The Two Sons | Annie F. Downs | Fresh Life Church

There is no sin that is out of reach. Hear me say, there is no gone that is too far gone. >> There is no gone that is too far gone. Thanks be to God. Right? Thanks be to God. So if you feel like a lost son or daughter today, I just want to remind you someone's looking for you.

Someone is looking for you right now. Someone I bet is praying for you. So whether you're sitting at one of our campuses or you're watching online, you can come home. You can come home. There is someone looking for you. There is no gone that is too far gone.

So glad to be back. I got to be with you in January. And yes, summer's different in Montana. So I understand you now. I didn't understand you in January. I understand you in August. This is beautiful. It's beautiful. Absolutely loved it. It is such a joy to be back.

So, thank you, Pastor Levi, Pastor Jenny, for having me. I love getting to be here with you all. Um, today I want to tell you a story of my own sin. So, that sounds fun, right? I want to tell you a story of my own sin. I want to tell you a parable that God used to rescue my life and continues to use.

And and then I also want to give you this opportunity to be rescued as well. When I was a freshman at the University of Georgia, go dogs. I came home for Thanksgiving as many of us do and I was with my family again for the first time since I had left for school.

To give you a little background, I'm the oldest of my siblings. The sister right next to me is only 15 months younger than me. And so she and I came up together real neck andneck in life experience and in age. She's given me permission to share the story before.

You're like, Annie, she said I could share all this. Um, but I became a Christian when I was five. I knew what I was doing. I totally meant it. And as we grew up, my sister did not walk with God until she was 13. So I was 15.

And so it had been about a decade of me living with her. And she was not great to live with. She would tell you that her childhood was really hard. And it was not a great experience for me. When she turns 13 and gets saved, she has a radical transformation.

She is different after she meets Jesus. But you know what I was saying to everybody? Do y'all remember Thursday? She was awful to me on Thursday. I know it's Sunday, but how have we all forgotten? Everybody was so thrilled. And I was like, do y'all remember who she was a minute ago?

Like I lived with that. I remember. And I spent my teenage years like that going like, do y'all not remember how what it used to be like? Now everybody loves her and everybody everybody's great and she's well behaved, all the things, and happy with my parents and all this stuff.

Like, did y'all forget what it was like a minute ago? So, I come home for Christmas. Sorry. I come home for Thanksgiving that first year, my freshman year. And you know, the funny thing about being the oldest kid is you have no idea what the house is like when you're not there.

Like, you have no idea the change when you leave and how the whole rest of the system continues on. And so, when I got home, it was just like every other time I'd been home. It was just like the summer. uh you know, we argued, we disagreed, we fought, you know, all the things.

And but this time I was an adult, you understand? I was 18. I've been out of the house for a full two months. I was very different. And so I I really had some knowledge that I did not have before. I was very independent woman. And so I that whole weekend was just kind of rough, but I was like, "Yeah, this is just kind of what it's like."

I'm leaving on that Saturday to go back to Athens, Georgia. You know, if you're a college football fan, you know that weekend after Thanksgiving is rivalry weekend. So, it was Georgia Georgia Tech. I was getting back to Athens. And as I'm leaving, my mom follows me out the door.

And when we get on the porch, she says, "Hey, Annie, before you go, I need to tell you something." I said, "Okay." And she says, "Um, you can't come home again until you deal with this." And I was like, "What are you talking about?" She went on to explain how peaceful the house was when I was gone, how everyone gets along really well when I am not there and the difference I bring when I come home.

And she said, "When you get back to Athens, I need you to call your campus pastor at your campus ministry. I need you to talk to him because something's not right and you can't come home till you sort this out." And you know, between Thanksgiving and Christmas at college is not a long window of time.

And I was like, "Where will I go?" So, okay, we're going to figure this out. The other problem was my campus pastor at college used to be the youth pastor at my church. So, my parents also had his phone number. So, she was like, I'm giving you about two days and I'm calling him.

And I was like, okay, Pam, I got it. Like, I'll go. I got it. So, that Monday, I call him and I say what happened and tell him what my family said. And and he asked me to come in and he says, "Bring your Bible." And I kind of rolled my eyes like, "Okay, we're going to have a Bible study over my family not getting along."

