“Bring the fattened calf and kill it.  Let’s have a feast and celebrate!  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.  So they began to celebrate.”   Luke 15:23-24 Even though we live in a fallen world in which we often experience suffering and sorrow, the Kingdom of God is designed for JOY!  It is our decision whether to be a part of it, or to be apart from it. The Feast of the Father is offered because … God understands the human condition.

• “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10)

God sent the divine solution.

• “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16)
• “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast … in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11)

God offers a new communion.

• “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” (Matthew 22:1)
• “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples…” (Matthew 26:26)

Luke 15:25-32 Jesus told a parable about two lost sons, not just one.  There is more than one kind of lostness.  Though the elder brother prided himself in his goodness—as compared to his younger brother who had been openly rebellious—he actually shared some of the same bad attitudes and motivations.

• He questions the ways of his father and his authority.
• He is not above being openly disrespectful of his father.
• He loved his father’s stuff more than he loved his father.
• He is willing to fracture the unity of his family.

We see signs of lostness in the heart of the elder brother:

• He held a deep anger.
• His obedience was joyless and mechanical.
• He felt disdain toward his younger brother.
• He did not understand his father’s love.
• He was judgmental and unforgiving.

If we identify these same signs within ourselves, we need to seek a change of heart through Jesus Christ.  Only through him do we learn to truly love, forgive and sacrifice.  Even lost elder brothers can be found!

Luke 15:1-10  Introducing “The Prodigal God” by Timothy Keller:

• This series is a study of Jesus’ parable we tend to call “The Prodigal Son,” though a better title would be “The Loving Father” or “The Two Lost Sons.”
• Though we think of “prodigal” as meaning wayward or rebellious, in truth it means “recklessly extravagant.” We will be looking at God’s extravagant love toward all of His lost children!

Who were the people around Jesus in Luke 15?

• There were the tax collectors and “sinners” who came to learn. (v.1)
• There were the Pharisees and teachers who came to judge and criticize. (v.2)

In his parables of The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin, Jesus reinterprets for his audience how God responds to those who are lost. (vv. 3-10)

Luke 2:8-20 Perhaps we all tend to identify with the shepherds of the nativity story because they were just common, ordinary people like us.  It was to them that the angels first announced the birth of the Savior, sending them to find the Christ Child in a manger in Bethlehem.  Their hearts were filled with wonder, but there was much they did not yet understand about that precious baby. They didn’t know the child sleeping in a manger was also a Lamb.

• John 1:29
• Revelation 5:12

They also didn’t know that he would be a Shepherd.

• John 10:14   

Are you ready to follow him today?