed and the son comes
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and he demands his inheritance immediately.
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He demands it right now. And we see the father gives him
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half of his livelihood, his current livelihood, half of
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everything he was worth to the sun.
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And the sun goes out and wastes it.
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He goes to a far country, he parties hard, he loses
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everything. And then there's a famine in the
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land and he finds himself getting hired by a farmer to be
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the one who takes care of the pigs and feeds the pigs.
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And he's in such a broken state, in such a fallen state, that as
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he's feeding the pigs, he's looking at what he's feeding
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them and and desires it to eat because he has nothing.
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He thinks it looks good to him, and it finally hits him, finally
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hits him that he's in such a broken place it'd be better for
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him to go back to his dad and just be a servant in the house.
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Because even as a servant of his dad, he would have food to eat.
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Because he's not even worthy to be a son anymore.
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I don't know about you, but that's a pretty clear.
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Picture of a plan that didn't go the way he thought it would go.
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I know for a fact the son, when he was making his decision of
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demanding his inheritance, when he was spending his inheritance,
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when he was enjoying himself, did not imagine himself ending
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up in a. Pig slop wanting to eat their
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food. I know that's not how he planned
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it out. I know that's not what he
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thought. I know that's not something he
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was wanting to be the outcome of his great and grand plan.
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And yet that is a trap for many of us in our own lives when we
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decide to make plans apart from the Lord's plan for our life.
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When we lean on our own understanding, when we lean on
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our own wants, when we lean on what we think we can expect.
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And when we do this and we enact it, and we live it out.
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We often come to a place of ruin and brokenness, and I would be a
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fool to say that there aren't some of you with testimonies in
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this room of you living your own plan and finding out it's not
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exactly what you thought it was going to be because you realize
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that your plan was apart from the Lord.
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What I love about this story is there was a place though, for
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this son to come to in his brokenness where he realized
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that it was better to be a servant in his father's home
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than it was to be on his own living in the ruin and the
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brokenness of his own plan. And often times that's where the
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Lord allows us to go. He allows us to experience that
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so we can come to that same brokenness.
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And really the word is repentance.
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The son came to a place of repentance.
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The realization that he had sinned against his father, the
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realization that he had in order to reconcile his relationship
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with his father, He had to go back and admit that he had
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sinned against him. He had to admit that his plan
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was not the plan that he should have been following.
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His plan was not the answer. His demanding of the inheritance
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was not the right way, and he had to come to this position
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after unfortunately going and experiencing great brokenness
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and sadness. And for many of us, whether we
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like to admit it or not, the same thing happens to us.
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We can live our lives in a way that, unlike Proverbs 3, five
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and six, we don't acknowledge the Lord.
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We don't give Him the first right of refusal for our great
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plan. We don't see Kim to help us
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navigate the next step or the next decision or how to handle
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that situation or that broken relationship.
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And we decided to push through and in our own understanding
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make. Choices that then lead us to a
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place of how did I even? Get here.
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What in the world am I doing here?
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And some of us might even be in a position where we're we're in
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the process of making those plans right now.
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And we haven't hit the pit. We haven't hit the swine.
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We haven't looked at the brokenness yet, and we haven't
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realized that it's time to repent and get our paths
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aligned. Some of us here this morning, I
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think, are in a position where you can say no.
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That's where I'm at right now. I've realized that I've done
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things in my own strength, I've done things in my own
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understanding, and I'm broken and I need to repent.
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I really want to hone in on this before we look at the Father.
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But the Son had to come to a place of repentance before
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relationship could be restored. It's important for us to realize
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two things. One, if you're the person that's
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in the position of the father, it's OK to wait for the person
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that sinned against you to repent before reconciling.
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It's OK to have boundaries in your relationships with people.
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It's OK to know that although they may be someone you're in
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charge of to care for, you're someone in I speak this in
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family, I speak this in friendships, maybe coworkers
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that you are close with, but they've sinned against you and
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and you just feel I'm a believer.
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I have to, I have to just reconcile this.
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I need to be right with them. It's OK to wait for repentance.
