“Everlasting Father” by Pastor Daniel Floyd

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

Hello, everybody.

Come on, let's put our hands together for Jesus.

Come on, every campus, you can do better than that.

I do want to say hello to all of our campuses, everyone joining us online, and of course, all of our prison campuses and our gateway gatherings.

If you're here for the very first time, we just want to say a special welcome to you.

We're so glad you're here.

Come on, Gateway Family across all of our locations.

Let's welcome those who are with us for the first time, or maybe the first time in a long time.

Well, last weekend was a special weekend, everybody.

And uh we had the honor of taking up the Love My City offering, which a hundred percent of that has gone out the doors to bless organizations and partners in our community and have impact.

And uh, we told you that we were gonna support more than 40 organizations.

Well, you've far exceeded our expectations.

And uh so I want you to turn your attention to the screen and see what happens when together we live on mission.

So check this out.

That Starts was actually founded by my dad in 2014.

It's really a path for veterans to find their purpose in civilian life.

You know, 22 to 23 veterans choose to opt out um every day, and that's one every 65 minutes.

Our vision is to pierce the darkness of veteran suicide by providing hope for today and a plan for tomorrow.

We've been on this campus for like right at seven years.

Through the years, we've made the decision.

We could have done something with the carpet.

We know we're at least a third body using that carpet.

Lots of feed in and out, and it's seeing lots of salvations, but we decided to fund children's ministry or student ministry.

If we ever get the choice, the money is spent outside.

We value leaving a legacy of faith, and that's that's that's who we pour most of our resources into.

I don't know if people realize just how much teachers pour into their students and our staff and give a lot of themselves to them.

Every morning at 7 o'clock, we have teachers who open those stores and they offer free tutoring, even decorating their classrooms to make it like a home for them.

We want to treat our teachers so that is also, again, part of our budget, pouring into them so that they know the gratitude we have towards them.

Welcome to church, everybody.

Well, it's a special weekend across all of our locations.

It's Love My City offering weekend.

It is an offering that will not benefit us.

You're not giving to a church this weekend, you're giving through a church, and it's gonna go to bless so and so many people who are doing great things in our communities.

And uh generosity is one way that we do that.

So that they don't think we're great, so that they glorify our Father who is in heaven.

So that's our prayer today is God to be glorified through our generosity, and may the gospel go forward, and may lives be forever changed because of it.

We wanted to just let you know that on behalf of the generous people of Gateway Church, on behalf of the generous people of Gateway Church, on behalf of the generous people of Gateway Church, we want you to know that you're seen and that you're loved, we're praying for you.

And on behalf of the generous people at Gateway Church, uh, we want to give you$10,000.

Uh that transportation to the camp and some scholarships and the food for the kids that need it.

We want to bless you and your church with changing the carpet in the auditorium.

On behalf of um the people at Gateway Church, we want to bless you with$20,000.

What?

To help you purchase a new cooler.

Are you kidding me?

No, I'm not kidding you.

We would love you to be blessed by$15,000 as you end your year this year.

Our church loves you, our people love you, we're grateful for you.

I know there's many that you haven't met, but trust me, they are so thankful for the work you're doing, and we're so thankful for you.

We want to bless the Taste Project with$10,000 to cover a month's worth of meals for those here in your community.

On behalf of the generous people of Gateway Church, we just want to bless you with$3,500 to cover the gift cards with these amazing bombs and to help offset what's going on in this holiday season.

Our church is full of incredible, amazing, very generous people.

Uh, and because of the generosity of the people of Gateway Church, we're excited to take care of those windows that uh you mentioned needed to be replaced.

So we're gonna be able to do that for you.

We want to be a blessing to those who are around us, and to be on the receiving end of that is is uh a little bit different for us, and we're very grateful.

We honor you and your dad and all the good ministry that you're doing to our best.

It really is so perfectly timed.

It's just the best gift.

So, and I'm just telling you, from our families to you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's amazing.

The timing is perfect because our winter ending lunch is next week, and this will come in uh just the nick of time.

So thank you.

Absolutely.

Yeah, it's very sweet.

Thank you, church.

So I just think it's a wonderful thing that people can come together and just do stuff for people that they have no relationship with or anything.

