The Lost Sons, Part 1

Psalm 27, verse number four, this one thing I seek, I ask of the Lord, this one thing I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord. I hope that that's your desire. I hope that's your praise and prayer because God inhabits the praises of his people. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us we're not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together because God does inhabit the praises of his people. Psalm 22, and so we rejoice in what God has done.

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, as we look at this one great parable, probably the most familiar of all the parables of our Lord is found in Luke chapter 15, verses 11 down to the end.

But we've told you that this is one parable. It has three different parts to it, three different stories to it that help us understand God and his marvelous work. This parable about the lost sons is so crucial that so many times it is misinterpreted and misapplied by so many people. People think, well, you know, there's a rebellious son in my house. It must refer to the prodigal son in Luke chapter 11. Well, the answer to that is no. Okay. Some people say, well, you know, the parable, the prodigal son tells us about the wonderful love of God and he just accepts everybody as they are.

No, that's not what the parable teaches. And people say, well, the parable really doesn't talk about repentance because the son never says anything about repentance. And therefore they use this whole parable to talk about how repentance isn't necessary for salvation. But the problem with that is, is that's the opposite of what the parable teaches. So you can read a myriad of people about the parable of what is called the quote prodigal son, but they have misinterpreted and misapplied the text to fit a specific need.

Every parable has one main theme, one main aspect to it. Once you understand that theme, then you begin to interpret that parable. This is one parable with three stories. It's one parable about lost things and what happens in heaven when those things that are lost are found. The great joy that takes place in heaven because a sinner was lost and now has been found. It's really a parable about what happens in heaven more so than what happens on earth. And so you need to understand that, but it is one parable with three different parts to the story.

It's a parable as we go by way of introduction, the parable of lost sheep, the parable about the lost silver, and the parable about the lost sons. Not the one lost son. Both sons are lost. You need to understand that. Both of them are lost and we will see that unfold as we go through this story together. But you need to understand that when you interpret a parable, you must understand ancient Israel 2,000 years ago. You must understand that when Jesus teaches these parables, they are based around Middle East villages, peasant villages where people live.

And so you must understand what Jesus is saying to them in that time to understand what he means for us today in our day. So to interpret it correctly, you must understand the setting, the culture, all that's taking place so that you understand exactly what Jesus is trying to say. And so we tried to explain that to you with the parable of the lost sheep that explains to us that there was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep and one was lost. He left the 99 and went after one. Why? Because in that day, every shepherd had one rule and one rule only, don't lose the sheep.

If you lose a sheep, you got to go after it. If the sheep has been mauled, you bring back pieces of the sheep. If the sheep is dead, you bring back the dead sheep. But whatever you do, you don't leave the sheep out there. You go get them and bring them back. And this shepherd did. He went out and got the sheep. He brought it back and the village rejoiced over the one that was lost. And then you looked at this, the parable of the lost silver coin with this woman who we understand when you get married as a Jewish woman, you get 10 silver coins strung together.

You either wear it around your neck or around your head. It symbolizes that you are now married and every Jewish woman looked to the day that one day she would be married. And when she had it, she would gladly wear these 10 silver coins around her neck or in her hair so that everybody would know that she was taken, that she was married, that she was ready to bear children. That was what they longed for. That's what they looked for. And therefore, when she lost one of those silver coins, she was distraught.

So she would look in that little four-walled home with a dirt floor, sweeping and looking under every crevice, under all the debris to find that one silver coin. When she finds it, she gathers her girlfriends around together and they celebrate the fact that that which was lost is now found. And Jesus draws a principle by saying, there is great joy in heaven over one sinner that was once lost and now is found. And there's more joy over the one sinner than over the 99 righteous in heaven. In other words, Christ sarcastically speaks against these religious leaders who saw themselves as self-righteous.

