← Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:01]
A
Peachtree City, we welcome you. Oh, so good. I do want to just formally welcome Peachtree City. For all those who are gathered with us worshiping, you are now part of the Highlands family. We love you and all of you here at Grants Mill, every location, online or on demand, it's an honor to be with you today. Come on, church. Let's put our hands together. Welcome the entire Highlands family. What a miracle. What a miracle. And I just want to say, honestly to everyone, thank you for your generosity. Peachtree City is possible because of that. And I'm so excited for Caleb and Katie. The entire team can't wait to see all that God does. So excited about today as well. I sense the presence of God in church today, and I believe God wants to do something significant in all of our lives. And so if you're okay with it, we're going to jump straight into it. Y' all okay with that? Great. Get your app out if you have it. It's a great way to follow along. You can even download it right now. There's notes and scriptures there if you have your Bible gravit as well. We're in week three of a series leading us up to Easter, really, in this Lent season. That's all about. The series is all about clearing out spiritual clutter, just getting a clean heart and pure eyes to see all that God has for us. And we're studying one chapter of the Bible, Romans chapter 8. And today we're going to look at verses 14 through 17. And this is a big one today. Honestly, I'm so full of faith today that God has something big in store for all of us, that there's even a lot of think a lot of spiritual warfare around this. Today I'm here to fight for all of us that we wouldn't just hear this in our heads, but this message would get into our hearts. Today is all about our identity as a child of God, a child of God. Thinking about God's heart towards us reminded me of Jill and I having our kids. So we have four kids now. Our first was born back in 2008. And I'll never forget her coming to me with this pregnancy test, finding out we were pregnant. And then really from that point forward until, I mean, through the whole process, even after birth, it was just kind of all a blur, like everything was brand new. It was honestly very overwhelming in so many ways. Our first stop after the pregnancy test was, of course, to the doctor and anyone who's been in that room. The sound is so unique of the heartbeat. What A beautiful sound. That wal sound. So beautiful. Oh, I was so overwhelmed with this. This life. Only God could do that, and I didn't know what to do next. So the doctor's like, back then in 2008, you couldn't find out gender, so the doctor basically said, we'll do checkups. We'll see you around week 18. You know, until then, good luck with all this. Like, great. So we went and bought. To use all our energy, we went and bought a book of baby names, and we just started writing out a list of boys names and girls names. And now here we are, four kids later. We have never used a single girl's name, but we got the list. And then week 18, we roll back in, everything's going well, and they do the ultrasound. I'll never forget this moment, because the nurse was like, do you see it? And I'm like, I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. Is this a human or an alien? I don't know right now. This is. No. She's like, do you see it? And I'm like, oh, it's a boy. I see it. You know, so we're having a boy. No gender reveal parties. Come on. Where are my old school parents at? That was. We had none of that stuff. We just texted everybody. We're having a boy buy us lots of stuff. That was the gender reveal party. So we went registered for all that. And then we get to, you know, June 2008. We're getting ready to have our firstborn, Landon. And we were a little past our due date, and so we started asking questions. How do you know? Can we speed this thing up? We were told, you know, exercise, get a prenatal massage. That might help, and then eat Mexican food. So we did all of that in one day. Jill did all of that. And so we come in from Chewy's. Can I get an amen? We'll lay down in a few hours later, Jill wakes me up. I'm a heavy sleeper. This is not easy. I believe I'm a good husband, but I'm a heavy sleeper. And when you bother me at night when I'm asleep, you never know what's gonna happen. So Jill's like, hey, I think I'm having contractions. I was like, okay, what are you gonna do? She's like, I'm gonna try to relax in the tub. And I said, I'm gonna pray for you. And then two seconds later, I fell asleep. True story. She comes and wakes me up. She's, like, shaking. She's like, mark, Mark, Mark, I think my water just broke. And this is exactly what I said. We dealt with this later in counseling. I said, how would you know if your water broke? You were in the bathtub. Which is a legitimate question to ask to this day. I want to defend that question. So all that is true, all that happens now. We're. I'm like, okay, let's go to the hospital. We