Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. All of us are sinful to the core and Willfully disobey God. the Father. We have a rebel heart. We are, according to the scriptures, conceived in sin.
It is our natural state. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how God always welcomes you back into his arms.
Now here's Dr. Graham with his message. I'll be home for Christmas. Luke chapter 15 is really the story of why we celebrate Christmas. We live in a dark and violent world.
And there are no easy answers to questions. of why. Why do terrible things happen and why do people do terrible things?
Okay. But we know that evil is a reality. Extreme evil. And while there are psychological answers to this dilemma, and cultural and sociological answers to this dilemma. Ultimately, it's the spiritual answer.
We know that Powerful demonic forces exist in this world. That This world is a battleground. And often people are caught in the crossfire. Humanity is capable of inhumanity. The madness is everywhere and It is no respecter of persons or places.
So what is the answer?
Well, I believe the answer Is given in the story that Jesus told in Luke 15. Begin looking. With me and reading along with me in verse 11. And he said, This is Jesus speaking. 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 he had and 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 the country, and he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself out to 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 pies 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? But 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 he came. to his father. What a story.
And in this story, just taking it apart a little bit with you this Christmas. I see the reason for rebellion. The rebellion that creates So many problems in people's lives. the source of the human problem. It's true right here in this text.
The young man demanded of his father his way. He said, give me what is coming to me. In this story, the young man is in love with himself and his desires and his wants. And long before he left home, he had a prodigal heart. He was lost before he went to the far country.
He was lost in his father's house because he had a problem. Within, and it is the human problem. The problem. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. And just as we see the rebellion in the soul of this man, we realize that every one of us has a prodigal soul.
All of us are sinful to the core. Willfully disobey God. The Father. We have a rebel heart. We are, according to the scriptures, conceived in sin.
That is, we are all born with a propensity. A genetic disposition. inclination. to sin. It is our natural state.
And so we are all lost. You don't have to go somewhere to be lost. There are many explanations for evil and suffering and tragedy in the world, but ultimately, In Genesis 3, when man sinned against God, you see The real problem. We as Christians know that ultimately the answer to All of these questions regarding tragedy and hurt and pain and suffering and evil, ultimately we know that it's a spiritual problem. And with this problem around the world.
We have to wonder, how do we get along as well as we do?
Well, here's why. God has placed Graciously. has placed certain restraints upon humanity. Evil is held in check. By the sovereign hand of God.
You say, how so? All right, let me give you a few examples. The conscience. When God created us, He gave every human being. A conscience.
Instinctively, instructively, innately, within every one of us, there is that sense of right and wrong. That is why every generation from the beginning has built in laws into the society because people know instinctively, because of the human conscience, that there is right and there is wrong. We are not animals. We are made in God's image. And therefore, the conscience makes us able.
to choose good over bad. to choose morality. Over madness. But the problem, of course, while the conscience, the human conscience, restrains evil. The conscience can be hardened.
The conscience, according to the Apostle Paul, can be seared like a vivid picture, like a hot iron.
So, you can burn your conscience so that it is no longer responsive, it is now numb. The fact is that it is the conscious. Of a human being that restrains evil.
Something else, God has established certain institutions. to restrain evil. For example, Government. It is It is part of the purpose of government to restrain And we're told in Romans chapter 13 that God has established order and law. And even the police officer on the street, or the governor, or the president, these are ministers of God, our governmental officials to protect us.
There are laws that are to be established. There is a judicial system, there are prisons to punish. and laws in place to regulate behavior. People say, well, you can't. legislate morality.
Well, no, not ultimately. But you can legislate, you can make laws against immorality. Why? To protect society. And that's why we have laws.
God established government and law in order to restrain. Evil. And then of course God gave us the family. The first institution was the family, and God established the family within communities. in order to help restrain evil.
This is why we must be proactive in teaching, coaching, is even a better word, training our children in the way of Christ. Our kids are being bombarded with evil and violent things. Influences today from video games to vulgar movies to negative music and Media, now, in movies, you know me, I like a lot of music, and not all music is bad, not all media is bad, but a lot of it is. Therefore, if our schools do not teach values, Who then must be assigned to to teach values. Mom and dad.
To make sure that you are training your children. And the best way to do that is not you be still while I am still. The best way is by your example, by the temperature and the attitude and the atmosphere of your home, by, as Deuteronomy 6 tells when we sit down for a meal, when we get up to have a conversation, that your faith is woven into the very fabric of your family, that it is normal and natural to have these conversations. And so God established the family to restrain evil. Evil.
And then the church. Every church should proclaim truth and righteousness. Teach the Ten Commandments. The principles of God. including the fear of God.
And it's the church's responsibility not just to get everybody together and sing kumbaya. But to teach and train and develop Men and women of faith. who will be salt and light in a deteriorating Culture. One day the church is going to be out of here. The Bible teaches that Jesus is coming to rapture his church into his presence.