And and he actually asked me as we sit there and talk, he asked me to open to Luke 15. And what he says to me absolutely changed my life and continues to and and I'll get there. I promise. I want to remind you here at Fresh Life, we've been going through gospel stories that Pastor Levi's been teaching us via The Chosen, which has been awesome.

And we're going into First John like Liv just told us. And so we are staying with a gospel writer. And so today we're going to stay in that same vein in the Gospels in the book of Luke and look at how Jesus tells these really important stories. If you have your Bible with you, if you'll turn to Luke 15 right at the beginning, it's really important because I want you to kind of picture who Jesus is talking to.

He tells us in verse one, well, Luke tells us, "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So Luke is doing this really interesting thing to let us know that the tax collectors, the sinners, the people that that this community, the Pharisee community does not respect are all there, but so are the Pharisees and so are the teachers of the law. and they're going, "Jesus talks to these people."

But they're all standing right there. They're all listening. And as they're listening, Jesus starts telling stories that I'm sure if you've read through the gospel before, you've read this. First, he tells the parable of the lost sheep. And then he tells the parable of the lost coin. And then what your Bible probably says, and what my Bible probably says next, is the parable of the lost son or the parable of the prodigal son.

You've heard this one before. Yes. >> But there's something really interesting. Just to remind you, Jesus didn't say, and now I'm going to tell you the parable of the lost coin, right? He didn't start it like that. In fact, if you look at verse 11, let's see what Jesus actually said about this story.

Jesus continued, "There was a man who had two sons." This was never a story about one son. >> This was always a story about two sons. So if you write in your Bible, what I've actually done is marked out where it says the parable of the lost son.

And in mine says the parable of the two lost sons. This story was always about two sons. At some point we decided to call it the parable of the prodigal son or the lost son. But that's not what Jesus said. Jesus knew in front of this audience of sinners and Pharisees, in front of the tax collectors and the people who taught the law, Jesus was saying, "I want to tell you about two boys. >> There are two sons in this story."

And and I think what'll happen today hopefully for you that has happened for me is that you will have compassion for every character we meet. Uh there are going to be three main characters, the younger son, the older son, and the father. And we are going to see in each of them, they're each going to teach us about sin and grace and home. >> And I find myself in the story in every seat over and over again.

I wonder if you will, too. Let's start with Luke 15:1. Jesus continued, "There was a man who had how many sons?" >> Two. >> Two. This is a story about two sons. The younger one said to his father, "Father, give me my share of the estate." So he divided his property between them.

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.

He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. I mean, you've probably heard this story before. Even culturally, we talk about the prodigal son. But, you know, when he left that day, he didn't go, "I can't wait till I'm feeding pigs for my job."

He left with a ton of money. He left with a ton of exciting ideas and opportunities. And then as the days and weeks and months went by, as the seasons changed, he ended up saying yes to things he'd never said yes to. >> Have you ever said yes to the thing you swore you'd never say yes to?

Have you ever done the thing that you thought you would never do? You know, the thing about sin, the problem with sin isn't sin. But the thing about sin is that it starts with really little yeses. No one woke up this morning and thought, "You know what I'd love to do? have an affair.

No one starts going, "Today I think I'll rob a bank or today I'm going to jump into this relationship that I shouldn't be." And nobody does that. That's not how it goes. You know that. No one woke up today and wanted to have an addiction. >> Addiction is never the goal.

None of your friends that are in addiction thought, "I hope that I drink so much that I can't live without it." >> No. Addiction is never the goal. And yet it happens to us all the time. We never say yes to that. We say yes to this. >> It's these little yeses that we say and then we say another little yes that gets a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger and suddenly you're feeding the pigs and suddenly this thing feels out of control for me.

I um I a silly example is have you I'm sure you have but I'll say I do it as well. I get on Instagram to check one DM and then I blink and it's been two hours. Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll. Right? Or I'm like watching Tik Toks for two hours and I'm like, what?