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It's important for us if we're in the position of the son to
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know that we need to repent before we can reconcile with
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someone. You may be in a situation like,
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man, why isn't this person just accept me back?
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Don't they see how? Bad my life is right now.
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Don't they see how hard it is? Why won't they just?
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Why won't they just receive me back?
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Why won't they give me a call? And my question is, why have you
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repented? Have you asked for them to
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forgive you of the sin that you've done against them?
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It's super important. And you're like, well, where
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does that come from? It actually comes from a
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relationship with Jesus. Jesus requires repentance before
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we can be reconciled with the Father.
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Relationship happens after repentance, after there's a
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realization of our sin against Jesus Christ.
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Only after that repentance takes place does reconciliation happen
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with our God. So why wouldn't it also happen
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in our own relationships? If you're sitting here today and
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you're wondering why is so and so not wanted to be my friend
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again or reconciled, don't they see how badly of a situation I
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am in? Have you repented to them?
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Have you? Asked.
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For forgiveness from them, for sitting against them.
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For those of you who are really struggling, maybe you're on the
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opposite side. You're just like, man, I, I
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don't know if I should go out and reach out to this person.
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I would just say it's OK to have boundaries.
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It's OK to wait for repentance. You're not in sin.
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I think there's different personalities where some are
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very empathetic and some are a little bit more stone cold.
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For the stone cold ones, we're going to get to that a little
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bit later and talk about the father's response.
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But for those of you who maybe are leaning more towards the
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empathetic side. And you're just like, man, I, I,
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I'm really struggling. Like if they need me, like they,
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they need help. And I would just tell you it's
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OK to have boundaries. It's OK to wait.
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It's OK to, to allow the Lord to work in them what he's doing.
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Don't go and rescue them. Don't play God in their life.
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Allow the Lord to have his finishing work.
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Allow the Lord to take them through the famine.
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Allow the Lord to take them through sitting in the place of
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the pigs, looking at their situation and realizing, man, I,
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I've sinned and I need to make this right.
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Don't jump in and play the Lord in someone's life, but wait and
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allow the Lord to do the perfect work that he's planning on.
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And for those of you who are allowing the Lord to do the
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perfect work in your life right now.
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I would love to say this. Look with me in verse 20.
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I want to look at the father in his response, says this, and he
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rose, Speaking of the. Of the prodigal son.
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And he came to his father, but when he was still a great way
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off, in verse 20, his father saw him and had compassion.
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And he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
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And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and
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in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
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But the father said to his servants.
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Bring out the best robe and put it on him.
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Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring
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the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry,
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for my son was dead and is alive again.
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He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry.
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What I love about this picture of the Father is it's very, very
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much a picture of the heart of God towards us.
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He's always waiting for us to come to our senses.
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He's always waiting for us to come to a place of repentance.
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He cannot wait to see us return to him.
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And what I love about the Father is there's a couple of things,
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and a lot of pastors and commentaries point this out, but
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the Father was. Waiting already looking for his
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son to return. And we don't know how many days
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in a row he was doing this, but on this particular day, the
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father was out there looking in a great way off.
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He saw his son, which means he was anticipating one day his son
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was coming back. And what I love about this is in
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his compassion, the father was not looking a great way off to
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correct his son or rebuke his son.
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He was looking a great way off to receive his son.
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And oftentimes you can say, well, I do the same thing.
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I'm waiting for so and so to come back too, so I can rebuke
22:28
them, so I can correct them, so I can tell them I told you so,
22:32
so I can get that. Great.
22:34
Yes, I knew I was right moment. Because that's our flesh.
22:38
And you know, some of us are laughing about it and some of us
22:40
are really quiet about it because it's like, that is me.
22:44
I do have that sometimes. And that's a part of our life.
22:48
That's a part of our flesh. That's something that the Lord
22:50
is working out in US. And I bring it up because it's a
22:53
real thing. Sometimes it feels good to be
22:56
right. Sometimes you're like, yeah, you
22:58
know, I told you you were going to end up in the pig slot.
23:00
Like I told you that it wasn't going to end well.
23:02
And now that you're back, I have so much more to tell you.
23:06
I have so much more to share with you.
23:08
But that's not the heart of the father.
