The Prodigal Sons

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Pursuing Faith podcast, where we explore questions of faith, doubt, and life. I am your host, Dominic Done.

[00:00:14] Well, happy holidays, everyone. And I hope this crazy, busy Christmas season is going well for you.

[00:00:29] I don't know about you, but December often feels to me like one of those long games of Tetris,

[00:00:34] where you're trying to cram in everything all at once, shopping and wrapping and family and parties

[00:00:42] and cream brulee lattes into your already busy life. And on top of that, for us at Pursuing Faith,

[00:00:50] we're actually moving to Southern California, which is a crazy time of year to be packing up the office

[00:00:58] and the house. But long story short, God has opened up some incredible opportunities.

[00:01:04] opportunities that I'm really excited to step into. And in the weeks to come, I'll share more

[00:01:08] about that. But for today, I just wanted to share with you a message that I recently gave on the

[00:01:16] parable of the prodigal son. And as you know, the prodigal son is a story Jesus gave. It's about

[00:01:22] wondering and doubt and desperation. But more importantly, it's a story of grace and forgiveness

[00:01:29] and coming home. And I wanted to share this with you today because I think it puts on display in

[00:01:36] vivid and beautiful ways, the redemptive power of what Christmas is all about. So I hope this

[00:01:46] message encourages you and inspires you today. The story of the prodigal son is not only one of the

[00:02:05] most influential stories of the Bible, but I would argue it's one of the most influential stories ever

[00:02:13] told. This is a story that has shaped so much of culture, everything from movies and songs and books

[00:02:23] and poetry and works of art. In fact, hanging in my office is my all time favorite painting. It's by

[00:02:32] Rembrandt. Don't worry, it's not the original. But this is called The Return of the Prodigal. And many

[00:02:38] of you may have seen this. It's an incredible, compelling work. And it's one that has meant a ton

[00:02:45] to me personally. But also, I just love it for its sheer beauty. If you see here some of the meticulous

[00:02:53] level of detail and drama, actually. And this, by the way, if you enjoy Rembrandt, he often will do

[00:03:01] this. He's telling a story through his art. And the use of contrast will often draw us in and really

[00:03:10] draw attention to different aspects of the story he's telling. But you see there the ragged clothes of

[00:03:16] the prodigal son. The details, like the shoes that are falling off his feet. The embrace is probably

[00:03:23] my favorite part of this. The embrace of the father. But then notice, and we'll talk about this a bit

[00:03:29] today. In the right-hand corner, you have another son who's standing there kind of skeptically looking

[00:03:36] down upon the younger brother. Now, side note, many, many art historians, they argue that this painting

[00:03:45] is really part of Rembrandt's life. That he painted this to depict his own journey from unbelief to

[00:03:53] faith. Now, I think this story, for probably most of us in this room, have been impacted by it. I think

[00:04:01] one of the reasons for that is we see ourself in the story. We're like, yeah, I'm the prodigal. Maybe

[00:04:07] you're the older brother. Or you see yourself in the role now of being the father to embrace those who

[00:04:13] have returned from faith. But I think more importantly, we love it because it depicts

[00:04:19] God's heart for us. It's the beauty of the gospel in story form. So let's dive in. Verse 11.

[00:04:28] Jesus now, he's continuing on a line of reasoning. And you can go back later this week, check it out.

[00:04:34] But he continued. He said, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger one said to his father,

[00:04:41] Father, give me my share of the estate. So the father divided his property between them. Now,

[00:04:50] one of the things we need to know about the story is that it absolutely begins with a bombshell.

[00:04:55] Jesus starts by saying, there was a younger son who was demanding his inheritance.

[00:05:03] inheritance. And I think the moment that Jesus said this, there would have been an audible gasp from

[00:05:08] his audience. Because in that culture, at that time, this was considered one of the worst things

[00:05:14] that you could ever do. First of all, it was highly disrespectful. Keep in mind, this was a strong

[00:05:20] agrarian culture. It was a patriarchal culture. And so by going to your father and saying, give me my

[00:05:27] inheritance, it was a way of saying, the only thing that you mean to me is what you can give me. Even

[00:05:34] worse, dad, I wish you were dead. So this was highly disrespectful. But secondly, it was also,

[00:05:44] did you know, illegal. You were not, as a younger son, allowed to demand from your father while he was