You should see me. I'll stand up and go down. What are you doing with your life? What am I doing with my life? That's two hours. I didn't sit down and go, you know what I'd love to do? Look at Instagram for two hours. >> No, I sat down to look at one thing.

I said one yes >> and I just kept saying yes. >> Wow. >> Um, I was in college in the early 2000s. So, the way we listen to music was Napster. Anybody with me? You remember? Okay. We downloaded music to our computers and I was really into I can't explain it.

Don't ask follow-up questions at the time. I was very into Jay-Z and I was that was like what I wanted on my Napster and I would download the explicit versions of the song. Now the songs now I am a leader in my college ministry. I am leading a small group and I am also choosing to listen to this kind of music.

I'm not talking to you about your music. I'm telling you what music did to me. I was listening to it and one night at dinner, my roommates and I are all sitting around and we're laughing and talking and I say a sentence and the f- word comes out of my mouth and they all were shocked.

Guess what? Me, too. I was surprised when it came out of my mouth, too. But what you put in comes out. >> And so, I had said these little yeses to this music I was listening to. And before I knew it, I was saying words I would have never said.

I'm not saying the big one, right? I'm saying words I'd have never said because I said this yes, this small yes to the song I downloaded. >> If you just said before, hey Annie, do you want to start saying that word in no world? But I said a little yes and then a little yes and >> that's how it happens.

I I want to remind you of something that you know that is true about you and it's true about me. There is no sin that is out of reach. >> You think there's one you'll never do. May the fear of God be in us. That they are all available.

They are all available. They are all available. There is no sin that is out of reach. That is this younger brother never expected to squander all his money and end up feeding the pigs. There's no sin that's out of reach. The little yeses we are saying today, if we are not careful, lead to the big yes of the thing you said you would never do. >> So we get it out now.

We stop now. We repent now. We'll talk about it. But with the younger son, it goes from just taking this money to this wild living. You can define wild living how you want. I'll define it Napster. Wild living into slavery where he is a hired man working to where he's feeding the pigs.

Verse 17, when he came to his senses, listen, let's pause there for a second. If you are praying for someone who is not walking with the Lord right now, this is a sentence to pray. God, bring him to his senses. >> Bring him to his senses. Bring her to her senses.

When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired men have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired men." So, he got up and went to his father. Can you just imagine? Picture that for a second. Can you imagine how he smelled? Can you imagine how he looked? Like he's not coming back looking great and full of pride. He's coming back heartbroken and embarrassed and shameful, willing to not even claim to be a son, but just like, let me work here so I can be fed.

While there is no sin that is out of reach, there is no sin that is out of reach. While there is no sin that is out of reach, home is never out of reach either. Just want to remind you, home is never out of reach. Let's look at the father.

We'll pick up in verse 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. I want to remind you about something.

The father had no idea what the younger son was going to ask for or say when he came back. But when he saw him, he loved him and he ran to him. When we are being like the father, we don't wait for the apology. We don't wait when we see them coming to what if the younger son was coming to ask for more money.

What if the younger son was mad and he was saying, "I ran out of money because you didn't give me enough." The father ran to him first. >> Wow. >> The father ran to him first. So given the chance, we can run before we know. We can run before we know what's happening.

When we see them coming over the ridge, we can run. Few months ago, I was driving in Nashville. I live in Nashville. And uh I was getting off the interstate at this exit where there's this like big grassy patch here and then kind of this overgrown forest is a very strong word for you guys.

For us, it's got to be a forest. It's just a lot of trees. It's just like lots of trees, probably 30. And and so inside of that, inside of that grouping of trees, that forest if you will, um is an encampment of unhoused people. And there are a lot of them that live there.

And so I was driving down and I was stopped cuz the light was red. And there was a car idling next to me, pulled off the road with the windows down. And I could hear something. And so I was being nosy and I rolled down my window. you know where you're like, "What's that?

Can I roll down my window without them realizing it?" The car was running, but there wasn't anyone in it. And as I roll down my window, I hear this woman just screaming a name. She is just screaming for Justin. And over and over, she is looking for him.

