Sunday_Service

There are so many variations to the history of Fathers day, but we at the church will spread it all out, Sonora Louise Smart wanted a special day to honor her father, which later her name became Mrs. John Bruce Dodd. When she became an adult she got the idea in 1909 listening to a sermon on Mothers day, her father William Jackson Smart, was a civil war veteran, and took care of the six children, one a newborn in which his wife died giving childbirth in 1898. He was a kind and selfless man, and raised the children on a rural farm in eastern Washington State, and though the history, Sonora held a deep love and honor for her father. At that time in 1909 in June, she went up to a preacher and she wanted him to preach a special service and on June 5th which was her fathers birthday, the minister was not ready, but on the 19th he did a special service for fathers, The First recognized Fathers day was on June 19th 1910 in Spokane, Washington. By 1916 President Woodrow Wilson approved of the idea, and in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge put it into effect as the third Sunday in June. By 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June would be a celebration for all fathers, as “Fathers Day”. There were also a lot of other facts, but this is the best through all the study we came up with, some say that William’s first name was Henry, other information related says that, Fathers Day started in a church in West Virginia in 1908, Others say the president of the Lions Club in Chicago was an addition to establishing Father’s Day, he gave speeches around the U.S. spreading the need for Fathers day, Some other references called Sonora, Mrs. Bruce John Dodd. Also the flower as early as 1912, for Fathers Day, was a white lilac. What we do know now is the traditions; you wear a red rose if your father is alive, and a white one if your father has passed away.

Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:1-7 NIV

Today we will be talking about the lost son or other wise known as the prodigal son and his father, and how these three parables flow together into one complete story or teaching, we have the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the lost coin, The reasoning behind this, is the Pharisees and scribes did not want to associate with tax collectors and sinners, These three parables are only found in Luke.

In verse 2 The Pharisees and teachers of the law were standing over and wondering why Jesus was associating with these people, the Pharisees were always on the up and up not to be unclean, and to eat with sinners and tax collectors was a defilement to them, they had to remain unsoiled so to speak, but Jesus was just the other way. Jesus came to offer salvation to sinners and to show them the love of God. He did not care about their cleanliness rituals and sanctions according to Old Testament Law. He didn’t consider what they thought, and the accusations they made. Jesus was here to continue to reach out to those that needed him, and never was bothered by the effect of the old ancient world fellowship, sitting at the same table which would harmonize acceptance as togetherness. Nothing should stop any of us to lead people to the love of Christ.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever. Psalm 23 NIV

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in lush mountain pastures. I myself will tend my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes feed them justice! Ezek.34:11-16 NLT

Let us move on to the parable of the lost sheep. Some people think it would not be wise to leave the 99 sheep, to search for just one that is lost, but the thing is the group of sheep have a better protection in numbers, as the lonely one sheep is in danger and on their own, and lost, so of course the Shepard is going to look for that one lost sheep for he cares for the one which is lost, because searching for the lost is part of god’s plan, and that when the one is found, that is lost there is a moment of rejoicing. Plus the fact a hundred sheep was only a medium size flock, two hundred was considered normal size and three hundred was considered to be large. Jesus associated with sinners because he wanted to bring the lost sheep of the world to the Father. Some times you never realize who will be called, and when, the Father wants you or someone else, and it could be an awful sinner, or someone you would never think is worthy, or even acceptable. Remember God shows no favor between people, when He wants you and you may be way out there all lost, or caught up in the world. God wanted me, I was at three different times caught up in the world, and He pulled me out each time. Just like Jesus rejoicing over finding that lost sheep because that one sheep has come to repentance, so that is why there is so much joy over it. The Pharisees did not think they should repent at all, because they did not think they were lost.

