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BEING A FRIEND OF GOD:
Six Studies on Jesus’ Story of the Lost Son
By Len hompson
 
Te works of art in this book are faithful photographic reproductions of original two dimensional works of art. Te works of art themselves are in the public domain for the following reason: these images are in the public domain because their copyright has expired. Tis applies to those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus seventy years.  A portion of session two first appeared in
Developing Your Spiritual Life.
 Permission to use this section is gratefully acknowledged. Copyright © 2009, by Urban Center Publishers. Printed in Canada.  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Urban Center, 11525 23 Ave, Edmonton,  AB. 6J 43.Printed by Pagemaster in Canada.Layout by Eric Tompson.
 
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BEING A FRIEND OF GODSESSION #1:
 A Disappointing Adolescent Star
 “Tere was a man who had two sons. Te  younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his  property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.  After he had spent everything, there was a severe  famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his  fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” Luke 15: 11-16 NIV 
Stories engage us on many levels. Jesus’ account of the Prodigal follows two other stories about lost sheep and coins. Te obvious point hits hard; accept the errant, rude, squanderer back into the family. Pharisees listening to the story excluded outcasts but the father in this story includes his errant son. Jesus invites the proud  Jewish listener to wrap his arms around the repentant sinner like Esau did to his younger brother Jacob (their patriarch).But I can’t help but read the story on several different levels. I get the main point but other things hit me just as clearly. I invite you to consider the invitation of the father to both the older and the younger son to something greater than squabbling over a sizable inheritance; friendship. It’s the same invitation Jesus

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