Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 Hey, why don't you high five, two people and say, welcome to church. Really quickly, go on high. Five, two people welcome them into the House of the Lords. It's good to have you here.
Speaker 1 00:00:19 It's good to have you here. Well, I, I'm, uh, I was obviously here a few weeks ago. Uh, some of you might have been around for that. Um, I, I would call myself, uh, a friend rather than a guest of this house and this church. I'm, uh, part of Rediscover Church in Exeter, uh, which is, uh, one of the churches, uh, in the city. Been there for close to 10 years now, uh, which is quite surreal. Came here with Mark and Nita Pugh, who are the, uh, leaders of Rediscover church. And, uh, it's been a joy, uh, to be able to serve so far, uh, with what God is doing. Who knows, God has stopped finished building his church here. Amen. Still building his church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. He has a plan and a purpose for Newton Abbott, and I believe this house has a crucial part to play.
Speaker 1 00:01:04 We're gonna do a couple of things today. I I'm gonna, um, I'm gonna tell tell you a little story of something that took place a few years ago, and then we're gonna go into Luke 15 and we're gonna look at the Prodigal son this morning. Come on. Um, and when we read The Prodigal Son, we're gonna do something a little bit different. I dunno how accustomed you are doing this, uh, on a Sunday morning. But we're gonna read it together. And I'm actually gonna ask you for a few minutes to turn to the person next to you after you've spoken about it. And I want to ask you the question, what stands out in that passage of scripture for you? What stands out in the passage of scripture for you? We'll, then come back and then I'll share a few thoughts. We'll pray and we'll wrap up.
Speaker 1 00:01:41 Amen. Amen. I'm a Pentecostal, so you guys need to get louder in the right room. Come on. Amen. Amen. There we go. We're getting, we're getting there. We're getting there. Lemme tell you a quick story. Something that took place a few years ago. I, I helped run an event called Limitless Festival. And Limitless Festival happens in the summer. It's coming up in a few months time. Some of the young people are gonna be coming with me, uh, to that. And, uh, we, uh, last year had around 4,000 young people come into a big field in the middle, uh, of Stafford Showground. We, we saw just under 500 young, young people give their lives to Jesus for the first time, uh, across the three to four days. And we're praying for an increase of that in a few months time. We're really believing God's gonna do something.
Speaker 1 00:02:17 Uh, I've been part of the team steering that, uh, for quite a few years. And about three to four years ago, uh, I took, uh, a group of young people, a coach, about 50 of them. Uh, this is when it was in a place called Marvin. We, we went to Marvin and we took a whole load of Christian Young people. Um, Ellie was one of the youth leaders. You'll probably remember this story, uh, well, and, uh, we also took a few, uh, non-Christian young people. Young people have never really heard about Jesus entertained church or relationship with God in any way whatsoever. Um, I was in a meeting with some of the leaders, this is on the third day. And I got a phone call from one of my friends who was also a youth leader, and he rang me as I was in the middle of this meeting.
Speaker 1 00:02:53 He says, Sean, you need to get out to the football pitches as soon as possible, because two of the non-Christian young people that we have brought to this camp are currently having a massive scrap. They are fighting in the middle of the field. So I was in the middle of this meeting, uh, with some youth annual leaders. I, I had to run out. I ran out into the middle of the field and thankfully by that point, the two young people who had a fight, the tension had sied down a little bit, and there was a little bit of frustration and angst in the air. You could tell something had taken place. So I grabbed the two young people. One of them had glasses and it kind of broke. The other one, uh, was absolutely fine. He had a little bit of ripping his shirt. I took him over in the middle of the field, sat them down and spoke to them about how, here, that's not how we behave.
