Before You Begin
Pause. Quiet your mind, take a slow breath in and out. Stay in this moment.
Passage
Reading & Reflection
At the heart of Sacred Homecoming is a call to come home.
When Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son, it’s really the story of two lost sons. One squanders his inheritance in rebellion. The other stays home but is just as lost in self-righteousness.
What do they share? Pride. Pride is the gateway sin. It’s the root of Adam and Eve’s fall and the starting point of ours. Pride makes us live as if we don’t need God; we think we know better than God, that we can earn God’s love, or add to what God has done.
Pride is why one son runs away and the other refuses to come in. Both stand outside the father’s embrace.
And then we see the Father. In the ancient world, any dignified patriarch would walk, never run. But not this Father. This Father is eager to bridge the gap, to reunite with the child he loves, to bring home the child he lost. He runs to the younger son, lost in his shame. He goes out to plead with the older son, lost in his pride. To both, he extends the same radical, costly love. Yet only one humbles himself to come home.
Grace was available to both.
That’s the gospel: the Father doesn’t wait for us to prove ourselves worthy. He comes running. And Jesus, the true elder brother who came to find us, left His Father’s house, spent everything at the cross, and came to find us in the far country so we could come home.
The gospel isn’t about what you do for God. It’s about what God has done for you in Christ.
As we head into Sacred Homecoming, what do you need to confess to the Father? If you’re honest with yourself, what part of you longs to experience His love most? What would it look like for you to come home today?
Bottom Line: You can be lost in rebellion or in religion, but the Father wants you to come home.
Morning Prayer
Father, I’m running home to You. As I step into this Sacred Homecoming season, remind me that I don’t need more of You. You’ve already given me all of Yourself. But You do want more of me. I confess my pride, my rebellion, and my self-righteousness. I ask for Your forgiveness and Your embrace. Help me connect with You in a fresh way and know more of Your love in my life. Amen
Evening Prayer
Father, thank You that You run toward me in grace, whether I am lost in rebellion or in pride. Forgive me for the ways I try to control You, whether by breaking Your rules or by keeping them to earn Your favour. Help me trust in Jesus, my true elder brother, who gave everything to bring me home. Tonight, may I rest in Your embrace and live out of the joy of being Your child. You are all I need. Amen.
