Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader Podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Alright leaders, welcome to this week's Life Group Leader Podcast. We are beginning our new series, Stories Jesus Told.
We're going to look at some of the well-known parables of Jesus throughout the hospitals, unpack their relevance, their challenge, their application to our everyday lives. We're really looking forward to engaging God's Word through the series with you and hope that's going to be an enriching conversation week in and week out with your life group together. I've got to get to be here with us today. This is our Minspaster, Mr.
Tana. Luke, I was up to him. Hey, what's up? Glad to be here.
Thank you for being here. We were just talking about kids being sick, family being sick, and you had a fun night last night. What happened there in the Luke High household? We just, moms down so when mom's sick, it says just a big mess but we're good.
Rough night. We're holding on. Yeah, I mean, there's stuff going around. There's definitely stuff going around.
I got it. The oldest guy, my wife, they got it here right now. The mom gets it. It's just bad.
It's all things bad. But we're going to make it through. I'm ready to talk about Jesus. Let's talk about it.
I don't. Let's move on. Yeah. Let's do that.
We'll talk about some other things. I mean, you've got some cool stuff happening in the Mins Ministry world at NLM. The Saturday we've got Mins Breakfast. Just a little bit about that.
What's happening in London? Yeah. I'm really looking forward to this Saturday. We have, every now and then we do a really targeted theme and we haven't done this in a while but just about every guy at our church, it's relevant too because it's marketplace.
The theme is marketplace and integration of faith at work and what does that look like? How do we live that out? How do we not compartmentalize our life? So we have a successful Christian business leader that we're having come in.
His name is David Hoffman and he's got a great book about relationship and what does it look like to put relationship over anything that pertains to work, of course. And then we have a panel of men of Mariners, guys that are all business leaders working here in Orange County and whether they own a gym. They're a sports broadcaster, Joel Klatt and another guy in the finance world and just sharing how they live out their faith and I think it's super inspirational to hear guys talk about their faith journey and what that looks like in their nine to five daily operations. So it'll be a great one.
We're excited because we're outside. We're going to be at the brand new beautiful outdoor venue. Hopefully it's going to be a gorgeous spring day and not raining if it rains and it's going to be interesting because we got no other alternative. Here we go.
It'll be great. Yeah, in the brand new worship center and it's been open for the last five weeks but this week in the next two weeks after that a really grand opening weekend and some fun stuff happening down there. So if you haven't seen it yet, come worship with us outside. I'm hanging out out there.
Men if you're listening, make sure you're there. Saturday morning for men's breakfast too. It's going to be a great weekend. Have you been to the new outside?
Oh yeah. Many times. So has your nickname Lon John changed to a new name? I'm happy to report that the Japanese elders, the board of directors have met and decided that yes I can still be called Lon.
Because there's efficient enough lawn out. Just enough square footage of Lon to continue the name. It was close. It was the stuff that people really care about.
Somebody that you and I go with Kyle, I won't say his last name but Kyle really involved in this ministry. Kyle has been listed this is great. Last couple weekends I was hosting at the 10 a.m. and finished the thing and Kyle we got out.
Do we still call you Lon John? Like during service? Yeah. Yeah.
So the people want to know apparently. The people want to know. Everyone's been asking and I'm glad it's continuing. Okay.
Let's get into it. We want to story Jesus told the parents of Jesus. I mean on the table incredible service series always is and I love that we're diving into the words of Jesus which are really kind of curious through the Easter. Yeah.
Right at that time of year. So I'll be here. All right. We're going to look at a well known story by many but the parable of the prodigal son we're going to read the whole passage all 21 verses.
So you're going to get your Bible reading today on the podcast. But before we dive into the text lean in question here. Mr. Tim he hasn't seen these questions yet.
So we're going to interact with these live on the spot. Have you ever been shown radical generosity? You probably have more than a few. Oh man.
The favor of the Lord in the area of generosity. Obviously we know that generosity is more than just financial generosity and our time talent treasure and I've been blown away in this department. God has been so faithful through his people. Geez.
I think of a time one of the ones that I think about is I was out of work before I even was employed at Mariners. I was in between jobs and my brother-in-law Ed let me in Corey. This was pre-kids stay at his rental home for several months rent free which I was just blown away and just how God took care of us through him. There's been countless generous people that have let us use their vacation homes, let us borrow vehicles and came to help us.
Like for example I had many people text this morning. Hey anything we can drop off we know Corey's sick. That's a sign of generosity giving their time and a little bit of their finances just to support our family and God's been so good in that way. That's right.
I was reminded of when we moved back to Orange County after being in LA, in Culver City for a little bit and then we had begun the process of the back and returning to the staff here. This is before the pandemic hit and had signed a lease agreement at home in Costa Mesa back in our own neighborhood. We were just so excited for it. Had a leg over a lease yet in LA and the pandemic hit.
It's like oh shoot what are we going to do because we can't move but we have two lease agreements like what are we going to do? We're going to have to pay two payments at the time of transition. We're stepping out of one roll and waiting for this other roll to materialize. We're going to have to move in and then landlord.
