2 Sons, 1 Love From Above

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Well, amen.

And in agreement with what everyone said, Happy Father's Day to our dads.

My dad may watch today, and I want to say happy Father's Day.

Darren says hi.

And uh we are so thankful for the dads and the examples.

I shared that with our serve team this morning.

I, as a man, am so thankful for the men of CCW who are an example to me in many, many ways.

There's hardworking men and men who support their families and men who love Jesus that motivates me to be a better man.

And I'm so thankful for our dads.

Can we give the dads a round of applause?

Amen.

Well, it has been a busy week.

Y'all hear that a lot, and you've heard me say it, but it's been a busy week.

Uh this week for our church denomination was a Southern Baptist convention, and Pastor Eli went down and represented us in Dallas.

So that was going on in the beginning of the week.

I myself and Heather weren't able to go because Cali had Sanford Orientation Monday and Tuesday.

Can you believe that?

It's June.

And they're orienting into college.

So that was going on.

Uh, with Eli gone.

I had the chance sweet time Wednesday to be here with our youth ministry and sharing with them.

And then Thursday, I'm walking through the whole week.

Thursday, my son Wyatt had football camp at Sanford.

And I just, you know, I'm a dad today, so I want to brag.

He had about a hundred opportunities for receptions, and he's a running back.

There's just stuff they were running through.

He he missed two balls.

It was awesome.

So, man, I'm just proud of my boy.

I'm just saying.

I'm just saying.

It was awesome.

Got a lot of video.

And uh then Friday, Heather and I pray for this family, the Principes, uh, a family that Heather knew.

Heather had a period of her life where she was in Michigan, uh, spent some time living there, and grew up with this family in a church.

And then when we went to Tennessee Temple, that family came on staff.

Um, and so anyway, Jim Principe went on to be with the Lord, and that family celebrating.

But pray for Miss Patty and their family, good friends.

So we went over to Mississippi on Friday, and yesterday we just did nothing.

So praise the Lord for some nothing.

Amen.

Some of you dads cannot wait for this afternoon for your nothing, and I hope it's as wonderful as it sounds.

But here there was a daddy-daughter dance.

How many of you participated in that?

Man, I saw some video of some people getting down.

That was awesome.

And I'll say literally getting down.

You just asked about it.

Some of them got all the way to the floor.

And then I want to say a word of congratulations to the Vale family.

Maddie and Christian, congrats on the engagement.

But I verified it with mom.

She said I could say that.

So, anyway, that's exciting.

That's exciting.

Well, anyway, I hope that today is a good day for you.

Before I say a little something that's kind of a little joke towards our kids, I do want to share that my kids woke me up this morning.

It was sweet.

Um, and uh uh Callie got me a Sanford mug.

So anytime I drink my coffee now, I'll be thinking and I'll be praying.

So that was sweet.

She wrote me a letter, she knew it would make me cry.

Wyatt loves different colognes, and that's something that he's picked up, and he bought me a cologne that I'm sure I don't know much about, but it smells good, and it was a designer cologne.

And then there's a gift I had to show you.

Alright.

So then there's Weston.

Alright.

Weston this morning got me this.

You ready for this?

Anybody get a guess?

It is not a magic wand, like you might think.

Look at all these attachments.

Look at that.

We got the bear claw back scratcher.

We got the full-on rake.

We got one, I couldn't even bring it.

The attachment's so big, it can scratch your whole head.

I mean, there is no scratch going unscratched.

You know what I'm talking about?

I thought, what a gift.

So I know your dads are jealous right now.

I was dying laughing, but that's cool, man.

Anyway, I'm thankful for my children, dads, aren't you?

I mean, what is life without your children?

So thank God for them.

But turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

We're gonna be looking at the prodigals.

Prodigals, father.

Luke 15.

And as you're turning there, we're gonna be looking at verses 11 through 31.

As a child, your father's kids are doing hard work.

Um just to keep you living is hard work, right?

Day after day.

Moms and dads are doing a lot, and if you think, I'm talking to our teens right now, if you think your parents are crazy, you are right.

And you are at fault.

For three years, all they did was make sure that you stayed alive.

For 18 years they've been doing it, but for three years, you would have died if you had the opportunity.

You would have fallen off stairs, you would have climbed to the top of your crib and said, Geronimo, you would have got on the side of the table, fell down on your head, okay?