[00:05:53] alive, the inheritance. In fact, did you know, there were all kinds of laws that said, if you do this,

[00:06:00] there's going to be repercussions. And especially if you demanded the inheritance and then you wasted

[00:06:07] the inheritance, when you came back home, it would not be a warm welcome. In fact, they had this thing

[00:06:15] called the kazaza ceremony, the kazaza ceremony. And essentially what they would do is if there was a

[00:06:22] son who demanded the inheritance, then wasted the money, then comes back home, the people in that

[00:06:28] village, they would gather together and they would get this earthenware pot. And inside the earthenware

[00:06:38] pot, they would put burned nuts and corn. And when the son came back into the village, as all these people

[00:06:48] are standing there and looking on, they would then smash the jar in front of all the villagers. And it was a way

[00:06:56] of saying, this is what you have done in your life. And this means our relationship with you is shattered. They

[00:07:06] would then actually shout, so-and-so, whoever he was, is cut off from his people. In fact, that's what the word

[00:07:14] kazaza means. It means the cutting off. So they would cut this individual off. And in some cases,

[00:07:22] if he had been a really bad prodigal son, it was the death penalty. In fact, you can unpack this more

[00:07:28] in Deuteronomy chapter 21. It says, in some instances, that son should be stoned. And I've mentioned this

[00:07:35] before. When the Bible talks about someone being stoned, it's not being 420 friendly, right? We're talking

[00:07:42] like rocks here. So this was a very serious thing. And when Jesus begins his story by saying, hey, there

[00:07:52] was a son who actually did this. They're like, oh my gosh, where is this going? Immediately, he had the

[00:07:57] attention of the crowd. And then in verse 13, Jesus said, not long after that, the younger son got together

[00:08:04] all he had. So he's got the cash now. And he set off for a distant country. And what did he do? He

[00:08:09] squandered his wealth in wild. The word wild there actually means prodigal. In prodigal living. He got

[00:08:17] together. This is actually a financial term in the ancient world. It means he turned his assets into

[00:08:24] cash. He liquidates everything. He then goes out and he's wasting his money. The word prodigal was used

[00:08:32] in the first century to describe someone who was recklessly extravagant, who was wasteful. The idea

[00:08:41] now is that with this younger son, there were no boundaries, no limits. He's just spending his money

[00:08:47] like he doesn't care about the future. His mindset is party like it's AD 89, right? So he's just

[00:08:56] squandering the wealth. He's wasting all the things his father had worked so hard for living the ultimate

[00:09:03] hedonistic dream. So again, the crowd is shocked. I cannot believe this guy did that. And after he had

[00:09:10] spent everything, Jesus said, there was a severe famine in that whole country. And he began to be in need.

[00:09:17] And so he went and he hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed

[00:09:23] pigs. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him

[00:09:32] anything. Now notice here the contrast. And again, my mind races to Rembrandt and the way he depicted

[00:09:39] this moment. He goes from living the dream to feeding pigs virtually overnight. He goes from being the life

[00:09:49] of the party to there is no party. He goes from dark ales to jungle juice, like almost instantly.

[00:09:58] He finds himself in this place where this is not what I had in mind. And we see how dire it was because

[00:10:07] the only job that he could get, it says, was feeding pigs. Now keep in mind, again, this is a Jewish

[00:10:14] culture. This is definitely not a kosher job, right? Feeding pigs. In fact, he was so hungry,

[00:10:23] Jesus said, that even the pig slop looked like a Michelin star restaurant. He's like, man, I am so

[00:10:30] hungry. I'll even eat this. Can you imagine how desperate you'd have to be to eat that? As many of

[00:10:38] you know, in my journey, I was a missionary for a number of different years, a number of different

[00:10:43] countries. And if you spend much time overseas, chances are that you may eat a thing or two that

[00:10:52] you wouldn't normally eat. So when I was in India, I had goat brain curry. You heard it right. Goat

[00:10:59] brain curry. Not my favorite. In the South Pacific, I had snails and at one point sea worms. This is a

[00:11:10] whole other story where once a year, these sea worms would come into shore and the locals would go out

[00:11:17] with these big sieves or strainers. And then they would gather them up and kind of cook them and eat

[00:11:22] them like spaghetti. So I tried that. Again, not my favorite. In Mexico, I lived there for a year

