Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov.27, 2014

Text: "Father's Day Gift"

In the name of Jesus, dear Christian friends.

According to Lifeway research Mother’s Day is on of the top three days people will most likely attend church throughout the year—it’s right upFather’s there just behind Christmas and Easter.

We had a good crowd here Mother’s Day.

Past worship stats here at St Paul bear out this out, too.

Which made me wonder: Should I do a "Father's Day" sermon or not?!

Doing a Father’s Day sermon today, knowing that there would be dads here.

Of course, one day does not a father make, but as important as fatherhood is for families, I can't imagine not somehow encouraging dads, today, whether you're right here today, or listening later online, because families need good dads…they get hurt and broke and fall apart without them...I know more and more these days it's not politically correct to say that.

Feminism and things like the #MeToo movement tell us men aren't needed, or that men are the problem.

"Patriarchy," that is, "fatherhood," is demeaned.

Of course, one day does not a father make, but as important as fatherhood is for families, I can't imagine not somehow encouraging dads, today, whether you're listening right here today, or later in the week on our church app, because without good dads, families are hurt, families are not served well, and families get broke and fall apart.

I know more and more these days it's not politically correct to say that.

Feminism and things like the #MeToo movement is that men aren't needed, or that men are the problem.

"Patriarchy," that is, "fatherhood," is demeaned.

So, dads out there (wherever you are) here's my "Father's Day Gift" to you: let’s go into scripture today to get a glimpse of what your Heavenly Father is like and see what that means—that’s good for all of us here today—all God's children need this—Let’s go to God’s Word today to see how God got the name "Father," and let’s thank and praise him for his gift.

right away

First, why do we call God our Father?

You might think of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.

We think of our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who so loved us that he gave us his one and only Son to save us.

That means that any Christian father can run to his heavenly Father and find a loving God.

First, why do we call God our “Father?”

We think of the Lord’s Prayer right away and how Jesus taught us to pray that way.

“Our Father, who art in heaven.”

tells us more about how the Father gets his name.

God the Father is the Father of Jesus.

John says God the Father “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” to save us.

By faith in him earthly fathers can run to their heavenly Father and find a loving God.

Let’s go to God’s Word to see how God got the name "Father," and let’s thank and praise him for his gift.

Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.

We think of our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who so loved us that he gave us his one and only Son to save us.

That means that any Christian father can run to his heavenly Father and find a loving God.

So God is our Father not in just some metaphorical sense or a symbolic way.

He is the source of all fatherhood because he's our Maker and Creator--from everlasting to everlasting he’s God.

He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son from all eternity--so again, we're not just talking about something metaphorical here.

The Father is God.

God the Son is God.

which together is the foundation then for all fatherhood.

So again,

John speaks of Jesus as the “one and only Son”—I like the old KJV better: “only begotten Son.” Begotten carries the idea of the Son, not just as unique (“one and only”) but that he is eternally begotten of the Father as we confess in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds.

We sang about this in where God the Father says, () “You are my son; today I have become your father.”

This begetting of the Son by the Father is from eternity.

The “today” of is an eternal today—both the Father and Son are uncreated—neither have a beginning or end—that the Son is begotten of the Father shows the Father and Son are distinct persons of the Trinity.

we're not just talking about something metaphorical here, or just a symbol.

We have a real heavenly Father who we call God the Father.

Earthly fathers want to know about fatherhood start here, with an understanding of why we call God, "our Father."

and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son from all eternity--so again, we're not just talking about something metaphorical here.

The Father is a Personal God who is the Father of Jesus, and by faith in him, our Father in heaven.

Earthly fathers want to know about fatherhood start here, with an understanding of why we call God, "Father"

All this is very “doctrinal” so far, I know.

What I’m trying to show is that God is our Father only by faith in his Son.

Take Jesus the Son out of things and you don't have a loving Father anymore.

Apart from Christ, God is one mean, cruel god...no mercy...no grace…the only way God can capture our hearts is through the message of his grace through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Facing God without Jesus isn't good.

We sang about this in where God the Father says, () “You are my son; today I have become your father.”

This begetting of the Son by the Father is from eternity.

The “today” of is an eternal today—both the Father and Son are uncreated—neither have a beginning or end—that the Son is begotten of the Father shows the Father and Son are distinct persons of the Trinity.

Take Christ out of things and you don't have a loving Father anymore.

All you're left with is just a powerful Creator-God.

Facing God without Jesus isn't good.

Take Christ out of things and you don't have a loving Father anymore.

All you're left with is just a powerful Creator-God.

Facing God without Jesus isn't good.

Facing God without Jesus isn't good.

All you're left with is just a powerful Creator-God who punishes the sinner.

Now, does that mean that God is "male" in the sense that human fathers are male?

No. Maleness & femaleness is something God created, but he himself is uncreated (As we confess in the Athanasian Creed).

Jesus said that God is Spirit and we must worship him in spirit and in truth () So you don't assign a sex to God—He is spirit—but at the same time scripture refers to him in concrete terms as the Father—he’s a personal God who does things for us and relates to us as our Father—that’s the biblical term Jesus and the Bible uses to say who he is—so the Father is God, and so is his Son, Jesus Christ.

John speaks of Jesus in our verse as the only begotten Son.

We sang about this in where God the Father says, () “You are my son; today I have become your father.”

This begetting of the Son by the Father is from eternity.

The “today” of is an eternal today—both the Father and Son are uncreated—neither have a beginning or end—that the Son is begotten of the Father shows the Father and Son are distinct persons of the Trinity.

Take Christ out of things and you don't have a loving Father anymore.

All you're left with is just a powerful Creator-God.

Facing God without Jesus isn't good.

Jesus said, () "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

Want to be a good earthly father?

Then you need to know your heavenly Father.

How do you get to know your heavenly Father?

Through the Son.

Jesus even said, () "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

Only by the Gospel do we rightly understand the Father.

By faith in Jesus we get the same Father as Jesus.

By faith in Jesus we are forgiven and we get the same Father as Jesus.

Martin Luther sums up things this way when he was explaining that first part of the Lord’s Prayer where we say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”

He said: “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father.”

By faith in Jesus we are forgiven and we get the same Father as Jesus.

But by faith in Jesus we are forgiven and we get the same Father as Jesus.

Again, it’s only through Jesus, the Son that we know God as the Father.

() "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

Want to be a good earthly father?

Then you need to know your heavenly Father.

How do you get to know your heavenly Father?

Through the Son.

Jesus even said, () "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

Father--in fact he is the source of all fatherhood because he's our Maker and Creator--from everlasting to everlasting--he's the Father who begets the Son from all eternity—so again, we're not just talking about something metaphorical here, or just a symbol.

We have a real heavenly Father who we call God the Father, who is also the Father of Jesus.

Earthly fathers want to know about fatherhood start here, with an understanding of why we call God, "Father"

With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father.

It’s only through Jesus, the Son that we know anything sure about God the Father.