Hey this is Pastor John Ryan Cantu from PNEUMA Church in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for listening to the message today.

I hope that it blesses you and all those who are. that you share it with.

God bless you.

Amen.

You can take your your seat for a moment.

Amen.

It's good to be in the house of God.

Amen.

Um I just want to remind everybody.

I know we're these past two weeks we're um Spring break and you know there's there's there's lower attendance, but we're gear gearing up for our our Easter service and I want to remind you again 1130 service. 1130 service on Easter Sunday.

Um we will have our our kids will be out in um PNEUMA Kids.

We will also Plan to have some overflow if if if that's needed, which it's is likely to be needed.

So get here on time.

Amen.

Um I want to go straight to the word this morning.

Uh I want to go to Luke chapter 15 We've been in a series all about Jesus.

Amen?

All about Jesus.

It's called Look at Jesus is a series.

And uh we talked about Jesus being the word that became flesh and dwelt among us.

We talked about him having all power and authority in his name.

We talked uh last week about Jesus being the compassionate shepherd who is patient with us even in his frustrations towards us.

Today I want us to look at the Jesus who receives us as we are.

I don't know how you came today, um, but we serve a God who is ready to receive you.

And I think this uh this this Quick little altar call here that we did is just kind of a taste of what God really wants to do in your life today.

Hopefully this word is for somebody.

I know most of us longtime Christians, we we know this word.

We're familiar with it, but I pray that God speaks. to somebody today.

The beginning of Luke chapter 15 begins this section that is concerned with the lost.

And there's three parables that Jesus tells here, and it's it's about the loss.

Verse 1 of chapter 15 says that the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying This man receives sinners and eats with them.

The Pharisees suck, bro.

Right?

They do.

And there's I mean, like they want to be the gatekeepers to God.

And the irony is that they don't even realize that Jesus is the gatekeeper.

Jesus says, no one comes to the Father except through me.

He is the way, the truth, and the life And so that these guys who would reject sinners don't realize that by rejecting Jesus, they themselves are the sinners.

Crazy.

And I I praise God that we are not a church full of Pharisees.

Amen.

Praise God.

We say amen or say outs, right?

Um I believe that we are a a pretty receiving church.

We will receive Those who, as the scripture says, are drawing near to Jesus.

Because we know that if you're drawing near to Jesus, Jesus is ready to receive you.

I think many churches are like this, by the way.

I think that the super religious churches, I mean there there are some out there that you walk in and you feel like a total outcast, but I think that the culture has generally shifted.

Uh to where most Christians today are saying, look, I've been there.

I was once lost and now I'm found.

I was once blind and now I see, right?

Praise God for that.

Um But where I think we still need some work is when it comes to people in the church who want to start to draw near the world We've got compassion for sinners who want to start drawing near to Christ, but we don't have as much compassion for Christians when they start to show weakness in their faith and in their flesh.

And I'm I'm one of those.

I'll be honest with you.

We're quick to forgive the past of sinners as they're drawing near to Jesus and coming into the church, but we're not as quick to forgive the Christians as they're making their exit.

From the church.

And we've got to be better about that.

We got to do better.

The church isn't just a place for the sick who need to get better.

It's also a place for the healthy to get healthier.

And it's also a place for those who are getting sick to find their place in Christ again.

I think too many Christians want to kill old Yeller before it's time.

Anybody know that reference?

Just O Yeller is a it was a movie, it was a great movie, man.

I don't know why I ended up watching it when I was a kid, but it was this movie that came out in the fifties. uh about this little boy uh who was he was basically called to take care of his family farm as his dad went away.

And then one day this stray dog uh turns up on on the porch and And they give him the name O Yeller and and uh he proves himself to be a loyal and faithful dog, and he's protecting the family.

And And uh he's guarding the farm animals and he's you know he's one of the family.

One day a wolf comes and and old Yeller is, you know, he's defending the farm and in the process he's fighting them off and in the process he get he gets bit and the wolf was a rabid wolf.

And so all of a sudden now this good, faithful, uh Loyal dog is no longer a nice friendly animal.

Now he's a vicious uh he's a vicious animal that is you know threaten threatening the safety of the family.

And so this young boy has got to make a decision.

He kind of has to man up about what he's gonna do about this dog that he's known to to love.

