WELCOME to His Life Ministries, where imperfect people are perfectly welcome.

Our Vision is to Glorify God and Make Disciples through MANY SITES yet ONE Church Family.

BORROWED THIS ILLUSTRATION ...

One day, there was a little man in a bar. And he looked terribly depressed.

And he was forever gazing on the drink in front of him. That was when a guy the size of bear, a huge truck-driver, with tattoos all over his body, came up to him, grabbed his drink, and gulped it down. And the little man began to cry.

And the giant man said, Hey, you dont have to cry. Im just having some fun with you.

The little man said, Nothing is working in my life. This morning, when I went to work, my boss fired me. When I left the office to go to my car, I discovered that thieves stole my car. When I finally arrived home, my wife told me she was divorcing me and taking the kids with her. So I came here and decided to kill myself.

I put poison in my glass. And then you show up and drink it!

THE POINT? Sin doesnt need punishment. When the large man sinned against the little man by taking away his drink, the little man didnt have to punish him. Because the punishment is in the drink itself.

In other words? Sin is its own punishment.

>> ask the prodigal son

Waiting and Welcoming (15:11-24)

It is significant that the father did not go searching for his son, but waited at home for the boy to come back. When the boy did come back, the father ran to meet him. Like sheep gone astray, some sinners are lost through their own stupidity;

and, like coins, some are lost by the

carelessness of others.
But the son was lost because of his
own willfulness, and the father had to wait until that will was broken and submissive.

For the younger son to ask for an early inheritance was like asking his father
to die!

[scandalous]

It must have broken the fathers heart, but he gave the boy his share of the wealth!

According to Jewish law, an elder son received twice as much as the other sons (Deuteronomy 21:17), and a father could distribute his wealth during his lifetime if he wished.

It was perfectly legal for the younger son to ask for his share of the estate and even to sell it, but it was certainly not a very loving thing on his part.
It was as though he were saying to his father, I wish you were dead!

God likewise has shared His wealth with a world of lost sinners, and they have wasted it (Acts 14:15-17; 17:24-28).
It was not the badness of his life that brought the boy to his senses but the goodness of his father (v. 17; Rom. 2:4).

CAME TO HIMSELF (vv. 17-19).

To repent means to change ones mind, and that is exactly what the young man did as he cared for the pigs. (What a job for a Jewish boy!) He came to himself, which suggests that up to this point he had not really been himself.

There is an insanity in sin that seems to paralyze the image of God within us and liberate the animal inside.

The young man changed his mind about himself and his situation, and he admitted that he was a sinner. He confessed that his father was a generous man and that service at home was far better than freedom in the far country.

It is Gods goodness, not just mans badness, that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).
If the boy had thought only about himselfhis hunger, his homesickness, his lonelinesshe would have despaired.

But his painful circumstances helped him to see his father in a new way, and this brought him hope. If his father was so good to servants, maybe he would be willing to forgive a son. Had he stopped there, the boy would have experienced only regret or remorse (2 Cor. 7:10), but true repentance involves the will as well as the mind and the emotionsI will arise . . . I will go . . . I will say. . . .

In the East, it is unusual for older men to run; but the Father had to run because of his compassion for the
boy.

[scandalous]

Also, the son had disgraced his family and his village and could have been stoned to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
If they threw any stones, they would have to hit the father!

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

The best robe would be the fathers expensive festal robe; the shoes indicated that the son was not a servant (in spite of his request); and the ring was the proof of sonship.

Again, there is joy, for the lost has been found!

the boundless, lavish Love of God causes the wayward to come home"

ROBEapproval RINGauthority SANDALSsonship

CALF

THE PARTY!

. . . Thats when I was rudely awakened to the reality of my situation . . . I came to realize what kind of monster Ive become to my wife and kids, and more so to our God. I begged the Lord to forgive me

I dont want to go back there anymore. I just want to be here, in this moment, with our God, with my family, with you guys, worshipping our Father and spreading the hope that is in Jesus throughout the world. To God be the Glory!

MY TESTIMONY Eric R. Garinganao July 28, 2013

He was lost (v. 24) I am the way

He was ignorant (v. 17) I am the truth He was dead (v. 24) I am the life There is only one way to come to the Father, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Have you come home?
warren wiersbe commentary

Continue with your QUIET TIME, LIFEGROUP TIME and SUNDAY TIME in our REVEAL PARABLE STUDIES.

ON YOUR OWN

WITH A GROUP

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Make sure you have a COPY of the REVEAL BOOKLET. Its very affordable for an experience worth a life-change!

LORD I LIVE BY YOUR WORD Lord I live by every Word from Your Mouth And Im like a tree by the stream Im bearing fruit my leaf is green All that I do is prospering Oh Lord

I live by Your Word

As the rain and snow come down from heaven. And water the earth and bring forth its fruit. So shall be the Word that You are speaking. It shall not return empty to You. It shall accomplish Your desire. It will surely succeed. Your Word transforms the desert and Your Word is changing me

WELCOME to His Life Ministries, where imperfect people are perfectly welcome. Our Vision is to Glorify God and Make Disciples through MANY SITES yet ONE Church Family.