by Timothy J. Keller
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He Welcomes Sinners
The Parable of the Lost Sheep reveals that just as sheep are,by nature,unable to avoid straying from their shepherd,so humans,because of our sinful nature,are totally lost and in need of rescue by Jesus,our good shepherd. But in rescuing us from our sin,Jesus is not only showing us the power of grace to bring about individual redemption. Through his ministry,he also demonstrates the power of grace to create a new kind of community that bonds all kinds of people together,freely confesses sin,and offers healing and acceptance by the grace of Jesus Christ. Scripture Luke 15:1-10; Ephesians 2
Give Me Mine
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story about how idolatry erodes community. We often become guilty of idolatry when we place our ultimate desire in getting things from God rather than in God himself. Only when we are captivated by the beauty of the gospel can we be changed by it in such a way that we love God and other people more than ourselves. Scripture Luke 15:11-14
He Came to Himself
Martin Luther said that our whole life should be one of repentance. True repentance happens when we come to our senses about our sinfulness,grieve at the sin itself and not just the negative consequences that result from it,and seek forgiveness first from God and then from those we've hurt. Repentance is vital to the Christian life because it reconnects us more deeply to the truth that our strength comes not from our own record of moral achievement,but from the record of Jesus Christ. Scripture Luke 15:11-20; Psalm 51, James 5:16
To Be Called Your Son
By adopting us as "sons" into His family,God gives us deep security about our status with Him,intimate access to Him,and the future inheritance of the new heavens and new earth that He will one day fashion. Because Christians are all part of one family,we are called to be a community marked by radical commitment,great transparency,free sharing of resources,and life-shaping impact on the lives of each other. We enter this family only by the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ,who set aside his status and inheritance as God's only son,so that we might become children of God. Scripture: Luke 15:21-24;Galatians 3-4, Revelation 21
And Kissed Him
When God forgives of our sins,he assertively initiates the process of reconciliation even before we ask his forgiveness. The essence of God's forgiveness is that he absorbs the debt of our sinfulness upon Himself in Jesus Christ,rather than requiring us to repay the debt through our moral efforts. Because God sees us for who we are in Jesus and not who we are as sinners,we are empowered to become a community that doesn't bear grudges,belittle those who have hurt us,or force people to carry the sins of their past with them forever. Scripture: Luke 15:11-24; Matthew 5, Matthew 18, John 1
We Had to Celebrate
Exile is a persistent feeling within the human condition because our sin has destroyed the intimacy with God that we once experienced in the Garden of Eden. God sent Jesus,our true elder brother,all the way to earth to rescue us from the exile of our sin and restore us to full communion with God. When we take the Lord's Supper,we get a taste of the future homecoming feast for all believers when we will celebrate the return of full intimacy between God and us. Scripture: Luke 15:17-32, Isaiah 25, Matthew 19
The True Older Brother
Jesus introduces us to a new category for what it means to be spiritually lost in the character of the elder brother. The elder brother believes that,through his moral efforts and by following the rules,God owes him. But Jesus's death on the cross teaches us that God doesn't owe us anything; instead,we owe God everything. Therefore,as a gospel community,we can't snobbishly look down on the poor and broken in our midst because we know that,apart from Christ,we are equally poor and broken.Scripture: Luke 15:17-32