1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,080 We all want to pray for now. OK, fine. 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:09,280 You can go to Luke 15, Luke 15. Today we're going to spend some 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,920 time in one of the most famous stories that Jesus ever told. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,000 It's the story of the the prodigal son. 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,040 Even people who have never really attended church before 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,520 have heard at least some form of the prodigal son. 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,840 It's become a part of our cultural vocabulary. 8 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,000 And when someone wanders away and they eventually return, we 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,560 call them a prodigal. But we say this knowing that 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:30,760 they've wandered away and come back. 11 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,000 But what does prodigal actually mean? 12 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,160 It doesn't mean a wanderer. Prodigal means wasteful is what 13 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:38,480 it means. So when it's called the prodigal 14 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,680 son, it's considered the wasteful son. 15 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,840 And so it's a story about a father and two sons and a broken 16 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,320 family and an unexpected celebration. 17 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,120 So as we begin this on Father's Day, I want to introduce a 18 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,040 concept that most families would rather avoid talking about 19 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,880 favoritism. Now, I'm uniquely equipped to do 20 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:01,600 this as my mother's favorite child. 21 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,520 And I know you've never said it, but you're not listening to 22 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,360 Savannah or Cheyenne sermons today, are you? 23 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,760 So thank you for being here. I'm just kidding. 24 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,360 I'm just kidding. We have this running joke 25 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,120 because I'm so much older than my siblings. 26 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,360 I'm 14 years older than my youngest sibling. 27 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,000 So I had a lot of time with my mom where it was just us. 28 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,760 But it is funny, normally on my birthday, one of my sisters will 29 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,000 post happy birthday to my mother's favorite. 30 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,160 And we do it kind of tongue in cheek. 31 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,120 To be honest, all three of us have probably been jealous about 32 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,320 our place in the pecking warder with our mom at some point. 33 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,120 But if you ask most parents whether they have a favorite 34 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,880 child, they all know exactly how you're supposed to answer. 35 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,000 And what's the answer? No, the answer is I love them 36 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,720 all the same, right? Good parents love all of their 37 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,040 children. Good parents don't play 38 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,120 favorites. But according to a sociologist 39 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,080 by the name of Doctor Jill Souter and some of her 40 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,240 colleagues who has spent decades studying family relationships 41 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,480 and dynamics, and not just favoritism, but the perception 42 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,760 of favoritism, it has a profound effect on families even when 43 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:09,199 parents never openly acknowledge it. 44 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,520 What's really fascinating about this is that this issue is not 45 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,240 simply whether or not a parent actually has a favorite. 46 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,920 It is if the children believe they do according to these 47 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,240 findings. I want to share this with you. 48 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,760 Children who perceive favoritism report more sibling conflict, 49 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,840 weaker sibling relationships, greater loneliness, and more 50 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,640 long term family tension. I've done many a funeral 51 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,000 unfortunately and and seen the aftermath sometimes without the 52 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:38,680 parent there. They start bickering and 53 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:40,600 nitpicking over different things and they start. 54 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:42,720 It's like picking over the leftovers of something. 55 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,560 It's an awful place to be. Entire family systems get 56 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,360 affected and relationships between siblings suffer. 57 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,760 They're unwilling to cooperate with each other over time and 58 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,040 resentment grows. Another large study with about 59 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,160 20,000 participants found that favoritism is far more common 60 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,240 than people realize because there's different patterns in 61 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,040 how parents treated children differently. 62 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,240 A lot of times favouring older children. 63 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,720 And by the way, if you look into the statistics, normally the 64 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,840 favorite child is the oldest daughter. 65 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,560 I already saw some heads that are like, Yep, that tracks, 66 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:23,680 right? Sometimes there's favouritism 67 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,840 towards the children that were easier to parent. 68 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,560 Sometimes it's just because of the oldest because you had more 69 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,520 time than them. But most parents would insist 70 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:32,640 they'd love their children equally. 71 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,800 The study amongst 20,000 people concluded that differences in 72 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,920 treatment are common enough to change family dynamics amongst 73 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,040 generations. I want you to think about that 74 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,560 for a moment because a parent doesn't have to stand in the 75 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,960 room and say, this is my favorite kid, although I 76 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:47,960 actually know stories where things like that have happened. 77 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,800 They don't have to put AT shirt on or frame it on a wall. 78 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,080 Sometimes it just takes the perception that a child receives 79 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,680 something another one doesn't. Don't you remember being a kid 80 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,680 and and you'd be like, why do they get fill in the blank? 81 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,960 Where's mine? A little more privilege. 82 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,200 And before long, comparison starts to grow roots. 83 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:06,920 So the more you read these findings, the more that you'll 84 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,440 also find that the Bible's been talking about it for thousands 85 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,040 of years. The first family in Scripture 86 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,320 wrestled with it. Yes, the first family, The first 87 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,680 child ever born was Cain. The second one was Abel. 88 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,280 I'm guessing that there are some people here that know the story 89 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:25,880 of Cain and Abel ended in a little murder, right? 90 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,920 Ishmael watched Isaac become the child of the promise. 91 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:32,960 Esau watched Jacob receive the blessing. 92 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:38,200 He gave it away for soup. Joseph's brothers watched their 93 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,920 father give him a special robe and openly treat him different. 94 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:41,960 We'll talk about him in a minute. 95 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,960 David's brothers watched the Prophet anoint the youngest son 96 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,160 that they had overlooked. They became overlooked in that 97 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:49,680 moment. So again and again, the pages of 98 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:51,480 Scripture are filled with stories about brothers and 99 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,480 inheritance. And what's interesting is that 100 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,040 an ancient Jewish culture, it was always the oldest son that 101 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,720 was supposed to get the lion's share of the inheritance. 102 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,400 And the reason was not because of favoritism. 103 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,320 The reason was because in the absence of the father, now you 104 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,280 are the oldest male. It is your job to lead and 105 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,480 steward and guide this family. It's your responsibility. 106 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,040 That's what it was meant to be. But of course, if you're the one 107 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,120 growing up, you're like, yeah, yeah, I'll take some of that 108 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,480 responsibility if it comes with some of the the backing. 109 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,520 Right. Most people in the story of the 110 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,600 prodigal think about which person in the story we think 111 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,720 about the younger brother, I'm going to read it to you because 112 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,720 he is reckless and he is impulsive and selfish and 113 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,320 wasteful. You're going to see this one 114 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,280 brother's wasteful, the other one is resentful. 115 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:36,960 And we've preached about both before. 116 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,600 One of them runs away from home, the other one stays home. 117 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,400 They both do it out of a sense of what they're going to get. 118 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,680 The wasteful one says I want my inheritance now. 119 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,440 The one who stays says I'm staying because ultimately it'll 120 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,920 pay off and I'll get some more if I'm good all the way through. 121 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,960 But somehow by the end of the story, it's the younger wasteful 122 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,520 brother that's wearing a robe, standing at a feast, and being 123 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,040 treated like the beloved son. So my question I want to ask you 124 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,640 before I read this opening Scripture is this, why does God 125 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,880 keep telling stories like this? Why does God do it? 126 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,400 Does this mean that if we're the oldest that we're actually 127 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,520 doomed to not get favor? Does it mean that if we are 128 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,880 reckless and wasteful that we will get favor? 