So I appreciate it.

That's just love and action.

Love and action.

This is the best Christmas present I could ever get for my for my stuff.

Great things He is doing.

Oh, come on, give Jesus all the praise.

How amazing.

Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven.

You went above and beyond church.

And uh we had we had some organizations on kind of a what-if list, and then we had the what we thought realistic list, and we got to do all the what-if list as well.

And uh, we're so grateful.

And you saw there at the end 33 organizations that deal with food pantries and veterans and underserved families, and 26 organizations that deal with the vulnerable, like women and children, and nine schools and communities with community assistance, and then 14 churches.

And you know, obviously we couldn't show a video of every one of them, but uh under that first category, we helped to fill over 10 food distribution ministries.

Bought freezers, coolers, and even trucks so that they could deliver the food to those who are in most need.

Around the idea of herding and vulnerable, we helped build a new baby boutique wing for a pro-life pregnancy resource center.

Um, we sewed into numerous anti-trafficking ministries ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Yeah.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but anti-trafficking really increases around the Super Bowl.

There are big events like the World Cup that's coming to Dallas, and so we're able to get ahead of that.

In schools and communities, we bought Christmas meals for the entire staff of a local hospital whose people will be working Christmas Day, caring for people and not with their family.

We were able to pay off lunches for children that had school debt, that had lunch debt that they couldn't pay for their lunch.

On the around the idea of category of churches, we helped a Hispanic church with funds needed to move into a new space for their growing church in Grand Prairie because we're all on the same team.

We're not in competition.

And we also helped a messianic Jewish synagogue with much, much needed building repairs.

And those are just some of the many, many ways that you made a difference.

Come on, one more time.

To God be the glory.

Great things he's doing.

This is what the church is about.

It's about making a difference, it's about living on the mission that Jesus put us here for and impacting the world around us.

And man, I couldn't be more proud to be serving alongside of you.

Well, let's get into the word.

Week three of His Name Shall Be Called, this series we've been in.

Um, if you missed last week, uh I want you to go back and listen to it because we spent a lot more time on this verse I'm about to read to you than we will today.

Um, but I want you to capture the heart of this verse and and all of the richness of it.

But our theme verse has been Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6.

Isaiah 9:6

It says this, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called.

These are not only the names of Jesus, but these are the characteristics of the kingdom he will bring.

Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Today we're gonna look at the idea that he is the everlasting Father.

Let's pray together.

Father, we come before you with grateful hearts for all that you're doing in our church and all that you're doing through our church.

We're just grateful to your name be the praise.

And today we open our hearts and minds and we say, speak to us, Holy Spirit.

May your word be deposited deep in us, may it bear fruit for the days and weeks and months to come.

We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus.

Everybody said, Amen.

Amen.

How many of you ever uh by show of hands you'll admit to it every campus going, everybody participate online?

You've ever lost something?

Okay, you've misplaced something.

Let's see if we get more participation.

Okay.

Um not too not too many years ago.

I don't remember how many years ago it was, but um uh we we lost something very, very important to us, not a child.

We did do that at Disney, but I'm not telling that story today.

And uh, but whenever Tammy and I got engaged, you know, uh it was you know 21 years ago now, 21 and a half years ago, we got engaged, and so I could afford you know an engagement ring that had like a speck of a diamond, like a like diamond dust in it.

And uh, and then I get we had the wedding band made a part of it.

And then whenever we went to pick it up, um the jeweler who I'd become friends with, his name was Fred.

Is that right?

Fred?

His name is Fred, really kind gentleman, and uh we'd formed this relationship over time.

Whenever I got there, he goes, uh he goes, I just wanted to bless you guys.

I made an extra wedding band.

And so we ended up having two, one she could have on either side of the ring.

Are y'all following me?

And um somehow, somehow, I don't remember, we misplaced one of those bands.

How many of you know the the panic that comes?

Y'all know that feeling, like just the anxiety that rises almost immediately and the panic that begins to set in whenever you've lost something of value.

And how many of you know we turned the house upside down?

Y'all ever been there?

Like you just, I mean, the here's here's what I find out is the higher the value of the item, the greater the intensity of the search.