And there is no joy in heaven over the self-righteous. His story is about he who has ears to hear, let him hear, Luke 14, 35. Who are the ones hearing? The task gatherers and the sinners. So the sinners were coming, but the self-righteous, they were, they were complaining. They were complaining because Jesus always ate with sinners. He would associate with the riffraff. He would associate with the low life. And they despised that because as self-righteous people, they didn't want that happening to them.

And that this is our Messiah, our self-proclaimed Messiah, that he wouldn't be doing this. So he must not be one of us. And when Christ came, he always indicted the religious leaders. He spoke against them. He told them that they were sons of hell. He told them that they were leading other people to hell, that they were like whitewashed tombs. They were, they were clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside. And they hated Jesus for what he said to them, looking for every avenue by which to condemn him and to, to ridicule him and looking for ways to entrap him.

And they complained constantly about the fact that he would eat with sinners. And so Jesus uses these stories to let them know how far away they are from the heart of God, that he loves to rescue people. He loves to retrieve people. He loves to recover people. He loves to redeem people because that's what causes heaven to rejoice. And they didn't care about that. So he wanted them to understand that they were so far away from the heart of God. And then that leads us to this third aspect of this parable, the parable of the lost sons.

It's very important to understand that what Jesus does is in the first two stories is that he talks to us about his ministry.

Okay. The ministry of the Savior. In the last story, he talks about the responsibility of the sinner. The ministry of the Savior is to rescue and redeem. The responsibility of the sinner is to repent and return. And that's the emphasis. Christ gives us both sides of salvation. He begins by talking about how God the Father pursues lost souls, how he relentlessly pursues lost souls once they are found, their responsibility is to repent and return home. And that's what the story is about by way of introduction.

I know many people call it the parable of the prodigal son. You will note that Jesus nowhere calls him a prodigal. In fact, if we were to ask you how to define the word prodigal, some of us would have to look for a dictionary to figure out what that means. It basically means reckless living, wasteful living, self-indulgent kind of living. And he does do that. Okay. But Jesus nowhere calls him a prodigal son. He calls him a younger son. He calls him a lost son. He calls him a dead son. But nowhere does he call him a prodigal son.

So that's why we call it the story of the two lost sons, because both of them in all reality are lost. And so when we go through the story, you'll be able to understand that. And so by way of instruction, we will let you know that we're going to look at the three characters of the story.

We're going to look at the younger son, we're going to look at the father, and then we're going to look at the older son.

We're going to begin with the younger son, because that's where the story itself begins. We're going to look at his request.

And then we're going to look at his rebellion. And then we're going to look at his repentance. And we give you seven principles from the story that help you understand true biblical repentance. Remember, we told you that the first two stories declare the necessity of repentance.

The last story demonstrates for us the reality of repentance. That's important. That's why Jesus said that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous who need no repentance. So twice he's introduced to us the topic of repentance. And now he wants to show you what repentance looks like. So that there's no question as to when someone comes back to the father, this is what takes place in their life. It's unmistakable. And so he demonstrates to us what true biblical repentance looks like.

So let's begin by reading the story of the two lost sons. Verse 11. And he said, a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me. And he divided the wealth between them. See that? Both of them received their inheritance, not just one. Most people missed that. He divided the wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. And there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country. He began to be in need. He went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. He was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. I will get up and go to my father and I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven.

And in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven. And in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, quickly bring out the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fattened calf to kill it.

And let us eat and be merry. For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found. And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field. When he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. He said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he became angry. He was not willing to go in.

His father came out and began treating him. But he looked, but he answered, excuse me, and said to his father, look, for so many years, I have been serving you and I have never neglected the command of yours. And yet you have never given me a kid that I might be married with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him. He said to him, my child, you have always been with me and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry and rejoice for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live and was lost and has been found.

The story of two lost sons, three characters, a younger son, his request, his rebellion, his repentance, his father. As you look at him, we will see his affection, his acceptance, his attitude.