129 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,760 And if those are the questions we ask, we are no better than 130 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,680 either of the brothers because we're still trying to figure out 131 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,360 how we can get what we feel like we deserve? 132 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,680 Luke 15 starting in verse 11. This is this is Jesus talking 133 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,280 about what a big deal it is when somebody comes home to the 134 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,400 Kingdom of God. It says in verse 11 to 135 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,800 illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story. 136 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,440 A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 137 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,040 I want my share of your estate, and now, before you die. 138 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,360 So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 139 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,000 I used to think, by the way, that I would never see that, 140 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,600 that that was not a realistic scenario. 141 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,080 I know stories now of people that said I don't care if I get 142 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,680 an inheritance, I want it now. A few days later, this younger 143 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,200 son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land. 144 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,360 And there he wasted all his money in wild living. 145 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,760 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over 146 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,080 the land and he began to starve. Well, he persuaded a local 147 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,760 farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into the fields to feed 148 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,920 his pigs. The young man became so hungry 149 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,440 that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to 150 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,440 him. But no one gave him anything 151 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,600 when he finally came to his senses. 152 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,520 That's always a good moment in everybody's life, right? 153 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,880 He said to himself. At home, even the hired servants 154 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,080 have food enough to spare. And here I am dying of hunger. 155 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,200 I'll go to my father and say, Father, I've sinned against both 156 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,440 heaven and you. I am no longer worthy of being 157 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:42,480 called your son. Please take me back as a hired 158 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,320 servant. Many of us have gotten to this 159 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,160 place in the relationship with our heavenly Father where where 160 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,440 we say, well, I was set up for success or I knew better and I 161 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,400 did wrong. And you know, I'll just go to 162 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:52,760 God. And if I can just make it into 163 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,200 heaven, even if I smell like smoke, if I could just make it, 164 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,080 that's all I'd be willing to do Whatever it takes. 165 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:00,120 But it is. But listen to this. 166 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,480 It says, So he returned home to his father, and while he was 167 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,160 still a long way off, his father saw him coming. 168 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:08,680 He was filled with love and compassion. 169 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,840 He ran to his son and braced him and kissed him. 170 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,600 And his son said to him, Father, I've sinned against both heaven 171 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,120 and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. 172 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,840 But his father said to the servants, Quick, bring the 173 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,400 finest robe in the house, put it on him, get a ring for his 174 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,120 finger and sandals for his feet, and kill the calf that we've 175 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,080 been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 176 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,559 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. 177 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,720 He was lost, but now he's found. So the party began. 178 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,400 The end. The laughter comes from people 179 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,320 that know the story of the prodigal. 180 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,640 Because it would be great if that was the end of the story. 181 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,520 It's just that it's not not by a long shot. 182 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,560 Now this is what's interesting. Many of you have probably heard 183 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,400 this when you've heard the Prodigal preached, It's, it's a 184 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,000 favorite of pastors to preach on. 185 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,560 But the reason I'm sharing this message with you today is I 186 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,440 genuinely feel like the Lord told me that he had a message 187 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,920 from a father to his people. And I don't even like tying in 188 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:11,840 messages with holidays. It's just not my thing. 189 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,480 But today it seemed unavoidable. The father wants you to 190 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,720 understand we are the prodigal, every single one of us. 191 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,480 Now, I've often said that if you, if you get ushered into the 192 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,200 Kingdom as the prodigal, then generally over time you end up 193 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,000 finding yourself as the older brother. 194 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:30,120 But I don't want you to ever forget that you were the 195 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,880 prodigal. And there's a reason the party 196 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,920 began verse 25. Meanwhile, the older son was in 197 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,600 the fields working, in other words, doing his chores, doing 198 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,120 what he's supposed to do. And when he returned home, he 199 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,640 heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the 200 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,440 servants what was going on. Your brother's back, he was 201 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,520 told. And your father has killed the 202 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,880 fattened calf. We're celebrating because of his 203 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,440 safe return. The older brother was angry and 204 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,880 wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged 205 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,560 him, but he replied. All these years I've slaved for 206 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,440 you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. 207 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,080 And in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat for 208 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,720 a feast with my friends. But when this son of yours, you 209 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,520 notice that, right? It's not his brother there, OK, 210 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,960 but when this son of yours comes back after squandering your 211 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,000 money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the 212 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,920 fattened calf. His father said to him, dear 213 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,440 son, you have always stayed with me and everything I have is 214 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,320 yours. We had to celebrate this happy 215 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,680 day, for your brother was dead and has come back to life. 216 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:41,440 He was lost, but now he's found. Now, this story really, really 217 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,960 upset the Pharisees when Jesus shared it because he drew a very 218 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,080 clear illustration of it. You've probably heard this 219 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,400 mentioned before, Things like the fact that a father, somebody 220 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,440 who was the patriarch of the family, was not going to be 221 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,440 running. It was considered undignified, 222 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,040 especially when they're wearing these robes in the day. 223 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,760 Timothy Keller famously wrote a book and preached sermons called 224 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,760 The Prodigal God about how he was almost by our means, 225 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,400 wasteful and lavish in the way he poured out this grace upon 226 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,920 the wasteful son. But this father would have had 227 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,480 to have hiked up his robes and run down the street or run 228 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:16,920 through the field with his robes hiked up because he would have 229 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,360 tripped. It would have been a very 230 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,720 undignified thing. But the father was so thrilled 231 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,240 to see the son coming home that that was all that mattered. 232 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,400 But just for a moment, imagine that this is a real human 233 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:28,760 family. How do you think that father 234 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,520 felt in that moment? How do you think the father felt 235 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,560 in that moment that he realized that this son who's been a rock, 236 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:37,680 who's been solid, who has always been a support, How do you think 237 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:41,960 he felt finding out that all of the support you've given me for 238 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,480 all these years, it was because you thought you deserved what I 239 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,680 have. You didn't do it because you 240 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:51,240 loved me. You're going to mind my life 241 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,440 because you love me and you just love me for who I am. 242 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,320 I also wonder what their childhood was like because it 243 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,720 doesn't seem like he was real jazzed for his brother to be 244 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,840 home. So I ask you again, why does God 245 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:08,080 keep telling stories like this? Why does it seem like the 246 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,440 unlikely person, the flawed person, the younger brother? 