jump in the car. Middle of the night. That was kind of fun. Driving to the hospital, flashers on, get to St. Vincent's it all happens so fast. We're in this room, machines, people coming in. All of a sudden, Landon is born. What an overwhelming experience. The doctor looks at me and says, do you want to cut the cord? I said, I do not want to cut the cord. You went to medical school, bro. You cut the cord. I'm a pastor. I'll pray. And so we spent a couple of days there, of course. Just amazing. Thank God he was healthy. Young boy. They put us. Every parent knows this moment. They put you in the car, and they kind of just wave at you like, good luck. You know, he's in the car seat. But we get home, we walk in the house, and it's the first time we've been alone together, all three of us at that point. And I'll never forget looking at him and saying, there is nothing I would not do for this child. It's a love I can't hardly express. Grandparents, you know what I'm talking about. Parents, you know, even siblings, you know, that feeling of the miracle of God. And for me as a father to say, there is nothing for the rest of your life that I would not do for you. Look at me today. Church. That's how your God feels about you. You're a child of God and he is your father. And this topic is. So I said, we're going to fight for it. It's so important because there is so much spiritual warfare around us receiving the truth that God is our father. Kind of that religious warfare of he's distant, you know, wizard of Oz. And y' all know there's a lot of spiritual warfare. Some of us walked in today with that family tension of maybe a father wound. But this is a massive deal for us to get in our again, not just our heads, but our hearts today, because you cannot truly catch this today, truly understand Christianity, but without experiencing God as our Father. So we're going to go there today. Here's a quote from Tim Keller. This is what he says, the central basis of Christian assurance. Everybody say assurance. It's a powerful word. It's not how much our hearts are set on God. Oh, this is so good. But how unshakably his heart is set on us. Keller goes on to say this. The essence of Christian life is to know God as your father. So again, if you have your Bible today, that's where we're going. Romans 8, 14, 17. Experiencing God as a father, being a child of God. Verse 14. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. That's connecting us back to last week's topic on the Holy Spirit are children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear. Again, that's what we're going to actually break off today is all fear in the relationship we have with God. Rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship and by him. We now cry abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs. Heirs of God. Co heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Isn't that a great text, everybody? We're going to break it down verse by verse. And as we do, I want to answer four massively important questions today. I'm gonna put them on the screen. Like, this is kind of your roadmap for today. Who are the children of God? We gotta know that. We gotta experience that. When do we become or how do we even become a child of God? How does living as a child of God change my life? And here's the very where we're end today. God has a gift for all of us. What belongs to us as children of God. So y' all ready for this? Man, I'm so excited. I love you with all of my heart. I love this church, man. I love the word of God. It's going to do the work for us today. Verse 14. That first verse in our core passage says those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. First question, who is a child of God? This is an important question. The Bible makes it extremely clear. Children of God are those who are led filled, who have the spirit of God. God's children are those that he inhabits. This is a very important distinction for us to make here today because you've probably heard just like I have someone say, you know, all people are God's children. All of humanity is a child of God. And we just. Can I get Real today. We gotta be honest, that's not exactly what the Bible says. It's not what the Bible says. Genesis 1:27, all the way at the beginning. The Bible does say God created mankind in his own image. This is good news. All of us have the image of God. The image of God is like. It's like if you take an old school photograph with a camera, you push that button and it imprints an image on a negative. Like, all of us in our hearts have the imprint of the image of God. It's in us. Therefore, Acts 17 says, we are all God's offspring. But that's an important word for us to really study. In the Greek, that word offspring is the word genos, which means descendant. So yes, all of humanity has God's image. That's a miracle. And we are all descended from. From God. But maybe a good way to explain it would be this. I brought my iPhone with me today. This is my iPhone. And yes, I do not