23:10
It's not the heart of the father to you, and it's not the heart
23:13
of the Father for us to have towards others.
23:16
The heart of the father is. He was waiting a great far off.
23:19
Waiting a great yeah far off to be able to receive his son, not
23:23
rebuke him, not correct him, not push him farther down, not tell
23:28
him I told you so. But to love on him, to care for
23:31
him, to show him compassion when we walk with the Lord.
23:36
As we develop our relationship with the Lord, as we allow His
23:39
Word to sanctify us and cleanse us and help us navigate our
23:43
flesh and our emotions and our feelings.
23:45
Because I don't want to brush over this, but there is great
23:48
hurt. And if you read this and don't
23:50
think the Father's hurting, you're reading this incorrectly.
23:54
The father gave up half of what he was worth to his son, who
23:57
went and wasted it, who cut off relationship, who essentially
24:01
told his dad, I wish you were dead.
24:03
I wish you were dead right now so I could have what you are,
24:06
what you owe me in this arrogance, in this pride that
24:09
that causes a lot of hurt, that causes a lot of pain.
24:14
And for us to think that as we navigate life, we're not going
24:17
to see the same pain or we're not going to be exposed to the
24:20
same. Hurt is foolish.
24:22
We will be and you may be in the right.
24:25
You may be doing everything right.
24:26
You actually may be showing grace and mercy to someone who
24:29
is greatly hurting you. And our response can't be when
24:33
they come back in their brokenness, ready to repent.
24:37
Well, it's about time you did. No, it.
24:40
It's a it's a heart of reception.
24:42
It's a heart of love. It's a heart of compassion.
24:45
It's a heart of waiting so that we can, might, we might be able
24:47
to show them the love of God like God has shown us.
24:51
I don't want to speak to this because sometimes it's hard.
24:54
What you're seeing in the the father's life is he had already
24:57
forgiven his son before he came home.
25:00
That's why he was able to stand there ready to receive him.
25:04
He'd already forgiven his son before he got home.
25:08
And for us, if we don't forgive those in our lives, it's really
25:11
hard to have this perspective. It's really hard to be waiting
25:15
to receive someone and not rebuke them or correct them.
25:19
And when I bring up this topic, oftentimes, whether it's on the
25:22
phone, through e-mail, people coming in as walk-ins here at
25:25
the church, sometimes it's even asked on Calvary Live.
25:28
But how do I forgive someone when they've hurt me this badly?
25:32
How do I do this? Well, we have to remember who
25:35
forgave us in our greatest need, and that was Jesus Christ.
25:40
Forgiveness is a part of our relationship between US and God,
25:43
not necessarily us and them and whoever that person may be in
25:47
your life. You forgive them because God has
25:49
called you to forgive them, not because they have repented, not
25:53
because they have submitted themselves to you and asked for
25:55
forgiveness. You forgive them because God has
25:58
already forgiven you. Forgiveness happens because God
26:02
has asked us to forgive them. Now, sometimes it gets hard to
26:06
hear that because automatically we think, well, if I have to
26:08
forgive them, then that means I have to give them a relationship
26:11
right away, immediately. And that's not what God is
26:14
asking for. That's not what God is
26:15
requiring. Remember, relationship doesn't
26:18
happen until repentance happens. Reconciliation can't happen
26:22
until repentance happens, which means that relationship can't
26:25
happen until there's an understanding that you were
26:28
sinned against. But forgiveness can happen right
26:31
away. Forgiveness can happen
26:33
immediately. Forgiveness is a working.
26:36
Of the Lord on your heart says you might be ready to receive
26:40
them when they come back for reconciliation through
26:43
repentance. Those are two separate things.
26:46
Just because you've forgiven them doesn't demand relationship
26:50
with them. Forgiveness is an obedient step
26:53
for the you and between you and the Father.
26:56
Just like He forgave you, you have the power to forgive, which
26:59
then softens your heart, prepares your heart, and puts
27:02
you in the position. Like the Father, you have
27:03
compassion and you were excited for the day that the person
27:07
comes back ready to reconcile, ready to repent.