247 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,880 Or maybe this is you and you just relate, not because of your 248 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,320 birth order, but because you think, where do I fit in the 249 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,760 story of the family of God? I do not deserve any sort of 250 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,680 blessing from him. If we're not careful, we can 251 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:25,640 begin to read Scripture as though God just enjoys choosing 252 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,200 one child over another. But the deeper that you look, I 253 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,560 think that we can all realize today that's not what's 254 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,000 happening at all. The story of the Bible is not a 255 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,520 story about God loving one more, one person more than another. 256 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,040 It's a story about God extending grace to people who could never 257 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,760 earn it. You had one who thought he had 258 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,640 earned the grace. He didn't. 259 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:47,720 You had another one who wasted it. 260 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,320 He didn't earn it for sure, but they both receive it. 261 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,360 That's what makes the prodigal story so incredible. 262 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,240 The younger brother isn't celebrated because he's better 263 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,760 than his older brother. Sometimes we feel that way. 264 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,000 Why would you bless this person when they're not even doing as 265 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,680 much for you, God, as I am? We would never say that out loud 266 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:06,960 to other people, but we think it and we know it in our hearts. 267 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,160 But the reality is, that's not what's happening. 268 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,520 The other brother is not welcomed because he deserved it. 269 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,320 He didn't. The father is a rewarding 270 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,080 behavior. He's revealing his own heart. 271 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,680 I want us to look at Genesis 37. We're going to go further back 272 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,320 now as we go back to Genesis 37. Here's what's interesting. 273 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,920 This is the number one human character spoken about in the 274 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,240 first book of the Bible. His name is Joseph. 275 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,200 It takes up more space than anyone else, more than Abraham, 276 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,240 more than Isaac, more than Noah. And why? 277 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,080 Because God gives us chapter after chapter of Joseph's life. 278 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,080 Joseph's story is ultimately a story about God's provision and 279 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,920 faithfulness and his ability to redeem what is meant for evil, 280 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,080 either from the enemy or from those that know us well. 281 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,000 Before Joseph, those of you who know his story went on to become 282 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,120 a wise leader of Egypt, before he went to prison, before he 283 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,320 interpreted dreams, before he saved nations from starvation 284 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,680 and famine, before he forgave the brothers who had betrayed 285 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,800 him, Joseph was a teenager growing up in a complicated 286 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,000 family. And complicated might be putting 287 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,320 it mildly. I realized that nobody here has 288 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,280 grown up in a complicated family dynamic. 289 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,000 But try to put yourself in Joseph's shoes for this case. 290 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,280 Joseph's father was Jacob. We're talking about the original 291 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,600 patriarchs of our faith that he is called the God of Abraham, 292 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,280 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 293 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:35,320 It stops there, right? Why? 294 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,000 Because typically 3 generations encompasses kind of all. 295 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,440 But he just as easily could have been the God of Isaac, the God 296 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,320 of Jacob, and the God of Joseph. He's your God the same way he's 297 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:45,840 your parents, God. The same way he's your 298 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,080 grandparents God. This is the family that God 299 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,520 promised he would use to bless the world. 300 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,520 And when you read their story, you can see that being chosen by 301 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,480 God does not make you immune to dysfunction. 302 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,560 Jacob had twelve sons through four different women. 303 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,240 OK, so you think there was jealousy? 304 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,840 Do you think there was competition, rivalry? 305 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,880 There was hurt, there was division, There were old wounds 306 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,280 that just seemed like they would never heal. 307 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,640 We know about Joseph versus the breast of the brothers, but I 308 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,640 promise you the rest of the brothers were not super united 309 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,920 either. This family had all the 310 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,720 ingredients that are necessary for conflict long before Joseph 311 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,040 entered the picture. And then Joseph shows up. 312 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:27,680 Now here's why he's going to matter so much. 313 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:28,800 I want you to have a little back story. 314 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,640 He's the first born to Rachel, which is Jacob's beloved wife, 315 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,440 his favorite wife, and for years Jacob had wanted Rachel and 316 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,960 worked 14 years for the privilege of marrying Rachel, 317 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,360 got cheated after seven of them. He loved all of his children, 318 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,360 but Joseph carried a special place in his heart because 319 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,640 Joseph was the son of the woman that he loved most. 320 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,840 And eventually that favoritism was impossible to hide. 321 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,320 Check this out Genesis 37, verse 3. 322 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,880 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children. 323 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,440 Well, there you go. Because Joseph had been born to 324 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,080 him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special 325 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,880 gift made for Joseph, a beautiful robe. 326 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,040 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him 327 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,240 more than the rest of them. They couldn't say a kind word to 328 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:19,920 him. Pause. 329 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:25,640 What has Joseph done wrong? What has Joseph done wrong so 330 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,720 far? Wrong place, wrong mom, wrong 331 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:30,600 time, right? I mean, I guess that's really 332 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,840 all that it is. It says that they hate him 333 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,280 because of this. Now, I'm not saying he's a 334 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:36,760 perfect guy. We're going to go through this. 335 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,640 I want you to know that sometimes the favor of the Lord 336 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,400 on your life will create some hatred. 337 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,160 Sometimes you look at that and you say, what have I done? 338 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,080 Just don't get on the same path Joseph does. 339 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,800 Check this out in verse 5. One night, Joseph had a dream, 340 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,920 and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more 341 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,880 than ever. Listen to this dream, he said. 342 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,320 We didn't make the best decisions when we were teenagers 343 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,760 either, did we? OK, he said. 344 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:05,680 We were on the field tying up bundles of grain. 345 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,440 And suddenly my bundle of grain stood up, and your bundles all 346 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,400 gathered around and bowed low before mine. 347 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,000 His brothers responded. Oh, so you think you'll be our 348 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:14,680 king? Do you? 349 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,480 Do you actually think you'll reign over us? 350 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:19,960 And they hated him all the more because of all his dreams and 351 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,480 the way he talked about them. Hate is used a lot in this 352 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:23,720 story. Have you noticed that? 353 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:26,920 All right, soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told 354 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,720 his brothers about it. Listen, I've had another dream, 355 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,000 he said. I bet they were so excited, OK, 356 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,160 he said. In this one, the sun and the 357 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,040 moon and 11 stars, very specific 11 stars, bowed low before me. 358 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,040 This time he told the dream to his father as well as his 359 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,200 brothers, But his father scolded him. 360 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:46,880 Oh, what kind of dream is that? He asked. 361 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,680 Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow 362 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,120 to the ground before you? Well, you created a monster, 363 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:54,760 Jacob. All right, one of the things I 364 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,360 find really fascinating about this story with Joseph is how 365 00:17:57,360 --> 00:17:59,960 often we remember the ending of this story and how often we 366 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,640 forget the beginning. How many of y'all saw the the 367 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,800 Prince of Egypt, right? Fantastic music, incredibly 368 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,840 biblically inaccurate. But but I mean, we remember the 369 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,120 end of the story. We even remember that classic 370 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:13,760 line, even if we forget where it comes from. 371 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,400 That what you intended for evil, the Lord turned around for good. 372 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,880 We use this all the time to bolster our own emotions and to 373 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,840 encourage ourselves when things are going wrong. 