August 10, 2025 • 13 mins
This episode is based upon a teaching about the eldest son. We all love the story about the prodigal son and how the father accepted him back with open arms. But what about the eldest son who had been working in the fields all those years. You will love the life-changing teaching!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning everyone. Today is Sunday, August tenth. This is
Sean Copeland and welcome to another brand new, life changing
edition of the ninety four x Kingdom Driven CEO. I
am so excited to be here with you today that
today's teaching, I think is going to be a game
(00:32):
changer for you. It certainly was for me. This has
been a very good week. I went up and back
to Liberty University with a coworker of mine. We had
a great meeting with them. We have been preparing for
my daughter, middle daughter, to.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Head to college.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
She actually leaves, we move her in tomorrow. Oh my gosh,
you guys, please pray for me. She is my buddy
and I'm going to miss her so much. Her older sister, Emory,
who we're super super proud of, is already over at
Oklahoma State University, so Kennedy will be joining her tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Finley and I.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Got to play a little bit of golf together. It
was just a super super fun week. And I continued
my coaching sessions with my friend Pastor Rich Manganero here
at Harvest Church and Broken Arrow And if you'll recall
last time, well, last time we talked about the importance
(01:30):
of being consistent in all areas of our life. But
before that, we talked a little bit about being accepted.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We talked about the blessing.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
We talked about how important it was that our parents
told us that they were proud of us, and that
it all went back to when Jesus was baptized and
God said, this is my son in whom I am
well pleased, And Jesus hadn't done anything yet, he hadn't
even started his ministry, but he received the blessing. Well,
(02:05):
a lot of times when we don't receive the blessing,
whether our parents were absent or you know, maybe they
were very difficult, or maybe they just didn't say anything
at all, we start looking for that blessing everywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And I look.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
At it from a performance orientation perspective, where I am
trying to please everybody.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I want everybody to like me.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I want everybody to be happy all the time, and
it makes it very difficult for me to accept constructive
criticism or frankly, give constructive criticism because I don't want
to hurt anybody's feelings and I don't want to be
hurt either. Well, a next step in this teaching He
just mentioned it in passing, but I've really studied this
(02:56):
is about the eldest son. Now, you may remember the
story of the prodigal son and how the prodigal son
went away, spent all of his money, did all kinds
of things he wasn't supposed to do, and when he
came back, the father welcomed him with open arms. And
we love that story because it is how God looks
(03:19):
at us. It doesn't matter what we've done. He is
the loving father that comes running down to meet us
and opens his arms. He always welcomes us back. However,
there's a part of the story that we don't always
talk about, and it is the eldest son. The eldest
son was really upset because he had been doing all
(03:43):
this work for the father, and the father all of
a sudden wasn't given him the love he was given
the gifts and all that stuff to the youngest son
who had just gone away and squandered it. And you
may be listening to this right now and going, well, yeah,
no kidding. Well, we're going to talk about out how
we should not live in this way.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
This is not how God meant for us to live.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
We should not be the eldest son, and we're going
to talk about when earning replaces embracing the father's love.
I've ever been to a family reunion and realize that
you're the one doing all the work while everybody else
is having fun. We have a lot of events over
(04:27):
here at.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Our house, and this is me.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
You're flipping burgers, taking out the trash, refilling your aunt's
sweet tea, and then your cousin shows up two hours later,
eats three cheeseburgers and somehow gets all the hugs and
the family attention. That's Luke fifteen, Elder Brother Edition. That's
exactly what happened to the elder son in the story
(04:50):
of the prodigal Son. We usually focus on the younger son,
the wild living, the pig pen, the big return, but
the elder son's struggle is just as real and many
of us are living it. You can see this in
Luke fifteen twenty five through thirty two and let me
kind of, let me kind of first of all, tell
you a little bit about the elder son's worldview, and
(05:12):
that is one that you and I, many of us have,
and that is that love must be earned. He's in
the field, working when the party starts, symbolic of his mindset,
if I work hard enough, maybe my dad will notice me.
Verse twenty nine says, all these years I've been slaving
for you. Notice the language. He didn't even say serving.
(05:34):
He says slaving. That's like the Christian who serves in
every ministry, children's church, parking lot, coffee team. But the
whole time they're secretly wondering, does God or the pastor
even see me. God's love is not tied to your performance,
just the same way the father's love for his sons
(05:55):
had nothing to do with their performance.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
God is the same way.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Ephesians two eight and nine says it is by grace
you have been saved, not by works, so that no
one can boast. I knew a man who never missed
a church service in twenty five years, but when life
got hard, he admitted, I thought, if I checked all
the boxes, God would owe me. That is elder brother
thinking transactional and not relational, and that is not how
(06:23):
this works. There's a trap of performance based faith from
the elder son's example. So number one, you have comparison.
