Modern Day Prodigal

Welcome and Announcements…

Slide #1

Prayer… Open our eyes Lord

Open you’re Bibles this morning to the book of Luke 15…it is here that we find 3 of the Parables that Jesus taught on.

Three main words come to my mind when thinking about these Parables…Lost…Found…and Rejoice.

Jesus was preparing to share 3 stories that focus on a very important topic…

Many of the people who had gathered around Him to listen were Publicans (…people who in Roman Times…were known as Tax Collectors) and Sinners (who were people much like you and I). (Modern Day Prodigals).

Read…Luke 15:1-2

Because Jesus looked at all people the same…

The Pharisees and Scribes (those who taught the religious law in those days… began to murmur amongst themselves…and began to criticize Jesus for reaching out to such unworthy people groups.

They could not believe that He would even associate with people who were less than average…let alone eat with them.

Let’s begin by looking at the First parable Jesus spoke about.

Slide #2 The Lost Sheep Read…Luke 15:3-7

In this Parable…the Sheppard begins with…100 sheep… but he loses 1…(in the worlds view…still a great percentage 99%…but the one lost holds great value to this Sheppard.

In those days the Sheppard was responsible for each sheep…and if one came up missing he would have to pay for the animal unless he could prove that it was killed by a wild beast. (This explains why he went looking)

If we were to paraphrase this parable…The Sheppard in this parable is Jesus Christ…and we all are His sheep...and one of us has come up missing (lost).

Jesus is concerned with every one of us. (The Publicans and Sinners of today)...

He took the time to include this parable in the Bible so that we would understand that each and every one of us are important to Him.

Because we are His sheep he does not want any of us to turn up missing when the final count is being taken.

The Second parable that Jesus spoke about is...

Slide #3 The Lost Coin…Luke 15:8-10 (read)

We don’t know much about this parable…but what we do know about it is that the coin itself was probably one of 10 coins that were set in a Jewish woman’s marriage headband.

And if one of the coins were to come up missing…it would be much like a ladies wedding ring today... that came up missing the diamond.

This is why she is seen frantically looking for the lost coin…because Jewish custom believed that every coin must be in place when the Lord returns for His children.

Jesus wants us to know He is concerned with the lost…and He rejoices when one who is lost is found and returns.

We see proof of this in verse 7…and 10.

The Third parable that Jesus spoke about is...

Slide #4 The Lost Son Luke 15:11-24

In this parable we find a home that is occupied by a Father and His two sons.

I would love to be able to tell you it was a perfect home (one like the Heavenly Father has prepared for those who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior).

A home that is filled with Joy...Love…and Compassion…

A home where the Father is still found staring out the window looking for the return of His lost children.

But when I read this parable… I can’t help but think of it as a home… much like you and I would live in today.

It’s a home that is filled with anything that a world driven heart might desire.

Slide #5 Read Luke 15:11-12.

Here we see that the younger brother making an unexpected request.

He approaches his father and shares with him he’s tired of living under the house rules.

In his own mind…he convinced himself that he is ready to go out and conquer the world on his own.

He’s tired of living under the father’s rules…

He looks at life as many cows have before… how many of you ever heard the old saying….“The grass is greener on the other side of the fence”.

This boy is young and immature…

So the young boy decides it’s time to leave the home and head out into the world to live life the way he thinks it should be lived.

He approaches his father and makes one last request…(he asks for his portion of his inheritance)

So off the son goes living life to the fullest.

He finds out for himself what the world calls a good time.

He’s eating the finest foods…he hits all the nightclubs…he hits the casinos…and I’m sure the gentlemen’s clubs as well.

And we all know what happens when you have money…you are introduced to friends you never knew you had…you know the ones I’m talking about…the ones that let you pick-up the tab.