Speaker 1 00:03:33 We don't do those things. We don't fight. That's not how we sought out disagreements. We need to find a better way. So they, they were telling me what had taken place. Of course, the fight took place over football, as it usually does. Um, I still don't think there's any justification for that, but one of 'em was telling me that the other guy's a Liverpool fan, so he felt like he needed a punch apparently. Um, and I, I sat them down and, um, they were kind of still so angry at each other at this point, still so frustrated at each other. And I told them, look, you're not gonna move from this place until you say sorry to one another. So they both looked at each other and through gritted teeth, they, they kind of said, sorry to kind of just appease me more than anything else I could tell at this point.
Speaker 1 00:04:16 They didn't mean the stories that were coming outta the mouth. And if I left them alone for another five minutes, they probably would start fighting again. Now at this point, I, I got them up to the feet after they said sorry. And I said, right, go back. I want you to stay away from each other for the rest of the evening. Don't go anywhere near each other because I don't, I don't need this happening again. So they promised that they'd stay away from each other. They went off. Fast forward a few hours later into that evening, we went into the main session. There was a few hundred young people at this point. I was on the stage hosting. Someone had preached, young people had come forward. We'd had young people give their lives to Jesus. We had young people encountering the presence of God for the first time.
Speaker 1 00:04:51 How many people know the presence of God still changes people's lives? Amen. Still transforms people's lives. Still comes and brings people in a matter of seconds. From darkness to light, from death to life. The presence of God has to be a distinctive of who we are as a church. Just why we're Pentecostal Christians, because we believe the Holy Spirit is still moving and still working in this day and age. Yes, the Pentecostal, uh, tradition of the day of Pentecost didn't come and go. It came and stayed. Amen. Amen. And here is the Holy Spirit. We believe in him. So I was on the stage trying to host young people, being minister to by the presence of God. And I noticed over on the right hand side of the stage, one of the young people that the, the one with glasses, he was over here. Our youth group was over this side.
Speaker 1 00:05:32 And he'd made his way over this way. I dunno why. And I can remember having this moment of just, just absolute astonishment and joy of seeing this young person. I closed tears coming down his face, hands lifted high worshiping a Jesus that he's never met before, but being introduced to that evening. Now, that for me, caused me to have tears. And it doesn't take a lot nowadays. I cry quite a lot. But I can remember being stood there on the stage and just being so in awe of how God had transformed this young person's life. Now, unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. Our youth group Rover on this side, Ellie was one of my leaders at the time. She's helping minister and try engage our young people. The other boy who had had a fight with this boy previously throughout the whole evening, he'd been stood there with his arms folded, completely disengaged with anything that was going on.
Speaker 1 00:06:24 The sermon meant nothing to him. The worship meant nothing to him. The ministry of the Holy Spirit, nothing at all frustrated and angry. It felt like there was a tension there, disengaged with any of our team not wanting to be there. You could sense it, you could feel it. And in a matter of moments, I can remember seeing this young man and then looking back across to our group, and I can remember the boy leaving our group and making his way through the huddle of people being ministered to the Holy Spirit. And I knew immediately where he was going. He was heading to the boy that he'd had a fight with. Now at this point, every thought went through my brain. As you can imagine, I thought, I'm gonna be jumping into the middle of this crowd in a minute because they're gonna have a fight.
Speaker 1 00:07:07 I, I know that's what's gonna happen. So he starts making his way. I'm trying to get in contact with my team as if to say, guys, you need to get across here. Thankfully, one of my leaders clocks on what's going on. He runs around all the side of the venue, but unfortunately he doesn't get there before the young person meets the other young person, this young person walks up to the one who's got his hands in the sky and his, his eyes closed and he just pokes him in his chest. This guy kind of startled a little bit, looks around and notices the guy that he is at a fight with. A few hours previously, he squares up to him and I thought, oh no, please Lord, not now. They look at each of her for a few seconds. And then what took place next was nothing short of amazement of something that I've seen before.
