Seeking More
I grew up in a Buddhist home full of love and trauma. My mother could pray for hours on the floor and had special prayer pillows deeply indented by her knees. I would tell people my mom could outpray any Christian because she was a “prayer warrior.”
In 2012, we found out she had stage 4 cancer. It didn’t stop her from living life to the fullest. She passed away in 2018, and I don’t know if she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.
Why am I sharing this story with you concerning the teaching of the Prodigal Son? It’s because what I haven’t told you is she always wanted more from life. She wanted money, jewelry, happiness, and success. The prodigal son also wanted more.
“The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate . . .”
Luke 15:12
She wanted all these things while working hard to be at peace. She was at odds with herself and took it out on those around her. Months before she passed, I visited her in Thailand. She was in a lot of pain, frail, distant, and constantly meditating to be a better person for the next life.
One morning she took a break from meditating and asked me to share my beliefs about life and death. I did my best to share the amazing love of Jesus Christ as I had done many times before. However, this time I knew it was going to be my last. After I finished, she looked at me and said, “I never heard Jesus like that before.” All I could do at that moment was look into my mom’s eyes and pray that she would sense God's love and peace.
Until her death, I never stopped praying for her. I hoped she would come to know Jesus and be welcomed into the eternal family to find the peace, joy, and love she had been seeking. Just like the prodigal son did when he finally came home.
Father, open our eyes to welcome all who don’t know you. Keep your church a place of peace, love, and rest for all who are looking for a home. Amen.
Michelle Jones
Operations Director
The Father’s Heart
And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.’ And so he divided his ]wealth between them..
Having a prodigal child is tough. In Luke 15:11-12, the son said, “give me my share”. How did the father feel as his son just left with his share?
We have a daughter who is temporarily out of communication with us. Children leave home sometimes under tough circumstances. When that happens, what grabs our hearts? The father didn’t know where his son was or when he would ever return. We don’t know when we will see our daughter again. Of course we want her back but as we wait, what is our heart condition? Is it worry, anxiety, hurt, or bitterness? “Lord, bring back what is ours.” Is she truly ours? Or…
Do I trust that God is good? (Psalm 145:9)
Do I trust that she is His child? (John 1:12)
Do I trust that I am complete in Christ in order to be at peace no matter where she is in her journey? (Col 2:10)
Do I trust that He will work all things together for good and according to His (not my) purpose? (Rom. 8:28).
Do I trust the good work He has done and is doing in her? (Phil 1:6)
What will be the condition of my heart when she returns? Will I be willing to receive her unconditionally as the father did? Am I a minister of reconciliation for God? (2 Cor. 5:17-21)
This is not easy, I know. But the truth is we have a Good Father who knows us intimately and loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us. Jesus died for us after we left Him, welcoming us back. Now nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39)
Because of Jesus, we have the Grace through The Holy Spirit to welcome others back and love them as He loved us. The choice is ours to follow Him or go our own way.
Lori
The Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is most likely the best-known parable. It’s the longest, has the most details and unlike other parables, it has more than one lesson.
● Repentance & Forgiveness
● Self Righteousness & Moral Superiority
While reading this parable, I wondered which brother to write about, which one could I see in myself?
The older brother and his self-righteousness & moral superiority? Probably, how many times have I listened to a sermon, knowing exactly who it was meant for, and thought, “too bad they weren’t there to hear it”?
I certainly couldn’t see any of myself in the younger son. The Greek word for prodigal is ‘dissolute’ and carries with it the idea of a depraved lifestyle. That’s not me, I would never ask for my inheritance and then squander it! Then the Holy Spirit gave me a little nudge to pray and this is what He brought to mind.
I am like the prodigal, I have squandered, misused, and wasted my Father’s inheritance, many times, in many different ways:
Selfishness: It blinds us to the needs of others. The gifts that I have received from a generous God, I have sometimes kept to myself, assuming they are just for me and not others. They’re mine! No, they are to be shared, they are for blessing and supporting the body of Christ.
Pride: Have I thought too highly of myself, that what I have to give is too good for someone else? It’s mine! Am I too focused on myself? Have I allowed real needs to become trivial, next to my priorities?