And I thought, "That's what it's like when you've lost someone." Is she was doing whatever it took to find Justin. And I in the moment you can imagine just hearing someone screaming, walking up and down, looking all over the place. There's tarps and tents and trash cans and and grocery carts and and she's just weaving and yelling.

I thought, how many places has she gone today looking for Justin? And you know, a lot of times the word lost gets a negative connotation like you're less than. If you're lost, I actually think you're more than >> I if if something is lost, it means it has value to us. >> It means it matters to you.

The things that you don't remember where they are and you don't care. You don't call those lost. You don't remember them. Justin was lost. She cared where he was. The people in your life that are lost, the only reason you use that word is because you care for them to come home. >> You care for them to come home.

It is a term of endearment to say that someone is lost because it means you value them and you want them coming home. While there is no sin that is out of reach, here is our hope. There is no gone that is too far gone. >> There is no gone that is too far gone.

So today, if you feel like the lost son or the lost daughter, come on home. >> Come on home. You can come home. There is no there is no gone that is too far gone. So whether you're sitting in the campus or in the room with me watching online, there is no gone that is too far gone.

You can come home. There is no sin. I I will speak on behalf of Fresh Life. There is no sin that will make them close the doors on you. >> Now sin has consequences. I am very sorry to tell you. I wish it didn't. I wish it didn't.

I wish my sin didn't have consequences. Sin does have consequences, but you can come home. >> Like, come home and let's deal with it. Let's talk about it. >> Let's let let our pastors and our prayer teams and our leaders help you. Just come home. Come home. If you feel like you're the lost one, here's the beautiful story.

Someone is praying for you. >> Someone's looking for you. The Lord is looking for you. But someone's looking for you. Someone's been praying. And maybe that's why I'm here is to tell you someone's looking for you. You can come home. I wonder if you feel like the father today.

I do a little bit in my life. People that I'm waiting to see come over the ridge. People that I'm hoping will return. It is so painful, isn't it? just to keep looking, to keep praying and keep looking, keep waiting for that relationship to restore, that person to come back, or that person in your life that you're that you love so deeply that is not walking with Jesus today.

I would tell you, do not give up. Do not give up. Persevere. Persevere. Pray every day. Do not give up. You have no idea what God is doing. If you are sitting there praying, God, bring them to their senses. Bring them to their senses. And then we go, "Okay, God, do it today.

Do it on August 3rd." >> Like, bring them to their senses. We just keep praying. I know it is hard. I know it feels impossible. I know there are days where you go, "This is getting worse, not better." >> All right. Good. Good. Keep praying. >> Keep going.

I want to be the person I I think y'all are this way, too. I want to be the person that when I get to heaven, the Lord is like, I was exhausted how much you prayed. Like, I'm glad you're here because you didn't stop. I'm like, I'm not stopping.

I got friends that I am not stopping. >> I'd rather go to heaven still saying their name than give up while we're here. >> That feels real. I It's easy to say with a microphone on my face. It's harder on a Tuesday morning when I'm crying alone praying.

I know. >> I know. But don't give up. We don't know what God's doing. >> The father's sitting there waiting on the son to come home and the younger son is over there coming to his senses and the father doesn't even know. >> Someone's coming to their senses right now and we don't even know. >> We don't even know yet.

So, let's read about the father. He ran and to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. And then the son speaks. Then the son speaks. Verse 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."

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. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. and he was lost and is found.

So they began to celebrate. Does sin have consequences? Yes. Do we party first? Yes. >> Wow. >> We party first. Okay. We party first. So water break. But I told you this isn't a story about the prodigal son. It's a story about what? >> Two sons. >> Two sons.

We got to talk about this other son. >> Verse 25. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So, he called one of the servants. He didn't ask his father. He asked a servant. Called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. "Your brother has come," he replied. "And your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound."

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So, his father went out. This is the second time we see the father chasing after the son. Right? The father went out both times. The father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, "Look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed you, your orders.

Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours, have you said that before? Uh, this son of yours, when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him.

My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. I think you're not surprised when I tell you that my college pastor said, "Annie, you're the older brother."

