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When the light comes on.
Parable of the prodigal son, the

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younger son, we need to say
the quiet part out loud and that's

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this. Sin is fun. Sin is fun.
We don't call it sin because that

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kind of take the fun out of
it. So we relabel it, we clean it

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up. We don't say to a friend,
hey, let's go out Friday night and

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we'll sin. It'll be fun. No,
we call it something else, but that's

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what it is. Or let's say sin
appears to be fun, but it never ever

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is in the long run. And that's
what the story of the prodigal son

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tells us, how sin deceives us.
This is a story about two sons and

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a father. We heard about the
younger son, the scripture read so

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well for us this morning. The
younger son who wanted half of his

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inheritance, he wanted to go
out and have wild living and he took

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it and went. The other son
stayed home, but the other son was

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also estranged from his father
because he was just trying to follow

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the rules of his religion or
his structure and had no love for

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the Father. And in his self
righteousness over his resentment

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for his younger brother, he
was sinning as well. So whether it's

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the sin from taking off in a
wild life or the sin of self righteousness,

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both separate us from God.
We're restored to a holy God when

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we have corrupted our lives
with sin only because of the grace

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of Christ, who gave the
sacrifice on the cross so that we

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could be clean, we could be
forgiven, we could be brought back

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into fellowship with God. It's
not earned, it's not deserved. It's.

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It's a gift of love from God
to us. And so today we're going to

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look at the younger son. Two
weeks, we're going to look at the

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older son and his sin and the
father's forgiveness. Next week is

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our global emphasis week. And
so we're going to kind of take time

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out in this story, talk about
how our witness shows in the world.

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But whether it's the younger
son running from God or the older

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brother living religion
without love, or it's the wandering

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sheep we talked about last
week or the lost coin that's just

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neglecting God, whatever the
process, whatever the path, the result

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of sin is the same. Now the
younger brother's story is told in

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us in great detail because it
applies to all the paths of sin,

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whichever one you pick. And,
and Jesus essentially tells us that

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what's anticipated to be a
great adventure that's what the younger

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son thought it was going to
be. A great adventure is exposed

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in the agony of sin to let us
see clearly how painful life can

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become when we follow the path
of sin and get caught in that cycle.

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This story shines a bright
light on the examination of sin.

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And the scripture talks often
about the light shown on sin and

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what it does to sin. Ephesians
5 reads like this, Take no part in

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the worthless deeds of evil
and darkness. Instead, rebuke and

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expose him. It's shameful even
to talk about the things that ungodly

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people do in secret. But when
the light shines on them, it becomes

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clear how evil these things
are. Jesus tells us the story in

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detail because he's trying to
protect us from the trap that the

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devil wants to pull us into
with sin. And so today we're going

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to look at the nine bright
lights that are shone on sin. When

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we get trapped in that cycle,
why do we get pulled into it? Why

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do we sin? And then when we do
sin, what happens every single time?

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That's what the parable of the
prodigal son tells us. Because there's

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always a commonality to it of
why it happens, and there's always

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a commonality to it of the
result. It's ugly every single time

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when it's shown in the bright
light. So first of all, the scripture

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says sin always starts with
justification. The younger son told

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his father, I want my share of
your estate now, before you die.

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Well, in those days, they
didn't have a bank account. They

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had land, they had cattle,
they had farms, they had whatever

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it might be. So for a son who
would take half of that inheritance,

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if there were two sons, when
he died, they'd have to split all

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that down the middle. Well,
that's a complex and difficult thing

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to do. But the son says, I
want my half now before you die.

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Well, here's the problem. This
father wasn't dying. You see, he

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started with the
justification, my father's gonna

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die, so I'm gonna take it
anyway, and just twisted that in

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order to get his handle on a
justification for why his sin was

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okay. And when we wanna sin,
we go into overdrive trying to find

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a justification. They don't
pay me enough on my job, so if I

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take a little bit extra or I.
I don't give them full effort, so

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what? I deserve it. You know,
I'm a person who just gets angry.

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It's just who I am. It's just
the nature. You don't want me to

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express myself Authentically,
you want me to hold back, huh? I've

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had hard knocks, tough knocks
in life, so if I cut a few corners,

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what's it matter? I deserve
it. I've binge drinking doesn't hurt

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anybody but me. So what are
you complaining about? I was raised

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to fight for everything. And
if you get hurt in the process, that's

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too bad. Because you won't get
ahead in the world if you don't fight.