You would have gotten a dryer and dried yourself.

I have photos to prove these things have happened.

Okay, and so your parents, day after day after day, you know, dirty diaper after dirty diaper, amen.

I mean, you just they started losing brain cells.

But it's your fault.

Okay?

I'm just saying, and then you know, I might come home from a day of work, 10, 12 hours, whatever, and get home.

And you know what I hear when I walk in?

Stop that! He's touching me.

And so I go in.

I'm gonna solve a problem immediately.

I walk in, I say, Don't touch him.

And they point to the other one and say, He touched me first, and then as a dad, I make a brilliant solution.

I said, Nobody under any circumstances is allowed to touch anything.

Problem solved.

No touching.

And then, you know, later on, something goes on, and I say, Why did you do that to your brother?

I don't know.

Why did you not do your homework?

I don't know.

Why did you not take this thing to school for the sixth week in a row?

You forgot something.

I don't know.

And you wonder what's wrong.

Yes.

I'm a shell of the person I once was.

At 18, I was an athlete.

I was semi-good looking.

Okay?

And now I'm a shell of that person.

I have wrinkles.

Y'all look, there's four of them.

I think.

One, two, three.

Okay.

I have gray hair.

That did not happen on my own.

It happened because of them.

I walk with a limp.

And I wouldn't trade one second of any of it.

And I'm so thankful.

My battle scars to prove I'm dead.

Lord, we love you.

We thank you for the opportunity we have today.

We pray your blessing over our dads, our fathers.

I pray for everyone here, Lord.

This word is a word to be received by each and every person.

Lord, we need it.

Speak to our hearts and get everything else, every distraction out of the way, so that we can hear from our Father.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Luke chapter 15, verse 11 through 13.

Luke 15:11–13

The first point this morning is this is a father who releases.

11 through 13.

It says, Then he said, A certain man had two sons.

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.

So he divided them his livelihood.

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.

This is a father who releases, if you see that back and forth, the son came and the father agreed to allow.

Children, the Bible says that parents are to train you up in such a way that one day a man would leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife.

My parents taught me well.

I recognize at a young age, if I worked and I made plans and I saw them through, that they would allow me to continue to operate that way.

If I would act like a man, they would let me be a man.

So I tried.

Proverbs 22 says, If you train up a child in the way he should go, when he's old, he will not depart from it.

When you train up a child in the way he should go, did you hear that word?

Leave and cleave, not in the way he should stay.

And so this, why am I bringing this up?

Because this child brings a strange request.

I want to go.

And the father releases him to go.

But letter A, let's look at this.

There's a son with a motive problem.

He wants to go, but he has an issue.

His issue is entitlement.

Entitlement is the belief that we inherently deserve privilege, special treatments, or that we have the right to something.

That's what entitlement is.

And the prodigal son says, I want my inheritance, and I want it now.

He didn't want to sweat.

He didn't want to work.

He didn't want to put in time.

Okay, usually an inheritance was split up when someone passed, so he's asking for the death certificate of his father is really a scandalous request.

And he says, I want what's come to me when you die.

But he didn't want to work.

He wanted special treatment.

It was scandalous.

He sure wanted to play.

If you look up the definition for sin, and for years I've heard something to this regard, sin for years.

I've heard anything we say, think, or do that goes against God.

Think like the Ten Commandments.

These are acts that we say, think, or do against God.

But I think if you study the Bible just a little bit deeper, that you might come to the conclusion, just a little add-on to anything we think, say, or do that goes against God, that includes the motives and intentions of our heart.

What is the motive for the thing that you do?

What was the intention of the prodigal son in this moment?

Right?

What was he looking to get out of this experience?

His intention was to get his and get on.

The prodigal son had what we'll call a me monster.

I did a sermon series with teenagers called the Mii Monster a long time ago.

He had a me monster.

His me monster was a lot like Dr.

Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde.

Have you read that story?

Dr.

Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde, he said, I am both Jekyll and Hyde in me.

And both of them have a war that's going on.

We feed, we fight against each other, and both want to be me, and both are keeping me from being happy.

So he comes up with a potion.

Edward Hyde, unmixed, is complete selfishness.

Drinks this potion in and becomes the me monster.

When Hyde gets out, he is ten times more wicked than when he was Dr.

Jekyll.

Well, I don't know if you know this, but Dr.

Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde was inspired by a man named Deacon Brody.

And Deacon Brody was a successful man.

He was a town counselor, but his craftsmanship, his woodworking allowed him to have keys to several different people's homes, wealthy people's homes in the area.

And so he would go to work, but he would keep those keys.

And in the meanwhile, at nighttime, when he went to work, it would allow him the opportunity to rob people in his town.

A respected man.

But you know what?

His position wasn't enough.

His respect wasn't enough.

What he had wasn't enough, and so he would go out, Brody, and he would take from people.

It was never enough.

The prodigal son didn't have enough.

Enough wasn't enough.

It never is enough.

And so his request was this I need more.

And I need more now, and I don't care if it hurts you, Dad.

I want you to look at a passage that will give some context.

James chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

Verse 1 through 3.

James 4, 1 through 3 says, Where do wars and fights come from among you?

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Your senses, you lust and do not have, you murder and covet and cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask.

You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

It says that the root problem for us is that we have strife and tension and wars, all because of in us, inside Jekyll, inside Hyde, inside Rick, there is a word called lust.

And that word for lust in this passage is the word hedon, where we get the word hedonism.

And the word hedonism means it's the identity of the pleasure principle.

Anything that I will do for my five senses to be pleased.

It's the world of hedonism.

He says you have strife and wars within your members because all you really want is to please you.

You're living to please you.

And that is the prodigal son.

I want my inheritance.

I want money so I can go.

And that's the philosophy of culture, by and large, church.

If I just have enough money, I can go get mine, I can do what I want to do, and I will be happy.

And I want to tell you, it's just not true.

Well, let's look at letter B.

What does the father do in this situation?

Letter B is a father with maturation perception.

Look at verse 12, the second part of it.

It says, Father, give me the portion of the goods that falls me, so he divided to them.

That's interesting.

I want you to hold that, highlight that.

He divided to them.

His livelihood.

You see, these are parables, first of all, and you need to understand and understand.

Jesus was speaking a parable.

Parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, right?

He was trying to get them to understand this.

So this may have been based on a real life scenario, but it may not.

So Jesus is sharing these parables, and before that, he shares about the lost sheep and the lost coin.

They represent something that you need to know.

The lost sheep represents one who accidentally wanders off.

Bible says he'll go after the one and leave the 99.

Okay?

I need you to know it doesn't mean he didn't care about the 99.

He just went after the one.

The lost sheep represents one who accidentally wanders off.

The lost coin represents something that's been misplaced.

But the prodigal son represents a lost one who willingly left.

He took off willingly.

It was his plan.

It was premeditated.

It was his thought.

So it says he divided to them his livelihood.

That's important.

We say, why would a father do this?

Right?

Why would a good parent allow this, even in this story, why would they allow this to happen?

The Bible says a good man leaves an inheritance.

Why did the prodigal father allow it?

I think because he respects his choice to leave.

You want to be a man?

I'm going to let you act like a man.

You want to take on a man responsibility?

So be it, here is the money that one day is going to be yours inheritance.

You think money is going to bring you to what you want.

Here it is.

And he respects, I believe, his decision to leave.

It is obvious that we'll read further by the riotous living that ensues that the prodigal son was nowhere near ready to adjust to real-world living.

But the picture that we need to see is a loving father who graciously gives.

God does not make you robotically do.

God wants you to make choices.

And the prodigal father allows the prodigal son downfall because he believed it would teach an important lesson.

Dave and Amanda Roper were teaching a class the other week, and they were sharing.

This is a parenting, they were sharing that at a certain point you command your children throughout their young ages, and then at a certain point, you begin to come become a coach.

And a coach puts a player in the game, and here's the thing we tell them what to do, we ready them for what to do, but when they get in the game, it's their feet taking the run with the ball.

Like they have to decide what to do in that moment.

And so as a coach back here, you watch and you hope that everything goes as planned, but you allow them decision making.

Anybody like this?

Anybody familiar with Amazon?

We got a logo, I think you'll be familiar.

Yeah.

For some of you, it already, it's triggered some things already.

You're like, oh man, I forgot to go to the cart.

Did you know on Amazon now, if you got the prime to TV thing, they put on a commercial, and a commercial will have, I don't know, something, you know, tied or bleached, something, and they'll say, Do you want to put this in your cart?

Like from the commercial, you can click in ahead and send it to your cart.