And then the older son, we will see his reaction, his resentment and the tragic result of the story. It'll take us weeks to get through this. It's not going to happen in one Sunday or two or three or four. It's going to take some time to get through it because there's so much here that you need to understand. So we're going to begin with the request in verse 11 says a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me. Now, remember there are Pharisees and scribes in this audience.

They would take a huge gasp at what was just said. Father, I want what is mine in the future. I want it now.

This is an outrageous request because this shows disdain for the father. Notice if the son comes in this time period, in this day and age and asks for his inheritance at this moment, he is saying, dad, I wish you were dead.

I don't need you. Nobody don't need you. I don't want you. I don't like what's happening here. I'm miserable. I don't want to be here. I want to go and I want to go now.

So in effect, he is saying, dad, I wish you were dead. I can't wait till you're dead to get my inheritance. I want it now.

And every Pharisee would understand that they would realize what was taking place because they live in a culture where honor is so highly esteemed. They live in a culture where the 10 commandments reign supreme. And one of those commandments, honor your father and mother, right? And this showed complete dishonor to the father. This showed disdain for the father. This showed a attitude of ungratefulness for all the father has provided for him up to this point. He would dishonor his father. Now in that culture, if that took place, the father would slap the son in the face, slap him and publicly shame him and publicly humiliate him for even mentioning, for even thinking that his father or wishing his father to be dead.

And he'd be slapped across the face. Listen carefully. He would be disowned and that family would have a funeral for that son because he'd be gone. That's why the father says on two occasions, my son was dead, right? My son was dead, but now he lives because in that culture, that son would be dead to that father. He would be dead to that family. He would be disowned by that family. He would be publicly shamed in front of everybody because of his disdain for his father. And so the Bible explains to us that this supreme act of shame by this son should have been dealt with in a very aggressive, kind of way.

Father, I want my estate only time used in the scriptures. It's not his literal inheritance. It's just the goods. It's the property. It's the livestock. Now, according to Deuteronomy law, if there were two sons in the family, the oldest son would get two thirds. The youngest son would get one third.

So he's asking for his one third. He wants it now. He doesn't want the normal inheritance because if you received a normal inheritance, then you would be required to be held accountable for the whole estate. You'd be answerable for all that was happening with that estate. And you'd have to continue on the legacy of that estate. He doesn't want that. He doesn't want anything to do with his father. He doesn't want anything to do with the estate. He just wants what he believes is rightfully his. He wants the goods.

He wants the property. He wants the money. He wants the livestock. He wants the one third that's rightly his according to the laws of Deuteronomy.

That's what he wants because he wants to cash it out. He wants to cash it out so he can have the money, as much money as he could possibly receive. His message was simply, I want my independence. I want my freedom. I don't want any more accountability. I don't want to be answerable to you. I want to do what I want to do and I want to do it now.

So give me my one third of the estate. I want it now. At this time, the Pharisee would be thinking, well, he'll slap his son across the face. He'll have a public funeral for his son. But that's not what the father does. In fact, if you read verse number 12, it says, and he divided the wealth between them. This would have been shocking to the Pharisees. This would have been outlandish. The father would be willing to accept rejection, agony, pain. That he'd be willing to do that so much so that he would divide his inheritance.

He would divide it up at that point. He would, the younger son would get the one third, the oldest son would get the two thirds.

He divided it up. He divided up, the Bible says, the wealth. That's the, that's the word bios, the life. Everything that brought him to this point in their lives, he divided it up among his boys. And he gave the younger son one third of what he believed was rightfully his.

In essence, this is God the father giving the sinner his freedom to rebel. And that's what the, that's what the father did to his son. He gave him his freedom to rebel, his freedom to have no accountability, his freedom to go off and do what he wants. And that's exactly what he did. And the laws in Israel would allow this to happen. It could happen this way. And that's exactly what the father did. And then it says in verse number 13, these words, and not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey.

That phrase gather everything together, he turned it all into cash. Turned it all into cash. He went on a journey. This is important. How can he do this? How can he sell the one third of his estate, his father's estate and get cash for it and move on?

