WEBVTT 00:00:03.069 --> 00:00:05.699 How did I get here? 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:08.500 The young man took a long look at his life. 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:14.099 He was penniless, homeless, filthy, and starving. 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:19.759 You would never know that he had once lived under the loving care of his wealthy father. 00:00:19.789 --> 00:00:25.050 But he had left home, cut off his relationship with his father, squandered his inheritance 00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:29.580 on a life of sin, and ended up in this pitiful state. 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:33.399 He finally came to his senses, and a deep feeling welled up in him: 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:36.100 I need to go back to my father. 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:38.140 But he was so ashamed. 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:44.299 After all he had done, he wondered whether his father would even want him as a son anymore. 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:50.500 In desperation, he decided he would return home and ask to be a servant. 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:53.700 He was unaware of the depth of his father's love. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:57.000 Little did he know that his father had been longing for him, 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.399 waiting and watching for the day he would return. 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.299 As the young man made his way home, his father spotted him, 00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:06.700 even when he was still a long way off, 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:12.000 and ran to him, embraced him, and kissed him affectionately. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.599 Filthy and ragged, the repentant young man confessed to his father his sinful life, 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.899 telling him that he was no longer worthy to be his son. 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:24.600 But his father responded by first clothing him with the best robe 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:29.099 and then sacrificing the fattened calf to feed him. 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:34.099 With rejoicing, he called for a feast for all to celebrate the return of his son, 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:37.799 whom he declared had been dead and now lived again, 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.299 who had been lost and was now found. 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:49.399 Like the son in this parable, each of us will eventually come to the realization 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:55.200 that we are lost and need to be found by God, our real Father. 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:58.340 We may feel too ashamed to come to God. 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:02.909 But the Bible reveals His unchanging and infinite love for us. 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:07.000 He longs for every prodigal to come back to Himself. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.099 In God's eyes, to be lost is actually to be dead in sins, 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:16.599 and to be found is to be saved and made alive in Christ. 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:21.199 If we return to God and repent of our sins, we will be cleansed 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:25.299 and Christ will cover us like a robe of righteousness. 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:30.300 Not only so, like the fattened calf, Christ who was sacrificed for us 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:33.500 will also fill and satisfy us inwardly, 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:40.719 becoming a rich feast for us to enjoy as sons in the household of our Father God. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.699 Our loving and forgiving Father is waiting for us to come to Him. 00:02:46.699 --> 00:02:50.030 We can do this by praying this simple prayer: 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:55.300 "Dear Father, I'm lost and need to be found! 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:58.000 I am dead in my sins! 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:02.400 Come into my spirit and make me alive in Christ as a son of God! 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:08.300 Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me so that You could cleanse me, cover me, 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:14.000 satisfy my hunger, and qualify me to feast with the Father in His house. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:15.360 Amen."