And he takes his dad's rifle and he takes the dog out to the back and he shoots the dog and kills the dog.

Great movie.

It's a good movie, man.

It's a good movie.

And and and and in the in look in the church, sometimes it's necessary not to shoot anybody.

Hold on, hold on.

It's necessary, listen, sometimes in the church, it is necessary to expel somebody from the church.

The Bible says that sometimes you gotta hand over people to Satan because they're so rebellious and they don't wanna they don't like confrontation.

They don't like they don't like to be confronted about their their mistakes, about their sin, and and they're so rebellious and and and and they just need to leave.

Paul says just hand them over to Satan for a little bit.

But I think a lot of times many of us convince ourselves that it's time to shoot old yeller before it's time.

And I love the story of the prodigal son because this is kind of what Jesus deals with here.

We're not just talking about sinners who never knew Jesus, we're not just talking about tax collectors and people who are Despised by society.

We're talking about a person who was under the covering of the father and he chose in a season to reject his father's house.

That's what we're talking about.

So if you would stand with me as we read Luke 15, 11 through 23.

It says, and he said, There was a man who had two sons, and 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.

Not many days later the younger son gathered all that he had, and he took a journey into a far country, and he squandered his property in reckless living.

And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in the country, and he began to be in need.

And so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs.

And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

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.

I will arise and go to my uh go out to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Treat me as one of your hired servants.

Verse 20 says, And he arose and he 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.

And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But 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, and bring the fattened calf and kill it.

And let us eat and celebrate.

For this son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

And they began to celebrate.

Amen.

I don't know if anybody's excited today, but that excites me.

You can take your seat.

We're talking about the receiving Jesus.

The welcoming Jesus.

The Jesus that does not push anybody away no matter where you're coming from.

This story highlights four stages that I kind of want to look at today.

There's four progressions that this prodigal son went through.

And I want you to understand, Jesus is trying to teach us something here.

He's trying to teach his disciples, model to his disciples this idea.

That if sinners want to draw near to Jesus, we should never stand in the way of somebody coming to Jesus or coming back to Jesus.

I say this all the time, probably said it a thousand times at this point.

We are called to see people the way that Jesus sees them.

This means that we can't just see people as they are today.

We've got to be able to see them as what they are becoming, as what they could be in Christ.

As a dad, you know, we I I gotta do this with my two girls.

I gotta see them for what they're becoming.

I see the leaders that that they are, I see the wisdom that they carry, the anointing that they carry, even though that's not what they show me all the time.

And and as a father, I have to be trusting that the Holy Spirit is abiding in them and maturing them.

As young women of God, I've got to trust that as they abide in him, he abides in them.

And God is moving them into this place of holiness in their lives.

I have to see that before they show it to me.

Now, I will say this, my girls, they don't see it in each other.

Ellie is the most annoying little girl to Layla.

Layla is the biggest meanie in the world to Ellie.

And and and that's kind of the way that we see each other sometimes.

We see our brothers and sisters in Christ as our literal siblings.

Like, ew, get away from me.

You're so annoying.

And yet, Jesus is asking us to see our spiritual family the way that his Father in heaven sees them Right, so later on in the parable, we're introduced to the brother of the prodigal son.

And the brother of the prodigal son depicts us in so many ways.

He depicts the church.

Right, where where he says it's not fair that he gets a whole party after doing what he did.

How dare you celebrate him?

He left.

I stayed here.

I've been here the whole time.

I've been doing worship.

I've been cleaning.

I've been stacking chairs.

I've been preaching.

I've been teaching.

I've been watching the k Where is my celebration?

How come you don't appreciate me He was gone for a year and he comes back one day and now everybody wants to throw a party.

And now you kind of see how all of a sudden we we kind of do become like the Pharisees.

We want to act like the gatekeepers to God's presence.

The God that we serve is a receiving God.

And he doesn't just receive those, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.

He doesn't just receive those who don't know any better.

He also received those who do know better, made a mistake, and are ready to come back to him.

So you'll know.

So again, Jesus is modeling this idea that if sinners just draw towards him, we should never be the reason that they can't get to Jesus.

And see, one of the things that Jesus is doing with these parables is he's talking about the kingdom of God.

That's what the parables are about.

They're about the kingdom of heaven He's pointing to his father every time.

And the father in the parable represents our father in heaven.

