June 18, 2023 - Father's Day Sunday 2023
Notes
Transcript
Father’s Day 2023
Father’s Day 2023
Introduction:
Robert Brandt is a doctor in Pennsylvania who took his sons camping one night and by the campfire told them this story: About a hundred years ago there was a man who worked in a stone quarry who was injured by a sliding boulder. His foot was crushed. He was dirt poor, and he feared losing his job for he had children in diapers and a pregnant wife. Because he couldn’t afford a horse, he had to walk everywhere; so his injured foot was a constant, throbbing trial.
A few days later, on payday, he limped to the general store for groceries, then hobbled home. When he pulled his receipt from his pocket, he discovered that he had been given too much change. What should he do? As his worried wife watched from the kitchen doorway, he began limping every searing step back to the store to return the change.
After Dr. Brandt had told that story to his children, he asked them, “What do you think, guys? Did he do the right thing? Was that trip necessary?”
The boys quickly offered several alternatives, but after a spirited discussion they concluded that he had done the right thing. Then the boys slid down into their sleeping bags as the fire died down. Only then did Dr. Brandt tell them the rest of the story.
“The young father who worked in the stone quarry never became rich, but he lived a long, happy and honorable life. Before he died, he had passed his values in honesty to his children and his grandchildren. Even his great-grandchildren still hear about his honesty.”
“Where did you hear that stone-man story anyway, Dad?” asked Roger.
“When I was just a boy about your age, I heard it from a kind old man sitting in a rocking chair with a cane between his knees. I sat spellbound as he rocked, slowly spinning his cane as he told me that story—about himself. He was my grandfather, and your great-grandfather!”
Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 446–447.
Link:
Fathers influence and that influence continues on from generation to generation. Some weeks back we look at women who influenced through their lives. Today we will be doing the same thing. Looking at men who influenced as well.
Isaiah 38:19 “The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.”
I. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH PRAYER, LIKE PAUL.
He knew the person of prayer; Eph. 3:11-12 “according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”
Come to God anytime, not in your confidence but in Christ confidence, because you know Christ.
Have boldness to go to the throne of grace and uplift your children there for their:
Salvation
Growth in relationship w/ Christ
Their future relationship w/ Christ to be long lasting and real
Their future marriage, etc.
He knew how to pray; 1 Thess. 5:17 “pray without ceasing,”
Continual prayer is not prayer that prevails without any interruption, but prayer that continues whenever possible. The adverb for continually (adialeiptōs, ad-ee-al-ipe'-toce also in 1:3) was used in Greek of a hacking cough. Paul was speaking of maintaining continuous fellowship with God as much as possible in the midst of daily living in which concentration is frequently broken. - Thomas L. Constable, “1 Thessalonians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 708–709.
He depended on prayer; 1 Thess. 5:25 “Brethren, pray for us.”
Paul asked the church in Thessalonian to be praying for Him. It doesn't matter who your kids are, what they do, their age, pray for them.
Also thinking of praying, men, women, teens, kids, we all, as Christians should be praying for those around us, friends, family, country leaders, neighbors and church leaders.
Challenge #1: Be people who influence with Prayers.
II. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH OBEDIENCE, LIKE JOSHUA.
He was obedient in his report of the land of Canaan; Num. 14:6–9 “But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.””
Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary (A. Disobedience of the People (11:1–14:45))
The tearing of one’s garments was a gesture of mourning for the dead, for expressing lament over disease or plague, and for introducing a prophetic lament of judgment against an individual or nation.
Although the Children of Israel were being rebellious toward God, these men were faithful. The Children of Israel were invited by God to go into the promise land, but they failed to obey God in faithful obedience. Be like Joshua & Caleb, be faithful in you obedience toward God.
He was obedient in crossing the Jordan; Josh. 3:13–17 “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.” 14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood…”
Being faithful can be scary. It takes faith to trust what God is doing, why? Because what God is doing is bigger then any of us and when He moves, He invites us to move with Him and He enables us to move and He takes care of all the details in that move.
Application:
If you feel God laying on your heart to financially support a missionary or the church, but you don’t feel you have the money to do it, step out in faith, give it anyway and He will provide your needs.
If you feel God laying on your hear to start teaching kids SS, he will work all the details out for you, if you trust Him in it.
The same can be said of many things from moving, job changes, sharing the Gospel to starting up a missions trip, etc.
He was obedient in conquering Jericho; Josh. 6:3–5 “You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”” Josh. 6:20 “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”
Notice that when God asked Joshua to do something, it was a big deal but the second thing we looked at was even bigger and the third thing bigger yet. But God proved Himself to Joshua, b/c Joshua was faithful. Otherwise, Joshua would have not obeyed, sinned and his faith would not have grown, it would have shrunk.
Challenge #2: Can you look back in life and see where your faith shrunk? Where God invited you to do something with Him and you said no?
Perhaps you need to repent of this sin of disobedience and ask God to show you where to go next and ask Him to give you the faith to step out and say YES LORD!
Obey God in faithfulness, be a man, women, young person of influence like Joshua was through His obedience.
Unsaved: Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
Closing Song: Janet's Pick
III. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH PURITY, LIKE JOSEPH.
He was a goodly person; Gen. 39:6 “Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
He resisted temptation; Gen. 39:12 “that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.”
He exchanged kindness for hatred; Gen. 37:28; 42:16 “Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!””
Challenge #3:
IV. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH PATIENCE, LIKE JOB.
Job had patience when he lost his family; Job 1:21 “And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.””
Job had patience when he lost his health; Job 2:9-10 “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Job had patience that ended in reward; Job 42:12–17 “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.”
Challenge #4:
V. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH FAITH, LIKE ABRAHAM.
By faith Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees; Heb. 11:8 “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
By faith Abraham journeyed to Canaan; Heb. 11:9 “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;”
By faith Abraham offered Isaac; Heb. 11:17 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,”
Challenge #5:
VI. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH DECISIONS, LIKE MOSES
Moses chose against being Pharaohs’ daughters’ son; Heb. 11:24 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,”
Moses chose against sin; Heb. 11:25 “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,”
Moses chose against Egypt’s treasures; Heb. 11:26 “esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”
Challenge #6:
VII. FATHERS SHOULD INFLUENCE WITH A VISION, LIKE NOAH
Noah’s vision was of a perishing world; Gen. 6:13 “And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
Noah’s vision was of a way of escape; Heb. 11:7 “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
Noah’s vision brought him safety; Gen. 8:16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”
Challenge #7:
Challenge:
Saved: I’d like to encourage you, challenge you to
Unsaved: Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
Closing Song: