When the prodigal son returned home, his father welcomed him. Read Luke 15:11-31. A critical question that emerging adults ask and are sorting out is, “Where do I belong?” They are working through family issues and peer pressure. They are making friends, keeping friends, and losing friends. They are looking for a place to be loved and accepted. The prodigal son had a home where he was loved by his father, but he had a desire for adventure. He took his inheritance and went to a far land. While he was in the far land, he spent all his money and found himself feeding pigs. He was lonely and hungry. Although his hunger was for real food, I believe there was also a hunger for belonging, even if it was to return home and ask to be a servant. As he was nearing his home, his father saw him and ran to him. His father welcomed him home as the son that was lost but now had been found. Each of us is born a child of God, made in the image of God. God is our God, and we are God’s people. Sometimes we seek adventure outside God’s will, and we find ourselves separated from God. We are lonely and hungry for God’s love. When we choose to return to God, God welcomes us. Welcome home. 

Holy God who loves us, may we always be willing to come home to you when we have walked away. Help us to receive one another in love and forgiveness as we seek to create a warm community for all people. Amen.