These are my personal notes from the Promise Keepers event held on the 13th and 14th of November. These are my notes and my thoughts that go along with them. They are not necessarily the thoughts of the speakers, so they should not be taken as so. This event was a fantastic, eye opening weekend that I shared with my father. Enjoy the notes and thoughts and if you have any questions feel free to comment or email me.
Thanks,
Session #1 Patrick Morley
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
11And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12And 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. 13Not 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. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17“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! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘ 20And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son,you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'”
- A) Change Needs to Occur
- We need to realize as men of God that as time passes on we must embrace the need to change
- We can see this through the Parable of the Lost Son – We are able to witness the switch from rebellion to reconciliation
- That is the change we must seek out from God
- 1) Rebellion
- The son chooses to orphan himself and choose a life that is full of squander and famine
- He ends up taking a job feeding pigs
- As a Jewish boy this would have been done out of desperation b/c pigs are considered unclean
- “16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”
- The result of the rebellion is sadness, guilt and in this case hunger
- 2) Repentance
- The son begins to realize how well he was in the father’s house
- He also realizes how his father’s servants had a better life than this
- 17“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! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘
- He basically says to his father “Forgive me, but only HIRE ME as your servant.”
- 3) Restoration
- 22But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
- The father has unconditional love for the son
- The son in this story never gets a chance to share with his father his repentance b/c of the overwhelming outpouring of unconditional love from the father
- God has this unconditional love for everyone
- Psalm 139 – Search Me O God And Know My Heart
- Even though every child is a sinner, every father still chooses to have that child (earthly and heavenly father).
- The Key note is that no matter what we have done we are forgiven and restored in the eyes and heart of God
- Psalm 139 – Search Me O God And Know My Heart
- B) What Type Of Relationship Does God Want?
- He wants a reciprocal love relationship
- The boy in the story begins as a son, he then orphans himself and wants to in the end, be restored not as a son, but as an orphan/servant
- The father’s response is not to a servant, but to a son, that was lost and then found
- “24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
- Jeremiah 20:9
- 9If I say, “I will not mention him,or speak any more in his name,”there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
- Love can’t be held in, b/c it burns with passion
- The father is unable to contain the love he has for his son that is now found
- 9If I say, “I will not mention him,or speak any more in his name,”there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
- C) What Lengths Will God Go To In Order To Obtain A Relationship
- The father in the story and God both possess the power to let the son go, but they also obtain the power to bring us to our senses
- Isaiah 45:7
- 7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
- Power and Patience is His to bring us back into His arms
- 7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
- 2 Peter 3:8-9
- 8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
- Timing is the Lord’s, he knows the complete plan and even though we are horrible when it comes to patience we need to realize that we cannot control or influence the will of God
- 8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
- One important note about repentance is this: The condition or past actions do not change our redemptive value or de-value our new self
- He used the illustration that a crumpled $100 bill was just as valuable on earth as a crumpled or stomped on bill.
- D) How Do We Further Our Relationship
- Deep and meaningful conversation
- Needs to be 2-Way communication
- Deep and meaningful conversation
The Emerging Network 