Well, this is what I know as a coach.

If my children get some money, Amazon dreams begin commencing.

Oh, the wonder of all the things.

It's right at our fingertips, and it can be here tomorrow.

As a coach, I have a hard time.

They have money, they make birthday money, they work and get some money, and I'm a coach, and I'm really supposed to at some point allow them to make a choice, but I have a hard time sometimes with their choices.

Anybody else?

I'm like, mmm, that's not good.

And that's that's hard for them.

And here's the thing, I want to explain my part because they're not up here explaining their part.

I want to explain my part.

I don't want them to settle.

I want my kids to earn money and save money, and I want them to see what it feels like to buy something that matters.

Anybody else?

Yeah, like that that's where I am with them.

Like, if you just save up, you you won't need that thing.

That thing is okay, fine.

You're gonna love it for three days, but you could have this thing that you'll love for three weeks.

Okay?

And so, but as a coach, the principle of that is I have to allow them and be okay with letting them learn.

That's hard.

I'm God's working on me.

I'm not saying I got that.

But, dads, it's important that we allow them to learn.

John Maxwell wrote a book, and the title was this Sometimes You Win and Sometimes You Learn.

You gotta learn.

And I know that you say, but I'm the protector.

I gotta protect every decision they make.

And I would say, overall, that is true up to an age.

I don't know what that cutoff is, but at a young age, as Pastor David Mann were speaking, there's a commander.

There's we help them, we guide them, but at some point you have to allow them to make some decisions.

I believe that's what's happening in this story.

And I want to say this, fathers, you do no good to protect your child till they're 18 and say, here you go, here's the real world.

Go, I hope you make it.

I have done everything for you up to this point.

You do them no service if they can't go out in the real world and go through some real things.

But I tell you what a good father does.

No matter what the decision is, on the sidelines, the coach is there.

When they get back from the play, good or bad decisions that they made, you're there.

You'd be there in the win, you'd be there in the loss, you're there.

And dads, I believe you can say that for the rest of your life.

You might be an 80-year-old father in here with a 60-year-old son, you'd be there.

And 60-year-old father with a 40-year, you'd be there.

You'd be there in the wins, you'd be there in the losses.

I heard this statement one time in the teen world, working with teens.

And teenage teen, look, y'all, I love you, I love y'all.

Sometimes it's brutal.

This be true.

Sometimes it's brutal.

They would say, this was the quote: Teenagers will rarely notice when you're there or acknowledge that you're there.

But they'll always notice when you weren't.

Parents hear that.

They'll always notice if you weren't.

There's something about your presence.

They might not spend time with you, high-five, you acknowledge you.

But if you're not there, it feels different to them.

Dads, I want you to know by being there, you're teaching your children about priorities.

Whether you get acknowledgement or not, you're teaching them about what you love.

Are you teaching your child that you love their mother?

And they see that.

They see that above anything.

They see how you treat their mom, your wife.

Are you teaching them how to work?

What it's like to work?

Are you teaching them about God?

When you're there, they know.

They know what's important to you.

Wyatt was sort of mocking me the other day.

He said, I swear, this man can't have one conversation without saying a Bible verse.

He didn't know his mockery was a compliment.

Deuteronomy 6 told me, this is when you talk about this book.

When you sit down in the house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you put it on your doors, you put it on your gates, you put it between their eyes.

You see, the prodigal father allowed his son to take off because he cared more about the lesson than his bank account.

The lesson that it would teach his son, do you love enough, dads, to teach?

I'm preaching to me.

Do you love enough to teach?

In the New Testament, Peter denied Jesus three times.

And when he gathered all the disciples together, he told them, one of you before the cock crows three times is going to deny me thrice.

And Peter over here said, Oh, never! Not me, Lord.

The one guy that speaks up, right?

I would never.

Cock crowed three times, and Peter was left feeling in shambles about life and ministry.

Jesus died on the cross, rose from the grave, and there by the shore was Peter cooking by some coals, just distraught, about to throw it all in.

He was done with ministry, done with all of it.

I have denied Jesus.

Jesus came.

He didn't want to look at him, didn't want to talk, just hanging his head.

And Jesus said, three times.

Isn't that impressive?

Three times Jesus said, Do you love me, Peter?

He said, Feed my sheep.

Do you love me, Peter?

Feed my sheep.

Do you love me, Peter?

