EVERLASTING FATHER - PROTECTOR
Notes
Transcript
EVERLASTING FATHER
EVERLASTING FATHER
YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO REPLACE THIS AGAIN!!! FAMOUS LAST WORDS
NOTHING LASTS FOREVER - WE KNOW THIS HOW?
WELL LETS TAKE FOR EXAMPLE WHEN WE BUY THINGS LIKE
CARS
HOUSES
FURNITURE
APPLIANCES
THEY BREAK AND PERISH OVER TIME AND THEN WE HAVE TO START THE CYCLE ALL OVER AGAIN.
EVEN RELATIONSHIPS DON’T LAST - OUR FRIENDS AND PEOPLE WE KNOW CHANGE ALL THE TIME.
WE LOVE TO BE WITH SOMEONE UNTIL THEY NO LONGER AGREE WITH OUR WAY OF THINKING - OR WE REALISE WE NO LONGER HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON.
WE HAVE DIFFERNT GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS THAT TAKE US IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
FRIENDSHIPS DRIFT APART
WORKING PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVE
MARRIAGES BREAK DOWN
WE ALSO KNOW THAT WE ALL WILL DIE ONE DAY.
SO WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?
BUT NOT ALL IS LOST AND THIS IS NOT A DOOMSDAY MESSAGE
ON THE CONTRARY IT IS A MESSAGE OF HOPE
HOW CAN THERE BE HOPE IN WHAT I HAVE JUST SAID?
BECAUSE SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THAT WILL LAST FOREVER - MORE SO THAT WE HAVE A FATHER THAT IS EVERLASTING!!
WHAT!! NEVER
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!
SLIDE EVERLASTING FATHER
NOW I KNOW THAT MANY OF YOU DON’T RESONATE WITH AN EVERLASTING FATHER CONCEPT.
PERHAPS TO TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER WE DO NOT HAVE A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP AROUND OUR EARTHLY FATHERS.
HERE IN ISAIAH WE ARE BEING TOLD THAT THE EVERLASTING FATHER WILL COME AND BE OUR PROTECTOR.
SLIDE PROTECTOR
ONE OF THE BIGGEST SOCIAL ISSUES THAT PLAGUE OUR CULTURE TODAY IS FATHERLESSNESS.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE STATISTICS THAT REVOLVE AROUND FATHERS IN TODAYS WORLD?
*** ACCORDING TO THE CANADIAN research THAT I FOUND IT SHOWS THAT growing up without a father is tied to many negative psychological, social and physical issues.
Children from fatherless families are 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances,
4 times more likely to be raised in poverty,
twice as likely to commit suicide and
9 times more likely to drop out of high school.
70 percent of teen pregnancies occur in a fatherless home and girls are
9 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in a home without a biological father.
Stepfathers and boyfriends pose a much higher risk of sexual predation.
60 percent of accused rapists came from fatherless homes and those raised in fatherless homes are
11 times more likely to engage in violent behavior and
20 times more likely to be incarcerated at some point.
***https://equalitycanada.com/research-fatherlessness/***
JD GREER POINTS OUT TO US THAT THERE ARE TYPICALLY 4 TYPES OF FATHERS THAT WE ENCOUNTER THAT WAS RELATED TO THOSE STATS THAT I READ OUT EARLIER
1. THE NEVER SATISFIED FATHER
2. THE ABSENT FATHER
3. THE EMOTIONALLY DETACHED FATHER
4. THE TICKING TIME BOMB FATHER
AS JD PUTS IT:
We are all deeply influenced by our fathers, for good and for bad. Our relationship, or lack of a relationship, with our fathers influences our view of God, the Everlasting Father.
We often project the hurts and hang-ups we received from our earthly fathers onto God. But, as J.D. taught, we need to flip that perspective. Instead of seeing God as a heavenly version of our earthly fathers, we need to see our earthly fathers—in their faults and in their goodness—as flawed representatives of our Everlasting Father.
