Father's Day - God As Father
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro: Me -
Recently, the Nashville Songwriter's Association International bestowed their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on singer, songwriter, performer, Willie Nelson. Kris Kistofferson, whose name the award bears, gave the presentation speech. During the speech, Kristofferson said, "Sometimes, I envision who God might be, and he always comes out looking like Willie."
2006 Talladega Nights: Cal Naughton, like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-Shirt because it says I want to be formal, but I'm here to party.
(story of meeting someone that you had misconceptions about)
We -
“What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A.W. Tozer
You will never move beyond your misconceptions of God. Our misconceptions of God will affect every area of our life.
we will worry - needlessly
feel guilty - when we shouldn’t
carry unnecessary fears & burdens
Misconceptions of God are the greatest roadblock on the path to moving into a more dynamic relationship with God.
God -
Jesus - came to explode misconceptions and stereotypes. God is not… force, tyrant, apathetic.
9 Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
Jesus defines God in two words - HEAVENLY FATHER. God wants us to think of Him as Father!
Radical idea! OT 7x Jesus mentions God as Father over 150 x. This is Good News because we can relate to a Father not a Force.
Bad News - “Father” is a negative term. Stirs up resentment, anger or fear. “If God is like my father… no thanks, God!” Human fathers - demanding, inconsistent, self-centered, abusive.
That is why Jesus qualified the term. OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. Jesus isn’t giving a location for God He is speaking to the character of God. He is heavenly Father as opposed to earthly father. He’s at a HIGHER PLAIN.
Misconceptions About God
God is unreasonalbe
He wants to make your life miserable. No fun. A killjoy. Who wants to get to know somebody who they feel in their heart of hearts is unreasonable and too demanding.
2. God is unreliable
You are hurt. God, why!?! You’ve never got close to God. Resentment. I can’t trust God.
3. God is unconcerned
God is busy. My job, my kids, my family… God is aloof.
4. God is unpleasable
Report card, No matter how hard you try - never good enough.
Trans: Take all those misconceptions and set them on a shelf. Let’s look at what God says about Himself in the Bible. BTW He is very different than the way He is described by culture. What kind of Father is God?
Caring Father
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord.
O Lord my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.
5 You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You make springs pour water into the ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the Lord are well cared for—
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 High in the mountains live the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
22 At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work,
where they labor until evening.
24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
27 They all depend on you
to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them,
and they are richly satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath, life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
let the wicked disappear forever.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Proverbs 103
Does God care about my problems? Does God care about my hurts? The things I’m going through? The stresses I’m feeling? The worries I’m experiencing? Does God really care about what happens to me? Until you settle that issue, you’re not going to get to know God. If you think He doesn’t care, why get to know Him? Does God care about the details in your life?
The answer is yes!
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Cast some (?) of your anxiety on Him… Cast all the spiritual sounding problems (?) on Him. No, it doesn’t say that. It says, “Cast all [circle that] your anxiety on Him, [that means every kind of anxiety you have – financial, physical, social, spiritual, mental, relational] because He cares for you.”
House Pmt? Grades? Sales? Dating? Health? Moods? YES!!
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
Matthew 6:3
Q: Fathers: Do you want your kids worry about food…? NO! Good fathers take care of their children.
Good fathers take care of their children.
Worry is a sign that you’re doubting God’s care.
Matthew 6:2
ILL: (Stressed out) “My problem: I don’t love God enough” Reality: You don’t realize how much He loves you!
Reality: You don’t realize how much He loves you!
2. Consistent Father
James
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
Earthly fathers are unpredictable and fickle. “I don’t know if my dad is going to be silent or violent.” God is a consistent Father. God doesn’t wake up grouchy. His consistency is independent on my consistency.
13 If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is.
When I’m down HE IS UP / I struggle HE’S VICTORIOUS - He is always CONSISTENT.
In man made religions - Greek gods are fickle. Appease the Gods. Our heavenly father is not like that...
6 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.
In an unstable world you can count on a stable God!
Caring, consistent, competent...
3. Competent Father
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
He can handle any problem you give Him! Nothing is beyond His ability or resources!
Remember when you thought your dad was bigger than life… my dad can beat up your dad! If anything broke you took it to your dad. Knew all things, fix anything, afford everything!
Eventually we learn dad has limited resources ALLOWANCES limited wisdom ADVICE
BUT your heavenly Father really can do anything!
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
What have you been doubting that God can handle?
Conc:
Ill - My dad’s battle with Alzheimers - x caring x consistent x competent. I would catch his eye at church…
My heavenly Father filled and fills every hole in my soul.
Dads, can I give you some advice? Introduce your kids to your heavenly father. Why? Because you are not all sufficient. There will be a day that you will lack the resources to meet everyone of your daughters needs… x care x consistent
My kids are grown! It’s not to late! Apologize to them...
You can’t introduce God to your kids if you don’t know Him.
Question? Is everyone a child of God? Is God everyone’s Father? YES & NO. Every person was created by God BUT not everyone has a relationship with God. (More to being a “father” than just birthing/creating someone)
HOW CAN I BECOME A CHILD OF GOD?
BELIEVE
Two ways to get into the family: by birth & by adoption | Both are terms God uses for salvation
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”
John
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
What are you waiting on? Ask Jesus to be the forgiver of your sins AND the leader of your life!
BOW
One of the greatest needs in your life is to have the acceptance and approval of your father. But truth is - you may never get it from your earthly father.
your father may not be able to get it - due to his own hurts
he may have walked out of your life years ago
your father may have already died
Your father is not sufficient to lead you. BUT your heavenly father is! He has witnessed every single moment of your life. Witnessed every word, every hurt, every fear, every sin, sorrow AND unlike your human father, He has understood you completely.
Today, you can bow to Him. He will never leave you He will lead you. Ask Him to be the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life. Don’t allow an experience with your human father to warp your view of your heavenly father. Would you turn to truth today?
Prayer:
Dear God, I want you to be my Heavenly Father & I want to be your child. So I ask
you to adopt me into your home and I want to be spiritually born into your family. I
want to be apart of your family
ILLUSTRATIONS
A father and son went fishing one day. After a couple hours out in the boat, the boy suddenly became curious about the world around him. He asked his father, “How does this boat float?” The father thought for a moment, then replied, “Don’t rightly know, son.”
The boy returned to his contemplation, then turned back to his father, “How do fish breath underwater?” Once again the father replied, “Don’t rightly know, son.”
A little later the boy asked his father, “Why is the sky blue?” Again, the father replied. “Don’t rightly know, son.”
Worried he was going to annoy his father, he says, “Dad, do you mind my asking you all of these questions?” “Of course not son. If you don’t ask questions, you’ll never learn anything!”
_____________________________
Three young fathers were in the waiting room. The first was told that his wife gave birth to twins. He was amazed and said, “I play ball for the Minnesota Twins.”
Later, the nurse came out and told the second man, “Congratulations, you are the father of triplets.” He said, “That is amazing! I work for 3M.”
The man next to him fainted. When he woke up they asked, “What’s wrong.” He said, “I work for 7Up.”