Fathers Day 25

Theme is God’s overflowing, self-giving love. Isa 7. Matt 1:22-23, Romans 5:8

Good morning, Church, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures today, and please let us remember those Fathers and father figures who have I passed on as well, we are thankful for how they helped in the shaping of our lives.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to be with you all this morning, Dallas tries to foster a really good team building and leadership building dynamic and I am truly grateful for the chance to learn under him.

So when Dallas said hey man your up for June 15th, I thought great, going to be a great opportunity to grow and develop!  But then when we looked at the phone together, pulling up the Calander, an absolute look of dread fell across his face. He realized that He had just made the second largest mistake… not only did he ask me to share with you all this morning, but He missed that little fact of it being fathers day.  See several years ago… I was allowed the opportunity to lead worship and open the service on a fathers day… and so like any good day- I started out with some really solid Dad Jokes… well after being booed off stage… well you get the point. So now we are here again. And I have been asked to not do that again… mainly by my wife and best of friends. Something about it being too embarrassing for them… IDK…. All I know is after that my wife and friends kept giving me hugs… something about being counseled to just embrace their mistakes…

Its Fathers Day, so naturally we will be talking about war, good guys and bad guys, we will be talking about a hero… and I will try and even slide in a few terrible dad jokes… that I promise wont even be punny.

I promise I don’t always tell Dad Jokes, sometimes I tell other people as well.

PRAY

Immanuel, God with us, is God’s ultimate “I love you more”

Isa 7, God promises a sign, to show His presence with His people. His presence is His love in action, He doesn’t remain distant, but leans in, saying, “I love you more”

“I love you, I love you more”- How can we know that, How can we believe that?

It would be my hope for us today to start out in Isaiah 7 yes we will be in the Old Testament, but we will not end there. Isaiah 7 contains one of the great prophecies that I believe has significant impact in the New Testament as well as our lives today but I also think it is somewhere where we can find God saying I love you more.

READ Isaiah 7:10-14

The context for Isaiah Chapter 7 is they are heading into the the Syro-Ephramite War. Now the king of Judah at the time is Ahaz, who was new king in his position taking over from his father Jotham. Remember Ahaz is said to be unlike his father, not doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Alright so not a great guy, involved in all kinds of the things that God had driven out before the Israelites in the past, idol worship, human sacrifice… so not great guy. For the past 10 years Assyria under Tiglath-Pileser III has been expanding the Assyrian empire westward.  Judah is important in this as Assyria has been expanding West, gobbling up smaller countries, which is putting pressure on Syria and Israel and Judah. So because of this the kings of Syria and Israel, Rezin and Pekah have been working together to attempt to hold off Assyria.  They recognize Judah as a benefit to their withhold of Assyria. They came together and sought to add Judah to their coalition, but Ahaz refused. So of course… they chose to invade Judah and try and replace him with someone who will be on their team…but they could not totally overpower him- WHY because despite Ahaz, because remember He is in the line of the house of David, God is going to protect them… So Ahaz sends messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria- submitting himself as servant and vassal to him- requesting Him to come and save Himself from Syria and Israel… He even takes the silver and gold from the Lords temple and the treasures from the royal palace sending it as a gift to entice him- remember think bad dude, making bad decisions…. If you are interested in the rest of his bad decisions, let me refer you to 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles.

Enter Isaiah- “Good guy” the prophet onto the scene… Isaiah, whose name means “the Lord Saves” with his son, Shear-Jashub, whose name means “a remnant will return”,  The Lord sends this son and father with very significant and impactful names to Ahaz with the message from the Lord, to assure Ahaz and the royal house of David, of God’s protection.  This was the first moment of encouragement to Ahaz from the Lord… The First I love you. Ahaz who as we have described as a not so good guy receives these 2 men, with the significance of their names… The Lord through Isaiah encourages Ahaz not to panic and to rest assured the Lord would stop the invaders in their tracks.  The Lord through Isaiah was encouraging and challenging Ahaz and the house of David- to not panic, but to trust the Lord… That Ahaz must stand firm in the Lord, or in the end they would not stand at all.

