HOPE FOR HURTING FATHERS (5 OF 5)
by Tony Thomas
Scripture: Luke 15:11-32
This content is part of a series.
Hope for Hurting Fathers (5 of 5)
Series: Family 2.0 (It's Time for an Update)
Tony Thomas
Luke 15:11-32
In Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a hurting father. This father had two sons - but the younger son thought the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. He asked for his portion of his father's estate, and the father split his assets between the two sons.
Luke 15 has been called the Lost Chapter of the Bible. In this chapter there is a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. We call that lost boy the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and one of the lessons we learn is that our deepest hurts are often caused by our family.
My folks are the parents of eight children (and yes, Eight Are Enough!). Chronologically, the first five are boys. When Teresa finally came along she was considered answered prayer - a religious act that the five Thomas boys never got over. Last year when I preached the series on Life Verses, Teresa sent me her life verse from I Corinthians 12: ''I would not have you, ignorant brothers'' (verse 1).
The Prodigal Son is the story of a boy who left a country plantation to live in a pigsty. But, it's also a story that gives hope to hurting fathers. One of the sad realities of life is that godly parents have ungodly children. Even in the worst of situations, hope still exists!
We are concluding a series called Family 2.0 (It's Time for an Update). We started by defining the family using a definition from Mary Pipher's book. In that book she uses a Lakota-Sioux word, ''Tiospaye,'' meaning, ''The people with whom one lives.''
Our world has distorted the concept of family. The 1992 dictionary defined family as, ''The basic unit in society consisting of two parents and their children.'' The 1993 dictionary changed, defining a family as, ''A group of individuals living under one roof.''
In 1995, 1.1 million grandchildren were being raised by their grandparents. In 2010, that number had quadrupled. In 1995, 38% of every ...
Series: Family 2.0 (It's Time for an Update)
Tony Thomas
Luke 15:11-32
In Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a hurting father. This father had two sons - but the younger son thought the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. He asked for his portion of his father's estate, and the father split his assets between the two sons.
Luke 15 has been called the Lost Chapter of the Bible. In this chapter there is a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. We call that lost boy the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and one of the lessons we learn is that our deepest hurts are often caused by our family.
My folks are the parents of eight children (and yes, Eight Are Enough!). Chronologically, the first five are boys. When Teresa finally came along she was considered answered prayer - a religious act that the five Thomas boys never got over. Last year when I preached the series on Life Verses, Teresa sent me her life verse from I Corinthians 12: ''I would not have you, ignorant brothers'' (verse 1).
The Prodigal Son is the story of a boy who left a country plantation to live in a pigsty. But, it's also a story that gives hope to hurting fathers. One of the sad realities of life is that godly parents have ungodly children. Even in the worst of situations, hope still exists!
We are concluding a series called Family 2.0 (It's Time for an Update). We started by defining the family using a definition from Mary Pipher's book. In that book she uses a Lakota-Sioux word, ''Tiospaye,'' meaning, ''The people with whom one lives.''
Our world has distorted the concept of family. The 1992 dictionary defined family as, ''The basic unit in society consisting of two parents and their children.'' The 1993 dictionary changed, defining a family as, ''A group of individuals living under one roof.''
In 1995, 1.1 million grandchildren were being raised by their grandparents. In 2010, that number had quadrupled. In 1995, 38% of every ...
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