Speaker 1 00:07:55 The man who the young boy had approached him in the middle of this worship environment as my youth leader, leader just was making an approach behind, he opened up his arms across, he looked the other young person in the face and he said, I'm sorry, will you forgive me? Now at that point they hugged, can, can you remember? Do you know what I'm talking about? They hugged at this point and then it was an amazing moment after that to see them both arms around each of his shoulders, both of them hands in the sky, tears coming down, their voice, their face as they both respond to the gospel and give their lives to Jesus. Now, why do I tell you that story? I tell you that story because it's only the love of God, the power of God, the presence of God that can turn two of the greatest enemies into grace, peace, and reconciliation in a matter of moments. Just one touch of the king can change absolutely everything in a person's life.
Speaker 1 00:08:58 Amen. I believe it's that same very presence and power and love that we've all come to celebrate this morning together. Amen. Amen. Let's turn to a passage of scripture that you'll, many of you will probably know and let's explore. It's got a similar emphasis actually of what we've just spoken about. It's a story which expresses the love of God in the most spectacular fashion, especially when it was given and who it was given to. Uh, when we read the story of the Prodigal Son, often we read it. And of course it's inspiring to us if we've got any prodigals in our family, it's something that encourages us. It makes us have hope and belief that God can save even the worst of worst of people. But I want you to know before we read it, that this would've been one of the stories that got Jesus killed.
Speaker 1 00:09:38 This would've been one of the stories that would added towards the death of Jesus Christ. This was a like a crazy, astonishing story to a Jewish community. And I'm gonna explain a little bit of that in a moment. But what we're gonna do, we're gonna read it together and as we're reading it now, I want you to ask yourself the question, God, what are you speaking to me today through this text? And then afterwards, I'm gonna ask you to speak to twos and just share what perhaps God might be saying to you through it. And anyone believe the word still speaks to our hearts today? You don't need me today. You just need the word. In fact, you don't need any of me. You need all of the word of God. Amen. So we're gonna go from Luke 15 verse 11, and we're gonna go through to verse 31.
Speaker 1 00:10:18 Before we do that, let's pray really quickly. Holy Spirit, it's your word that brings power. It's your word that transforms lives. It's your word that shapes and molders into the image of Jesus Christ. It's your word that is the foundation, the rock upon which we can stand by your spirit. And I pray right now as we just read this scripture and passage together, as we have a few minutes of just speaking about it, just a couple of minutes. I pray by the power of your Holy Spirit, you will come and speak to us. Speak to us Lord, speak to us through your word.
Speaker 1 00:10:57 We pray this in your powerful name. Amen. Verse 11. Jesus continued. There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to the Father, father, give me the share of the estate. So he had divided his property between them. Not long after that, the youngest son got got together all that he had. And he set off for a distant country. And there he squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was severe famine in the whole country and he began to be a need. So he went and hired out to a citizen of the country who sent him to the fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. And when he came to his senses, he said, how many of my fathers hired servants have food to spare?
Speaker 1 00:11:48 And here I am out here starving to death. I will go back to my father and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called one of your sons. Make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up and he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe out and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fan calf and kill it.
Speaker 1 00:12:33 Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the oldest son was in the field and when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants, asked him, what, what? What on earth is going on? Your brother has come. He replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has got him back safe and sound. The older brother instantly became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered to his father, look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your audience, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could even celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you killed the fat and car for him.
Speaker 1 00:13:29 My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is now found two or three minutes. Just as someone that you know around you, what stands out to you in the passage of this text? What's the thing that that jumps out to you almost immediately? Off you go. Let me be bold. Let me be rogue a little bit here. Is there anyone that wants to share something that stood out to you or someone that something else said that you thought was cool? Well, yeah, come on.
Speaker 5 00:14:15 So it's all really in red. So we know Jesus. Jesus said this to a massive crowd. This, and at the end of the text he says, or in the power says it was, it was meat. That's the King James version. It was meat that we should make Mary and be glad for this th brother was dead and he is alive again and was lost and is found that through everything the father still forgave his son. Yeah. Cause the love overwhelmed everything. And that's the only thing that matters is that written at the
Speaker 1 00:14:45 End of the text.
