Message Notes The Secret To Change Part Four

Transcription

1 Loving God! Loving People! Loving Life! Message Notes The Secret To Change Part Four Life Church Smyrna Sunday, October 30, :30am Pastor Shell Osbon Matthew 18:1-3 1 About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 2 Jesus called a child over and had the child stand near him. 3 Then He said, I promise you this. If you don t change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. (CEV) Ecclesiastes 11:4 If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done! (LB) Luke 15: Jesus said A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (NKJV) 1. You Can t Run Forever Luke 15: Jesus said A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country... (NKJV) Genesis 3:7-8 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (NKJV) 2. You Can t Outrun Love Luke 15: When he came to himself, he said, How many of my father s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father... (NKJV) 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (NKJV) Romans 5:5 The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. (NKJV) 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us. (NKJV) 3. You Can t Outsin Grace Luke 15: And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 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. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. (NKJV) Romans 5:20 Where sin abounds, God s grace does much more abound. (NKJV) Proverbs 10:12 Love covers all sins. (NKJV) The big idea: The secret to change is no longer a secret!

2 part four Matthew 18:1-3 1 About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 2 Jesus called a child over and had the child stand near him. 3 Then He said, I promise you this. If you don t change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. (CEV) 1

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4 Luke 15: Jesus said A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. [cont d] 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (NKJV) 3

5 1. You Can t Run Forever Luke 15: Jesus said A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country... (NKJV) 4

6 The younger son journeyed to a far country which means a distant or remote place. This young man decided he was going to get as far away from his father as possible. The son may have been so embarrassed by his actions that he thought his only option was to run away. He may not have wanted to see his father so he ran a long way to avoid running into him. 5

7 He decided to leave his father but may have given no thought to how far he would go so he just kept running. Genesis 3:7-8 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (NKJV) 6

8 Adam and Eve responded to realizing that they had sinned by running away from God. It s never a good time to run from God but it s always a good time to run to God! 2. You Can t Outrun Love 7

9 Luke 15: When he came to himself, he said, How many of my father s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father... (NKJV) This young man ran as far as he could which eventually led him to living in a pigpen. Even though he couldn t see his father, this young man never forgot that his father loved him deeply. 8

10 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (NKJV) The love God has for us enables us to be His kids! Romans 5:5 The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. (NKJV) When the young man was running, when he was living with pigs and when he was so hungry he would have eaten pig food, he was thinking about love! 9

11 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us. (NKJV) You can run but you can t hide from God s love! 3. You Can t Outsin Grace 10

12 Luke 15: And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. [cont d] 22 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. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. (NKJV) 11

13 When the young man decided to go home, he knew what he would say but he never anticipated how his father would respond! Romans 5:20 Where sin abounds, God s grace does much more abound. (NKJV) God never overlooks your sin so He makes sure that He provides enough grace so that you can be forgiven! 12

14 Proverbs 10:12 Love covers all sins. (NKJV) God loves you endlessly so He is willingly to forgive you endlessly! the big idea The secret to change is no longer a secret! 13

15 we re all about Loving God! Loving People! Loving Life! part four 14