And guess what happens when the church is gone? It's called the Great Tribulation. and all hell breaks loose on earth. And what the world, many in the world, have been waiting for a long time: no more church, no more rules, no more God. They're going to get what they want, and when they get what they want, they won't want what they get.
Because the church, the Spirit of God in God's people, is a restraining force. in the culture.
So God has established Restraints. Else evil would dominate and destroy us all. Um Thank God for his grace in them. But here is The reason for the rebellion. I and me and mine, it's my heart, it's our hearts.
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: I'll be home for Christmas. 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. We want to remind you that your support today will be doubled by a $250,000 matching grant to help ensure PowerPoint finishes the year strong. ready to reach more lives with the gospel in 2026. When you take advantage of this match, your generous gift will be worth twice as much to help proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus around the world through PowerPoint's TV, radio, and online outreach. We'll say thanks for your gift today with a copy of Dr.
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Now let's get back to today's message. I'll be home for Christmas. But then We see the result of of this young man's recklessness. He's in a hurry to get out of there. He basically says, Dad, drop dead.
I don't care if you live or die. Give me what's coming to me. Give me my inheritance. And Jesus said he was in a hurry to get down the road. He couldn't wait to get out of there.
Said he got his money, and a few days later, he's off. And he has a great time in the far country. He had no intention of ever coming back. What he wanted was the freedom to sin. To get away from his father, to get away from his family, to get away from his community of faith.
This is a Illustration, of course. of people today who want nothing of God. or morality or faith. All they want is the pursuit of personal pleasure and fulfillment.
Well, the result is clear. The young man got wasted. Living recklessly. That's the word prodigal, but it says here that he wasted his life with. Reckless living, that's the word prodigal.
It means extremely extravagant. Uh it Phillips who paraphrase this word, called it extravagant wickedness. But he's throwing his life away, and he ends up in. A pig pen. A famine came.
Another tragedy that no one could explain. Often, God uses tragedies and crisis in people's lives to bring them to Himself.
So this famine came. He's out of money, and when he got out of money, he ran out of friends in a hurry. Right? I mean You want to find out who your friends are. You see who's still left when you're out of funds.
Well, he found out he had nothing, so he. He ends up in this pig pen. Look, I've said it before. Sin will take you farther than you want to go. It'll keep you longer than you want to stay.
and it will cost you far more than you want to pay. Sin promises success, but it brings failure. Sin promises life, but the wages of sin is death. Sin promises pleasure, but it delivers darkness and. Despair, ultimately.
Oh, there's pleasure in sin for a little while, for a season. It would be a lie to say to our young people or to anybody, there's no pleasure in sin. There's pleasure in sin. But you can't sin and ultimately win. Because the seeds of sin produce death.
And this is the terrible, tragic picture of our sinful and spiritual condition outside of Christ. The wages of sin is death. This is what it means to be lost, to be separated from the Father. In pursuit of our own selfish desires. And this always ends up Badly.
Very badly. Because to run away from God and live your life without Him is to end up. in a place you never thought possible. This is a good place for me just to stop and to say. to parents are grandparents.
of prodigal children. Don't stop believing. Don't stop praying. Don't stop hoping. Don't stop whatever you do loving that prodigal child.
It doesn't mean you condone their actions. It doesn't mean you may not go to bed with tears pouring out your eyes. But if you have a prodigal, rebellious child, don't you dare give up on your child. You keep loving them, you keep praying for them, and as we say, keep the porch light on. The story of Christmas is the story that God keeps his promises.
Remember, God had promised a Messiah to Israel and to the world. But For 400 years previous to the birth of Jesus, there was nothing but silence, no word from God. No prophet from God, no scripture. Nothing. And the children of Israel were in darkness and depression.
and oppression. They waited and waited and waited and cried and cried and cried. for one to come who would deliver them. Day after day became decade after decade. In centuries, 400 years.
But in God's time. In God's way. Galatians 4. In the fullness of time, at the right time, God sent forth his Son. Born of a woman, born under the law.
The message of Christmas Yes. that God keeps his promise. And if God gave you a promise regarding your children. Your grandchildren. Your family, God in his own way, in his own time, will keep that promise to you.
You keep praying. You keep trusting God. You know, Jesus came into a dark world, into the darkness. It was a light. A brilliant star that led wise men to Christ.
The shepherds were out in their fields at night. Jesus was born at Bethlehem in the darkness. There was the darkness of Roman rage. There was the darkness of Jewish emptiness. There was the darkness of religious emptiness.
There was all kinds of darkness in the world. And Jesus both birthed forth. The babe of Bethlehem is the hope of humanity. That Is what I'm talking about when I say this is the road to redemption. The boy who was hopeless and broken.
No friends, no way out, no hope. No purpose in his life. He had bottomed out. Maybe you feel like that boy. That D U I That addiction.
That brokenness in your marriage or in your relationship. You got thrown out of school. Maybe you're even suicidal. You say it can't get worse.
