Father's Day
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Good morning and Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers.
A young boy once said that Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day only you don’t spend as much on the gift. Most men… what gift?
Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years."
The World According to Dad
This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me.
This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me.
Quiet, I am watching the ball game.
Quiet, I am watching the ball game.
Don’t forget to check the oil.
Don’t forget to check the oil.
Bring me all the change.
Bring me all the change.
How should I know, ask your mother.
How should I know, ask your mother.
Do I look like I’m made out of money?
Do I look like I’m made out of money?
When I was your age, I walked to school … and it was uphill both ways…
When I was your age, I walked to school … and it was uphill both ways…
You are going, and you will have fun.
You are going, and you will have fun.
Who pays the bills around here anyway?
Who pays the bills around here anyway?
If you break your leg, don’t come running home to me.
If you break your leg, don’t come running home to me.
If you get arrested, call your grand mother.
If you get arrested, call your grand mother.
You better get that room cleaned up before your mother sees it.
You better get that room cleaned up before your mother sees it.
I hope that you have kids just like you.
I hope that you have kids just like you.
I was not asleep, I was resting my eyes.
I was not asleep, I was resting my eyes.
Someone once said, parents spend the first part of a child’s life urging them not talk and walk, and the rest of his childhood telling him to sit down and be quiet.
One father said to his teenage son, do you mind if i use your car tonight. I am taking your mother out and want to impress her.
One father received a letter from his son saying he wanted to hear from him more often, even if it was only with 10’s and 20’s.
Being a man in our day in our culture is not an easy task. It’s even more difficult it you try to be a godly man in the middle of our increasingly godless culture. Culture pushes you to conform and go with the flow but the reality is that most of us want to make a difference. We dream of being the hero in some of our favorite movies.
Does anyone remember “Taken”?
All the dads said yes. We all can see ourself flying off and killing hundreds of human traffickers to get our child back… right? We all want to be the hero. We want to be successful in our careers… our families… our hobbies and in our communities.
Being the dad in Taken may not be possible but it is possible for each one of us to be a godly man or woman. But becoming a godly person doesn’t happen by accident.
Godly man story… daddy, Jon, Buford,
Today, as we think about the godly men in our lives, I want to look back to Numbers to learn more about some biblical qualities found in a man of God or a woman of God.
The Lord now said to Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”
See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?
Moses decided what they needed to know to enter the Promised Land and he took the steps needed to find it out.
When you are making a decisions or assuming new responsibilities, ask yourself what you need to know about the opportunity, then obtain that knowledge.
Using common sense and listening to others is beneficial in the process.
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.
Moses went and got the information he needed. He sent out the scouts and then they gave their report.
to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”
By this time in Jewish history, God had used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He had led them through the Red Sea and then closed it behind them to destroy the army following them. Moses had led them to Mt. Sinai, where God gave them the 10 Commandments, and now, Moses had led them to the Jordan River. On the other side of the river was their new home, the promised land.
They had dreamed about this moment for centuries as they worked as slaves in Egypt. But before God allowed them to enter the land, He told Moses to have 12 men, leaders of the 12 tribes, go into the Promised Land as spies and bring back a report. The spies checked out the land for 40 days. When they came back, 10 of them said the land was filled with giants, and they reported that there was no way they could beat them. But 2 of the men, Joshua and Caleb, shared a different story. They told the people to trust God and that God would be faithful to deliver them into the land He had promised.
Now, at this moment in the story, the people of God have a choice to make. Caleb and Joshua have delivered an honest report with a faith-filled response to the potential dangers. They could have simply fallen in with the rest of the spies, but instead, they chose to stand firm and to be bold.
What inspired these two men? And what can we learn from them? What makes the difference in the life of a man of God?
Characteristics of Godly Men
Characteristics of Godly Men
1. Godly men have something other’s do not have… the Holy Spirit
1. Godly men have something other’s do not have… the Holy Spirit
Godly men have a different attitude than others because we have the Holy Spirit in us.
But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.
Caleb was different because he had a different spirit in him. He had the Spirit of God in him.
Have you ever noticed how some people complain about every setback and difficulty that comes along while others seem to take in stride and get on with life?
Have you noticed how some folks work and try to get ahead while others are always looking for an easier way or a shortcut to success?
What makes the difference?
It’s what’s inside that makes the difference.
It’s what’s inside that makes the difference.