[00:11:30] working at an orphanage. In Mexico, we once had rattlesnake. And I remember one of the guys telling me,

[00:11:38] he's like, don't worry about it. It kind of tastes like chicken, which technically kind of does, but

[00:11:44] like a really weird demented chicken. So that was Mexico. But the most memorable thing I've ever had was

[00:11:51] fruit bat. This is when I lived on Espirito Santo. It means Holy Spirit in Spanish. And what they would

[00:11:58] do is they'd catch these fruit bats. It was a huge protein source for the local people there. But the

[00:12:05] way they cook them is they take a live fruit bat and they put it in a pot of boiling water. And they just

[00:12:10] let it boil for an hour or so. And then they take the pot, put it on the table. That's your dinner. And

[00:12:15] they loved it. And I'll never forget the first time I had it. They just took out this fruit bat.

[00:12:20] They put it on the plate in front of me. I'm like, what do I do? And I'm watching them. They're

[00:12:24] just like pulling off the fur. It was absolutely dreadful. So I've had some pretty bad things,

[00:12:31] but not pig slop. Like this is way, way worse. What's in pig slop? We're talking old corn on the

[00:12:38] cob rinds, moldy spam, right? Your roommate's moldy Chipotle burrito that's been in the fridge six

[00:12:49] months past its time. Like this, this is pig slop. Why, why is Jesus describing the prodigal's journey

[00:12:56] this way? Here's why he's painting a picture of what sin will do. Sin will reduce a man to eating with

[00:13:08] the pigs. Sin destroys. It ruins lives. Sin, I think is a kind of vandalism of the soul. Sin is the great lie

[00:13:23] about who you really are. I think this is what makes sin so pernicious is that we are in Christ a new

[00:13:32] creation. We're forgiven. We're clean. We're adopted as sons and daughters. We're called to live in freedom,

[00:13:39] but sin speaks a different identity over us. Sin is giving up what your soul wants most. What does your

[00:13:49] soul want most more than anything else is intimacy with God, the abundant life of Christ. Sin is giving

[00:13:58] up what you want most for what you want now. The fleeting pleasures of the moment. The prodigal

[00:14:07] gathered everything together. He went off to a distant land and the next thing he knows he's eating

[00:14:15] with the pigs. And when he came, I love verse 17, when he came to his senses, he said,

[00:14:23] how many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And here I am starving to death.

[00:14:31] I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and

[00:14:37] against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

[00:14:46] He came to his senses. What does this mean? Well, this is where we get into an interesting

[00:14:54] conversation, even a debate, because some people would argue, well, he came to his senses means that

[00:15:01] he genuinely repented, that this was the moment the light comes on. His heart was changed, that he was

[00:15:08] 100% sincere in his need to come back to the farm, to be with his father, that he was aware in that

[00:15:18] moment of all the horrific things that sin had done to his soul. And I think there's certainly some

[00:15:25] truth there. But one of the things that Kenneth Bailey points out is he argues, sure, there is some

[00:15:31] genuine repentance here. But it's not just that. There's some pragmatics. The prodigal son is also

[00:15:40] thinking, hey, I don't like pig slop, right? He's thinking, I've wasted all the money. I don't have

[00:15:46] any more money. I'm kind of desperate. And in a sense, logically, he's like, I should come back home.

[00:15:52] So it's kind of a mixture, because I think when anyone ever returns to Christ or has this moment,

[00:15:57] we're convoluted inside, right? There's some genuine repentance. Sometimes it's just like,

[00:16:03] get me out of here. If that's true, if what Kenneth Bailey argues is factual, then what does that mean?

[00:16:11] It means that what Jesus is saying is that God's grace is not dependent on how much we've got it all

[00:16:19] together. That God's grace isn't even dependent on how profound our repentance is.

[00:16:27] You see, grace is God accepting the worst version of who you are. In Romans 5, verse 8, Paul says,

[00:16:39] but God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, we were the prodigal.

[00:16:45] We had the pig slop running down our face. When we were sinners, he died for us. You see, Jesus loved you,

[00:16:53] not when you had it all together, not when your heart was 100% sincere. He loved you even when you

[00:17:00] were a thousand miles from home. He loved you even when you didn't know how to love him in return.

[00:17:10] He loved you when you ran from him. But what most of us have discovered, it's the reason we're here today.