Isn't that right?

Like you lose something like a Lego, and you're like, eh, there's another one in the carpet somewhere.

Not really that worried about it.

You you know, you you lose something that doesn't have much value and you don't really search for it that much, but the higher the value, the higher the intensity of the search.

And I think about that whenever I think about this thought, everlasting Father.

And the reason is because I can't help but think about God as the everlasting Father, the King Jesus that is coming and this attribute of Him, without thinking about Luke chapter 15, wherever he gives us these three parables of lost things, of valuable things.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

And if you've been around church in the Bible, and maybe even if not, this is a very familiar one, he ends those parables with this thought about a prodigal, about a prodigal son and a father.

And I think this parable gives the picture of the father so beautifully, like not many other texts do, and that's where we're gonna spend our time and the time we have together remaining today, is I want us to look at this thought of our everlasting father and God the Father, his son Jesus, and what is at their heart, what is at the core of who they are, and I think this idea of everlasting Father gives us a little insight into it.

Now, Luke chapter 15 is where we're gonna be.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

If you want to turn there or if you want to open up your Bible lap, however you interact with the scriptures.

But in Luke chapter 15, there's three different parables.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

And within these parables, though, the context or the setting is that Jesus is eating with some sinners and tax collectors, and then there's some Pharisees and religious people that are around them.

And I want to read the first two verses to you of Luke chapter 15, verse 1 and 2.

Luke 15:1

It'll be on the screen if you didn't bring a scripture with you today.

It says this now tax collectors and sinners were all gathered around to hear Jesus.

We're gonna come back to that.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

Can I just say something?

Whether you think it or mutter it, Jesus knows what is on your mind.

But I want to point out that it's sinners and tax collectors that are around Jesus, and sorry if you work for the IRS or any county tax collector, they've never, no one's ever been fan of the tax collector people, all right?

It's interesting to me that they call some sinners and then like there's a whole other category: tax collectors.

Right?

The reason they were so disliked in this time is because um they were actually Jewish people that were taking from other Jewish people giving to the Roman government.

Are you all tracking with me?

So they really held a distasteful place in them.

But I want to point out this is they felt comfortable around Jesus.

That the sinners and the tax collectors felt like Jesus was a safe place to be be around and to listen to.

And I would just propose that that should speak to us as a church.

That this should be a place where people that are far from God and and don't have it all together yet and haven't figured out all the church stuff yet, that they should come in and be like, I don't know it all, I don't even know if I believe it all, but I know these people love me.

And I know these hello, somebody, I know these people are compassionate.

There's something about these people that are a little bit different.

That someone that doesn't look like you, talk like you, act like you, think like you, dare I say, vote like you, should be able to walk in and go, there's something they have that I don't.

There's a love that I experience, there's a grace of God that I experience.

Can I just remind this church that this is not a club that we join, but this is a hospital for sinners to come and find the life-transforming power of the gospel.

You should be clapping better than that.

Sinners and tax collectors were around him.

This is the kind of people that Jesus went to hang out with.

He didn't go hang out in the temple other than to rebuke the religious people of the day.

He went to hang out with the this is why he said, I didn't come for the healthy.

The healthy don't need a doctor.

It's the sick that need the doctor, it's the sick that need healing and help.

It's the hurting that need to be restored.

And this is who he came for.

And so in that context, he's setting around, he's teaching them.

There's religious people and Pharisees that had come in and they had somehow gathered around, and they're pointing out who he's spending time with, and they say he hangs out with them.

Jesus, knowing their thoughts and maybe even hearing their muttering, he then responds with three stories.

He gives parables.

If you're new to church, a parable is simply an earthly story that has a heavenly meaning.

It's an easy way to think about it.

It's uh it's a story Jesus used to illustrate spiritual principles.

And so he tells three different stories, and the three different stories he tells, the first one is of a shepherd that has a lost sheep.

Now that doesn't mean a whole lot to us unless there's, I don't know, maybe there's some shepherds in Texas or maybe Jackson Hole.

Um but it says that there's a hundred sheep, but one has strayed away, and so the shepherd will leave the ninety-nine who and go find them.

