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NewCity Orlando Sermons
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NewCity Orlando Sermons
Vision Series | Imagine People Who Have a Father
Senior Pastor Damein Schitter begins our fall Vision series, centered on the Lord's Prayer. At NewCity our vision is to see the Father answer the Lord's Prayer. With this, we might ask, how does understanding the Lord's Prayer transform our daily life? The Lord's Prayer is not just a grand vision but also a practical guide for our daily walk, aligning with NewCity's mission to form and send disciple-makers.
Pastor Damein digs into the profound concept of knowing God as our Father and the unique relationship we have with Him through adoption. Drawing insights from J.I. Packer's "Knowing God" and Dane Ortlund's "Gentle and Lowly," he discusses the deep security and identity that come from being adopted into God's family. Through a thought experiment, Pastor Damein illustrates the irrevocable nature of our place in God's family, emphasizing that truly knowing Him as Father can transform our lives and make us reflections of Jesus’s relationship with God.
Ultimately, embracing our identity as God's children provides strength and hope in times of anxiety and uncertainty. We can all "return home" to God, once we recognize signs of living in the "far country" and long for the peace found in returning to the Father.
Hello everyone. This is Pastor Damien. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, orlando. At New City, we believe all of us need all of Jesus for all of life. For more resources, visit our website at newcityorlandocom. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2:Good morning.
Speaker 2:Would you pray aloud the prayer of illumination with me, God our Father by your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and our minds to your word and lead us into your truth. For the glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. This morning's scripture reading comes from Matthew 6, verses 9 through 13. Pray then like this our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This is God's word. You may be seated.
Speaker 1:Good morning. My name is Damian. I'm the senior pastor. I'm so grateful to get a kick off this vision series, but before I do, let me just say, I hope, what you all experienced as well what a beautiful morning, what a special morning, ben, fantastic job leading us through the baptism. Whatever we call that. What are you going to call it? Yeah, yeah, baptism extravaganza. So this day will always be known as that from now on, from this moment. So helpful, so glorious to be a part of this congregation, and it really is a privilege to be able to be one of the leaders here at New City.
Speaker 1:I know that many of you have joined us in the last several weeks because I've met you visiting New City. Some of you have been in and out for the summer and we're beginning to be more around as school is ramping up and then, certainly after Labor Day, usually everyone's back. But if you're new, let me just tell you one of the things that we're committed to at New City as a steady diet of preaching is that we choose a book of the Bible and we walk through that book and in the fall it's an Old Testament book, and in the spring it's a New Testament book, and then we take a handful of weeks scattered throughout the year to preach topical series. And so if you've just joined us, that was last month and it'll be this month as well. But I do want to let you know that we are taking on the next book in the Pentateuch this fall for our Old Testament series, your favorite book, leviticus. Yes, and that is not a joke, there is no tongue in my cheek at all. We are doing it Because several years ago we set out to preach through the Pentateuch the first five foundational books of the Old Testament. Took us three years to get through Genesis, two years to get through Exodus, and if you're counting with me, genesis, exodus, leviticus is next, and so that's what we'll be doing. But this month what we wanna do is we wanna reintroduce everyone to the heart and vision of New City, or maybe for the first time, if you're new, to help you understand what we want to see happen as a church here in Central Florida and beyond.
Speaker 1:So our vision statement because many churches have vision statements our vision statement is simply this to see the Father answer the Lord's prayer. That's it. That's our vision statement. Now you've heard us talk about we call form and send disciple makers, and that's our mission. That is the thing that we want to give ourselves to in order to be used by God, to see that vision of him answering the Lord's prayer in our midst. Okay, we want to make disciples. Who make disciples?
