Connect Church
You Can Always Come Home
  • You Are Good
  • At The Cross
  • Fresh Wind
  • What A Beautiful Name
  • I like to travel in a car. There is something about seeing new country. I have found that it is more fun when you have plenty of time to get there. I try to use my GPS as much as possible when I travel. My wife tells me I can’t read it very well.
    Have you ever asked people for directions? You get some interesting responses sometimes. Here are some of the responses you may get when you ask for directions.
    Where are you? - If I knew that, I wouldn’t be lost.
    We’re real easy to find, you can’t miss it. - In other words, How’d you get lost, moron?
    Turn right 1/2 mile before the Sonic.
    Turn at the Miller’s house. Well, they sold it to the Carters, but turn there anyway.
    Go to the second red light, then keep going.
    If you see the Wal-Mart, you’ve gone too far.
    Turn left 4 streets before the dead end.
    Turn left where the shell station used to be.
    All these responses make you want to say, why can’t you just tell me how to get there?
    But don’t we do the same thing to people who’ve lost their way spiritually. We tell them where they need to be, but don’t really tell them how to get there.
    Most of the time they know where they need to be; but they’re lost. What they want is someone to tell them how to find their way back to God.
    Last Sunday we started a series on the Prodigal son. It is found in Luke 15. Very quickly let me give you the first half of the story.

    First Half of the Story

    There was a father who had 2 sons. The youngest son is the focus of this story. He was tired of living in his father’s house and by his father’s rules. He wanted to do his own thing, so he asked for his share of the inheritance. In their culture, this was a way of saying, “Dad, I don’t care if you live or die. I just want my money.” So, the dad agreed to split the money and gave it to his sons.
    The younger son left home and went wild. He spent all his money partying. Then, there was a famine. He was far home with no food or money. He got a job working with pigs.
    This was a terrible job for a Jew. Even touching a pig made you unclean and required a cleansing ritual before you could return to the temple. Jews hated pigs. Working with pigs was the ultimate horrible job. He was embarrassed, ashamed, hungry, and alone. The Bible says, “no one gave him anything.”
    In this story the father represents God. The younger son represents people who leave home and walk away from faith and relationship with their Heavenly Father.
    We pick up our story in verse 17.
    There comes a time when running isn’t fun anymore. The younger son was at that point. Think about it. He could live with the pigs or he could go home and enjoy a good bed and a hot meal. This seems like a no brainer. But, in real life, it’s not so easy at all.
    When you have left God and done your own thing, only to miserably fail, it should be easy to say, “I don’t want to do this anymore! I thought living without rules would be great. I thought I knew better. Obviously don’t. I’m going to return to God with my whole heart and never do this again! It sounds easy, but it isn’t.

    When you completely messed up your life, how do you start over?

    How do you return to your heavenly father? How do you find your way home?
    Maybe you have experienced complete loss like the younger son, but it isn’t great right now. There is something missing, you know where you need to be. You know you need to be in a right relationship with God, but how do you get there?
    Let’s look at verse 17.
    Luke 15:17–24 NIV
    17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
    The son had a breakthrough moment. Some of you need a breakthrough moment.
    The son was in miserable conditions and he began to think of the good times at his father’s house. He remembered the good food, the comfortable bed, the closet full of clothes. He had to lose everything in order to see how wonderful it really was.

    Life With the Father was Better than Life Without the Father.

    Today, I want to give you the steps on how you can come home. Remember, you can always come home.
    You don’t have to live the life you have been living. God the father is waiting on you to come home.

    Step 1 - Realize

    You have to realize that you want to come home.
    You can’t make someone come home. You can’t make them desire a restored relationship with God. They have to want it themselves.

    The Road Home Starts with Desire.

    You have to make the decision, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I need help — I need God!”
    Some people have to get desperate to make a change and you have to realize that there is a part of them that is really afraid.
    People have to come to the realization that God hasn’t given up on them. Even when they have turned away from Him many times.
    There are times that you feel lost and like everything inside is broken.
    They have to come to this reality. If this is you, think about the reality of where you are at.

    Step 2 - Decide to God Home

    Not everyone who wants to go home makes this decision.
    Think of all the things you decide to do and never accomplish.
    I’m going to lose twenty pounds - Good decision - What happened? Well-I never got started.
    I’m going to get out of debt - Good decision - But you never cut up your credit cards and kept buying things you didn’t need - your decision didn’t make it to action.
    I’m going to obey God with my money. I’m going to tithe. - Great decision - Why didn’t it happen? Your decision didn’t make it to action. You never wrote the first check.
    I’m going to read the Bible all the way through - Great decision, but you never set aside times and started reading.
    I’m going to be a better husband - that sounds awesome and would be great, but you have to actually do something different.
    Lots of people make good decisions. The key is act on those decisions. You want to do it, you’ve decided to do it. Now, don’t wait, don’t hesitate, do it. Take step 3