have a case on my iPhone. It takes a lot of faith to walk around with an iPhone without a case. Raise your hand if you do not have a case on your iPhone or your Android. Four of your. Look at that. Mighty men and women of faith in the house today. Come on. Just like four of us in all of church. That may say something about us, actually. But I don't like putting a case on my phone. Cause I actually think it adds weight to it. And if you. The weight's what causes it to break. We can talk about it later on. Anyway, so who is currently running Apple? Tim Cook. All right, Got a big Tim Cook fan over here. Interesting. By the way, Tim Cook graduated from where? Auburn University. Have you noticed the color of the iPhones this year? Orange and blue. And all the Bama fans are now Android people. That's what just happened to church. But who actually created the first iPhone? Steve Jobs. Here's a great way to think about what the Bible's teaching us today. Steve Jobs is the father of all iPhones. They are all descended from him. But obviously now for sure. But even originally, did Steve Jobs have a relationship with all iPhones? No. No. He was the father in the sense that they were descendants. That's a great way to think about what Paul is teaching about us here. So we have God's image. But here's the key teaching for this. First question, that image must be activated, developed by the spirit of God. So second question, when does that happen? So when do we become children of God? This is what verse 15 says. We're going to study this for a while today. The spirit you what received does not make you slaves since you live in fear again. Rather, the spirit you receive brought about your adoption to sonship and by him we cry, abba Father, when do you become a child of God? It's when you receive. No one is born this way. Remember we talked in week one. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God until we receive the spirit of God through a salvation moment. All of us are actually spiritual orphans. But can I preach some good news today? I got really good news today. Everyone who's ever been born or will be born is invited to experience the change that only God can create. Thank you for three claps right over here. I think we should all put our hands together. Acts 2:21 and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Which means this. No one in the sound of my voice at any location online in the correctional facilities. No one is too far gone for God to reach. All are invited to be a child of God. And all of us are invited to experience what only God can do for us. No matter what our resume looks like, no matter what our sin pass looks like. We all got a list. But everyone, in spite of all that God, we didn't choose God. He chose us. And we are all invited. I need you to catch somebody to catch this. Peachtree City maybe you were here on day one just for this moment. No one in the sound of my voice is too far gone to be a child of God. But here's the other truth on the other side of it today is this. No one is good enough on their own. And man, there's a lot of us, myself included, who've tried that route. That religious spirit of I'm gonna. My resume looks really good. Surely this gets me. This gets me into eternity. Surely this gets me right with God. No one is too far and no one is good enough on their own. But all are invited. I got the most incredible testimony this week. I love receiving stories, individual stories of what God is doing. This comes from our brand new Prattville campus. A man named Steven said he text or emailed in and said, hey, I just became officially a member of Church of the Highlands after step two. He said, but unofficially, I've been a member for the last two years at the Kilby Correctional Facility. He said, I've been a member of the Kilby campus and I was so. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. He said, you just need to know, Pastor Mark, that there are 150 men that gather every single week at the Kilby campus. So come on, Highlands, we say hello to the Kilby campus today. If you're part of our church family, every correction facility. And what he said was so profound because this is the invitation for all of us. He had obviously made some mistakes in his life, but he said I began to experience through Church of the Highlands the life giving message of Jesus. He said I was on the inside, meaning prison, and I began to be changed on the inside. And now two years later, I'm on the outside, ready to use my life for God's glory one more time. Can we praise God? Stephen, you're amazing. So excited to hear what God's gonna do to your life. We're all invited. But to become a child of God, you gotta hear this today. To become a child of God, we must receive Him. This is what John says in chapter one. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, we're going to pray for that later today. He gave the right to become children of God. We're talking a lot about Easter, even right now, leading up to Easter, inviting people. The reason is because there's a lot of people who don't yet know God this way. And there's no better time. This time of year is the best time all year long for someone to say yes to an invitation. And here's the heart behind Peachtree City. Here's the heart behind what we're doing at Easter is this so everyone can become who God made them to be. Can I get an amen? We receive. How do we become a child of God? We receive back to our text in verse 15 so we don't have to live in fear. And again, I think that's. We're going to get really into this later on. But there's just so much spiritual warfare around knowing God as a father. The devil works triple overtime so that we can never see God in that way. Rather, the Spirit we have received. This is what the Holy Spirit's doing, wants to remind us we've been adopted into sonship, so we cannot achieve status as a child of God. We must receive. And when we do, this is important. Something actually happens. We go through an adoption process. We are adopted into sonship. Now, Paul here is using a metaphor I want to unpack because it is so powerful and so intentional. He's actually referencing here the legal act of adoption in Rome, which was very different than it is today. Typically we think about adopting a young child in Rome. Adoption was typically for an adult male, because adoption was typically when a estate owner, someone who had a lot of money, didn't have an heir. So they had to go through a process to have an heir to make sure that their legacy would continue. They didn't have a son to be that heir. They would adopt someone in that process. And so this metaphor is so rich. This is why Paul talks about sonship. Ladies, I want to make sure you're clear. You are included in this. In fact, later on in the text, he talks about children to make sure we know that we're all included. But the metaphor is powerful because this was actually an act that people in the Roman Empire went through. And again, typically, it was males. Ladies, don't be offended. As men, we are also called the Bride of Christ. So God plays around with metaphors, not with pronouns. But he's making sure that we catch the heart of this so that we can recognize the power that's behind this metaphor for all of us. There was four things that happened legally when someone would go through that adoption process into sonship. The first one is this. Write it down. Today, our past is canceled as a part of that adoption process. All whoever was being adopted, the son, all old debts were paid. All legal obligations were written off. Hey, everybody. The slate was cleaned. This is what Jesus does for us. Yeah. Yes. That resume of sin, that resume of mistakes. It's like an Etch A Sketch. Y' all remember that Etch A Sketch toy? I tried my best to create a great picture on my own, but not one person in the sound of my voice ever made anything beautiful on an Etch A Sketch. Our past looks the same way. And what does Jesus do? He shakes it. And it all is wiped away as far as the east is from the west. Your past has been canceled in Jesus. Yeah, let's praise God. Today. You've been canceled in the best way possible. Your past has been canceled. Here's number two. Our name has changed. This adoption process, it was strong in this way. It broke all connections to the former life, including the name. And the one who was being adopted took the father's name, no hyphen. And his complete new identity, just like it is for us in Christ, was now shaped by the name of the Father. And a lot of our pain, even in this teaching of God as a father, comes from some of the things that have been spoken over us, maybe by a role model or even a father figure or our actual dad. A lot of times other people in our life have spoken things. A lot of times right now Inside of your own head. I know I deal with this. There's some words of condemnation or shame that get thrown at ourselves. And God wants us all to recognize that when we become a child of God, whatever, all that has looked like it is broken off in Jesus name. And now our name. The name written on your heart is child of God. I have a good friend who grew up without his dad in his life most of his childhood. And you can just imagine the pain that comes with that. Some of you have experienced that he had a chance just a year ago to get on an airplane, go to another country and to see his dad for the first time in years. And you can just imagine all the pain and anxiety and hope and all that mixed into one moment for him. Gets off the plane, gets in an Uber. Uber driver's talking to him, finds out he's from America. Why are you here? Well, I'm here to see my dad. Uber driver starts talking to him and he says, what's your dad's name? Of course you know, how is he going to know who my dad is? But he shares with him his dad's name. And he goes, oh, oh, I know that family. You have a good name. Every, every eye, look at me right now. You have a good name. You have the name of your father. You are a child of God. Number