Speaker 1:Now, vision statements are one of those things where, depending on what organization you're in or how you use that language, sometimes organizations might choose to use a real grandiose vision. Other times the vision might be something very specific, like, you know, cure malaria by 2050, or whatever. It is right, and that's the vision statement. But the thing that's amazing about the Lord's Prayer is it's actually both. It's this grand vision that the Lord Jesus gives us that, if New City exists, lord willing, for the next 100 years, if he tarries, that vision still is relevant. We never can reach the end of that vision of him bringing his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, of him hallowing his name, of him providing for his people and protecting them. You can never get to the end of that vision. So it's very grandiose. In one sense it's aspirational, but in the other sense it's very concrete, because tonight, when I pray with my four-year-old before bed the Lord's prayer, we are stepping into and embodying New City's vision. We are praying the Lord's prayer together, and so it's both aspirational and it's concrete. And what I wanna say, and I'll probably end here as well one of the ways that you can tangibly practically join us in this series this month is, in our common rhythm there's three times prayer At the 9 am or your first morning prayer in the day. Pray the Lord's Prayer with us, and if you don't have it memorized, memorize it this month. And if you do have it memorized and you're still teaching your kids how to memorize it, memorize it with them this month and we're joining in this series together. I would invite you strongly to do that with us Now as we keep going.
Speaker 1:One of the beautiful things about the Lord's prayer is that it not only is a vision that the Lord gives us, it's also a summary of the entire Bible's message. And it's not only in a summary of the entire Bible's message, it's also the vision of Jesus's life and ministry. It's not only that, it's a pattern prayer that Jesus gives us when his disciples ask teach us to pray, but it's also a philosophy of life. It's a way to see everything. It's a lens by which to understand the world. In fact, john Stott says the Lord's prayer gives us a profoundly satisfying philosophy in which the essentials of the Christian faith and the Christian life are set forth.
Speaker 1:And so, as we think about that, what I want us to think about is the reality of a vision needs to be understandable. We need to understand a vision, and, as we think about the Lord's prayer as vision, what we really do when we pray, it is the more that we understand God's word, the more robust this prayer gets. It never gets old. Okay, so that's the same with any vision. The more you understand a vision of anything, the more you can lean into it, but not only the more you understand it, also the more compelling you find it. You think about an organization that you've been a part of, that you loved. Not only did you need to understand the vision of the organization or the movement, you needed to be compelled by it, needed to grasp something in you. It needed to mean something to you. But not only did you need to grasp it, and not only do you need to find it compelling, you also need to find it. And not only do you need to find it compelling, you also need to find it actionable.
Speaker 1:How do I live this out? What does this look like in my day-to-day life? What does this look like on Monday morning? What does this look like when I'm struggling with finances? What does this look like when I'm struggling in my workplace or in my marriage? What does this look like in my life? All three of these things need to be a part of a vision, and all three of these things are accounted for in the Lord's prayer.
Speaker 1:One of the things I love about also having this as our vision is that it reminds us that what God is calling us to is much bigger than anything we could do on our own. We can't set a vision statement and basically, if we have the right rhetoric, if we have the right campaigns, if we have charismatic leadership, we'd probably be able to do it. Anything that that's possible with is not enough to be the vision of a church, the church of Jesus Christ. So this is why it's fitting that we've made our vision the answer to a prayer, because if our vision is also a prayer, then we know only God can do it.
Speaker 1:And what you need to know about most people, many people here at New City certainly the staff is we really like knowledge, we really like training, we really like education, we really like strategic plans, we really like being great, and we laugh because we know it's true. We shouldn't act like it's not true here, but it's true when you go into your workplaces and to the teams and businesses that you lead. No, of course we value that. What we need is we need a constant reminder, a constant vision that the only vision worth giving our life to is the Lord's prayer. The only vision worth giving ourselves to at this church is the Lord's prayer and it needs to put Jesus at the center, not our own efforts. You see, in that way the Lord's prayer as vision serves to anchor us, because many of our lives in churches are fueled by a vision that always keeps us in control and at the center. I mean sure we're gonna put God's name on it, we're gonna pray in Jesus's name, we're gonna give lip service to his name, but we're primarily gonna do it from our own strength and our own flesh, and we won't be able to think of a single thing we would have done differently than any other organization with a great message, because everything we did would only require compelling rhetoric, a good plan and charismatic leadership, but not so with the Lord's Prayer, from start to end. It's counting on God to do the thing that he's promised to do, that he would do it in us and that he would do it through us. And so the vision of New City is to see the Father answer the Lord's prayer, because the vitality of a church's vision is not based on rhetoric or charisma, but it flows directly from the vision of God that prompts it. I'll say it again the vitality of a church's vision flows directly from the vision of God that prompts it. So now imagine if we sought to embody the Lord's prayer as our vision at New City and our life philosophy as disciples at New City.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is exactly what we're gonna imagine together over the next several weeks. We're going to imagine a people shaped by a vision of God given to us in the Lord's Prayer. So four weeks we've named. Each week I'm going to tell you what the name of each week is, and then we'll start with the first one. We're going to imagine a people that have a father. We're gonna imagine a people that have a father. Then we're gonna imagine a people who have a future, and then we're gonna imagine a people who have enough, and then we're gonna imagine a people who have a way, a people with a father, a people with a future, a people with enough and a people with the way.
