Good morning. Good morning. Great. Well, the title of my message is, how do we embrace the gift of patience while trusting God's perfect timing?
How do we embrace the gift of patience while trusting God's perfect timing? Romans 12 says, be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. First and foremost, I'd like to thank God almighty for his grace and mercy for bringing us together to worship his holy name. I want to take a moment to thank not the Bible's shapble family for asking me to share the word of God this morning.
My mother and my sister are with us here today. I special welcome to all our visitors today. We hope you feel welcome and enjoy your time with us. I'd also extend a warm welcome to those who are listening, the message online.
I wish and pray that today's message will be a source of encouragement to all of us. One of the most challenging thing in today's world is to grab people's attention. So I would like to start with the open up question. So it's a small test because so many people here, we are coming from different countries.
Some of you are living here for a long period of time. So that is a possibility. You might have forget some of the words in your own language. Let's give a try.
Okay, so all what you're going to do, let me try, it's on. Okay, all right. All right, so you're seeing a couple of countries flat here. Okay, so if you don't see your flat, it's all right, no problem.
You can still raise your hand, all right. So all what you're going to tell me, okay, why do you from what language you speak and what is the meaning of patience in your mother tongue? All right, just country name, what language you speak and what is the meaning or what is, how do you express the word patience in your language? Would like to go first, brother.
Very good. Suru, thank you so much, wonderful, wonderful, anybody else? No one, everybody, yeah, go ahead brother. Yeah, ETT, ETT, thank you so much, thank you.
Anyone else? Wow, wonderful, I couldn't be able to pronounce it back anyway. Thank you so much. Yes, go ahead brother, go, go, go, sister.
Thank you so much, wonderful. Nobody from India, brother? Very good, wonderful, great, anybody else? Thank you so much.
Wonderful, anybody else here? Yeah, go ahead brother. Okay, wow, wonderful, wonderful, great, anyone else? Anybody from Canada?
Yeah, go ahead, yeah. Patience, but we speak French to some places. How do you express patience in French, anybody? No, I don't know as well.
Anyway, okay, perfect, perfect, anybody else? No, all right, you know, the word patience is very, very important. So we are going to ask God to guide us to listen to his word, how we need to be patient. So let's pray, heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to listen to your words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Unfortunately, I couldn't be able to, just bear with me, I don't know whether it's on, brother, just, okay, all right, perfect, sorry about that. All right, so let's go with some patience stuff, okay?
So some of you may see this Canada postcard. Have you ever used this postcard any time in your life? Yes, brother David is not in CDS and you all used it, okay? So that's an in-land letters, it looks the same in India and you might have seen this telephone, right?
And people sometimes travel by horse walking long time. You know, I know in 1993 I studied in a horse still. If I need to write anything to my parents, I have to use this in-land letters, okay? So I have to write it and then my teacher need to check what I'm writing there.
Then it will take approximately three to four weeks to reach that letter to home. And my parents if they want to respond another three to four weeks. So it's a long time. Sometimes when I was using this phone, I don't know if I have used it before.
It's very hard to get connected with people, just forget about international calls. I'm just talking about local calls, you know, it's very difficult, you know, people traveled, you know. Despite all these slow processes, there was a sense of patience. In general, people they accepted waiting as a natural part of their life.
Now we are living in a fast-faced world. You know, we have so many scientific technologies in these days. AI is taking over. We have a lot of fast-forward restaurants.
We have instant email communications, you know, like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, you name it. In instant time, without any problem, we can reach to others, we can communicate very easily. All technologies, it's wonderful, but still we lose patience. Often people ends up with frustration.
So I just listed, there may be a big list, okay? So I just listed a few of them where people lose the patience so quickly. Or these are some of the common triggers. The first one you can see, the healthcare system.
We know the healthcare system, like medical appointments take long time, long waiting times, immigration and visa processing. There are a lot of international people here. They know exactly what I'm talking about. It takes, sometimes it leads to frustration.
Public transportation, I'm not talking about Vancouver or a Coranto, nothing like that. Couple of days before it took one of their fathers for me to come from Halifax to Dartmouth. It takes time, traffic and road construction, everywhere you see road construction and things like that. Winter weather and driving, slow cars, slow cars move very slowly.
