The Prodigal God

As 2026 has come, there are many things we start afresh. Every year, we pick a Book-of-the-Year. In 2025, we read and studied “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer. I hope that it was encouraging, challenging, and brought depth in your relationship with the Lord. This year, our book of the year is “The Prodigal God” by Timothy Keller.  

The full title is “The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith”. This book is a brief gospel presentation that centers on Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son. Keller uses this well-known story to see how the gospel provides the answer to our sinfulness and self-righteousness.  

We all have read or heard this parable before. And for many of us, we think of the younger son who left his family and returned. But Keller believes that we miss the point of Jesus’ famous parable if we fail to give proper attention to the elder brother. So he decides to focus on the elder son than the younger.  

The key to understanding Keller’s intention is that we must repent not only of sin, but also of righteousness. Apart from God, we try to live righteously as a means of becoming our own saviour. Lost people either run from God’s control by fleeing into sin, or they try to take control themselves by determining their own circumstances and rewards through their “good” behaviour.  

As the COAH Pastors got together, we felt that this would be a great book to use this year to draw us nearer to God and delve deeper in our relationship to Him. The Wednesdays-in-the-Word book study has already started! It’s a 4-week study. Life Groups will be studying this book in March and April. Let us all read, study, and grow from this refreshing and easy-to-read book! And may we experience the amazing grace of Jesus who brings us home to the Father.  

With Blessings, 

Pastor Tim