The God you are looking for is looking for you.

April 8, 2012
The God you are looking for is looking for you #1

Dave Marttunen

Audio / Questions / Leaders

prod·i·gal /ˈprä-di-gəl/

Adjective: Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.

Noun: A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.

According to this definition, there are two prodigals in the story from Luke 15. The first prodigal is easy to spot; it’s the boy. He demanded his inheritance early, left his dad and spent it all in riotous living. He was a party boy to the core. His self-focus can be reduced to the bumper sticker slogan: if it isn’t fun it isn’t done. But there is a second prodigal. It’s the Dad. He couldn’t wait to lavish love on the boy. He runs, kisses, clothes and parties over the boy. It’s a picture of a dad who is truly a prodigal; lavishing his love recklessly on his son. Easter, as no other event in the Bible, celebrates God’s lavish love. He gave his only son for us. Remarkable. As we understand the truth of the story, it melts us in the right places and makes coming home the only reasonable choice. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the truth that he conquers death, the awful curse of sin, so that he can lavish his forgiveness on us.

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