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And I'm going to show you the
way. I talk bad about them because

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they talk bad about me. I
mean, what goes wrong comes around,

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right? See, justification is
always the foundational platform

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for sin every single time. So
sin starts with the justification

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we see from the story.
Secondly, we see from the story that

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sin always puts immediate
gratification first. So his father

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agreed to divide his wealth
between his two sons. Again, the

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father's wealth was not cash.
So this was really difficult to do.

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And so the immediate
gratification of the younger son,

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everybody has to adjust to his
selfishness. The father has to divide

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up this property and
possessions that he's built up over

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the years, probably that he
inherited part of it. The older brother

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has to give up part of his.
The employees all have to change

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or many of them get laid off
or what it may be. You see, sin always

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abuses others. Sin always
abuses people that God loves and

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God created. Probably the most
raw example of sin is sexual assault

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and abuse, cyber bullying.
That's raw. It is so pitifully selfish.

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Get your happiness for three
minutes and put somebody else's life

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in turmoil forever. And that's
what happens. It's the lowest of

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the low. So whatever the
immediate gratification is, that's

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kind of what it really comes
out to be because people get trampled

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in the process. Jesus said,
what you do to the least of these,

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you do to me. And when your
gratification and your quest for

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immediate gratification start
to trample on people, it is sin every

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single time. Well, thirdly,
the story tells us that sin always

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takes root in our emotions.
Scripture then says a few days later,

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this younger son packed all of
his belongings. He wasn't going to

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wait around. I mean, he got
the money, he gonna go. So God created

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us with emotions. And you see
that emotion expressed in this younger

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son who's ready to go, he's
not waiting. Emotions in our lives

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are barometers. You know,
barometer measures air pressure.

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This weekend I was going nuts
with my sinuses. The air pressure

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was changing. It measures the
air pressure. Emotions do the same

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Thing, they measure the
pressure of our lives. Now, some

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emotions are happy and some
are sad. And sad emotions are not

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bad because all emotions have
a purpose. You see, Jesus got lonely.

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Jesus got frustrated. Jesus
cried. So this emotion of the moment

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in the quest for immediate
gratification is what pushed this

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son to. To make a stupid
decision to leave a place of stability

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and love and comfort and
protection and security and just

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head out into the world. And
that's what he did. Emotions of inadequacy

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lead to jealousy. And that's
what happened in the older brother.

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We'll see in the story in two
weeks. The jealousy and the rage

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began to build in him.
Emotions of loneliness need to lead

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to pride. I can do it on my
own. I don't need anybody else. I'm

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strong. I'm going to do this.
I'm going to be determined. Emotions

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from demands, the weight of
responsibility. We got too much.

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I can't stand it anymore. I've
got to do something. Emotions from

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boredom. I just. This is too
boring. I gotta do something that's

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more exciting. The sameness of
it is too much. They all lead to

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a loss of control. Those
emotions, even if bad. We'd rather

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have the control. The younger
son would rather have the control

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of his future, even if it was
a bad future compared to what he

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had. We're willing to risk
everything for control. You see,

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all these different emotions
all get rooted in the sin. And if

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we will slow down enough when
we're tempted to sin, to stop and

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understand what emotion is
driving that desire right that moment,

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we can especially do much
better dealing with the temptations

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that come into our lives. Get
the emotion out of any decision before

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you make it. That's just a
good rule of life and a good rule

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of leadership and a good rule
of organization, good rule of family.

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Get the emotion out before you
make it. But especially when it comes

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to sin, get the emotion out
before you move forward. Because

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the younger son didn't do
that. And he's headed down a tough

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path. So then we see forth sin
always seeks freedom, Scripture says.

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And then he moved to a distant
land. Now, travel in those days was

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a huge risk. You didn't just
go get on a plane or a bus or whatever

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like you do now. It was a big
deal. It was very dangerous. And

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so he not only was going to a
place where maybe he didn't speak

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the language, maybe the
culture and the customs were different,

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but also he was leaving behind
stability. He. He was leaving behind

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the reputation of his family.
He was leaving behind his ability

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to influence his surroundings.
He was willing to go in all that

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because he was seeking
freedom. Leaving God's care is almost

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always a search for freedom,
and there's a huge risk to it. But

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off we go into the dark to
find freedom. Scripture says this

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about the dark. Night is the
time for sleep and the time when

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people get drunk. But let us
who live in the light think clearly,

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protected by the armor of
faith and love. Then in John, all

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who do evil things hate the
light and. And refuse to go near

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it for fear their sins will be
exposed. You know, a really good

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test to see if you're being
drawn into sin are the things you'll

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do at night that you won't do
during the day. If so, that's a sign

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of caution. And be careful and
be slow to move that direction. Even

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though he was headed into the
darkness, the Father let him go.

