Returning Home: Embracing God's Unconditional Love
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
Sure, here are 12 quotes from the transcript that align with the key takeaways:
"Several years ago, I shared my experience with battling sin in my life. And after I shared that message, a gentleman came up with me and said, you must be in recovery. I know because I'm a recovering alcoholic. And I told him that I appreciated his battle with alcohol, but my addiction is sin. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 7 about our struggle with sin, and he said, I do the very thing I don't want to do, and I don't do the things that I want to do." [00:05:39] (31 seconds)
"And then, he shares an incredible biblical truth in Romans chapter 8, verse 1. He says, therefore now, because of this struggle that we've had with sin, because of the struggle with doing the right things and not doing the wrong things that we do what we don't want to do, and we don't do what we want to do, because of all of that, and because of what Jesus did on the cross for us, therefore now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean that we don't still struggle." [00:06:10] (36 seconds)
"You see, the harder I try not to sin, the harder my sinful nature fights back against me. I can't win, but the good news is this, that when I quit trying harder and to begin to rely on God, He brings victory into my life. You see, over the last 40 years, I've talked to hundreds, no, really, I've talked to thousands of people who identify with my struggle, and so I ask you this morning, do you identify with my struggle? Do you find yourself struggling to do the right things, and not do the things that you know you shouldn't do?" [00:07:05] (36 seconds)
"The prodigal son struggles until he realizes he cannot overcome on his own, but that he needs to go home to his father. That he quits, when he quits trying and begins to rely on his father's provision, that's when things change. So here's something, though, that I want to bring this thought out before I read the passage. We cannot begin to understand this young man's homecoming at the end of the story until we think through his leaving." [00:08:30] (43 seconds)
"Let this leaving sink in. He left his family values. He left his faith community morals. He disowned his father. He disowned his father. And hometown. The phrase, he squandered his wealth on wild living, has been translated, riotous living, loose living, even parties and prostitutes. So I think you get the idea of what Jesus was trying to say. How much this young man left when he left his father and his home. You see, in the story, he not only lost his money, but I think he lost his identity as well." [00:11:47] (50 seconds)
"When this young man hit bottom, he chose to go back to his father, his family, his faith community. He chose to go home. All the things he thought he hated about them turned out to be what was good for him. See, I think when he hit bottom, he realized who he was. He realized he was his father's son. You see, in our life, in our experiences, I don't know about you, because it doesn't matter whether you grew up in the church and you've been part of the church all your life or maybe not." [00:18:14] (45 seconds)
"But at some point along the way, as we're out exploring our personal sovereignty in our life, and some of you, you know, it may have landed you in some pretty dark places. Sometimes, physically, or as we're lit up in some kind of a patriotic state. And then you realize, and I know that's your fantasy. I know that's what you're doing. I know that's what you're doing. us in dark places inside our own hearts, right? But no matter what, at some point, when we hit bottom, we have to choose to remember whose child we are." [00:20:01] (41 seconds)
"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. This young man's little rehearsed speech revealed so much. It revealed that in his personal sovereignty, his arrogance has been exposed. Now he is humble. The arrogance is gone. And while he remembered he was the son, think Philippians chapter 2, Jesus set aside his rights of deity. This young man no longer saw his sonship as something that was owed to him, but was a gift that was given." [00:21:01] (59 seconds)
"God is always watching and waiting for you to come home. Amen. Maybe the person I'm talking to this morning, maybe you're not really estranged from God in that you've ever left the church. Maybe you've grown up in the church your entire life. And you're sitting there wondering, you know, I've gone to church. And I've tried so hard to make sure the good outweighs the bad. That's one of the reasons I go to church. Right? And the message that... this story is for you, is that, yes, you're a child of God." [00:25:13] (53 seconds)
"God is looking and waiting. Physically, you're here, but in your heart, you've remained distanced from God because of your fear. Maybe it was pride, or maybe it's a mixture of the two, but the bottom line is that God loves you. You're His child. And it doesn't really matter what you've done outwardly or what you've just done in your heart, because Jesus talks to us about that. It's not that Jesus tells us, you know, it's like, hey, look. You don't have to do it." [00:26:23] (48 seconds)
"God's desire is that you follow his example and set aside your personal sovereignty over your own life and come home for Christmas this year. To your rightful place as his child and his family. family, and his faith community. Jesus was the younger son in this story. Now think about this. Jesus was the younger son in this story without being rebellious. He left home and went to a distant land to become one of us. Instead of wasting his life, he lived in an obedience to the Father. He suffered all kinds of heartache and even torture to win us back." [00:29:45] (39 seconds)