three. Isn't this great? Everybody so powerful. Number three. This happened in Roman adoption. It's true for us in Christ. Our future is covered. Adoption was permanent, legally. In fact, it was much easier to disown a natural son, which is kind of funny, than it was to break this legal obligation to the heir, the adopted heir. This is what this means. Your future is secured by the Father. God has covered our past. Can I get one more? Amen. But he also has a good future for us. Hope and a future. The Bible preaches he is a good, good father. All the days of your life have been written. They're ordained by God and those are good plans. Plans to prosper. You, give you hope. And here's number four. Our life is committed. So all the actions of the Father, all the goodwill created inside of the Son, just as it does inside of all of us. An intense emotional and faith filled depth of gratitude. You have done all of this for me, so I'm committing to live for you as I move forward. And a lot of times we talk about growing in our faith. Where does the fuel. Here's a great question. Where does the fuel to grow come from? It does not come from legalism or obligation. There are times where our faith may be disciplined in moments that just we're pushing through. But the wellspring of all of this must flow church. From the gratitude of what God has done for me, the fact that my past has been canceled, that my name has been changed, that my future is covered. Of course my life is going to be committed. We're baptizing next week, I think, in a single action. If you've never been water baptized, this actually is a great action step for you. But for all those who have, that is a beautiful picture of this moment, of what Paul is talking about. I'm going under one way, I'm coming out another. And I am publicly identifying with my new relation in my new relationship with my father. And now I'm going to grow for the rest of my life. And I'm just so grateful here at Highlands, honestly, you know, a little over a year into this transition, this is such a beautifully hungry church. For more, we even launched a podcast three weeks ago after every Sunday now you can check out the podcast. It's a chance to go deeper. And the numbers are astounding of people here at Highlands. And I love that it's fueled by gratitude. I got a question for you, and I know the answer, but I want us to respond today. Is anybody grateful today for what God has done? Come on, shout of praise. Put your hands together. You're a child of God, and I'm telling you, I'm up here fighting in the spiritual. I've been praying all week long that we break off any attack of the enemy to make you believe anything else. Because here's what it's really all about. The last part of that verse, this is what that adoption leads to, and that is that we can come to God now, identify and relate to him as Abba Father. And this is an interesting. If you've been around church, you probably have heard this. This is an interesting term for. For God, because it's an intimate term. This is not like father, like, you know, far out, you know, formalized. This is dad. And the only one who. Which was shocking in itself, of course. The only one who had used this phrase for God was Jesus. And now Paul in Romans is saying, you've been invited to have the same relationship with God that Jesus says, Jesus is your brother, your co heirs in Christ. And now we can come to him and we can say, hey, dad, thinking about our boys, you know, growing up, it's always fun to see what their first word's gonna be. And Jill and I are hyper Competitive. Any couples out there a little bit competitive with each other? Wave at me, okay, we are hyper competitive. We have fun with it. She usually beats me. That's the truth of the matter. But we're hyper competitive. And so we were, like, unspokenly competing for their first word. For her to be Mama, for me to be Dada. And so, you know, there was an internal scoreboard for this. So, Landon, our firstborn, we fight. We kind of, you know, both of us are trying to get him to say our name. And then I'm happy to report his first word was dad. Dad, One, zero. Mark, one. Jill, zero. Our second born, Judah, fighting the same way. What's it gonna be? Are we gonna equal out? Am I gonna be up by two? His first word? Ball. All right. Are we gonna have another one? We find out we're pregnant. Third born. Owen, his first word. Now, remember, it's 1 0. His first word. We fight for it. His first word is Mama. Now, it's one to one, and we end up having one more shot. Knox. And if we had a ring, camera watching all the ways we tried to get him to say one of our names, it was hilarious. His first word. Y' all ready for this? No. That was his first word. Cause he's the fourth of four, and he's protecting himself. And so. But I. To this day, I have never. I have never gotten tired of my sons coming to me and saying, dad. And I know that I'm their father. They write that on their. You know, the test when they applying for something. Your