And what Jesus allowed in him, denying him, was a lesson.

He allowed him.

He could have stopped it, halted it.

He could have said, This is how you get away from that path, Peter.

But he allowed him to deny him three times.

Why?

To teach him an important lesson.

Church, maturity comes with a fair share of mistakes.

Can I get an amen?

We're not here without mistakes.

Father's the coaching part of it.

Hear me.

Good, bad, and different.

The father was there.

Jesus, deny me, don't deny whatever you gotta do.

Jesus was there.

Jesus didn't condemn him because he messed up out on the field.

He loved him and coached him through it.

He coached him through.

Point number two this morning is a father who resolves.

Look at Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

We're going to jump to the second brother, and then we'll backtrack just a bit.

Verse 25 through 30.

This brother doesn't get a lot of play in this story.

Most of the time you hear all about the prodigal son, and I called this the prodigal's father, because I believe this is the son who left while he was still at home.

Now his older son, verse 25, was in the field.

And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked, What do these things mean?

And he said to him, Your brother has come.

And because he has received him safe and sound, your fathers killed the fatted calf.

But he, the older brother, was angry and would not go in.

Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.

So he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years I've been serving you.

I've never sinned your commandment at any time, and yet you gave, you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.

But as soon as this son of yours came who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.

Don't stir the pot to anger.

You know, I think all the dads here could reckon with this statement.

We want to be the hero.

We want to be the knight in shining armor.

We want to be all that protects you and makes you feel good.

But a biblical reasoning for this verse, the opposite of stirring anger, is bringing peace.

Dads, when you walk through the door, do you bring peace to your home?

Are we the cause of strife?

Hero work, night and shining armor work, is peace work.

We bring peace.

It feels different when dad gets home.

Different to the kids, different to the wife.

That's peace work.

It says, don't stir up wrath.

You know what that means a lot of times for me?

Keep my mouth shut.

I got the loudest voice in my house.

And I keep it shut a lot.

Sometimes I keep it shut too long.

Sometimes you need to say something.

Okay?

But for me, I have to, I'm measuring what I'm about to say often.

And sometimes I'll just mess up.

Sometimes I just can't.

It's just there, and you've seen something over and over, and you go, and then you go, why did I say it?

Anybody feel like that, or is it just me?

Two of us honest in church, that's good.

It says, Don't stir him to wrath.

This is a father who resolves.

Letter A.

A son with a mentality problem.

His brother had been gone and lost, and nobody had seen him, nobody had heard from him for all they knew.

Their brother, he's dead.

They don't know any of it.

And when he got home, the older brother was angry.

He was angry.

He was prideful.

He was right, but he was wrong.

Y'all listen to me.

Sometimes you can be right in thought and be so wrong in the way it comes across.

You can be right, but be wrong.

This older brother stayed at home.

He worked the farm.

He did everything he was supposed to do.

The older brother is a picture of self-righteousness.

Church, there's likely many older brothers here today.

Could be.

Older brother reminds me of the story of Bible Belt believers.

I do the right thing.

I've always done the right thing.

I've checked the right boxes.

I believe in God, guns, football.

But if you have never had a heart, that intention of the heart change, both of these sons to me are prodigals.

Both.

Listen, he might be at home, but his heart is a hundred thousand miles away from the right place.

His intention.

I'm following the rules.

He goes and doesn't follow the rules.

Why are we having a party, Dad?

The older brother reminds me of Jonah.

God called Jonah.

God wanted to use Jonah.

God empowered Jonah.

The gospel message through Jonah brought a massive revival.

But Jonah pouted.

God said, Jonah, go to Nineveh.

Jonah said, Sure, God, I'm headed to Tarshus.

God said, Great big fish.

He said, God, I'm headed to Nineveh.

God said, I will use you.

But a person with a wrong mentality says, Well, how exactly will you use me, God?

God says, I will use you.

Will it be the way that I want to be used, God?

A lost son was come home.

They didn't know.

His sibling.

And the older brother says, Where's my feast?

What about my goat?

What about my calf?

Me and my friends have never partied.

I've been right here.

But you let him have all of this.

It's not the first time you see that in scripture.

Remember Joseph and his brothers?

Oh, he got the lifesaver, fruit-flavored coat.

I mean, it was scratch and sniff, it was beautiful.

And what about us?

Where's our coat?

I feel like what a joke today of somebody.