And the way I see it, the brother of the prodigal son represents the church.

Did he get that?

Yeah, that was a good place to say, wow, Pastor.

The father of the prodigal son represents the father in heaven.

The way that that he receives us with open arms.

And the brother, the complaining brother, represents you and me.

And I want to remind somebody today that we are not called to look like the church.

We are called to look like our Father in heaven.

Okay?

So so so if if if we want to throw somebody a celebration because they come back to the Lord after hurting the entire church And and your brother wants to stand there like this.

You're not called to look like him.

You're called to look like our father in heaven who is rejoicing with the angels at the prodigal son's return.

So if Jesus receives the sinners, we better be ready to open that door.

If Jesus is running towards the prodigal, our job is to go and get the robe and prepare the fajita seasoning for the celebration.

Am I speaking to anybody that today?

I know this is a hard word because you know uh remember a few months ago I talked about Jonah.

And I talked about how sometimes God's mercy for the people we don't like feels like an injustice towards us.

Right?

But but just because you're not ready to forgive somebody doesn't mean that God hasn't.

God is not required to move at your pace.

You gotta step up your game.

And if God is forgiven, maybe you should too.

Alright.

That's not even I haven't even gotten to the sermon.

And and if so that was that was for the the church if you're a prodigal in the room I want to speak to you because maybe you've been hurt so many times just trying to come back to church Like like you walk in, and it feels like the moment you walk in, all these eyes are glaring at you.

And maybe they're not even doing that, but you just feel that because you know that people remember.

You know that people remember what you did and what you said and how you made them feel and how you left the church and and and how you stormed out and how you were dramatic and how you ran to sin and all the sin that you ran uh that that you ran to you know that people remember but i want to tell you today that if god is ready to receive you don't let a church stand in the way If a church is ever standing in the way, you find a different church.

Okay?

And I pray that that would never be our church.

Let me, yes, let me find out.

Goodness.

Alright.

So let's go through these four stages real quick.

So we're we're first introduced to this man who had Two sons.

And uh it says the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.

So the first phase in this story Is the status phase.

I don't have any notes up here, but if you're taking notes, you can just write the status.

The status phase.

The young man enjoys the status of son.

He's the son of this wealthy father, and and as his son, he's got the right to ask his father of anything.

Many of us in the room are under this same status We are sons and daughters of God.

We are living in the glory of our salvation.

We've got the best Father in and outside of this universe.

Right?

And and ask his children in the same way.

We've got a right to approach his throne and ask him of anything.

It doesn't mean that he's gonna say yes Doesn't mean that he's gonna respond right away, but just knowing that I have I have as a son the privilege to go to his throne and ask, what a privilege, what a privilege that is for me.

But you know what?

Sometimes as sons and daughters, we feel disconnected from our father.

We're going through life, we're going through the mote the motions of faith.

And and we're we're in our father's house, but we're not in his presence.

Right?

We're serving in ministry and And and our relations are horizontal.

We're doing ministry for people, but there's no vertical relationship.

We're enjoying the blessings as sons and daughters of God, but many times the blessings feel like Burdens.

I've never doubted for a second that I am a son of God.

But I do sometimes feel like I haven't been the best son.

And sometimes, listen, because you're gonna go through these seasons where you where you feel like that you're falling short because you know what?

You are falling short.

And sometimes you're gonna feel that more than in other times.

And if if you're not careful, that can become dangerous for you because then you'll start to want to try things that aren't allowed in your father's house.

You want to start to see what the world has got to offer.

I know a lot of people who grew up in the church and when they got a certain age, they they left the church to explore the world And just like Esau, we're so quick to sell our birthright for a moment of curiosity and pleasure and satisfaction.

And really, the only way to combat this, this is the only way to combat this feeling.

It's to s to seek the Father's presence.

That's really it.

You gotta go back.

You gotta start you gotta start fasting.

You gotta start Praying.

You got to start really getting on your knees and getting in the word and saying, God, right now I don't feel you, but I need you.

I need you to fill me up.

And you got to do everything that you can to reconcile what feels disconnected.

If you're feeling that to like that today, if you're a son and daughter and you're feeling totally disconnected from your father, you don't add more ministry to your plate.

That's not what you do.

You don't just you don't just add another church night to your weeknights.

