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August 23, 2026 |
Resources Sermon Notes |
God’s loving-kindness pursues unfaithful people paying the price to bring them home. The message opens with the questions people are almost afraid to ask: Can I ever come back? Can God love someone like me? Has God given up? Have I gone too far this time? Those questions belong both to those who have never turned to God and to those who once followed Jesus and wandered away. God answers not with a slogan but with a living parable. He calls Hosea to marry Gomer, to name children Judgment, No Mercy, and Not My People, and then—after a courtroom listing of Israel’s sins—to allure her, speak tenderly, and buy her back. Hesed is love that will not walk away.
That pursuit reaches its fullness when Jesus, the Son of David, is lifted up and draws all people to Himself. Romans 5:8 makes it plain: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 5 shows why—He gave Himself to make His people holy, radiant, without stain. Followers of Jesus are called to take a costly step toward someone they have written off. Wanderers are invited to stop running from the One who has pursued them all their lives.