Sermons on Luke 15:31:

. God Is Our Friend Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 10, 2021

The world is full of people angry at God for allowing so much evil, and it puts a strain on our conviction that God is really a caring friend.

Martin Luther spent a major portion of his life looking for a God who liked him. He was devoutly religious from his childhood, but religion was more a burden than a blessing, for his God was not his friend. He knew God hated sin and demanded perfection and so he was obsessed with trying to be ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Forgiveness And Restoration Series

Contributed by Mary Erickson on Mar 11, 2021

Conflict creates impasses and dead ends in our relationships. Forgiveness opens a new way forward.

March 10, 2021 Hope Lutheran Church Rev. Mary Erickson Luke 15:11-32 Forgiveness and Restoration Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. “You can’t get there from here.” It always sounds a little crazy when you hear someone say that. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Lutheran

The Entitled Brother

Contributed by Sean Boucher on Sep 14, 2019

A look at the Prodigal Son story through the eyes of the older brother. Video of this sermon can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/253087477

For those who haven’t been here, the story so far is this – A son scandalously asks his still-living rich father for his half of the inheritance. Even more scandalously, the father gives it to him. The son does what you might expect from a young man – he goes and wastes it on wild living. He goes ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:25-32, Matthew 19:16, Matthew 19:21-22

Denomination: Baptist

God’s Unconventional Reach

Contributed by Kerry Haynes on Sep 14, 2019

Jesus shares three stories to show how much every person matters to God. Jesus calls us to repent and return to him, love people he loves, and celebrate with heaven when lost people are found.

Luke 15:1-10 God’s Unconventional Reach Have you ever lost anything? It’s really irritating, isn’t it? Losing car keys, losing your wallet, losing your cell phone. They make devices to ping all these things, but I’m sure I would probably lose that, too! Luke chapter 15 is all about lost things, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Luke 19:10

Denomination: Baptist

Overwhelming Grace: The Prodigal Son, The Unjust Steward, And You!

Contributed by Nickolas Kooi on Sep 19, 2019

This sermon examines the relationship between the prodigal son, unjust steward, and the hearer. It draws upon the parallels among all three to make a Gospel application. I am indebted to Dr. David Schmidt's observations on this text found on 1517.org for the idea.

A few weeks ago, I bought the movie Dunkirk on sale, which is about the evacuation of over 300,000 British troops after the Fall of France in World War II. I tried to watch this movie at night as I was going to bed. Between falling asleep, helping with Mia, or checking my phone, the movie took ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:1-8, Luke 16:1-16, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 15:12-24

Denomination: Lutheran

Pride And Prejudice

Contributed by Thomas Clawser on Oct 6, 2019

Two Things that Constrain Our Joy

Legend holds that in 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University. Eliot received the unpretentious couple into his office and asked what he could do. After ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32

Denomination: Other

Now, That Makes No Sense At All!

Contributed by Michael Stark on Oct 11, 2019

It makes no sense to be part of the same family and be mad when the father chooses to do for one what he hasn’t chosen to do for the other. Yet, this is precisely what happened in the parable Jesus told of two sons, either of whom were prodigal.

“Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Baptist

This Is Our Story Series

Contributed by Brad Bailey on Nov 11, 2019

This is Our Story Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke) Brad Bailey – November 9, 2019

This is Our Story Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke) Brad Bailey – November 9, 2019 Series #46 / Luke 15:11-32 Intro As we continue in our extended season of Encountering Jesus through the Gospel of Luke…we are challenged to face that we haven’t understood the actual story ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Father's Job Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 7, 2021

Fathers are God's agents of the law, but they are also God's agents of grace. To be the first, and not the second, is to be one testament shy of a Bible, or shy of God's full revelation. A half of a Bible is not the Bible, and half of a father is not a father.

Dick Van Dyke tells the stories of how children act toward their father when they are angry. In his book Faith, Hope and Hilarity he tells of a boy who had been spanked by his father for making too much noise. The boy climbed into his mother's lap and said, "Mama I wish you had married ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

The Prodigal's Father Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 7, 2021

Fathers need some encouragement. There are two things I see in the parable of the Prodigal that can be an encouragement to fathers, for these two things make it clear that fatherhood is hard, but that there is hope. The two things I see here are the intricacy and the intimacy of fatherhood

We live in the age of the marvelous machine. In Washington D. C. the traffic for a half mile around the White House is controlled by a computer system. The system is constantly telling the lights when to change to move the traffic according to the need. 450 buses have a transmitter which is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Four Gospel Pictures From The Parables Of Jesus

Contributed by Justin Steckbauer on Apr 24, 2021

But did we allow that consuming power of God's love reshape our lives? Did we make a decision to give our whole lives to Jesus Christ the savior of all? That is the question I want you to ask yourself today.

"Kenneth Clark, internationally know for his television series Civilization, lived and died without faith in Jesus Christ. He admitted in his autobiography that while visiting a beautiful church he had what he believed to be an overwhelming religious experience. "My whole being," ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 21:28-32, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 18:9-14

Denomination: Salvation Army

The Rebel Returns Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 30, 2021

We want to look at the story Jesus told about a youth who learned the hard way. It is often called the parable of the Prodigal Son, but it could just as rightly be called the parable of the Faithful Father.

The main social event of the year in many Sunday Schools is the summer picnic. William Porkess was in an English Sunday School that was granted permission by an Earl to have a picnic on his large estate. How excited they all were as they were being carried to the estate by horse and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Rending, An Encouragement To Repent.

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Apr 30, 2021

Looking into the first two chapters of Joel

Rending Over the past few days, I have been drawn to the book of Joel again. This interesting little book brings focus to a number of things. Joel starts his book with a description of a plague, not a pandemic plague like we are now experiencing, but a plague of locusts. Locusts move like an ...read more

Scripture: Joel 1:1-20, Joel 2:12-20, Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Salvation Army

Lost And Found

Contributed by John Newton on Mar 21, 2021

A look at the three figures in one of Jesus’ most famous parables

One of my greatest delights in the church where I last served in Minnesota was to be part of a group of men who met faithfully every Wednesday morning for prayer, followed each week by coffee and conversation. Both the prayer and the conversation could be pretty free ranging at times. But I have to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Episcopal

Letting Go Of Your Painful Past Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 26, 2021

Every Christians is either a pleasure or a pain in the body of Christ, and the key factor that makes the difference is letting go of a painful past.

Neil Armstrong was the first man to set his foot on the moon, but long before that momentous event he was a dreamer. As early as age 2 he fell in love with airplanes, and for the rest of his life that was a focus for him. He made model planes as a child, and at age 14 he got a job at a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32