Worldliness: Do I prize and prioritize what the world does? Do I waste and misuse my gifts and my time by enjoying what the world finds comfort in? Having fun, hobbies, social media, really anything that keeps us from spending time with Him. When our prayer life is not what it should be, neither is our walk.
It is never too late to share the gifts He has given us and make a difference in the lives of others.
Cyndie Evans
Operations Coordinator
God’s Gift of Free Will Luke 15:11-12
In this parable, Jesus tells us of a son who demanded his inheritance while his father was still alive. While we might see that as rude or presumptuous today, in Jesus' time that would have been unthinkable! In this situation, the father would have been expected to run the household until he died. For the son to ask for his portion of the inheritance was the same as saying his father was dead to him. In return, the son would be dead to his father. It was an incredibly selfish and disrespectful request made by a rebellious son.
What was the son really asking for? He wanted out of the family and to be completely independent. He basically said, “Give me my stuff and I’m gone.” So why does the father say yes and give him the inheritance?
Even today, we would be surprised by a father who would give in to such a demand. The reason he did though was because, in this parable, the father represents our Father in Heaven, not an earthly father. As He often does with us, the father in the story gives his son what he asks, even though he knows it will lead to unhappy consequences. He allowed his son the free will to choose to go his own way, even if it might lead to sinful living.
In Genesis 2-3, we read about the story of how Adam and Eve rebelled, and they could no longer stay in the good and perfect place that God had prepared for them. The fall in Eden is an example of God giving us free will, either to choose to follow Him or our own ways. Free will is an incredible gift that God gives to us, but it can also be used to rebel and distance ourselves from God.
After hearing the Prodigal Son’s story, how can we avoid falling into the same temptation of choosing our own will over the Lord’s? By God’s grace, we can trust in His Spirit to lead us to walk in His will and to be blessed with the strength to choose His will above our own.
Cheri Wright
Communications Director
The Practice
I grew up with some speech impediments, some letter sounds came out a little different and I hated talking when I realized things came out wrong. The weird thing is the same feelings about mispronouncing words and the insecurities about sharing the Gospel had a similar feeling. Instead of being confident in the Holy Spirit working, or standing on Scripture alone, I worried more about what people thought about me or how if I said something wrong I would be judged. I really admire Jesus, in the face of judgment and comments from the Pharisees and teachers of the law (v. 2) he still did what God called him to do. He went to the lost no matter the cost.
Why is it hard for me and why might it be hard for you? Instead of trying to find the answer, I would like you to practice something simple. I believe practicing some simple things could change how we view sharing our lives with others. Grab your phone or a pen and paper and get ready to write some things down. Ready? Write down all the places you go the most. Grocery stores, gas stations, coffee shops, etc…; places where there are people you see all the time. This is your first prayer list. Can you spend a little time (even if you feel silly) praying to God about preparing the people for you to get to know them and share Jesus with them? Next, think of the people you see, you might not know their names, you might not know anything about them and that’s okay. Write down who they are (maybe a person at Starbucks, or at work). Ask God to give you a chance to talk to them and ask them about their day or how they are doing.
Here is why praying for these things and people is important. It allows us to step outside of ourselves to extend love to someone else and trust God to work. It also means that we have to put ourselves out there in a way that is similar to Jesus. I don't think he went to dinners with tax collectors and just shared about how he could save them. He probably asked them about life, how they felt, and their hopes, then through the conversation their hearts opened and things changed. I think God will still open hearts as we open up our lives to others.
Jeremy Johnson
Family Ministry Pastor
The Joy of Finding
It could be a little thing like the hair comb I’ve had since 6th grade. Back then I found it on the playground and in those days, a comb sticking out of the back pocket of a young person was as common as a cell phone today. Someone lost it and I found it. After about a year I lost it too, then found it again on that same playground three months later. Eight years later as a college student and youth ministry intern, I lost it again following camp. One year later I was back at the same camp in the boys' bathroom getting ready for the day. The student next to me pulled out an orange comb and started combing his hair. I said, “Hey, that looks just like a comb I lost at this camp last year.” He said, “Oh, maybe it's yours, I’m not sure how I got it, but I noticed it in my travel kit after we came to this camp last year.” He insisted I take it back. (Strangely, he was also wearing a pair of jeans I hadn’t been able to find since camp a year before. I let him keep those.) I took the comb back and bought him a shake during free time. In fact, I bought a treat for the whole cabin. I was stoked to get my comb back. It may not seem like much, but it really is a great comb, I’ve never seen or found another like it and it just feels better. Finding the lost thing feels good.