Fathers many times have we tried to stand on our own…as men we tend to build and map out solutions based only on what we can see… and well Ill just say it for us all… we sometimes are not right!

The Lord recognizes Ahaz with where He is- just like he see us in our moments, and the Lord extends Him the opportunity to ask for a sign… God offered Ahaz- this not so great dude… think about all we know about him so far… and yet God offers him a BLANK CHECK.. anything he could want. The Lord here is ready to stop at NOTHING, whether in the deepest of depths or the highest of heights for his people—so He hands AHAZ a blank check, God was hoping to share his presence and some confidence with Ahaz, but Ahaz instead he declines.  In the text he somewhat piously declines, but really what He does is demonstrate his unbelief-  with what most scholars believe as because he had already made-up his mind to join forces with Assyria. Ahaz is essentially saying—Hey I know better than you…. I can see it this way… and Im headed that direction, no thanks God.

But God in his love Has a plan…

See what was happening for him was he had an inability to see beyond his current circumstances, he had an inability to not allow fear of the Assyria and the others to control him- he allowed the fear to dominate him and he was not able to see or hear God's offer to him with clarity. He did not want to Risk his kingdom on a God HE could not see!

Are we like Ahaz…or are we willing to risk our kingdom on a God and a promise, that we cannot see?

If God holds the might to create the universe, he assuredly possesses the ability to bring his promises to Judah to fruition, however difficult they might appear from a human vantage point.

There is a child in need of a kidney and this child has been on the transplant list for many months and it seems that there is little good on the horizon… the child's condition continues to decline and despite seeking out donors no success has been had it is at this point in time that the father then goes to the doctor and suggests his own kidney. Knowing and understanding what this could mean for the father he willingly accepts the risk upon his life for the child. The surgeons warned that the surgery itself is serious the recovery is painful and there are significant risk involved but without hesitation the father says you should take mine, when asked why he would go through such cost and suffering the father replies “because my son's life is worth more to me than my own” that is sacrificial love.

So the Lord offers Ahaz and the house of David some sacrificial love… Despite their declined invitation and lack of trust, God insists upon a gift beginning in Isaiah 7:14  as the Lord wanted to show his presence and unfailing love.

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin h will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. j[1]

For Ahaz, He was making decisions based upon what limited view he had. He was putting his hope in Assyria and mans power, not the Lord.  God offered Him a blank check and Ahaz declined, but God in His love- His seeking the betterment of both Ahaz and His chosen people- sent the prophecy of Immanuel, God with us, . This is his I love you more moment. Immanuel was a guarantee of the nations future greatness in the fulfillment of God’s promise.  That God would deliver his people from the hostile nation.

Ahaz lacked trust.

Matthew 8:10- The Lord loves to be trusted, He loves his great faith!

God was offering a promise, which did not correspond to Ahaz’s view of his situation and circumstances.

There are several other examples of those who have been offered signs and promises from God… which made no sense, as they could not see things the way God can. But God provided.

Abraham was to have a son by Sarah and become a great nation… They were old—no way they could see that happening…

Israel has been wondering thru the desert, about to enter the promised land… Moses sends looks out- and finds awful terrain and giant people and fortified cities- This was to be the promised land how could this be the promise?

Zecheriah and Elizabeth will have a child--- THEY WERE Past childbearing age… saying old again felt wrong.

Jesus told His disciples He would rise again on the third day- we know DEAD people STAY DEAD…

A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, named God with us--- And He will save the world from death forever more…

God promises  deliverance that can come by the Lord Himself, the sign of this was the “virgin who shall conceive and bear a son” who will be call Immanual, meaning God with Us.

God calls us to believe in His promise over our earthly circumstances.  He is saying, I see you where you are… in this very moment… I know your struggles, I know you don’t see a way through, but KNOW that I LOVE YOU MORE, I am sending my rescue plan for you.

