Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith opens with the theme of hunger: every person comes into the world hungry for something, and that hunger is meant to point us toward God. Setting the scene in Luke 15, he contrasts the tax collectors and sinners who drew near to hear Jesus with the Pharisees and scribes who grumbled about Him, and he warns that seeing Jesus as merely a man causes a person to miss what He offers.
Pastor Keith reads the lost sheep and coin as pictures of God's search for people and heaven's celebration when they return to him. He then focuses on the two sons, presenting the father as an image of God and the younger son's demand, waste, hunger, and change of mind as a mirror for listeners.
Pastor Keith applies the story through four calls: repent, reconcile, rejoice, and reject. He describes repentance as changing one's thinking, the father's welcome and gifts as restoration, and the older son's resentment as a warning against joyless religion. He closes with invitations to trust Jesus or return to God, prayer, and a mention of baptism.
Take this with you
Jesus welcomes those religion avoids
In Luke 15, the tax collectors and sinners draw near to hear Jesus while the Pharisees and scribes grumble about Him. Pastor Keith celebrates that the people least like Jesus wanted to hear Him, warns against a critical, grumbling posture, and later shows in the older son's refusal to enter the feast how that grumbling keeps a person outside the celebration.
Lost does not mean worthless
In the first two parables of Luke 15, the shepherd shoulders the lost sheep without shaming it, and the woman tears apart her house to find one coin; both stories end in shared celebration. Pastor Keith reads this as a glimpse of heaven's celebration when a person turns back to God, and as evidence that a person has value to God even in the dark places.
Sin never satisfies
In Luke 15, the younger son's far country and pig slop become Pastor Keith's image of reckless living that promises pleasure but leaves hunger unmet. He describes sin as taking you farther, keeping you longer, and costing more than you intended, then calls listeners to recognize their own version of pig slop.
Repent, reconcile, rejoice, reject
From the two sons in Luke 15, the four-part application moves from changing your mind to receiving the Father's embrace, celebrating what God restores, and rejecting both reckless living and joyless religion. The older son stands as a warning to those who stay near the house but refuse to go inside and rejoice.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
hey I'll tell you can we just give it up for this team today singing uh I tell you I've been asking Pastor David to do more hems and when that hymn started it got like twice as loud in this house all right so I'm anybody wants some more hymns in this house all right uh the young people are like what are hymns all right I'll tell you uh it's the old school meeting the new school and then God just shows up so that's what we want to do today hungry we all get hungry hungry some of y'all are hungry right now Hungary is what we call someone when they're willing to hustle for work hungry it's what we call an athlete when they're willing to work to win hungry what God's put inside every one of us
it starts early when you come out of the womb you come out hungry in this world because you are made to hunger for something so if you came here today expecting something God's going to meet with you if you you've come here today and maybe you've tried it all and you're just not satisfied today's sermon is for you if you know that you're Made for More your whole life you've been wondering I know that something is more in my life but you just can't put your finger on it I want you to know that God has a message for you today I want to look at a fictional story it's completely fake but there's a spiritual fact that can't be ignored the story is told by Jesus
he's the master storyteller we all love stories Jesus told stories often they were they were called parables Jesus is referred to as the author he's the great author of life so when you allow your story to collide with the author it changes everything and this story is found in the Book of Luke Luke records the biographical account of Jesus and we're told that there's a purpose to this story that Jesus tells in fact it's found in a group of three other stories and I'll just paraphrase the two other stories before we look at the one major story I want you to see today and how it will change your life and the reason Jesus tells this story if we look at this in context it's actually found in Luke chapter 15.