Speaker 1:Okay, so today, if you've noticed, with baptism and liturgy we've talked a lot about fatherhood and the adoption of God. Because today we're going to explore together a people who have a father and that's actually my first point today having God as Father, having God as Father. So the Lord's Prayer begins our Father in heaven, our Father in heaven. Some people will point out that what's interesting about the Lord's Prayer is it doesn't end in Jesus's name. But when you read the whole Testament, what you understand is, in a sense, the fact that we're praying this in Jesus's name is saturated in this prayer, because it begins with us being able to call God our father, and what that means is is that we must be adopted into the family by trusting Jesus. So Jesus starts here by saying when you pray, pray our Father in heaven.
Speaker 1:One of the things that we learn about adoption, particularly in the New Testament, is that adoption is a legal term. Okay, it's a legal term and it's a benefit. Ben alluded to this earlier. Oftentimes in this time of the New Testament, adoption would be a legal term used when a person was adopted into a family, particularly for inheritance. So you might have a wealthy person or a family who didn't have an heir to their wealth. They didn't have an heir to the family by birth, so they had to go select an heir to adopt into their family in order to take on their name, but also take on their wealth, to take on their what's the word I'm looking for? To take on their legacy?
Speaker 1:Okay, and this is the idea that we have in the New Testament is that all of us who are adopted into the family become heirs of God through Jesus Christ. But the amazing thing is is that in ancient times, you had a primary heir. You would adopt a person who would take on all of your wealth and all of your legacy. But the amazing thing about the family of God is that there's no scarcity, is that all of the wealth is infinite. All of that God has to give to us never ends, and so that means all of us as sons and daughters. As Paul says in Galatians, all of us, as sons and daughters, are heirs. This is a beautiful thing, because we don't have to fight to be the firstborn. We don't have to fight to be the firstborn, we don't have to fight to be the eldest, we don't have to fight for position in the family, but because God's love and God's resources and God's goodness are infinite, he can have as many heirs as he wants in Jesus Christ, and all who trust in Jesus become heirs of Jesus Christ. The giving of sonship is given to all of God's sons and daughters.
Speaker 1:You think about this? I love this idea. I'll unpack it a little more later, but actually, let's see here, 12 minutes Given time, I am gonna skip this part and I'm just gonna unpack it later. This is one of those things where you look at the time whenever you got up here in the service and you're like, oh, the kids are near too, we gotta go, we gotta go, okay. So I'm gonna skip down to this. Remember, what we're talking about is the fact that we have God as father, and by having God as father, we have God as father and by having God as father, we all have an equal place as heirs in the family of God, apart from anything that we've ever done.
Speaker 1:Ji Packer, in his book Knowing God I'll quote it a couple of times he has this wonderful chapter on adoption, and he's speaking of the tension in the Lord's prayer of being able to speak of God as our father, who's in heaven, and why both of these things matter. He says our father speaks. Our father phrase speaks of the quality and depth of God's love to Christ's people, all the sustained care and concern that a perfect father could show. Who art in heaven sets before us the fact that our divine father is great, eternal, infinite almighty. And thus that phrase makes us realize that God's love is unchanging, unlimited, unconquerable in its purpose and more than able to deal with all the needs we bring when we pray. And so what we see in this great vision, this great philosophy of life, this great pattern, prayer, is that it must start and it must be fueled by a particular vision of God. We must view God as our father, who's intimate, who's close to us, who's in heaven, who can't be conquered, who knows everything about us. And one of the things that's so unique about the Christian vision of the fatherhood of God is that it is true that any religion would believe that if God created all people, then in some sense God would have fathered all people, that is to say that everyone owes their existence to God, to the creator. But what's so unique about this picture that Jesus gives us is it's much more than that. It's actually those who are adopted into the family are not just created by God, but are now heirs and sons and daughters of God, with ultimate intimacy and protection. Now, this is hard for us to believe. This is hard for us to believe. I mean, think about this. Imagine what it's like to be, as Ben said, adopted into a family, when there's something in your heart that says I don't know if I'm good enough to belong, I don't know if I've performed enough to be accepted. You look around at all of the others in the family and you are so aware of what they have that you feel like you lack. And because you're so aware of it, you think of course this has to shape the way that God, the Father, looks at me.