Verse thirty he says, this son of yours, I'm better
than him, and yet you're blessing him. Number two, he's
been keeping school, he said, I've been here all these years.
(06:46):
Number three he's had loss of joy when serving his
duty without delight, bitterness begins to set in. And number
four he is we are misreading God's heart. He saw
his father as a boss us and not as his dad.
It's like being in a loyalty rewards program with God.
You know, Lord, I've been platinum status since two thousand
(07:08):
and four. Where are my upgrades? Galatians four six and
seven says we're not slaves, where sons and we are heirs.
John fifteen fifteen says I no longer call you servants.
I have called you friends. Now let's talk about the
father's heart. Toward the elder son. Verse thirty one says,
my son, you are always with me, and everything I
(07:31):
have is yours. Now, let's talk about three truths here.
Number one, this father gives him presents. You are always
with me. Relationship is the reward. It's nothing other than that.
Relationship is the reward. Number two provision, Everything I have
is yours. He says, you're not fighting for scraps. And
(07:54):
number three purpose the celebration wasn't merit based, it was restoration.
A friend of mine was upset when someone else in
church got the leadership role that they wanted. They've been
faithful for years. God gently reminded them, you don't serve
to get titles. You already have the title that matters
my child. Sometimes, like the elder brothers standing outside the
(08:18):
party saying, well, I don't even like barbecue and live
music anyway, when deep down we are just hurt, we
have to realize we are not serving or befriending others
for something in return. The relationship is everything, so we
want to move from earning to embracing. Here are a
(08:39):
few practical steps for us to think about. Number One,
start our day receiving, not achieving. Before you check email
or make it to do list, read a scripture about
God's love, such as Zephaniah three seventeen. Number two, celebrate
others blessings Roman's twelve fifteen. Rejoice with those who rejoice,
(09:00):
even when they get the party.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That you wanted. Number three, serve from overflow, not obligation.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Ask am I doing this because I have to, because
I want to, or because God has called me to?
Number four Rest in your identity. Your worth was settled
at the cross. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks
about you. Your worth was settled at the cross. Think
of Olympic athletes who train for years. Some love the sport,
(09:31):
others only want the medal. The ones who love it
endure the hardest days with joy. It's the same with faith.
If you love the Father, the work is no longer
a burden. Remember, the invitation still stands. The story ends
with the elder son outside, no resolution given. Why, because
(09:51):
Jesus is looking at the Pharisees and us and saying,
what will you do? Matt in Matthew eleven twenty eight
through thirty Jesus and it's the weary to rest. You
can keep sweating in the field, or you can grab
a plate and get in on the ribs. That's the
question here is how do we want to live our lives.
(10:11):
Do we want to live it trying to earn some
imaginary approval, you know, or some reward or some title
or something that's going to end up meaningless. Or do
we want to live for the Lord out of gratitude
and love. Are you living like a son or daughter
(10:33):
or like an employee? Have you been trying to earn
something that's already yours. Please bow with me today, and
as we close, I want to share this with you
real quick. I feel the Holy Spirit is leading me
to share this. So this is a particularly difficult one
for me because I watch my grandfather do this very thing,
but just the opposite.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
My father worked on our family ranch his entire life, every.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Day, every day, every day he took.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Care of my grandpa, and my aunt lived in Edmund,
a city about an hour and a half away. She
would come down to visit, and my grandfather would use
his inheritance, the ranch, the money that he had, all
of these things. He used these things as a leverage
to get the kids to love him. He would threaten
(11:25):
if something happened with my dad, he would threaten to
give all this stuff to my aunt, and vice versa. Well,
my aunt died before my grandpa. She had cancer and
passed away before him, so it ended up being meaningless.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
They spent all those.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Decades and all those years fighting over an inheritance that
was all going to.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Come to my father anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So I want to beg all of us, including me,
to not live in this way. Let's close in prayer.