and we're told starting with verse 1. Luke the author tells us now the tax collectors and sinners let me just stop there Luke says there were two groups of people tax collectors and sinners the truth is they're both Sinners but Tax Collectors have their own special group tax collectors in the days of Jesus they were known as those that betrayed their faith they betrayed their family all in the name of money it's not unlike today what many people do for money I watch families get destroyed and ruined over money tax collectors in the days of old they would be those that would collect tax for the Roman Empire and they were not exactly loved
not a lot has changed today you rarely hear children say I want to grow up and be a tax collector now if you're a tax collector you're going to see in the story Jesus loves you and welcomes you but Tax Collectors they were considered at the time when Luke writes this as the worst of sinners these are the ones taking your money and is going towards something that you don't want it to go towards but then there are sinners who are sinners sinners are the ones you recognize you saw them going into the bar last night you can see them you can smell them it's known who they are and Luke tells us in chapter 15 verse 1 now the tax collectors and the Sinners were Drawing Near to hear Jesus
Tax Collectors centers the worst of centers and sinners coming to hear Jesus this to me is what church should look like this is what we should have an expectation of what should happen on a Sunday that the worst of the worst the ones that you know are doing things they shouldn't be doing should want to come into to lean in to hear more from Jesus this is what I love about Jesus the people most unlike Jesus liked Jesus somehow we flipped that script and we think it's only the religious the holy huddle the Frozen chosen that get to hear from Jesus Jesus says listen listen you're far from me come and hear me and it doesn't mean that Jesus became
like them they became more like him he changes people so I need you to see the first category of people you've got the tax collector and sinners you could you got the Sinners over here Luke tells us they came to hear from Jesus then Luke tells us about two more groups of people in verse two and then there was the Pharisees and the scribes they're almost the opposite of tax collectors and sinners they're the ones that look like they've got their lives together they don't even know where the bar is they don't even know what happens inside they've never even done something wrong these are the guys that grow up in the church they look like that these are the religious Elite of Jesus day
they're not just Church attenders These are church leaders now they weren't called church leaders in Jesus day but these are the ones that are leading other people that are supposed to represent God and I say that carefully they're supposed to represent God you've got the scribes that are meant to interpret the word of God now you got these religious leaders you got the unrighteous who want to hear Jesus and then you've got the supposed righteous that don't want to hear Jesus they want to talk about Jesus look what Luke tells us and the Pharisees and the scribes they grumbled they grumbled I don't know if we can say that any better they complain they the gossip they they found something negative to say
if you're looking for something negative to say you'll find it you'll come up with your own way to grumble I'm determined to stop grumbling I've lived and bend for 17 years and I realize I have a grumbling Spirit every time winter comes I'm serious it actually started to shape my soul I started to get depressed and I realized I was making myself depressed I am determined to stop grumbling I've got something to praise God about if the weather's not the way that I like the weather then God gave me an opportunity to pray about it he didn't say I just want you to complain your life away but you can be religious and still find something to complain about they grumbled saying this man now if I could
just stop there this is where they got it wrong this meant if you see Jesus as just a man you will miss the miracle worker if you see Jesus as just a man you won't want to hear him because you don't realize that he's the one that spoke all things into existence if you see Jesus as just a man and not the Creator not the Lord not the king if you do not see Jesus for who he actually is you will not want to receive from Jesus what he has for you they said this man receives Sinners and eats with them now they did get that right he did receive sinners and he did eat with them and it's out of this context that Jesus is going to point out two different
types of people those that know they need Jesus and those that do not Jesus is going to point out the reality of who we are that if you see Jesus for who he really is you will want more of him you will discover that this life is not all that there is and what Jesus is going to point out through three fictional stories that you're made from more that no matter where you've been God's going to invite you back into his family that you would actually look forward to being in a Heavenly home Heaven is real we don't talk enough about heaven but we should look forward to heaven the reason why is heaven has a party and there's never a hangover
Heaven's going to be so much better than you could ever imagine and Jesus is just going to give you a taste of Heaven in these three stories so it's out of this context that Jesus shares these three stories now I just want to warn you if you follow Jesus you will be criticized as well Often by the religious but you will be misunderstood because when you follow Jesus it rarely if ever makes sense and I absolutely mean that that's what faith is you don't you don't understand what faith is because it's it's unseen faith is the Assurance of things hoped for it's the conviction it's the evidence of things unseen let me just take this a little bit further and then we'll look at these three stories here's what I mean by this if you follow Jesus his ways are not our ways he talks about a kingdom in fact he tells us to pray his kingdom come his will be done on Earth as it is
in heaven now what is this Kingdom like well Jesus explains what this Kingdom's like it totally doesn't make sense he says the first will actually be last and the last will actually be first that doesn't make sense in this world our world says if you hustle you can beat everybody else and don't be last be first but Jesus says if you just serve other people if you if you would just see other people the way that I see them you're going to discover that sometimes it's the humble that God lives up not the proud Jesus said the ones that get into heaven are like children he said this at a time where children were overlooked Jesus not the ones that have it figured out to get into heaven it's the ones that have a childlike faith that show their dependence and their need for God that's who gets into heaven
see Jesus ways just they just don't make that he he will say things that you wish he didn't say pray for your enemies come on if you've ever been divorced broken up with someone if you've ever had to pay your taxes you know how hard that is we can't pretend to say it's not hard to pray for your enemies to love your enemies let me tell you when you follow Jesus he actually says you'll be blessed when people persecute you for my name's sake so you start following Jesus people will hate you but Jesus says listen they hated me so they're going to hate you too I want to warn you that this story
