⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”

⁵ “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹ Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. ¹¹ Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

In the beginning the Word already existed.

    The Word was with God,

    and the Word was God.

² He existed in the beginning with God.

³ God created everything through him,

    and nothing was created except through him.

⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,

    and his life brought light to everyone.

⁵ The light shines in the darkness,

    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.^[b] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will...

40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command...

...They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,^[a]

¹⁶ for through him God created everything

    in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

    and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

    Everything was created through him and for him.

¹⁷ He existed before anything else,

    and he holds all creation together.

¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church,

    which is his body.

He is the beginning,

    supreme over all who rise from the dead.^[b]

    So he is first in everything.

¹⁹ For God in all his fullness

    was pleased to live in Christ,

²⁰ and through him God reconciled

    everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

¹¹ To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

¹³ “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. ¹⁴ About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. ¹⁵ He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

²⁰ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

²² “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³ And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, ²⁶ and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

²⁸ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, ²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. ³⁰ Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

³¹ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Take a moment to read through the passages slowly. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through them.

Is there a word or phrase that God is drawing to your attention? What is He saying to you through these passages?

1) What stood out to you from the Scripture passages and/or this week's message?

2) In what ways is God challenging you and/or encouraging you through the message?

3) Robert spoke about three misunderstandings about the father in the story of the prodigal son:

• First, the son sees the father as a source of resources to fulfill his own personal desires, without any need for obedience or relationship.
• Then, the son assumes the father will only be willing to receive him back as a servant because of his wrongs, and will provide him with only the bare minimum required to survive.
• The older son misunderstands the father as somebody who only cares about his productivity, not their relationship.

Which of these misunderstandings do you tend to fall into? How does this show up in your life?

4) What is the first thing that comes to mind for you when you think about God? What do you think about His character and His attitude towards you?

5) What does the story of the prodigal son reveal about God? What ultimate reality is Jesus trying to communicate about His Father through this story?

Robert would like to hear your answers to help him prepare for his message the next time he comes to speak at Evergreen. If you are willing, please send him an email at [email protected] or through the Contact Us page so we can pass them on to him.