[00:17:16] We can run from God, but God runs faster. Your goodness and your mercy chases after me. It runs

[00:17:26] after me, Psalm 23, all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That is

[00:17:37] the story of the prodigal. He decides in this moment, I need to be back home. So verse 20, he got up,

[00:17:46] and he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled

[00:17:52] with compassion for him. And he ran to his son. He threw his arms around him and he kissed him.

[00:17:59] And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy

[00:18:07] to be called your son. Next slide. But the father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe

[00:18:16] and put it on him. Put a ring on his fingers, sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it.

[00:18:23] Let's have a feast and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost

[00:18:30] and is found. And so they began to celebrate while he was a long way off. The father saw him.

[00:18:42] And I love the imagery here because what it tells me is that even though the prodigal had turned his

[00:18:48] back on the father, the father never turned his back on the son. Every day, the father, he's standing

[00:18:57] there. He's waiting. He's watching. He's listening. He's praying. He's hoping. He's yearning. Will this

[00:19:02] be the day that my son returns? Will this be the moment that the prodigal comes back home? And the

[00:19:10] moment he saw his son, what does the father do? He ran to him. It says he had compassion, runs to him,

[00:19:19] throw his arms around him because in that culture at that time, did you know that it was considered

[00:19:25] undignified for a father, for men in general to run? That this was considered actually inappropriate,

[00:19:33] but the father, he could care less about cultural norms at this point. He's so overcome with joy

[00:19:40] that he runs to his son. He falls on his neck. He kisses him and notice he kissed his son. He welcomed

[00:19:50] his son even before the son was able to express his repentance. Even before the son said, hey, I've messed

[00:20:02] up. I've blown it. Before he said a single word and launched it into his speech, the father welcomed

[00:20:09] him home and lavished on him four gifts. Number one, he gave him the best robe, which in that culture,

[00:20:17] the robe that you wore was a symbol of wealth. It was kind of a status thing and it belonged to the

[00:20:23] father. So he gave him his own robe. He gave him a ring, which was a symbol in that culture of authority.

[00:20:32] He put sandals on his feet. Again, think of that Rembrandt painting, the sandals that were falling

[00:20:38] off his feet. He put sandals on his feet because in that culture, only servants would go barefoot.

[00:20:46] And then he killed the fatted calf, which they would do in times of celebration, feasts and weddings,

[00:20:54] things like that. The father heaps upon the prodigal, the highest honors that anyone could ever

[00:21:00] receive. And this is where this story for me is just so mind blowing, so beautiful because what we

[00:21:07] have here, again, think of the word prodigal. It means wasteful. It's not only the story of a

[00:21:13] prodigal son. It's also the story of a prodigal father. It's a story of a father who spent everything

[00:21:23] he had to welcome his sons and daughters. A father who stopped at nothing, where no price was too high,

[00:21:35] who went above and beyond to let his son know that he is loved. And brothers and sisters, that is what

[00:21:44] God has done for us. That is what Christmas is about. It's about a God who left the glory of heaven to run

[00:21:52] to you. A God who steps into our mess, the pig slop, just to bring us back home. It's the story of lavish,

[00:22:03] extravagant, over-the-top grace. Did you know you go through those four things that the father gave the

[00:22:10] prodigal son? That is what God has done for you. He has robed you. Isaiah 61 says that we are robed in

[00:22:19] his righteousness. He has put a ring on your finger because we are called the bride of Christ. He has washed

[00:22:28] our feet that were dirty from a life of sin. He's invited us to the table, which we're going to do here in just a few

[00:22:35] minutes. He's given us the opportunity to experience intimacy with him. And he has adopted us as his sons and

[00:22:44] daughters. Christmas is God's way of saying, you are worth everything to me. Ephesians chapter 2 says, as for you,

[00:22:55] and this is our story of being prodigal sons and daughters. As for you, you were dead in your sins,

[00:23:02] but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we

[00:23:11] were dead. It is by what? Grace that you are saved. That's our story. That's why we're here.

[00:23:22] That's why we worship. That's why our heart has been changed and transformed by the gospel because

[00:23:28] he loved us even when we couldn't love him in return. And I think most of us would expect the

[00:23:36] story to end right there. It'd be a great place to end it. Jesus is like, the prodigal came home and

[00:23:42] they all lived happily ever after. But like so much of the Bible, the story takes a surprising twist.