probably has to do with more of us than you realize you come today say I've heard this story before well do you find yourself in the story because that's the point of Jesus telling stories is for you to immerse yourself in the story so that you would see clearly who he is and you would see most accurately Who You Are and so he starts with the story and he he's going to go and he's going to tell about a businessman I say a businessman it's something we don't necessarily do today is about a Shepherd a Shepherd who has a hundred sheep so this is like a medium-sized business a hundred sheep and he tells this story and in this story he's referring to himself because he says in John chapter 10 he says I am the Good Shepherd so these are spiritual illustrations to the natural world so that the natural world would point us to something spiritual so he talks about a Shepherd who has a hundred sheep
it's a pretty good business it's not a huge business it's not a tiny business but then he says in this story one of the sheep gets lost so what's a business person to do should they count the cost and say at least I have 99 still and Jesus says what this particular Shepherd does is he leaves the 99 and he goes after the one that's lost and then he says in verse 5. and when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing Jesus has given us a picture of God that when he comes to that which was lost and he doesn't tell us how the Sheep got lost maybe he was tired of the other 99 maybe he wanted to try something new maybe we don't know maybe it was ignorantly we we don't know how he got lost but we know
he got lost and when the shepherd comes to him I want you to note this he does not condemn the Sheep he does not shame the sheep and praise be to God he does not beat the Sheep some of us think that's what's going to happen to us when we come to church it's a lie of the devil that someone thinks I'm too much of a sinner to go to church that's where you should be most welcome it was Jesus that does the work it was Jesus that picks you up and puts you on his shoulder is Jesus that bears the burden the picture of a Shepherd here is that he does the work and while he's doing it he's rejoicing he chooses Joy he's not like oh man you're heavy I can't believe her how to do this can't believe you got lost again he's full of joy that you used to be lost but you're now found look at verse six and when he comes home when he comes home notice the word home
when he comes home he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them Rejoice with me for I found my sheep that was lost I don't want to celebrate alone I want you all to see how special this is I lost one but now I found the one I only had 99 but now I have a hundred again celebrate with me and then Jesus he explains this in verse 7 just just in case the listener missed it he says just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance if I could just paraphrase that heaven has a party when you see who you are and who God is and those things collide
Heaven is happy I don't know what your view of Heaven is but Jesus gives us a pretty good Glimpse that is it's not the way that the world has made it be don't you watch Hollywood to get your view of Heaven they mess it all up they think the devil is red with horns and a tail that's a lie that's not the way the devil looks he disguises himself like truth he's trying to look like Jesus you'd be watching those exorcism movies trying to get your theology from Hollywood is all wrong you go to the Bible that's where you're going to get your theology Jesus said Heaven is happy when one sinner comes home now imagine saying losing a sheep sucks that's just Marketplace language here losing a part of your business if you're a business person you will lose business
you will lose employees that's disappointing you will lose stock you will lose a shipping container that's just out in the Pacific somewhere you will lose a part of your business and as a business person you've got to determine what are you going to do about this do you just count the cost and keep going or do you try to build your business back Jesus goes from telling the story of a hundred down to 10. this this time he tells the story of a woman Jesus wants us to think about the person of the Holy Spirit and this woman had 10 coins these these coins were important they they had a special meaning but they they show value and of these 10 coins Jesus says she loses one now she's got a she's got a choice does she just count the cost and keep the nine
and say well at least I didn't lose five I only lost one I'm gonna at least I'll have nine Jesus says now that's not how This Woman's gonna work this woman is determined to find that coin in fact if I could just paraphrase she rips apart her house she lifts up that sofa that hasn't been lifted up in a long time and all of a sudden under the sofa light hits where it's usually dark and those dust bunnies have had a lot of babies there's popcorn kernels pennies nickels a pencil is that just myself a you know I'm talking about she's willing to go to the dirty places to find that one lost coin
and this is what Jesus says when we are told in verse nine and when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors said Rejoice with me for I have found the coin that I had lost just so I tell you there is Joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents now if you have a small view of Heaven that won't make much sense to you but the Bible says in heaven there's an army of angels a myriad tens of thousands by tens of thousands millions of angels now when you go to a large sporting event and you see tens of thousands of people and they're all cheering and it'll give you some just heebie-jeebies and a little bit of you know Goose pimples and you're excited and the adrenaline starts
rushing I'll tell you in heaven is much bigger than that millions of angels roaring like lions as someone got saved I'll tell you Heaven's going to be a great place I'm just imagine being there and having just erupts with celebration and praise and you're there for the first time like what just happened and someone says someone got saved losing money sucks I think we've all lost money somewhere I had a friend once who owed so much in back taxes that he couldn't open up bank accounts because the government would seize the money so what he would do is when he got paid with checks he would cash it and he wanted to leave the cash in his house and I don't know why he wouldn't buy a safe but this is what he did he would bury the money and after so many months he went back to
that money that he buried and he couldn't remember where it was that's a true story I just remember hearing that story being sick to my stomach and I thought to myself what were you thinking when you lose money it hurts it kind of makes you sick to your stomach it's hard now that I've got three teenagers you know when they when they lose something that they earned it hurts a lot more than losing something that Dad earned yeah or mom she's the breadwinner that's our house listen when you lose money listen all these people the past couple years this economy right now is so sensitive and volatile you invest a ton of money into Bitcoin I'm going to do this thing and then one day you're like where'd my money go you put it into the stocks where'd my
money go it hurts and it's not just sometimes sometimes it's not even your fault someone could have stolen your money it hurts now Jesus he's not talking about money he's letting you know that you have value to God you are valuable to God even if you're lost even if you're in the dirt even if you're in the dark places you have value to God now Jesus tells the story of a hundred sheep 10 coins and then things get really intense two sons see in business if you lose sheep you can build your business back with money you can earn your money back but if you lose a child this is a whole novel another level of