Speaker 5 00:14:46 So that's the end of the story, the end of the story, end of love, the ends of forgiveness. Just remember that.
Speaker 1 00:14:51 Come on. Got a little preacher there. That's good. Really good. Really, really good. Thank you. Anyone else? Come on. Yeah. Yeah. Can you Yeah. Come on.
Speaker 6 00:15:04 Come on. Rage.
Speaker 1 00:15:05 Give a round of applause. Come on. This is really good. It's really good. Thank
Speaker 7 00:15:10 You Rachel. This wasn't actually me, this is what Zach was saying. <laugh>, it's all about the repentant heart and um, getting to the kingdom of heaven, it isn't about what we do and the works we do, um, and the riches we saw on earth, but it's all about, um, knowing that we only come to the father by his grace and by his love and his forgiveness.
Speaker 1 00:15:28 Come on. So good. Well done. One more. Yeah. Come on. I'm gonna be out of a job by a minute. Tell you guys are preaching. I don't need to do anything. This is brilliant. Thank you. That was amazing.
Speaker 6 00:15:41 Camera Chris. I did the son that went to where he didn't recognize what he had and he wanted more and he wanted it on his terms and he took what he was was his. And then he had to get to his lowest point ever before he realized what he had. Yeah. And a lot of it was not financial, not fleshy, but it was relationship. Yeah. And his father was already there in that relationship. His father had never changed, but his son had. And he went on a journey, but he came back like we all do. And I did that when I was in my youth and I had to lose absolutely everything before I came back and eventually became a Christian.
Speaker 1 00:16:27 Praise God. Thank you. Thank you so much Chris.
Speaker 1 00:16:33 Just a glimpse there, isn't it? You see how God speaks, doesn't speak through one person, speaks through the church, speaks through by the spirit through 3, 4, 5, 6 different people so far this morning. A glorious God we have that's always wanting to communicate with us how easy it is to come to his words and suddenly find God speaking to us all and they quickly pray. Cuz I think three of those words there. Some of you might remember only those three words this morning. Three thoughts. And if so, let God use it to shape you today. Father, thank you so much just for the confidence, the boldness and the obedience of your church there, just stepping out and sharing with their family, brothers and sisters in Christ of that which they sensed you were saying to them or to the person they were speaking to. And I pray by your spirit seeds or grow and flourish from the word of God.
Speaker 1 00:17:21 We pray this in your powerful name. Amen. Okay, let me really quickly, um, I I'm gonna be 10, 15 minutes and I wanna bring three invitations that I see from this scripture that I believe God brings to us all at some point in our journeys. Wherever you are, if you don't know him or you do know him, if you've known him for years or you've only just recently got to know him, I believe there's three invitations from the scripture that God brings us and it challenges us. I'm hoping to give you one practical thought at the end of each three invitation and then we're gonna pray and we're gonna wrap up. Firstly, let me tell you what's taking place here. Jesus as has been already, uh, rightfully pointed out, is speaking to a large crowd here and he starts to share, uh, a story. Uh, and the three stories are really simple.
Speaker 1 00:17:59 In Luke 15, we have a, a lost sheep and a party, a lost coin and a party, a lost son and a party. What's the common common ground there? Party. The party. How many people? God. God loves a party. And one of the things he celebrates most about the thing that that allows him to throw a party the most is when lost children or lost things come home. God is still in the business of calling people who are lost back into the kingdom of God and to the family of God, even to this day. And, and as he's speaking, he starts to share and, and he's actually speaking to an audience, likely to be rabbis scholars, Jewish people, a Jewish audience, and he shares the two stories before the lost sheep. And the lost coin is really a buildup to this great story which we've just read, which is about the lost son.