[00:23:49] Let's keep reading. Verse 25. It says, meanwhile, so this is where it gets fascinating. The older son

[00:23:56] was in the field and when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing and he called one of the

[00:24:02] servants and he asked him, what's going on? And the servant said, well, your brother has come and your

[00:24:09] father has killed the fatted calf because he has brought him back safe and sound. And the older brother

[00:24:15] became angry and he refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. Next slide.

[00:24:21] But he answered his father, look, all these years I've been slaving for you. I've never disobeyed your

[00:24:30] orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of

[00:24:37] yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him.

[00:24:44] My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to

[00:24:54] celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.

[00:25:03] Now, the son returns. Meanwhile, the older brother, he's out in the field. He's just being a good son,

[00:25:12] like he had always done all these years. He's working in the fields. He's putting in his hours.

[00:25:19] And then meanwhile, suddenly, totally unbeknownst to him, there's a party. And he starts to hear,

[00:25:25] what's going on? He sees people coming from all around. There's laughter. There's dancing. Music

[00:25:34] is blaring. He's like, what the? My dad never listens to Post Malone. I don't get it, right?

[00:25:41] He's trying to figure this out. And so he makes his way back to the house and the father comes out to

[00:25:47] greet him. He's like, your brother's home. He was lost and is found. And the older brother, you would

[00:25:53] think he'd be like, man, this is amazing. It's incredible. You think he'd be stoked. But instead,

[00:25:58] what's his response? He's bitter. He's upset. It's like, you never did this for me. I have worked

[00:26:06] for you all of these years. And we never once had a party. We never once celebrated. This isn't fair.

[00:26:15] This isn't right. Your son, he blew your wealth. He made the worst possible mistakes. And this is how

[00:26:22] you welcome him. And here's the irony. The older son, yeah, sure. He has this sense of justice. He wants

[00:26:33] to see his brother suffer for what he did. But the irony is this older brother, he's technically,

[00:26:42] he's part of the family. He's on the farm, but he is completely disconnected from the father.

[00:26:51] He didn't understand his father's heart. He misinterpreted his father's actions. What does

[00:26:57] this tell us? It tells us that for months, probably even years, he had been completely on

[00:27:03] touch with the father. He was so busy just doing his thing and taking care of the farm and working

[00:27:09] the field that he didn't bother to hear his father's heart or even to perceive how his father

[00:27:15] was suffering because his son was gone. The older son didn't bother to cultivate a relationship

[00:27:21] with his dad. And isn't it true that this can happen in any relationship, right? You begin to

[00:27:27] take each other for granted. So show of hands, if you're married in the house this morning,

[00:27:32] raise your hand. Okay. If you're married. Okay. Most of us. If you're single, raise your hand.

[00:27:37] Okay. Keep your hand raised and take a good look around. This is your moment right now.

[00:27:42] It's going to be the ultimate Christmas gift, right? But you know this, like for anyone who's been

[00:27:49] married more than three months, it is easy to take the relationship for granted. You stop doing the

[00:27:56] little things that initially made the relationship flourish. The long romantic texts turn into a one

[00:28:03] word reply or date night looks like a Costco run, right? We slip into autopilot and we forget

[00:28:11] to be intentional. And I actually think that's what happened to the older son. Like for years,

[00:28:18] sure, he's physically close, but emotionally distant. It is possible to be on the farm,

[00:28:30] but have no relationship with the father. And what Jesus is showing us is that really this is a story.

[00:28:37] We often frame it as the prodigal son, but really it's the story of the prodigal sons.

[00:28:44] Two different stories, two different struggles. Both of the sons are using the father to get what they

[00:28:54] want. Both in their own way were alienated from the father. One was alienated because of his badness.

[00:29:03] The other was alienated by his goodness, but both of them needed to come back home. And that's where

[00:29:14] this story would have begun to sting, especially for the crowd that Jesus was sharing this with.

[00:29:19] Because if you go back to verse one and two in this chapter, contextually, who's Jesus talking to?