loss remember this is a fictional story but isn't Jesus a masters to a storyteller remember why he's telling this story he's explaining to the world which is why Luke records this who he is so that we don't have a small view of who our God is that he came in the flesh so that we would understand him so now I want to look at the third and final story and we'll spend the majority of our time on this and I realize I gave you a very long introduction but now I want to give you the title of today's sermon and I want to give you this title because it's personal for me in my life and just what I live for and I thought of all kinds of titles that other pastors have cleverly come up with we could have called this A Tale of Two Sons because that's what it is it's a tale and there's two sons and this is fictional but you're one of the two sons
in this story so we could have called this tale of two sons we we could have called this there's no place like home and then we could have used the whole like Wizard of Oz analogy that we end up in a place and we didn't want to be in the old place but then you realize there's no place like home and like Dorothy we've just got to pray this there's no place like home we could have we could have called this let's come home we could have called this so many different things I could have come up with something more clever but after much prayer and consideration this is this is what I've called this and I hope you'll take this personal no more pixlop for me no more pig slop for me
so why don't why don't you just say that so that you make it personal for you ready no more pig slop from me if you don't know what I'm talking about it'll make sense in the story let's go there Luke 15 starting with verse 11 and Jesus said so remember he's telling these stories he told the shepherd which is referring to Jesus he told about the woman referring to the Holy Spirit and then he said there was a man who had two sons this is not just any man this is a father now he's relating to the heavenly father and he's going to tell a tale of two sons and the younger of them said to his father father give me the share of property that is coming to me and the father divided his property between them not many days later the younger son gathered all he had took a journey into
a far country and there he squandered his property in Reckless living and when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate if I could put a pause here I think that's just a polite way of saying pixlup if you've ever seen what pigs eat they'll eat anything
you don't feed the pigs the the tri-tip or the prime rib or the okay this is the vegan service the broccoli or the cauliflower I'll tell you what you give them you give them the moldy leftovers you give them the stuff you don't want the stuff that you cut off the bread that got moldy that you just can't use the the cheese that's moldy that you cut off you you just take all the leftovers you give it to the pigs and it fattens them up they don't care they're already in the mud so translated here in English it says the pods that the pigs ate but you all know it was pig slop and this this boy this young man this this younger son he was longing to be
fed with the pig slop that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything but thank God for the butts don't quote me on that one when he came to himself he said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread he could taste it he could smell it but I perish here with Hunger some translations say I starve to death as we read this story we're focused first on the younger son the younger son goes to the father and wants to talk to him about money which
by the way this whole story is laced with scandal it doesn't often get interpreted correctly in our modern Western world that we live in but if we were to immerse ourselves in the ancient Middle Eastern culture when Jesus is telling this story you don't talk to your kids about money let alone your inheritance you just know that when they die you're gonna get something now the younger would get the least inheritance because the oldest gets Twice The Inheritance so in the case of two children the older gets two-thirds and the younger gets one-third so we start off with Scandal that he's already asking for something that he shouldn't get until his dad dies but he goes to his dad and he says these two words that all of us have heard
or have said at some point give me father give me two words give me now before you judge this younger son I would propose to you that all of us at some point approach god with the same attitude it's an entitled attitude that if I'm a child of you then give me I'm not happy with where I am in my relationships I'm not happy with where I am and my finances I'm not happy with where I am in my health I'm not happy you could fill in the blank and your prayers just go from like ornate to give me I'm sick and tired to give me give me sick and tired of watching the rest of
the world Happy while I'm miserable in this house I don't know where you are and you're on your relationship with the Lord but there will come a point with your relationship with Jesus that you just you won't be satisfied and I the best way I can say this and I say this even out of my own experience is that it's not God that has the problem sometimes you're just in the house and you're not happy to be in your house sometimes you don't want to take out the trash or do the dishes sometimes you wish you were born into a different family and we approach god with the same attitude I want to caution you because we live in a world that mocks God and if we have a small view of God we have an inaccurate view of God and we
live in a world where the name of Jesus is used as a curse word the name of God is used flippantly in the middle of sentences and if we're not careful we will adopt that same view of God and we will miss a reverence and an awe of who God really is and we'll miss the posture of where we are in this relationship we're just the children who are we to demand of God give me just give me we can see this in verse 12 when the younger said to them Father give me he doesn't even say please give me this is where the father should have stopped and said I raised you better than that say please but the father just lets him go on his ramp because clearly this younger son knew what he was doing
or how many younger versions of us knew what we were doing I mean we just knew what we were doing our parents didn't know what we were doing a preacher didn't know what we were doing but we we knew what we were doing and by the way this is a reoccurring theme throughout history doesn't matter how smart you are how many credentials you have what family you were born into at some point there will be a rebellious attitude in your heart towards God you will not only rebel against God you will reject God you would do your own thing what the scripture says you're worshiping false gods even though you may not call to God you're giving it a priority and then eventually you find out that it didn't work this happens through history is not new to the New Testament we see it in the Old Testament over and over and over just track with me here God loves his people as people say yeah but I can't see you I'm going after the things I can see they rebel against God