374 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,120 We forget the beginning of this. This dumb teenager who God loves 375 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:26,800 so much and Jacob really favored. 376 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,720 Listen to this. Genesis 37 introduces us to a 17 377 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,600 ish year old boy and 17 year olds are rarely finished 378 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,720 products. We know that he is his father's 379 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,520 favorite. It literally says it. 380 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,960 He gets a special outfit. He gets nice clothes. 381 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,000 I don't know your family dynamics, but typically it's not 382 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,120 the younger ones that get the new clothes. 383 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:55,560 OK OK, so the robe wasn't Joseph's fault. 384 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,800 The dreams weren't Joseph's fault. 385 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,880 God gave him the dreams. His father gave him the 386 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,760 clothing. The favor wasn't his fault. 387 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:06,360 Those were gifts that had been given to him. 388 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,200 But the problem is that when Joseph received these gifts, 389 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,440 when he received the favor, the problem was that Joseph had not 390 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,360 yet developed the maturity to carry these gifts well. 391 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,160 And so God gave him dreams about his future. 392 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,760 It's very kind of him. But Joseph seems incredibly 393 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,760 socially inept and unaware of how those dreams might affect 394 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,080 people around him. Instead of just treasuring what 395 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,400 God had revealed, he repeatedly shares his dreams with the very 396 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,080 brothers who already hated him. By the time he finishes telling 397 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:38,640 them that they're going to bow before him, they hate him even 398 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,000 more. It's one of the great ironies of 399 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,160 scriptures that God was genuinely speaking to Joseph, 400 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,440 but Joseph's immaturity kept getting in the way. 401 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,800 And before we're too critical of him, it's worth remembering how 402 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,920 often we do this too. One of the greatest tests in our 403 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,400 lives is how we handle what, not the hardships. 404 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,120 That's how we handle favor. What do you do when God blesses 405 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:02,360 you? We talk a lot about people that 406 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:05,520 stand the test, people that endure through the end, people 407 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,840 that are going through great suffering or great hardship. 408 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,520 And we're like, wow, you didn't quit. 409 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,240 And that impressed me and inspired me. 410 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,040 What do you do when God blesses you? 411 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,000 What do you do when you prayed for favor? 412 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,560 You prayed for finances, you prayed for a good relationship, 413 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,160 you prayed for something and then it appears right in front 414 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,800 of you. Now it's in your life. 415 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,760 That's one of the biggest tests of maturity you will ever see in 416 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,640 your entire life. Give someone influence and 417 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,200 you'll find out whether or not they're humble. 418 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,200 You don't find it out when they're struggling. 419 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,400 If you give someone success, then you're going to find out if 420 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,120 they're grateful. If you give someone recognition, 421 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:40,000 you'll find out real quick whether they're secure. 422 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,200 And if you give someone a platform, you'll find out 423 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,200 whether or not they want to serve people or if they want to 424 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,800 impress them. The truth is that God has been 425 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,880 incredibly generous to every single one of us wasteful kids, 426 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,640 and we've been given gifts and opportunities and relationships 427 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:56,560 and abilities and grace that we didn't earn. 428 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,560 We've been entrusted with the gospel itself, and we struggled 429 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,640 to carry God's favor with wisdom and humility. 430 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,640 I know that the reputation is that on Mother's Day, church 431 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,000 services are, oh moms, you're so special and we love you. 432 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,520 And when it's Father's Day, it's like Father's do better. 433 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,080 So I just figured I would just level the playing ground and 434 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,720 say, hey guys, let's all do better. 435 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,000 Sometimes we get prideful because of what God's given us. 436 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,800 Sometimes we get entitled, sometimes we start to think that 437 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,160 the gifts are about us instead of the God who gave them, you 438 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,320 know, Do you like my bluey shirt? 439 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,160 My daughter picked it out. I love this bluey shirt. 440 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,760 I looked at it and I thought, oh, I could never pull something 441 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:37,960 like that off. And now I can because it's 442 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:39,680 attached to my daughter and I love my kids. 443 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,440 And before you all are like, oh, what a great dad. 444 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,560 I want to tell you a story. Not everybody plays this game. 445 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:46,680 So I'll describe it a little bit. 446 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:51,320 But those of you that know, you know, in my house, we play Mario 447 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,480 Kart. OK, It's a racing game using 448 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,640 Mario and assorted characters. And for years I've just been on 449 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:02,560 this reign of terror through my house, just destroying them. 450 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,920 Well, I want them to have realistic expectations. 451 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,080 You're not always first place. It's important. 452 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,560 And there's the setting you can have. 453 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,440 There's the setting where you've got a little antenna and it's 454 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,120 like assisted driving. And what it does is it stops you 455 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:18,600 from going off the side of the road. 456 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,560 It stops you from from going into a lot of the areas where 457 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,160 you could be in more danger. And, you know, they watch my 458 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,920 wife and I, we, we compete in this game as well. 459 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:29,840 And they've watched us and we're like good game. 460 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,040 Larson. Ah, Larson. 461 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,520 We always say that. And so something happened for 462 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,520 the first time about a week and a half ago. 463 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:42,800 My son, nine years old, beat me in a knockout tour and his 464 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:47,000 antenna was on. And I'm like, here it comes. 465 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,920 So he gets up, he walks over to me, the most innocent, most 466 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,640 pure, most beautiful picture on his face. 467 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,000 And he puts out his hand to shake my hand. 468 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:04,760 And he said, good game, Larson. And I said you had the antenna 469 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,160 on so 25% of your win didn't count anyway. 470 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:20,040 I'm glad y'all can laugh. How prideful for me to look at 471 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,440 my 9 year old in the face after beating him approximately 472 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:28,280 500,000 times throughout the years and diminish his success 473 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,040 because it made me feel less than in a moment. 474 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,600 Because his eyes welled up when I said that. 475 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:40,880 And he said, I understand. And I, yeah, I know I'm a 476 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,000 terrible doubt. And, and so then in my head, I'm 477 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,320 thinking, I got to make this right. 478 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,680 I need to make this right. Later on, I hear my kids playing 479 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,120 Mario Kart and, and, and I hear them say to each other, your 480 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:54,520 antenna's on. It's 25% of that doesn't count. 481 00:23:54,520 --> 00:24:00,360 And I thought, do you understand what I was talking about at the 482 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:02,600 beginning from the sociologist and what we're looking at with 483 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:07,000 biblical families? What you say sends ripples 484 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,000 through the people who love you and respect you. 485 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:11,360 So I did the only thing I could do. 486 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:13,960 And I sat down and I looked at my son and I said, Dad should 487 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,400 not have said that to you. I was used to winning. 488 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,000 And something came up in me that I didn't even know was there. 489 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,120 And I'm so sorry. And I asked you to forgive me. 490 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,640 And his eyes welled up again, but it was better. 491 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,480 It was better. And he said, of course I forgive 492 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:28,720 you. And I said, and I don't want you 493 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,240 guys joking with each other in that way. 494 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,080 I don't want you joking with each other in a way that 495 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:34,760 diminishes the success that you have. 496 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,720 And we've not joked about it, not one of us ever since. 