At some point Church became a place where we were afraid to bring our friends, our family because of what someone might say
· Dan – camping story
We don’t need to clean up to come to Church – we come and Jesus does the cleaning up.
· Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners , Christ died for us. KJV
Jesus is still calling
· Matthew 11:28 Come unto me , all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. KJV
Son Come Home
Luke 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living .
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he
sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of
my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great
way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put
it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found. And they began to be merry.
KJV
Misfits That Went Far
· Peter – denied Christ/preached thousands were saved
· Rahab – black sheep, “saved” her entire family
The Ribbons On The Tree
A great prison warden, Kenyon Scudder, often told this story
of a modern-day miracle. A friend of his happened to be
sitting in a railway coach next to a young man who was obviously depressed. Finally the man revealed that he was a convict returning from a distant prison. His imprisonment had brought shame on his family and they had neither visited him nor written often. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel, too uneducated to write. He hoped, despite the evidence, that they had forgiven him.
To make it easy for them, however, he had written them to
put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm
on the outskirts of town. If his family had forgiven him they were to put up a white ribbon in the big apple tree near the
line. If they didn’t want him back they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, go far away, probably become a hobo.
As the train neared his home town his suspense became so great he couldn’t bear to look out the window. His companion changed places with him and said he would watch for the apple tree. In a minute, he put his hand on the young convict’s arm. “There it is,” he whispered, his eyes bright with sudden tears. “It’s all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons” (The Christian Herald, January 1961).
There is another tree . . .
· John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
· but have everlasting life. KJV
· Luke 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise KJV
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