Speaker 1 00:18:42 Now, everyone there at this time understands what's taking place. They understand the Jewish language that is being proclaimed and understood within the context of this story. When we read it, it's obviously a little bit harder for us to understand what's taking place effectively. We've got a Jewish family. This isn't actually a story about one son. This is a story about two sons. And actually for us when we read it in our Western context, of course we relate to the the lost son. But it's interesting in the Jewish context, they'd have actually related to the other son, the elder son, the one who isn't spoken about as much. We're gonna look at, at both two stories. Two son, sorry, and one father. The early son, the the the latest son. The youngest son. He comes and he asks for his inheritance. He goes to his father and he asks for his inheritance.
Speaker 1 00:19:32 Again, Jewish custom Jewish tradition. When the father dies, two thirds of the money would go to the firstborn, the elder son. One third would go to the, the youngest son, the the lost son. So when the youngest son comes to his father and he asks for his inheritance early, it is if he is wishing his father to be dead, this isn't just a request for some finance to get him into a situation. This is very clear to everyone. Listen, this is the sun saying, look, I am out of here. I want my inheritance. I don't want anything to do with you, my brother or this land ever again. Give me what I what I should have a right to give me my inheritance and I am gone. Of course, he goes and he squanderers it on all the wrong things. The picture starts to be built up here in the Jewish mind again.
Speaker 1 00:20:20 And what's being built up here is effectively the youngest son wants the things of the father without the father himself. How many knows that's a picture of the world. We want the things of God, don't we? We want the creation of God and the wonders of God and the beauty of God, but you can keep God over in that box by yourself. Don't bring him to me. How many times you heard someone say, just don't ram the Bible down my throat. Don't bring Jesus to me. None of that spiritual religious stuff. And here the connotations are starting to build up here. The youngest son wants the things of the Father, but he doesn't want the father himself. So he recognizes that he does that. He recognizes that he's got his inheritance. He leaves, he squandered it. It says on prostitutes and a wild lifestyle. Of course, if you know Jesus, you know where this leads you. You can taste all the things that this world has got to offer and it leaves you feeling empty. And here's the sun. Suddenly in a place where he is tried, everything the world has got to offer and it leaves him empty. So empty has got nowhere to turn, nowhere to go, and he ends up in the pig die eating the things that the pigs are eaten. No again, Jewish tradition. What are the Jewish people thinking? Pigs.
Speaker 1 00:21:40 He has ended in the worst place, the most sinful place possible. His actions have not only caused him to be spiritually unclean, but now physically unclean. The separation from him and his holy Father, clean father, pure father is ex as expansive as it it possibly ever could be at this moment. So he ends up in the most repelling position for a Jewish man possible with nowhere to go. And he actually says, you know what? If it means that I've gotta work for my dad, then I will. So covered in the stench of sin without any inheritance or finance or money, with a lot of sinful and shameful baggage, he starts to make his way back to his father's home. Just stop there for a moment. Just think about what's going through his mind as he's making that journey home. He's, he's stinking, he's filled with shame and disgust in himself and he's walking back to his brother.
Speaker 1 00:22:57 Oh boy, imagine what he's thinking that conversation's gonna be like. And his father. Now put yourself in the, in the father's position for a moment. You're sat in the kitchen at the table, you've just finished your toast. If you have toast in the morning, a little bit of cereal, coffee's there and you just look out the window and there he is, the one that wished you dead, who's taken his inheritance that I never want anything to do with you again. He's wandering back up the lane. I dunno about you, but you're probably thinking, boy, this better be good, this better, this better be good.
Speaker 1 00:23:40 Human fathers, natural fathers, some could say logical fathers. That's how they respond. The heavenly fafa filled with compassion. He doesn't just wait, he doesn't wait for the knock on the door. Doesn't build up the speech in his head of what's he gonna say? How's he gonna worm his way back in? Yeah, he does something again that the Jewish people would've understood to be so illogical. He picks up his robes and he runs Jewish man didn't run, children ran. How dare someone show their legs and pick up their robes as a Jewish man to run, to run back to the one who is filled with the smell of the pigsty, who has wished the father dead, who has squandered the inheritance and who was left to not only run to him, what does he do when he gets there?