Housing market, people are struggling to find out affordable housing. Marketers is not very easy to get. Government services, if you go to government offices, everything's slow. Job search and carry a development.
Many people, they have wonderful degrees, but still they find it difficult to get a job. Parenting challenges, everyday as a parent we struggle. Sometimes we think about children how they need to grow, but they don't fulfill our expectations. Relationships and marriages, you know, people have conflicts, they have difference in opinion.
So all the time we have problems and things and how we are going to have patience in those situations. Caring for elderly parents, those who are looking after the elderly parents, we need a lot of patience. We need to listen to them, we need to sit to them, but our time doesn't allow us to do that. Well, what is the meaning of patience?
You know, the dictionary meaning it says, the capacity to accept or tolerate delay or trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset. So patience means staying calm and not getting upset when things take longer than you want. You may think that I need to be done this thing right now, but it takes time. So that's the meaning of patience.
So according to the Bible, we see patience is often described as the ability to endure suffering or ability to endure trials or waiting with faith and trust in God's timing. That means waiting calmly in difficult situations and maintaining faith in God's promises and timing. So it is seen as the fruit of the Spirit, reflecting a calm as steadfast lines on God's will, Galatians 5, it says, the fruit of the Spirit is loud, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, general self-control. Patience is one of the most important things.
So human nature is prone to anchor. Our human nature is prone to impatience and intolerance, but a redeemed person or a person who trust in God, who have faith in God, a person who work with God, that is an expectation to have its fruit, that's patience. Patience is more than tolerance. Patient doesn't come naturally.
It is a gift from God. Galatians chapter 3, we see it is a government of the Spirit. I'd like to show two verses from the Bible, Ephes 4, 2, it says, always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's fault because of your love.
Psalms 37, says, be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. I would like to talk about four important things this morning about the fruits of patience. The first one, contentment through patience.
Second one, self-sufficiency in Christ. Third, joy in suffering. The fourth one is the temporal grief, temporary grief and eternal joy. Let's go on.
Contentment through patience. What do you mean by contentment? It means satisfaction. Contentment is being happy with what you have instead of always wanting more.
Beepings chapter 4 verse 11 and 12 says, know that I was ever in need for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to leave on almost nothing or with everything. I have earned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. It is about trusting the God that God gives us what is blessed for us.
In Luke chapter 12 verse 15 says, then he said, be aware. God against every kind of greed, life is not measured by how much you own. Say for example, waiting for a job promotion. You may have all qualifications.
You may have enough experience. All of a sudden you're employer hiring a new person, probably having a less experience than you. How do you feel? It's pretty difficult.
In that situation, having patience is a difficult thing, right? But Bible says very clearly, all what we need to do is to be patient and we need to wait for God's timing. We need to wait for God's timing. Contentment and patience are connected, because patience helps us to remain content, even when things are in going the way we want.
Through contentment that comes from the relationship with Christ, not with the material possessions, we need to learn how to be content with what we have. The second one, self-sufficiency in Christ. What do you mean by self-sufficiency in Christ? That means we are not laying on our own strength.
We need to lay on God's strength. That means self-sufficiency in Christ. First, he made a chapter 6 verse 6 says, Now, Godliness with contentment is great gain. In a worldly sense, we use the word self-sufficiency for our financial independence, right?
We want to use that word for our skills, self-sufficiency, our skills, our education, our personal growth. Here Paul emphasizes that there's a powerful connection between that godliness and contentment. The self-sufficiency doesn't come from our outward abundance. It won't come from our external wealth.
Or if you're rich, it won't come from that self-sufficiency. But it comes from the inner grace of God. The phrase, it says great gain that suggests the combination of godliness and contentment. That will result in a rich and a fulfilling Christian life.
The third one, joy in suffering. Patience not only leads to contentment and self-sufficiency, but also to joy even in our trials. James chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 say, my brother and God, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Romans chapter 5 verses 3 and 4 days.
We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials for we know that they help us to develop endurance and endurance, develop strength of character and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Joy in suffering. That's pretty hard to hear, pretty hard to follow in our life. You might have heard the story of Graham Staines.
He served in India for more than three decades, 30 plus years. He worked among the lepers, downrodden peoples. One day he finished his ministry, returning back to his home. On the forest he stayed, the mob, the local people, they put gasoline and they killed Graham Staines and his two young children.