Take 2 balloons. One is filled with water. It will just sit on the ground. The other is filled with helium. It will pull on the cords holding it down striving to rise up to new heights. The difference is what’s on the inside.
It’s the same with us. The thing that makes the difference between a man living for the Lord and one content what this world has to offer… is what’s inside… what spirit is inside him?
In order to be a man of God or a woman of God, you have to have God’s Spirit living in you. That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus that you have to be “born again” and why Paul told us to “be filled with the Spirit.”
As long as you try to live life on your own, without Jesus, you will never be all you could be… never achieve what you could have achieved… never stand where you could have stood because the Holy Spirit is the difference maker in our lives.
Let me ask you today. Do you have the Holy Spirit living you? Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit?
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
When you committed to follow Jesus, you were born again which means that Jesus, in the form of the Holy Spirit came to live in you. But there is more…
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
A man of God has a godly attitude and thinks, speaks and acts differently than men who don’t because the Spirit of God is living in us.
Men, that means we don’t tell or laugh at off color jokes … it means we don’t make lewd comments to women when we see them or use old bar room pick lines thinking we are complimenting them … it means we treat people differently.
So write this down…
2. Godly Men act differently than others
2. Godly Men act differently than others
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
IOW,
We act differently because we follow the Lord wholeheartedly.
We act differently because we follow the Lord wholeheartedly.
As you become a man of God, you must learn to follow the Lord completely. There was no hypocrisy in Caleb. He was not just willing to follow the Lord with things were easy while he was in church and everyone believed just like he did. He followed the Lord when no one else did and when it might well have gotten him killed.
Because we follow the Lord, we are willing to do whatever the Lord asks us to do.
Because we follow the Lord, we are willing to do whatever the Lord asks us to do.
Whatever the Lord asked Caleb to do, he was willing. When the spies were returning from Canaan, Caleb wasn’t too proud to carry a bunch of grapes. He didn’t think manual labor was beneath him. No! He put his shoulder to the job at hand, and let me tell you, Christian men, if you are too important to do some lowly job for Jesus, if you are too good to serve in some position, then you might just be too good for God to use.
Look at Luke 16:10
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Caleb was faithful with what he had and God rewarded him with more.
If you’re only interested in positions with titles, let me remind you that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. A man of God follows the Lord completely.
As we follow the Lord, we follow the Lord cheerfully.
As we follow the Lord, we follow the Lord cheerfully.
Caleb followed the Lord cheerfully, and in becoming a man of God you must learn to follow the Lord cheerfully. It amazes me, the number of people in our churches today who act like, or at least look like, they’ve lost their last friend.
Did you know some people pout when they put their tithes on the plate? while others are joyful in their giving?
It breaks my heart when I see people working in the church who act like it is an obligation or a chore they have to do.
If you are serving out of obligation and guilt, stop. God doesn’t need slaves to serve Him. He is the Lord of love and He wants men, women and children to serve him cheerfully because they love him and are grateful for all he has done and is doing and will do in their lives. Jesus said he would build his church and he can do it without the complainers money or time.
On the other hand, if you want to be a man of God, then learn to serve cheerfully. Practice having a heart of gratitude and contentment for all that God has given you.
Being a man of God means that you act differently than others do. You follow the Lord completely, you follow the Lord cheerfully, and you follow the Lord constantly.
We follow the Lord consistently.
We follow the Lord consistently.
“Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.
Caleb followed the Lord consistently, and in becoming a man of God you must learn to follow the Lord consistently. From the day Caleb first began following the Lord until his death, he followed the Lord consistently… 45 years after he had first gone as a spy, Caleb was still following the Lord.
In all those years, he never once joined the complainers, and he never quit asking what God wanted him to do. He didn’t go around complaining that Moses didn’t listen to him…
At age 85, you don’t find Caleb sitting in a rocking chair, watching the world go by and talking about the good ol’ days.
No, he was still working in God’s kingdom, looking forward to the next challenge. Men of God act differently because they follow the Lord consistently.
We follow the Lord faithfully.
We follow the Lord faithfully.
Caleb followed the Lord faithfully, and in becoming a man of God you must learn to follow the Lord faithfully.
Now when I say faithfully, I also mean that he followed God with faith.
We walk in faith as we follow the Lord.
We walk in faith as we follow the Lord.