497 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,200 The other thing was cool husbands, just so you know, The 498 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:42,520 other thing was cool. I'm talking to the kids. 499 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,480 And then I look over and Cassie has this look on her face and 500 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,120 I'm just like, I just became like 7 times more attractive to 501 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:52,040 her, right? Like like, so anytime that 502 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:56,160 you're worried about apologizing or whatever, no, no, no, own 503 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,120 your stuff, OK? It is healthy. 504 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,720 You live a cleaner life and it's better for relationships all 505 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,520 around. And we have a lot more fun 506 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,000 playing it now. And he's beaten me a few more 507 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,960 times. I've still beaten him more, but 508 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:13,720 it doesn't matter. I can't help but notice that 509 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,120 nobody gets upset. By the way, as we return to the 510 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:18,200 story of Joseph. I've not once ever heard 511 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,600 somebody get upset with God for his role in this story. 512 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,320 Have you? Have you ever heard somebody 513 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:24,960 complain about what God does with Joseph? 514 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:30,280 I mean, nobody reads Genesis 37 and says that the dreams were 515 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,160 the problem. Nobody says, well, if God hadn't 516 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,120 told him that he had a great destiny, why didn't God go to 517 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,160 all of Jacob's children and tell them all that they had a great 518 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,000 destiny? Well, the reality is that God 519 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,840 spoke it to 1. He had his own reasons. 520 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,240 I understand that there's this concept that says, well, you 521 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,680 have to raise every child the same way. 522 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,560 You can't. They're not the same, they're 523 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,880 different. Certain things apply to some 524 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,560 certain ones they will react to one way and it just doesn't work 525 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,160 unilaterally. And the same goes for sometimes 526 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,480 what happens if you get a word from the Lord for one of your 527 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,320 kids? If you say, well, I'll give it 528 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,640 to them when I get a word for my other kids, you got to give it 529 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,440 out, right? The problem wasn't the dreams. 530 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,040 The problem is what Joseph did with it. 531 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,360 Now I want to show this. It's an important distinction. 532 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:14,800 I haven't talked about it in a long time, but there's a huge 533 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,720 distinction between favor and favoritism. 534 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,640 They're not the same thing. The favoritism is blind to the 535 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,000 defaults. Not the defaults, but the but 536 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,320 the flaws. It's blind to the flaws and the 537 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,520 fallbacks and the issues and just giving out favor 538 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,440 regardless. Pure favor though is different. 539 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,120 I'll show you 2 examples here and you don't have to turn 540 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:36,160 there. They're small examples. 541 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:41,240 But in Acts 1034 you can see this when Peter replied. 542 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,320 I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 543 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,840 God shows no favoritism in every nation. 544 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,400 He accepts those who fear Him and do what is right. 545 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,760 This is as the Gentiles are starting to hear the gospel and 546 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:54,320 they're coming to know the Lord for themselves. 547 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,520 So we already know that God does not show favoritism, correct? 548 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:04,280 All right, Luke 252 Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in 549 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,400 favor with God and all the people. 550 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,360 How can you grow in favor but not favoritism? 551 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,160 Because Jesus was submitted to the Father, the Father knew he 552 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,680 could trust Jesus. Sometimes people in your life, 553 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,680 they earn more favor. Do you have anybody that you are 554 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,360 more willing to share the struggles that you've got with? 555 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,920 Do you have anybody that you are willing to trust in an intimate 556 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:25,240 way? Because they've earned some 557 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,560 favor, you can understand that they can carry this. 558 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,080 That's the way to live life, not in competition, not to have more 559 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,520 favor than somebody else, but to be somebody who can be trusted 560 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,760 and responsible. The difference is that 561 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,040 favoritism assigns greater value to one person over another. 562 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,720 Favor is a gracious activity in a person's life. 563 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,120 If you say this person has to have more favor than somebody 564 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:51,960 else, it's not favor. If you say this person has 565 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,600 earned A deeper level of trust and you have no thought about 566 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,680 somebody else in that, that's different. 567 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,160 Does that make sense? So the issue was how Joseph 568 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,760 carried it and he was just not mature enough to carry it the 569 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,680 right way. As I thought about this whole 570 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,640 story, it struck me how easy it is to judge Joseph while missing 571 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,040 our ways, that we do the same thing. 572 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,320 So most of us will never walk into a room and announce that 573 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,760 everyone should bow down to us. Most of us are too socially 574 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,440 aware for that. But our misuse of favour is 575 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,560 pretty subtle. How about when God opens the 576 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:25,760 door for us and over time we start to believe we deserve the 577 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,840 opportunity. God blesses us financially, and 578 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,200 instead of viewing those resources as something that God 579 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,880 has trusted to us, we start to look at them as something that 580 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,840 was intended for us. Like God wanted me to have this 581 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,400 rather than God wanted me to use this. 582 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,280 God gives us a talent OR a platform or a ministry, and then 583 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,600 we slowly begin to draw our identity from the gift instead 584 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,760 of from the God who gave the gift. 585 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,440 Sometimes God answers a prayer that we've been praying for 586 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,160 years, and then rather than becoming more grateful, we 587 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,640 become entitled. Here's how this normally looks. 588 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,240 Let's say God restores a relationship, or heals a wound, 589 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,160 or strengthens a marriage or carries you through a difficult 590 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:05,680 season. And instead of becoming more 591 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,000 compassionate towards other people that are struggling in 592 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,360 similar ways, we start to wonder why they can't seem to get their 593 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:12,840 lives together the way that we did. 594 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,000 I worked hard, I got myself out of it. 595 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,640 I was in a bad relationship, but I got to a better one. 596 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:20,960 When you see somebody else struggling, you start to wonder 597 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,120 why they can't do what you did, forgetting that you didn't even 598 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,440 do it. He did it. 599 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,240 He did it. Sometimes God entrusts us with 600 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,600 influence in somebody's life, and before we realize that, we 601 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,240 become more concerned with preserving our reputation 602 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,040 instead of serving the people around us. 603 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,400 All of this happens without us noticing it. 604 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,360 The human heart has an incredible ability to take God's 605 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:46,400 gift and turn them into mirrors for ourselves. 606 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,920 You know why we're screw ups? Maybe I can't speak for you. 607 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,920 I'm a screw up. I look at God and there are more 608 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,280 than one. There's more than one time that 609 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,480 I have said this. This has been an actual part of 610 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:05,840 my prayer before where I said, God, I'm an idiot, so help me 611 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:07,360 fix what I don't know how to fix. 612 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,040 And before you're like, oh, don't do negative self talk. 613 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,080 There is a scripture that says I'm too foolish to be considered 614 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,160 human. Look it up. 615 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:16,800 Not right now. Don't be on your phone. 616 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:23,080 All right? Joseph was favored, but he was 617 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:24,880 immature. He was chosen. 618 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,520 He still needed time to grow. Joseph was the favorite that 619 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,560 failed. Let's talk about the favorite 620 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,920 who shared. As we leave the story of Joseph, 621 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,120 I want you to remember that he wasn't perfect. 622 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:38,960 In fact, that's true of everybody that we talked about 623 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,440 today. Abel, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, 624 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,200 Caine, David, all of these people, they all experience 625 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,080 God's favor in absolutely significant ways, but every 626 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,680 single one of them eventually reminded us that we're all still 627 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:52,680 human. The deeper story of Scripture is 628 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,320 that all of these people pointed to someone beyond themselves. 