Speaker 1:Dane Ortlund, in his book Gentle and Lowly, tells this helpful illustration. In one of the chapters he says picture a 12-year-old boy or a girl and they're growing up in a healthy and loving family and as they mature, through no fault of their parents, they find themselves trying to figure out by assuring themselves that they really belong in this family. Like you can imagine this. We've all done this in certain ways and in some of our cases, we you can imagine this. We've all done this in certain ways and in some of our cases, we're still doing this. So he says do this thought experiment.
Speaker 1:Imagine that this child takes this desire so seriously that one week they try to create a new birth certificate for themselves, just to assure themselves that they are in fact a part of this family. And then the next week they decide to spend all their extra time scrubbing the kitchen clean. And the following week they determined to do all they can to imitate their father or their mother. They're mimicking them. They're making sure that they see that they're being mimicked right. So all of this comes from a place of insecurity, but it's quite odd.
Speaker 1:So one day, imagine the parents question this strange behavior and say something like what are you doing? And the response being I'm just doing all I can to secure my place in this family. I'm doing all I can to make sure that I actually belong. I'm doing all I can to make sure that the gaze of the father stays on me. How do you think the father would respond? Well, probably something like this there's nothing you could possibly do to earn your place among this family. You are our son or daughter period. You didn't do anything at the start to get into this family. You can't do anything now to get out of this family, and we want you to live your life knowing that your sonship is settled and irreversible.
Speaker 1:What would it be like to be people who were so secure in that type of parent relationship with their father that they could live among the world in a unique way? What would it be like to be that secure? You think about having God as father. That's different than knowing God as father. We have God as father, and that's true. It's a legal statement of something that happens. My kids have our last name, but what is it like for them to know what it's like to embody that last name? So we have God as father, but what is it like to know God as father? And that's my second point knowing God as father? And this really gets to that second point of vision that matters. You can't just be clear on the truth of it, but you have to know. Why does this compel me? How does this grasp me? Well, what we do when we know God as father is that we begin to live our lives ultimately to be a reflection and reproduction of Jesus's life and fellowship with the Father, jesus's freedom and life with the Father.
Speaker 1:Ji Packer, as I said, he wrote a book classic called Knowing God and if you haven't read it I would commend it. I was thinking about it this week. I was revisiting it. It had been about 15 years since I had read it. The first time I read it was right after I became a Christian and I didn't understand most of it. The first time I read it was right after I became a Christian and I didn't understand most of it, but I understood a couple of things that really stuck with me. And the second thing that I remember that really stuck with me beyond and you're thinking what was the first thing?
Speaker 1:I'll just tell you really quick, I guess the first thing is that at the very beginning he describes this picture of being a young Christian and feeling like constantly he had to search to find where God was, because God was distant. And the person who was discipling said I want you to imagine that you are in God's hand the whole time. You don't have to search for God, All you have to do is turn back to him. He's always there. That stuck with me as a new disciple in Jesus who felt regularly like I was messing up, who felt regularly like I was distant from him. And I'm glad it stuck with me, because I still regularly feel that way. I still regularly feel like I'm distant from God, like I'm messing up, like I'm not getting it right, and that thought of all I have to do is turn back to him. I don't have to chase him, I don't have to backtrack, I just turn.
