Well, it's been an honor having Brother McCracken here, and I better introduce him this time, or else I won't hear the end of it. So, Brother McCracken, why don't you come preach for us? He was a rookie. I am glad to see you back at one o'clock, and it was a joy to get to fellowship a little bit with some of you, and then, anyway, I'm glad you're here. I'm looking forward to what we're gonna do this afternoon. So, if you have a ribbon, Proverbs, put a marker in Proverbs 23. I wanna read a couple verses over there in a few minutes to show you something, Proverbs 23. And now let's turn back to Luke 15. I wanna continue the, idea about the lost and found chapter. And anyway, ultimately, the message this morning is mainly about the son who ran away. Tonight, or this afternoon, we're going to do Complete, I guess you could say it like this, chapter 15. So, oh, oh, oh, stop. Mercy, I forgot all about this. You can turn off the recorder and all that business. Almost forgot we need to do a little business. We need to make a motion that the business begin. Oh, wait, do we have somebody take notes? The church secretary, there's, okay. So who's gonna make a motion business begin? We got one right here. So I told you to think about it. Do you have anything you want to bring up before I bring up my stuff? Anybody got something that's on their heart they got to bring up? Oh. OK, all those that oppose that, OK, good. So anybody else got something they need to get off their chest? All right. I think I'm going to bring up the motion, and then someone needs, I don't know how you do it, but then someone needs seconded or whatever. But I think that Dave McCracken ought to get to come back to Shawnee Baptist Temple and be here again and not take two to 10 years. Thank you, Mark. OK. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right. All right. So praise God. Any other business before we conclude? All right, who makes a motion on the business to stop or cease or whatever? OK, getting notes. All right, praise God. Thank you. I appreciate having good business meetings that are well paid attention to and smooth. There's no big fighting going on. Good job. All right. We're not bringing up about the church needs a vote on who's going to come. But the church can vote about Dave McCracken coming back. All right. All right. Very good. So I already told you, Proverbs 23, put a marker there. And then Luke 15. Let's turn there. Luke 15. And I'm going to ask you to stand with me, please. Luke 15. Oh. So it's 115 or on the thing up there, 114. What time do you all normally stop? About $135,000? So, I will tell you this, I don't have anything else planned the rest of the day. So I'm not in a hurry, but I do, there is a beginning and an end to this sermon, so we're good. All right, we're gonna, we know why Jesus told this story, why he tells the illustration in a way, I call them the three paintings about the hundred sheep, one lost 10 coins, one lost two boys. So let's pick up with the two boys again, and we'll read then from verse 11 to the end of the chapter. A certain man had two sons. 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. 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. When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be in want. Now, this morning, I didn't spend time on it, but God is the one that can send the mighty famine to get his attention, remember? All right. And so he began to be in want, verse 15. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. And no man gave unto him. Verse 17, And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bred enough in despair, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose. This morning I try to get the value of that across, that you can know everything you should do, but if you don't arose, if you don't go, it's not going to happen. And he arose and came to his father. And 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. 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. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, let us eat, and be merry, for this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field. As he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. Verse 27, And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might marry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meat that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. Let me have prayer with you and we'll get to go and see what the Lord has to say. Our great God, we sure love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you that you love us, that you prove that you love us. Thank you for your holy word that we can open it, discover it, believe it, apply it. Thank you for how you use it. And I'm asking you now, would you use the preached word again? Though I do need help, I'm asking for unction and utterance and power to communicate. And that all of us, every one of us, would have hearts that are opened, that are ready. We want to hear your word. Whatever you have to say to us, we want to hear it. And I pray that we would not just hear it, but we would say yes and comply and do what you speak to us about. God, thank you that you love us so much. Thank you for what you do for us. I pray that you'd be the one to get all the glory. And Jesus, we really and truly, we can't wait to see you. We believe it to be soon. It's in your holy and precious name I pray, amen. Amen, you may be seated. So how many of you have heard the prodigal son in the key of F? How many have heard that? One, two, maybe three. My wife's heard it. That's surprising. OK. I want to read it to you. A fellow at Heartland Baptist Bible College named Mike Thomas. They called him Coach Thomas. He died several years ago. He's a dear, dear friend to Nancy and I, him and his wife, Miss Sue was. He could quote this piece of poetry, I guess. Then I'm getting ready to read to you. He could quote it anytime. Say, hey, Brother Mike, Coach, I want you to say the prodigal son of Key of F. He could do it. And it was quite something entertaining. But anyway, I want to read it to you. Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather-brained fellow forced his fond father to fork over the family finances. He flew far to foreign fields and frittered his fortune, feasting fabulously with faithless friends. Finally, facing famine and fleece by his fellows in folly, he found himself a feed-flinger in a filthy farmyard. Barely famished, he feigned and had filled his frame with the forage fragments left by the filthy farmyard creatures. Phooey, my father's flunkies fare far finer, the frazzled fugitive said, frankly facing facts. Frustrated by failure and filled with foreboding, he forthwith fled to his family. Falling at his father's feet, he floundered forlornly. Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family favor. But the faithful father, for stalling further flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies. Fetch forth the finest flatland, fix a feast. But the fugitive's fault-finding freighter frowned on his fickle forgiveness of the former falderer. His fury flashed, but fussing was futile, for the farsighted father figured, such filial fidelity is fine, but what forbids fervent festivity? The fugitive is found. Unfurl the flags with fanfare's flaring. Let fun and folly freely flow. Former failure is forgotten. Folly is forsaken, and forgiveness forms a foundation for future fortitude." Ta-da! That tells the story, doesn't it? Too bad for you that I've got more to say. Okay, here we go. The younger son left home. Remember why Jesus tells the three pictures? Because of the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees, remember? If you care, that's the bottom line is, if you care, you'd have a burden. So that's what Jesus is getting across. So they received the pictures, but look at verse seven. I wanna show you something inside verse seven. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. If you're paying attention, you can almost hear the feel, the scribes and the Pharisees hearing Jesus say, He knows who we are. We're the 99 just persons that need no repentance. He does know who we are. At least Jesus can see that. And this is exactly how they were supposed to receive it. Jesus is going to put up a mirror for them to see themselves. And he gives them the three pictures. Are you with me? The whole thing is, if you have 100 and you lose one, if you have 10, you lose one, if you have two, you lose one. He said, if you have a burden, so that's a mirror. Now, watch this. I'm going to say that Jesus is now going to put up another mirror for them to see themselves. And it's the elder brother. full view look at verse 25 now when the elder brother was in the field as he came and drew nigh to the house he heard music and dancing wait a minute the elder brother where where has he been in the field If you're in the field, what are you doing? Well, that means you're working. So he is doing the father's work, or he's doing the business he's supposed to do. He's in the field. He's been busy. Now, I don't know if you got this or not, but he's still on the family property. He's on the family farm, the family ranch. He's still out there, even though, like, he's the son, and he's the older son. He's at work. He's doing what he's supposed to do. And he gets toward the house. He's getting closer. And he hears music and dancing. Well, this is just David McCracken thinking, OK? What would dancing sound like when you hear dancing? That's music. Isn't that funny? I'll think of clogging. Straight from Branson. No. It was apparent that the music is going and dance is happening too. I don't know what all that entails, but it entails that he understood they are having quite the party. So a fellow named Joseph Parker has commentaries, and I loved how he said this. Now, the father has received the son home, and listen to what Joseph Parker said. It is a poor joy that does not overflow the parlor and get down to the kitchen. So when the family is having a great joy, it ought to go all the way down to the kitchen and involve everybody, amen? I think that's a good way to say it. All right, so the older brother asked the question in verse 26, and he called one of the servants and asked, what is going on? What these things meant? He said, well, thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. How long has the younger brother been gone? We don't know. Bible doesn't tell us. He's been gone long enough to spend all the money he had, and he's been gone long enough that whenever he left, there wasn't a famine, but now there's a famine. Has he been gone a year, two years, three years? The Bible doesn't tell us, but he's been gone a while. It is... Oh, mercy. If you didn't have the Bible in front of you, if we hadn't just read it, and you're the older brother, and your little brother is an idiot, and he's left, and he's gone, he's broke your dad's heart, mom's heart, everybody's heart's broken, and then you hear that he's back, and let's just say he's been gone two years, let's do three years, whatever. If you were the older brother, in your head, when you'd be going, all right, Is it possible that you would behave like that? Look at the older brother's character. Verse 28, and he was angry and would not go in. He is upset because his dad has been nice to the younger brother. His dad has already forgiven the younger brother. He cannot believe that his dad would receive him. Look at verse 29. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid, and I might make merry with my friends. The older brother automatically shows he has self-righteous pride about who he is and what he's done for dad. Let's just say, I don't know how old the older brother is, but let's say that he's 35. If you want to, Mark, go ahead and go down to 29. I don't care. Let me ask you a question. If you've got a boy that's 29 and you have a farm and he works for you, Would you be pretty sure that you could say to your oldest boy, you have never messed up one time? Anybody hear me? What dad could say that to their kid who worked for them? And yet he's so full of self-righteousness that he looks at his dad and he goes, I've never messed up. I've never transgressed anything you ever wanted me to do. You know I always did it perfect. Well, first of all, he's a liar. But it's called self-righteousness. And included in that, it's obvious that he's complaining. He's ungrateful for what he has. You would think that he would be glad to be in his father's care and have worked for his father and that everything is good and wonderful and they're getting along. He said, we're getting along, everything is good. I thought that was kind of fascinating. That the younger brother physically left and went to the far country. The older brother hasn't physically left, but he's left his father's heart. The younger one left, he didn't want to be underneath the authority of the control. The older one is there, he's right inside the house, he's with them, but he doesn't appreciate where he is. He doesn't appreciate what he has. He thinks he deserves everything he's got. Anybody hearing me? Isn't that a sad commentary in a household when the kids think they deserve everything? Shouldn't there be some gratitude from children? Amen? Rather than, well, I'm born in your family. You should be taking care of me. You should be lucky I'm here with you. Because I could have been born in another family, you know. He's ungrateful. He's complaining. Oh, mercy. Well, let me finish, say that again. Here he goes. He said, I never messed up, I neither transgressed in any time that commandment. It's in the middle, verse 29. And he says, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. I've been serving you all these years. It's almost like I've been your slave all these years, doing everything, and you never did give me a party with my friends. Wow. Watch what else he does, verse 30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. Think about that with me. How does the older brother know he spent money on harlots? Did he send a spy? Go check on my little brother. I want to see what he's doing. It almost sounds like it would be like him, but it's not recorded. I thought it was, I thought, I think that, did the Bible say he wastes his substance with riotous living? Does it say anything about harlots? Does riotous living include harlots? Could. But let's just do this. First of all, the older brother doesn't know. And how does he know the boy doesn't have any money? How does he know? All the servants said is, your brother's here, and your dad has killed the Fed again. So the brother assumes that he doesn't have any money. Do you see the judgmental attitude he has? He is so full of self-righteousness that he's better than his brother. He's better because he has been with harlots, and he doesn't know that. He's assuming that. He assumes the worst. I thought this was fascinating about normal humanity. When you and I are in an argument, or we're having stress between us, or something's going on, and we're judging each other, you always assume the worstest you can come up with. Whenever the argument begins to happen or the disagreement begins to happen, they just assume the worse. The reason you would do that is because you're better than they are. And he's judgmental toward his brother. What if the older brother is exactly correct? He did hang out with harlots. He did waste all the money. He did. What if the older brother, I'm telling you, he is right on target. He's exactly right. That's what his little brother did. Even if he is right, the father still forgave him. It changes nothing about the heart of the father toward the prodigal. It changes nothing about the heart. I don't care if the Pharisee, the big brother, is right, it doesn't change his dad's heart. And watch, I don't know if you paid attention a while ago, but the Pharisee, the bigger brother, has left his dad's heart. Even though he didn't leave the house, he does, he's not in step with his dad's heart. I don't know, maybe I went too fast, or maybe I didn't explain it good enough. Jesus is putting up a full length mirror right in front of the scribes and Pharisees. And hey, I want you to see who you are. You're the older brother. They're getting the picture. See, envy and jealousy will destroy any relationship. So we're going to come back to Luke 15. If you want to take your marker out of Proverbs 23 and flip it over around to Luke 15, you can do that. Proverbs 23, I want to show you a couple of verses here. Proverbs 23. Look at verse 12. I'm sorry, verse 17. Verse 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end, and thine expectations shall not be cut off. So God is saying, in His words, don't envy sinners, even though they're having a party, they're doing all this stuff, they have all this riotous living and all that stuff. God's Word says there is an end. There will be an end to that, watch, and there will be judgment for that. So you and I don't need to be looking at them and be envious of them and think, I can't believe they're getting away with that, and they get to do what they want, and so on. All right, now look at Psalm 73. In my Bible, Psalm 73 is to the left, in front of Proverbs, Psalm 73. Okay, watch verse 12. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. Now, the verses in front of verse 12 describes them some, but he's just saying these are the ungodly, they prosper, verse 13. Barely, Here's what David, the psalmist, is saying, Wait a minute, maybe I'm going too fast again. Here we go, wait a minute. The wicked are prospering and everything is awesome! That's verse 12. And then verse 13, the psalmist says, well, I cleanse my hand for no reason in vain. Didn't do me any good to stay right with God. I wash my hands. I'm innocent and I'm clean. Look, verse 14, for all the day long, I have been plagued and chastened every morning. Excuse me? He said, I have been living right, my hands are clean, my attitude's clean, I'm doing what I... But he said, every morning I've been plagued and I'm chastened. Good night. What does that mean? Listen to the word plague if you look it up in Strong's. To beat. to strike, to cast down, to be defeated. Every day I feel like I'm going through defeat. I've been beat up. I've been cast down. That's plagued. Listen to chastened, rebuked, reproved, correction. He said, every day I feel cast down and beaten. And then I feel like I've been rebuked. He said, I do this every day, God. And the rich are getting rich. They're having a great time. Look at verse number 15. If I say, I will speak thus. Stop. What does that mean? If I say, I will speak thus. Look up here, please. He said, if I say that every morning I'm plagued, and every morning I'm chastened, and I'm just going through. He said, if I say that, look what he says, verse 14. 15, if I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. So the psalmist is saying, if I say it out loud, that I feel plagued, I feel chastened every day, I'm going through all this difficulty and all that. If I say it out loud, he said it will offend your children. That's what he just said. No, no, maybe I'm going, Maybe you're one of the lucky ones. Maybe you've never felt like you're going through the plague, that you always have problems, you always feel like you're chasing, you feel like you're being beat up, you feel like nothing's working out, and you're going, I can't believe they're all getting away with it. The psalmist said, if I say it out loud, it's going to offend thy children. So it's as if even though he feels that way, he knows better than to say it. Everybody with me? Watch the verse. This is fascinating. Here we go. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of my children. When I thought, verse 16, when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. He said, I'm going through all this discomfort and all this stuff. But when I thought about saying it, I realized it would offend your children. And this broke my heart. It was painful for me. Now watch what happens. Until. I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Until he got right with God, and he got into the Word of God, the Book of God, the Sanctuary of God, until he got there, he was jealous of them, he's envious of them, they're not going through what he's going through, and I'm thinking about telling everybody else, but then I went to the Sanctuary and I realized they do have a conclusion, they have an end, and I don't have that end. Not the same ones. Everybody with me? He said, so I'm not going to maintain, I'm not going to stay envious, I'm not going to stay burdened about them or jealous about their condition. And here he is. Well, let's just do this real quick. If you get envious, you're going to get bitter. And if you're bitter, the Bible calls it a root of bitterness springing up within you. If you get a root of bitterness springing up within you, it is going to affect everything in your life. Bitterness is a destroyer for those who want to walk with God and know God. And do people that are right with God, do they go through difficulties? Well, David said it plain as you could say it. He said, I washed my hands and cleansed my heart in vain. It didn't do any good. They're getting all the blessings. Until I went to the sanctuary and saw their end. Somebody say amen, please. Just pretend like you agreed with me. Good. All right. Let's go back to Luke. So he's jealous of his brother. He's envious of his brother. He thinks he's better than his brother. Watch what he does in verse 30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. One of the things that you're seeing here, he doesn't even recognize him as his brother. He said, as soon as this thy son. You see how envious he is, or how jealous he is, or he accuses his brother. He doesn't acknowledge him to be his brother. He doesn't recognize that God did something in his brother's heart, that God changed his brother. He doesn't recognize that. He refuses to recognize that. So he goes, I've been serving you all these years. I've been your servant, your slave. So he was acting like his father is an unjust father, an unjust master. I'm your servant, he's a slob, and he's a harlot chaser, and you're giving him a fatted calf? Do I serve you for nothing? I wrote this sentence. The younger confesses with no excuses. The elder boasts with no confession. When you and I are bragging and boasting about what we're