Everywhere the story, the story of the cross, people were applaud. The whole country was appalled. The television interviewed. They asked me, she stains.
What do you want to do with the fellow? Those who killed your husband and two children. She said, I have forgotten those who killed my husband and children. I have forgiven those who killed my husband and children because I have experienced the love through Jesus Christ.
It shook the entire country and the rest of the world. They sang the song because he leaves. I can face tomorrow. Fourth one, temporary grief, eternal joy.
In this life, people experience various forms of grief. We all experience. Maybe you may experience a job loss, experiencing a illness, experiencing a death of loved ones, sorrow and pain. Second Corinthians chapter four was 17 says, for our present troubles are small and won't be lost very long.
Yet they produce for us glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. Sometimes we face problems. We face some stuck times. But Paul's saying here that troubles are small and won't last long, meaning they won't be with us forever.
Billy Graham once said, yerked was just a way station. My home is in heaven. I am just passing through this world. These are the four important themes that highlights the fruits of patience.
Another important question I would like to ask you is patience, alone sufficient to navigate life challenges or do we need faith as well? We all need faith as well. Patience alone is not enough. Without faith, we cannot receive what God promises in the scriptures.
For example, the forgiveness of sin is available to the entire world. But only those who believe in Jesus will receive it. Abraham is referred to as the father of faith. Abraham believed God's promises even when they seemed impossible.
Abraham waited for 24 years for the fulfillment of God's promise to have a son Isaac. The promise was first made when he was 75 years old and was fulfilled when he was 100 years old. Hebrews 6 was 12. That you do not become sluggish, but imitated those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
So if you want to inherit the promises, we need to have patience and we need to have faith as well. Then only we can be able to inherit the promises. The combination of faith and patience is essential in our life. Faith is believing in God's word and his promises.
Patience is the ability to wait, to endure through difficulties, through without losing the hope. I'd like to touch a little bit about the timing. Timing is absolutely essential in our life. You all know timing how important it is.
Probably you heard this joke before. When they are smart man like me, he decided to tell a joke to his family friends. He said some of the best years of my life where I spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife. Everyone shocked.
What did you say? The whole room was silent. Then he passed a little bit and then he said, she was my mother. Everybody clapped and said, wonderful.
Then he decided to tell the same joke to his wife. Just after the parlach, they went home. He said some of the best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife. This time he passed.
Then again he passed a little bit. This time he passed a little longer. Guess what? Two days he woke up in the hospital's intensive care unit with a burns on his face.
I hope you understand. First time he passed a bit. Second time he passed a little longer. The moral of the story is timing.
Timing, timing is very important in our life. I'm so glad you are listening. A lot of stress that comes from poor timing. If you do the right thing in the wrong time, it won't work.
If you are doing the right thing at the wrong time or if you do the things, maybe you're doing something very fast. Maybe you're doing something very slow. It also won't work. We are all bound by time.
We are using time as a tool to measure our existence. These days, checking time is not a difficult thing. We can see timing everywhere. Mobile phones, laptops, oven.
You name it. Everywhere we can. And it also helps us to automatically set the time in our mobile phones. So everywhere we can able to see the all but ancient theory of relativity.
It's an interesting thing. And it helps us to understand that time has a fourth dimension. We all know that the three dimensions, length, width, and height, and time is treated as a fourth dimension. It's a space-time continuum.
That is the fundamental concept in physics. So timing is very important for us. So I would like to read two verses in E and I would like to read two verses. One of the things that I would like to read is very common.
I believe in African countries, in Asian countries. I'm not sure about Canada. Have you ever heard about what you're telling? A lot of my friends when I say something they told me, can you show me a poem?
I can tell you where you will be in five years, where you will be in ten years. I always take it as a great entertainment stuff. So poem reading, astrology, many people believe in astrology. They use the positions and the movement of celestial bodies.
And the time you are born. They try to find some relationships in that. And also there is parrot astrology. They allow the parrot to go and pick up a card.
Can you believe that how a parrot can decide your destiny? And it's something similar to the Paul Dr. Buss who predicted the football matches. Do you remember that?
It's all great entertainment stuff. Acts chapter 11, Acts chapter 1 verse 7 says, He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or dates. The father has set by his own authority. We don't even know what is going to happen in the next hour.