they reject God then they find themselves in an awful position and then what do you do when you're in a mess you turn to God and we see this posture in this position and I just wonder what was the dad thinking because here the sun is so rebellious and he says give me my inheritance essentially he's saying this I wish you were dead and then we're told here comes another scandalous part of the story The Father divided his property between them this is almost as wild as the sun asking for his inheritance the dad did it he didn't have to most Earthly fathers would be like no I'm Not Dead therefore you're not getting your inheritance but he does it clearly this father is using wisdom and he's trying to teach his son a lesson
how many of you know that the greatest lesson is life you all got a preacher with many phds from the School of Hard Knocks and if it was up to me to pass on to you I'd be like don't go to that school it's too expensive it's hard don't do it and then I preached that to you all and then you're like I'm signing up for that school I'm like don't do it and then you all come with a PhD and you said that was a hard lesson and then your kids want to learn the same lesson you'll be praying for your kids I'm like they're just like you because we repeat these patterns and so he does it in verse 13 says this is what the son does he goes and invests the whole thing in
Bitcoin that's just fresh because it took a dive in the last week but it's not true the younger son this is what he did not many days later as soon as he got it all the younger son gathered all he had he took a journey into a far country he had to get away from his family and there he squandered his property in Reckless living Viva Las Vegas because what happens here stays here until you lose everything you got a disease you ain't got no friends he goes to this place far away because at his house he didn't get to do all those things it's so interesting when we see other people live that it looks like they're experiencing Something That We're Not experiencing the devil's done a great job with that
with social media your friends are not as happy as they appear I promise you but he goes and he has to learn that on his own and in the ESV it calls it Reckless living and the NIV it calls it wild living and this wild living is really fun for a moment the scriptures say sin can be pleasant for a season but when that season over is over it's tough here it is there's Reckless living I want to propose to you regarding sin that it will never satisfy you you have a hunger inside of you and a life of sin will never satisfy your hunger and the devil is such a great tempter and a liar and a deceiver that his job is to show you something that
you want that when you give into it you're actually further from God than you were before you did it that's what temptation is and and sin comes in so many different forms but in this picture we can smell this we can see it so many of us think we understand how the world operates until things happen the way that we didn't see coming you cannot predict a natural disaster an economic disaster a health disaster or even a moral disaster there have been many people that I've put my faith in and said man that's someone I could look up to only to find out that they were having affairs they were living in some gross sin and I'm like I'm devastated that happened to me in the last year like one Pastor after another to the point that I would talk to my wife about
I just start weeping who do I look up to because people aren't what they appear to be so it is with Reckless living it looks like it's going to satisfy but you don't know when the fam is coming you don't know when the stock market will crash you don't know when you you get that diagnosis or whatever that looks like and it's been said over and over before that sin will take you farther than you want to go that foreign land it will keep you longer than you want to stay because of the famine and it will cost you more than you want to pay you end up with the pigs and eventually you look at your life in verse 16 he was longing to be fed with the paws that the pigs ate longing for pig slop you are not made for pig slop this is that dialogue that happens in your head maybe maybe it'd be better if
I was gone maybe I should get divorced maybe I should quit my job maybe I should just abandon my kids maybe I should leave my parents maybe I shouldn't even go to church maybe and these are the pig slop do you see the pig slop and if you're in the pig slop that's all you see is pig slop and so you're stuck in the pig slop if you don't know what the pig slop is yet you I can't explain it to you unless you've been in the pig slop it's depression it's bitterness it's anger pixel up is awful because all you all you long for is pixlop you don't even want the pixel out but that's all you know what to get
you don't want to be angry but you are angry you don't want to be depressed but you are depressed which brings me to point number one I'm gonna race through these points Point number one is this you gotta repent repent you just write that down repent this was the first message Jesus preached and I believe he preached it first because it's the first and most important message of your life he said repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand repent if you don't know what the word repent is the actual Greek word that Jesus used here's the definition it means to change one's mind to change your thinking in fact if you look at the way the word is defined afterwards it means you fell down you skinned your knees and you said to yourself I'm not doing that again you know what they say the definition of
insanity is is doing the same thing expecting different results do you know what repent means I'm not going to do the same thing so if you're not going to church and you're in the pick slot maybe you need to change your mind and go to church if you're angry and you keep being angry it doesn't mean you keep being angry it's not going to satisfy you if you're Lusty if you're looking at pornography if you're smoking that pot so you can go to sleep whatever the pick slop is of your life there's no judgment here because there's only two people in the story there's the younger son there's the older son the first the first thing that we need to do is to repent and thankfully this younger son has a Day of Reckoning look at verse 17 but when he came to himself you have to come to yourself I can't teach it to you I can't preach it to you it's not something a parent can give you
no spouse can do it for you no child can do it for you no one can do this but you where you come to yourself and say I'm in the place I don't want to be that's a change thinking I got myself in this place no one else I'm not blaming my parents or my parents parents I'm not blaming my boss I'm not blaming my ex I'm not blaming my 15 exes whatever the case is you have to come to yourself I'm not where I want to be and I've got great news for you when you repent and that's your thinking I'm not where I want to be you're now in the place where God can use you because the Lord's looking at you saying you're not in a place I want you to be I did not make you for Pig's love and he realizes even the servants they're getting bread oh even the servants they have a place
to sleep so you've got to determine in your mind no more pick slot for me no more pixlop from me no more pig slop for me I'm gonna make that a bumper sticker no more pick slot from me that's what repentance is I'm tired of being depressed God did not make me to be depressed I'm tired of grumbling I'm tired of you you fill in your own blank I I don't even need to say anymore because you know what your pick slop is and this is what he does when he comes to his Reckoning Verse 18 I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him father I have sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired service he doesn't want to be a son anymore if I could be a servant that would be a better place and he arose and came to his father and while he was
