Easter at the Anchor
“Come Home”
Matthew 20:17-19 (NLT) He took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to Him. 18 "Listen," He said, "we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die. 19 Then they will hand Him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day He will be raised from the dead.”
Lost — “something isn’t where it’s supposed to be.”
Luke 15:11-12 (NLT) To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’
Luke 15:12 (NLT) So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
Luke 15:14 (NLT) About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
"Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go, and keep you longer than you ever planned to stay.”
Luke 15:15-16 (NLT) He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:17-20 (NLT) “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ 20 So he returned home to his father.
Luke 15:20 (NLT) And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son embraced him, and kissed him.
Luke 15:21-24 (NLT) His son said…‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
Robe — honor and identity
Ring — authority and belonging
Sandals — freedom and sonship
Fattened Calf — reconciliation
Luke 15:25-28 (NLT) “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him…
Luke 15:29-32 (NLT) but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”