We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. How come one can predict the future? No. Second Peter 3, the second Peter chapter 3 verse 8 says, but do not forget this one thing.
Dear friends, with a lord a day, it's like a thousand years and a thousand years or like a day. If I speak today long time, you will feel it's like thousand years because the parot like is getting ready. But if I speak less, then maybe you feel like a day. Alright, the next question, I would like you to think about it.
Why God doesn't reveal every details about our lives in advance. Why? Because he wants us to have a trust in him. He wants us to have faith in him knowing.
Imagine if you know we are going to die tomorrow, how you will be sitting here today. Nobody will laugh today like this today. It's very difficult. We won't plan anything in our life.
So God wants to have trust in him. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been in a situation where you were hoping for something to happen and pray to God, but it didn't happen as soon as you wanted? Have you ever felt like God was taking too long to answer your prayers?
One of the most difficult situations of our life is sitting in God's waiting room. Do you know what God's waiting room? When you are thinking something to happen in some specified time, you pray for it and you may be fast for it and then it didn't happen. That means God isn't.
That's a God's waiting room. Everyone sitting here including me, we are all sitting in a God's waiting room. Some of you are hurried in launching a new business. Some of you are hurried in buying a home.
Some of you are hurried in to graduate. Some of you are hurried to get married. Some of you are in hurried to have children and raised family. Some of you are in hurried to get promotions and recognitions.
Some of you are in hurried to lose weight or gain muscles. Some of you are hurried to repair the broken relationships as soon as possible. But God doesn't. That is known as the God's waiting room.
Why does God allows delays in our lives? To test our obedience. To grow our faith. To build our patience.
To strengthen our character. Each delay is a reminder that God has a purpose. And His timing is always the perfect timing. And His timing is the perfect time.
I would like to quickly give some encouragement for life principles to overcome the challenges. Fear not, fret not, fret not and fade not. I have few verses just to entridge you. The face fear not.
Mention several places in the Bible. Fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not. We all have a fear of failure. We have a fear of death.
We have a fear of illness. We have a fear of judgment. We have a fear of conflict. We have a fear of loneliness.
I saw what he once said. Fear not. I am with you. Be not dismayed.
For I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
God's presence is a source of comfort and strength. When we waste fear, whether it is a fear of failure or rejection, we can choose to shift our focus from our worries to God's promises. We need to shift our focus from our worries. Because when you worry, are you going to gain something?
Probably you are sitting and worrying for something for two days. What will happen? You lost that two days. Maybe it is going worst.
You cannot gain anything. Psalms 31, 37 verse 1 says fear not. Sorry. Let's move on to the next one.
fret not. What do you understand by fret not? fret not means don't worry or don't get upset. Worrying about finances.
Future plans. Health. In Psalms 37 verse 1 says fret not thyself because of evil doest. Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
Matthew 6 this I like the most 25, 27 he says. Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink, not about your body. What you will put on is not life more than the food and the body more than clothing.
Look at the backs of the earth for the neither soul nor rape nor gathering to bonds. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Do you not have more value than they? Which of you worrying can add one cubic of his stature.
Pelopon 4 6 says don't worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. We are called to be prayed. Instead of worrying, worrying is not going to take anywhere.
We are to pray. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done this morning. You may remind us we need to thank him for all the blessings. Look back 10 years before, 5 years before.
How many number of blessings we have received from God? Forget not. God's blessings, everyday provision. You know in terms of food, health, shelter, some of the things we take it for granted.
We don't simply say thanks for that. But everything God give us is a blessing. Psalms 103 was to say, Bless the Lord, O my soul and for that not all his benefits. We should not forget what God has done for us.
This verse encrages to praise God and to remember all the things he has done in our life. Proverbs 3 1 says, My son forgot not my law, but let dying God keep my commandments. The Father advises his son to remember his teachings and to keep God's commandments. The final one is feign not.
Feign not means don't give up. It means don't give up, especially during the challenging times. I saw that chapter 40 verse 31 says, But that, but they wait upon the Lord, shall renew the strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run, not be weary, and they shall walk, not feigned. In Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 says, And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we feign not. Both verses that remind us stay strong and not give up, even when things are going tough in your families. Are you feeling like giving up on something in your life?