The problem here, the reason your family is experiencing you the way they are is because you're the older brother. You think you deserve something different. You think she deserves something different. You've been slaving in the fields. You don't want anybody else to get a party. He was right.

I was mad. I'd always been the good girl doing the right thing. Other people not doing the right thing suddenly were getting celebrated and I was angry. I almost said pissed. It's that music I listen to. Pastor Levi, I got to quit it. I was watching other people get rewarded after being rebellious.

And I had never been rebellious. >> And I was watching them get rewarded. I had followed all the rules and I it was not fair how other people were being treated versus me and I was going to let my face show it. I was so focused on how other people were lost that I did not realize how lost I was. >> I did not realize how lost I was the whole time. >> And I did not know what to do.

Here's the problem. Sometimes you have a revelation of your sin and you go, "So, what do I do?" That's still me. like I don't feel different. Great. You don't have to feel different. >> We just know. Then you go, okay, here's what's true. If I'm inclined in a direction in this story, I'm inclined toward the other brother.

That is my inclination. And so what I do, what I did in the moment, you go, okay, now I'm aware. I'm aware that this is me. This is what I lean toward. And I want to be different. I know how to pray. I know what it looks like.

Now, a few months later, my mom said, and I quote her, "It was a drastic difference." Okay, Pam, settle down. Drastic. Come on. I was still a nice person, mother. Said there was a drastic difference. But you know what? I I don't love confessing to you is that older brother thing still gets me.

It's 20 years later and it still gets me sometimes where I think I deserve better than I'm getting. Anytime that comes up in me, anytime that whisper of you deserve that, you deserve better than what you're getting. All of a sudden, I go, "Oh no, it's still in me.

Oh no, I'm still a sinner. Oh no." Maybe it's the thorn in my flesh. Maybe it's the thing that God lets stay near me so that I'm always reminded that pride is like a breath away from me. >> It is so dark, but it is still my lean toward.

I'm sorry to tell you. I hope we stay friends. It's still my lean toward. I don't like it either. That voice that says I deserve something. I deserve better. I work for God. >> Shouldn't I have what I want? >> That's all older brother stuff in me. And we just root it out.

We pray against it. We change and try to be like the father. I want to show you a couple of details. Jesus is a master storyteller. For starters, I want you to see that the parable of the lost sheep has a beautiful ending. The parable of the lost coin has a beautiful ending.

The parable of the two sons does not have a beautiful ending for the older brother. In this whole chapter, the only story Jesus leaves hanging, he wraps up the younger son, he wraps up the father, he leaves us hanging on the older brother. >> Master storyteller. Also, look back at verse 29.

Well, the older brother comes angry. Remember, he goes and asks the servant what happens. Verse 29, he says, "All these years I've been slaving for you. You're his son. You've been slaving out in the fields." The interesting thing is remember what the younger brother says, "I'll come back and be a hired hand."

And the older brother says, "I've been slaving." This juxtiposition of humility versus pride. Woof. And then he also says, "You never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends." Who's the younger brother celebrating with? His father. >> The older brother wants a party with his friends.

He doesn't even want his father there. So sad. >> He forgot he was a son. He's lost, too. What's actually true is in this story of two sons that Jesus tells, both boys forgot that the best place is near the father. There is no better place >> than near to the father.

And they both forgot. One of them left, one of them stayed. They both forgot the truth. That being near to the father is the best thing. The younger one thought he could find better. The older one thought he had lost everything. Was angry, bitter. I get it. The older brother never understood.

That's the problem with the ending is is we end with the father going after his son and explaining to him the thing. And then Jesus just moves on to the next story. And I'm like, Jesus, what happened? I I personally would like to know what happens to the older brother.

That's just a personal request. His slave mindset did not save him from pain. His mindset did not save him from hurt. It made him miss the party. >> Wow. >> That's what happens to the older brother. I have missed a lot of parties. >> I haven't been protected from pain.

I haven't protected from suffering. I'm not better. I just missed the parties. That's awful. We think about the You know what is rough about this story? A thousand things. One is everybody can see the older brother. I'm sorry. Everybody can see the younger brother's sin. Nobody sees the older brother's sin. >> Wow. >> The older brother misses the party.