Speaker 1:The second thing that stuck with me was his emphasis on the importance of knowing we were adopted by God. And in that chapter on adoption he unpacks a few things. He walks through John's gospel and he points out that the very first blessing that we find in Jesus's ministry in the gospel of John in chapter one, verse 12, is that those who believe in his name have the right to become children of God. It's the first thing that John says those who believe in his name have the right to become children of God. He goes on in chapter 20, in the first resurrection appearance of Jesus. This is what Jesus says to his disciples that he was going to ascend to my father and your father, my God and your God, and central in John's first letter are the thoughts of sonship and the supreme gift of God's love. In 1 John, chapter 3, he says see what kind of love the father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are.
Speaker 1:He then goes on to talk about the love of the father in chapter five. He then talks about the love of Christian brothers and sisters for one another is because we are in the same family. He then talks about the Christian life is an ethic of sonship. And then he talks about the righteousness and avoidance of sin in the Christian life should be an evidence of sonship, not a desire to get sonship. And then he talks about seeing Jesus and becoming like him is the hope of sonship.
Speaker 1:So what we see in the New Testament is this picture of the greatest privilege of the gospel is to now have God as your father, to be an heir with Jesus Christ. This is the highest privilege. Every other part of the gospel like justification, which is the principal part that makes adoption possible. This is a glorious truth, which is why Jesus starts here. So repentance looks like turning back to the fatherhood of God. This is what repentance does. I'll say more about that in a moment.
Speaker 1:But my main question is why do we so often not live like this? Why do we not live like we have a father in heaven? Why don't you live like you have a father in heaven? Why do you live like if no one else secures your identity? You need to secure it. If no one else is gonna secure and look out for your future, you have to. If no one else is gonna take care of you, then you have to, even if it means tripping over others. Why do we do this? Well, ji Packer says what we need to know here is that the stress of the New Testament is not on the difficulty and danger of drawing near to the Holy God, but on the boldness and confidence with which believers may approach him, a boldness that springs directly from faith in Christ and from the knowledge of his saving work. In him, and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. This is the heart of the New Testament's message. You see, we understand that knowing God as father gives us incredible access to him. It's what he's trying to accomplish through his son, jesus. Christ is to adopt you into his family.
Speaker 1:I heard Tim Keller talking about this one time and he said imagine a king. Imagine a king who's asleep in their chambers. Now imagine the only person or people who can come wake that king up in the middle of the night for a glass of water the king's children. Right, the king's children are the only people who have that type of access to the king To go into the king and wake the king up in the middle of the night and say I'm thirsty, or I just had a nightmare, or, like this week, my hands are dry. Okay, who gets that access? Children. This is it. And yes, I guess I did kind of allude or imply that I'm a king. I in no way meant that, but I am a father. I am a father and our father is also in heaven. He is a king and we have incredible access to him.
Speaker 1:So I was thinking this week of this access and what it would be like for us at New City to live out this vision where we had a father, where we didn't only have a father but we knew our father, where we had an intimate connection with him, and I thought about what it would be like to be in situations that are so challenging but knowing that the father would come through To being in relationships that felt so past hope, but believing that the father would come true. To be waiting for that job offer when things are so hard, when the savings have almost been depleted or have been depleted, but yet still expecting and knowing that in his good time the father will show up. Or when we're wracked with anxiety over the fear of the future because we don't know what's gonna happen and there's a lot on the line, and yet knowing in our heart of hearts and giving us an ultimate peace that the father is gonna show up. What would that be like? It reminds me of the story that I heard where there were a group of fathers and sons and they were at a lake with a dock and there was all sorts of fun things going on and one of the boys was young, couldn't swim yet, was about four or so is what I imagine in my mind and everyone's moving away from the dock, things have been put away, including life jackets, and one of the fathers sort of counting his sons and he looks back, knowing that one of them isn't with him, just in time to see the boy have a fishing pole to throw the line in one more time and fall into the lake. And so he runs and as he runs he's looking for him to pop up and he never pops up. And so he jumps in the water and he's frantically searching for the boy. He's swimming, he has his eyes open, he can't barely see things. And he finally comes up for air and he's looking around to see if the boy had popped up. Other people are coming to help.
