We kicked off the first week of our new series Come Home at Freedom Church this morning. During the welcome, I told people that we are aware that the idea of coming home can mean a lot of different things. For some, coming home is a welcome and inviting feeling. For others, coming home means settling in for the most stressful time of the day. Whatever your individual situation is, I pray that over the next few weeks, you will set those thoughts aside as we dive in to what God’s word has to say about what it means to truly Come Home.
Pastor JR used the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-16 to kick off the series.
11Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.13“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Here are some of my notes from the message this morning:
- Sin is fun for a season.
- Pleasure turns to pain. Freedom found in sin turns to slavery.
- Will the destination you are heading towards lead to destruction?
- No one is outside the reach of Jesus Christ.
- The message of hope we have cannot exist apart from our Redeemer.
- Forsake religion. Embrace Jesus.