Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. The Lord your God in your midst, a mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by his love, he will exult over you with loud singing. This is what the Father demonstrates. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about celebrating God's extravagant love for you.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message: deck the halls. When Jesus came, he came telling stories. The greatest story ever told is the story of Jesus, and this story is told by Jesus Himself using a unique style called parables, which reveal the heart of God. And so we're looking at the stories in Luke chapter 15.
And it's all about lost and found. First, one sheep was lost, and the shepherd searched until he found it, and people celebrated because. of the shepherd's joy. Then a lady lost a coin, and she swept the house. She tore the house down to find that one coin, and when the coin was recovered, She celebrated.
And then Jesus plumbs the depths of the Father's love when He tells. A common story, a well-known story known as the parable of the prodigal son. Let's begin reading in verse 11 of chapter 15. And he said, there was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.
and he divided his property between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered all and he... took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself out through one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, and I perish here with hunger? I will arise and go to my Father. And I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. And watch this. But while he was still a long way off, His father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to the servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead.
And it's alive again. He was lost. and is found. And they began. to celebrate.
Have a party. Deck the halls. A son is saved. This is really a picture of the Father, the heart. How do you view God?
Many people view God in the abstract. He's a distant deity out there somewhere. Others view God as an angry judge. Others view God as a benevolent, kindly old grandfather. But when Jesus described God, the most beautiful description of all is to call him Father.
He taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven, your name be hallowed. And so, when Jesus tells this story to show what God is like. He speaks of a father. First, the honor. of a father, a father's honor.
Jesus tells us in the first verse that he was a man, a certain man. He was a well-to-do man, no doubt a wealthy man. He had a piece of property. He had worked hard on this piece of property through the years. Perhaps it had been passed along from his father.
It was a generational kind of thing. And there was this legacy that he lived. Before his family, and everything that we know about this man. This dad is good. He's an honorable dad, a good man.
I'm grateful that I had a very good dad. I know that not everyone can say that. Unfortunately, some Grew up without a dad. But this father was A good dad. My dad was a good man and He was a blue-collar dad.
We never had much money. But he gave me something better than money, and that is the inheritance of a faith that was passed on through our family, a genuine, authentic. Faith. You would love my dad. My dad passed away in 1970.
And I think of him most every day. God has called us men. to be his men. And to lead our families, and there is nothing greater than to see your children, the scripture says, walking in truth. This man was an honorable father.
But not only the father's honor, but No. The Father's humility. The father's humility, in spite of his worth, in spite of his wealth, and he had some. He had an inheritance to give. And yet, in spite of that, he loses the most precious thing in his life.
His boy. Because this young rebellious son Comes to his father and says, I demand my inheritance now. And with that, he is in effect saying. I don't care if you live or die. Imagine this.
Imagine the pain of this. How devastating this would be to any dad. I disown you. I divorced you. I Despise you.
And I don't want to be here anymore. The Father. Let him go. I see incredible humility in this man. He could have demanded That the boy be beaten.
Stunned? But rather, the scripture says he humbly divided up what he had, and Jesus said. He gave it his portion, the portion to the boy. with tears and weeping. He says goodbye to his son.
The property bent. Very little to him. The money. though it was a lot. was not the issue.
It was this boy. who turned his back. On God. on his family. and on his future.
He dishonored and disgraced. His father. He wanted nothing to do with him. He despised him. And yet in humility, and with hopefulness.
No question in my mind. But this father Never stopped believing that his boy would be back. Can't you just seem every day? His first thoughts in the morning Today could be the day. He comes home.
At sundown, he goes to the end of the road and he peers out into the distance, hoping against hope. that his son would return. He cried a lot. He prayed a lot. Maybe there were reports from the distant country, the far country.
Word came that his boy wasn't doing all that well. He prayed all the more. God Watch over my son. God, keep my son. God, bring my boy back.
Every day. He wouldn't give up. And let me just say: if you have a prodigal child in your home, in your family, moms, dad, don't you ever give up. You keep praying. You keep believing.
You keep trusting in God. He sins. This boy sins against. God, he sins according to his own confession against his father. The loving father is rejected by this rebellious son.
But one day The boy comes to himself and And he said, this is crazy. The servants of my father are better off than me. And so he makes his way home, rehearsing a speech that he prepared to give, to come back not as a son. But as a slave, as a servant. And so he goes down the road home and he's broken and he's bankrupt and he is ruined.