27:11
It's a lot easier to receive someone's repentance when you've
27:14
already forgiven them. I know in a room this size and
27:18
even listening on the radio or watching online, some of us are
27:22
struggling with the idea. Well, I just don't want to
27:24
forgive them. They've hurt me that badly.
27:27
And I want to encourage you, I want to exhort you that you
27:31
really need to ask the Lord to soften your heart and to remind
27:34
you how much He's forgiven. You said you might forgive them
27:38
and you may be struggling. Well, maybe the forgiveness part
27:40
wasn't actually the hard part. It was actually the
27:42
misunderstanding that, well, once I forgive them that I'm
27:44
opening myself up to brokenness and hurt because they haven't
27:48
repented yet. And that's not what the Lord is
27:50
asking of you when He asks you to repent or when He asks you to
27:53
forgive. He's asking you to have the same
27:56
heart He has towards you, a forgiving heart, a heart that's
27:59
ready for when they come back to you.
28:01
You can have restored relationship and reconciliation
28:05
through repentance, just like the Lord has restored our
28:09
relationship with Him and reconciled us to Him through our
28:12
repentance and surrender to Him. That's what the Father is giving
28:15
us as an example here, and I love it.
28:17
It's an amazing picture. Sometimes we overlook it because
28:21
we're always focused on the prodigal son, but the Father
28:23
gives us such a great example as believers on how to receive
28:26
someone, how to forgive someone that has hurt us greatly and
28:30
damaged the relationship that we have with them.
28:33
And for you? If you were maybe wondering why
28:35
so and so hasn't forgiven you or why they haven't opened
28:38
themselves up to you, I would ask you, like we already talked
28:41
before, have you repented? Have you openly said I have
28:44
sinned against you and I'm so sorry?
28:47
Have you come in a place of humility and and asked for that
28:50
reconciliation? And if you haven't, now's the
28:55
time. The Lord is ready to receive
28:58
you. And just like the Father was
28:59
ready to receive his son. The third person I want to point
29:02
out here is the older son. We see him in verse 25 pick up
29:06
with me. The older son is out in the
29:09
field, and it says as he came and drew near to the house, he
29:13
heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants
29:16
and asked what these things meant.
29:18
And he said to him, your brother has come home, and because he
29:21
has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the
29:23
fatted calf. But he was.
29:25
Angry and would not go in. So we have this picture of the
29:29
older son just doing his daily tasks.
29:31
He's working out in the field. He notices there's dancing and
29:34
there's a party going on. So he grabs one of the servants.
29:36
He's like, hey, what's going on? Why?
29:37
Why? What is this?
29:39
The servant's like, hey, your brother came home and your dad's
29:41
throwing a party for him. He killed the fatted calf.
29:43
It's a great celebration. Everyone's happy.
29:45
And the son immediately gets mad.
29:48
He's upset, and he doesn't even want to go in.
29:50
He's just so you know, this is ridiculous.
29:52
I can't believe this is happening.
29:53
He's processing his emotions and then the father comes out to
29:57
talk with him. Father comes out to talk with
29:59
him and he's like, son, what's going on?
30:00
He's like what what are you doing?
30:02
Why would you do this? He spent in our harlots.
30:04
He he took half of what you're what you're worth and and ruined
30:07
it. Why are you throwing him a
30:08
party? You wouldn't even give me a goat
30:09
for my friends. And the father says you've had
30:13
me your whole time. You've had me in everything that
30:17
I am available to you, this whole.
30:18
Time while your brother's been gone.
30:21
Why are you so upset that the fact that I am loving on your
30:24
brother and I'm receiving him back, He was once dead but now
30:27
is alive. He was once lost, but now is
30:28
found. Why is this so challenging for
30:31
you? And the sun's just sitting there
30:33
in his anger and in his really just frustration on this fact
30:38
that, you know, I can't believe that my dad would do this when
30:42
I've been so faithful to him, when I've done day after day,
30:45
I've been living for his good intentions.
30:49
I've been living for his restoration, for his wealth.
30:53
I've been doing everything he's asked of me.
30:54
Why would he show this kind of love to my worthless brother?