Some of you may feel like giving up on your marriage. I can't move forward with it. I can't find a way out. It is stagnant.
I don't know Lord what I can be able to do. Some of you may feel like giving up on your carrier. Lord I tried so many times. I applied so many.
I put so many applications. No one is calling to me. I don't know what to do. Some of you thinking of giving up on your faith in God.
Lord I have trusted you, but nothing is happening. Some of you may feel like giving up on your finances. Maybe you think that so many deaths, I don't know how I am going to repay everything. Some of you are thinking you may give up on your children.
You may think that, oh I am trying my level best to teach the word of God. But they are not listening. They are going too far from me. They are not showing any interest.
Are you thinking like that? The most important one I am going to tell you, giving up on yourself. That's the most dangerous one. Second will tempt us to give up on yourself.
I encourage you my dear brothers and sisters, don't give up. Look up. Don't give up. Look up.
Remember it is always the right time to come back to God. There is no specific time. If you think today right now, he is waiting for you. He is not going to say that come two days later.
No, he is waiting for you. Philippines 413 says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I would like to finish quickly. The story of Joseph.
I am not going the entire story but would like to touch. In Joseph's story, Joseph showed a great patience when he faced challenges like betrayal, slavery and time in prison. He believed God had a plan for him. He stayed faithful right from the beginning to the end.
He eventually began the powerful second in command in Egypt and also to help his family during the time of need. Who is Joseph? He was a great grandson of Abraham, grandson of Isaac and the son of Jacob. Joseph is one of the greatest examples we see in Bible for patience.
He faced tremendous hardships but trusted God to fulfill his plan for him. Joseph's ability to wait patiently through difficult time is an important lesson for all of us. Jacob in that story, they had told, Jacob had told science and Joseph was his favorite. But Joseph's brother was not happy because Jacob loved Joseph so much.
One night Joseph had a strange dream. At that time he was only 17 years old. He dreamed that he and his brothers were gathering bundles of wheat in the field. All of a sudden Joseph's bundle stood up and the bundles and of his brothers bowed down to it.
Joseph told his brothers about a dream and they were upset. They were not in a position to accept it. They thought Joseph was saying he would rule over them. That was the thought.
Later Joseph had another dream. This time he saw the sun and moon and love and stars bumped down to him. When he said that dream to his father, even his father could not be able to accept it. Then one day his brothers were taking care of their sheeps.
Far from the home they saw Joseph's coming. They said to each other, let's get rid of him. They took Joseph's beautiful coat and threw him into the pit into the dark pit. But instead of leaving him there they decided to sell him to some traders who were travelling to Egypt.
Joseph was taken far away from his home and sold as a slave in Egypt. In Egypt Joseph worked very hard even though he missed his family just imagine a 17 years old boy. But God was with Joseph and helped him because Joseph worked very hard and honestly put him in charge of his life. He was put him in charge of his entire household and everything he would not.
But again he faced a problem. Both of us tried to trick him and she tried to put some false accusations against him. Then he has to go to the prison again. Even in prison God was with Joseph and helped him.
While in prison this is a very interesting thing I like it. Both the cub bearers and the baker had strange dreams. They were troubled because they could be able to understand the dreams. So Joseph explained the dream to the cub bearers and the baker.
Then asked the cub bearer. Sometimes when we help others we say that there is a time. Please remember about me. Exactly like Joseph told him that tell me about to Pharaoh.
This is the most important or interesting part of the story. Genesis chapter 40 was 23. It says the chief cub bearer however did not remember Joseph he forgot him. He requested for our help but the chief cub bearer he forgot him.
How many years he forgot him? Anybody remember that? Two or three? Two years.
If the just imagine if the cub bearer might have told immediately Joseph might have released from the prison and he might have went back to his parents or he went somewhere. But God allowed the cub bearer to forgot it. This is God's plan. Then after two years the pharaoh saw the dream and everything was changed.
God's timing is perfect. Joseph's dream which he had a young boy took 20 years to come that true. Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph the second powerful or second in command in Egypt. Genesis chapter 41 verses 40 and 41 it says You shall be in charge of my palace and all my people ought to submit to your orders.
Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you. Pharaoh said to Joseph I hereby put you in charge of the whole of land Egypt. Joseph patience points us towards something greater. This morning David McDonald mentioned about that.