Well, he's allowing someone to purchase their future because they would take it over when the father would die. Right? So if I'm the son and I have one third of what the, my father owns, he's given it to me.

I sell that to, to whomever I sell it to. They have now all that property, all that livestock, all that land is all theirs, but they can't take ownership of it until dad dies, but they're able to get it at a cheap price because I'm selling out. I'm selling low because I want the money and with the cash. So if I'm someone on the outside, I'm thinking, wow, this is a great way to prepare for my family in the future. Therefore I'll buy it at a very cheap price and I'll have a bigger return on my money at the end.

He gathers it all together. He sells it at the request becomes the rebellion. He begins to rebel. He's already rebelled in his heart, right? He's already rebelled in his mind. He doesn't want to be a part of his father's estate. He wants to go out on his own. He wants his freedom. He wants his independence. He wants to be what he wants to be. Now you'll notice this story that the older son says nothing.

The older son says nothing. In all reality, the older son would rebuke the younger son because he's next in line. The father dies, the older son, he is the, the prototocos. He is the, the progenitor. He is the, the leader now of the family. And he would step in and say something that would say, you know what? You're wrong. You can't do this. But he didn't because you see, he got two thirds of what was rightfully his anyway. And listen, he is just as rebellious as the younger son, but he stays home.

He is just as rebellious as the younger son, but he stays home. One is religious. One is irreligious. He is, the oldest son is the hypocrite residing in the house. He's the religious one. He is, as we will see the Pharisee, the Sadducee, the scribe who remains at home. Whereas the younger son is symbolic of the tax gatherer and the sinner who rebels and moves out and does what they want. The son rebels. And the text says very clearly, he gathers everything together. And it says, and he went on a journey to a distant country.

Operative word is distant. What is the distant country? Ephesians 2.12 says it's the life without God. That's the distant country. It's the life without God. He would leave the land of Israel. He would go to the Gentile land. He would live the way he wanted to live, doing what he wanted to do. And there he squandered his estate with loose living. In other words, he trashed it all. He spent it all. I being of sound mind, spent it all. And he did. He spent every last cent. He did it immorally. In fact, the oldest son would say, well, he squandered the money on harlots.

So he lived an immoral lifestyle. He lived the lifestyle that he always wanted to live. And so he gathered together all that he had. He sold it. He went as far as way as he possibly could, as fast as he possibly could, and spent every cent that he had to do whatever he wanted to do. That is the life of the younger son. He spent it all. That was his problem. And then it says very simply, and when he had spent everything, verse 14, a severe famine occurred. He spent it all. Who caused the famine? God did.

God caused the famine. God was going to bring him back to himself. And God caused the famine. It was a severe famine. Now we don't know what famines are. We can't relate to famines. But this was more than just a famine. It was a severe famine. It was high end. It was the worst of all kinds of famines. He had nothing. And it says in verse number 14, and he began to be in need. Of course he was. All of his money's gone. All of his resources have been spent. A severe famine enters the land. He has nothing.

But he is not yet at the end of his rope. Not yet. He's not there yet. Why? Because the text says, and he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into the fields to feed the swine. He attached himself. He's without a job. He has no money. He's at the end of his rope, but not yet. He's like the person who says, you know what? I can make it. I can do this thing. I can make it happen. I'm going to pull myself up by my bootstraps. I'm going to take a deep breath and I'll get involved in whatever I have to get involved in.

I can make it happen. I can still do this thing. I can still live in a distant country. I can still live life the way I want to live it. I can still do things the way I want to do them. I can do it on my own. So he attaches himself. He glues himself to somebody of substance, this Gentile. He glues himself to him in hopes of finding a job. He doesn't get a job, but he gets food. The same food that the swines eat. For he sends them into the field to feed the swine. And as he's feeding the swine, he realizes the pigs have food.

