Embracing God's Unconditional Love and Joy in Redemption

1) "As a parent myself, I've come to realize that it is impossible to show that you love all of your children equally by treating them exactly the same because of age, gender and life circumstances. For example, what if in life one child who isn't lazy happens to be struggling financially, simply doesn't have as much financially as another, more successful child? Would helping them more financially be okay or not? Big hearted siblings would say it's okay, it's our parents money, so they can give and help as they see fit. Others may say it's unfair. Money should be distributed evenly amongst all children." [02:33] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "The Bible tells us the father knows nothing of what this younger son has done, only to see his wayward son come back. And with compassion, he runs to him and hugs and kisses him. This father exemplifies the love of our heavenly Father. Verse 21. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best strobe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to be married." [11:43] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "You see, my friends, the first truth that helps us cope when we feel like we are unappreciated and overlooked by family and friends is this truth number one? God loves all of his children equally and shows no favoritism. God loves all his children equally and shows no favoritism. This truth is clearly taught in the Bible. In acts, chapter ten, verses 34 to 35, it says this, acts 1034 to 35. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. And in every nation, whoever fears him and works of righteousness is accepted by him, God loves everyone equally, of all social, economic levels, of all people, of every ethnicity." [26:04] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "You see, the truth of the doctrine of eternal rewards is that those who are faithful and obedient will be given a greater reward than those who are not. And my friends, this is our assurance and motivation for persevering, especially if we feel like injustice has been done to us and we are underappreciated. I received this question during our Wednesday night step theology class last week as we studied eschatology. The question was pastor, is it fair that someone who makes a deathbed confession to accept Jesus at the last moment of his life? Is it fair that they receive the same reward as someone who came to know Jesus at an early age and lived his or her life faithfully in obedience to God? Is it fair? I said, that's a great question." [30:03] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "The scriptures are clear. If we are faithful and obedient, we will be graciously and justly rewarded by God with rewards that are worth so much more than what is available temporarily here on earth. Don't be discouraged, angry, apathetic, indifferent and too upset when you feel like the attention is on the person who sinned and caused trouble. And they seem to in fact be rewarded for their sins because of grace and mercy. God will reward you. And the dispenser of those rewards is the God who sees all, who knows all, and who remembers all. By the way, I don't know what types of reward we will receive and how it all work out, but we take our assurance from God's word that it will be beyond anything we can comprehend and think about." [37:43] (59 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "The God who provides redemption rejoices when the wayward return to him. If our Lord rejoices when a life is restored, then we, my friends, should share that same joy. It's not easy, and it's not always the case. Often when someone we are in competition with or a rival or potential rival is restored and gets all the arm, light and attention, we feel bad. The one who is restored after a fall or sin is seemingly celebrated, while no one cares about the consistently obedient one. So we aren't always rejoicing, but instead feel a bit jealous and angry at how unfair everything seems. But do we echo the heart of our Lord whose redemptive plan makes it possible that the wayward come back to him? Do we rejoice and celebrate those whose lives are redeemed and restored?" [41:04] (61 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)