But let's live a life of freedom. Let's live a
life where we serve and we give, and we are
kind to others out of joy, out of gratitude, out
(12:10):
of love for our heavenly Father, because he gave us
eternal life when none of us listening to this podcast
today deserved it. So please beout with me today, Dear
Heavenly Father, Thank you that we don't have to strive
for your love. Forgive us for the time to we've
measured our worth by what we do instead of who
(12:33):
we are. In you, help us to celebrate others, to
rest in your presence, and to walk into the joy
you've prepared for us. Help us not to strive for
an identity that we already have. Help us to feel accepted,
Help us to feel loved, Help us to feel part
(12:56):
of this royal family that we are in. We are
not an orphan. We are your sons and daughters. We
love you so much in Jesus' name, A man and
I want to thank you all so much for joining
this edition of the ninety four X Kingdom Driven CEO
Good morning everyone. Today is Sunday, August tenth. This is
Sean Copeland and welcome to another brand new, life changing
edition of the ninety four x Kingdom Driven CEO. I
am so excited to be here with you today that
today's teaching, I think is going to be a game
(00:32):
changer for you. It certainly was for me. This has
been a very good week. I went up and back
to Liberty University with a coworker of mine. We had
a great meeting with them. We have been preparing for
my daughter, middle daughter, to.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Head to college.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
She actually leaves, we move her in tomorrow. Oh my gosh,
you guys, please pray for me. She is my buddy
and I'm going to miss her so much. Her older sister, Emory,
who we're super super proud of, is already over at
Oklahoma State University, so Kennedy will be joining her tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Finley and I.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Got to play a little bit of golf together. It
was just a super super fun week. And I continued
my coaching sessions with my friend Pastor Rich Manganero here
at Harvest Church and Broken Arrow And if you'll recall
last time, well, last time we talked about the importance
(01:30):
of being consistent in all areas of our life. But
before that, we talked a little bit about being accepted.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We talked about the blessing.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
We talked about how important it was that our parents
told us that they were proud of us, and that
it all went back to when Jesus was baptized and
God said, this is my son in whom I am
well pleased, And Jesus hadn't done anything yet, he hadn't
even started his ministry, but he received the blessing. Well,
(02:05):
a lot of times when we don't receive the blessing,
whether our parents were absent or you know, maybe they
were very difficult, or maybe they just didn't say anything
at all, we start looking for that blessing everywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And I look.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
At it from a performance orientation perspective, where I am
trying to please everybody.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I want everybody to like me.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I want everybody to be happy all the time, and
it makes it very difficult for me to accept constructive
criticism or frankly, give constructive criticism because I don't want
to hurt anybody's feelings and I don't want to be
hurt either. Well, a next step in this teaching He
just mentioned it in passing, but I've really studied this
(02:56):
is about the eldest son. Now, you may remember the
story of the prodigal son and how the prodigal son
went away, spent all of his money, did all kinds
of things he wasn't supposed to do, and when he
came back, the father welcomed him with open arms. And
we love that story because it is how God looks
(03:19):
at us. It doesn't matter what we've done. He is
the loving father that comes running down to meet us
and opens his arms. He always welcomes us back. However,
there's a part of the story that we don't always
talk about, and it is the eldest son. The eldest
son was really upset because he had been doing all
(03:43):
this work for the father, and the father all of
a sudden wasn't given him the love he was given
the gifts and all that stuff to the youngest son
who had just gone away and squandered it. And you
may be listening to this right now and going, well, yeah,
no kidding. Well, we're going to talk about out how
we should not live in this way.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
This is not how God meant for us to live.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
We should not be the eldest son, and we're going
to talk about when earning replaces embracing the father's love.
I've ever been to a family reunion and realize that
you're the one doing all the work while everybody else
is having fun. We have a lot of events over
(04:27):
here at.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Our house, and this is me.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
You're flipping burgers, taking out the trash, refilling your aunt's
sweet tea, and then your cousin shows up two hours later,
eats three cheeseburgers and somehow gets all the hugs and
the family attention. That's Luke fifteen, Elder Brother Edition. That's
exactly what happened to the elder son in the story
(04:50):
of the prodigal Son. We usually focus on the younger son,
the wild living, the pig pen, the big return, but
the elder son's struggle is just as real and many
of us are living it. You can see this in
Luke fifteen twenty five through thirty two and let me
kind of, let me kind of first of all, tell
you a little bit about the elder son's worldview, and
(05:12):
that is one that you and I, many of us have,
and that is that love must be earned. He's in
the field, working when the party starts, symbolic of his mindset,
if I work hard enough, maybe my dad will notice me.
Verse twenty nine says, all these years I've been slaving
for you. Notice the language. He didn't even say serving.
(05:34):
He says slaving. That's like the Christian who serves in
every ministry, children's church, parking lot, coffee team. But the
whole time they're secretly wondering, does God or the pastor
even see me. God's love is not tied to your performance,
just the same way the father's love for his sons
(05:55):
had nothing to do with their performance.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
God is the same way.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Ephesians two eight and nine says it is by grace
you have been saved, not by works, so that no
one can boast. I knew a man who never missed
a church service in twenty five years, but when life
got hard, he admitted, I thought, if I checked all
the boxes, God would owe me. That is elder brother
thinking transactional and not relational, and that is not how
(06:23):
this works. There's a trap of performance based faith from
the elder son's example. So number one, you have comparison.