Speaker 1 00:24:54 Amen. If there is ever a greater picture of the gospel on the cross, amen. In that transaction of that hug, all of the smell and the sin and the shame and the stench and the unforgiveness is absorbed, taken in and accepted by the Father, you see the gospel. It's never been about rules and regulations to live by. It's always been about a person to live for and that person is Jesus Christ who made it possible for broken human beings like you and I, to be accepted by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords once again. Because on the cross with arms wide open, compassionate his eyes absorbed every sin, past, present, and future into him himself so that we can stand forgiven and accepted by the triune God. What's the first invitation that we see here? It's a real simple one. The first invitation is the invitation to his presence.
Speaker 1 00:26:16 It's the invitation to His, to his presence. But while he was still a long way after the Father saw him and filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, he threw his arms around him and he crisped, he kissed him. The crowd standing here ready to hear the punishment that the youngest son should rightfully deserve in these days and age that have been a severe punishment for it and it doesn't end in punishment, has already been pointed out. It ends in in love, it ends in acceptance. It's interesting that the story of the father's presence think about this isn't confined to the father's home.
Speaker 1 00:26:54 Yeah. He leaves his home for the sake of his lost son. Good. Yeah. How many times do we confine the presence of God to our church buildings when God is wanting to break beyond the walls with his presence to find his lost children? How many times do we con, confine, pulpit eyes, the gifts of the spirit into the church buildings when the gifts of the spirit were actually designed to be beyond the walls in the streets and the towns and the cities of Newton Abbott? How many times do we keep the presence of God in here and it's good to come and celebrate the presence of God, but what is the presence of God doing out there? Friends, I wanna encourage you this morning that God is working all over Newton Abbott in pockets, street, cities and towns waiting for a faithful people to just engage with that which the presence of God is doing.
Speaker 1 00:27:51 The presence of God was never designed to just be here. It was designed to be everywhere. And the Father and his presence, which is a sign of the Holy Spirit and what he does, he pushes beyond the realms of comfort and he moves to where the unholy unfamiliar places are. Can I tell you that in the most unfamiliar, unexpected, unholy places, Jesus is residing longing to do miracles. God is wanting to break into the darkest of areas, the darkest, the people, and the darkest of lifestyles to show them that they, no matter what they have done, can be accepted in love by a perfect father, a perfect son, and a perfect Holy Spirit. What is the call for our lives in this? It's to accept the invitation towards his presence. So when we hear that, may it not just be an invitation to a church building, may it be an invitation to step wherever the presence of God is and say, let your will be done. Let your kingdom come and let Newt and Abbott know that God is not finished with this place just yet. It's an invitation to his, to his presence. May we, his people be an extension of the father's love, moving beyond the house to embrace those whom are lost.
Speaker 1 00:29:13 The holy clean Father embraces the sinful, unclean son. And here we have the picture of the Christian faith. No greater picture of the gospel, that we don't make it to heaven by what we do. We make it to heaven because of what he has already done. Scandal of grace. Jesus says, come to me before He says, go for me
Speaker 1 00:29:44 Practical really quickly. How can you say yes to the invitation, the presence of God this week? Perhaps it's a walk. Perhaps it's slowing down to pray. Perhaps it's creating a rhythm to read, a simple time of waiting and listening. It looks like it could look like whatever you want it to look like, but make a priority this week to spend time in the presence of God. When we were driving here, um, uh, unfortunately I forgot that we were running out of petrol. Um, so we got, um, from Exeter halfway here and I turned to my wife and said, we've only got like 13 miles left on this clock. And it goes down at like double the speed. So, uh, we had to pull into a petrol station to quickly grab some petrol. And when the light was flashing on, there was a little thing that came up that said, low petrol stop to fill up. Almost immediately. And as soon as it happened, I felt the spirit of God say to me that there's people in here this morning. Perhaps this is just what I'm sensing, that you feel like this week you have been running on empty and God wants you to know the only way to fill up your tank is not more self-determination. It's not more self strength, it's not working harder. It's saying yes to the invitation to his presence. Friends, draw close,
Speaker 1 00:30:57 Drink and taste. See that the Lord is good and he will give you the strength that you need to face that which is coming in the coming weeks. Secondly, this is one of my favorite ones because we don't speak about this enough in church. It's already been mentioned. The second invitation that I believe the father gives is the invitation to a party.
