Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201631A
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00:00 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON
00:05 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:11 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:17 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:22 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:28 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:33 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:37 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:41 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:46 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 00:51 IIW-2016-31 --- THE PRODIGAL SON 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:35 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world 01:44 It Is Written 01:46 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 01:58 I'll not forget the day, January 8, 1989. I was a teenager and a fan of the Chicago Bears. That 02:08 day, my dad took me to the National Football Conference Championship game between the 02:13 Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers. It was a very cold winter day and with the 02:22 wind chill, the temperature was dropping. But my excitement was high because the winner of this 02:30 game would go to the Super Bowl. Having lived for most of my life, up until that point, in 02:38 the Chicago area, this was a very exciting moment. The Bears could go all the way! After a 02:46 few hours of enduring negative temperatures, my excitement dwindled to disappointment as 02:53 the Bears lost that game.in fact they were blown out. I didn't realize that that was just the 03:03 beginning of my disappointing day. After the game, my dad took me to dinner and told me 03:08 something that would drastically change our family. After 15 years of marriage.he and my mom 03:14 were getting a divorce. I didn't understand.I knew things were tough.but I didn't think it was 03:22 that bad. As my parents went through the divorce process.I became angry about many things. 03:29 I began to get angry especially with my mom. At the age of 18, having just graduated from high 03:38 school, I packed up my stuff and left home. My mom had gone to work that morning, as she had 03:45 almost every day to support me and my three younger brothers since the process of the divorce 03:51 had begun. And I packed up my stuff and left without speaking to my mom or letting her know 03:58 where I was going. I made no contact with her. She tried contacting me. Phone calls, 04:07 cards, gifts.never missing a holiday.finding whatever excuse she could to make to send stuff 04:16 to me, but I didn't respond to her at all. For two years this went on. I was an angry, lost 04:28 and confused young man. One weekend I attended a conference that, looking back on it, taught 04:36 many principles that were not biblical. However, something good thing came out of it. 04:45 During a time of reflection.I came to realize how selfish I had been. And so I made a 04:50 decision.to call my mom.But what do you say? How do you say it? What would she say? As soon as 05:04 my mom answered the phone and heard my voice, I could hear her crying. I said the only thing 05:11 that I could think of saying.I'm sorry. My mom accepted me back with no conditions. No 05:19 questions, no pressure.she just accepted me back. I had been lost and confused, but now I was 05:31 found. 05:37 I share this story to help illustrate the point that God pursues us in a similar way. No 05:42 matter where you are in life, He wants to be reunited with you For the last 2 weeks we have 05:48 studied the parables in Luke 15 and have seen that Jesus is relentless in His pursuit after 05:55 us. Today, we look at the last of those parables. Luke 15 beginning with verse 11 reads, 09:44 What an incredibly powerful and moving story. And as we understand it's context, we will 09:58 appreciate it even more. It was not unusual for a father at that time, to divide the inheritance 10:09 up to his sons before his death, but the fact that his son asked for it sent a very clear 10:17 message. Not only was his request poor taste, it was a denial of the authority and even 10:26 existence of the father. While the father could have refused the sons request.he did not. He 10:35 seemed content to allow for the son's free will choice. Now according to the law of Moses, 10:42 the oldest son receiveda double portion of the inheritance, and any younger sons received a 10:50 single portion. So in this case, as the man had two sons, the oldest would receive 2/3 while 10:57 the youngest would receive 1/3. 11:02 The regular order of things was that when any division of the inheritance was made while the 11:08 father was still alive, that property would remain until the father's death. The son's demand 11:18 of both division and possession of the property was an undoubtedly offensive to the 11:28 father.yet the father did not object. 