Let us talk about the parable of the lost coin the woman has ten coins, now Palestinian women receive 10 silver coins as a wedding gift, a silver coin in the Roman times was a denarius which was equal to a days wage, now and in most of the homes they had dirt floors, and they were considered in this parable dark, probably because of the absence of many windows, so you had a dirt floor looking for a lost coin, that is why the light was needed, we can analyze this in so many different ways, the lamp could represent the gospel, and the broom that the woman is sweeping the floor with can represent the Law, but in our first section we know that the parable of the sheep has to do with the son, and in the third section the prodigal son represents the father, so in some fashion we could have the woman be a representation of the Holy Spirit which would connect all three parables together. All wishing to find the lost to come to repentance, and to have so much joy over finding the lost coin, so there will be a joy in heaven. So we have to tie everything together that each person just like the coin is so precious to God that he gets upset when one of His children gets lost, and then when they are found there is such a happiness and joy over when one of His children are found.

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 men 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 men.' 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. 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.' " Luke 15:11-32 NIV

Let us move on to the parable of the prodigal son, prodigal meaning wasteful, now we know that the oldest son gets two thirds of the estate, and the younger who wants to leave only gets a third, and by doing this asking for his inheritance now, is somewhat disrespectful, to the whole family, I would believe the young boy just wanted his share of what he thought belonged to him and leave, and to just get away thinking he could have a better life somewhere else, which as many young people of today cannot wait to leave their home. So this boy goes to a distant land and starts living a wild life, and in our day he is just wanting to party, and he was not conscious of his spending, he wasn’t really observing what and how much he was spending away, just like today our young people want to live for now, they don’t think about tomorrow they just want everything today. So before he realized what was going on a great famine hit the area, and then he on top of it all ran out of money, and he began to starve, so he got a job with a local farmer feeding pigs, now there’re so many scripture references even coming close to pigs let alone feeding them, is a great defilement and he was suffering a great humiliation and then he began to eat the pig food which now he was at the lowest upon the lowest and degraded beyond all principles, his misery was full, these husks are not the pods of some different fruit they are the fruit of the carob tree. So the shell or the pod alone is eaten, and he did not feel right at all he might have filled his belly, but the feelings that went along with eating with pigs and there own food was to much for him to handle, he has hit bottom, it seems today a lot of us have to hit the bottom to truly open up our heats to Jesus, that is why there are so many great testimonies. He sat back and started thinking about returning home, and looked upon the situation and began to realize that even the workman at his house at better than this , then he was contemplating just going back as a hired hand.

You see in the first two stories the lost was found after seeking to find them, in this situation , the father waited and watched for his sons return, we are dealing with self will here, so the father had no control at this time only waiting to greet his son if he returned. In the same way the Father’s love is forever and it does not stop or give up, he will keep searching for us, and want for us to make our own decision to come to him. He will never force us to come to him. God is always patient for us to realize what we have done and come to him. So the son returns home, and still the father is still looking out for him at great distances he sees his son far off, and if we correlate the father of the parable with our father in heaven, this is the only place in the bible where God is in a hurry, running towards his son, with great love and compassion and kissed and hugged him, and the son confesses how unworthy he is and confesses his great sin. And he wanted to ask to just be let back as a hired hand, but the father had a different attitude, He calls his servants to assist him to bring him a prize robe, and put a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet, and to kill the fatted calf, and to make my son a man of authority again, which the ring probably had the family seal, and the robe was the best clothes the father had. And then he ordered a feast and had his servants rent out musicians and dancers.

Now you see the older brother was in the field and he begins to hear the music and asks the servants what is going on, and then he finds out that his brother returns after squandering all the money on women and party, and he became very jealous, over the whole situation and he went up to the father and said I have served you all these years, and I have been with you doing everything that needed to be done, and now you welcome your son, and you killed the fatted calf, and you have never have done any of these things for me and my friends. Now the father could understand and sympathizes with him and he tells him things like you have always been with me, and all I have is yours, he makes it a point to say your brother has returned, and the son would call him your son, and then he makes it a point to the son that he is your brother, and he was lost and now he is found. We can all understand how the older bother feels, and we can understand it. As this great parable that the father is our Father God, and the younger son is a sinner, and the older brother is to represent the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

" 'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Lev.11:2-8 NIV