The technicolor dream coat.

Remember Jacob?

What about my birthright?

David's brothers?

Not him.

Not the run.

Surely not.

It's a mentality problem.

And often the older brother, the mentality problem comes with this church.

Everybody deals with this a comparison problem.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

A comparison problem.

A jealousy or envy problem, which ultimately, hear me out, is an identity problem.

You're not comfortable being you.

You're not at peace with who you are.

And ultimately, if you're not at peace with who you are and who God made you to be, then you're not at peace with God.

And if you're not at peace with God because you're not at peace with who you are and you're comparing to others, then you're not happy.

And when you're not happy, it's real hard for you to look at others and celebrate the good that's happening in their lives.

And that's the older brother.

He was home, but he was lost.

Letter be.

What does a father do?

A father with mediation priority.

Look at verse 31 and 32.

It says, He said to him, Son, you are always with me.

And all that I have is yours.

It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and now is found.

This father is compassionate.

Don't miss this.

He was compassionate.

We're going to see in a moment.

He was compassionate for the one who was lost.

He's compassionate for the one who is stayed.

The Bible says in Psalms 103.13, as a father pities his children, so the Lord shows compassion on those who fear him.

He loves his lost son, and he loves his left out son.

One issue for us when we think about the story seems greater than the other, but for a father, both are his children.

And we see the mediation of a loving father.

Look at what we said.

He said, Son, you're always with me.

You always have the good of our house.

Do you not have dinner?

Do you not have breakfast?

Do you not have work?

Do you not have all that you need right here in my house?

My son has been lost and has taken to this living and has lost everything.

All that I have, the goat, the calf, they're yours.

The party that your brother is having is yours.

All that we have is yours.

The work, the food, the house, it's all yours.

You may not have partied with harlots and ate with pigs, but everything that I have is yours.

And church, can I tell you that's a picture of what the Father says to us?

You may not, like that son, have gone out into the world.

And the world, teenagers, they want to whisper in your ears about all the things you've never done, and all the things that you can do, and all the pleasures you haven't experienced, and all the sex and drugs and vape, all the things.

And God says, everything that you've ever needed, I've always had.

As a father to look at, some of you, when you deal with this message, you go, I've had a bad father.

I've had a rough father experience, Pastor.

So when I think of a father, it's it's tough for me.

I want to tell you the Bible says, where father and mother have I not.

That the Father, God, comes in.

He fills our gaps.

He is a father to the fatherless, and he says, I, child, have everything that you've ever needed.

Everything.

He says, son, you have me.

He had three months with my money, but you have me.

Fathers, do your children have you?

Not a sport.

Do they have you?

Not everything you never had.

Do they have you?

Not the best tech or the nicest car.

Do they have you?

When they have you, do they have you?

Are you present?

Your presence is the greatest present.

Let me show you what I mean.

Here's some absentee father statistics I want y'all to see.

Take a look.

You see these in America.

In homes without a father, four times greater risk of poverty.

Behavior problems, infant mortality, more likely to go to prison, more likely to commit crimes, seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teen, more likely to face abuse and neglect, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and so on and so on.

It's a crisis in America without fathers.

It's like 23% children in homes without a father.

Your presence, Daz.

Your presence is the greatest present.

Listen, I know that you want to provide.

I fight this same fight.

I want to provide, and I want to tell you, provision is more than taking care of the bills.

You have to do that.

I get it.

We gotta make money.

And I know the pressure that comes, and I want to tell you, it is tough.

Ladies, children, it feels tough sometimes.

And when things get weird or bad, your dad feels it, and he feels the weight, and he feels sometimes like he has nowhere to turn but God.

Okay?

It's heavy sometimes.

But I want to tell you, men, that is not provision.

That's a part of provision.

We have to provide for them emotionally.

You have to provide for them spiritually.

They need a friend in dad.

They need a picture of love to your wife in dad.

That's provision.

It's all-encompassing.

It is not a paycheck, it is not a sport.

I love sports.

We're trying to afford a generation that all becomes professional athletes.

That's keeping up with the Joneses today.

It was different when I was growing up.

Right?

Are we affording them faith education?

I want them to go out into the real world and have as much faith practice as they've had ball practice.

I know this is tough.

Provision is more.

Well, point number three is a father who receives.

Look back at verse 14 through 19.

So, what happened to the prodigal son while he was out?