NOW DONT GET ME WRONG I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO EXCUSE BAD BEHAVIOUR I AM ASKING YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR LIVES.
IN HIS BOOK THE ART OF FORGIVENESS - LEWES SMEDED REMINDS US TO SEE THE HUMANITY OF THE PERSON WE ARE TO FORGIVE.
THIS PRINCIPAL NEEDS TO BE APPLIED HERE AS WELL.
What is/was your earthly father like?
What kind of relationship did you have with your father as a child? As an adult?
In what ways do you want to be like your earthly father?
What do you wish you could change about your earthly father?
The good news we find in Jesus is that our heavenly Father is far greater than our earthly fathers.
Even the best father is just a shadow of who God is as our Father.
J.D. mentioned a few different types of fathers in the video, each one very unlike our Everlasting Father.
The first type of earthly father J.D. discussed was the
Never Satisfied Dad. This type of father is a task master, a father whose expectations we can never meet. In what ways have you viewed God as a task master?
If you see God as a Never Satisfied Dad, what do you think he sees when he looks at you?
Our Everlasting Father is not holding a list of our failures, shortcomings, and unmet to-dos. To show us an accurate picture, J.D. referenced
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
We might also see God as a
Time-Bomb Dad, slow to show affection and quick anger. If you see God as a Time-Bomb Dad, what do you think God wants from you?
God is not a Time-Bomb Dad, ready to blow up when we don’t meet his expectations. God, your Father, looks for ways to love you. J.D. used
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
You don’t have to fearfully avoid God. He does not follow you with judgment and simmering anger. His eager love should make us want to be with him, rather than hide from him.
The third type of father J.D. talked about was the
Emotionally Distant Dad, the kind of father who was around your whole life, but you never were close to. We were made to feel that he was too busy for us or that we were not a priority in his life. What do you think God’s priorities are?
God loves us so much that he could not stand being separated from us. He sent his Son to die in our place so that we might spend eternity with him. God actively works to be near and known by you.
The final earthly father J.D. taught on was the
Absent Father. This father left us with a life soundtrack of rejection and unimportance. When you think about your own life’s soundtrack, what does it say about you? What does it say when you meet your goals? What does it say when you fail?
Jesus is our Everlasting Father. Jesus did not abandon us when we—his enemies—killed him. Our sin rested on his shoulders and he did not walk away. Even death cannot separate us from him. You are more important to Jesus than you can imagine. What does it mean to you that Jesus is your Everlasting Father?
SLIDE LUKE 15
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
**In the first century, however, a Middle Eastern man never — never — ran. If he were to run, he would have to hitch up his tunic so he would not trip. If he did this, it would show his bare legs. In that culture, it was humiliating and shameful for a man to show his bare legs.
So, here’s the question: If it was shameful for a man to run in that culture, why did the father run when his son returned to him? What motivated him to shame himself? Before we answer that question, we have to understand an important first-century Jewish custom.
📷
Kenneth Bailey, author of The Cross & the Prodigal, explains that if a Jewish son lost his inheritance among Gentiles, and then returned home, the community would perform a ceremony, called the kezazah. They would break a large pot in front of him and yell, “You are now cut off from your people!” The community would totally reject him.
So, why did the father run? He probably ran in order to get to his son before he entered the village. The father runs — and shames himself — in an effort to get to his son before the community gets to him, so that his son does not experience the shame and humiliation of their taunting and rejection. The village would have followed the running father, would have witnessed what took place at the edge of the village between father and son. After this emotional reuniting of the prodigal son with his father, it was clear that their would be no kezazah ceremony; there would be no rejecting this son — despite what he has done. The son had repented and returned to the father. The father had taken the full shame that should have fallen upon his son and clearly shown to the entire community that his son was welcome back home.
