Easter: The Prodigal

The Prodigal - John Burke, March 23, 2008
Not your typical Easter message… but then Gateway isn’t your typical church. The service revolved around a contemporary, musical version of the Prodigal Son. But in this case it was the Prodigal Daughter and the music was all U2 (and the band and singers were GOOD!)

1. U2 has some pretty high message songs – and we hear a lot of their stuff around Gateway, so start with some U2 reminensing. Do you have a favorite U2 song? Any songs or key lines you want to share? (Or maybe you have one that you’ve thought, “Now what does THAT mean?!) Talk about that for a few minutes. Next, if you were at the service, what there a song you particularly liked or remember? If so, share that too – and talk about what you liked about it. (10 minutes)

2. The message of the Prodigal is about love, and forgiveness, and about getting a “pass” on bad choices: grace. Read the story from Luke 15 (below) and then talk about anything that is surprising in the events. (10 minutes)

3. Can you ever think about a time when you thought you were going to “get it” for something you did and then, instead got some “grace” in some form or another? What did that feel like? Did the “pass” change anything for you… your behavior? your feelings? your relationships? Spend some time sharing about both the events and your response. (10 - 15 minutes)

4. Now, what about the other side of the grace equation: Have you ever been in a position of authority with some who really made a bad choice, but you were able (and chose to) give them a “pass”. How did THAT feel? Did it change anything for you or the other person – or your relationship? Talk about those situations for awhile. (10 - 15 minutes)

5. Close by spending some time seeing whether any of this applies to your relationship with God. Can you identify a time or situation where God showed you grace? If not in any one situation, what about in your general life – have you gotten to come back after walking away from Him? John said the key lesson is the father (and THE Father) RUNS to His sons and daughters. Is that a real experience for you? Let any who would like to share about any general or specific situation where God ran to them with Grace. (10 minutes)

Close with some prayer to thank God for all He did … all that running… to get us back into a relationship with Him. Take a look at the Romans 5 and 8 passages below, and then thank Jesus that He was willing to die while running to us. (5 - 10 minutes)

Bible-verses from the message:

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the [religious leaders] complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” Luke 15: 1 – 3; 12 – 19

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5: 6 - 8

It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's! Romans 8: 10 – 11

When the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' "But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet…We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to celebrate. Luke 15: 20 – 24

Get more background and information:

• This service is not available due to copyright limits on the musical presentation
• You can download or listen most messages at Gateway's Sunday Message Archive (and other messages too)
• For more information about Jesus and who He claimed to be you can read
  
• The Case for Christ by Lee Stroebels
• Letters from a Skeptic by Gregory A. Boyd
• Evidence for Christianity by Josh McDowell

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