father's name. I am their father. But, man, I love it when they come to me and say, dad. And I just made 100 on that test. Dad, I just. I really just messed up. Dad, did you see that play? Did you see what just happened on the field? Hey, dad. Hey, dad, can you pray for me? This next one happened a few weeks ago. Hey, dad, can you come outside? I gotta show you something. It's a dent on your truck. Hey, Dad, I really just need you. Every open hearts right now, please. Everything God has ever done is to make a way for you to come to him and say, hey, Dad, I really need you. He's our father. And, of course, Satan, the enemy, hates that. And that is why there is so much attack around this, truth. And honestly, it even explains why there's so much attack on the family unit itself. But the good news I got on top of good news on top of good news today is this. God will not leave us alone in that fight. This next verse is incredible. Verse 16 says the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs. Heirs of God coheirs with Christ if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. That last part connects to next week, but I want to focus on that top line right there is that God does not leave us alone. He does not leave you alone in this fight. That through the power of the Holy Spirit. You have another voice where the enemy's saying one thing. Come on somebody. God's on the inside saying, oh no, no, no, no, no. No shame, no condemnation. That is my son, that is my daughter. That is a child of God. And yeah. Cause praise God for that. That's the love of our Father. He's a good dad who equips us with himself so that we have someone inside of us who is testifying. That word. Testify is, you know, it's a trial word. All of us have a trial going on on the inside constantly. We're the defendant. There's evidence, you know, for us, there's evidence against us. The problem is on our own, we have no witness and the case rests all on us. And we end up feeling all alone. And I'm going to go really strong here. I've been praying over the last few years and observing and just even through the. I really feel like the voice of God in my own heart that the current kind of attack, specific targeted attack on humanity is an orphan spirit right now. That the enemy is doing everything he can to isolate us and all of a sound of my voice today to make us feel like we're an orphan, that we're all alone, that it all rests on us. Y' all were seeing this in the deep isolation. There's an epidemic of loneliness right now. You're here in this room today. You're around people, but you still feel all alone. That's an attack of the enemy. We see radical independence in our culture, don't we See that right now? Just like I'm gonna do it my way, I'm gonna buck all authority. I'm gonna go live my life the way I want to live it. And that's leading to a self constructed identity. And listen, that can be a lot of. There's a lot of things we could say about all of that. But can we stir up some grace and mercy? It's just a lot of people out there in the world trying to figure out things on their own who don't know God as Their father and I want to break that spirit off. Can we break in Jesus name? Break that orphan spirit off. You are not alone. And there's a witness on the inside. If you'll invite him in, there's a witness who will tell you who you really are. You are a child of God. The crime's been paid for. When the trial is over, you are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and what comes with that church. This. This is what belongs to you. The fourth question of today. What comes with knowing I'm a child of God? This is the gift God has for you today is a blessed assurance. No more shame, no more condemnation. No more striving. Just a blessed assurance. I grew up Methodist. I wish I could sing right now. I got a hymn for us today, though. Blessed assurance Jesus is mine. Blessed assurance. I just know in my heart and it changes everything. I'm no longer an orphan. What a foretaste of eternity here on earth. I'm an heir of salvation. I'm the purchase of God. I've been born by his spirit. I've been washed by his blood. So over and over, that's the story I'm gonna tell. This is my story. This is my song. I'm praising my God all day long. I know I'm a child of God. It changes everything. Yes, he's the God of the universe. Yes, he's Alpha. Yes, he's Omega, Mighty one, Lord of High. Yeah, he's all of that. He's our dad. He's your dad. And all he wants is for his kids to receive and come home to receive what he has for us. From orphan to assured. That invitation is all over the Bible. And I want to close today with a story, y'. All. You know, it's a good day. I got two Bibles up here today. I'm going to read from a different translation. I want to close with an invitation from Jesus himself today to come home, to know him as a father, to know God as a father again. All over the Bible, really, the whole Bible is the invitation. But I love this because in Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories, this is the third of three about things that have been lost coming home. It's known as the prodigal Son. It's just a beautiful picture. Again, not our heads today. Our hearts. Can we have our open hearts today all across church, Jesus again. This is a story of Jesus. A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now before you die. So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. Now, there's a lot of cultural context to this story, so I'll kind of, from time to time, as I read it, kind of reflect on it. This is obviously a bad deal even in America today. Like, if your kid was to come to you and say, hey, give me. You know, in this case, there's two brothers. Give me 50% of the estate. It's bad for us. But it would have been ultra shocking for this Jewish culture. It would have been just radical. Y' all know when you're at a football game and somebody gets hit, what does the crowd do? Okay, when. That was awesome. When Jesus would have been telling the story that the crowd would have probably actually visibly and even verbally responded. This is. He's got their attention. This is shocking. And not only is this like, I wish my father would die, basically, this also means this son doesn't care about the rest of his family because he's taking 50% of everything. This is not a good guy. And it actually gets worse. A few days later, this younger son packed up all his belongings and he moved to a distant land. So his estate would have mostly been property and livestock. Within a few days, the Bible says he liquidated everything. Why? Just so he could, as quick as possible, get away from everybody. So this is bad on top of bad on top of bad. Not only does he want his estate, he's also saying, I'm reject. I'm rejecting all the relationships in my life. I just want to get away from my community, from my family. And again, this is. This is. There's a lot of context here. This is a big deal. Because by doing this, it was any. It wasn't like a temporary rejection. It was an eternal rejection. He was rejecting them. And from this point forward, the entire Jewish community, even his family, had had the right if he ever tried to return. They had actual A ceremony or a moment called the keza, where if they ever saw him coming back, they would walk towards him, taking clay pots like this, and they would shatter them on the ground, basically to create a line in the sand and say, no, you can't come back. You burned that opportunity forever. It's over. That's the big idea. What happens? It says that in this distant land he goes to, he wasted all of his money in wild living. There was, of course, there was so much pain, so much hurt. It's not a surprise he would do this. It's like he went to Las Vegas. He just spent it all. And actually, in the original language means he just scattered his Wealth. He was paying for everybody else's stuff as fast as possible, going through his money. This is like my kids in the lunchroom. I'm convinced they pay for everybody else's. I see an amen right there. Did you buy everyone ice cream today? Maybe so. Verse 14. About this time, his money ran out and a great famine swept over the land and he began to starve. He persuaded so bad to bad to bad, to worse. Here he persuaded a local farmer to hire him and the man sent him to fields to feed the pigs. Of course, Jewish culture, this is now unclean. This is as bad as it gets. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. He is now at rock bottom. He's completely separated from his family, his community. He's in a pig pen. He's alone. He's unclean. There is no hope. He's all on his own now. Jesus is telling this story for a specific reason. For this moment. Look at me today, Church. This isn't just the prodigal. This is all of us. We gotta put ourselves in this story. No hope on our own. It's over. There's no way we can return. All have sinned and fallen short. Verse 17. When he finally came to his senses. Man, I'm praying for that today. That there would just be an awakening in every heart today. Listen what he says. He said to himself at home, even the hired servants have enough food to spare. And here I am, dying of hunger. I will go home to my father and say, father, I've sinned against both heaven and you. I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. So he has no hope? Like there is literally no hope of sonship. That's impossible. This is a crazy prayer request that he could even be invited back as a servant because there's a line that's been drawn in the sand. So this is. This is the big idea. This is not victimization. He has actually come to his senses. He's actually speaking truth right now. Because of what he has done. He does not deserve to be called a son. He willingly and over and over forfeited that right. Here's what happens. Oh, man, this is so good. So he returns home to his father, and while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Oh, my goodness. Church filled with anger and rage and hate. Now, what