**http://magazine.biola.edu/article/10-summer/the-prodigal-sons-father-shouldnt-have-run/**
THE YOUNG MAN WAS SORRY FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE AND THE SCRIPTURES TELL US ABOUT HIS REPENTANCE.
WALT TELLS US THAT REPENTANCE CONJURES UP A NEGATIVE THING IN US YET IT IS A VERY POSITIVE THING.
REPENTANCE CAN BE A PLACE FOR US TO GO, DO AND START SOMETHING. PUT OUR ENERGY INTO FOLLOWING GOD THE FATHER AND OUR OLD WAYS WILL BECOME JUST THAT OLD AND STALE AND NO LONGER RELEVANT.
WHEN WE TURN OUR FACE TOWARDS GOD AND NOT AWAY FROM GOD WE SEE THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS AS OUR EVERLASTING FATHER - OUR PROTECTOR
HE IS LOOKING FOR YOU - HE IS SINGING PRAISES OVER ME AND DELIGHTS IN YOU
HE IS VERY PRESENT AND WHEN HE SEES YOU COMING FROM FAR - HE IS HIKING UP HIS CLOAK AND STARTS RUNNING
HE IS EMOTIONAL HE WEEPS WHEN WE WEEP HE FEELS OUR PAIN -
HE WIPES AWAY OUR TEARS AND OUR FEARS - HE COVERS US WITH CLEAN ROBES AND PUTS SANDLES ON OUR FEET AND A FAMILY RING ON OUR FINGER
THROWS US A PARTY
NOW YOU MAY BE ASKING HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU - I AM NOT A FATHER
BUT YOU DONT HAVE TO BE IN ORDER TO REFLECT THE HEART OF THE FATHER IN YOUR LIFE.
SLIDE
HOW DO YOU REFLECT GOD THE FATHER IN YOUR LIFE?
IS HE AN EVERLASTING FATHER THAT PROTECTS YOU?
JESUS CAME TO TAKE OUR SIN ON HIS SHOULDERS - TO DIE ON THE CROSS REGARDLESS OF WETHER YOU BELEIVE OR NOT.
OUR FINITE MINDS CANNOT BEGIN TO FATHOM THE “EVERLASTING” PART OF GOD
EMMANUEL - GOD WITH US
WONDERFUL COUNCELOR - LISTEN FOR GOD TO HEAR HIS VOICE
EVERLASTING FATHER - HE WILL NEVER LEAVE NOR FORSAKE YOU.
“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.
IS A VERSE WE ALL HAVE HEARD BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT IS THE NEXT VERSE
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
TODAY AS YOU STAND BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD AND REFLECT THIS QUESTION
GO - TOWARD OUR EVERLASTING FATHER
DO - TURN TO THE WORD OF GOD FOR GUIDANCE AND COMFORT - ISAIAH 61:1-3
START - REFLECTING WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE - A FRUIT BEARING, LOVING CARING - YOU GET THE PICTURE.
PRAYER -
Everlasting Father, the name above all names, we are here before the throne of grace.
We thank you Lord for your precious love and mercies. You have always been our God in all circumstances . You have never said NO to our cries.
For making us your children through faith and for your steadfast love and abiding faithfulness, we thank you, Lord Jesus. We pray in your name.
This morning dear father we adore your name. Your mercies endure forever oh Lord. We praise you Lord and we worship you.
We desire to be faithful to your word this day. We desire to keep holy like you are Jesus. We thank you because we know your grace is sufficient.
As we come to your throne of mercy, our ways are not clean.
We thank you for making us whole again. We thank you for your tender mercies dear Lord. Renew our spirit this day, and let our hearts be with joy and adoration. We love you Jesus, we worship you.
Make this Sunday count in our lives dear God. With it are numerous challenges dear God. Heavenly father, we are strong because you are. Help us go through it.
Father, give us this day our daily bread. Just like you will to them that don't have something for their stomachs. We love you God, we adore you our King.
May your protection be upon our country this day. Let your Holy Spirit cover us with the blood of Christ .