One of the best known parables of Jesus is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. However, a more appropriate title might be the Parable of the Compassionate Father. As is the case with all of the parables of Jesus, the story is about the Kingdom of God and, in this case, specifically about God Himself. In the compassion of the father for his prodigal son we see the compassion of our Father, God.
Often we see God as an angry and vengeful disciplinarian who actually takes a certain amount of delight in punishing His wayward children when, in reality, He is a kind, loving, and compassionate father who wants to live in close relationship with His kids and loves them even when they wander away from home. That’s what God is really like. He loves His children when they wander far from home and He loves His children when they don’t wander far from home, but get confused about their relationship with Him. God is love. (1 John 4:8) No matter where we are or what we are doing, God’s love for us never changes. It never wavers and it certainly doesn’t leave us – even when we leave Him.
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 10, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
We all lose things. We have all searched diligently for our keys, glasses, or wallets. It is as if our life gets put on hold until we find those lost items. So it is with the woman who lost 1 of her 10 coins and the shepherd who lost 1 of his 100 sheep. Everything came to a grinding halt until they found that which was lost. And then it was party time because what was lost was now found. Yay!!
All we like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned away from God to follow our own path. (Isaiah 53:6) And yet God doesn’t give up on us. He pursues us like the Hound of Heaven. He will not let us go until we realize that in our search for meaning we realize that Jesus is who we have been searching for all along. And when we repent of our sinful ways He is there to lovingly caress us with His gentle hand even as he gestures with his other hand for the party to begin.
Check the lost and found. Are you lost or are you found?
(Follow this link to read “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson – houndofheaven.com/poem)
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 3, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
Bill Klem was a legendary baseball umpire who set the pattern for umpires to follow right up until today. He was the first to use hand gestures for calls. He was the first to use a chest protector. He was the pioneer of the slot position. He proved his value by calling more World Series games than any other umpire in history. Once, when asked by a batter if a pitch was a ball or a strike, he replied, “It ain’t nothin’ until I call it.”
Who is in control of the world? Who is in control of our country? Who is in control of your life? If the answer isn’t God, then we’re all in a world of trouble. God makes the final call on literally everything that happens in this world, in our country, and in our personal lives – it ain’t nothin’ until He calls it.
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree illustrates God’s Sovereignty and God’s Providence. In this study we answer the question “Why am I not dead yet?” and we find that God’s wisdom rules in the answer. It also gives us reason to respond to God’s delay in “calling us home.”
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, February 18, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .
Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
In the parable of the Friend at Night, Jesus shares a scene from everyday life – something like borrowing a cup of sugar from the neighbor. Maybe it’s not something we do today, but it was common practice when I was sent to get that cup of sugar and it was common in Jesus’ time.
The story is not about the grumpy neighbor, the late arriving house guest, or the bread – the story is about someone in need who is willing to ask for help. And he doesn’t just ask once, but is persistent until he gets what he needs.
God will supply our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) However, God waits for us to ask for help and He wants us to ask. Before Jesus teaches his disciples to pray He affirms that God knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8) He then goes on to teach them how to ask God for all they need in life.
He will meet our needs, but we have to ask and keep on asking. We have to seek and keep on seeking. We have to knock and keep on knocking knowing that He will open the door and pour out His provision to meet our needs. May we trust Him for all we need. He’s waiting for you to ask.
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, February 4, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .
Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
Some of the parables which Jesus told were in response to a particular question. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is just that. A lawyer, one trained and very knowledgeable in the Torah asked Jesus a question. The question could have been a “gotcha question” or it could have been born of a sincere search for clarification on the law. Either way, Jesus answered with a straight forward response and, when pressed further by the lawyer, shared this parable.
Within the ruling ranks of the Hebrew nation, there was an insistence on following the Law as handed down to Moses and as further clarified by those who studied the Law. Their whole focus was on “getting it right.” So questions like “What is the greatest commandment?” would have been common in their discussions concerning the Law.
However, Jesus uses the Law itself to take this lawyer beyond the Law of the Torah and into the world of Kingdom Law – the true Law He wanted to usher in. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:17 that He didn’t come into the world to abolish the Law, but that through Him it might be fulfilled. The Law was given to show us our sin, but Christ came to fulfill the law and its requirements so that we could be free to live as He commands us. (Galatians 3:18-27)
The lawyer’s final response to Jesus was that the true neighbor was the one who didn’t stand idly by as the man died. Jesus’ final word to the lawyer now comes to us – “Go and do likewise.”
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, January 28, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .
Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
X – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
From The Back Porch 