When Caleb and the other spies returned from the Promised Land and gave their reports, the others talked of giants and walled cities. They wanted to return to Egypt and the things they were missing out on by following God. Not Caleb. When he looked back, he remembered the chains and bondage of Egypt and the miracles of God, and he had faith. He said, “If God could pull us through those difficulties, if He worked in the past, then He will continue to do so now.” Caleb had faith.
Men, if you want to be used by God, you must follow with faith. When difficulties arise, when finances a tight, when sickness strikes your home, when trouble comes, when opportunities arise, you need to speak up, remembering how God has provided and protected in the past and reminding others that the God we serve is not some wimpy little pretend God we give lip-service to, but that He is the Faithful, Almighty, Miracle-working, loving God. In difficulties, a man of God has faith and that makes him act differently than other people. Kathy’s uncle… But we know what God can do…
A man of God has godly attitude. A man of God acts differently than other people, and a man of God enjoys rewards that others miss.
III. A Godly man enjoys rewards others miss.
III. A Godly man enjoys rewards others miss.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
As I think about the rewards for being faithful some of them are these…
The first reward you will enjoy as you give your life to God is that your life will be saved.
The first reward you will enjoy as you give your life to God is that your life will be saved.
The verses we just read tell us that the 10 who rebelled against God died, but Joshua and Caleb lived. When you give your life to Christ, you become a new creation. You are “saved.”
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
The second reward you receive is that You will be honored.
The second reward you receive is that You will be honored.
Not only will God save your life, but He will also bring you honor.
In the beginning, people made fun of Caleb. They wanted to stone him and Joshua. He had no respect and no honor.
By the time the Israelites got to the banks of the Jordan River again, all the older men were dead except Joshua and Caleb. Their carcasses littered the wilderness. Now, however, Joshua and Caleb were held in high honor at the council meetings.
I imagine they asked him, again and again, to tell them about the miracles God did in Egypt. He was honored among men, for they saw that he was different. They saw that he was God’s man.
The third reward you receive is that You will be remembered.
The third reward you receive is that You will be remembered.
Because of the life Caleb lived, he was put on the most difficult jobs. If there was a task no one else could handle, it was given to Caleb.
There were 3 huge warriors in Mt. Hebron. No one would try to kill them, no one would even face them but Caleb.
Those giants with 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot needed to be driven out so God’s people could possess the land. Who would do it? I know, let’s get Caleb.
Caleb faced the giants and defeated them, so the land was safe for God’s children. We need to be like Caleb and face our giants.
What giants are you facing? addiction? resentment? Pornography? financial distress? meanness? health scare?
Listen,
As you walk with God, you will be given difficult tasks.
As you walk with God, you will be given difficult tasks.
You will be given difficult jobs. In John 16:33 Jesus warns us,
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
So we know the difficulties are coming. But as you walk through life in faith, trusting God through every trial and season, you will be rewarded.
As you walk with God, You will leave an inheritance for your children.
As you walk with God, You will leave an inheritance for your children.
I believe men of God want to leave a godly inheritance for their children.
What did Caleb leave his children? He left them the blessing of a nation who knew the Lord. He left them the example of a godly father and grandfather. Caleb was faithful, bold, courageous, and determined.
Caleb was a man of God worth imitating and modeling our lives after. Just as the Apostle Paul said in 1 CO 11:1
And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
Conclusion
Men, the Lord has issued the call for godly men. He is looking for men who will take up the cross and follow Him. He is looking for men who will walk with Him consistently, who will take a stand for right, and who will invest their lives in something that will last for generations to come. He’s looking for Godly leaders willing to lead others. He is looking for those who’re willing to become Godly men.
Are you that kind of man? Is something stirring in you today that you haven’t felt in a while, maybe ever? Is today the day you answer the call?
If anything I’ve said today has resonated with you, please take some time to think and pray about it. Take some time this week to consider the life you’ve been living and honestly ask yourself, “Is this the life God has called me to? Is this the legacy I want to leave behind?”
And if you’re struggling, please let us know. Please ask for help, prayer, and fellowship. Moses didn’t send the spies into the promised land alone, he sent them together. Jesus didn’t send the disciples out alone, he sent them in pairs. We are a spiritual house, being built by living stones, one on another and none of us can thrive alone.
Altar time -
Salvation -
If the answer to “Is this the life God has called me to? Is this the legacy I want to leave behind?” is no, are you ready to make a change? Raise hands…