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We see in the story. You see,
God allows us freedom even when we

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want to reject his love,
because he loves us that much. Now,

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can you imagine for a minute
today you said to your parents, I'm

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taking half the money of this
family. I'm taking half of this.

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I'm going to essentially
destroy you. But I want my part.

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I'm going to go do it. I. I'm
going out. I'm going to live how

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I want. I won't be in touch,
and I'm going someplace else. What

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would they say? A lot of
parents would say, well, don't ever

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come home again. If you make
this step, you're done. I'm going

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to disown you. I don't want
anything to do with you if you're

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going to reject our family
that much. But the father and the

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prodigal son doesn't end the
relationship. The father just waits

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and watches for him to come
home. You know, periodically, I get

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calls from parents whose son
or daughter is having real trouble,

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really headed down a bad path
of sin. And they want to ask me what

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to do. And my advice is always
the same. No matter what, don't break

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the relationship. Doesn't
matter what they do, don't break

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the relationship. If the
relationship stays, there's always

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a chance they'll come home.
But if you break it, they won't come

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back. That's what the father
did. He didn't break the relationship.

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He let him go. And then we see
sin always envisions an idealistic

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future. And he moved to a
distant land and there wasted all

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his money on wild living. I'm
sure it looked great. There's an

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anticipation and sin of
perfection. This is going to be incredible.

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I'm going to live on the edge
of excitement. It's going to be an

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adrenaline rush. You know,
people are addicted to adrenaline.

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If you're one of them, be
careful because that's a real thing.

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There's assumption we can keep
control in our future, and so we

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have this anticipation. It's
all going to work out great. I can

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handle this. And people headed
into sin only look that far at the

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idealized future. But there's
always, always a shattering of that

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perfection. When sin gets
played out in contests we can't win,

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sin always wins. Sin never
delivers what it promises, ever.

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It promises fun, it promises
freedom, it promises independence,

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it promises a bright shiny
future. And it never, ever delivers.

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That's what the prodigal son
found out. So sin always has his

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its consequences. About this
time, the money ran out. Well, the

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money's always going to run
out. Sin will always hurt you, because

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if that's your bank account,
there's a limited supply. If your

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bank account is in Christ and
in his redemption, his grace, it's

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an unlimited supply. You see,
God's not wanting to restrict us.

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He's trying to protect us, to
keep us from sinning. And we all

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get tempted into sin, so
nobody's immune from that. Remember

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when you were growing up,
probably at your house, Was at my

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house, your parents put
childproof locks on everything. We

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had so many. We had locks on
everything. I put pads under the

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dining room table so they
wouldn't hit their head when they

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crawled under there and all
this stuff. We protected everything,

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but we weren't trying to keep
them out of stock stuff. We're trying

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to keep them out of things
they were curious about. We're trying

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to protect them from things we
knew would hurt them. Parents can

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see the consequences. God can
see the consequences of the sin we

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think is going to be ideal and
wonderful. Because there are arbitrary

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laws in the design of the
world. And God designed it certain

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ways. And when those laws are
broken, it doesn't matter what your

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opinion is. There are
consequences to that. Take the law

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of gravity. You may like it.
It doesn't change anything. Jump

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out of that balcony, you're
going to break a leg. It's going

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to happen because of gravity.
You can't stop that. Well, there

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are also laws of God's
spiritual design, and there are always

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consequences when those are
broken as well. Now, God will always

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forgive, but the damage of sin
remains even in forgiveness. And

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the damage of sin can
absolutely be horrible. As the story

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tells us now, the Bible
doesn't list every possible sin,

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doesn't have cyberbullying in
there. That's a horrible one, lots

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of others, doesn't have any,
doesn't list every sin, but it does

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list a bunch of them. So
Galatians says the sins of the flesh

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are obvious, which is kind of
an interesting way to put it. Are

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obvious. Sexual immorality,
impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful

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pleasures, idolatry, demonic
activities, hostility, quarreling,

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jealousy, outbursts of anger,
selfish ambition, division, rebellion,

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envy, drunkenness, wild
parties, and other kind kinds of

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sins. Scripture is not bashful
to call out sin because God knows

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there will always be a crash
when we sin. Sin is fun, right? Until

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the consequences show up. And
the consequences always show up.

