Beforehand: Be sure to check out Pastor Ben’s message online if you were not able to catch it on Sunday morning.

Below is the outline of Pastor Ben's message.

The Deep Six Study follows.

A Sheep … A Coin … A Boy - “Found”

1 – Why God Throws Parties – Luke 15:20-21

2 – Surprise Party – Luke 15:22-24

3 – Reason to Celebrate – Luke 15:28-32

 

Deep Six Study

Introduction

We started with a lost sheep, then moved to a lost coin, and now finish with a lost boy. In each instance we see the heart of the one receiving back that which had been lost. However, with the lost boy, there is a reciprocal connection in that we see the heart of that which has been lost as well. In addition, we see the heart of a second boy who was not lost and of course the condition of his heart reveals the central reason Jesus shared these three parables in the first place which we will come back to later in the study. So, we have the cry of the heart of the lost son who wants to come back to his father, we have the cry of the heart of the father who wants his son back, and we have the cry of the heart of the older brother who is appalled with what happens in the hearts of his brother and his father. Seeing these three heartbeats more clearly and discovering how our own heartbeat needs to be impacted is the focus of this week’s Deep Six Study.

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Part 1 - Corresponds to the first point of the message

Luke 15:20-21 - “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’”

Matthew 7:13-14 – “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

1 Timothy 2:1-6 – “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”

2 Peter 3:8-9 – “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Comment – From the moment his younger son left, this father desired for him to return. The father did not know if his younger son would ever return, but regardless, it would always be his desire to have it be so and it would always be up to the son to do so. Unknown to this father, his younger son comes to the spot where he desires to return to his father and he then acts on that desire and returns home. While this is what the father and the younger son both desire, we can be sure that the desire of the older brother is for his younger brother never to return. The lost son does not know what response his father will have at his return. He knows he deserves nothing, but hopes for the bare minimum of at least being received as a hired servant. Our Heavenly Father does not desire that anyone remain lost, but rather He desires that all be found. Like the earthly father in our story, our Heavenly Father’s response to anyone who returns to Him is to welcome that one with love, compassion, an embrace and a kiss. How could He do anything less for one who returns when there are so many who remain unwilling to return.

Question # 1 – Have you or someone else in your life been a “prodigal” and what has this been like?

Question # 2 – In what ways have you struggled with entering into the love, compassion, embrace, and kiss depiction of your Heavenly Father’s response to you?

 

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Part 2 - Corresponds to the second point of the message

Luke 15:22-24 – “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”

Genesis 45:28; 46:29-30 – “Then Israel said, ‘It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die’ …. Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.’”

Matthew 22:1-3, 8-10 – “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come …. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”

Revelation 19:6-9 – “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.’ Then he said to me, ‘Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’”

Comment – The response of the father at the return of his son reveals that his son’s return has been the desire of his heart all along. The desire of son’s heart has been revealed by the fact that he returned, but now he takes it to the next level by showing his heart further through the words of repentance he utters to his father. The father then goes to the next level in showing his heart. This is pivotal: the Father wants to receive his son back as a son and now he can because his son’s repentance reveals that he knows that he caused the loss of the father/son connection and it reveals that he is ready for this connection to be restored in full. So, the father knowing for sure that that which was lost is truly found, immediately launches a full scale demonstration that this lost boy is again his son fully and completely. The parallels between this restoration of this human father and his son and our restoration to our Heavenly Father are wonderfully helpful and freeing. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father is meant to be full and complete right from the start, so we must not let anything interfere with our experiencing this relationship in the full and complete way our Heavenly Father intends for it.

Question # 3 – What role do you think repentance has for the one who returns to God?

Question # 4 – What sense of “party” was a part of your experience with God and His people when you returned to your Heavenly Father?

 

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Part 3 – Corresponds to the third point of the message

Luke 15:28-32 - “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Colossians 1:3-5 – “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel.”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 – “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.”

Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Comment – While the father leads his household in the celebration of the full return of his younger son, his older son will have none of it. Filled with anger he reveals a heart not only closed to his brother but to his father as well. The older brother did not abandon his father as the younger brother had nor did he live in ways that were inconsistent with the character and conduct of his father as the younger brother did. And yet even though he had always stayed with his father, he evidently had not enjoyed his father in the fullness and openness of a loving heart that declares, “everything I have is yours.” How often our relationship with our Heavenly Father is depicted by what we see here in the older brother. Not only do we miss the fullness and openness of the heart of our Heavenly Father but we contribute to others missing it as well. Unfortunately, in our profession of being ones who are connected to our Heavenly Father, our lack of experiential connection to Him and subsequent joylessness and obligatory approach to the Christian life proclaim to the lost that being connected to the Heavenly Father is not a very good place to be. When we experience the fullness and openness of the our Heavenly Father’s heart we will be joyful and overflowing with His life. Our lives will reveal His heart and the lost will know that being with the Heavenly Father is a good place to be. They will see the “desire” of His heart to have them return and the “willingness” of his heart to welcome them into a full and wonderful relationship with Himself when they do.

Question # 5 – What are some ways you have been like the older brother in your experience as a Christian?

Question # 6 – What changes do think God is calling you to make in your life at this time?

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Conclusion

So, we have a Heavenly Father who desires our return, willingly allows us to enter into a full and open relationship with Himself when we do, and rejoices abundantly that what He has longed for all along has come to be. And we have the joy of a full and complete relationship with our Heavenly Father and a wonderful impact on the lost who see the loving, compassionate, welcoming, accepting, gracious, forgiving, restoring heart of our Heavenly Father revealed in us. May God awaken us and His church everywhere to the wonderful adventure of living fully for Him as ones who have the heartbeat of God within them in full measure.

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Related Scriptures: Matthew 26:31-46; Romans 2:4-11; Matthew 23:15,33

Under “comments” in the Deep Six section of the church website post your thoughts, applications, and questions on these Scriptures and anything else from this week’s Deep Six Study.