11:36 Sometime after he received his portion, the younger son cut off his ties to home and went to a 11:46 far off place. The Bible says that in this far off place, he wasted his possessions and lived 11:53 like a prodigal That word waste can be literally translated to scatter, or to squander. He was 12:02 living large, he had all he needed and lots of friends, so he thought. To live as a 12:12 prodigal meant that he lived without any moral restraint in any matter. He was far from 12:19 home, spending like there was no end and forgetting the values he was brought up with. He wanted 12:26 to squeeze everything he could out of life and take it all in. Doesn't that sound like what 12:35 many are aiming to do today? Does any of that sound like you.where are you today in your 12:44 life? For the prodigal.the large life came to a screeching halt. Everything was gone. The money 12:57 was gone.all the inheritance had been squandered away. Where were his friends now? Where were the 13:04 beneficiaries of his frivolous spending? Certainly someone would take him in and help him, 13:13 right? No. they were all gone. As his financial resources dried up, his friendships dried up 13:25 too. On top of it all the land experienced a feminine, so not only was he without any means, 13:34 there was no way to earn more. And no more money, no more friends. There wasno one to help 13:44 him. So the Bible says that he joined himself to a citizen of that country. For all practical 13:52 purposes, he sold himself into slavery. He was assigned to feed pigs. For this young Jewish man, 14:02 nothing could have been more humiliating than to have to feed unclean pigs. He fell so low, he 14:12 was so hungry, that having enough money to for food, he actually craved the pigs' food. 14:22 Most likely, the pigs'food would have been the husks of the carob or locust bean tree. The beans 14:31 themselves had been removed for human consumption and the left over pods given to the animals 14:38 for feed. 14:43 At some point, this young man came to the realization that he could return to his father and 14:52 work as a hired hand and be treated better. He figured out a plan on what to say to earn the 15:01 father's favor. Somehow he believed that if he said just the right words, his father 15:09 might accept him back. So this prodigal started his journey home. I'm sure he thought about 15:18 how excited he had been to leave and home. He may have thought about how far he went, the money 15:26 he spent, and the people he met. And now, an embarrassment to himself, and probably, in his 15:33 mind, he is an embarrassment to the family, he makes his way home. And while this prodigal 15:44 son may not have known why he had this desire to go home, Philippians 2:13 offers this 15:54 insightful hint, 16:06 God has planted a seed deep in every heart to desire to do right. The prodigal acted on 16:14 this sense and began his trip home. It may not be easy to do what is right, just like it may 16:23 not have been easy for this prodigal son to decide to go home. But when we take that 16:30 first step in faith, God is there to walk the rest of the way with us. We don't have to do 16:38 it alone. As the son nears home, the Bible paints a touching picture. The son was 16:47 probably still rehearsing his speech, maybe not even paying attention to what would have 16:54 been the familiar sights of home. But there was someone who was paying attention, someone 17:01 who didn't need to rehearse his speech. Even while the son was still in the distance, his 17:07 father saw him. He must have been watching and praying for his son to return home. The 17:15 father did not wait to hear what his son had to say for himself. He did not require the boy to 17:20 come on bowed knee. He did not make some random requirement for his acceptance of him. He was 17:27 full of love and compassion toward his son, he ran to his son, he embraced his son. He 17:34 didn't take the time to ask he smelled so bad or what had he been doing all this time. and 17:44 was so joyous that he threw a celebration at his return. The son confessed his sin and tried 17:54 to give his rehearsed speech about not being worthy to be a son and being willing to just be 17:59 a servant. But the father was so thrilled by the arrival of his son, that rehearsed speech never 18:09 made it out of the son's mouth. His father placed a robe around him.to cover the tattered and 18:17 worn clothes that he most assuredly had on. And upon that hand that not that long ago had 18:27 been involved in eating and drinking and living in ways that were contrary to the ways of his 18:32 father, the family signet ring was placed. The father clothed the son to look like his son and 18:42 now the signet ring on his hand indicated that he fully accepted and restored as son. The father 18:51 was so happy and overjoyed that they had a welcome home celebration. 19:01 Friend, have you been wandering.in this story is a plain and simple reminder that 19:07 God wants to bring you back to him. I don't know what's happened in your life. I don't 19:14 know where circumstances have led you, but what I do know is that just as this father 19:19 unreservedly accepted the son back.he will take you back You've not gone too far from 19:26 Him. He's been looking for you. Will you return? There may be some who try to stand in your 19:32 way and may not be happy about your return. The older brother in this parable had undoubtedly 19:41 been faithful to his duty. He worked the fields and felt like he was basically a servant to 19:49 his father. He criticized his father's judgement when it came to his younger brother and now a 19:55 party? Why? Hearing the music and happy activities only made him more angry, and he refuses 20:04 to go in and welcome home his lost brother. The father pled with his older son to join them. 20:10 Instead of sharing in his father's joy, he recounts his hard years of labour and 20:18 complains that he has never been given any reward or recognition for staying the course. The 20:27 story closes with the father's words, 20:45 Do you recognize that you are lost and a far off from God today? This story teaches that 20:53 you can return. While some may question the sincerity of your decision and others may question 21:01 motives.God does not. Not matter what decisions you've made.no matter how far you've gone.God 21:13 wants you back. To the person who has some of the tendencies of the older brother in this 21:21 story.Jesus is calling you to a life of compassion for others. To love like Jesus loves, to act 21:32 like Jesus acts and to accept as Jesus accepts. Friend, today is the day to come to, your senses, 21:41 as the prodigal son did and respond to God's call. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, 22:16 Today, I want to close with a beautiful quotation from a book about the parables of Jesus 22:21 called, "Christ Object Lessons" 23:42 Do you want to experience that today? My dear friend, God is waiting and watching for you. 23:52 Dear heavenly Father, each of us is a prodigal in our right. We've wandered away, and we want 24:00 to come home. Please give us the courage, the strength, to take that first step, that then You 24:07 would walk with us all the way home. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 24:35 Hi, everyone! Today, let's talk about easy weight loss. That doesn't sound right, does it? 24:40 For most people, losing weight is not an easy thing. But, I've got two things that are going to 24:46 make it if not easy, at least, hopefully, fun. What are these two things? A fork, and your 24:54 walking shoes! It doesn't get any easier than that! The trick with the fork is to make sure 24:59 you put it into something plant-based. If you're really serious about losing weight, the 25:05 best and easiest way to do it is to leave out animal-based foods from your every-day eating. And, 25:11 you know what? It's also the healthiest way! Let me challenge you to a challenge. The Veggie 25:17 Challenge. For one week. Instead of using animal-based foods, stock up on life-enhancing, 25:24 weight-loss-inducing foods such as chick peas, lentils, kidney beans, sweet potato, beets, 25:31 carrots, spinach, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, oats, whole grain breads, apples, oranges, 25:37 bananas. All of these are packed with the nutrition your body needs, including the 25:42 carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. And, they've all got something else, 25:48 too. Can you guess what it is? Fibre! The fibre in these foods is going to fill you up, so that 25:55 you actually eat less. And, remember, plant foods typically have half the calories that 26:02 animal foods tend to have because there's so much less fat and no cholesterol. That's 26:07 what's so great about plant foods. Full of all the good stuff your body needs and none 26:13 of the bad. With plant foods you can eat more and weigh less! And, here's something else to 26:19 think about when it comes to your fork. Studies show that an effective way to lose weight is 26:25 to have your biggest meal in the morning. It makes sense when you think about it, because if you 26:30 eat most of your calories early in the day, you then can spend all day burning them off. But, 26:37 if you eat most of your calories in the evening, usually we don't engage in a lot of activity 26:43 after that evening meal. So, it's easy to pack on the pounds The old saying, "Breakfast like 26:49 a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper" really is a good idea. So, that takes care 26:56 of the fork part. For the part with the walking shoes, I challenge you to walk one hour 27:02 every day. You can do it in two half hour segments, or three 20-minute segments, whatever you 27:08 like. If you're not used to walking so much, be sure to work your way up to it, so that 27:13 perhaps in about two months you're walking a full hour. Seriously, losing weight doesn't 27:19 have to be hard! You don't have to count your calories, weigh your food, or purchase expensive 27:24 pills or powders. Simply use your fork to dig in to some wholesome plant foods. And, lace 27:31 up those walking shoes and get moving. If you do these two things, you are, essentially, 27:37 changing your lifestyle. And, that's the key! Once, you've started, don't go back to your 27:43 old ways; keep it up for a lifetime of optimal health. And, if you accept my challenge for a 27:50 Veggie Challenge, write down this website: www.veg.ca. Once you're there, click on the 27:58 Veggie Challenge tab and sign up to receive wonderfully helpful emails every day that will make 28:04 it so easy for you to get healthy and lose weight, all at the same time! Enjoy the Veggie 28:10 Challenge! I'll see you next time. 28:20 My dear friend, like the father of the parable of the prodigal son that stood anxiously waiting 28:28 for that son to return, God wants you to return. He wants you to take that first step. To 28:36 help you in taking those first steps, I want to offer you the book Three Steps to Heaven. 28:40 Here's the information you need to receive today's offer. 29:40 My dear friend, I pray that you 29:42 have found hope that the Father wants you to return home. Please join us again next week. Until 29:48 then, remember, it is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that 29:55 proceeds from the mouth of God." |
Revised 2018-11-12