And the and the principle he unpacks here is that the ninety-nine represent those who have repented, and he's thankful for that, but the one represents the one that has not repented, and so he runs after the one to get the one, and heaven, all of heaven rejoices whenever the one sinner comes to faith in Christ, right?

And then the second ill the story he gives the parable is of a lost coin.

It's of a widow who doesn't have a whole lot, and that she loses a coin that was very, very valuable, and so she begins to, she sweeps the whole house, she turns on.

I mean, the obsession and the intensity that she goes after finding this coin is really great.

And he said, this is the heart of the father towards those that are far from God.

And I want to point out in those two stories that the star of the show is not the coin, and the star of the show is not the sheep.

The point of the story is to show the heart of the shepherd, and the point of the story is to show the intensity of the widow.

And this is supposed to show us what God is like.

This father.

And then he goes into the last story, and this is of what we would know as the prodigal son.

And this is where I want us to spend the remainder of our time together.

If you're with me, say amen.

And so in chapter 15 and verse 17, he says, when he came to his senses.

Now I'm not going to read the whole text, and I want us to back up from that part a little bit and find out why did he have to come to his senses.

So here's the story.

If you're with me, say amen.

So here's the what's happening in the parable, the story.

It says, There was a father and he had two sons.

And the two sons were, we don't know the age or around the age, but they were old enough to go and fend for themselves.

And one of the sons comes to the father and says, Father, I want all of my inheritance that is coming to me.

Now, time out, that may not seem like a big deal.

It may just seem like a greedy kid, but there's another layer to this, and it's this it's that those inheritances didn't come until the father had passed away, and it was extremely rude for you to ask for it beforehand.

So basically what he's saying is, I want to live my life as though you're no longer alive.

So massive slap in the face.

I want to live my life like you have no authority and you have no control and you have no input into my life.

Matter of fact, I kind of wish life was like that, where I just had your money so I could go live the way that I wanted to live.

And so the son, the father gives in the money, and the son goes and lives I think the King James says riotous living.

He went and lived a crazy life.

Matter of fact, the word prodigal means extravagant or over the top.

So that's the life that he went and lived.

And he had all kinds of friends and he was living it up and living life, and then how many of you know that money runs out?

Especially when you're not investing it.

And anyways.

And so the money ran out, and how many of you know when the money ran out, the friends ran out?

Because the friends were only there as long as the money was there.

And so when the friends ran out, what happened to him is this he ends up working for someone and he's caring for their pigs, and he says to himself, I wish I could eat what the pigs are eating.

He's in such poverty.

And then he has this moment, which is interesting, let me insert the scandalous perspective of the story.

It may not hit us, but here is a Jewish boy watching wishing he could eat what they eat.

I mean this.

The scandal of Jesus saying that to these religious leaders had to like ruffle their feathers.

Are you following me?

They had to be like, oh my goodness, there's no way we as Jews would ever be around pigs.

That's an unclean animal.

Are y'all tracking with me?

But Jesus is painting the depth of sin that this son is in and painting how repulsive, so to speak, this son is and would be to every other Jewish person around him.

And the Bible says in that moment, he comes to his senses and he said, How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare?

And here I am starving to death.

I will set out, go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants.

I'm gonna give you a few thoughts today from this perspective.

I want to talk to you from the perspective of the Father.

Because I want you to see the heart of God, because it should be the heart of his followers.

So, number one, I want you to recognize the reputation of the Father.

It says when he came to his senses.

In other words, a light bulb came on.

Something caused him to go, my father's hired people, the people that work for him are doing better than what I'm doing right now.

And I'll go back to him.

And here's what I believe that we're in a moment in time and a moment in history where many people are coming to their senses.

If you just see it across our nation, that the early drops of revival, that people are coming to their senses going, what I've been trying isn't working anymore.

That there's gotta be a God, that there's gotta be something, that the direction I've been going isn't working.

There are light bulb moments happening in this generation all around us.

And it says when he said, I came to my senses, he said, I'm gonna go back to my father.

And here's what I believe the text is screaming to us is this is that he didn't see himself worthy to be called a son, but he knew his father was the kind of man that would embrace him back.