This is what happened when he had spent all, spent it all, didn't leave a dime, didn't hold back, nothing for his 401k, nothing.

Just spent it all.

There arose a severe famine.

Seems like that's the type of thing that would happen just when you're partying.

And he began to be in want.

Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine, and he would have gladly listened to this, he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate.

If you understood the Jewish custom of the time and how disgusting this was to them, this parable was revolting because they never touched any uh pig.

And so he would gladly eat the swine feed, but no one gave him anything.

When he came to himself with nothing, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to s and to spare?

And I'm dying, I'm perishing with hunger.

He said, I know.

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to them, Father, I've sinned against heaven before you, and I'm no longer worthy to even be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants.

So we see how far the path took the prodigal son.

When he got everything that he ever wanted, he found out that it was nothing he ever wanted.

He learned, y'all, don't miss this of the Father.

He learned the lesson.

You know what the lesson told him?

He said, I'm going, I got it, I got it, I got it, I have nothing.

And the lesson took his life.

I bet he never went back.

It turned his feet around, and I bet he said, I'm I'll never go back to the pig pit.

I had it all.

We were partying for three weeks straight.

What a party.

That's how far it got me.

So what did he do?

Letter A, the child's measured path.

Important.

He recognized his sin.

He said, I'm gonna go to my father, I'm gonna tell him I have sinned.

Church, Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Recognition, getting on the right path first is recognition that I have sinned, naming my sin.

What have I done?

Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of that sin is death, but what turned around, but the gift of God is eternal life.

He said, if I just get back to my father, I think I'll be received.

And so he started back home.

Name your sin, turn.

He had to turn.

He couldn't stay over there and just hope that the Father would fix it.

He had to turn from his sin.

Interestingly, he said, I'm not worthy.

Remember, he had been so selfish, so entitled.

So you see, it's already working.

His sorrow is leading to repentance and change.

Because he said over here, I am so worthy.

Give me everything I'm worth.

I'm so entitled.

And now he says, I'm gonna go home and tell him I'm not even worthy.

It already started doing the work.

And so he says, I'm not worthy, and I'm gonna turn.

I'm sure that pathway home, he felt ashamed, lonely, disgusted.

Now I want you to think the older brother.

Much shorter physical walk.

But a longer mental journey.

You ever been somewhere so long in your head that you can't figure out a way back?

Been so somewhere in your mental space and you're like, I don't know why.

I don't know why.

I can't get past this.

I don't know why.

Like nothing's changed in your physical location, but in your head, you're like, I can't get right.

Both have measured paths.

But the prodigal son, hear this.

When he met with his lesson, he knew he was lost.

The father allowed him that lesson because he wanted him to get to this point.

I'm lost.

He knew his father's house was greater than the pig pen.

He went so low.

And when he got that low, it was easy to look up and go, home is so much better.

The older son, the story of the older son is left open-ended on purpose.

Jesus does this in this parable to leave us with some questions and thoughts.

I want to take you back to verse 1 and see why the story even began.

And then we'll come back to it being open-ended.

It says, this is why Jesus even brought any of this.

Then all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to him to hear him.

And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

He says, He's eating with sinners.

Why would he be eating with sinners?

So Jesus goes on to describe three different types, really, four different types of lostness.

But this story with the older brother, here's some questions it leaves open.

Did the older brother ever come to the feast?

We don't know.

Did he ever hug his brother?

Did he ever rejoice?

I think Jesus leaves this open-ended for a reason, and that reason is this every person must write the ending to their own story.

You were lost.

You were lost.

You may be here lost.

And we'll tell you in a few moments.

We hope that you'll answer that call to be found.

Everyone is lost at one point or another.

How does the story close?

Well, let her be as a father's magnificent peace.

Go back to verse 20.

It's a beautiful picture.

That prodigal son says, I'll just go home.

I'll admit my sin.

I'll tell him I'm not worthy of what I thought I was worthy.

I'll get it right, and I hope maybe to become a servant.

And so he arose and began.

He came to his father, but when he was still a great way off, church, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry.

The father, when his son turned, he forgave.

When his son turned and he saw him, I love this verse.

When he was still afar off, he said, when it was still a ways off, he said, Baby, I think it's the boy.

I think he's coming.

He said, Go get the robe.

Go get the ring.

Go get the fatted calf.

