NOBODY’S FOOL // Easter

“If Christ is not alive, you are still lost in your sins and your faith is a fantasy… If the only benefit of our hope in Christ is limited to this life on earth, we deserve to be pitied more than all others! But the truth is, Christ is risen from the dead.” 1 Cor 15:17-20 (TPT)

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.” Ephesians 5:15 (NLT)

FOUR CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT GOD:   

1. God is .

Jesus: “‘I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ 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.” Luke 15:10-12 (NIV)

“If they’ve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they’re worse than if they had never left.” 2 Peter 2:20 (MSG)

2. God is .

“Don’t you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin?” Romans 2:4 (NLT)  

THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF SIN:   

∙ Sin is .  

“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.”   Luke 15:13 (NIV)

“You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you’ll find out in the end that you took the road to destruction.” Proverbs 14:12 (TPT)

∙ Sin is .  

“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole  country, and he began to be in need.” Luke 15:14 (NIV)  

∙ Sin is .  

“So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat.” Luke 15:15-16 (GN)  

“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.” Luke 15:17-20 (NIV)  

3. God is .  

“…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.” Luke 15:20 (NIV)

God: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)  

“Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful…thoughts toward us that cannot be recounted…if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Psalm 40:5 (NIV)

“…all who come to me, I will embrace and will never turn them away.” John 6:37 (TPT)

“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.” Luke 15:21-24 (NIV) 

Watch today’s service at www.vineyardchurch.com