31:00
And this is a picture for us in just a way like I imagine, and I
31:06
know I've been in this place before as I wrestle with the
31:09
Lord, as I kind of look out, I'm like, man, Lord, like you see me
31:11
blessing a lot of people right now that just don't really care
31:13
about you, that don't really haven't really been investing
31:17
their time or life for you. And I've been serving you.
31:20
I've been loving you. I've been seeking you.
31:23
I've been doing everything you've asked of me.
31:24
I've been following, I've been living a good Christian life.
31:27
And it's hard, like it's hard to be out in the field.
31:30
It's hard to do these works. It's hard to see that you're
31:34
blessing others. But here I am like, what are you
31:36
going to do for me? And I think as believers, we can
31:39
get into this mode of wondering like, God, when are you going to
31:42
finally bless me for all the hard work I've been putting in?
31:46
When am I going to get the fatted calf?
31:48
What am I going to get at least a young goat and it gets
31:51
frustration and and this anger and this this contempt or the
31:55
word that I'd like to use is this self righteousness rises up
31:59
in our pride and it's really hard for us to celebrate the
32:03
things that God is doing. And this might be you this
32:06
morning. I know I used this example last
32:09
night, but even as I'm sharing the things that are happening in
32:11
our church, overflowing services for Easter, never had a record
32:16
number of baptisms that we've had this past Wednesday.
32:20
Kids in high school getting saved and you just didn't want
32:23
to clap my, it didn't really hit you.
32:27
You're just like, Oh yeah, you know, cool, whatever.
32:30
I wish the Lord had blessed me. I wish the Lord was doing
32:33
something cool like that in my life.
32:34
And he's like, oh, like, why didn't you clap my why didn't
32:39
you get excited about what God's doing?
32:41
Why didn't you hear that and be like, wow, like I, I hear that.
32:45
I want to be merry. I want to throw a party.
32:47
I can't believe that many people got saved.
32:49
I can't believe that many people got baptized.
32:50
I can't believe God's doing that work here in our church.
32:54
But the reason you weren't really excited and, and one,
32:57
some of you, I just didn't hear it.
32:58
I'm sorry. It's OK.
32:59
I'm not coming after you. But some of you, you heard it
33:02
and you weren't excited because you're, you're a little bit
33:04
tense with the Lord right now. You're going through it right
33:08
now in your Christian walk and you're a little upset that the
33:10
Lord hasn't shown up or the Lord hasn't done something in your
33:14
life, or the expectation you had because you were living your
33:16
life this way hasn't really hit yet.
33:20
You're just wondering why God isn't showing up.
33:23
I'm here to tell you, just like the Father tells His Son, you
33:26
have everything available to you that the Lord desires to give
33:28
you for whatever you're going through, for whatever you're
33:32
facing, for whatever you're struggling with, for whatever
33:35
you're dealing with in your life.
33:38
You have the love, you have the joy, you have the peace, you
33:42
have the patience, you have the kindness, the goodness, the
33:44
gentleness, the self-control of the Lord waiting for you just to
33:49
ask. You have the fatted calf
33:51
available to you to help you get through your day, to help you
33:55
get through that situation, to help you get through that tense
33:58
relationship. And because you haven't sought
34:01
out the Lord, because you've forgotten what's available to
34:03
you like this son did, you've been grinding it out on your
34:07
own. You've been doing it in your own
34:09
strength. You know what happens when you
34:11
live the Christian life in your own strength?
34:14
You begin to forget. You begin to dislike, and dare I
34:21
say it, not want to celebrate the great things God is doing
34:24
all around you. And you're sitting outside while
34:27
God is having a party with his people.
34:30
And you're disgruntled against the Lord, thinking you've been
34:32
doing everything right. And in that self righteousness,
34:36
you're sitting there and you have to be in this moment
34:38
exhorted just like the older son was exhorted by his dad.
34:42
You have everything available to you.
34:44
You have me. You've.
34:45
Had me this whole time. Your brother was dead and now is
34:50
alive. And because you've been doing
34:53
life in your own strength, the Christian life in your own
34:56
strength, you're frustrated, you're upset, and you've been
35:00
separated from the joy that comes with what the Lord is
35:04
doing around you. And that's a hard place to be.
35:09
But just like the Father didn't come out and rebuke his son in
35:12
the sense of, you know, how dare you?
35:14
You're such an. Idiot like I can't.
35:16
Believe you're not celebrate. He doesn't do that.
35:18
He just say this is. This is the reality and God does
35:20
the same thing for us like hey, I told you my word.
35:24
I told you that this is how you should live your life and for
35:27
the last few however weeks. Months, days, hours, minutes.
35:31
You haven't been abiding with me.
35:34
You haven't been approaching your life and processing it
35:37
through the lens or the filter of my thoughts or what my word
35:41
says. And because you haven't, your
35:43
plans have no longer aligned with mine.
35:47
And what you're finding out, very subtly, is that your plans,
35:51
although you're a believer, although you're living life for
35:54
the Lord, have left you in a place of being disgruntled,
35:58
upset and outside the celebration of the Lord.
36:02
The joy of the Lord. And just like the prodigal son,
36:07
that separation, that misalignment of your plans leads
36:11
you to a place of brokenness, sadness, and separation.
36:15
And the Lord wants to rescue you and receive you back, just like
36:19
you rescued and receives the prodigal son back.
36:22
Because church, the reality is we have everything available to
36:25
us. But when we don't ask of it,
36:28
when we don't seek it out, when we don't let that relationship
36:31
develop in our lives, slowly but surely, those plans misaligned.
36:36
And when our plans misaligned, whether we are in rebellious sin
36:39
like the prodigal son or maybe sin that's just kind of.
36:43
Covered with good works, we end up in the same place, separate
36:47
from our father and what I. Love is that the Father is still
36:51
ready to receive us, whether you're on the front step.
36:55
Or whether you're in the pig slop walking home dirty.
36:58
God's love is never changing and He desires to pour out His
37:02
faithfulness in our lives. Amen.
37:05
Before we close, I want to give some opportunity.
37:07
The worship team is going to come back up and I'm going to
37:09
give some opportunity for us to respond as a church.
37:11
And we did this last night. I'm hoping with time I can do it
37:14
again. But one, I'm going to offer
37:17
those of you in this room that don't have a relationship with
37:19
the Lord and you're like, I've never submitted my life.
37:22
I've never received the gift of salvation.
37:24
I want to give you the opportunity to receive that this
37:26
morning. I'm going to give you an
37:27
opportunity. I'm going to lead you through a
37:28
prayer. The prayer doesn't save you.
37:30
It's just the surrendering, like realizing you're a Sinner and
37:33
you need a saviour, confessing with your mouth, asking for
37:36
forgiveness and allowing the Lord to save you.
37:38
And then the next three things I'm going to give opportunity
37:41
for, and I want you guys to be able to stand to respond to
37:45
this. The first one is maybe you're
37:47
like the prodigal son and you used to realize that your plans
37:50
have been misaligned and you need to get back right with the
37:53
Lord. You need to repent.
37:55
And this is your moment to repent and get back in line with
37:58
the Lord. You just, you know, the prodigal
37:59
son stories, how you are really just connecting with today's
38:04
message and that's you just want to make a present statement
38:07
today. You just want to stand.
38:08
And I just want to make sure that I'm right with the Lord.
38:11
That's where I'm at. You may be in a place of the
38:13
Father and you're just having a really hard time forgiving.
38:16
And that may be you today. Like it's just talking about
38:18
forgiveness, talking about reconciliation, being ready to
38:21
receive that person who's going to repent, may not be tomorrow,
38:24
may not be next week, and maybe sooner than you think.
38:26
Maybe a text message that you got during the message and
38:29
you're just like, I don't know if I'm ready.
38:30
And if that's you, I'm going to give you an opportunity to stand
38:32
as well. And the last one is you have
38:36
been grinding out the Christian walk in your own strength, and
38:40
you've forgotten what's available to you.
38:43
And you just need help. You need help so that you can
38:45
enjoy the joy of the Lord, that you can have your heart filled
38:49
with celebration of what the Lord's doing around you.
38:51
You're just like, yeah, that's me.
38:53
Like I just, I need to set my life.
38:55
I need to get back into the celebration.
38:57
I need to get off the front step, and I need to stop doing
39:01
this in my own strength. And your path is misaligned as
39:03
well. Just like the prodigal son,
39:05
different but the same. And the Lord's ready to receive
39:08
you today, too. And so with our heads bowed and
39:11
eyes closed, I'm going to walk us through that.
39:13
And if those three things or any of those three things I've
39:16
spoken to you today, I want to give you an opportunity to stand
39:19
so I can pray over you before we end.
39:21
But starting with those who don't have a relationship.
39:23
With the Lord, if that's you this morning, you're like, I
39:25
just want to get saved. I just want to know the Father's
39:27
love. I want to, I want to surrender
39:29
my life. This is your moment.
39:31
If you would just be able to stand so I could pray with you
39:33
whether you're listening online or watching online, listening on
39:37
the radio. We just want to pray with you.
39:39
I want to lead you through a prayer of surrender to the Lord
39:42
so that you might have relationship with Him.
39:50
Simple prayer goes like this. Lord, I just ask that you would
39:55
forgive me of my sins. I know I I'm separate from you,
39:59
Lord, and I need you to forgive me.
40:03
I ask God that you would forgive me of my sins.
40:08
I confess them before you. I acknowledge that you're God,
40:11
she died, and that you rose again three days later.
40:15
I ask for your help to live a life that's surrendered to you.
40:18
I repent of my sins. I turn away from them.
40:23
I not only admit them, but I asked that I would have the
40:25
strength to not commit them. I pray that you'd.
40:29
Fill me up with your holy. Spirit, so I can have a life
40:32
committed to you in Jesus name, Amen.
40:38
If you gave your life to the Lord today, we're going to have
40:40
pastors and leaders and we'd love to pray with you after
40:42
service. This is for the other three
40:47
things that I mentioned. If you're a believer in this
40:49
room today and one of those things just tugs on your heart
40:53
and you know the Lord just asking for you to come before
40:57
him. This is your moment to stand
41:00
because I want to pray for you. I want to be able to help you.
41:05
Just have a moment where you can surrender this day, April 12th
41:09
to the Lord. And this is the day that you
41:11
just admitted to God you need help and you want help.
41:16
And I can tell you right now, as many around the rumor standing
41:20
like the Lord's receiving you and He loves you with
41:23
compassion. He knew this moment was coming
41:25
today. He knew this message was going
41:26
to happen today. He changed it up just for you
41:29
because He knew that you needed to hear it.
41:33
In churches, you see people around you standing.
41:36
I'm not going to ask for you to get up and put your hands on
41:38
them, but just just raise a hand towards them because we're going
41:41
to pray for our church. Lord's doing work and doing
41:43
business this week and we get to be a part of it.
41:47
We get to celebrate what God's doing in the hearts of those
41:50
around us. So let's pray, Lord, we just
41:52
come before you and we ask that you do the work that's needed in
41:57
the hearts of those that are standing, even though that are
42:01
watching online and listening on the radio.
42:03
Lord, we pray the same prayer. We ask God that you would help,
42:07
that you'd come alongside, that you would reinforce those who
42:14
are weak, that you'd forgive those and receive those who are
42:20
repentant. And you'd help those who are
42:22
having challenging time forgiving others, Lord, that are
42:27
hesitating or maybe learning how to put boundaries in a
42:30
relationship. I pray, Lord, that you would
42:33
strengthen them by your Holy Spirit, Lord, that you would
42:36
build your church. And that this would be the day,
42:39
Lord, where they could look back and remember you did a work in
42:42
their heart. You did a work in their mind.
42:44
You did a work in that situation, that relationship.
42:47
And Lord, that would be long lasting and fruitful.
42:51
So I lift them up to you, Lord, I ask that you bless them.
42:54
I ask, Lord, that you bless our church.
42:56
Go with us as we start our week. We just thank you God that you
43:00
love us. We thank you for your word in
43:03
Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
43:06
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
43:09
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
43:12
Call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
43:21
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
43:24
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
43:30
or download our free Calvary Church app.
43:32
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.