That the reputation of the father was one of grace and of mercy and of love and of kindness, and he didn't see himself worthy, but he knew his father had a certain kind of heart that would embrace him if he would come running back, and that is the heart of Jesus.

That this heart of the father is the heart of Jesus, that he is an embracing God and a loving God, and when people run back to him, he says, if you'll draw close to me, I'll draw close to you.

But unfortunately, those of us who represent him haven't done such a good job of explaining his reputation sometimes.

We've given him the reputation of being judgmental, and we've given him the reputation of being unkind, and we've given him the reputation of snapping the judgments about people.

I know you want amen here.

Well, Pastor, you've got to give them the truth.

I believe it, but the Bible says that in order.

We give them grace and truth.

I think about the woman caught in the act of adultery, which always befuddles me.

What were these men doing to catch her in adultery?

Just a thought.

And all these people want to stone her.

And the Bible says that Jesus kneel down, and we don't know what he's doing when he knelt down.

I read one scholar that said maybe they started walking away because he was riding their sins in the sand.

And all of her accusers walked away, and Jesus says to her, Where are your accusers?

And she said, They've gone.

He goes, Then neither do I condemn you.

Grace.

Go and sin no more.

Truth.

Are y'all following me?

It's the reputation of the Father.

Yes, there is a standard, but he starts with the it is the kindness of God, Roman says, that leads us to repentance.

It's not a blowhorn on the corner.

Hello, somebody.

It's the kindness of God, the love of the Father that the Bible says draws us into repentance.

He says, Man, I know my father.

There's a reputation about my father, and I'm gonna run to him.

I don't think I should be a son again, but maybe he'll just hire me on as a servant.

And the Bible says in chapter 20 and 21, it says, so he got up and he went to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, and he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.

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

It says, He saw him while he was a long way off.

Number two, we see the desire of the Father.

There was a time in human history where you did not know exactly what time you would get to a destination.

Your dad had a big book called an atlas that went in between the seat and the console.

And before you went somewhere, you opened this, all the young people listen, you opened this book.

I know.

And then you would highlight a route.

You didn't know where the gas station was.

You had no idea where McDonald's was.

You had no idea where a hotel was in between there and then.

You didn't even make a reservation.

You just hopped you saw one off the side of the road.

And if you needed to go to the restroom, too bad.

Anyone else grow up with that dad?

Okay.

And so whenever someone was coming to visit you, like your grandparents, they couldn't say, well, the GPS says I'll be there at 7.33.

You knew a few-hour window.

They call you before they left North Carolina.

And you knew about when they would get there.

So around that time, you'd go to the front door.

You see them yet?

Come on, anybody else grow up?

Okay.

You see them yet?

No, let me come in.

So then you go back and sit down.

Then you go back over.

You sit.

And you would stand at that door as a little kid just waiting for granny and granddaddy, that's what we call them, granny and granddaddy, to pull up the driveway so you could see them.

I this is the picture I get whenever I think about this father seeing his son a long way off.

The desire of the father.

He desired that one day that son would come walking down that road.

And I don't know if it was in the morning, I don't know if it was in the evening.

I don't know if there's a certain time every day that he got on the porch and that he looked and that he intently thought, God, will this be the day that the son, but what I do know is that the father was desiring it, that he wanted it.

Can I tell you this is the desire of our father?

There was the desire in his heart that everyone who is far from him would come walking down that road and come back to him and find him with open arms and loving arms and a willingness to forgive him.

This is the desire of the Father.

Matter of fact, 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9 says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.

2 Peter 3:9

What is his promise?

When in the context of 2 Peter chapter 3, he's talking about the day of the Lord or the return of Christ.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

And sometimes we can get hyperly focused on when is he coming and what are the signs and what are that?

Whenever Peter tells us, instead he's patient with you.

This should be our focus, not wanting anyone to perish, but all everyone to come to repentance.

So in the context, they're like, when is Jesus coming back?

And what is the day and what is the hour?

And Peter goes, hey, he's holding on, and here's why he's holding on.

Because he doesn't want anyone to perish.

But he wants, oh, God the Father is at the door going, I'm gonna wait another day because one more could come home.

I'm gonna wait another day because one more could come home.

I'm gonna wait another moment because one more could come home.