It is a picture of the consequences. of sin and disobedience. He's filthy. He's come right out of a pigsty. He's barefooted and.
In verse 20. But while he was still a long way off. His father. His father saw him. and felt compassion and ran and embraced him.
and kissed him. What a picture of the prodigal love of God the Father. He saw him. And when he saw him there at a distance, the familiar. figure of his son minus the swag.
Now limping home, barely able to get home, and yet when the father sees him, he didn't send a servant to go clean him up and then bring him in the house. He didn't call for the Pharisees to come and judge him. But he ran like crazy. It's Giving Tuesday, and thanks to your support, we have an incredible opportunity right now. PowerPoint Ministries exists to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people everywhere.
Our goal is to share that message with more people than ever before, and that goal is within reach today, but we need your help. We're asking you to partner with us right now to reach more people through new avenues and technologies that just a few years ago were not even possible. Will you give right now? Your generosity makes a real difference. Don't wait.
Just text the word GIVE to 59-789. That's GIVE to 59-789. and thank you for helping proclaim the gospel till the whole world hears. We all know Christmas is right around the corner. During this Advent season, will you join Dr.
Graham in preparing our hearts to celebrate the arrival of King Jesus? If you're up for celebrating the reason for the season with us, just take your phone out and text the word ADVENT to 59789. Again, text ADVENT to 59789.
Now let's get back to today's message: deck the halls.
Now it was totally undignified. For an older man To run. like this. This wasn't a jog. He's not out there jogging for his.
for his conditioning. This is a dead heat sprint.
Now if you ever see me, I guess I'm an older man now, and if you ever see me in a sprint, you know it's because somebody's chasing me, all right? Because I don't do any more sprinting. But this old man, he doesn't care what his Family thinks, what his friends think, what the community thinks. He's got one thing on his mind, and that is getting his boy back.
So he runs to him and he embraced him. It says he fell on his neck in one translation. And it says. He kissed him. And not just that he kissed him.
But in the Greek It means he kissed him again and again and again and again and again. He kissed him profusely. Dads, don't be afraid to kiss your children. even if they're grown up. I know the teenage guys don't like it.
Maybe wait till you get home. To kiss. You're 16 year old. But don't you stop kissing your children. I kiss my boys to this day and I think they like it.
And our daughter.
Sometimes dads are just too stiff, too stern, too standoffish. We ought to be bricks, velvet-covered bricks, strong. but tender. Many of you. Grew up.
in homes where affection was never freely expressed. Don't pass that along to your kids. Learn to love and love openly. and aggressively and affectionately.
So he embraces him. He had compassion. That's a strong word. It literally means a feeling in the gut. It's emotional.
It's visceral. Compassion. The Bible says in Psalm 103 verse 13, as a father shows compassion for his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. This is the love of God. We who have sinned, who have rebelled against God, ruined our lives.
when we return to Him in repentant faith. are received and restored. The father Humbles himself. And gives himself to his son. And it's at this point then we really see beyond the honor of the father and the humility of the father, what do we see?
We see the heart of this father. The heart of the Father. You see, this is the story of Christmas. It is the story of the condescension of God. It is the story of God coming to us.
and embracing us. First in the arms of a babe. And then in the arms of a cross. and then in the arms of salvation. When we come to him in repentant This is the unconditional love of God.
You don't see the father. shaming the sun, scorning the sun. lecturing the sun. You know, no words like, what were you thinking? You should have known better.
I told you so. Just outrageous. love and delirious joy. To welcome the son home. The scripture says that He had been in a pig stye, so he smelled a high heaven.
But that the father said, bring a robe. bring some shoes. must have sold his shoes for money.
Now he's barefoot. He's dirty. He's filthy. But the father says Bring a robe. Get some shoes.
And then get the ring, the sign of Family status, the signet ring, put it on his hand. All of these were the. Undeserved, unmerited gifts of the Father. You see that?
Now the boy thought that he would have to work his way back in, that he would have to appeal to the father to get in a little bit at a time, to come back as a servant, that he would have to prove himself to his father before he could ever get back into the house, get back into the favor of his father. He'd been gone too long. He had done too much.
So he had this speech prepared. And he said, I'm not worthy. To be your son, I'll come back as a slave. And as he's Trying to get this speech out, the father just interrupts him. Because you see, When we come back to God, There's nothing that we can bring.
There's nothing that we have. That we can bring to God. Nothing we can't earn or deserve. God's favor. We can't achieve it by working harder.
