Now for the serious stuff...
Having blogged quite a lot of stupid stuff i felt it was time, having listened intently in our sunday night personnel meetings, to blog a serious blog.
The topic tonight was God's amazing grace, mercy, love, acceptance...all those amazing qualities that He even more amazingly decided to lavish on us, a big bunch of pooping sinners...
Focusing on this topic, the speaker decided to use the painting The Return of the Prodigal Son to highlight the different roles involved in a Father (Mother) - Son relationship with our Heavenly Daddy.
The passage in Luke's gospel is really eye opening and one that, despite having been spoken about on numerous occasions, still seems to be an opportunity for God to really open eyes, particularly mine, to what He wants to tell us, what an awesome God!
How many times do we tell God what we want, when we want it? Just like saying we wish He wasn't here...quite distressing but so true.
People, most of the time, relate well to the younger son, the one who wasted his inheritance on rubbish, something we (read 'I') often do. But something that really hit me tonight was the fact that I am quite often more like the older son. Jealous of people that have gone away and then returned in repentance and benefitted from God's amazing acceptance of the lost, when I, supposedly a 'good' son (daughter!) have 'always followed Christ' (praise God for his guiding hand, God forbid that I should boast...). Firstly, how selfish of me to assume God's grace is my right...and also my ignorance at how I've turned from God completely and only by Jesus have I been able to turn back round.
Then it goes through all the bit about the amazing, lush banquet for the lost and found, but one part I'd missed was the part when the Father invites his older son into the banquet too:-
"25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he was angry and would not go in."
Wow...how amazingly selfish...and something, no matter how much i convince myself otherwise, I often find myself doing.
May God change me through this, hoping you have benefitted from some of it too. All glory possible to God because of his gift of life through Jesus, man where would we be without it...in a pit of squalor somewhere far away...quite a sobering thought...
The topic tonight was God's amazing grace, mercy, love, acceptance...all those amazing qualities that He even more amazingly decided to lavish on us, a big bunch of pooping sinners...
Focusing on this topic, the speaker decided to use the painting The Return of the Prodigal Son to highlight the different roles involved in a Father (Mother) - Son relationship with our Heavenly Daddy.
The passage in Luke's gospel is really eye opening and one that, despite having been spoken about on numerous occasions, still seems to be an opportunity for God to really open eyes, particularly mine, to what He wants to tell us, what an awesome God!
How many times do we tell God what we want, when we want it? Just like saying we wish He wasn't here...quite distressing but so true.
People, most of the time, relate well to the younger son, the one who wasted his inheritance on rubbish, something we (read 'I') often do. But something that really hit me tonight was the fact that I am quite often more like the older son. Jealous of people that have gone away and then returned in repentance and benefitted from God's amazing acceptance of the lost, when I, supposedly a 'good' son (daughter!) have 'always followed Christ' (praise God for his guiding hand, God forbid that I should boast...). Firstly, how selfish of me to assume God's grace is my right...and also my ignorance at how I've turned from God completely and only by Jesus have I been able to turn back round.
Then it goes through all the bit about the amazing, lush banquet for the lost and found, but one part I'd missed was the part when the Father invites his older son into the banquet too:-
"25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he was angry and would not go in."
Wow...how amazingly selfish...and something, no matter how much i convince myself otherwise, I often find myself doing.
May God change me through this, hoping you have benefitted from some of it too. All glory possible to God because of his gift of life through Jesus, man where would we be without it...in a pit of squalor somewhere far away...quite a sobering thought...
posted by Kat @ 8/27/2006 08:45:00 pm
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