One more could repent today.

That daughter that they've been praying for could be the day that she releases and surrenders and gives me her life.

So I'm gonna wait another day.

Is he coming tomorrow?

I don't know, but what I do know is he doesn't wish that one more would perish, but then all would come to repentance.

And if he doesn't come today, and he doesn't come tomorrow, it's so you and I have more time to get one more into heaven before he comes back.

This is the desire of the father.

And it says in verse 22, it says this, but the father said to his servants, so the son has got the speech prepared, right?

I'm not worthy to be one of your servants.

And he's got the speech prepared, and the father says, Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him.

Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it.

Let's have a feast and celebrate.

For this son of mine who was dead, is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

So they begin to celebrate.

Number three, you see, the heart of the father.

You know what's so interesting to me is that the father didn't clean him up first.

We read a minute ago he kissed him first.

Let that sink in for a minute.

A big sty covered, dirty son.

He didn't say, hey, you need to, you know, you need to get some things together first.

He didn't say you need to stop listening to that music and you need to cut your hair and you need to pull your pants up and get a belt on.

Are y'all following me?

He didn't say you need to quit drinking, and then you can come to me.

He didn't say clean up first.

Religion says get cleaned up first.

And then come to Jesus.

Jesus says, come to me, and I'll help you clean all that stuff.

The heart of the Father is about finding lost things.

This is the heart of God.

Can I tell you something?

It's the priority of heaven.

The priority of heaven is finding lost things.

It's why we're here.

The Great Commission.

And if we're gonna have the heart of God, then we have to have a heart that cares about lost things.

If you want to get the eyes of heaven looking at you, then start caring about what God cares about and it's lost.

People it's not about a sheep and it's not about a coin.

It's not really about a son.

It's about a father and a widow and a shepherd.

Who, with everything within them, went after lost things.

Matter of fact, maybe this story we should call it the prodigal father.

Because the word prodigal means extravagant.

And the son spent extravagantly, but the father loved extravagantly.

If there was a mission statement on the office of Jesus in heaven, I don't know if he has an office, he doesn't.

He has a throne and he's on it right now.

It would be Luke 19, 10.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

And the church is the vehicle for him to accomplish that through.

It's plan A, there is no plan B.

You are plan A.

I'm plan A.

There is no plan B.

And this was even his prayer for us in John chapter 17, verse 18, and then I'm gonna read verse 20.

John 17:18

It says, As you sent me into the world, I'm sending them into the world.

Well, he's talking to his disciples.

No, two verses down, verse 20.

He's praying, he said, and I am not praying for these alone, but also for the future believers who will come to me because of the testimony of these.

So here's what that means is that God gave Jesus a mission, and then Jesus has imparted that mission into every one of us.

And he prays for us that we would be on that mission.

The same mission that Jesus is on.

That's what we must be about.

That's what our lives should be about.

And can I tell you, it's not that hard.

And you have a great opportunity coming up next weekend to be on the mission of Jesus.

Because in our candlelight services, we're going to share the gospel as clearly and as plainly as we can.

And you get the opportunity to have someone set beside you that may be close to you but feels far from God right now.

And there are people all around you if you'll have eyes to see.

This week we went to dinner with our lead team here at the church, which are phenomenal leaders.

And their spouses.

We had this wonderful waitress, just so kind and just served so well.

And we got to the end of it.

And Pastor Jelani's wife Erin said to the service, said, Do you mind if we pray for you?

She goes, I would love that.

She goes, How can we pray for you?

And she told us.

And we started praying.

No lie within 20 seconds, even with eyes closed, you could hear the cry start.

We prayed and she got done.

And she goes, You know how you know you don't know how much I needed that.

And then we said to her, Well, hey, you know, next weekend at our church we're having these candlelight services.

And we'd love for you to come.

You know what she said?

My sister and I have been looking for a Christmas service to attend.

Can I tell you there are people all around you that are looking for a Christmas service to attend?

If someone would just invite them.

And so we gave her the information and we invited her.

And she said that she's going to show up and come next weekend.

And you know what?

She's going to walk into a church where she's going to be loved and greeted.

And the presence of God will be here.

And she'll have the opportunity to respond to the gospel.

