Frontlines 2025 (Night 1) // God is Compassionate

Introduction

Hi everyone - and welcome to Frontlines 2025!!

My name is Joe and I’m so glad to be with you all!

I want you to think about one person in your life that is your favorite person to be around. It might be a friend, a parent, grandma or grandpa, teacher, LifeGroup leader, teammate.

It doesn’t have the be the person that is the most important to you - but the one you enjoy being around the most.

Okay - do you have it.

Now, I want you to think - what is it about that person that makes them a person that makes them enjoyable to be around. I want you to think of 1-2 words that describe what makes them so great to be around.

Okay - someone tell me - don’t tell me the person, just tell me what makes them so enjoyable.

Transition

It’s interesting what we value in people when we really stop to think about it.

The most important things are not the kind of clothes that they wear

Or how nice their house is

or whether or not they have nice things

We enjoy people around people because of their character - and how that character makes us feel in return.

When people are kind, it makes us feel safe—like the pressure drops a few notches and we can just breathe.

When someone really listens—not just “uh-huh” while scrolling, but eyes-up, tracking with every word—you feel seen instead of invisible.

When your friend covers your Starbucks because you forgot your wallet, you feel cared for.

When a teammate stays after practice to rebound so you can get that shot right, you feel valued—like you’re worth their time.

When a leader remembers the inside joke from last year’s retreat and brings it up the moment they see you, you feel known.

But as much as the good qualities in someone’s character make them someone you love to be around, the negative characteristics can make you want to avoid them at all costs.

Flip it around:

When someone ghosts your text, you feel ignored.

When a classmate laughs at your answer in front of everyone, you feel small.

When a parent snaps in anger before hearing you out, you feel unsafe.

See the pattern? A person’s character creates a feeling that surrounds them and often determines whether or not we trust them, invest in them, and want to spend time with them.

Now—imagine you had a friend who…

Noticed the moment your mood dipped and slid over with a “Hey, you good?” before anyone else even saw something was off.

Loved handing out do-overs—the kind of friend who shrugs off your epic fail in the group chat and says, “No worries, let’s try again,” then helps you fix it.

Stayed calm when everyone else blows up. You spill coffee on their laptop and they’re like, “Accidents happen. Let’s figure it out,” instead of roasting you.

Showed up when the crowd disappeared—cheering the loudest at your game, texting first when you ghost, hanging in there on your worst day just because you matter.

Kept every single promise. If they said they’d meet at 3:15, they were there at 3:10—no excuses, no changed plans - every time.

Be honest: Would you want to spend time with that person?

In the early parts of the Bible we read the story of God introducing himself to a large group of people for the first time. Maybe you’ve heard the story of the Israelites being freed from slavery in Egypt through the ten plagues and then God splitting the ocean so that they could walk through to safety?

At that point, the people have just seen some of the incredible things that God has done. But, they don’t know him - they just know that he’s REALLY powerful!

They don’t know his character and so they’re unsure of how to relate to him.

So, God begins to tell the Israelites about who he is. And here is how he describes himself.

Exodus 34:6 NLT

6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Our aim for Frontlines this year is that you would get to know God a little bit better and that as you get to know him you’d want to spend more time with him.

So, each night we’re going to look at part of God’s character so that you can get to know him better.

But we’re going to use a story to do that. One of the things that Jesus was really good at was getting his point across by telling great stories instead of trying to just explain a topic. So, we’ll use one of Jesus’ most famous stories to help us learn about God’s character.

So - let’s open our Bibles together to the book of Luke.

Announcement for those who don’t have Bibles.

Notes

When you take notes, you can write down anything that is helpful.

We’ll use slides to help you see what the important parts might be.

We’re going to read the entire story tonight and then we’ll go back and look at it from various angles.

Luke 15:11–20 NLT

11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 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. 13 “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. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 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. 17 “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! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’ 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

Jesus is a master story-teller. He used stories like this all of the time to make important point when he was teaching.

Who knows the fancy word for these stories - YES - parables!

And does anyone know what a parable is - other than a story?

Yes, a parable is an earthly story that tells spiritual truths.

And this story is FILLED with truths. Now, in your Bible, sometimes this story is given a title. What does your Bible say this story is called?

[The prodigal son] - [The Lost Son]

Now, you may know this, but those titles are not in the original text of the Bible. Luke didn’t create titles - humans did that later.

I’ll tell you, I think they titled this one incorrectly! This parable is not about the son, it’s about the Father. We’re supposed to see God as the Father, so that’s where we’re going spend most of our focus this week.

Here’s my main point for tonight:

God is Compassionate - Rakhum

It is his consistent reflex to move towards those who are hurting to offer protection.

This parable starts with a kid who is sort of a punk, isn't he?

Luke 15:11–12 NLT

11 “A man had two sons. 12 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.

It doesn’t give us a reason why - just that he wants it.