He has no food. So he begins to wrestle with the pigs for the pods that they eat. Now, I don't know if you've ever wrestled with pigs or not. It's not the easiest thing to do. They're kind of heavy. They're kind of ornery. And you don't want to eat what they're eating because they'll snap at you. That's the only food he had. That's the only place he could go to eat. He began to be in need. Where was everybody else when he was spending all that money? Where were all those friends he had when he was down at the gambling table, throwing all his money away?

Where are all those harlots at who he spent his life in where'd they go? They're all gone. Nowhere to be found because he didn't have any more money. They don't associate with him anymore. He began to be in need. And yet, he wasn't at the end enough to go home. He wasn't at the end to go home and be shamed and be humiliated and be disgraced. He wasn't there yet. So, he attached himself to some Gentile man. If you're a Pharisee, you're listening to this. You're thinking, a Jewish boy attaching himself to a unclean Gentile in a distant country, feeding swine, pigs.

Hmm. It's not what Jewish boys do. But that's all he had. There was no place else to go. He was at the end of everything. The Bible says, whatsoever a man sows, that's what he also will reap.

Galatians 6, 7, right? The Bible says that there is a way was seen with the right into a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death, not life.

Because the wages of sin are always death. The Bible also says, all we like sheep have gone astray. Each has turned to his own way. And that's what this boy did. He turned to his own way. It says in verse number 16, he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating. And no one was giving anything to him. He had nothing. Oh, he longed for the food the swine ate because there was nothing else to eat. This is the picture of the sinner. He's poor. He's lost. He's hungry. He's desperate.

There's no place to go. There's no one to turn to. There's nothing else to do. He disdains God. He wants no accountability to God. He wants no responsibility to God. He doesn't want to answer to God. He wants to do what he wants to do. He wants to live his life, his way. He wants to live a life without God. And therefore God has given him everything that anybody would want to have because he's given him life. He's given him opportunity. And yet he wants to squander all that in his own way of living.

That's what this man does. He's a picture of you and me wanting to live a life independent from God, free from any rules, any responsibility, living any way I want with no regard for consequences. And that's where this young boy was. He disregarded God's will, his father's will, his father's words, his father's desires. And yet his father just let him go. He let him do what he wanted to do. His father knew that he was already gone in his heart. His father knew that once he got out there, he'd realize that the consequences of sin never satisfy.

Father knew that. He let him go. And he had the fill of his rebellion. He wasted his life on lust and dissipation and immorality in all kind of loose living and sinful behavior. He found himself destitute and helpless. No place to turn. Like the sinner who says that nobody tells us to go. So what I'll do is I'll fix myself. I'll get myself better. I'll go into alcohol rehab. I'll go into drug rehab. I'll get another marriage. I'll get another job. I'll pull myself up. I can do this thing. Only to realize that none of those things ever satisfy because they can't fill the empty soul with temporal kinds of things.

And that's exactly what this young boy does. He realizes he has nothing, nothing whatsoever. So what does he do? What does he do? The Bible tells us, says verse 17, but when he came to his senses, when he came to his senses, in my father's house, the people there are full. Where I'm at, I'm famished. In my father's house, there is plenty. Where I'm at, there's poverty. In my father's house is mercy. Where I'm at is misery. Came to his senses. See, he realized that the grass really isn't greener on the other side.

He came to his senses. You know, sometimes we forget about that. We find ourselves thinking that sometimes the grass is always greener in another marriage. The grass is always greener in another job. The grass is always greener in something else on the other side of the fence, only to get there and realize that the grass there is just as brown as it is on my side. But I want to let you know something. The grass is always greener on God's side. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in what?

Green pastures. Grass is always the greenest on God's side. Always. And we need to come to that place where we realize that, you know what? Everything I've done is wrong. It's like what Jesus said in John 7. If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink from the well of living water. Every one of us has a thirst. All of us have the same thirst. We just try to fill it with different kinds of drinks, not the real drink, the real living water, only to find out that it's only unsatisfying. Back in Jeremiah chapter 1, the Lord God asked a question.