No, you seek him as a child of God.

That is the only way to really honor your father with your sonship and your daughterhood is by seeking him.

It's by knowing him.

But this dude didn't do that.

He didn't do that.

Instead, he rebelled.

That's the second phase in the story, the rebellion.

Verse 13 says, Not many days later the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property.

And reckless living.

You know, I've never really had a moment of rebellion in my life.

Praise the Lord.

But my parents have.

Yeah.

Hey, I I grew up you told stories about me without my permission Payback.

But honestly, I I think about it now, I um I'm grateful that I got to witness that.

Because it was a testimony I saw the prodigal story in their life and how God really turned it around for them.

My dad tells it the best way.

I call it the how Ryan saved the family story.

Because my parents, my parents were in ministry for a long time.

I grew up in the church.

Right, y'all know this.

I was dedicated over there in that building by my grandfather.

I grew up in the church.

My my mom was a was a PK, like I was a PK for so many years.

They both served in in ministry.

And um one day we just picked up and we moved to Colorado.

And to be honest To this day, I don't even know why.

I don't really know that story.

Um I don't know if they were running from something.

I don't know.

But but what I did know is that they still knew who they were.

They they knew that they were loved by God.

I knew that they loved the Lord, but this was just a moment of their rebellion.

And so I've told this before every single night for the next two years, I would pray, Lord, you and I are still cool, right?

You come back tonight, I want to go with you.

I don't know what my parents are doing, but I'm I'm I'm I swear every single night I didn't miss it.

That was my prayer And we stopped going to church and we stopped having godly influence.

And little by little I saw what the world was doing to my parents.

They weren't drug addicts, right?

They didn't become alcoholics.

They weren't this, you know, living this crazy, godless life, but they weren't living in the identity that they had. had once lived in.

And as a as a 10-year-old boy, I picked up on that.

I saw it.

And one night, um, my parents were arguing and I've told the story before.

I wake up, it's about two in the morning.

My dad is just getting home, and my mom is P.

O. 'd, right?

And I'm I'm hearing them argue, and my dad is super calm, like just like I am, super calm.

My mom wasn't as calm.

We'll say that.

She's a pretty calm person, but she wasn't that calm that that night.

And all of a sudden I I hear my mom say the D word.

The D word, right?

The D word.

And um that was just out of character.

Could have been worse.

She could have said the F word, but she wasn't, she wasn't that far gone yet.

Alright.

So she says the D word.

She says she says to my dad, D word you.

And this is my story.

That's what I heard.

Alright, all right.

But you you she got we're we're not gonna do we're not gonna do this right now.

But I know that she got up And she she left like she was gonna leave the house.

She was gonna leave the house.

So she says this word that I I thought was D word U, and then she leaves the house like she's gonna leave, and and little Ryancito, full of the spirit, gets up.

And I chase her down and what do you remember what I tell you?

What do I ask you?

That's what you thought.

What did I ask you?

Mom, are you still saved?

I didn't ask her, are y'all good?

I didn't ask her y'all getting a divorce.

I didn't ask her where you going.

I said, are you still saved?

Because I heard you say the D-word, by the way.

And and and then and then I I don't know how much time elapsed from this, but Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months.

I remember telling my dad Dad you used to be somebody And like any man would I'm sure he took some offense to it.

I I I would have I probably spanked my butt How dare I talk to my dad like that, right?

But I said, Daddy, used to be somebody.

And and he says, Ryan, I am somebody.

I have this business, I'm I'm successful, we got this house, we're doing well.

And I and then I said, but you used to be somebody in God.

You used to preach.

We used to go to church People used to respect you as a as a holy man.

You used to be somebody in the Lord.

And my dad tells of this story that one time he was standing outside in the balcony.

We used to live in the mountains and we had a beautiful view of of the mountains and one night it was pitch black.

He was out there and all of a sudden he he he he reports seeing this demonic face laughing at him saying to him I've got you And my dad has told that story so many times.

I think that he knew at the time that I told him you used to be somebody that he didn't belong out there.

See, even my parents, in my parents' rebellion, they knew that they were not a product of the world.

I was 12 years old, even at that time, even I saw it.

They they would try to sin and they wouldn't do it right.

They would look uncomfortable.

My mom couldn't even say a more hardcore cuss word than the D word.

They didn't belong out there and they knew it.