Luke 15, “Rejoice with me; I have found… my lost sheep… my lost coin… For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Finding lost things brings joy and is cause for celebration. Jesus said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” People are precious to God. Heaven celebrates when people get found. Believers who see the people around them as precious are, like heaven, active in the search of and longing for the celebration of repentance too. The Joy of finding.
John Riley
JH Pastor
The Search
In total transparency, I have always struggled with feeling valued. From an early age, my dad would constantly berate me with comments about being a loser or a waste of life. He would physically abuse me if I didn’t perform well in baseball. My mother was so young she didn’t know how to raise me, and was trapped in an abusive relationship.
One day my grandpa came and told me to quickly grab all of my belongings. I remember being excited knowing I was leaving this broken home and going to live with my grandparents.
I love my grandparents and I’m forever thankful for their impact on my life. That being said, I still searched for something. I tried to find the value I never experienced. I began searching in all the wrong places. I found myself drinking and doing drugs in the sixth grade. Things only progressed in junior high and reached their height in high school. I was a mess.
I kept blindly searching for value. Nothing changed until my high school history teacher shared Jesus with me. I became interested and eventually attended church. I remember sitting in the back and hearing the pastor preach the gospel. I began to cry and finally accepted everything I had been searching for is only found in Christ.
Read Luke 15:4-7 ESV
It seems crazy that the shepherd would be willing to leave 99 sheep to go search for just one. Yet the shepherd knew that the 99 would be safe in the sheepfold, whereas the lost sheep was in danger. The shepherd knew how valuable the sheep was, and God knows how valuable you are.
The beautiful truth is God loves each individual so much that he seeks out each one and rejoices when he or she is found. Our God tenderly searches for sinners and then joyfully forgives them because he loves them! This kind of love prompted Jesus to come to earth to search for lost people and save them. God wants to give this kind of extraordinary love to you.
Spend some time reflecting on the moment you accepted Christ as your Savior. How did you feel at that moment? What changed in your life?
Jesus left the 99 for the 1. Who is the “one” that you want to see accept Christ? Commit to praying the next six weeks for their softened heart!
J.T. Martinez
High School Pastor
The Cost Luke 15 1-10
Have you ever thought about the cost of making friends with people who don’t want to follow Jesus? Luke 15:1-2 reads, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” What would people think if you were hanging out with sinners? Would they wonder if you really followed Jesus or question you and your walk?
Initially I thought, “could this cause me to become more like them, possibly lose who I am, maybe even stumble?” Then I remembered that I was once in darkness until someone showed me the light. Do you have friends or acquaintances who are not walking with the Lord or possibly making bad choices? I did and was able to share the goodness of God and tried to be a light in their life. My friend noticed the fire in me and my love for people. So, I demonstrated love for her no matter what she did and was determined to expose her to the love of our Father. Over time she accepted Jesus into her heart and it changed her life forever. Many of us choose to stay in our comfort zone where we feel safe and try to blend into the world. Who can you seek and allow to see the light of Jesus shining through you? When you help find the lost, the reward outweighs the cost.
Jesus knows how vulnerable the one sheep was so he left the 99 to find that one lost sheep because of his extraordinary love. He knew the 99 would be safe with each other and sought the lost sheep. When he found it he rejoiced! “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not repent.” The reward of finding the lost sheep and bringing it home was an example of how God pursues us and in his perfect timing finds and holds us when we need him most. His extraordinary love prompted Jesus to come to earth to find the lost, forgive, and save them. Aren’t we called to do the same?