You see, this is the difference. Listen to me now. This is the difference between religion and Jesus. Yeah, we're gonna say, religion says You clean up your act. You get your life together.
First, stop doing what you're doing. Start behaving and living the right way. And then God will love you. Then God will receive you. Then you can be.
A follower. That's what all religion says. But what Jesus says is Come to me. As you are. You're a sinner, and you may even be a good one, a good sinner.
Like this prodigal. You may be the worst of sinners, but you come to me. As you are. And I'll cover your sin. I'll cleanse you.
I'll cover your feet. You see, you know, as I mentioned, these shoes, the fact that he was without shoes is. is a strong picture. That now we are We have our feet covered with the gospel of peace. that we stand in his righteousness.
We are covered with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The robe, when a father gave a son a robe, it was something of beauty. It was something of the blessing. To receive the father's robe was to be given his favor. Like Joseph who got received the coat of many colors.
So when when the father put the robe on the son and the shoes on the boy, And the ring on his finger, all status of a son. Not a slave. And he took him back. And then he said, Dick the halls. Kill the fatted calf.
We're going to have a barbecue. We're going to have the biggest party this countryside has ever seen. Because my son who was dead is alive. My son who was lost is found. And he spared no expense.
to celebrate the sun. And there we see the Father's happiness. The Father's honor, the Father's humility, the Father's heart. but the father's happiness. And in all three cases of these lost things being found, the lost sheep, the lost corn, now the lost son found.
It's all celebration. In Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 17, the Bible tells us that God sings over us. The Lord your God in your midst, a mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by his love, he will exult over you with loud singing. That's what God does. This is what the Father demonstrates.
There was the ring, there was the robe, there were the shoes, and then there's the rejoicing. But you know, the greatest gift of all. For this is what the Father. Remember, he represents God. Says.
And this My Son. This boy thought he'd never hear those words again. But this gracious, loving, generous. Father. Said my son.
Life.
Son. The boy is found in the depths of his father's love. The extravagant love, the exuberant joy. of his father. Like all of us.
who have been welcomed into his family, into his house. Father paid a great price. To receive his son, and our God has paid a great price for us to be welcomed as well. But God sprints to save anyone who will come to him. Anyone who with repentant faith will return To hear.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. This is the joy of Christmas. Rejoice! And why do we rejoice? Because we were dead.
Now we're alive. In Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: Deck the Halls. It's Giving Tuesday, and thanks to your support, we have an incredible opportunity right now. PowerPoint Ministries exists to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people everywhere.
Our goal is to share that message with more people than ever before, and that goal is within reach today, but we need your help. We're asking you to partner with us right now to reach more people through new avenues and technologies that just a few years ago were not even possible. Will you give right now? Your generosity makes a real difference. Don't wait.
Just text the word give to 59-789. That's give. To 59-789. and thank you for helping proclaim the gospel till the whole world hears. We all know Christmas is right around the corner.
During this Advent season, will you join Dr. Graham in preparing our hearts to celebrate the arrival of King Jesus? If you're up for celebrating the reason for the season with us, just take your phone out and text the word ADVENT to 59789. Again, text ADVENT to 59789.
Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?
Okay. You probably didn't realize that the parable of the prodigal son from Luke chapter 15 was really about the Christmas story. It's the greatest story ever told. How God has reconciled us to Himself, how God the Father has loved us when we were far from Him. Christmas is all about God choosing to reconcile man, you and me, to himself.
And if we think it's just about some carols and having a nice and joyful and happy time with others, then we're thinking way too small. Christmas marks the point in the history of humanity where everything changed, and I do mean everything. It was the point where God became man to dwell among us, to communicate His forgiveness for our sins, to die on the cross and to rise again and to give us a brand new life. You can have a new life in Christ. Why did Jesus come?
He said, I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
Sometimes you may think of salvation or knowing God as some kind of step or procedure or a religious ritual. No, God loves you personally. God gave Jesus to die for you. And when you believe, you can be saved. For the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
and you will be saved. is true. Uh like the father of the prodigal son, Our Heavenly Father is overjoyed by every person, every sinner that responds to His love and His grace. That's what the story of Christmas is all about. And this is why we celebrate.
This is why we deck the halls. This is why we turn on the Christmas lights. This is why we enjoy this time of year so much, those of us who know Jesus, because it really is a celebration of life, our life in Christ, our celebration in salvation.
So rejoice, the Savior has come. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember to join the text conversation, Text Connect to 59789. That's Connect to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr.
Graham brings a message about how God always welcomes you back into His arms. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