He is more than the rabbi. He is more than the good teacher. Much much much much. He is of a Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I saw chapter 15. I saw chapter 53 was seven says he was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shear is silent and he did not open his mouth. Jesus showed his patience with his disciples.
He showed his patience with sinners like us. He showed his patience with outcast like the woman who caught in adultery. Instead of condemning her he offered love and forgiveness. Jesus prayed for those who crucified him saying further forgive them.
They do not know what they are doing. My dear brothers and sisters no matter what you are going through today. No matter what you are waiting for trusting God's timing and don't give up your hope. God's plan always have a right time even when it seems impossible.
God's perfect timing is always the best in our life. I would like to touch God's patience and love. Those are the two qualities. Most amazing qualities in the garden of Eden.
God told Adam you can't eat from any tree in the garden. You can eat from any tree in the garden but not from the tree of good and evil. If you eat from it what he said he will die. But do you know how many years Adam lived?
930 years. He is so patient he allowed Adam to leave for 930 years. We all know the story of Noah and the flood. Noah preached for 120 years.
God was so patient provided opportunity for the people to ripen the sin and come back to God. We know the story of Moses and his lives. He is the right people constantly complying every time and they disobeyed God. Yet God show patience on them.
God is not only patient because but God is also loving. He is now never faced even when we don't do what is right. Whenever we commit mistakes say for example if your children making any mistake when they come back to you, when they come back to you what you say? What will be our response?
Most of the time we say hey I told you not to do it. You did that. That is how the earthly father behaves. But here our heavenly father he says when we go to him come on let us fix it.
That's the difference. We all know the story of the prodigal son. The father had two sons. The anger son demanded he share.
The father might have told him that son look this is not the right time for you to take everything. But he might not listen that. He took all the share 50% of the share. In that verse if you read in verse 17 he says, high old servants.
I think the father had so many servants. How many of us sitting here we have servants in our home? If we want to keep servants we need to be rich. I think this father is so rich.
Maybe it had trillions of dollars. Maybe billions and trillions of dollars. Probably took long time for the son to spend all the money. He took everything and went far away from his father.
You know there was a time he spent everything and nothing was in his hand. There was a famine. He could not be able to get any food. Even the big food he could not be able to get it.
At that time he realized that my father had so many servants. They had a good food, better food. What I am doing here? He realized his mistakes.
You know that time the father might have. Every single day the father might have opened his window and saw outside. Whether my son will be coming today or not. Every single day the father might have waited for him.
I like the verse 20. He says, 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. And was filled with compassion for him.
He ran to his son through his arms around him and kissed him. Just imagine the picture for a moment. This is the only place in the Bible. It says, God ran.
God ran. He did him run for receiving a faithful servant. But he ran to receive a disobedient son. When he hurt him and kissed him, the son might have thought that father.
He may have a big list of things to say, father I did this thing wrong. I did this thing wrong and this and that. But the father said, my dear son, I have a robe for you. I have a ring for you.
I have a sandal for you. Come, I have arranged a feast for you. Let's sit together and celebrate. That is our father's love.
None of us deserve forgiveness. We are all sinners. First Timothy chapter 1 verse 15. Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.
He said, I am the chief of the sinners. Can we compare ourselves with Paul? I don't know what title we can give for ourselves. Paul said, he is the chief of the sinners.
We are all worst sinners, but God's grace is greater than our sins. John Wesley, a great man of God. You might have heard about him. He preached the word of God for more than 50 years.
I read in a book he said, he preached more than 45,000 sermons. More than that. Those days there was no car and things like that. He traveled in the horse.
Just imagine everywhere doing his deathbed. I am the chief of sinners and Jesus died for me. In his last words, the best of all, God is with us. God is with us.
Let me encourage you, my dear brothers and sisters, God is with us today. Are you ready to take step back to it, our Heavenly Father? And embrace the love. He has been patiently waiting for you.
My dear brothers and sisters, our Father is patiently waiting for us. Every day he is waiting and opening the window and seeing whether my son is going to come back today or not. Or my daughter, whether she is going to come back or not. Every day he is looking at the window.
Are you ready? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your amazing love. Thank you for the sacrifice you have done on the cross.
Help us to be patient and wait for your perfect timing even though we don't understand it to Lord. Thank you for your patience with us and guiding us every day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.