08/30/2026
A transformer blew down the street, so we met outside under the lockers as a church this morning. The breeze was nice, and the acoustics weren’t bad! We talked about Jesus’ story in Luke 15:11–32 and connected it to Paul’s message in Romans 1–6. The central message: no one has an advantage before God. Our belonging depends on God’s faithfulness, not our worthiness.
Here's today's Responsive Reading from Luke 15:11–32; Romans 1–6.
We impatiently wanted what was ours; we demanded to have it our way. And we got it. We lived it up until the money ran out, the friends disappeared, and the freedom we wanted became another kind of slavery. We got what we wanted and ended up with nothing.
All:
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand.
We have found ourselves hungry beside things that could never feed us—addiction, money, s*x, approval, anger, escape. Sometimes the question finally finds us: How’s that working out for ya? And somewhere in the hunger, we come to ourselves and remember there is bread at home.
All:
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand.
Leader:
We came home rehearsing our shame, ready to explain ourselves and bargain for a place. But while we were still a long way off, the Father was already running toward us. Before we could prove anything, grace put a robe around our shoulders and called us family.
All:
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand.
After we had been home awhile, we forgot how we got here. We look at the one still sleeping outside, still using, still struggling, and think, I got my life together. Why can’t you? We forget that the ground beneath our own feet is grace.
All:
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand.
So today we stand here neither boasting about how far we have come nor hiding how far we have fallen. We stand because God has been faithful. The lost are welcomed home, the dead are made alive, and the feast has already begun.
All:
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand.
