Home - People of God - Incarnation - Kingdom of God - Salvation - Sanctification - Trinity - Creation - Prayer - Consecration - Tradition - Saints - Heaven and Hell - Visitors Centre - Site Map

People of God - Pascha Cycle - Repentance

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Please make sure that you have read the main "People of God" page first.

Setting the Scene

The coming of Christ has destroyed the dividing walls between God and humankind.  "People of God" now has a universal rather than a particular reference.  All may come in. 

Are there any preliminaries though?  This question is simply answered in one word, repentance.  Repentance is not "being sorry" for the things we have done wrong.  (That's "contrition.")  The word, as taught by Christ, has quite a different meaning.  It fundamentally involves an "about-turn," - a whole life revolution that happens when we turn to Christ and hand our life over to Him.  The Spirit enables us to do this and the result is our entry into the kingdom of the Father. 

The Church then recognises a new brother or sister and the outcome is baptism and a new life in the people of God. It's as simple (and demanding) as that for there then begins a continual repentance until our humanity has been completely refashioned into the pristine image of the divine likeness.  At the end we shall have become fully human.

Practical

Read Luke 15:11-32 (The Parable of the Prodigal Son)

Which character do you most identify with?

1. The lost son?

2. The forgiving father?

3. The elder son?

What is the central point of this parable?

What community is the son restored to?

Is there any connection between this parable and confession?

return to People of God page
 

Home - People of God - Incarnation - Kingdom of God - Salvation - Sanctification - Trinity - Creation - Prayer - Consecration - Tradition - Saints - Heaven and Hell - Visitors Centre - Site Map

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.