Of course we'll hold on to it for as long as you need it. You're able to move in and that turned into about five months. That was definitely a radical generosity that we didn't deserve. That was a real life stand for us.
That's a great question getting us to think about undeserved grace and the generosity of the father's heart in our life. You're ready for some Bible reading? That's Bible reading voice. We're going to look at the parable of a lost son and there's some questions to interact here with.
What stands out to you about the three characters in the parable? The three characters here, father, the younger son and the older son. In an Eric's message he talks about these different descriptors of them. The father of course represents the father's heart.
That's the Jesus figure in the story. The older son, the older son, he categorizes as religious people. Religious people earning, showing, proving their worthiness and the younger son categorizes as reckless people. You've got the father, the younger son and the older son.
Observations about these three in the story. Here we go. We're going to read. Jesus is talking about three different lost things, lost sheep and lost coin and finishes that off with the lost son.
He says, the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the estate that I have coming to me. He distributed the assets to them. Just the positive air, what do you learn there? Well, for the younger son to say that to the father, and he ever talks about this, effectively saying, I don't want you, I want your stuff.
I don't want to wait till you're dead. I wish you were dead now. Give me the stuff now. Not many days later, younger son gathered all that he had and traveled to a distant country where he had squandered his estate and full of living.
After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck the country and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the field to feed pigs. So he's coming from a place of privilege and prominence. And now he's in a remote country, not his own.
He's in a trough, interacting with pigs. This is a Jewish family, unclean, touching clean, so much going on here. He sent them into the field to feed pigs. He longed to eat to field his front from the pods that the pigs were eating.
But no one would give him anything. When he came to us, he said, how many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food? And here I am dying of hunger. I will get up, go to my father and say to him, father I sinned against heaven and against you in your sight.
I have no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers. So he got up, went to his father, but while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran through his arms around his neck and kissed him.
Then the son said to him, father I have sinned against you and heaven, I'm not worthy of your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father told his servants, quick, bring out the best robe and put it on him and ring on his finger and stand on his feet. Then bring the fatten calf and slaughter it.
He let celebrate with the feast because the son of mine was dead and alive again. He was lost and is found so that again to celebrate. Verse 25, we're doing it. Now his older son was in the field and he came near the house.
He heard music and dancing. So he summoned one of the servants questioning what these things meant. Your brother is here, he told him. And your father has slaughtered the fatten calf because he has him back safe and sound.
Then the older brother became angry and didn't want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. But he replied to his father, look, I've been slaving many years for you. I've never disobeyed your orders.
That's a bull-faced black brother right there. Yet you've never given me a goat so that I can celebrate with my friends. But when the son of yours came to devour, devour your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fatten calf for him. Son, the father said to him, you're always with me.
And everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate every choice because his brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. The word of the Lord.
All right, get your Bible reading. Got it in. Let's interact with it a little bit, Tim. What do we notice?
What do we stand out? What stands out from the stuff from William your passage here? Yeah, I mean, this is definitely a story we've probably been hearing. If you've been around the church world since you were in Sunday school, the story of the prodigal son.
And yeah, it's always a good reminder that what really he's asking the younger son is giving all your wealth. I kind of want you dead and carry on. So the level of disrespect and pain, maybe the father was experiencing with one of his sons leaving, wasting away, totally blew all the money and ends up in such despair that he's eating out of a pig trough. And just yet the grace of the father always is so unbelievable of the celebratory visual I get of this father running after his son, even though what he's done is so unbelievably disrespectful.
And yet embraces him and celebrates him. He throws a party in his honor. I'm just so glad you're home. So relevant to so many of our stories of redemption of running after things of this world, chasing things to try to find fulfillment other than what really would fulfill us and make us whole hearted was just surrender to Jesus, surrender to the father.
And so it's a beautiful picture. You know, also really relate to the older son of what the heck. I've, you know, you did said boldface lie, probably is a lie that he's always been obedient to his father. But at the same time, it feels like injustice.
It feels like this is unfair. I think of my kids and how often I hear that's not fair. That's not fair. That's not fair.
It's not. It kind of isn't fair. However, we don't want a fair. That is grace.
That is a cross. That is we don't get what we deserve. We get better. And so I love it.
I love the story is such a good reminder. What struck out to you? Yeah, you're talking about justice and you're not already said. It's so true that often we want forgiveness for ourselves.
We want justice for everybody else. So, you know, I want what I deserve. Clearly, the younger brother deserves this. He's squandered it.
He's hit rock bottom. But that's the heart of the father. He stands off far off. He's watching.
He's waiting. He's anticipating. And before the sun could crawl his way back home, you know, what is grace? Grace is the momentum of God's heart running after us.
The father is running and bracing. You know, if it's probably the run in that culture, it was a really undignified act. You know, wealthy people don't run. They don't hike up their robes or skirts and run.
That's not what you do. You don't show up for a hurried person. It's like the younger son has got this prepared speech and he's ready to give it. And it's as if I don't even need to hear your speech.
I don't need to hear it. The only thing you need to do is accept that you are welcome. It puts a robe on him, clothes in the righteousness, puts a ring on him, and then he rules. It's sandals on his feet.