[00:29:25] He's talking to the Pharisees. The whole reason he told them this story is because they were mad at Jesus

[00:29:33] because he welcomed sinners and he ate with them. They're like, you can't do that. And so Jesus says,

[00:29:40] yeah, yeah, I can. In fact, let me tell you who God is. And he shares this story of the prodigal son

[00:29:48] because God runs to the people that religious people run from. God's heart bends towards the

[00:29:57] hurting and the broken. And it's only the elder brothers that have a hard time with that.

[00:30:04] For the Pharisees, it wasn't their pig slop that was keeping them from God. It was their pride.

[00:30:12] And in many ways, that's a lot worse. Henry Nouwen put it this way. He said, the hardest conversion to go through

[00:30:21] is the conversion of the one who stayed home. That's the hardest conversion. So let me leave you with this

[00:30:30] question. Then we're going to come to the table. As you look at this story and you think about that image of

[00:30:37] what Rembrandt painted and what Jesus is telling us in two different sons, which son are you?

[00:30:45] Every one of us in this room, we can relate to one of them. Maybe your story is more,

[00:30:50] I was the second son. Maybe your story is, hey, as long as I can remember, I've always been on the farm.

[00:30:57] You think back to your own conversions, like I've kind of always been a Christian. I was born in a

[00:31:02] Christian home. I was singing Hillsong in my mother's womb. Like I grew up going to church. I went to

[00:31:08] youth group and I've always been a Christian. I've always been on the farm. And if that's your story,

[00:31:13] it's beautiful. But the challenge for you will be, you can get so used to being on the farm that you

[00:31:21] lose that intimacy with the father. We get so used to the routine of faith that we forget the miracle

[00:31:28] of grace. And in the midst of our religious busyness, we miss the most beautiful truth of

[00:31:35] all that the father's love isn't something we earn. It's something we rest in. Is your story that of

[00:31:43] the second son? Or would you say, no, my story is definitely the first one. Maybe you have a past like

[00:31:51] this prodigal had a past. You rebelled. You went to the far land. You know what pig slop tastes like.

[00:32:00] You know what emptiness feels like. But you also know what it's like to feel the embrace of the father,

[00:32:09] to be welcomed into his family. Your story is amazing grace. You were lost, but now you're found.

[00:32:18] You were blind, but now you see. And I know there are so many in this church. That is your story. In

[00:32:26] fact, last week we witnessed that. You know, last week we saw 10 different baptisms and we went,

[00:32:32] that's worth more than a golf clap, right? We saw 10 baptisms last week. And what's so incredible

[00:32:39] about this is hearing the stories. As life after life was transformed and changed, a guy came up to me

[00:32:47] after one of the gatherings, literally tears running down his face. He's like, Dom, someone that I've been

[00:32:52] praying for for years. He's known him forever in this community. And he was so shocked that he even

[00:32:58] came to church that day. Even more shocked when he saw him come forward to be baptized. He's like,

[00:33:04] I, I'm completely blown away by this because Dom, his story, one of anger and sin and addiction,

[00:33:11] and yet God has now set him free. That's the story of the gospel. That is what God has done.

[00:33:18] And maybe that's your story too. Maybe you're the first son. You're like, yeah, I've been there.

[00:33:23] I know what it's like to hang out with the pigs. Here's the deal though. Whatever your story is,

[00:33:30] whether you're the first son who was a rebel or the second son who was religious,

[00:33:36] our story's the same. For every one of us, it began with brokenness and ends with redemption.

[00:33:44] It began with sin and it ends with a song. It began with pain and it ends with a party. The subwoofers

[00:33:53] are on. The house is packed with friends. There's food trucks outside. It's a celebration. And Jesus

[00:34:02] invites us to experience the joy that he experiences whenever anyone comes back home.

[00:34:12] Because standing there to welcome us is not a God who condemns us, but a God who loves us and forgives

[00:34:20] us. A God who, in spite of your pain and your past and your pride and your scars and your regrets,

[00:34:26] still wants to use you for the healing of the world. Bob Goff put it this way. He said,

[00:34:35] it has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more. It's

[00:34:41] probably because God has more pieces to work with. That's your story. It's my story. And that's the

[00:34:49] story we get to share with the world. Amen. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Pursuing Faith

[00:34:57] podcast. If this ministry has encouraged you in some way, would you consider leaving a review on iTunes

[00:35:04] or your favorite podcasting platform? That would help a ton in getting the word out. Also, if you want

[00:35:11] to partner with us or see what we're up to, check out our website, pursuingfaith.org.