Here's a, you know, Jesus is giving us a parable. These aren't real people. Jesus is giving us a parable. And the father is like God our father. And here's the beautiful thing for you and me. Jesus is a better older brother. >> Jesus is the better older brother because he came and he gave his life for us. >> He did not stay out in the field slaving, unhappy with us. for all of us who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, which is all of us.

Me, too. Jesus doesn't look down on us or judge us. He's not angry that we're getting the party. He gave his life for us. He is the better older brother. He is not missing a party. He is there. He sacrificed so that we could come home. I see myself in all three of these seats.

One more clearly than the others. I know, but I I can be in all three. So, what do we do? We repent. >> You know, repentance, repentance is saying you're sorry to the Lord and then just turning and walking the other way. We repent. And but you have to tell yourself the truth.

You have to tell yourself the truth. The little yeses you're saying, where are you like the younger brother? where the little yeses are going to snowball into bigger yeses. I promise your secret sin, your hidden sin, the thing you think nobody knows, it does not stay hidden. My mentor Nancy sends me a Bible verse, text me a Bible verse every morning.

This morning, not knowing what I was teaching about, she sent me Proverbs verse 10, chapter 10, verse 9. I should have marked it, shouldn't I? Proverbs 10:9, "The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." It's a promise. It's a promise.

In fact, in Luke, if you back up to Luke 8, Luke says in verse 17, "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." It is the kindness of God that he does not let us sit in our sin.

And he gives you a chance to repent. He gives you a chance to turn around. And then at some point, he cares more about your character than your career. He cares more about your character than what everybody else sees. And your sin comes out. >> It will come out because he's trying to save you. >> He's trying to rescue you from a life of sin.

It only stays secret for a while and then it isn't anymore and then suddenly you're feeding the pigs. But today is a day of salvation. Today you get the choice to say it yourself. You get the choice to say it yourself, to repent, to confess. In the book of James, it says that we we confess our sins to God to be set free.

We confess to each other to be healed. You you know this. I know this. The the reason I'm like the older brother is because of hurt. There's pain under our sin. So, we confess to each other to be healed. Where are you, the older brother? Where are you holding grudges?

I'm so thankful to be here the week after movement. It lives up to its name. Things move forward in this region and it it ripples out across the country of what happens on a the movement weekends every year. And what happens is more people come to church >> and one Sunday you're going to get here and someone's going to be sitting in your seat and you get to decide if you're the father or the older brother >> because when we run out of seats and when we run out of parking spots and when we run out of coffee and you chirp and send an email that you've been here so long and you've always got to sit here and where'd your seat go?

That is older brother stuff. >> That's older brother stuff. And we just don't want to be like that. We want to go. Oh, I love sitting in my seat and I have some feelings about it. I hear the whisper. I hear the whisper. Also, I don't want to miss the party. >> If God's bringing people back and we're running out of seats, I don't want to miss the party.

Even if I lose my seat, >> right? It's going to happen that those of us in Christ have to prepare for revival. And one of the ways you prepare for it is make sure you're not the older brother when it gets here. >> Cuz who misses the party?

Not them. >> Me. >> Maybe you. me. I miss the party if I'm the older brother when revival comes and people come home. Cuz you know what might happen? I'm sorry to tell you. The person who really hurt your family may sit behind you next Sunday >> because they're coming to their senses. >> The person in your family that blew everything up last Christmas may send a text when you get home today.

And you get to decide, are you going to be the older brother? Are you going to be the father? You're gonna feel some things. Your feelings don't drive. They just get to ride. >> Okay? Let them ride. Let them ride. I'm not telling you, you don't have to be hurt.

You don't have to be smart. I I'm I'm just saying, can you be the father when somebody comes home? >> I'm I'm preaching to myself. Y'all know, can I be the father? I want to be. It seems way more fun. I hate missing parties. >> You know, it all matters because in second chronicles, this is so beautiful.

I want you to think about every time this scripture says here or place, we're talking about fresh life. I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. when I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command locust to devour the land or send a plague among my people.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. Isn't that beautiful? I want to be where God's eyes and heart always are. All that requires of me simple. Uh humble myself, pray, seek his face, turn from my wicked ways.

