Jun. 28, 2026

Background:

• From Part 1:
• The foolish son
• The prodigal son wasted all his inheritance
• The father's forgiveness and his mercy
•  From Part 2:
• A negative attitude can cause us to turn away from God
• A negative is in the bible when Jonah resented and was angry
• Jonah personalized his own prejudice and felt angry when God wanted to spare him
• Jonah did not want the people to be saved
• We are not always positive but we need to check ourselves out
• We tend to forget where we come from when we have negative decisions

Key Sermon Points:

1. The attitude of the older brother

• The older brother symbolized the Pharisee's and their negative attitude towards sinners
• He was angry at the message that he got just like the Pharisee were angry that Jesus was coming and the message he was giving the Jews
• The older brother represents the Pharisee
• They did not like the fact that outcasts would be accepted and could be brought into the kingdom of God (Matthew 9:9-18)
• They did not want to eat with sinners
• The Pharisee were self-righteous
• He resented his brother and was bitter with his brother

2. The father tried to encourage the older son

• It was disrespectful that the father had to come out and tell the son to come
• The father was encouraging his son
• We must want to  be encouraged by the example of others to do the right thing
• Words of encouragement offered at the right time can make a difference if we embrace them (Proverbs 4:1-4)
• The father is showing that he came to try to bring his sons together
• The father knew both of his sons
• First son left because of his pride and wanted to go out and spread his wings
• Other son stayed home and worked in the field but was still messed
• Whatever ministry we might be on we must realize many people focus on our past and not our future
• People are right about us, we are the Father's children even if we are messed up and jacked up

3. The sibling jealousy

• The older son had a lack of mercy, no forgiveness and was jealous
• His focus was on his past and not where he is at
• So many times people concentrate on who we were and not where we are going
• People always remember our sins and want to tie us to it rather than acknowledge what God is doing now
• Cain and Abel were the first signs of jealousy and murder in the bible (Genesis 4:1-8)
• We need to deal with attitude before our attitude deals with us
• Cain was angry at God
• The father divided the living inheritance between both brothers
• The older brother than he was better than the prodigal son
• There was self-righteousness and jealousy
• The older brother is tied up in works
• He should have stopped pointing his finger at his brother and realized that the same love the father was showing to the younger brother he was now showing to him
• Sometimes we have a sense of entitlement that we think we ought to be treated differently
• The father's unconditional love was still the same and did not change
• The older son viewed his obedience not as a relationship of joy with the father but a contract
• We should come for the right reason and god will show us something and we can begin working on ourselves
• When we were younger we felt like the older brother but when we experience Jesus for ourselves and have been through some things we come now to say Thank You Lord
• We may not feel well but we still must come with the attitude of gratitude
• The younger son was lost in his rebelliousness
• The older son was lost in his pride and self-righteousness
• Both needed the Love of the Father!
• Stop looking back at someone's past and remember where they are going and where God has brought them from
• We must remember we have faults and issues as well and could be worse
• We must be careful and clean up our own house
• We must encourage people especially when they come to Jesus
• We must help build them back up
• For our children we must pray, encourage, and love unconditionally, and correct them when they are wrong
• God loves us unconditionally and that is how we should love others
• We should give grace and mercy lest we not receive it ourselves