Some of you have been raised in a Christian home, but you've rebelled against God. You left home. and just kind of start throwing your life away. And there's all kinds of excuses people make for for living this way. We live in a victim kind of mentality in our culture, and it's always somebody else's fault, right?
It's my parents' fault. It's my church's fault. It's all those hypocrites. At church, it's their fault, all the phonies. This is why I left.
But this young man finally said, no. It's my fault. You have to ultimately come to the place where you own your own sin. And say, I did it, I'm wrong. He admitted his sin.
He said, I will arise and go to my father. He said, I'm wasting my life out here. Everything I want, everything I need is back at the Father's house. I'll arise and go to my Father because you see. He came to himself.
He admitted his sin. He realized that sin is moral insanity. There's something about sin that short-circuits the brain. You say, why do people do such crazy things? Why would a grown man leave his wife and kids for his secretary?
I mean, that's just moral insanity. That's what sin is. He comes to himself, he gets a grip. But while he came to himself, he couldn't save himself. You see that?
He had to go to his father to be saved. To be redeemed. And that's what he did. He went home. And listen to me: everything you need in life is in a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ.
And if you will say, admitting your sin and committing to following Jesus Christ and submitting your life to the will of the Father. Then I promise you, if you will get up and go home and follow him, that he will embrace you and welcome you. I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms, in the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are 10,000 charms.
That's what this boy did. He went home to the Father. And that's what I'm. inviting you to do today. God sent his Son to be your Savior.
Born through the portals of a virgin's womb. who lived a sinless life. Who died a sacrificial death on the cross. And you want to know the answer, the ultimate answer to the sin and the suffering and the hurt and the pain and the tragedy and the craziness that goes on? The answer is in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is a victorious Christ because Jesus came out of the grave. And he's coming again. The Christ of Christmas is coming again, not as a little babe the next time, but king of kings and lord of lords. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: I'll be home for Christmas. With just a few days left in 2025, We want to invite you to give a year-end gift to help ensure PowerPoint steps into the next year of ministry in the strongest position possible.
The good news is that a generous friend has provided a $250,000 matching grant, which means any year-end gift you give by December 31st will be doubled to take the life-changing message of the gospel to more people around the world. Your tax-deductible year-end gift, doubled by the match, will take the message of peace in Christ into more homes, hearts, and lives than ever before. As a thanks for your gift, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Graham's book, Breaking Free from Stress, to help you defeat stress and anxiety and rest in God's care. To give your gift, just text the word match to 59789.
That's match to 59789. 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? I would say that today, this day, is the day you should come home. to the Lord. This is the day you should make your life right with God.
At this wonderful time of the year, As we've been reminded in the parable, the story of the prodigal son, the The Father loves us and gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us so that we could have eternal life. and that He is ready to receive us and welcome us. If you'll just come home to Him. You were made for God to know Him and to experience His peace, His love, His forgiveness, and power. Maybe you don't feel worthy of God's love.
Maybe you feel as though you've gone way too far. But the story of this prodigal son, this son who went to the far country and came back home to the father, is a reminder to us of just how much God loves us and how much He's wanting and waiting and willing for us to to come to him. Just as this boy had nothing to give to his dad he had wasted everything, all that the father had given him, yet his father had no concern for what had been lost, only that his son had returned.
So to day is the day to come home to him. If you are a child of God already, if you know Jesus, but you've been away from Him, you've been away too long. Uh any time away from God is too long. This is a day you can renew your faith in Him. You can come back home spiritually.
I would really encourage you to go to church. A Jesus-exalting, Bible-preaching, loving church, and go to that church and begin growing in your faith again. And if you don't know Christ as your Savior, if you're listening to this on the radio somewhere, maybe you're in a bar, maybe you're in a workout facility, maybe you're just driving in your car right now, but you know you need Jesus. Your life is falling apart without Him. You're like that prodigal a long way from God.
But you can come home today. Just bow your head and and invite Christ into your life. The Bible says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. The scripture tells us that all who believe in Jesus will have eternal life and abundant life.
So invite Christ into your life right now. By simply praying, Lord Jesus, I know that I have failed. I know that I have sinned. But I come to you. I trust in you, and by faith I receive you, Lord Jesus, as my Savior, my God, my Master, and my King.
And if you will sincerely pray and receive Christ into your life, I promise you He will save you, which means He will forgive all your sins. He will come by His Spirit to live in your life, and He will give you a future and a hope with Him in heaven forever. You've just made the most important and significant decision you can make in life. And I want to help you grow in your relationship with Christ.
So please contact us at PowerPoint today and request your very own New Believer's Kit. We have information that will help you begin growing in your Christian life so that you can have the assurance and the confidence that Jesus is in your life and you can make a difference in this world.
So again, contact us right now at powerpoint.org and request your very own new believer's kit. And that is today's PowerPoint. Today, if you prayed that prayer with Dr. Graham and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we'd love to hear from you so we can help you begin your new life with Christ. Please text the word Jesus to 59789.
And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how to truly experience the joy of Jesus. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