doing for God, we might need to turn that around. There might be something we need to confess. So he's saying to his dad, you're treating your boy with too much forgiveness. You're being too kind to him. Watch, you didn't waste any time. You didn't put him on probation. You let him come right in the house. You put the robe on him. You give him the ring. You give him the fetid cap. You have this big party. And you don't know, he's probably just manipulating you. You think he comes home and he's going to be right, but he's just doing what he's always done. Am I hearing me? Yesterday, I was at a funeral, and I heard one of the brother-in-laws, who's a drunkard and a drug addict. He gave a testimony about the fellow who's dead, which is my friend, the pastor, the pastor of the church. And so he gives a testimony. He said, my brother-in-law. I was in the field. I'm an alcoholic. I'm a drug addict. My life is horrible. It's trouble. And my brother-in-law came down to me and said, come with me. I'll take you home. I'll help you get on your feet. I'll help you get a job. I'll help you get a vehicle and get back on your feet. And his brother-in-law did that two times. You know what I would say? I ain't going to help him. He doesn't mean it yet. Everybody hear me? He's just going to do it again. And he did. He did it the third time. He messed up his life, but he just didn't go back to his brother-in-law. But right now, at this moment, that fellow's life is clean. He's doing good. And he gives testimony about his brother-in-law, how that his brother-in-law kept forgiving him and saying, OK, I'll take care of you. Come on. He didn't have money or means, but he just said, you're my brother-in-law. I'll help you. Come on. But see what the Pharisee does? The Pharisee goes, don't trust them. They're manipulating you. They're just trying to get back into the big house. You know that. You see, dad, listen carefully, the father can look past all the manipulation. When the father sees humility, he knows if it's true or not. When the father sees submission, when the father sees brokenness, he knows if it's true or not. The Pharisee doesn't know, but the father does. It's fascinating that Jesus is holding this mirror up in front of these scribes and Pharisees. This is fascinating too, look at verse 31. No, verse 28. He was angry and he would not go in, therefore his father came out and entreated him. Isn't it fascinating that the father has, they're having the party, they're having the welcome, they are so glad that the father has this pharisaical son out there. And the father leaves the party and goes out there. Isn't that amazing? The father could have said, just tell Bob to come on in. But he doesn't. The father goes out there. And here's what the Bible says. He entreated him. Strongston Corden tells it. He begged him. He's begging his boy to show forgiveness and kindness, just like he's done. Why don't you show forgiveness and kindness like I've done? You can come in. He said, all these years you've been with me. Whatever I have, I've given you. He hasn't been an unjust master. He's provided for him. He's blessed him. But the Pharisee goes, I can't believe you're doing that. And the Pharisee's out of step with his dad. You cannot say you understand the heart of God. Listen, you cannot say you understand the heart of God and look at publicans and sinners with disdain. You cannot say you understand the heart of God and look at publicans and sinners without compassion, without a burden. And I know I'm guilty. The homeless thing is insane in America. Us that pay attention, we know it's crazy. But the only reason those people are homeless is they choose to be, and our society promotes it. If they take care of them, they feed them, and they do everything they can, it's insane. I know that. However, that doesn't change the fact that they're still homeless. And how am I going to look at them? They deserve to be there, it's their choice. They got hooked on drugs, that's their problem. Would Jesus spend any time with them? Isn't that why he came? I just know that you and I need to have a burden for lost people. I don't care if they're homeless, or if they're a drug addict, or if they're just a good behaved neighbor. They're gonna go to hell. And we need to care about them. We need to be burdened for them. And if we're not careful, we'll get the behavior and the attitude of an older brother or a Pharisee. And well, at least we're saved, our family's doing good. When we need to look around, God is interested in those hearts, those people. Are we out of step with the Father's heart? Are we out of step with the Father's compassion? Do we see value in just one? OK, let me wrap it up. I got two things to wrap up. OK, here we go. One of the things is, how long did they look for the sheep, the lamb that was lost? How long did they look for the coin? Here's what the Bible says, until they found it. How long should we be? Trying to find the prodigal, the wayward. How long should we try to find those that are indifferent? Until we find it. What happens when they find it? They call their friends and neighbors together and they had a party and they celebrated it. And the Bible says, over one sinner that repented, heaven rejoiced. Do you know that heaven did not shout when Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492? Do you know that heaven did not shout when America declared her independence on July 4th, 1776? Heaven did not shout when Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves in January of 1863. But you know on October 17th, 1963, And all heaven shouted when a