Speaker 1:He goes back down one more time to look, comes back up. He goes back down the final time and he happens to look over at the dock and the post that's in the ground. He sees the boy just holding on with his eyes closed and he swims over to the boy and he takes him and he brings him out of the water and the boy takes a big breath and they get up to the top and he's totally fine. He hadn't taken on water, he was waiting, he was holding his breath and he said, son, what were you doing? And he said I looked around and I didn't know which way to go. But then I saw the pole and I grabbed onto it because I knew my daddy was gonna come get me. He just held on and he just knew he knew his father, he knew the access that he had to his father, he knew the goodness of his father and he was just in faith, waiting. My daddy's gonna come get me. I was just waiting for him to rescue me because I couldn't rescue myself.
Speaker 1:Whatever that feels like, what would it be like to know that, even when we're at the end of our own strength, even when we're at the end of what we have to offer, that we're a type of people at New City who know we have a father in heaven who will always save us? Well, to be those types of people we wouldn't just know that we have a father, like I have a degree from this place or I have a car someone can use. No, that's different, that's important. You gotta have it in order to know it. But to move from having a father to be a people who know their father, to be people who live as sons and daughters and this is my final point what does it look like to live as sons and daughters? Well, again, I'll quote Packer.
Speaker 1:Ji Packer says if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. That's always challenged me. To be honest with you, I believe it, but it's so easy for me to move away from that, and so this morning I wanna invite you back to know that having God as our father, being adopted into the family through Jesus Christ, ought to prompt and control our prayers and our whole outlook on life. It secures our past, present and future. To live as children of God is to live more than we can ever imagine, is to live more freely than we can ever imagine, and I would say not only is this true of a person, that is to say, we can understand how well we grasp Christianity by what we make of our adoption, what we make of God being our father, but we can also tell a lot about a church by how much they make of being God's children, and this is where the vision of the Lord's prayer can begin.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I love, the Anglican prayer book, has a prayer in it that says God is always more ready to hear than we are to pray and he wants to give more than either we desire or deserve. I mean, wouldn't that be amazing? I mean, wouldn't that be amazing? God is always more ready to hear than we are to pray and wants to give more than either we desire or deserve. Well, of course, the good question would be I believe that could be true, but where in the Bible do we get this from? Where in the Bible might this be the types of things that fill our imagination about the love of the Father? Well, one of the places is from Paul's letter to the Galatians, when he says but when the fullness of time had come, god sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, god has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying Abba, father, so you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Speaker 1:Another place and this is where I want to conclude is the wonderful parable, the well-known parable in Luke's gospel of the prodigal son. If you remember this parable, a father, a wealthy father, has two sons, and one of the sons decides to leave, to take his inheritance early and to leave to go off to a far country, the son leaves home. And, as one author says, leaving home is to believe that you don't have a home where you are and you must look for one as far and wide as you need. You see what is home? Home is a place where you are welcome. Home is a place where you're accepted. Home is a place where you're safe. Home is a place where you're safe. Home is a place where you have provision, you're provided for. Home is a place where you belong right. Home is a place, you might say in this parable, where you have a father, but the one son leaves. He leaves home.
Speaker 1:And one author, henry Nouwen, says that he leads home because he's listening to other voices. And what I love about this is we all know what this is like. Listen, some of us today. We find ourselves in a far country. We find ourselves not oriented towards God as father ourselves. Not oriented towards God as father, not necessarily because we don't believe in God anymore or because we're mad at God, but, as Nouwen says, it's because we've begun listening to other voices that have wooed us away from the father into the far country.
Speaker 1:I'm going to directly quote Nouwen. It's so good. He says this. He says there are many other voices, voices that are loud, full of promises and very seductive. These voices say go out and prove that you are worth something. Soon after Jesus had heard the voice calling him the beloved, he was led to the desert to hear those other voices. They told him to prove that he was worth love in being successful, popular and powerful. The voices that said that you are not enough. Nowen says these voices are not unfamiliar to me. He says they are always there and always they reach into those inner places where I question my own goodness and doubt my self-worth. He says these voices suggest that I'm not going to be loved without having earned it through determined efforts and hard work. These voices want me to prove to myself and to others that I am worth being loved and they keep pushing me to do everything possible to gain acceptance. They deny loudly that love is a totally free gift. Now one says I leave home every time. I lose faith in the voice that calls me the beloved and follow the voices that offer a great variety of ways to win the love that I so much desire but already have. End quote.