And God is so good and He's so patient even in our rebellion that his spirit reminds us this is not who you are The prodigal son lost everything.

That's the story.

Now, sometimes people leave the church and they don't lose everything.

Sometimes it feels like life gets better.

Sometimes business picks up.

You get more opportunities.

You get more money.

You get more pleasure.

And and and and you don't want to come back to church because that's when you were your brokest.

But then the Spirit of God reminds you maybe you weren't maybe you were broke, but you weren't broken.

See the way that Jesus chooses to tell the story is that this prodigal son, he loses everything in a very real way.

Maybe you never lose everything materialistically, but you lose everything spiritually.

You are void of what matters in your life.

And verse 15 says, so he went and he hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country.

And so he sent him into the field of the pea uh the pigs, and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to himself, That's a key verse.

He came to his senses, some versions say.

He said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than I've got here and I'm perishing with hunger?

Have you ever pushed the envelope of sin so far that you finally came to your senses and said, What am I doing?

What what am I doing here?

I don't belong here.

This is not who I am.

This is not what I do.

I used to have it way better than this.

And yes, maybe I was broke.

But I wasn't broken.

I was full of hope and full of joy and full of love.

And I had people around me who cared about me and lifted me up.

And I had a God who cared about me.

If you ever have a come to your senses moment, I want you to know that that is the Holy Spirit.

It's the Holy Spirit telling you this is not who you are.

This is not what you do.

That's not your emotions.

That's not your logic.

That's not your mind.

Your heart wants to sin.

It wants to drift you further away from the presence of God.

It's the Holy Spirit telling you, You're still my child.

Act like my child.

This is not who you are.

I praise God, man.

That even in our sin Can I tell you that today?

That even in your sin, David says, Lord, where can I go from your presence?

Where can I run from you, Lord?

To the depths of Sheol I can go, and there you are with me.

God isn't afraid of the sin that you're consumed in.

And he's so good that even then he'll tell you, this is not who you are.

Here's the third phase: the repentance.

Verse 18 says, I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Treat me as one of your hired servants.

The son had to arise, right?

He had to get up from that sinking pit of sin before it consumed him anymore.

And he had to go back to his father's house, asking his father for forgiveness.

That's repentance.

Repentance is turning away, turning away from something or someone.

It's leaving behind the place of bondage.

It's leaving behind the selfishness, the things that you want.

It's leaving behind the pride.

It's getting up.

And saying, Lord, I've sinned.

It's recognizing that sin that the sin that has affected you recently, and it's saying, God, I give this to you.

I don't want to deal with this anymore.

I don't want to sin anymore.

This is the moment that the prodigal starts to draw near his father's house.

Even though he's not even started his physical journey yet, something is happening in his spirit.

Church.

God sees, listen, listen, God sees the conviction that you deal with before you even come and present it to Him at the altar on Sunday.

Like God sees how done you are with your sin, even before you step foot in the church.

And this morning, as I was writing these notes, I felt like I needed to tell somebody today, you are so close.

You are like God has been watching you.

He's been watching you deal with all the things that you hate And yet Sunday after Sunday you are not sure if you want to surrender.

Sunday after Sunday, you stay in your seat, not wanting to make the altar call because you're so unsure if you want to surrender everything to him.

God is saying today, He is ready to receive you with open arms.

He's ready for it.

He he sees what you deal with.

Now, the here's another part of the story that that I don't want you to miss, and this is really, really important.

The son plans to return to his father's house, saying, I am no longer worthy to be your son.

Treat me as one of your servants.

Listen, somebody, repentance requires this type of humility.

The sinner must recognize their unworthiness to be standing in the presence of their holy God so that they would ask God for mercy just to admit him back into his presence.

Sinner or not, none of us are worthy.

Humility is required in the kingdom of God.

But, at least in the way that I've seen it as a pastor many times counseling people in their sin, humility often looks more like shame.

And shame becomes a thing that keeps certain people from making it back to their father's house The son could have played back all that he did in his mind, all the property that he squandered, the arrogance of even asking for his inheritance and leaving like he could do life better on his own.

He could have let all of that keep him from returning to his father's house and instead live and die in the shame of his past.

Shame kills what could have been repentance.

But God is not asking for your shame.

He's asking for your humility.

