Father's Day04
Father’s Day 04
Missions team presented?
Intro
Last week Pastor Garrison talked about faith…
Mentioned challenge to the men, women asked if they needed to come…I need someone to “Amen” me today!
Best Years Ahead not Behind
“The Best Year’s of my life…”
Old Bryan Adam’s song from the 80’s
What was cool then is now retro! Not Right!
My era was the 80’s
Music is now “retro”
Clothing styles coming back
I’ve seen a few kids lately wearing their collars up…Why do the worst things always have to come back??
The child stars are all now adults with issues!
Nostalgia - danger
Care free days. Just hanging with friends chasing girls, etc.
Another trick of the enemy. Always makes you remember things wrong. Just like the B.C. life.
You don’t remember all the confusion, the awkwardness, the drama, and all the frustration of being a teenager.
Mid-Life crisis!
What is a mid life crisis? It is coming to the conclusion that your best years are behind you and trying to recapture them.
Everyone spends so much time looking back.
Looking either to school days or college days. Thinking about what was or what has been lost.
Where are the dreamers who will look ahead and say “the best days are yet to be lived!”???
Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT) "No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."
No Fear
I think that our men have become crippled by fear. Fear of failure, fear of offending, fear of losing what is precious to us.
But must remember that fear is a starting point…it is a beginning, the point to move forward.
Courage doesn’t exist until Fear is experienced
Fear of Failure – live in a do or die society. Everything is performance based. Despite what the will of God may be, many times we take the safest road possible because we don’t want to fail.
Fear of Offending – These days we need permission to be men. The aggressive behavior that is in boys is constantly being shut down from the time of childhood. Leaving men frustrated and confused causing them to vent in unhealthy and damaging ways. Behave, temperament, fruits of the spirit. Can have all those things. Many young men are confused today
Fear of losing what is precious -
Men are strange beasts…we will often make the thing we don’t want to happen come about because we don’t want to risk it happening on it’s own! If we fear losing the ones we love or getting hurt we will push them away and close ourselves off, which causes the same thing. And when that happens we stand with our arms crossed and say “see! I told you.”
Since becoming a Father I have experienced fear like never before. I never cared what happened to me before, but now that I have children….
Will I be able to provide for them? What about college? Will they have good clothes to wear?
What about my White Water Rafting trips…and jumping off the cliff? What about the Philippines trip…
I thank God that I don’t have to live with fear. I will experience fear, but I will not live with it! He holds my life and lives of my family in the palm of His hand.
“Real World” Faith
The only way to truly conquer fear is with faith is Jesus Christ.
Belief is that God can, Faith is that God will.
Faith takes the promises in the Word and makes them yours, not everyones.
Do you know that there are a whole bunch of people who believe all the right things, but are going straight to Hell. Satan believes all the right things…he knows, but doesn’t follow.
Faith is belief in action with trust in the unseen.
This idea that faith in God is fine, but this is the REAL world is absolutely ridiculous.
If God cared enough about you to take on flesh as a baby, come to earth, live and die for you…do you really think He doesn’t care enough about you to provide for you, and those who are relying on you???
Life is not meant simply as a struggle to get by. Even in the toughest of times we can be confident that we serve a God who’s heart’s desire is to bless and prosper us.
Our poorest people still have more than ¾ of the world’s population…and we always find stuff to complain about.
When we don’t have stuff we complain…when we get it we get stingy and fear losing it.
I wonder what would happen if people got it in their hearts to take God at His Word and truly step out in faith…sink or swim! Oh the Glory!
To live life with the faith of a child towards God and step out and declare “I can do this, cuz Dad said so!”
Our Legacy
Character comes from 2 places…God and parents.
What type of character are we instilling in our children by example?
Morality without God?
Belief without faith?
Parents are the single most important influencing factor in children’s lives. What will your legacy be?
God has not called you to live a boring life. Some view their lives as over because they have kids and they want to put the kids first. This is good in theory. But what your kids need most is not one more activity or one more team to join…they need to see dad living by faith and going after Jesus.
What kind of picture are we painting? “Life is over when you turn my age”
Not saying live irresponsibly…in fact I am saying take on more responsibility. Not saying become some day dreamer that runs after a new idea every 6 months dragging your family behind you.
Summary
I will continue to make the wisest choices I can, but there are two extremes I want to stay away from…
I don’t want my son to be irresponsible and reckless thinking only of the moment or himself.
I don’t want my son to live never risking anything.
Find your purpose. Your job is not your purpose! Your family isn’t even your purpose! Your wife is not your purpose.
A woman doesn’t want to be your world…she wants to join you on an exciting journey
“Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.”
Faith cannot be faith until it is tested.