still a long way off his father saw him his father saw him and felt compassion remember what Jesus is doing he's explaining who he is he's explaining Who We Are God is a god of compassion and he ran and embraced him and kissed him the son knew he had no place no right to be called a son in fact he could have been cut off from the family which brings me to point number two today reconcile reconcile you've got to recognize you may not think you're worthy but while you're a long way off wherever you are in your life right now God looks at you with compassion and you know what God does he runs to you which by the way probably in my opinion might be the most scandalous part of the story
because Middle Eastern ancient fathers they never ran unless they were running from something they wore robes they didn't wear jeans like I'm wearing now so he would have to lift his robe and show the world his pasty white legs and he would have run after his father everybody would have seen this and and most people would be embarrassed but God's not embarrassed when he sees you coming home he lifts up his robe he runs to you when he gets you he Embraces you with his arms of Grace with his arms of love and he affectionately lavishes his kisses of Mercy his grace that just doesn't run out he he Embraces you when you say I need you God says I I want you to be a part of this and there's reconciliation what was wrong is made right that's
reconciliation we will all have places of Brokenness in our lives and God wants us to have reconciled relationship this is the way it's described when Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church he says therefore if anyone doesn't matter who you are if anyone is in Christ When You Believe In Jesus you are a new creation the old is passed away behold the new has come all this he goes on to say is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation this is no little news the longer you're in church the more you will hear that your sinner Jesus died to save you from your sins and now you're
born again your new creation at first that story awakens your heart and you get excited the longer you're in church the more familiar it gets it should not be familiar that should stimulate your senses wait I'm right with God reconciled that I can reconcile with other people this is Kingdom living in Romans we read this in chapter 5 verse 10 for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more now that we're reconciled shall we be saved by his life the Sun repents he's reconciled the father runs to him and we see that he's no longer going to be in the pig slot
because he's run home and look what the father does verse 20. he felt compassion he felt compassion he doesn't shame him guilt him or beat him look at verse 21 and the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer word that he be called your son but before he could even finish his speech the father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe put it on him by the way this robe is not a normal robe you would wear this would be reserved for an honored guest VIP this is a special guest today and put a ring on his hand this is a new identity he's a part of this family he can seal the important letters he he
can be called my son and get shoes for his feet the shoes on the feet would be a picture of being free see the servants and the slaves were barefoot when you're a slave to sin you're barefoot but when you believe in Jesus he puts the shoes of the gospel of peace on your feet you're free you no longer have to serve someone else and verse 23 and bring thou fat and calf come on if you got a Bible I would just underline the fat and calf this ain't the old cow this is the young cow this is one they've been stalking up that got so fat that they're walking around massaging everywhere the cow goes I mean this is the fat and calf and kill
it let us eat and what celebrate for this son of mine was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found and they began to what celebrate which brings me to my third point which I'm almost done you'll notice they're all ours because pastors think you'll remember it more when they're all ours rejoice rejoice I'll know about you but I think we need to do this more in the church it's one of the seven rhythms we teach in rooted is that when you follow Jesus he loved to celebrate he had no problem turning water into wine he had no problem meeting people around a table he wanted us to see what we're made for You're Made for This so you might as well do it the right way instead the wrong way meanwhile the world's perverting what it means to celebrate and Christians are over here bored to death and kids are
being raised in the church saying I want nothing to do with this maybe if we teach them it's okay to celebrate something would be different we need to rejoice when you repent and you're reconciled you've got something to Rejoice about you you typically in church the person is really worshiping is a person that knows what kind of sin they're forgiven of periodically you do have the weirdos I'm just getting real here sometimes it's me but sometimes it's you but where we're in a right relationship with God we will rejoice and I'll tell you why we'll Rejoice you no longer have to eat pig slop you're gonna eat from the fattened calf
you get what God wants for you now I want you to see a theme here I'm wrapping this up here because now I want to transition to the older son I'm not going to spend as much time on him because he doesn't deserve it remember there's two sons here the fattened calf becomes a theme I don't know what the fatten calf is in your life but it's the thing you're obsessed with that you regret that you don't have you tracking with me you wish you were raised in a different family you wish you married someone different you wish you had more money than you have right now you wish you had different looks and you've been cursing your looks your whole life you something in your life is the fat and calf and that's the older son here I'm gonna race through this now the older son was in the field and he came and Drew near to the house he heard music and dancing at that point he should have gone in to celebrate but he
didn't he called one of the servants and asked what are these things meant the servant said to him your brother has come your father has killed here it is the fattened calf because he received him back safe and sound but the brother didn't celebrate he was angry remember he grumbled and refused to go in his father came out and entreated him but he answered his father look the oh who uh you remember what kind of father this is a father that has what compassion the father didn't have to go out there the father goes out there the father comes out to the son and what does the older son say to him look what's worse give me or look here God oh I hear people tell me when I get to
heaven I'm going to ask God why did you allow this why did you do this let me tell you you get to heaven you're not going to be saying that you'd be lucky if you get one word out Hallelujah look here father all these years all these years I've been going to church everybody else gets to party meanwhile yeah you give him the fattened calf you didn't even give me a goat and you know that's a lie Ephesians 1 says God's given you every spiritual blessing and sometimes we don't think we're blessed I declare over you today you are blessed
