For The One - The Father Who Runs // Aaron ShawFor The One - The Father Who Runs // Aaron Shaw
Cedar Point Recovery - Weekly Messages
Pastor Aaron Shaw teaches about a God who runs toward people in their brokenness, using the prodigal son story to challenge shame and self-fixing. The message urges people in recovery to come home as they are and to actively pursue one person who has yet to step into healing.
43:22•8 Sept 2026
The Father Who Runs: Shame, Recovery, and Coming Home
Episode Overview
- People often keep themselves distant from God and church until they feel "presentable", but that standard never really arrives.
- The story of the prodigal son shows a father who runs to restore his child before any speeches, plans, or payment schemes are completed.
- Trying to "pay God back" or work off guilt keeps people stuck in control and shame instead of receiving grace.
- Each person is encouraged to choose one specific "one" to pray for, serve, and invite into recovery and church over the next four weeks.
- God’s mercy is meant to turn people into evidence of his patience and grace, not just survivors of their past.
“"We stay gone until we think we're presentable."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Cedar Point Recovery, the answer is clear: Jesus, community, and a God who runs toward people, not away from them. This message from Pastor Aaron Shaw ties classic recovery themes to the famous story of the prodigal son, with a focus not on the rebellious son, but on "the father who runs".
Across the talk, you'll hear honest, sometimes funny, reflections on why so many people in addiction and recovery "stay gone until we think we're presentable". Aaron points out how distance from God and from church is often something people actively maintain, especially when shame, unworthiness, and self-hatred creep in. He names the lie head-on: "Getting right, getting clean, making ourself presentable, that's not yours to do." The heart of the episode sits in Luke 15.
Aaron walks through the prodigal son’s story, highlighting how the father spots his son "a long way off", runs to him, and restores him fully as family, not hired help. That picture becomes a direct challenge to anyone convinced they must fix themselves before coming back to church, to recovery, or to God. There’s also a strong push toward outward focus.
Listeners are asked to carry one name on their hearts for four weeks – someone who hasn’t stepped into recovery yet – and to pray, invite, and reach out. In Aaron’s words, some people "want what the father has without the father", and the church is called to go after those people with love rather than judgement.
If you’ve ever felt too broken, too far gone, or too ashamed to show up, this message keeps repeating one simple theme: come home first, then go get someone else. Who might be your "one" this week?
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