When you go skydiving, you go through a bunch of training on the ground where they teach you about your equipment, physics, how the parachute works and so forth. Also included in that data is safety information. They provide you the safety data that says in 2023 there were 10 fatalities for the 3.65 million jumps completed. I am not great at math but I can tell you that that is a less than 1% chance of death when jumping out of a perfectly good airplane now alternatively when you compare that to a car there is a much higher risk of injury and death while driving then jumping out of an airplane. So by the time you get up in the air you are full of the knowledge and you understand that there's very little risk that something is going to go very poorly but when that door opens, and fear set in, and all you can think about is what is infront of you… you cant think about the crazy good statitics in that moment… that is what Ahaz was facing, and that’s what we face now.

Knowing that our heavenly Father has a promise and purpose and plan for each of us, despite our ability to see and understand… comes from the confidence we have in Romans 5:8: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This gives us confidence… In our worst, Jesus took the Cross, to bear our sin and suffering. He saw Us, and He still said, I love you… the confidence we have is through Him and His work.

Turn with me to Matthew pick this up as noted in Matthew chapter 1 verses 22 and 23.  Matthew correlates this prophecy from Isaiah 7 and applies this to the birth of Jesus.  The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of greater to come… And Matthew writes of this prophecy finding fulfillment ultimately in Jesus who has come and died for our sins.

Matthew understood the significance Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us—Not that He was to have this for a proper name (like “Jesus”), but that He should come to be known in this character, as God manifested in the flesh, and the living bond of holy and most intimate fellowship between God and men from henceforth and for ever.[2]

Now there is some significant discussion about the prophecy from Isaiah 7 pointing ultimately towards Jesus who sacrificed all for us.  I want to be clear, the Immanuel of Ahaz’s time was most likely Hezekiah his son…Isaiah 7:14  likely has a double fulfillment: a near fulfillment in Hezekiah's time and an ultimate, fulfillment in Jesus. The prophecy served as a sign for Ahaz, but its language also pointed to a future, greater deliverance and the presence of God with his people through Jesus

While Hezekiah's reign showed God's presence, Jesus's incarnation and life as fully God and fully man represent the ultimate realization of God being with humanity.

Worship Team.

I cannot think of a greater way for God to say I love you more than the Father sending Jesus for Us.

“I love you more”- How can we know that, How can we believe that- Because God gave Himself, His very presence, to us a sinful people and We have a savior who has the scars to prove his love.

The I love you more from God is his unfailing love for his people- to love us in and through all circumstances sending his son. God alone confirms his promises not merely in words but in His life, death and resurrection. Making Him the anchor point for trust and faith.

God did not just say I love you more. God came and gave up everything so we could live, Phil 2:7

Illustration of a Father and Son… having a conversation.  The son is spending time with his dad after a long day. The son is dirty, smelly, His hair is a mess, His clothes are dirty… they finish their meal and sitting there the son says I love you dad. The father responds with I love you more… the son thinking it’s a game says it back… but the father responds with compassionate eyes… Son I love you more, I loved the idea of you before you were made, I loved you before you were born, I have seen you grow, fed you when you were hungry, cared for you when you were sick, and prayed for you always… I love you more than you could ever know.  I will love you when you don’t make the best of decisions, I will love you when you wander, and I will love you when you return…. The son responds with a childish response of Ok… because He knows He is loved by the Father.

If you are like me and do not have an earthly father to celebrate with today… know that your heavenly father loves you so very much and wants to know you, to say I love you and to share an ever lasting relationship with him Psalms 2:7

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have become your father. [3]

… If this is you this morning, come find one of the leaders or elders, wed love to talk with you about this…  

Fathers what would it look like for Us to accept the Fathers love today- A father who is willing to meet us in our mess, our brokenness, our ugly… and for us to accept that love from Him.  But let us not stop there. Fathers, let us step into sharing that love with our friends and families.  Consider what it looks like to extend that I love you more, to those around you- that in your fullness from God and the Holy Spirit, you have freely poured this back out to those around… sharing and reflecting the unfailing Love of God.  When some one says I love you today, share some of the I love you more that you have received from God.