Dear Father in Heaven: I love You. Thanks for giving us another day here on earth and another day to live and work for You. Thanks for all the calls we had today for people who want to come for food, and thanks even more for the fact that You have our helves in good shape for us to be able to help others. Thanks for all You do. Please be with our prodigal children or friends as we put their names before You. Please watch over ...
Matthew, Sean, Rita, Rhonda, Jeff, Sarah, Dan, Daniel, Christine, Ellen, Todd, Sherry, Mark, Kyle, Brandon, Lexi, Holmes, Becky, Jenny, Danielle, Aleks, Greg, Kory, Jelena, Madeline, Arden, Holden.
Now if You would be so kind as to bless me with another message and then see that it is dispatched, I sure would appreciate it. In the meantime, Lord, please, please forgive me of my sins of the day. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: Please take time to check all of your lights before going on the road. The hardest one to check is our stop lights. So here is how you do it. Push down on the brake pedal, then jump out of the car and run real fast to the back to see if the stop lights are on. Just kidding, folks. If you can, use the buddy system. If not, put your snow brush to work. Push your brake pedal down and wedge the brush between the pedal and your seat. Then check your stop lights. See, and you thought your snow brush was not good for anything in the summer.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us get back to the messages on the prodigal son, and let's get to the message right away today for today is when we see how our prodigal is welcomed back. By the way, welcome to summer, it is the very first day of summer. Wow, how time moves on when you are having fun.
Friday, June 21, 2013, The first day of summer. The Prodigal Son, Day Four.
Luke 15:20 - "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. (NIV)
You do remember this all is a quote from Jesus, as it is one of His parables that He used to teach back then which by the way is still good for this day and a good example of that is, we are using it right now to teach about the prodigal son.
So we find our lost son with a prepared speech to make when he got home. He was going to tell his father how sorry he was and would he just be able to be one like a hired servant. But let us take a look and see what happened to this lost son, and remember, this is how our Father in Heaven will react when one of those lost ones we are praying for return.
The father of the lost son was so excited to see his lost son coming back that he ran out to greet him. This is how it is when I decided it was time to come back. Our Father did not wait until the day when I made it home, He really came to get me, He sent many people along the way to help me. I remember how I would talk to a nun who would come to our service station for gas, she knew I was down and I told her what I was going through. This lovely nun told me to just hold tight to God for He would have something special for me, something so much better than what I lost. He really sent me a new circle of friends, friends who helped me up when I was down and stayed with me as I went through my coming back. I can remember my two daughters coming to the house one night with some food and saying "dad, you are going to start eating or we are going to jam this food down your mouth." So I started to eat. God just kept sending people to help me. One that came and stayed was Dolores. She took me to meet her friends, this gospel singing group called The Couriers, and I just fell in love with the music, and she fell in love with motorcycles, as I was a biker and loved to ride. You see, our Father in Heaven is not going to sit back and watch, but once you make the move, He will be right there with you. He will walk out your return, regardless of when or why you drifted away. HE WILL WELCOME YOU BACK. You are one of those sheep that The Shepherd left the flock for. I was one of those sheep. I love the picture of Jesus holding the lost lamb, for I can picture myself as that lamb. Never give up, my dear brothers and sisters, in praying for your loved ones to come home. Tomorrow, I want to finish out the story of the prodigal son, so on this Saturday I want to show you what happens to some who are saved and did not drift and how they handle it when someone comes home. The example might be able to be used in your church, for I know in some churches some of those who have stuck with the church and never left have trouble when someone who was there, left for a long time, and then when they decided to come back, were welcomed home. But what about those who never left? Tomorrow we find out.
Now go forth and share your blessings. Love ya. Pass it on.
Pastor Dan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment