Is it ok to feed off other preachers outside the Church of Christ

Sermon Topic 4/3/13 From Conference Elder Mike Bevaart God is LOVE
To start, Mike posed the off-topic question of whether or not it is ok to feed off other preachers outside the Church of Christ
Luke 15:1-3 … the publicans (tax collectors) and sinners drew near to Jesus to hear him … and those Pharisees murmured that Jesus was fellowshipping with these sinners, and how could He be a holy man? (see also Luke 5:27-30, the calling of Levi [Matthew], where the scribes and Pharisees also murmured) (the name “Pharisee” comes from the Hebrew word for “separation” … these people, after the Babylonian captivity, kept themselves separate from sin and from violation of the Law of Moses, but by Jesus’ time their faith had degenerated into a system of ritual and works msl)
Jesus answered their accusation with two short illustrations, then one long one…..
Luke 15:11=32, the parable of the prodigal son ... Mike began this passage with the phrase “walk, don’t run!” … have we heard this command in our lives? We didn’t understand as kids, now we do; it’s a matter of safety, and DECORUM.
In this parable, we are introduced to an interesting concept – the Father who RUNS (and in Jewish decorum, the man DID NOT do that msl)
How many young people today are planning to leave their parents—for the wrong reasons.
The son was brazen, asking for his inheritance before his father’s death … he intended a permanent separation.
Mike showed a picture of the “bad side” of Toronto and asked, How many young people leave their families, determined to “make it big”, and wind up in riotous living on the bad side of town, til the money runs out
The prodigal son wound up in a piggery … not the place for a Jewish guy, probably not among the Jewish people.
Mike related his days as a youth, working on a pig farm, shoveling eeeeewwww … he had meals and privileges. The problem in the story of the prodigal was not so much that he was working in a piggery, with the smell, the flies, the eeeewwwww, the hard work … it was that this particular young man had hit ROCK BOTTOM. The pigs were better off than he was; they were still being fed and he was starving.
If and when we turn our back on God, we don’t consider how it affects Him … it’s all about what I want … me me me … Mike realized during Christmas time that he missed his home and family.
Mike showed a picture of an outdoor chair, and related it to the idea of God watching for his prodigal child. The chair in the picture is empty … the father had spotted his son and RUN to meet him. It all comes down to this:
GOD LOVES TO SAVE SINNERS
There is no mention of Jesus in the parable, He is the one telling the story, knowing what is to come – the Father who runs to His prodigal children had to turn His back on His perfect Son.
We cannot measure the depth of God’s love. How many returnees would get an “i told you so” lecture from their parents … that’s not God’s way. The son in the parable not only got ran to, which was out of order, but he got hugs, kisses, a ring, new clothes, and a celebration.
Have you ever entered a season of riotous living … have you ever come to yourself and said “i was better off at home”. What is the definition of riotous living? –just look to the two Books.
If we violate God’s commandments for order in life, that’s riotous living. We can take our whole heritage in God and spend it in 15 minutes.
The parable isn’t really about a Jewish boy who ended up with pigs … it’s about those of us who have left, and came back, and found that He ran to us.
Re-study the parable, substituting ourselves … then we can begin to get a clue of the depth of God’s love for us.
Are any of us identifying with the older son? Be honest….. The older son is a Pharisee, thru and thru. Study his statement … “That should have been MY party”, in effect.
One son goes into the house because of mercy, the other refuses because of his own righteousness
Matthew 5:20 (Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount) For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Are you involved with riotous living? --hesitant to ask God? STUDY THE SCRIPTURES. They tell you what to do. RUN to the Father, He is waiting for you.