little boy named Dave McCracken walked down the aisle and got saved. They rejoiced over one sinner and came home. The father said, this is my son. He was dead, and now he is alive. I believe the prodigal older brother needs to do the same thing that his prodigal younger brother did. Any of us that have Pharisee tendencies, we need to do what the older brother did. Here's what he needs to do. He needs to come to and understand where he is. He needs to recognize his condition, recognize that he's out of step with his father, recognize that his father's love is real and his father's love is enough. The older brother should feel dirty because he is. He should feel guilty because he is. He should feel shameful and broken and unworthy because he is. He should realize his father's heart is big enough for everyone. His Father's goodness is enough for everyone. His Father's kindness is enough for everyone. His Father's forgiveness is enough. His Father's wings are big enough for everyone. He should be coming to the end of Himself. He should be humbling Himself. The end of His own ideas, the end of His own ways. He needs the willingness to humble Himself publicly. Realizing it is sin. Willing to confess his sin. Realizing it's before heaven and earth. Realizing it doesn't matter who sees it. It doesn't matter what others think. There should be a humility and a brokenness. And there's no strings attached. He's willing to come back home on his father's terms. No expectations, willing to do anything, not demanding or expecting anything, that he wants to get in step with his father's heart. I do know and I'm aware that us people that are saved can become a prodigal. And we can leave the Father's authority and go out on our own and make a mess, and Christians do that. But I'm also aware that God invites the Christians to come back, amen? We call it revival, we call it getting right. But it's also true that those that are not saved, that the Father wants to save them. And if we're not careful, we can begin to behave like the big brother, like a Pharisee, and say, God, you're being too nice. You're being too kind. You're being too long-suffering. I can't believe you're just giving them a forgiveness right now. Come on. And when we need to get in step with the Father's heart. I ask you to stand with me. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Blessing. I'd like to pray with you, please. Our great God, I come to you again. I want to say thank you. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for truth. Thank you for the awareness that in this room, at this moment, all of us can say, thank you, God, that you're so good to us. Forgive us when we're envious of others. Forgive us when we might think you're too forgiving. That's impossible, and yet we still think there's some people that might not deserve it. Forgive us. I pray that we would have your heart. We would surrender to your heart. Give us a burden of compassion for those that need you. Jesus, if there's someone at this moment that's not saved, you already know that. I pray you would touch them and they'll say yes to you. For us in the room that have relationship with you, we're saved, but we're a little bit out of step. I pray that we'd surrender. Thank you, Christ. Thank you. Brother Veazey plays. If you'd like to come, I invite you to come. We'll have a song. Go ahead and begin to sing. You need to come. You know that. The Lord knows that. Let's just surrender to Him. Lord, you know my thoughts today. Try me, O Savior. You know my thoughts, I pray. So many can wait and weep. And weep for every sin and sin. One more verse. We need to come. You know what? Come on. ♪ Oh, will my words ever make me pure again? ♪ ♪ Will my words ever make me pure again? ♪ Let my desire to magnify thy name. Lord, take my life and make Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine. I now surrender, Lord, in Thee alone. Amen. Thank you, Brother McCracken, for that message. It was a good day in the Lord's house today. The Lord, I think, really blessed his word being open today. We're thankful for you and your wife being here. Thank you for coming to make sure he behaves. Appreciate that. Thank you so much. Just some points of interest on our bulletin here. We obviously had Brother McCracken here. Pray for Pastor and Miss Cindy and also the Van Dams as they're traveling back from vacation. We do have a youth rally coming up this Friday. There's some details right there. It's gonna be, we're gonna have a service, food, and then an activity afterwards. That's why we're gonna be getting back so late. And then if you have any more questions about that, maybe some transport for the kids back home, just get with me and talk to me. We can figure that out. And then we do have outreach as well, June 1st. This will be this Saturday at 9 a.m. Please make sure you put that on your calendars and we need people to come out so we can hand out tracks and just care for the lost. That's what we're called to do. uh... there's some other things coming up as well of course next sunday is when we leave for camp so uh... all you parents get a break from if your kids are that age you get a break from them for that for that long for a week so we'll take care of them for ya uh... and the rest of the stuff on there you can put on there uh... you can start putting on your calendars it was a good day in the lord's house today uh... brother logan peterson why don't you go ahead and dismiss us in prayer It was something that we made. It was really impressive. It really set us on fire. It was a proud moment. It was a proud experience. you