Got it. >> Don't be the older brother. Got it. That's coming. You you may be watching this. The the landscape of spirituality is really interesting right now. 30% more Bibles were purchased in the last year than the year before. 30%. Something's happening. Something's happening. Something's changing. God is moving in ways that pretty unprecedented.

You can Google it and read about it. People are writing about it. This is not a quiet thing, but you may lose your parking spot. And I know. I believe you. I believe you. It may be the person that you don't want to see anymore that comes back.

Maybe the person that hurt you that comes back. It may be. So, I want us to pray for a couple of minutes before we worship again. So, if you just want to bow your heads, we're I'm just going to give you the three options here. Older son, younger son, father.

If you connect most closely with the with the younger son where you are not walking with Jesus today, you you maybe you never have. Maybe you've sinned and you've walked away. Maybe there is secret sin that you're hiding. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. You will be so glad.

Maybe you've just been making a mistake this week and you're like, "Yeah, Lord, I haven't even walked back towards you. I'm going to walk back towards you today." Repenting is just turning around and coming back to God, walking away from the sin and confessing it to someone else.

But if you've never given your life to Jesus, if you've never accepted that that he came and died on a cross on behalf of us to take our sin so that we would not have to pay that price and then resurrected again so we'd have abundant life. It'll matter in the long run. and it'll matter in your eternity, but boy, it matters today, too.

So, if you've never prayed that, want to pray that, if you want to restore with God or meet him for the first time, you can just say a prayer like this in your heart or out loud, whatever you want to do, just Jesus, forgive me of my sins.

I want you in my life. I want to be like you. Teach me how to be like you. Come into my life. And for the rest of us in the ways where the younger brother, just take a second and repent. Just tell him, "I'm sorry, God. I am sorry for the sin that so easily entangles me, I want to turn away from it."

And in places where you may be the older brother, where pride and anger and hurt, where you think you deserve better than you're getting, I get it. We also can repent. Just God, I am sorry. I don't want to be the brother in the field that is slaving away.

I want to work with you. I want to be partnered with you. I don't want to miss a party. Change me, God. Forgive me of my pride. Uh, help me. Help me to be the father. God, we repent of our older brotherness. Get it out. Get it out of me.

And if there are any of you that are like the father right now that you're just waiting on somebody to come home, will you just raise your hand? We're just going to join you. Me, too. Yeah. Yeah. I know it is hard. Do not stop praying. Do not give up.

And in fact, right now, God, we just for all these friends with their hands raised, who are just suffering in prayer, who are just persevering even when it hurts, who are continuing to pray even when it doesn't make sense, when the person feels so lost that they are never coming home.

God, we just put all of our prayers behind them, just the breath of God behind them. push on that rock and we move it with them. God, would you take all of our prayers and put them in in place of these people that we love just like ball it all up, God?

Ball all of our prayers up into one big ball that moves things forward right now, God. The people that I love that I'm waiting to come home, would they come to their senses right now? I'm thinking of them right now. Picture them right now in your head. God, bring them to their senses that August 3rd would be the day.

Whether we hear it tomorrow or we hear it in a year, but they go, "On August 3rd, I had this thought. Do it. Holy Spirit, you are so welcome. You are so welcome to invade our people's lives. Go. Go. Bring them to their senses. Let them start asking questions they don't know the answers to.

Let them start remembering things they've forgotten. Bring back memories. And God, for our friends that are just suffering in prayer, that are persevering and feel like they cannot keep going, give them a jolt. Give them anything. Give them just like a snack that'll get them through the journey.

Just something today, God. Whether it's a scripture or a phone call or seeing a a certain sign that says a certain thing, would you just show up, Holy Spirit, for our people who are persevering in prayer, would you give them something today so they do not give up?

We will be people who persevere in prayer. God, I'm not quitting. We won't quit. We love you, Jesus. We trust you. Teach us to be like the father. I don't want to be either of these brothers. I want to be like you. Love you, Jesus. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. ((music playing))