See, shame will tell you you are not a child of God.

While humility will tell you you are unworthy to be a child of God.

You see the difference?

There's a difference.

There's a difference.

Because one's a lie and one's true.

I am unworthy to be a son of God.

I am unworthy to even hold this mic.

To tell you about Jesus, I am so unworthy to even be standing in his presence.

I am so unworthy to even look up and say a word to God.

That's the truth.

But that's humility.

Shame says you're not a child of God.

That's the devil.

Because even though I am unworthy to be a son of God, He still admits me into his kingdom.

He still adopts me as his son.

That is the receiving God that I serve And so if anybody is dealing with shame today, I want to call something out in that shame.

Shame stems from pride It does.

Shame makes it about you.

I'm not good enough.

I can't do it.

My sin is too great Humility makes it about Jesus.

I'm not good enough, but he makes me right.

I can't do it, but he already did it.

My sin is too great, but my But the blood of Jesus is more powerful than any sin that I've ever committed.

See, shame wants to completely destroy your status as son of God, but humility will progress it.

So lay down your shame, man.

And pick up humility.

Saying, yes, I am unworthy to be a child of God.

But he still calls me his own.

So the last phase of the story, and I'm almost done.

We've seen the son enjoy the status of son.

We've seen him rebel.

We've seen him repent And here we go all the way back to the top again.

The status affirmed.

Verse 20 says, and he arose and he came to his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion.

And he ran and embraced him and kissed him.

And the son said to the father, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants, check that out, check that out.

Are you catching this?

The son is thinking that his father is going to receive him back as a hired servant.

And instead, his father turns to his servants.

And he says Bring quickly the robe.

Bring the ring.

Bring the shoes.

Bring bring the bring the crown.

Bring back all the good stuff.

Go go prepare the fattened calf.

We're about to We're about to celebrate.

Go go go go and do everything that you need to do to make him feel welcomed.

Again, he says, for this my son was dead But he is alive again.

He was lost.

But he's found.

Are you are you getting that?

Is that not?

Gets you like it got me.

The father is saying, you were never not my son.

You were never not my daughter.

You might have been dead You might have been lost.

You might have been blinded.

You might have been consumed with the wrong things.

But you're still my child.

And I celebrate that today because you're alive again.

My son is back.

My son is home, and I've got to tell you that no matter where you are today, you've always been called son, you've always been called daughter.

You are a child of God from the moment that you were born.

God Had his eyes on you.

Can I tell somebody today?

From the moment you were consumed, God already knew your name.

God already had your purpose planned out.

God was calling you that day.

The moment you were born, God knew who you were.

And life took you through some things And maybe you had some moments with the Lord and you had experiences with him and then and then you turned it all around and you went back into the world and and But God has always known you.

God has always been calling you child.

And so again, as the word says in the in the very beginning, the sinners The tax collectors, they were drawing near to him.

And the Pharisees.

Look at this guy.

Look at who he receives.

Can I just say that if if sinners are the people that Jesus receives, I'm kind of glad I was a sinner.

I'm glad that I didn't think I was too righteous to not need a savior.

I'm glad that I had the humility at one point in my life to say, God, I've sinned.

I failed you.

But I want to be made right by you because I know who I am.

I am your son.

I am your son.

So I don't know who this word is for today.

But I'm gonna ask you to stand.

I'm gonna ask for the prayer team to come up.

And I've got a very very specific call.

Apart from those who just want to come up here and worship.

And if you want to do that, you want to come up here and worship, man.

Come up here and let's let's worship.

But my altar call today is simply for those who are ready to come home.

You've been in the Father's house, maybe you've not been in his presence.

God is ready to receive you.

Turn it in today.

Turn in the sin.

Turn it all in.

Give it to God.

There's no reason to wait anymore.

If that's you, can you come forward?

Come forward over here.

Praise God.

Come on.

As they come, I want the saints to celebrate.

I want the saints to celebrate.

We're not gonna be like the brother who refused to celebrate, but we're gonna rejoice when a fellow Brother and sister in Christ comes to receive God because God is receiving them as a family.

Come on, anybody else back to you this morning?

Come forward.

Come right here.

Come right here.

Thanks for listening.

If you'd like some more information on PNEUMA Church.

Visit us on our website at mypneumachurch. org.

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Thanks again and God bless.