The son is wishing his dad was dead - essentially saying - “you’re worth more to me dead than you are alive.”

How would you feel if someone said that to you?

Pretty horrible I would think.

It’s sort of incredible that the dad actually agrees to give him the money! We’ll talk about that more in another message this week, but can any of you imagining your dad doing that?!

“Hey - dad, I want all of the money that I would get in your will if you died, and I want it now!”

I don’t know a lot of dads that would respond the way this father did. But, he gives his son the money.

Luke 15:13 NLT

13 “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.

So, what does the son do? Invest it, start a business, buy a house, find a nice Christian girl and marry her?

Nope - he does 2 things

Moves far, far away.

This adds to the way that he feels about his dad. He moves as far away as possible.

2. Wastes all of the money.

diaskopizo - to spend foolishly with no purpose.

Luke 15:14–16 NLT

14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 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.

So, he has a few weeks or a few months - we’re not sure - spending half of everything that his father has worked his entire life to accumulate - poof - gone. Well, right around that time there is a famine - probably due to drought and food would not grow and animals were dying for lack of water.

So, he ends up at local farm with nothing, feeding pigs, so starving that he starts eating the pig food.

Carob pods - hand some out.

Luke 15:17–20 NLT

17 “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! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’ 20 “So he returned home to his father.

Now - let’s try to put ourselves into the position of this father. I know it might be hard for you to put yourself into his position, so let’s create a similar story that might make more sense to your current reality.

Let’s say you’ve been mowing lawns, shoveling snow, saving all those birthday dollars from grandma, and you finally have enough to buy the new Nintendo Switch 2.

You save and save and finally, the moment comes and you’re just a few days into playing it and your best friend Chris calls.

“Hey - I’m going to my grandmas for the next week while my parents on away on a trip. There is nothing to do here. She doesn’t even have wi-fi. Can I please borrow the Switch - just 1 week, I promise, I’ll guard it with my life.”

You hesitate, but Chris has been your best friend since Kindergarten, so you let him take the Switch to grandmas.

The following week - no Switch, no chris, text message gets left on read.

Then you look at Chris’s Instagram and see he has a new pair of limited edition Jordans and the caption reads, “Flipped my Switch for these new Jordans.”

Anyone else feel their anger rising?!

But this is NOT how the Father responds in the story. We might think he would...

Well, the Bible describes how his Father feels.

Luke 15:20 ESV

20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

God is Compassionate - Rakhum

It is his consistent reflex to move towards those who are hurting to offer protection.

See, in most instances we have to make an intentional choice to be nice to someone when they’ve been mean or rude to us. It doesn’t come naturally. We’re not quick to lean in to help people who are hurting because of their own choices - especially when they’ve hurt us in the process.

but the idea of rakhum is that God’s natural reflex is to care for hurting people.

Bring up Henry.

Now, if I were hanging out with Henry up here and accidentally slipped on one of the cords and dropped henry on the concrete, how would your body respond? what would you naturally do?

You would naturally jump to try and stop it even through he had already fallen - or even though you’re too far away to do anything.

Many of you would rush up here to attempt to try and help in some way.

THIS is rakhum!

The reflexive response to someone who is in pain. And this is normal with babies or old people.

But this is not normal when someone hurts you, betrays you, hates you, ignores you, and talks about your behind your back.

This is what truly makes God’s rakhum extraordinary.

Even when we ignore God.

Even when we do things that we know are foolish,

Even when we hurt the people around us

Even when our lives are drowning in sin

God still reflexively moves towards us in our hurting.

And this not only shows us an incredible glimpse into God’s character, but is also tell us that we matter to God!

Closing

So here’s the question:: If this is who God really is—compassionate, raḥûm, the kind of Father who runs toward us when we’re broken, not away—what’s stopping you from coming to him?

Some of you came to camp tonight already feeling like the son in the story.

You’ve drifted.

You’ve rebelled.

You’ve hurt others or yourself.

And maybe you’ve started to believe the lie that God’s done with you.

But the truth is: God sees you while you’re still a long way off.

And His reflex is to run to you—not because you’ve got your act together, but because you don’t. That’s raḥûm. That’s what God is like.

And for some of you, this week is going to be the first time in a long time—or maybe ever—that you let Him catch you.

No more hiding.

No more running.

So tonight, here’s what I want you to do:

As we go to cabin time, I want you to think: Is there an area of my life where I need to stop running and just let God move toward me?

And maybe you’re not ready to say everything out loud—and that’s okay.

But could tonight be the night where, even in your heart, you say, “God, I’m tired of doing this on my own. I want to come home to you.

Cabin Questions

Tell us one time when someone showed you unexpected kindness

Helping with homework, sticking up for you, a surprise gift.

How did it make you feel?

2. If God’s reflex is to move towards hurting people, what is one area where I’m hurting and need God’s compassion?