Ask a question about this sermon
"Several years ago, I shared my experience with battling sin in my life. And after I shared that message, a gentleman came up with me and said, you must be in recovery. I know because I'm a recovering alcoholic. And I told him that I appreciated his battle with alcohol, but my addiction is sin. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 7 about our struggle with sin, and he said, I do the very thing I don't want to do, and I don't do the things that I want to do." [00:05:39] (31 seconds)
"And then, he shares an incredible biblical truth in Romans chapter 8, verse 1. He says, therefore now, because of this struggle that we've had with sin, because of the struggle with doing the right things and not doing the wrong things that we do what we don't want to do, and we don't do what we want to do, because of all of that, and because of what Jesus did on the cross for us, therefore now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean that we don't still struggle." [00:06:10] (36 seconds)
"You see, the harder I try not to sin, the harder my sinful nature fights back against me. I can't win, but the good news is this, that when I quit trying harder and to begin to rely on God, He brings victory into my life. You see, over the last 40 years, I've talked to hundreds, no, really, I've talked to thousands of people who identify with my struggle, and so I ask you this morning, do you identify with my struggle? Do you find yourself struggling to do the right things, and not do the things that you know you shouldn't do?" [00:07:05] (36 seconds)
"The prodigal son struggles until he realizes he cannot overcome on his own, but that he needs to go home to his father. That he quits, when he quits trying and begins to rely on his father's provision, that's when things change. So here's something, though, that I want to bring this thought out before I read the passage. We cannot begin to understand this young man's homecoming at the end of the story until we think through his leaving." [00:08:30] (43 seconds)
"Let this leaving sink in. He left his family values. He left his faith community morals. He disowned his father. He disowned his father. And hometown. The phrase, he squandered his wealth on wild living, has been translated, riotous living, loose living, even parties and prostitutes. So I think you get the idea of what Jesus was trying to say. How much this young man left when he left his father and his home. You see, in the story, he not only lost his money, but I think he lost his identity as well." [00:11:47] (50 seconds)
"When this young man hit bottom, he chose to go back to his father, his family, his faith community. He chose to go home. All the things he thought he hated about them turned out to be what was good for him. See, I think when he hit bottom, he realized who he was. He realized he was his father's son. You see, in our life, in our experiences, I don't know about you, because it doesn't matter whether you grew up in the church and you've been part of the church all your life or maybe not." [00:18:14] (45 seconds)
"But at some point along the way, as we're out exploring our personal sovereignty in our life, and some of you, you know, it may have landed you in some pretty dark places. Sometimes, physically, or as we're lit up in some kind of a patriotic state. And then you realize, and I know that's your fantasy. I know that's what you're doing. I know that's what you're doing. us in dark places inside our own hearts, right? But no matter what, at some point, when we hit bottom, we have to choose to remember whose child we are." [00:20:01] (41 seconds)
"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. This young man's little rehearsed speech revealed so much. It revealed that in his personal sovereignty, his arrogance has been exposed. Now he is humble. The arrogance is gone. And while he remembered he was the son, think Philippians chapter 2, Jesus set aside his rights of deity. This young man no longer saw his sonship as something that was owed to him, but was a gift that was given." [00:21:01] (59 seconds)
"God is always watching and waiting for you to come home. Amen. Maybe the person I'm talking to this morning, maybe you're not really estranged from God in that you've ever left the church. Maybe you've grown up in the church your entire life. And you're sitting there wondering, you know, I've gone to church. And I've tried so hard to make sure the good outweighs the bad. That's one of the reasons I go to church. Right? And the message that... this story is for you, is that, yes, you're a child of God." [00:25:13] (53 seconds)
"God is looking and waiting. Physically, you're here, but in your heart, you've remained distanced from God because of your fear. Maybe it was pride, or maybe it's a mixture of the two, but the bottom line is that God loves you. You're His child. And it doesn't really matter what you've done outwardly or what you've just done in your heart, because Jesus talks to us about that. It's not that Jesus tells us, you know, it's like, hey, look. You don't have to do it." [00:26:23] (48 seconds)
"God's desire is that you follow his example and set aside your personal sovereignty over your own life and come home for Christmas this year. To your rightful place as his child and his family. family, and his faith community. Jesus was the younger son in this story. Now think about this. Jesus was the younger son in this story without being rebellious. He left home and went to a distant land to become one of us. Instead of wasting his life, he lived in an obedience to the Father. He suffered all kinds of heartache and even torture to win us back." [00:29:45] (39 seconds)
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Dec 09, 2024. Do you have any questions about it?