God The Father
Notes
Transcript
Me
Me
embarassing picture
Personal Story
Culture today- Father is absent or a fool, only caring when its beneficual to them.
We
We
When we look at Greek Mythology and even modern history, there is pattern that some Fathers seem to be silent. Distant, if you will
Maybe for you here tonight, your father ay be emtonall unavailbel, maybe you don’t even know your father, maybe you have a grt realtionship wiht you father. BUt at the endof the day, here’s the thing, it’s human nature to realte our realtionhip with our father to our relationhip withGod. For some of us, here it’s incredibly difficult to even think that God is our Father.
For some of us, it may even feel that our fathers forget us and they don’t really care about what we are going through. It seems as though they have tunred away from us and focus on “better” things.
God
God
King David, a increbible figure in the history of Israel in in Christianity, wrote a song that describes a particular moment in his life when he felt abondoned and where he felt that God didn’t really care about him.
O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.
Ever been there? Ever asked, “God, where are you?”
If you really loved me, you would do this.
Broken and low, the psalmist begins to sing. He moves from confusion to confidence, from pain to praise. Through his tears, he catches a glimpse of God. Despite his turmoil, he chooses to trust. Despite the observable evidence, and contrary to his human feelings, he turns to God. Rather than having moments and feelings dictate his attitude towards God, the psalmist chooses to place his trust in God’s unchanging character and commitment to his people.
“ the psalmist takes the full weight of the problem to God”
“From a heart torn by anguish, he remembers God’s unchanging character and commitment”
“In the deafening silence, he hears the heartbeat of a loving father” And this is where we are going to focus in on tonight
The same guy who wrote that Psalm write this, In
Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!
Such a contrast, but it gives us a clear view into how David viewed God.
A loving Father that he could always turn to in times of trouble.
A refuge of love.
A Father who desires for us to be real with him, to bring our emotions, our mess, our failure to him.
Bob Goff writes this, “a lot of people make God out to be an angry Dad. I used to think God’s expectation was perfection and that anything less made me a dissapointment. No matter how hard I tried, I never belived I made God proud. But over the years I’ve come to realize God is far more like the proud parent who celbrates the steps rather than one who fixates on the stumbles”
God isn’t sitting there just wating for you to make a msitake, ready to attack you if you screw up.
Rather, like a parent running to a fallen child, God runs in and picks us up, scoops us into his arms, remidning us that He loves us still.
You see, God is nothing like your father- transition to story of Jason
You
You
As a kid, I was under the idea that I had to earn my biological Father’s love. That if I screwed up, then that was it. That I was only worth his time if he wanted me. I felt that my worth was determined by his attetnion.
Have you ever seen a baby take thier first steps? Their legs are shaky, thier head seems to heavy so they kind of sway. But in a split second that seems like an eternity, they move their foot and then their other foot. The parents are freaking out right? Crying and recoding this incebible moment, cheering the baby one.
But as soon as the baby falls, iwhat do the paents do? Are they like, , “Well you should be better, talk to us when you can actually walk”
NO! Thats not what they do. The parents are so proud of their child, they are sitting their with tbeir arms strecthed out , ecnouringhteh child to continue.
That’s how I view God, as as we take our steps through life, he isn’t surpeised when we stumble, nor is he filled with rage if he fall, He rushed towards us and lifts us up off the floor.
He teaches us how not to fall again, guides us as we learn to take steps through life.
This is the loving Father who is proud of who you are. Who desires your heart, your love, your affection, more theen perfection, more than some religious ceremony.
God is a father who has unfailing love for you, something you can’t earn, or you deserve.
We
We
Maybe for you tonight, the idea of God being a father to you is brand new. I hope you know this, that you are loved more than you can ever imagine by a father who calls you his own. He doesn’t call yu by your msitakes or your sin, rather he calls you loved.
This is Father God, a refuge of love.
Freinds can we pray and then we are going off to small groups.