Speaker 8 00:31:19 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:31:21 See that, that nervousness kind of, oh no, where's this going here, can I, can I just confess something out of a place of partial awkwardness of being a pastor for 10 years as well. I think we have the biggest reason to be people who party and celebrate. Yet we are so unaccustomed to doing so. Can I, can I just say that? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:31:48 We have the biggest reason to be the most joy filled, celebratory people possible. Yet at times we rather one find it awkward. Or two, we become too familiar with what has been given into our lives. Here's why. I know someone at the end of this service, I give a call to give my life. Anyone wanna give their life to Jesus? We could have 10 people respond to the gospel and go, do you know what? I wanna know this Jesus. I wanna give him everything. I wanna follow him. We pray the prayer, we say that's great. And then what do we do? Just go on with our days. Just think about that for a moment. What has just taken place in someone's life? Just think, just think about the miracle we have just seen. If we saw someone getting up out of a wheelchair, we could dance and we could sing and rightfully so. Amen. But when one soul goes from death, Jesus to life, amen. May we never become so familiar with the miracle of God's salvation that we just become apathetic towards it. But may we always be a people who is ready to party and celebrate that God is still saving people to this very day. Yes,
Speaker 1 00:33:16 It's the invitation to party. Mark Pew, the senior leader of rediscover church, probably my favorite quote I've ever heard him say in, in what? 13, 14 years of knowing him. He says this, the church can so often be a party that nobody's dancing at. The church can so often be a party that nobody's dancing at. May we be a people who know how to dance and celebrate what God is doing. Amen. May we be a people who always say yes, the invitation of God saying, come and join in with the joy and celebration of children who are once lost, but now are found. Amen. Here is the second part of the Christian faith that our life changes, our history changes, our outlook changes. Not because we have become better, but because God has given us the greatest gift of salvation and he is invited us to enjoy him in the party that has taken place in heaven. It's a party that celebrates the loss being found, sinners having a home. It's a celebration of his love for humanity. It's a celebration that grace and mercy is extended to every single person no matter what has gone on in her life. Practical, what does it mean to walk with joy this week? Think about you going into the office of the workplace, that person you really don't wanna see. We've all got them. Come on <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:34:49 The emails, the boring bits of the week, the school, the lessons, the exams. Imagine what 70, 80 people, one of many churches in this area dispersing from this place, choosing to be a people of joy.
Speaker 1 00:35:12 I bet you that'll make a difference. Yeah, I bet you that'll make a difference. How does joy outwork itself? Kindness. Smiles. Having a different perspective to suffering in trials doesn't mean that we're not gonna go through hard things. Doesn't mean there won't be difficulties this week, but it doesn't mean that we know the promise of God who says, I will be with you for every trial that you face that's deserving of joy. Joy isn't the same as happiness. Joy is the rock in which we stand upon. It's a consistent, solid consistency within us that God is on the throne, he's building his church and we get the glorious invitation of joining him in his presence and in his party. Finally, my favorite one is that we have the invitation towards the people to his presence, to the party and then back out to the people.
Speaker 1 00:36:14 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him, but he answered his father. Look, notice that he didn't even call him Father. Look, the disrespect is felt here. All these years I've been slaving away, never disobeyed you in your orders yet you have given me you. You haven't even given me a young goat to celebrate with my friends. And here he is with the fat and calf. I find it so fa fascinating that the older brother was just as lost as the younger brother. He was just as lost as the younger brother. And this is the older brother's chance now an opportunity to turn his back on the father, the younger brother's done. It has squandered and now all eyes turn to to the elder brother, the younger brother we can all relate to because we've all at some point recognized our sin and our difficulties and our attentions. But the elder brother, we find it hard to relate to. But here's here's the elder brothers story. He's obeyed, he's done good. He's done everything the father's asked yet still, still to that stage, still to that moment, here's what it comes down to. He wants the father's things without wanting the father. It's the exact same story between two different sons. One has gone his own way and one has tried to work his way to the fathers things religion.