    Step 3 - Come Home

    Every change starts with a desire: “I want to come home.”
    Then, that desire becomes a decision: “I’m going home.”
    Finally, that decision becomes an action. Act on your good decision and come home. That is what the younger son did. It was time to act.
    Verse 20 says.
    Luke 15:20 NIV
    20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
    It is time to act. It is time to come home. Come back to God. For some of you this is walking in the door of a church. For others, it is raising your hand or walking to the front for prayer. For you, it might be opening the Bible or praying a prayer. You’ve been gone too long. Make the decision and act on it—come home.
    The younger son walked out of the pig pen, he scraped the mud off his sandals, and took the first of many steps in a long journey home. Remember he had gone to a distant journey. It wasn’t a short walk. He had plenty of time to talk himself out of it.
    He probably had doubts come to his mind. But one step after another he kept walking. I can imagine him rehearsing what he was going to say over and over in his head.
    “Father, I have sinned, I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.”
    You know he had to be nervous. What would dad do? But he continued to walk.
    There may be some fears coming to your mind. How can God forgive me after what I have done?
    Luke 15:20 NIV
    20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
    The young son was the first to speak. He had rehearsed this speech over and over. Now, with emotion and fighting back the tears he said…
    Luke 15:21 NIV
    21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
    The son’s broken heart became humble and submissive instead of arrogant and rebellious. Because he had wasted his inheritance, he realized he was no longer worthy to be called “son.” The younger son was willing to return, not as a son to his father, but as a servant submitting to his master. His heart was changed. True repentance always produces a change of heart.
    I’m not sure which is the most important step when returning home. It could be that you realize you want to return to your Heavenly Father. Or it could be that you will never move without first having that desire. Maybe it’s when you decide to do it. Maybe it’s when you act on that decision. But no matter which is the most important, the road home has to include the fourth step, Repentance.

    Step 4 - Repentance

    It’s not always easy. There is a difference between being remorseful and repentant.

    Remorse is sorry for the Past, but doesn’t change the Future.

    Many people are sorry for what they do, but not sorry enough to quit.
    Repentance is still sorry for the past, but makes a change in heart so the future will be different.

    Repentance changes Future behavior so past mistakes won’t be Repeated.

    If you are a parent you understand the difference. If you kid is remorseful—it’s because they got caught and don’t like the consequences. If they are repentant—they don’t do it again. Repentance is truly sorry and a commitment to change.

    Why Don’t People Repent?

    1. Blame

    Sometimes it’s because they blame others or they blame God. I have heard people say how they were furious at God. They see the way Christians act and they place the blame on God for their bad behavior.
    The younger son was willing to take the blame. It wasn’t the pigs’ fault. It wasn’t his bosses fault. It wasn’t his friends’ fault. It wasn’t his dads fault. It was his own fault.

    Repentant people don’t point fingers of blame at anyone but themselves.

    The younger son said, “Father, I have sinned.”
    Repentance says, “No blame. I was wrong.” It’s not your parents’ fault. It’s not your husband or your wife, your pastor, your boyfriend or girlfriend. Take responsibility.

    2. Pride

    Pride keeps us from finding our way back to God. Pride says, “I don’t want to admit I messed up. I don’t want other people to know.” I’ve got news for you—they already do.

    3. Comparison

    Either way you compare causes trouble.
    If you compare yourself to someone you think is worse you say: “I may have done wrong, but I’m sure not as bad as him. At least I never committed adultery. I never went to prison. I’m not as addicted as him.
    Or on the other side, you decide no one is as bad as you. “I know what Pastor Greg said, but he doesn’t know what I did! Even God has to have limits. I’m not good enough. I’m the worst sinner in this room.”
    God doesn’t compare your sin to someone else. It’s not how far you have wandered from relationship with Him; it’s that you are gone. God desires relationship with you. Come home.
    The younger son wanted to come home. He decided to come home. He came home. He repented. But, now was the moment of truth: his father’s reaction. It had to be an anxious, nervous moment.
    Luke 15:22–24 NIV
    22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
    Forgiven and forgotten, the younger son was restored to the family. He was home.
    All it takes is a prayer of repentance. It doesn’t have to be a complicated prayer. Any prayer of repentance is a beautiful prayer.

    God’s response to you will be just like the father in Jesus’ story.

    1 John 1:9 NIV
    9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
    That is it. No conditions. No exceptions. When you come home, you are forgiven. Forgiven by God, forgiven by me, forgiven by us. Forgiven. God hasn’t given up on you. He never will. Come Home!
    He is waiting for you. Come Home!
    I want to remind you this morning, that it doesn’t matter what, or when, or how far you wander, you can always come home.
    God hasn’t given up on you and He never will. Come Home. He is waiting on you. Make the decision and act on that decision. Come home.
    Realize-Decide-Do it-Repent-Come Home

      • Luke 15:17–24NIV2011

      • Luke 15:20NIV2011

      • Luke 15:20NIV2011

      • Luke 15:21NIV2011

      • Luke 15:22–24NIV2011

      • 1 John 1:9NIV2011

  • I Speak Jesus
Connect Church
connectchurchfs@gmail.com
4794525734
https://www.connectchurchfs.com
31 members • 3 followers