I'm going to get right to it I've given you three hours repent reconcile Rejoice I want to give you a fourth R because this one's almost as important as the first r that is reject here's what I mean by reject in this story I need you to find yourself as one of the two sons it's hard because there's always the person like I'm neither I am neither you are one of the two and in this remember there's two categories of people there's the tax collectors and centers and there's the Pharisees inscribed there's those that know they have a needed dependence on God and there's those that do not know it and you don't have to smell like alcohol or go to the strip club to be in the tax collectors and centers
because you can be a Pharisee and a scribe and still be a sinner one shows and need Independence on God and one rejects God so here's here's the reject here reject the world's ways because the world's way say you need to be Reckless and spend your life on wild living but also the Demonic says you need to be religious and be miserable and be angry and Grumble reject that reject the world's ways and the devil's called The Prince of this world the prince of the air he's trying to get you on his side not the side of Jesus and instead what I'm trying to tell you is we have a God that loves you in the Psalms he says this is the description of God as a father shows compassion to his children so the Lord shows
compassion to those who fear Him the son wasted his life and that wasn't enough for God to give up on him when he comes home it's beyond his imagination some of you need to stimulate your imagination for what God wants to do for you you have a small view of God that when you go to church that God's just going to be there and you praise him you go home that's not the god of the Bible the god of the Bible he throws a robe around you and says you are my guest the god of the Bible says I give you a new identity you're a child of God that's who you are I made you you're loved you don't have to look a different way quit cursing the way you've looked you're beautiful God Made You he formed you it's like you're cussing at God when you look in the mirror and say I'm not happy
with who I am you know the scriptures say that the first Commandments to love the Lord your God the second is like it to love your neighbor as you love your self some of you today God gave me a word right now to tell someone here you can't love other people because you're not even loving your self someone told you you were too fat or you were too ugly or you're too this your Skin's too light your Skin's too dark your hair is too thin your hair is too curly someone here today needs to reconcile with God and say you did make me and I'm sorry for rejecting that you are loved by God today you are loved please don't listen to the American way that you got to look like someone else that's an Abomination and a lie of the devil that's a lie God loves you
and you want to get healthy to be healthy with the Lord that's fine but don't you get healthy to look like someone else that's idolatry today God wants you to quit eating the pig slop and come eat the fat and calf just imagine just imagine Just Awaken your senses to this because when you do what has he been doing in all these stories you want to tell other people I'm set free this older son what did he want to do he want to judge this guy's wasted his life on prostitutes he's wasted his money he's wasted who he was his identity don't let other people judge you if you've slept around you've done the wrong things
you're done stop reject it if you got drunk last night that was the last time you're ever getting drunk in the name of Jesus Christ you made it here today that's a miracle of God stop reject it receive Jesus embrace the power of the holy spirit in your life and start walking in it so now I need to ask you if you've never done that before you can do it right now not another day not a better day the Bible says today's the day of salvation because you don't know what tomorrow holds so give your whole life to God right now and if that's you I want to pray with you this can be a bold prayer and by the way I'm going to talk to a second person if you've backfilled you know the Lord Jesus but you're in sin right now I'm going to ask right now
that you turn over that sin to the Lord and then third I'm going to say today if you've believed in the Lord Jesus and you've not been baptized we're going to do that to finish the service so with every head bowed and eyes closed right where you are and if you're watching at home I'm speaking to you as well today if you need Jesus in your life you want to come home you want to come to yourself and you're saying I'm done doing this on my own if that's you I want to know who I'm going to pray with right now and prayers talking to God I'm going to ask that you just slip up your hand right where you are nice and high and bold so I could see who you are praise God someone else here today praise God it doesn't matter where you've been praise God praise God someone else here today got a stirring in your heart yes praise God
you came alone but you're not alone the Bible teaches us that with Jesus he'll never leave you never forsake you praise God you're never too young to say yes to Jesus from this day forward your heavenly fathers even more proud of you than your Earthly father right there he loves you there's no sin there's too great that he won't forgive you today if you feel like you've sinned too much that God can't love you slip up your hand right now and accept the Forgiveness of Jesus Christ anyone else praise God he loves you so much praise God he loves you so much I want to pray with you you can put your hands down just in your heart I just need this to be between you and the Lord you can use your own words but I'm going to give you some words that just Express
what the Bible says if you believe in Jesus that he died for your sins which he did every one of your sins and that he rose from the grave he defeated death he defeated the Devil by the power of the spirit of God himself he rose from the grave and he's glorified that same Spirit now wants to live in you so pray this prayer in your heart God I give you my heart Jesus I believe in you forgive me of my sins today I follow you I've received salvation I've received the Holy Spirit help me to live for you help me to know you greater help me not to go back to that pig slob that I would send no more but to hunger and to go after you or what a great God you are and today I believe that in Jesus name
listen in this posture of prayer I want to believed that someone came to church today and you haven't been feeling loved you've been living in depression you've been living in frustration maybe it's a fear and anxiety that's just gripped your heart maybe you keep going back to an old habit maybe it's alcohol maybe it's pornography maybe it's old thoughts in your life but if you you want to surrender your life to Lord you've given your life to Jesus but you know that you're the only word I can come up with right now is backslidden you ran off away from God in your heart if you want to come back home would you just raise your hand right where you are this is between you and the Lord praise God praise God remember what heaven does when you get real with God there's a party praise God
praise God Amen praise God Amen well Lord I just I want to pray for those who are saying I'm coming home may they receive the warm embrace of your grace and God may we be transformed forever because of that today in the name of Jesus Christ we pray so be it an amen amen
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Who feels welcome near Jesus
In Luke 15, tax collectors and sinners draw near to Jesus while the religious leaders grumble about Him. Pastor Keith says this is what church should look like, and he warns against a grumbling spirit that finds fault rather than listening.