629 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,680 Joseph points to someone greater than Joseph. 630 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,360 When you see the whole scripture, David's story points 631 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,720 to someone greater than David. Your story points to someone 632 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,360 greater than you. Every favorite son in the Old 633 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,800 Testament eventually points us towards the Son who stands 634 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,120 alone. Jesus has no rival. 635 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,720 We sing this. He has nobody that can compare 636 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,160 to him. And I want you to understand 637 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,840 that while Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, Jesus is the 638 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,720 Father's beloved son. There's a sense in which, yes, 639 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,280 we're all called children of God, but the New Testament does 640 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,720 make a huge distinction when it speaks about Jesus. 641 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,240 You and I become sons and daughters through something 642 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,360 called adoption. And if you're like, well, I know 643 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,560 that word, of course you do. It's also a theological concept. 644 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,000 We're welcomed into God's family through grace, but Jesus was not 645 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,280 adopted into the family. Jesus was eternal, is eternal, 646 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:50,200 will always be eternal. Right before Moses, he said, I 647 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,160 am. OK, So before creation, before 648 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,640 any of this, the relationship that Jesus had with the Father 649 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,080 was unlike any other in Scripture. 650 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,280 At his baptism, the Father declared, this is my dearly 651 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,520 loved son who brings me great joy. 652 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,360 Now, if you considered yourself a son of God, and then you watch 653 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,880 somebody else get baptized and you hear this voice from heaven 654 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,360 while the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and God is saying, 655 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,920 this is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. 656 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,080 Would you say I need to learn from that guy? 657 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,080 Or would you say, what about me? They didn't fully know who he 658 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,880 was yet. By the time we get to Matthew 659 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,080 17, where we'll be in a moment, Jesus has already been teaching. 660 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,440 He's been healing, He's been performing miracles. 661 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,160 And the disciples know that he's special, but they don't really 662 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,280 fully understand who's standing in front of them. 663 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,320 So Jesus, man, I wonder if this was favoritism or favor. 664 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,560 So Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain, Not all 12 665 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,760 disciples, but he takes 3. And for a brief moment, the veil 666 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,720 is pulled back on who he is. What they're about to see is not 667 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,640 merely a teacher or a prophet or a miracle worker. 668 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,160 They're about to see the glory of the sun. 669 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,640 More importantly, they're about to hear the Father speak. 670 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:01,760 The Father's attention settles in on one person. 671 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:04,920 His affirmation settles on one person. 672 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,800 The Father's delight settles on one person. 673 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,800 It's Jesus verse one in chapter 17 of Matthew. 674 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,760 It says 6 days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers James 675 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,000 and John, and LED them up a high mountain to be alone. 676 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,320 And as the men watched, Jesus's appearance was transformed so 677 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:25,600 that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as 678 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,360 light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah 679 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:30,360 appeared and began talking with Jesus. 680 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,520 Peter exclaimed. Lord, it's wonderful for us to 681 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,960 be here. If you want, I'll make 3 682 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,920 shelters as memorials, one for you, one for Moses, and 1:00 for 683 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,360 Elijah. You know who Peter is here, 684 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:43,040 right? He's the older brother. 685 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:46,440 I'll do the work. I can do it. 686 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:51,240 Pick me, Jesus. Even as he spoke, a bright cloud 687 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,280 overshadowed them. And a voice from the cloud said, 688 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,440 This is my dearly loved Son who brings me great joy. 689 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,240 Listen to him. And the disciples were terrified 690 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:02,520 and fell face down on the ground. 691 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:05,600 I bet they did. You want to know how to receive 692 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,800 the favor of God that way. Bring him great joy. 693 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:12,360 You want to be the dearly loved son, the dearly loved daughter. 694 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,320 You bring him great joy. Make decisions that bring him 695 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,040 great joy. Say words that bring him great 696 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,080 joy. Do actions that bring him great 697 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:21,679 joy. You don't earn it through what 698 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:22,880 you do. You earn it through the 699 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,040 obedience. What have you set before me? 700 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,600 Verse 7, Jesus came over and touched them and said, get up, 701 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,560 don't be afraid. And when they looked up, Moses 702 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,280 and Elijah were gone and they saw only Jesus. 703 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,920 You know, it's interesting. I never thought about until 704 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,440 until this week and prepping for this message, if Peter had 705 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,960 started to work on building shelters for Elijah and Moses 706 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,320 and Jesus, well, Jesus was still there, but Elijah and Moses 707 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,320 weren't. He would have built shelters for 708 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,080 people that didn't even remain there. 709 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,960 Sometimes we get this idea, I'm going to do this for God and 710 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,320 this is what I'll do for a long time. 711 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,080 And the reality is, no you won't. 712 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,240 You may have had a great idea to do that for God. 713 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:07,360 Did God have a great idea for you to do that? 714 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,600 For God? It's totally different. 715 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,880 It becomes about us. You see what I mean? 716 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,720 Peter was brought up in this mountaintop for this incredible 717 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:19,840 experience, irreplaceable. Who here has had a moment like 718 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,560 being on the mountain of Transfiguration? 719 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,160 And Peter looked at it and said, I can make a checklist out of 720 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,960 this. But for just a moment, these 721 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,640 three people got to see what's always been true about Jesus. 722 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:35,640 The glory that had been veiled behind human flesh now was 723 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,360 shining through. And a lot of ways, this is the 724 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,640 moment in which the entire Old Testament had been moving. 725 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,560 Every single sacrifice, every promise, every king and every 726 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,520 prophet, every favored son had all been pointing toward this 727 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,720 son. But unlike Joseph, Jesus has 728 00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:54,440 never misused the favor of his father. 729 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,960 Unlike David, Jesus never abused his position. 730 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,760 Unlike the nation of Israel, Jesus never wandered. 731 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,720 And unlike Adam, Jesus never rebelled. 732 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:07,880 So for the first time in Scripture, we see a son who 733 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,320 carries the Father's favor perfectly. 734 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,680 He never confuses his identity and he never succumbs to pride. 735 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,680 And he never takes what belongs to the Father and uses it for 736 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,720 himself. He lives in perfect obedience, 737 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,920 perfect humility, and perfect harmony with the Father. 738 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,440 And that's what makes the Gospel so life changing. 739 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,160 Because the story could have ended right there. 740 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,280 Jesus could have remained the beloved Son while the rest of us 741 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,240 remained outsiders looking in. And we just tried our best to 742 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:34,880 live like Him. And we tried harder. 743 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:37,320 He could have enjoyed what was rightfully his. 744 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,480 He had no requirement whatsoever to share it. 745 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,080 The glory belonged to Him. The inheritance belonged to Him. 746 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,000 The Kingdom belongs to Him. But Jesus does something that no 747 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,680 other favored son in scripture ever did, and He shares it. 748 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:59,560 How many of y'all know the name Roy Disney Couple? 