Bible Verses
Luke 15:11-32
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Mini Study
During Simon’s talk we looked at how one son was ‘far off’ and didn’t know the love of the father and the other was ‘near’ but didn’t know the love of the father. You could do a mini study on the love of God with some of these verses as a starting point:
1 John 3:1
John 3:16
Romans 5:1-5
Romans 8:35-39
Ephesians 3:14-19
1 John 4:15-19
Worship Song
Journal Prompts
In your journaling you may want to write your feelings and your prayers and ignore the prompts. The prompts are to help you and you can choose those that speak to you most. You can download these prompts as a PDF.
Which character in the parable do you find you relate to most naturally and why?
1. How does the fact that God is your Father make you feel? Why?
2. Take the ‘elder brother thinking’ test: What is your first thought when someone new walks into the room? Why do you think like this?
3. We looked at how both sons were thinking as slaves rather than thinking as sons. Think through the consequences of ‘slave thinking’ and contrast this with ‘son thinking’. It might be helpful to begin with examples from the parable but then consider other examples from your experience.
4. How do you relate to God as your Father?
Book Recommendation
The Cross & The Prodigal by Kenneth Bailey
You can see my creative response to this session at Newly Creative.
I hope you that you have found today's message and journal prompts useful. Share your thoughts, questions and journaling in the Facebook group.
If you are new here please read this post, Getting Ready
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