“The Heart in the House“
Luk 15:25-32 NIV
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
27 ‘Your brother has come,' he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31 ” ‘My son,' the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' “.
This morning I would like to speak a message that I believe the Lord has placed on my heart.
You can check out more of my sermons here.
Have You Ever Wondered What Is The Prodigal Son In The Bible? In This Sermon Pastor Dre Shows How The Son Who Left The House Had Issues Plus The Son Who Stayed.
The title of the message is “The Heart In The House “
Most of the time when we hear preaching’s on this portion of scripture, we focus on the son who left the house and squandered his Father’s wealth, but this morning I would like to focus on the son who stayed in the house.
In case you are not familiar with the entire portion of scripture I will break it down for you.
From verses 11 – 24 the scriptures focus on a man who had two sons and one of them came to his Father and asked him for the inheritance that belonged to him. When the Father gave the inheritance to him, the son went out and squandered the inheritance with wild living.
It got so bad that the son ending up longing for the food that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Then the bible says in verse 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
Then in the later verses we see the younger son ending up making his way back into the Fathers house.
Now one would think that the older brother who stayed in the house would be happy that his younger brother made his way back home, but that wasn’t the case.
As we see in the verses that we read the older son wasn’t too happy.
This morning I would like to focus on the son who stayed in the house.
Yes we know that the younger son left the house, he was in sin and he squandered his Fathers wealth.
The older son who stayed in the house also had some issues.
See sometimes you and I like to focus and point out the sins that people see, but the older son, even though he was in the house, had some issues that people didn’t see.
I would like to point out a few of those issues and then I will be done.
- Even though the older son was in the house he called the servant out of the house and shared his unhappiness with the servant.
Luke 15:26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
Luke 15:27 ‘Your brother has come,' he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
Luke 15:28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
Instead of going to the Father and asking the Father what was going on he pulled out one of the servants.
He could have simply went into the house and asked the Father what was going on, but instead he pulled out one of the servants who was in the house.
Then once the servant gave him the answer, he showed the servant that he wasn’t too happy about the Fathers decision about celebration the son.
You know what this reminds me of.
This reminds me of someone pulling out Bob to find out about Arthur.
Someone pulling out Betty to find out about Martha.
Ok let me put it to you like this.
We hear a story about Bob and instead of us going to Bob and asking Bob, we pull Arthur aside and say “Hey Arthur did you hear about Bob?”
We hear a story about Betty and instead of going to Betty and asking Betty, we go to Martha and say, “Hey Martha I don’t know how true it but did you hear about Betty?”
Well, if you don’t know if it is true then why are you asking Martha, go ask Betty.
But no, we want to Skinnerstorie.
We want to gossip.
Be careful when people pull you aside to ask about someone else, because you just might be the next one in their conversation.
My favorite one is this.
When the gossiper starts the conversation and then goes and tells the person they are gossiping about what said.
The older son was in the house, but he just had to let somebody else know that he wasn’t happy about the Fathers decision.
- He was working in the house but looked at it as a duty.
Luke 15:29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
This shows me that it is possible to be in the House and look at what we do for the Father as a duty and not a privilege.
He told the Father all these years I have been slaving for you.
It is possible to be in the House of God and look at what we do for God as a duty and not a call.
The older son stayed in the house, and he was faithful in carrying out what the Father had asked him to do, but when it came down to it he was doing it out of obligation rather than calling.
Working in the Fathers House was like a job for him.
Somewhere along the line it went from being a privilege to being a burden.
Somewhere along the line the older son went from serving out of gratitude to serving out of duty.
I am sure he didn’t start off serving the Father out of duty or obligation.
I am sure he started out serving in the Fathers House and looking at it as a privilege, but somewhere along the line his heart changed.
I am sure he started out in the Fathers House with a grateful heart, but somewhere along the line it became a duty.
He didn’t start off serving in the ministry because of duty, he didn’t start of using his gifts and talents out of obligation, but somewhere along the line something changed.
When did it change, we don’t know.
Maybe it was subtle. Maybe it was a disappointment. Maybe it was because of what someone said. Maybe it was because of what someone did.
We don’t know but either way he said to the Father – ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
He looked at himself as a slave rather than a servant in the Fathers House.
I guess the challenge for you and I that are in the house is to always keep the heart of serving in the Fathers House as a privilege.
The challenge is to keep a grateful heart for all that God has done for us, as we serve in the House of God.
It shouldn’t be a job, duty or obligation, but we should serve out of gratitude and the call of God.
- He was in the house but didn’t have a heart to see the lost restored.
Luke 15:30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
We can see in this passage of scripture that even though the older son was in the house, he didn’t have the Fathers Heart to see hurting people come into the House.
He got upset about his Father throwing a welcome home party for his brother.
Now one would think that he would be excited to hear about the return of his brother, but that wasn’t the case.
When his younger brother came back home, he didn’t like it.
He didn’t want to join the welcome home party.
This tells me that it is possible to be in the House and not have the Fathers Heart for the hurting.
I guess the question for you and I that are in the house is, do we still have a heart to see the hurting and the lost come into the House of the Lord?
Do we still break over the need in our cities?
Do we still have that desire to see hurting people restored?
Do we still have a burden for the lost?
I know we are in the house, but the question is do we have the Fathers Heart for those that are not in the House?
That is why we do what we do, we want to see more people reached, more souls saved and more families put back together.
As a ministry we have been anointed to impact the inner cities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The pandemic didn’t change our call and it didn’t change our anointing.
As a matter of fact, it is an opportunity for you and I to be a light to a hurting world.
In this time of uncertainty, people are looking for answers.
Drug addiction is still taking place.
Families are still being torn apart.
Gang violence is still happening, but God has anointed us as Victory Outreach to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the hurting people in the inner cities of the world.
Victory Outreach Mission Statement
Victory Outreach is an international, church-oriented Christian ministry called to the task of evangelizing and discipling the hurting people of the world, with the message of hope and plan of Jesus Christ.
This call involves a commitment to plant and develop churches and training centers, in strategic cities of the world.
Victory Outreach inspires and instills within people the desire to fulfill their potential in life with a sense of dignity, belonging, and destiny.
Victory Outreach works cooperatively with others of mutual purpose in accomplishing the task before us