Our son is coming home.

And he ran out and he put his arms around him and hugged him.

His boy is home.

I'm not gonna wait.

I gotta go get him.

Get supper ready.

We're gonna have a party tonight.

He's coming home.

Thank you, Lord.

That's my story, church.

Boy, was I a prodigal.

I tried to get as far as I could, and like the nap of my neck, he just.

Thank you, Lord.

There's a book called David Copperfield, written by Charles Dickens.

And the father figure in the story is a man named Mr.

Piggity.

He's an aging fisherman, and he adopts his niece and his nephew.

And the niece Emily is getting of age, and she desires to find a fine young man to be with, but she has her own ideas different from that of her uncle.

And she is taken, I mean, swept off her feet by a handsome young man, fast-talking, this young guy named Steerforth.

Sounds like a salesman, right?

Promisers are the world.

And so she decides she's gonna leave that home and she runs away with Steerforth, who never had any inclination to ever marry her.

After a time of being with him, he just drops her.

And she's left running.

And she's left without any recourse but to go to the streets and sell her body to continue to make life happen, to be able to eat.

Mr.

Piggity, as the story goes, it pans back to him.

And he takes every penny he has.

He leaves on a search for Emily.

He's determined if it takes the rest of his life, so be it.

And so he visits every seedy street corner and alley.

He's visiting every place, looking and looking.

And as the book says, for years he continues his search.

His love for her is completely unaffected by what she's done.

He cannot stand for her to be lost.

He can't stand for the thought of this being her life.

And after years and years of looking for Emily, one day, Mr.

Piggity comes walking around this corner and he cannot believe the sight.

And when she turns and meets eyes with him, she begins to openly weep.

She can't believe that someone came searching for her after all that she's done.

Both of them are so happy because now together they can go home.

Verse 28.

Back to the older brother.

You see, the father ran after that prodigal son in open arms.

But back home, verse 28.

He was angry and he would not go in.

Hear this.

Therefore, his father came out and play with him.

The road was shorter.

The walk was less.

The celebration felt diminished.

But I believe he went in the same love and same spirit in both circumstances.

You see, because a father's love was for both sons.

He didn't say, Well, that son won't come to the party.

Leave him to his attitude.

He said, I love this son, and I love this son.

And he went out.

He didn't have to run down a road, but he turned around the corner and says, He pleaded with him.

Don't miss this son.

Everything you've ever had, I've loved you.

I love your brother, but I love you.

He pleaded with him.

I heard this story this week.

Say that you, dads, at home, say you have two kids.

I'll just use my children.

I'll use my boys.

Say, I told Wyatt and Weston, you need to go and you need to get your rooms cleaned.

And we'll say, one of them obeys me and one of them disobeys me.

And of course, I get frustrated by the disobedience.

But that same night, a fire breaks out in my house.

And as the fire is spreading, I frantically go.

It has nothing to do with how they treated me.

My love for them has nothing to do.

My protection for them had nothing to do with where we were earlier today, where we were earlier that month.

How they treated or mistreated me.

My love has nothing to do with that room.

Oh, yeah, well, we might have a talk later if there's a room left.

But I'm going to protect both my sons with all that I am because I love them.

And that's the picture we get from a loving father.

I want to tell you, you might be in here today, you might be saying, Pastor, you don't know what I've done.

You don't know how far I've gotten.

You don't know what's going on in my life.

And I want to tell you, the picture of the prodigal is a picture of a father's love.

He says, I love you.

Romans 8, 28 and 29 says, Nothing can separate you.

Not life, not death, nor any other created thing, not things in heaven or on earth.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Nothing you do can make him love you more.

Nothing you don't do will make him love you less.

He just loves you.

He loves you so.

One son in the story was hot to get home, ready for change, and would undoubtedly live different.

One was cold and indifferent, but in both stories, look at what Jesus was telling the Pharisees who judged him for eating with sinners.

He said, These sinners are lost, and I eat with them because my father created them, and he loves his sons.

All of his sons.

He loves the ones who got off track, like the sheep, those who have been misplaced, like the coin, those who have run off, like the prodigal son, those who have been found, and those who don't even know they're lost, like the older brother.

He loves all of them because they're his children.

If you accepted Jesus today, we want to hear about it.

Take a moment and text CCW Connect to 94,000.

Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.

We hope you'll make plans to join us in person on Sundays.