Luke 15:1-2
- How does Pastor Keith apply Jesus' welcome in Luke 15 to the church?
- What contrast does he draw between listening to Jesus and grumbling about him?
Lost, searched for, and celebrated
In Luke 15, a shepherd searches for one missing sheep and a woman persistently looks for a lost coin. Pastor Keith emphasizes the celebration after each recovery and God's care for people who are lost.
Luke 15:5 · Luke 15:7 · John 10:11
- How does Pastor Keith explain the shepherd's treatment of the sheep?
- How does the woman's search illustrate his teaching about a person's value to God?
- What does he emphasize about heaven's response to repentance?
Recognizing the pig slop
The younger son takes his inheritance, leaves, and ends up feeding pigs and longing for their food. Pastor Keith treats reckless living as a promise that never satisfies, and he says plainly that there is no judgment in naming the pig slop of your life, since everyone in the story is one of the two sons.
Luke 15:11-16
- The younger son's request amounts to wishing his father dead. Where do you see an entitled 'give me' posture in your own prayers?
- Pastor Keith describes sin as taking you farther, keeping you longer, and costing more than you expected. How have you seen that pattern play out?
- What is the pig slop in your life right now—the thing you know won't satisfy but keep returning to?
The Father who runs, and the brother who stays outside
The father runs to the returning son, dresses him, and throws a feast, while the older brother refuses to come in. Pastor Keith draws repent, reconcile, and rejoice from this scene, then warns against religious grumbling that misses the party.
Luke 15:20-24 · 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 · Romans 5:10 · Ephesians 1:3 · Psalm 103:13
- How does Pastor Keith explain repentance through the younger son's change of thinking?
- The father runs and embraces the son before the son can finish his speech. How does that shape your picture of God's welcome?
- Where do you identify with the older brother, grumbling outside the party rather than celebrating what God has done?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What is the main point of the sermon 'No More Pig Slop'?+
Through Luke 15, Pastor Keith presents God as welcoming people home and calls listeners to repent, reconcile, rejoice, and reject. He explains repentance as changed thinking, reconciliation through the father's welcome and gifts, and rejoicing through the celebration of a person's return to God. His final call is to reject both reckless living and resentful religion.
What context and meaning does Pastor Keith give the three parables in Luke 15?+
Pastor Keith explains that Jesus tells these stories amid a contrast: people known as sinners want to listen, while religious leaders object to Jesus' hospitality toward them. He says the stories reveal God's character and the listener's need for him. In his interpretation, the shepherd represents Jesus, the woman represents the Holy Spirit, and the father represents the heavenly Father. The stories emphasize celebration when someone returns to God.
What does Pastor Keith mean by 'pig slop'?+
In Luke 15:16-17, Pastor Keith uses the younger son's desire for pig food as an image of settling for what cannot satisfy. He applies it to bitterness, anger, and sinful habits, and presents repentance as recognizing the need to change direction and return to God.
How does Pastor Keith describe the father's welcome of the returning son?+
In Luke 15:20-24, the father eagerly and affectionately welcomes his returning son. Pastor Keith describes the father's public running as surprising in that cultural setting and emphasizes that he responds without shaming the son. He interprets the robe, ring, and shoes as signs of honor, restored family identity, and freedom. The welcome culminates in a feast.
What warning does the older brother's story give?+
In Luke 15, the older brother resents the celebration of his brother's return. Pastor Keith connects this response to the religious leaders' complaints at the chapter's opening. He warns that resentment can keep someone from sharing God's joy. He also invokes Ephesians 1 to challenge the older son's picture of a withholding father and reminds believers of God's generous spiritual provision.