Speaker 1:Listen right now, some of you hear that quote and you need to come back to the father. Some of you hear that quote and you realize I am in a far country. I'm in a season where I'm exhausted, I'm critical of others, I'm contemptuous of myself. Why? Because you're in a far country, trying to prove that you're lovable. You're trying to prove it to yourself, you're trying to prove it to others. Some of you need to come back to the father. You need to come back home out of the far country for the thousandth time or for the first time. Jesus is inviting you back.
Speaker 1:In this parable he's saying come back to our father in heaven. And you know. What we really would love to see as New City would take on this vision and call for and send disciple makers that embody it is that we would see more and more people in this city coming out of the far country to the Father for the first time through faith in Jesus Christ, and we'd see many, many more baptisms by profession of faith for people who have lived their whole life in the far country. But now we're coming back, but not only that. We wanna see through the regular proclamation of the word and sacraments through the ordinary means of grace, that all of a sudden we would see this renewed desire in you and others who are weak and wayward, to be infused again with life and return to the Father. That we would see spiritual renewal for the first time or the thousandth time. But it will all be predicated on this that we turn back to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Repentance is a return to the Father. It's not a promise that I'll never do that again. It's not a picking yourself up by the bootstraps. It's a recognition of what's true I have wandered into the far country and I need to turn back to my father. This is repentance and it requires faith. Now, as Jesus' parable goes on, the son comes to his senses and he's on his way back home to the father and the father's watching for him. And immediately the father runs to him and embraces him in love and reassures him of his sonship. And this is what the father will do to you and I every time we return in repentance, when we return to home.
Speaker 1:Ji Packer teaches us that adoption is made possible through propitiation, and what this means is that we're accepted and adopted into the family of God through the death of Jesus on our behalf. The gospel is that the true son purchased our inheritance and adoption with his own life. What this means is that you and I can live daily in self-conscious partnership with God and we don't have to be fearful. Imagine what it would be like If you wanna know. Here's a litmus test Am I living in the far country, or am I living with God as my father?
Speaker 1:You may I living in the far country, or am I living with God as my father? You may be living in the far country if you're overly sensitive to criticism and you fear failure all the time. You may be living in the far country when asking for forgiveness from others seems like psychological death. You may be living in the far country when you're secretly comparing yourselves with others all of the time, or when we must always be right and are defensive when others think we're wrong. You might be living in the far country when you can only handle praise. Or you might be living in the far country when you are expert at pointing out what is wrong and always dissatisfied about something. Another way you might be in the far country is you treat prayer as a last resort. Another way you might be in a far country is you're constantly pointing out your own accomplishments for fear that someone might overlook them.
Speaker 1:But to return to the Father, we can be open to criticism, since we stand in Christ's perfection, not our own, and that allows us to examine our motives a bit more deeply. We're able to take risks and even fail, as Ben talked about in the call to worship, since we need no record of our own to boast in, but we've been given a record, the family record purchased for us in Jesus Christ, and we'd be able to freely confess our faults to others and even be eager and hopeful for their feedback in a desire to grow. What would it be like if New City were filled with disciples who knew they had God as Father? Let's pray, father. We come to you as our father. We ask that this morning you would reacquaint us with this greatest privilege that those who believe in your son have the right to become your children.
Speaker 1:Lord Jesus, we worship you.
Speaker 1:We worship you who left your home in heaven, took on flesh, lived in exile a perfect life that we should have lived and died that death on our behalf, so that now, in you, we can receive adoption as sons and daughters.
Speaker 1:I pray that in just a moment, you would lead us into reflection, that you would teach us where exactly we need to turn back to you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. And now, that is the point in our service, where we are now, which is we'll take a moment to reflect on all that we've heard. So I wanna invite you now to take a few moments in prayer and return to the Father and, if you're not quite sure in what ways you have left home, to go to the far country and need to turn back to Him, ask Him, ask the Holy Spirit, to bring to your mind ways in which you have left home and you need to turn back to the Father. And as you're doing that, I'm gonna pray on your behalf that he would fill you with the peace and joy that the son felt in that parable as he returns to the Father, when the Father's there with open arms ready to receive you. Let's take a few moments to pray.