Verse thirty he says, this son of yours, I'm better
than him, and yet you're blessing him. Number two, he's
been keeping school, he said, I've been here all these years.
(06:46):
Number three he's had loss of joy when serving his
duty without delight, bitterness begins to set in. And number
four he is we are misreading God's heart. He saw
his father as a boss us and not as his dad.
It's like being in a loyalty rewards program with God.
You know, Lord, I've been platinum status since two thousand
(07:08):
and four. Where are my upgrades? Galatians four six and
seven says we're not slaves, where sons and we are heirs.
John fifteen fifteen says I no longer call you servants.
I have called you friends. Now let's talk about the
father's heart. Toward the elder son. Verse thirty one says,
my son, you are always with me, and everything I
(07:31):
have is yours. Now, let's talk about three truths here.
Number one, this father gives him presents. You are always
with me. Relationship is the reward. It's nothing other than that.
Relationship is the reward. Number two provision, Everything I have
is yours. He says, you're not fighting for scraps. And
(07:54):
number three purpose the celebration wasn't merit based, it was restoration.
A friend of mine was upset when someone else in
church got the leadership role that they wanted. They've been
faithful for years. God gently reminded them, you don't serve
to get titles. You already have the title that matters
my child. Sometimes, like the elder brothers standing outside the
(08:18):
party saying, well, I don't even like barbecue and live
music anyway, when deep down we are just hurt, we
have to realize we are not serving or befriending others
for something in return. The relationship is everything, so we
want to move from earning to embracing. Here are a
(08:39):
few practical steps for us to think about. Number One,
start our day receiving, not achieving. Before you check email
or make it to do list, read a scripture about
God's love, such as Zephaniah three seventeen. Number two, celebrate
others blessings Roman's twelve fifteen. Rejoice with those who rejoice,
(09:00):
even when they get the party.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That you wanted. Number three, serve from overflow, not obligation.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Ask am I doing this because I have to, because
I want to, or because God has called me to?
Number four Rest in your identity. Your worth was settled
at the cross. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks
about you. Your worth was settled at the cross. Think
of Olympic athletes who train for years. Some love the sport,
(09:31):
others only want the medal. The ones who love it
endure the hardest days with joy. It's the same with faith.
If you love the Father, the work is no longer
a burden. Remember, the invitation still stands. The story ends
with the elder son outside, no resolution given. Why, because
(09:51):
Jesus is looking at the Pharisees and us and saying,
what will you do? Matt in Matthew eleven twenty eight
through thirty Jesus and it's the weary to rest. You
can keep sweating in the field, or you can grab
a plate and get in on the ribs. That's the
question here is how do we want to live our lives.
(10:11):
Do we want to live it trying to earn some
imaginary approval, you know, or some reward or some title
or something that's going to end up meaningless. Or do
we want to live for the Lord out of gratitude
and love. Are you living like a son or daughter
(10:33):
or like an employee? Have you been trying to earn
something that's already yours. Please bow with me today, and
as we close, I want to share this with you
real quick. I feel the Holy Spirit is leading me
to share this. So this is a particularly difficult one
for me because I watch my grandfather do this very thing,
but just the opposite.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
My father worked on our family ranch his entire life, every.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Day, every day, every day he took.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Care of my grandpa, and my aunt lived in Edmund,
a city about an hour and a half away. She
would come down to visit, and my grandfather would use
his inheritance, the ranch, the money that he had, all
of these things. He used these things as a leverage
to get the kids to love him. He would threaten
(11:25):
if something happened with my dad, he would threaten to
give all this stuff to my aunt, and vice versa. Well,
my aunt died before my grandpa. She had cancer and
passed away before him, so it ended up being meaningless.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
They spent all those.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Decades and all those years fighting over an inheritance that
was all going to.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Come to my father anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So I want to beg all of us, including me,
to not live in this way. Let's close in prayer.
But let's live a life of freedom. Let's live a
life where we serve and we give, and we are
kind to others out of joy, out of gratitude, out
(12:10):
of love for our heavenly Father, because he gave us
eternal life when none of us listening to this podcast
today deserved it. So please beout with me today, Dear
Heavenly Father, Thank you that we don't have to strive
for your love. Forgive us for the time to we've
measured our worth by what we do instead of who
(12:33):
we are. In you, help us to celebrate others, to
rest in your presence, and to walk into the joy
you've prepared for us. Help us not to strive for
an identity that we already have. Help us to feel accepted,
Help us to feel loved, Help us to feel part
(12:56):
of this royal family that we are in. We are
not an orphan. We are your sons and daughters. We
love you so much in Jesus' name, A man and
I want to thank you all so much for joining
this edition of the ninety four X Kingdom Driven CEO
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