THE FATHER’S HEART (1 OF 3)
Scripture: Luke 15:1-10
This content is part of a series.
The Father’s Heart (1 of 3)
Series: Prodigal
Dave Gustavsen
Luke 15:1-10
Today we begin a brand new series called Prodigal. When you hear that word, you probably think of the famous parable of the Prodigal Son, right? About the son who runs away from home. It's one of the most powerful stories ever told. But this series is broader than that. Because that story of the lost son actually follows right on the heels of two other stories that Jesus told, about a lost sheep and a lost coin. And he told all three of those stories in response to an accusation that was made against him. So in this series we're going to walk through Luke chapter 15 and look at all three stories in their context. And I think this is going to stretch us.
In Tim Keller's book Prodigal God, listen to what he wrote about the Prodigal Son story: ''Jesus' purpose is not to warm our hearts but to shatter our categories.'' I agree. So these next three weeks, I think God is going to shatter some of our categories. He's going to make us rethink what we think we know about how deals with wandering and rebellious people...about what kinds of people are actually far from God...and here's a big one: he's going to challenge the way we think about the prodigals in our own life-people who've pushed away from God and maybe pushed away from us. Do you have any of those? Very often, we don't engage with those people the way God does. So let's allow the teaching of Jesus to challenge what we thought we knew.
In order to get the most out of this series, I want to make a suggestion. Go to our web site, thechapel.org, and click on ''Connect'' and then ''Small Groups,'' and you'll find a recommended method of personal Bible study. I strongly encourage you give it a try. It's actually very simple: you print out the entire chapter-Luke chapter 15. And you spend time lingering over the words of Scripture; you take a pen and circle and underline and highlight things that stand out. You find common themes ...
Series: Prodigal
Dave Gustavsen
Luke 15:1-10
Today we begin a brand new series called Prodigal. When you hear that word, you probably think of the famous parable of the Prodigal Son, right? About the son who runs away from home. It's one of the most powerful stories ever told. But this series is broader than that. Because that story of the lost son actually follows right on the heels of two other stories that Jesus told, about a lost sheep and a lost coin. And he told all three of those stories in response to an accusation that was made against him. So in this series we're going to walk through Luke chapter 15 and look at all three stories in their context. And I think this is going to stretch us.
In Tim Keller's book Prodigal God, listen to what he wrote about the Prodigal Son story: ''Jesus' purpose is not to warm our hearts but to shatter our categories.'' I agree. So these next three weeks, I think God is going to shatter some of our categories. He's going to make us rethink what we think we know about how deals with wandering and rebellious people...about what kinds of people are actually far from God...and here's a big one: he's going to challenge the way we think about the prodigals in our own life-people who've pushed away from God and maybe pushed away from us. Do you have any of those? Very often, we don't engage with those people the way God does. So let's allow the teaching of Jesus to challenge what we thought we knew.
In order to get the most out of this series, I want to make a suggestion. Go to our web site, thechapel.org, and click on ''Connect'' and then ''Small Groups,'' and you'll find a recommended method of personal Bible study. I strongly encourage you give it a try. It's actually very simple: you print out the entire chapter-Luke chapter 15. And you spend time lingering over the words of Scripture; you take a pen and circle and underline and highlight things that stand out. You find common themes ...
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