I.Intro – Matthew 6:5-14

II.Views of the divine

A.Jewish – The Jewish understanding was that God was holy, righteous, and just but also distant.

B.Roman/Greek – The Romans and Greeks understood there to be numerous gods that needed to be placated to gain favor, but there was no sense of being in any kind of meaningful relationship with the gods.

C.Jesus – The revolutionary understanding of God as father (abba father, implying relationship and affection).

D.Paul – expands on the relationship with our heavenly Father in Romans 8:15-17 by using the term adoption or sonship to refer to our relationship with God.

III.Two Kinds of Lost - Luke 15:1-3,11-31(Parable of the Prodigal Son)

A.The Younger Brother – Self Discovery

B.The Older Brother – Moralism

IV.Conclusion - The Father’s Love