You know, there's so much symbolism in the act here. But I mean, just to really kind of summarize it with love from Eric's message, he says, both sons reveal against the father just in different ways. The reckless son didn't want the father. The religious son thought you could earn the father.
I mean, that's so true. The reckless son, give me your stuff. I don't want you. I don't want relationship with you.
And then the older one, I want to earn proof, show my worthiness. And it turns out that both of those actions lead to despair and separation. So yeah, so much more to say than you're acting in your act. So take your time in your groove and work through it.
You might even want to write as you're doing it in your groove, write down the father. And then bullet points, what do you notice? Hold your son, bullet points. And write down the verse of where you see that in your act within where fully we're going to do in the podcast here.
Okay, let's move on to the lookout section. It says, rebellion and self-righteousness can both keep people from God. Which posture do you see more often in the world today or even in the church today? Rebelling it like we see in the younger brother or self-righteousness like we see in the older brothers.
We talk about religious people, reckless people, where do we see that in the world? Which one do you think you see more of? How do those different people understand and relate to God? You can have a big open conversation around that.
And then let's move into the look in section where it's now it's getting you to think more about who do you identify with? Do you identify more with the rebellious younger brother or the self-righteous older brother in the story and why? And then how have you experienced the grace and generosity of God and you're going back to that top question? So here in the look in, great.
Who do you relate with more of the story? The reckless younger son, the religious older brother, and how do you encounter God's grace in both of that? All right, close it for you, Tim. Definitely more the reckless younger son.
Yeah. Funny enough, I am the youngest son in my family. I don't know where near to the degree of the pig trough, the pig trough, the wild living. But I think when I explain my story, I gave my life as a five-year-old boy and I don't think I've ever wavered in believing the gospel of Jesus Christ and that Jesus was the son of God and the redemption of the cross and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That's not something that's ever, I've never lost my faith. I have a question at it, sure, but I just vote for the most part. However, I have wavered in following Jesus and I think that really showed up mostly in high school and in college years of wanting to party and chase after girls and just, I was confused. My identity was so all over the place that I confused a lot of people but really I was the most confused because I was a kid that invited people to the party Friday night, party Saturday night and youth group on Sunday morning and to young life on Tuesday nights.
Like, I confused so many people and that's because I just didn't know who I was. I was wavering, I was wandering, somewhat reckless and I think it took a long time and I guess I'm still in process of what does it look like to surrender daily to Jesus and fully be all in, trust him and fully abandon to what God has for me. And so I think I'm more identified with that. The workspace mentality, the earn my salvation, probably not as much drawn to the older son, although there's moments where I feel like probably more in high school and college where I was like, oh, I'm not good because I rarely pray.
I'm not good because I haven't read my Bible. I'm sure there was some of that but I think definitely wandering from following Jesus whole heartedly is where I resonate. Yes, I did the other thing in the spectrum. I'm surprised at you probably.
You still throw great parties. You're such a gatherer. You're that part of the part of the part, you're the only part of the part of the guy. I'm still the party guy.
I love that. Yeah. Yeah, for me on the other side of that. You know, and as it turns out, I'm the older brother of two brothers, too.
I'm the older brother of two brothers, too. Hey, thanks sense. Birth order is a thing. Yeah, totally.
So for sure. I had that tension between should do, have to do versus wanting to do. In this trying to figure out how that works out and my following of Jesus and you know, you know, river of passion foam, that whole that whole thing and that environment since I was a kid have never done a day when I wasn't following after Jesus. I've never had that wandering prodigal son moment, but I certainly have had that journey of older prodigal.
Both prodigals in their own way, trying to earn proof, show myself to be worthy, and experience that, just the deficit back, about tiring and exhausting, that is. And who am I trying to prove this to? That leads to, you know, from the pride, if you lead to comparison, could lead to, I'm just not good enough, guilt and shame. So in one sense, if you think like you're killing it, then you're puffed up with pride.
Sure. Man, Bible one year again, crush it, all crush it and do it, could fill you up with pride. Yes. And then reach your own standards, then it fills you up with guilt and shame, and pretense and hiding.
And so both of those extremes of experience, both of them, and in the middle of it, is the acceptance of God's generous grace, you know? And what affords you from accepting God's grace? Well, either you don't think you're worthy of it, or the, I don't need it, I don't need your charity. I'm good.
And both of those leads to despair and being cut off from a relationship with the family. So I'm just grateful that God's grace pursues us, no matter our ability to understand and earn it, prove it's always worth the other. 100%. It's gonna be a great kick off to the series.
This is an, I believe this weekend too. Perfect. So we're gonna call people home, whether they're wandering or whether they're trying to prove or show, we've got these show up and call since the daughter's on this weekend. Beautiful.
I encourage you to pray for us in that as well. Awesome guys. All right, so that's week one. The story is Jesus told, God of the men's breakfast on Saturday.
Oh yeah. Check out the outdoor worship center for your trainers, Irvine. We've also got a night of worship after the Saturday night service. Man, HSM conferences this weekend too.
So many great stuff. So many things. So we'd love to see you and can't wait to see what God's gonna do in the bigger groups during the series. All right, I'll see you in the kitchen next week.
See ya.