And how many more of her are there out there that you know that you'll meet, that you'll encounter.

And you know what?

We're going to end the service.

And I'm going to say, some of you here today, you feel far from God.

But you don't have to.

And we'll give the simple gospel.

And I'm going to pray the prayer that I pray almost every single week.

Some of you are like, why do you do that every week?

I'll tell you why.

Several years ago at our church in Virginia, I had a lady come up to me.

She said, Pastor, my mom passed away this week.

I said, I'm so sorry.

Had she been sick?

And she said, Yeah, she just went downhill pretty fast.

She goes, but I'm at peace.

I said, Oh, she knew the Lord.

And she goes, Yeah.

She said, I got to lead her to the Lord a few weeks before she died.

I said, That's remarkable.

She goes, and yeah, I knew how to do it.

Because I didn't realize at the end of every service you were training me.

She said, So I just said everything you usually say.

And my mom said, Yeah, I want to accept Jesus.

And she goes, and then I prayed the prayer I've heard you pray a hundred times.

And I led her in that prayer, and she accepted Christ.

Because the heart of the Father is after lost things.

And if we're going to have his heart as a church, then we're going to have a heart that's after lost things.

Let me give you one more, one more part of the story.

Are you still with me?

It says the older brother became angry.

If you've read the story, you know this.

And refused to go into the party.

And so his father went out and pleaded with him, but he answered his father, look, all these years I've been slaving for you.

And I've never disobeyed your orders.

How many of you know you over-exaggerate when you're upset?

Yet you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes come home, you killed a fattened calf for him.

My son, the father, said, You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

This son is the church person that is, but what about me?

And the father says, All of heaven is already yours.

But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

The older brother had proximity to the father, but he did not have the heart of the father.

Let's not be that.

Let's not be people that have proximity to Jesus, but we don't have the heart of Jesus.

So across our whole church family, I want you to wrestle with this question.

When's the last time your heart was burdened for someone close to you but far from God?

And if it's been a while, as we close today, I'm gonna invite you to pray a simple prayer that says, God, give me your heart for the people around me that don't know you.

And then I'm gonna challenge you to act this week.

And next weekend, bring somebody with you and watch what God will do in their lives.

Do you receive the word of God today?

Let's pray together at every location, every head bowed.

Maybe you're here today and you feel like the sheep that straight away you feel like the prodigal son more than the older brother.

And I just want you to know that the heart of the Father, he's standing on the porch with arms wide open, just waiting for you.

Maybe you've strayed away, maybe you've never made a commitment to Jesus.

Well, today's your day.

This is your moment.

The Bible says that we're all separated from God because of sin.

That's not a condemning statement, it's the reality of the human condition.

We all have it.

We were born with it.

And that's why Jesus came.

He came to give his life to pay the penalty for sin.

Someone had to pay it and he did it.

And he invites you into this relationship, into forgiveness of sin, into a brand new start today.

And so at every campus, we're going to pray in a moment.

But if you're here today and you'd say, Pastor, that's me, I identify with one who is straight away.

I'm not where I was, not where I need to be.

I need a fresh start today.

I want to know that my sins are forgiven.

Before we pray, I just want to know who I'm praying with.

No one's going to come to you or point you out.

Promise you that.

Only myself, pastor at your campus.

We'll see.

But if that's you, when I count to three, I just want you to shoot your hand up high enough long enough for myself or the pastor at your location to see, and then we're going to pray together.

You say, That's me today.

I need to come back home.

I need a fresh start in Jesus.

If that's you on three, you just shoot your hand up right now.

One, two, three.

You just shoot it up high in the air.

God bless you.

God bless you.

Keep it up.

Incredible.

It's beautiful.

The Bible says, all of heaven is rejoicing because of you right now.

All of heaven is rejoicing.

Will you pray with me out loud, church, for the benefit of those who slip their hand up?

Just say, Jesus, I need you.

I ask you to forgive me of all my sin.

I believe you died for me.

I believe God raised you from the dead.

Today I make you my Lord and Savior.

Thank you for brand new beginning.

In Jesus' name.

Everyone said amen.

Amen.

Come on, let's celebrate those who made that decision.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.