Making Heaven Crowded (3)

Giving People Something to Remember

Some of us know of the story the prodigal son. Really I think it should be the story of the merciful father, but today I want to take the story from the angle of the servants. We don’t fully understand the important rule the servants played. And it’s often an idea that is rejected by newer believers because of the negative connotations that our society puts around the idea of a servant.

We often can get behind the idea of being a child of God, but scoff at the idea of being a servant.

Realistically we are both. We need to think of it less like a title and more like a label to the behaviors we are to display.

Coming to church is important, but serving in church in importanter

Why? Service is what divide consumer Christianity from being a follower of Jesus.

America has created this idea of Consumer Christianity.

Consumer Christianity

We treat church, the bible, and our relationship with God like a store. We want to select the parts we want and leave behind the things that we don’t want. We want to be entertained, but we don’t want to have to work for the entertainment. This is the way of the world. The only difference between church and the world is McDonald’s can get your order wrong 50% of the time and yet we still go abck. Someone upsets us at church and we leave instead of working through it.

Consumer Christianity says: what can you give me?

Following Jesus says: What can I do to help you find Jesus?

So I want to use the story of the prodigal to show you the importance of being a servant.

Back story because we don’t have time to read this entire story, but if can find time it’s a good teaching on Jesus. So to sum it up:

Brat kid wants money to party.

Brat kid asks dad for his portion of his inheritance that he would typically receive after the father died, but he wants it now

Brat kid gets a bunch of friends because he’s wealthy and makes it rain in the club.

Brat kid runs out of money due to making it rain too much

Brat kid has to find a job feeding pigs and loses friends. By the way the pigs are analogy for how low you can go when you leave the grace of God. To jewish people pigs are unclean and they wouldn’t be caught dead touching one let a lone sleeping in the same stall as them. But the brat kid fell so far. Sin will take you places you thought you’d never go and keep you longer than you want to stay. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say never will I ever do this, but while running away from God they get so desperate the do the very thing they used to despise and look down upon.

Brat kid hits bottom and contemplates eating pig food. FYI you’ve never really been hungry until you contemplated eating out of someone else’s trash.

Brat kid comes to his senses and is no longer a brat.

Luke 15:17 ESV

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

The Brat kid lost everything. The worst part of walking away from God is when they get to the same place the prodigal got to. It wasn’t the hungry, the sleeping conditions, or his poverty that was the most valuable thing the prodigal lost.

He Lost His Identity.

Jesus is telling this parable to the Pharisees and tax collecters. These are very wealthy people who wrapped their identity around their wealth and being known as opposed to being servants and helping people. Remember Pharisees were supposed to be pastor’s. They were supposed to be servants to those who they shephard. My wife and I try to be serve you guys, but at the same time your all priests if you received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Tax collectors are supposed to be public servants, but much like our politicians today they used their position to exploit and take money from those who they were supposed to be serving.

Jesus was trying to remind them of their true Identity.

But back to the servants. We think of being s servant as a lowly position, but these servant had influence.

At this man’s lowest point- It wasn’t his brother he thought about, it’s wasn’t his old friends. He remembered the servants.

He remembered their abundance, which we will get to, but he remembered

How well they were taken care of

The best way to evangelize is to show how good god is in your life.

I was talking to my pastor friend in India and he told me that this past week there was a Christian man who passed away and who couldn’t be buried in his town of Kanatica because the religious extremists refused to let them into the cemeteries and my immediate thought was, I have problems, but man am I blessed. I have struggles, but look at everything I have that I could be using to boast about the goodness of God.

If the servants did nothing but complain and fight then there would have been nothing fond to remind the prodigal of home, but because the servants knew how well tehy were treated by their master they did their work with joy, Peace, and faithfulness.

ANd in the prodigals moment of need

He Remembered

Does your praise reports about how good God is leave an echo in people’s lives? Or does it leave them asking why they would want to follow God in the first place?

THe servants had influence

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

You are put on a hill-You are put on display-You are being watched and what are you going to do with that influence. When unsaved people see me I want them to be envious of my life. Why it’s not pride, but

I want them to want what I have so that I can help them get what I got.

I want people to be envious so that they will do whatever it takes to get what I have. And when they get there—-it’s my job, like the Merciful Father to give it them. To share Jesus with them. To tell them the secret why I am blessed and highly favored.

The servants had blessings

Luke 15:17 ESV

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

The servants have more than enough; they had enough to spare.— it’s not the will of God for you to struggle, but God also isn’t going to give you an abundance if you can’t steward it or it’s going to kill you.

The greek word here used to describe their abundance is

Perisseuó- To have an abundance, overflow.

My life has had it’s ups and downs, but when I stewarded everything correctly—no matter the number I earned I had more than enough.

I remember there was a time in my life when God called me to quit a job. I wasn making good money. I was youth pastoring only making 200 a month. But God supplied—DCould I take dream vacations—no, but I had 5 kids at the time and none of them went hungry. Did I eat steak for every meal. No, but God blessed me with a women would could take on sale ground beef and make it taste like filaminon.

In every phase of my life I was favored and highly blessed, the only thing I regret was not always being able to see it and if we manage what God gives us well his word tells us he will give us more.

Why? Because blessing his servants—those who are willing to put in the work will make people jelouse

By him blessing me, me stewarding the blessing well and boasting about all that God has done for me.

I can MAKE JESUS FAMOUS!

Because they servants served LIFE CHANGE happened

Luke 15:22–24 ESV

22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

When someone is ushered into the kingdom of God a party breaks out in heaven. It’s my goal

To make every Sunday a Party!

Why because I want sunday to be better known as

Salvation Day

You have gifts and talents-God wants you to steward it for him

You have time— God wants you to steward it

You have treasure— God wants you to steward it.

A good servant is a good steward and the promise is this: When you are a good servant and a good steward God will pour out lavish blessings on you.

When someone asks you you how you’re doing

I’m blessed and highly favored

There are people like the prodigal who are looking for freedom from guilt, shame, and failure. There are people in dire need of restoration and peace.

Will you be the one to proclaim the goodness of God?

Will you bring hope, joy, peace, love into people’s lives.

You have influence. You are the city on a hill and the light on a stand.

You are blessed. You have more than 3/4’s of this world.

Use your blessing and inflience to

Get people to church & to get people to Jesus

Help us spread the world—It’s S

Sunday funday! that every Sunday is now party because it’s salvation Sunday!