does it say? Filled with what? Love and compassion. The father runs to his son, embraces him. And he kisses him. This is so radical. I mean, the story is amazing. Because in Jewish culture, no adult, for sure, no adult male, and definitely not a wealthy male, would ever run. To run was embarrassing. To run was to bring shame on yourself. So let's ask ourselves a question. Why was the father running? The father was running because he knew the kaza was coming. That if anyone else saw his son, the pot would be broken. And so the father outruns the punishment that the son deserved, taking the shame on himself that the son had earned. No one will shame my son. No one will condemn my son. I will tell you, take it on myself so that he doesn't have to. He sacrifices himself and he kisses him again and again. Robust fashion. This is just. He can't get over the fact his son has come home. He told his son, father, I've sinned against you. You had a speech both heaven and you. I'm no longer worthy of being called your son. The father cuts him off. Father says to the servants, quick, bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, sandals for his feet. Kill the calf that we've been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast. For the son of mine was dead and now he's returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found. Come on, church. So the party began. Yeah. Put your hands together. The four promises. The Bible is amazing. The four promises. He put a robe over him. Grace and mercy. Church, receive this today. As a child of God. Your past has been canceled. He gave him that ring. That's all about the name, the signet ring of the family. It's all about your name being changed. Your name has been changed. You now belong to the Father. Identity, full restoration. He puts sandals on his feet. Come on. There's a future in front of him. Calling and purpose. And I love this last part. There's a party, a public identification from the Father and from the Son, that we are in relationship. You are a child of God, and God loves you. Today, one action step at church today. Some of y' all are like, I'm waiting for the action step. You ready for it? Receive. Receive. Can you bow your heads and close your eyes all across Church Today we got that opportunity. Let's not miss it. The spirit of God is here. Blessed assurance is a gift God wants to give you in your hearts and in your minds. The anxiety is gone. The fear is gone. There's a peace of God that you know, I belong to him. Don't walk out of here without that. Today, campus pastors are joining me on the stage. I want to pray for anyone here today who doesn't have a real relationship with Jesus. Today's your day to come home. I've been praying that you would come to your senses, the spirit of God would speak to you, and you would not miss this moment to invite him in. He's running to you. All you need to do is open your heart to him and receive. I would never embarrass you or call you down front, but on the count of three, at every location, I'm going to have you ra raise your hands, and then we're gonna pray together. And God's gonna step into your heart. Do not miss this moment. 1, 2, 3. Come on. If that's you, lift your hand up right here in the front. Amen. Amen. All over the room. Amen. Right there in the back. Great. Praise God. Anywhere over here in the back bleachers. Praise God online. Anyone else that wants to be included in this prayer, put your hands down and just say these words with me in your heart. You can just pray. Jesus, today I give you my life. Forgive me of my sins. I repent. I'm returning home today. Thank you for receiving me. Thank you for making me your child. Thank you for being my father. God, I thank you for those who just prayed that prayer. Everything just changed. God, thank you that inside of them, now that past is canceled, their name is now a child of God, and their future belongs to you. And God, I just thank you right now that your power is at work also. I just want to pray for the rest of us here today. I've been thinking a lot about this moment. That blessed assurance isn't just for all of our life. It's for specific areas as well. Never want to miss a moment for all of us to repent, really realign ourselves with the truth. If there's anywhere in your life you're living with that orphan spirit, maybe it's your relationships or your money or your future or just the situation you're in. You've been leaning on your own strength. This is a prayer for you. Open your hands in your lap. God, right now, we let go of control and we invite you into that area. Just name your area or areas. And God, I thank you that in those areas, I'm a child of God. You have everything we need. We look to your wisdom now. We look to your strength. We look to your truth. We realign ourselves with you, and we walk out of here with the blessed assurance. That you are with us and you are for us. In Jesus name Everybody said put your hands together and let's celebrate all that God has done.