At Gateway Church in Austin, we are going through a series called “Confessions From Your Pastors.”
To dive deeper into these messages, use the Next Steps which help you apply the message to your life. For the Next Steps from this message, email me at eric.bryant@gatewaychurch.com.
Ben Sledge works with Heart Support and serves as our college and 20s pastor. You can listen to his message here or read some of his thoughts below:
“Sometimes I don’t really believe God loves me. Instead I try to earn God’s love. When I mess things up then I assume He is angry, and I am unforgiveable.
Maybe you are like me: we assume God is angry and unforgiving for the mistakes we make.
What we see in reality is a God willing to spend time with those who others would reject. Jesus spent time with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. His reputation was ruined for His willingness to associate with people that the religious leaders rejected.
God loves us! We are not beyond His love – no matter what we have done.
Jesus expresses His love over and over, but let’s take a look at three stories He tells expressing God’s love in Luke 15.
God pursues us with His love just as a man chases after his one lost sheep and just a woman searches for her lost coin. God loves us even if we have run away from Him like the prodigal son. He loves us if we become judgmental like the prodigal son’s brother, the son who never left the household.