749 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:02,120 Some of you are like, well, I know half the name. 750 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,880 Does that count? Yeah, everybody knows the name 751 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,120 Walt Disney. His name is on the company, but 752 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:11,240 his name's on the the movies. His name is on the parks. 753 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,520 His name is synonymous with imagination and creativity and 754 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,400 Toy Story, right? So what a lot of people don't 755 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,880 realize is that Walt did have another brother named Roy. 756 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,600 Walt was the dreamer. He was always imagining what 757 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:26,200 could be. He was the creative, and Roy was 758 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:27,520 the one that handled the finances. 759 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,440 Roy secured the funding. Roy handled the paperwork. 760 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,800 Roy helped turn these dreams and visions into a reality. 761 00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:36,040 Neither one was more important than the other, but they had 762 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,880 very different jobs, so the two brothers worked well together 763 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:42,800 for a long time. After Walt Disney died in 1966, 764 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,120 Roy was the one that oversaw the completion of what would 765 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:50,640 eventually be Walt Disney World. At that point, he could put his 766 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,720 own name on the project. Could you imagine that if Walt 767 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:57,680 Disneyland was in California and Roy Disney World was in Florida? 768 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,080 I mean, he was the one finishing it. 769 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,240 He was the one leading. He could have just changed it to 770 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:06,160 just Disney, But Roy insisted that it be called Walt Disney 771 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,240 World. He wanted future generations to 772 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:12,280 remember his brother's vision. He intentionally used his 773 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,360 position to point attention away from himself and on to somebody 774 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,160 else. Who does that? 775 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,560 Who does that? Most of us understand people who 776 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,160 use their position to elevate themselves. 777 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:26,520 But what surprises us is when somebody uses their position to 778 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,040 honor somebody else. Even that falls short of what 779 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:32,200 Jesus did. Jesus didn't just share credit. 780 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,600 He shared an inheritance with you and I. 781 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:38,120 If Jesus is the favorite who shared, the question then 782 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:39,960 becomes not whether or not we believe that. 783 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,040 I hope that you do. And if you don't, man, we got 784 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:43,880 people that will be at that prayer station at the end. 785 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,120 We'll be back there. Any one of us would love to pray 786 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,760 with you if you don't know that Jesus did this for you. 787 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:51,920 But I would ask you this, do you know what to do with this 788 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,280 inheritance that God has given you? 789 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,280 Once you understand the gospel, you can never say again that God 790 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,160 has been stingy with you. If you truly understand the 791 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,440 gospel, you'll never feel like God is withholding from you. 792 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,440 The Father gave his Son, the Son shared his inheritance, and the 793 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:08,120 Spirit brought you into the family. 794 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:10,520 So at some point, I just want to share this with you. 795 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,840 Every believer has to decide how they'll respond to that kind of 796 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:14,440 favor. I've got 3 responses for you. 797 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,520 How do you respond to this? The first thing is gratefulness. 798 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,440 One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life, hear me 799 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,240 believers, is becoming familiar with the truth. 800 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:28,240 That should leave you amazed. We hear words like grace and 801 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:31,880 salvation and forgiveness and adoption and eternal life so 802 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:34,200 often that we forget how extraordinary they are. 803 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:39,400 We sing Amazing Grace like it's anything but amazing. 804 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,600 The reality is that none of us earned a seat at God's table. 805 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:46,160 None of us deserve to be called a son or a daughter, let alone 806 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,120 make it to heaven. None of us deserve the 807 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:49,240 inheritance. We didn't earn it. 808 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,880 But when gratitude starts to fade, that's when entitlement 809 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,200 comes in and takes it's place. There will be no vacuum, no void 810 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:56,800 there. As soon as you stop being 811 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,120 grateful, you'll feel like this is something you've earned. 812 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:01,960 We stop seeing our relationship with God as a gift and we start 813 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,400 treating it as an expectation. God, why won't you answer my 814 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:06,960 prayers after all that I've done for you? 815 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,160 God, I've spent X amount of time and prayer for you. 816 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,680 Why does that person feel like it seems like you talk to them 817 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:14,400 all the time? Where are my words? 818 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,680 I've been there before. We have to come back to the same 819 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:21,240 truth. Everything that we have was 820 00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:26,160 given to us by loving Father through a gracious son #2 821 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:29,080 humility. One of the most beautiful things 822 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:33,080 about adoption is that it leaves no room for boasting. 823 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,400 Nobody adopts themselves. I don't know if you know that or 824 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:38,400 not. Anybody here adopted in their 825 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:39,960 natural family? Anybody here adopted as they 826 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,080 were raised up? OK, I love it. 827 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:44,400 Isn't there something special? I mean, I know that it comes 828 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:45,960 with its own stuff. I never met my father. 829 00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:49,320 But isn't it kind of cool when you know you were chosen, right? 830 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,960 When you have a baby, you don't know right away if it's going to 831 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:55,720 be a boy or a girl or what's going to happen. 832 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:57,920 You trust that the Lord is going to bring you the child that the 833 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,880 Lord wants you to have. And when you adopt A baby, when 834 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:01,680 you adopt A kid, you choose them. 835 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:03,640 You choose to bring them into the family. 836 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,800 Not one of us in this room or on this live stream earned our way 837 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:12,120 into the family of God. None of us negotiated our way 838 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:14,120 into being a son or a daughter of God. 839 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,200 The same is true spiritually, that it is in the natural. 840 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,120 The ground is level at the foot of the cross. 841 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,720 Every single one of us came to God the same way we came as 842 00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,880 sinners in need of grace. Romans 323 says that we have all 843 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,920 sinned and all fallen short of the glory of God, so we came 844 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,840 dependent on His mercy and the beginning that we the moment 845 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,560 that we start to begin to look down on other people, compare 846 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:38,880 ourselves to others, or treat ourselves as spiritually 847 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,360 superior, we've forgotten how we got here and we've lost our 848 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:43,800 humility. The older brother in Luke 15 849 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,800 never understood this. The prodigal eventually did. 850 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:52,120 Third response, generosity. I don't know how you can be in a 851 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:54,480 thriving, active relationship with the Lord and not have 852 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,640 generosity. If Jesus shared his place with 853 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,960 us, then we should become the people who share what God has 854 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:02,040 given us with others too, don't you think? 855 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,480 We live in a world that teaches us to protect our position, save 856 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,920 for a rainy day, guard our resources, hold tightly to 857 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,000 whatever advantage you have. Jesus models something entirely 858 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:14,760 different because he opens his hands and he welcomes them the 859 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,920 the outsiders, the island of Misfit Toys, as we call 860 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:19,800 ourselves here. He makes room at the table for 861 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:22,320 you and for me. That means that we should be the 862 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,240 kind of people that also make room for other people. 863 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:27,960 We should share encouragement because he's encouraged us. 864 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,360 He's given us opportunities. We should give other people 865 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,200 opportunities. We should share our resources. 866 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,880 We should be willing to share the hope of the gospel. 867 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,480 Can you imagine? Wow, it makes me feel weird to 868 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:41,400 talk about religion, you know, at the dinner table. 869 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,160 Does the concept of hell make you feel weird? 870 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:46,560 I don't know. I'm just going to throw that out 871 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:51,200 there. We should use whatever favour 872 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:54,200 God has placed in our lives to help other people experience His 873 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:58,240 goodness and elevate them. The natural response to being 874 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:01,240 welcomed should be to be welcoming, and the natural 875 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:03,760 response to receiving grace should be to extend grace. 