Have you ever shared the gospel and walked with that person as they accepted the great love Jesus has to offer? Maybe it felt joyful like how Jesus felt when he found his lost sheep. Did the risk outweigh the reward?
Jessica Feliciano
Preschool Director
The Challenge
The Pharisees wanted to be people who “do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). They mistakenly thought this is what God wanted of them. I also made the same mistake.
Growing up in a ministry family, I thought church was more about how people saw me than the actual state of my heart. I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I catered my behavior to what I knew was accepted, praised, or valued. I ended up creating a squeaky clean image on the outside, but much like the Pharisees, “a white washed tomb” (Matt. 23:27). I wasn’t aware of my dead heart until I discovered porn. While publicly I was the ideal youth group leader, volunteer, and intern; privately I was a hopelessly lost sinner and addict.
The image I had cultivated in public turned out to be a prison. I was not safe to make a mistake, to mess up, or even name the sin of which I was guilty. Tragically, porn had become my only safe space, where I was away from the prying eyes of the public, and able to deal with emotions that were going neglected and overlooked.
My private sin continued to bury me. I was seemingly powerless to stop it. But what I didn’t realize at the time, to my utter shock, was the very sin burying me was in the redemptive power of God, preparing me for the resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:28 says, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” even and especially the most shameful things.”
The very sin that drove me to my knees ended up driving me to my knees before Him!
It was only when I had blown it beyond what I could handle that I finally acknowledged who I was. I was not the squeaky clean Christian that didn’t need grace, but the sinner in utter need of saving! I had to admit I was lost if I was to be truly found. Like the Pharisees I wanted to be someone who “did not need to repent”. Turns out, amazingly, Jesus is only looking for the very people who have no other option than to fall to their knees and cry out: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!”
Ryan Lunde
Young Adults Pastor
There’s Something About That Name
So the Lord saved Israel that day. - 1 Samuel 14:23
This is a powerful sentence for many reasons! However, one of the meanings of this sentence that can get lost on us English speakers, is that within this sentence, we have the words that come together to form the name of our savior… Jesus. Well, sorta. Let me see if I can explain.
First, we have to remember that Jesus was Jewish, so he was born with a Hebrew name. It was a very popular name because he was named after the guy who settled the Promised Land: Joshua. I’m sorta fond of that name myself! But in Hebrew, Joshua is pronounced “Yehoshua,” and this is the combination of the two words in our verse today: Yahweh Yasha, which means the Lord saves. But, how did we get “Jesus” from “Yehoshua”? Well, by the time of Jesus, who grew up speaking Aramaic, the name was shortened to “Yeshua,” which would have been the name that Mary & Joseph named their little miracle baby. But the question remains, why did we change his name to Jesus?
At the time that our New Testament authors were writing, the Greek language was the most common written language, so they used Greek to write out his name instead of Aramaic. They weren’t trying to change his name, there just wasn’t a great way to spell Yeshua in Greek.
The problem is that the name Yeshua is a particularly difficult name to write out in the Greek alphabet for two reasons: First, the two main consonant sounds in his name don’t even show up in Greek. There is no “Ya” sound and there is no “sh” sound in the Greek alphabet, so the “Ya” had to become an Iota and Epsilon (which make the sound of a long “E” and a long “A”). Then the “sh” had to become a sigma, or “s.” But then to make matters worse, if a Greek name ends in “a,” like “Yeshua,” then that would suggest that it is a female name. Male names typically have to end in an s. Therefore, when they put it all together, the name became Iesous. Then when the Roman Empire took over and Latin became the dominant language, they spelled his name Iesus. Even the earliest English versions of the Bible spell his name “Iesus.” It wasn’t until the J was added to the English language (only about 400 years ago), that we started calling him “Jesus.”
What does that mean? Am I going to stop calling him “Jesus?” No. I love that name, however, I don’t ever want to forget that Jesus means “Yahweh Saves.” He saved Israel that day through Jonathan, but he saves us every day through Jesus!
Josh Rose
Discipleship Pastor
To hear more about his name, check out my Christmas Morning sermon entitled “There’s Something About That Name.” (https://www.efcc.org/services/theres-something-about-that-name/)