Speaker 1 00:37:47 It will not save you. It doesn't work, it doesn't work. Ian Simkins, uh, is a guy on social media. You should follow him if you've got Instagram. He, he said these words, and I'm gonna come to a close now. He said these words, the older brother in the story shows us something really interesting that we can be close to the father's house and still be distant from the father's heart. Activity is a terrible trade off for intimacy, anger, isolation and cancellation may be the heart of the world, but forgiveness, unity, and reconciliation is always at the heart of the kingdom of God. And what does the father do again? He leaves the party, he leaves the house, he goes to where the eldest son is and he pleads, come on in, come on in. Here's what Tim Keller says. The younger brother was trying to get control by leaving and disobedient, obeying, but the elder brother was trying to get control by staying and obeying.
Speaker 1 00:39:09 The younger brother was trying to get all the farthest things by breaking all the rules, but the older brother was trying to get all the farthest things by obeying all the rules. Jesus is showing us that they are both lost. They're both without relationship with Father. They're both distant and they're both alienated from his heart. There are two kinds of lostness that we see in the world. You can escape God as much through morality and religion as you can escape God for immorality and irreligion. Friends, the premise of this story is clear. We don't need the farthest things as a priority. We need his heart. We need his heart. And so does this world. So does this world presence party and then back out to the people. What does it look like for you this week to go into this place, Newton Abbott, this town, and to call people to come and join the party? You know, our seating capacity of a church will never be as important as our sending capacity. Come on. Our seating capacity will never be as important as our sending capacity. Church, you have been commissioned to go.
Speaker 9 00:40:27 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:40:28 Presence party people. May we today be a people who choose to say yes to all three. Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for the worship. Thank you for the time gathered. Thank you for the testimony of what you're doing across the world and the globe. Thank you that your presence has been here just encouraging us. Thank you that we've heard you speak through a variety of different people, through so many people in this church building. And we're a family. That's who we are here. And Father, we ask, Lord, as we have seen in this story today, that we will be encouraged to say yes to all of your invitations as we go off today. We'll say yes to your presence tomorrow morning. We'll say yes to your party as we celebrate the things you are doing. And then we will say yes to be carriers of your mission to a broken and hurting people.
Speaker 1 00:41:13 Father, thank you that you're still saving people. Thank you. You're still doing signs, wonders, and miracles all across the world. And thank you that you invite us to be part of that. I pray a blessing on every single person here this morning. May they be encouraged. May they know your heart. May they know your love, and may they walk confidently that you have done all things to cover and to invite them into the family of God. Father, there's anyone here this morning that's never said yes to do. Never accepted your uh, your invitation to relationship. Never said yes to following you for the first time. I pray today will be a moment where they can respond to the gospel and say, I'm all in for the things of Jesus. Let nothing hold me back, but let me say yes to the invitation of his presence of his party and then back out to his people as all eyes are closer in the building.
Speaker 1 00:42:01 If there's anyone that wants to give their life to Jesus this morning, who wants to say yes for the first time? Or perhaps come back to the father's heart? You felt like you've wandered away and today you're saying yes, I want to come back to his heart. I wanna know his presence. And I wanna say I'm sorry for the things I've done. I just want you to really quickly, as everyone's eyes are closed, just pop your hand up in the sky and I'm just gonna see it. I'm gonna acknowledge it and then I'm gonna pray for you. If that doesn't happen, we'll say amen and we'll close If there's anyone here now, you can do that now. Amen. Thank you guys.