876 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:07,040 The natural response to being included in God's family should 877 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:08,720 be to help somebody else find their way home. 878 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:11,840 How many of y'all when you first showed up at this church felt 879 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:13,520 extremely welcomed by our care team? 880 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:15,720 The people that meet you at the door and they'll look at this 881 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:17,920 man. Can we just hear it for the care 882 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:25,880 team, like because they do such a good job Now, whether or not 883 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,560 you're on the care team, what would it take for you to be just 884 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,080 as welcoming to somebody who's in? 885 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:33,560 Remember what it was like when you were brand new here? 886 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:36,240 What would it take for you to walk up to one person you don't 887 00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:38,720 know and be like, I don't know if I met you before, my name is 888 00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:41,800 Roy Disney. You probably never heard of me, 889 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,680 right? What would it take right before 890 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:48,200 you're like, well, I mean, I'm not on the care team, you know, 891 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:54,320 like, well, they're not paid. At this point, everything comes 892 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:57,880 down to just one question. Did Jesus really share his place 893 00:43:57,880 --> 00:43:59,960 with us or is that just a nice idea that sounds good in a 894 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:03,360 sermon? I want to finish this up with 895 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:06,640 Romans 8 because Paul takes everything that we've been 896 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,760 talking about and he removes every single piece of doubt. 897 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,920 He tells us that those who are led by the Spirit of God are the 898 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,920 children of God, not those who make a mental decision. 899 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:19,680 But if you're willing to be led by the Spirit of God, Congrats, 900 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:24,040 you've got a father. Romans chapter 8 verse 14 says 901 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,760 this. All who are led by the Spirit of 902 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:30,120 God are children of God. So you have not received a 903 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,160 spirit that makes you fearful slaves. 904 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:36,320 Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as 905 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:40,680 His own children. Now we call Him ABBA Father, for 906 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:44,040 His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's 907 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:46,400 children. And since we are His children, 908 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:51,440 we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ, 909 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:55,080 we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share in His 910 00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,480 glory, we must also share in His suffering. 911 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:02,480 Guys, I understand that these things might apply to, but your 912 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,000 primary filter should not be that you are a servant of the 913 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,840 Lord. You're not a guest. 914 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:10,520 You're not a distant relative, children. 915 00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,240 He goes on to say that we've received the spirit of adoption 916 00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:16,080 and because of that we cry out. ABBA father. 917 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:19,160 He says something that would have sounded almost unbelievable 918 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,360 to the people then because it was such a familiar family term. 919 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:24,880 I want you to think about what Paul is saying here. 920 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:28,160 The inheritance belongs to Jesus, The relationship belongs 921 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:31,120 to Jesus, the sonship belongs to Jesus. 922 00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:34,040 And somehow, through grace, you and I have been brought into 923 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:37,600 what was already His. The beloved Son did not lose his 924 00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:41,160 place so that we could have one. He shared his place so we could 925 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:43,960 join with Him in it. You walk around with the glory 926 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:48,960 of God inside of you, and you ain't got nothing to brag about 927 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:50,920 in that respect. It was given to you. 928 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:56,080 You're a glory bearer. The question is, are you someone 929 00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,360 who stewards the glory, or do you just carry it? 930 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:03,280 We can see now that the message of the gospel is that the Father 931 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,120 has never stopped watching the road for us. 932 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:10,840 What will we do when he brings somebody home? 933 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:15,600 Will we become angry? Will we ask why is there a big 934 00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:17,040 deal? Why is there a big celebration? 935 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,560 Or will we run in there and will we throw down at that party too? 936 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:22,840 I'll tell you what, I just look at my decision. 937 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:26,320 Sometimes, just like playing Mario Kart, I'm still an idiot. 938 00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:33,440 But you know what? I am God's favorite idiot, and 939 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:39,960 you can be too. That ground is level at the 940 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:44,440 cross, isn't it? Listen, next week we're going to 941 00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:46,080 go through a pretty challenging series. 942 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:47,640 We're going to start, and it's going to carry us through the 943 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:49,120 end of July. We're going to talk about the 944 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,360 open secret of sin, and we're going to start targeting sins 945 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:56,480 that exist in churches, sins that people that love Jesus tend 946 00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:59,280 to tolerate or minimize or even laugh at. 947 00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:01,760 And we're going to take take some time and we're going to try 948 00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:07,000 to grow through that. But today's Father's Day and we 949 00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:08,920 honor fathers today, and rightfully so. 950 00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:11,440 Think about this, guys. I'm not trying to take anything 951 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:13,480 away from the ladies. I'm a big advocate for women in 952 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,000 ministry. But let me just tell you this. 953 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:22,440 Jesus, who's the bridegroom, He's got a bride, which is his 954 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:23,400 church. And he says this. 955 00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:26,840 He says love your wife as Jesus loves the church. 956 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,360 That's tall order, isn't it? God decided to call himself a 957 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:35,520 father and then shared that term with us. 958 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,400 That's tall order, isn't it? And you can't do it unless 959 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,440 you're attached to Him. So we have to stay attached to 960 00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:45,360 Him. When Jesus told this story about 961 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:48,960 grace, he told a story about a father running to meet His Son. 962 00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:50,400 Think about your salvation story. 963 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:53,440 I don't know if you got saved at 5 or 19 or I don't know if it's 964 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:55,000 coming today. I want you to think about it. 965 00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:58,920 The visual image that the Son of God gave you was this. 966 00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:03,040 When you decided to come home, the Father was standing there 967 00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:05,520 watching the road. He was waiting for you. 968 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,720 The brother had already written them off. 969 00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:12,080 Maybe you've got people that have written you out, but the 970 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:14,840 father never did. That's what your father's like. 971 00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,440 That's what your father's like. Remember that, so that you don't 972 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:21,080 lose sight of everything that he's given you. 973 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,520 He's the father who runs towards a prodigal instead of running 974 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,840 away from them. He's the father who restores 975 00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:29,440 what sin breaks. And He's the Father who welcomes 976 00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:32,400 us home when we have nothing to offer except the fact that we 977 00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:36,040 have needs. He's the Father who sees us at 978 00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:38,840 our worst and still desires us as His children. 979 00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:42,880 I want you to know that when I look at my life, I do see more 980 00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:44,520 failures than I would like to admit. 981 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,560 I see moments where I've misused God's blessings and I've taken 982 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:50,160 His goodness for granted, and I've wandered farther than I 983 00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:52,040 should have. But every time that I return to 984 00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,600 the gospel and I crack open the Bible, or I listen to somebody 985 00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:57,200 share a word, I find the same thing waiting for me. 986 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,800 A Father whose grace is greater than my failures, and a Father 987 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:03,880 whose love is deeper than my shame. 988 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,280 Y'all stand up. I don't care if you've served 989 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:11,000 him for 80 years or 8 minutes. We're going to end with a song 990 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:12,760 today. I want you to know He welcomes 991 00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,520 his people home. He adopts the people that don't 992 00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:17,880 deserve it, and he shares an inheritance with people that 993 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:20,560 have never earned it. And it's all through Jesus that 994 00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:22,640 he's done that. Are you already saying about 995 00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:23,480 what our Father's like?