A History of God working with Us!
A History of Compassion
Psalm 25:6-7

May the compassion of God our Father, shown in the coming Christ, in His birth, death and resurrection – for you—convince you that are loved, and that you will endure in His peace!

• A History of Compassion…

I had a thought, now It was more visual than that, a vision of God’s face back at the beginning of time that astounded me in its clarity. I was the face of an old man, preceding to walk into His precious garden, to spend time with the two people He love more than anything else.

As He heads towards them, a sound reverberates through the trees, louder than anything else, crashing and drowning out the sound of animals, and the wind, and the water running through the rivers. The sound of teeth breaking the skin of a fruit, and as I looked at the old man, I see the tears begin to pour down His face, as He cries out “Adam! Where are you!”

We think we know the rest of the story, how God boots them out, punishes them with lives full of pain and hard work. But we don’t see the compassion, the way that God the father looked at them, and could not kill them—as was the promise, the guarantee of breaking the only commandment they knew, and choosing to know evil.

We see it throughout scripture, this compassion.

We see it in the mark God puts on Cain, removing from him the curse for murdering His brother. We see it shown to Noah’s family, to Abraham and Jacob. We see it show to the rebellious idolators Moses tried to guide through the desert,

And so it is no wonder, that David can cry out the words Jim read a moment ago,

⁶  Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. ⁷  Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD.
Psalm 25:6-7 (NLT2)

God’s compassion – shown to every believer and sinner from Adam and Eve forward, was so historically proven that David could, without hesitation, cry out for it…. And be sustained by it.

And so can we…

• My Need to Cry out – to see His compassion

And we need to!

Heck – let me be honest, I need to cry out with David! I need to see it!

And knowing all that history the work God ha done with other sinners, encourages our crying out for God to act—for we know that is His nature, that is who He was, who He is, and who He will always be.

A compassionate God who loves His people, and revives and restores those dead and broken in sin.

If it wasn’t for all the history of God doing this in scripture, I would believe it was too good to be true. Those stories exist too, the prodigals who wander away, and are slow to come back. Those convinced they are so unclean, so controlled by their past sins, and the unrighteousness that surrounds or surrounded their lives, that this would never happen…

And we get to be the latest historical (and hysterical examples)

• Dad’s here…

The gospel reading tonight shows it again – this is the Kingdom of God. I didn’t have to go back over the sinful history, and so we skipped that part of the prodigal’s story.

Here’s the important part, told slightly differently,

“Our Father saw us coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to us embraced us, and kissed (yuck?) us…. It goes on to say, for this child of mine was dead and has returned to life, He was lost, but is now found,’ So the party began.

I don’t have to tell you we each need His compassion – we all know our brokenness – the sins we commit, the injustice seen in our lives and communities that so devastates us. We know that stuff – all to well.

But we need to know the Lord’s compassion, His mercy, His forgiveness… His love.

By needing to know it, I don’t mean like providing a Sunday school answer, I mean to experience it with ever

If you are wandering, or dwelling in the pigslop, if you’ve been unfaithful to God, it’s time to come home….knowing God’s track record…and coming to know His embrace..

So come… and let the party begin!

May the compassion of God our Father, shown in the coming Christ, in His birth, death and resurrection – for you—convince you that are loved, and that you will endure in His peace!

• A History of Compassion…

I had a thought, now It was more visual than that, a vision of God’s face back at the beginning of time that astounded me in its clarity. I was the face of an old man, preceding to walk into His precious garden, to spend time with the two people He love more than anything else.

As He heads towards them, a sound reverberates through the trees, louder than anything else, crashing and drowning out the sound of animals, and the wind, and the water running through the rivers. The sound of teeth breaking the skin of a fruit, and as I looked at the old man, I see the tears begin to pour down His face, as He cries out “Adam! Where are you!”

We think we know the rest of the story, how God boots them out, punishes them with lives full of pain and hard work. But we don’t see the compassion, the way that God the father looked at them, and could not kill them—as was the promise, the guarantee of breaking the only commandment they knew, and choosing to know evil.

We see it throughout scripture, this compassion.

We see it in the mark God puts on Cain, removing from him the curse for murdering His brother. We see it shown to Noah’s family, to Abraham and Jacob. We see it show to the rebellious idolators Moses tried to guide through the desert,

And so it is no wonder, that David can cry out the words Jim read a moment ago,

⁶  Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. ⁷  Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD.
Psalm 25:6-7 (NLT2)

God’s compassion – shown to every believer and sinner from Adam and Eve forward, was so historically proven that David could, without hesitation, cry out for it…. And be sustained by it.

And so can we…

• My Need to Cry out – to see His compassion

And we need to!

Heck – let me be honest, I need to cry out with David! I need to see it!

And knowing all that history the work God ha done with other sinners, encourages our crying out for God to act—for we know that is His nature, that is who He was, who He is, and who He will always be.

A compassionate God who loves His people, and revives and restores those dead and broken in sin.

If it wasn’t for all the history of God doing this in scripture, I would believe it was too good to be true. Those stories exist too, the prodigals who wander away, and are slow to come back. Those convinced they are so unclean, so controlled by their past sins, and the unrighteousness that surrounds or surrounded their lives, that this would never happen…

And we get to be the latest historical (and hysterical examples)

• Dad’s here…

The gospel reading tonight shows it again – this is the Kingdom of God. I didn’t have to go back over the sinful history, and so we skipped that part of the prodigal’s story.

Here’s the important part, told slightly differently,

“Our Father saw us coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to us embraced us, and kissed (yuck?) us…. It goes on to say, for this child of mine was dead and has returned to life, He was lost, but is now found,’ So the party began.

I don’t have to tell you we each need His compassion – we all know our brokenness – the sins we commit, the injustice seen in our lives and communities that so devastates us. We know that stuff – all to well.

But we need to know the Lord’s compassion, His mercy, His forgiveness… His love.

By needing to know it, I don’t mean like providing a Sunday school answer, I mean to experience it with ever

If you are wandering, or dwelling in the pigslop, if you’ve been unfaithful to God, it’s time to come home….knowing God’s track record…and coming to know His embrace..

So come… and let the party begin!