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Now, whether your sin is
wandering like the lost sheep last

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week, or it's neglecting God
like the lost coin parable, or it's

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self righteousness like the
older brother, or it's sins of the

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flesh like the younger
brother, they always have consequences,

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every single time. But we
don't see that part. We only see

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that idealized future of what
it's going to be. Well, the story

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goes on that sin always
intensifies life's challenges. About

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this time, his money ran out.
About the time his money ran out,

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a great famine swept over the
land and he began to starve. Hard

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knocks of life. Come famines
come, jobs get lost, stock markets

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crash, houses catch on fire,
medical trauma comes, family members

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die. And in the hard knocks of
life, if you're living in a life

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of sin, your options get
narrowed. That intensifies the hard

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knocks. Let's say you're 40
years old, got a couple teenagers,

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wonderful family, everything's
good. Father, mother, die in a car

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crash, you get the news,
you're devastated, you go home, you're

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overwhelmed, and you forgot to
hide your second phone like you normally

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hide it from your spouse and
she found it and saw the affair you're

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having. At that moment, you
need family more than anything. And

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at that moment, you just
destroyed your own. You see, the

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younger son painted himself
into a corner where he didn't have

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many options. That's the
nature of sin. It limits life. It

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doesn't expand life as it
promises that it will, because sin

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then always convinces us, even
at that point, that we can fix it

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on our own. Scripture says he
persuaded a local farmer to hire

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him and the man sent him to
the fields to feed the pigs. The

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young man became so hungry
that even the pods he was feeding

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the pigs looked Good to him. A
big part of sinful nature is never

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wanting to admit we were
wrong. And so we come up with another

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plan. Okay, I'll feed the
pigs. Now, feeding the pigs in those

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days was the lowest of the
low. Jobs. Pigs were unclean. It

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was a horrible thing. But he
had plan B. Plan B doesn't work.

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This is like plan A. It starts
with justification. It's built on

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emotion. Okay, this is going
to be great. I'm going to keep my

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freedom. It envisions an
idealized future, and it never, ever

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works. I have seen so many
people in my life spend their whole

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life spinning from plan A to
plan B to plan C all the way through

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the Alphabet, looking for
anything other than doing it God's

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way. And their life is wasted
in a cycle of sin that continues

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to deceive them to believe
that the next alternative is finally

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gonna fix it. And no, it's
not, because that's not how God designed

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the world. Sin always
convinces us we can fix it on our

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own. But then the scripture
tells us last sin always makes us

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face reality. And when he
finally came to his senses, he said

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to himself, at home, even the
hired servants have food enough to

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spare. And here I am dying of
hungry. I will go home to my Father.

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It is sad, sad, sad that so
many people have to hit bottom before

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they're willing to admit they
were wrong and head back up. If we

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create a life of sinfulness,
we will eventually face reality,

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the hard choice between our
way and God's way. We can try another

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plan on our own, but it's not
going to work better than the last

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five plans on our own. Or we
can go home. Go home, say, I'm sorry.

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Repentance, restore the
relationship, come back into fellowship

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with the Father. If the Son
knew how it would end, he never would

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have started. And that's why
Jesus tells the story in such detail,

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so we will see how it ends
every single time. Pastor Adrian

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Rogers used to have some
wonderful ways of summarizing big

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ideas. And he said this, which
has often been quoted, I love it

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says, sin will take you
farther than you want to go. It will

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keep you there longer than you
want to stay, and it will cost you

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more than you want to pay.
That's why Jesus tells this story,

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to show us how it ends.
Because sin will take you farther

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than you want to go, and it's
going to keep you there longer than

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you wanted to stay. And it's
going to cost you a whole lot more

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than you were expecting to
pay. So he tells this story for us

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to see that. And he also tells
the story to see how great the Father's

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love is. And in two weeks,
when we look at the second part of

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the story, that's what we're
going to see. You see, the story

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of the prodigal son is really
a love letter to us from Jesus. He's

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saying, please trust me and
don't go there, because I know what's

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there. And I don't want to see
your life crushed under the weight

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of sin. But here's the good
news, the bottom line good news going

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home is easier than every
sinner thinks it will be. Every time.

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Let's say together our
benediction. No eye is seen, no ear

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is heard, no mind is
conceived. What God has prepared

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to those who love him. God bless.