Jeremiah 1 verse number 5, what injustice did your fathers find in me? That they went far from me, walked after emptiness and became empty. And they did not say, where is the Lord who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of deep darkness, to a land that no one crossed and where no man dwelt. And I brought you into the fruitful land to eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled my land and my inheritance you made in abominations.

The priests did not say, where is the Lord? And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers who transgressed against me and the prophets prophesied by bail and walked through things that did not profit. Verse 11, has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Verse 12, be appalled though heavens at this and shudder and be very desolate, declares the Lord. For my people have committed two evils. They are forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

This is what is appalling in heaven. God says, look, understand this, my people have forsaken me. They've turned their back on me. They've run away from me. They had decided to live their life their way. And I am the well of living water. And they ran away from that well to dig for themselves wells that hold no water. That's the life of the sinner. They turn away from God and they dig for themselves opportunities and jobs and responsibilities that really hold no water. They think they do, but they don't.

And when it's all said and done, they find themselves empty. They find themselves distraught. They find themselves at the end of the rope with nowhere to turn being in need and no one there for them. That's the life of the sinner. And God says, be appalled, oh, heavens, that someone will walk away from me to live the life the way they wanted to live, only to find out when it's all said and done, it's completely empty.

How many people are here today that have an empty life? There is no fulfillment. There is no joy. There is no happiness. There is nothing in their lives at all to give them any satisfaction. They have turned from the God who offers living waters to dig for themselves systems that hold no water. And they keep digging and they keep digging and they keep digging, but nothing ever satisfies. What's the result? Jeremiah chapter three, verse 12, go and proclaim these words toward the North and say, return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord.

I will not look upon you in anger for I am gracious, declares the Lord. I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity that you have transgressed against the Lord, your God, and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree. You have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. Return, oh, faithless sons, declares the Lord, for I am master to you and I will take you one from a city and two from a family and I will bring you to Zion. Return to me, come to me. And that's a story of the younger son.

He returns, he comes to his senses and says, I will arise and I will go to my father and I will say, I have sinned against heaven. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. He realizes something and when he realizes it, he repents and that repentance leads to his life. A life that was once dead and now alive. A life that was once lost, but now is found. He's able to return to his father. And when he gets there, he gets whatever he lost and receives. Acceptance, appreciation, love, joy, a reception beyond measure, because that's what God does.

He was penniless. He was homeless. He was fruitless. He was hopeless. He had nothing. And he returned to his father. Listen, until you get to that point, you don't get saved. You just don't. That's the story. Until you get to that place where there are no resources, there is no longer any self-sufficiency. You have nothing. You don't get saved. You're still trusting in something. This young man squandered everything, but he wasn't at the end of his self-resources yet. He attached himself to a Gentile man, looking and longing for a job, looking for some way to pull himself up, looking for some way to still make it.

It wasn't until he could no longer make it and he realized everything his father had that everything turned for him. And that's the story of a lost sinner who comes to a place where they repent of their sin and return home. Listen, there is no longer anyone giving him anything. Listen, as long as somebody gives the sinner something, they never repent. They don't. As long as there's giving the rebellious something, they never repent. But when they have nothing and they realize that what they offer is nothing, then there are what Jesus says in Matthew 5, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And then he says, blessed are those who mourn over the sin, for they shall be comforted. Only the poor in spirit, only those who can't even scrape the bottom of the barrel, because there's nothing there to get, come to a place where they mourn over the sin and they then receive the comfort that God has for them. Next week, we'll look at this young man's repentance and show you how it's demonstrated in a life of a lost sinner who comes to a place where he recognizes that God is all there is.

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today and the opportunity you give us to study your word, the great joy of realizing that as a loving father, you embrace those who return to you. I pray that there'd be one today among us who doesn't know you that today would be the day of their salvation, that they would come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray in your name. Amen.