Fathers Day Sermon - The Father Heart of God
A young father to be was pacing back and forth, wringing his hands in the hospital corridor while his wife was in labor.
He was tied up in knots of fear and anxiety...and beads of perspiration dropping from his brow revealed the agony of his suffering.
Finally, at 4:00 a.m. a nurse popped out of a door and said, "Well, sir, you have a little girl."
He dropped his hands, became limp, and said, "Oh how I thank God its a girl. She'll never have to go through the awful agony I've had to go through tonight."
Fathers. Fathering. The Fathered. The Fatherless. God our Father.
When you spend much time at all in the Bible, pretty quickly you encounter the idea of fatherhood, particularly the Fatherhood of God.
For some that’s a good thing. It opens doors to really understanding who God is and who we are.
For others, it’s something we can trip over and struggle with. Fatherhood as it relates to God is one thing. As it relates to humans, it’s a mixed thing. Some of us have been hurt by our fathers.
Some of our fathers truly failed us - sometimes profoundly. Some of our fathers never figured much out in life, so they were a problem to themselves and, unavoidably, a problem to their children.
For all of us, fatherhood is something that God wants to redeem in our lives. Like every area of human existence, fatherhood needs to be redeemed.
My parents had 4 kids. They meant to have 3, but then there was an ‘Oops!’. I am the ‘Oops!’, I’m proud to say.
I’m proud to say it because human ‘Ooopses’ are God’s on-purposes, God’s “that’s how the person I wanted to be here got heres-ses”. I’m sounding a bit like a Tolkien character. Let’s move on.
Our understanding of the Fatherhood of God needs to be strengthened because, I believe, it is the key to all of our relationships.
Now today we do really want to honour those who have served their families well as fathers.
It is an honourable calling, a difficult calling. It is tough to balance the demands of fatherhood.
Those include, normally, being a good husband, being an attentive parent, working to support the family, along with the mother being a source of emotional strength.
Along with mother, sowing good spiritual seed in your children's lives.
It is not a job for the squeamish. it is not a job for anyone who tends to cut and run when the going gets tough.
But it is an incredibly rewarding thing to do, to be a father. To love your children.
Now there is no such thing as a perfect human father.
But there is a perfect father. He is our father in Heaven. He is the one that Jesus revealed to us as his father.
He is the one that Jesus taught us to refer to as Abba Father. Jesus wants us to draw near. Jesus reveals the heart of the father to us.
And the Heart of our Father in Heaven is truly good. Truly beautiful. That is why many of us so deeply long for others to come to know God through Jesus Christ.
We have personally experienced such extraordinary kindness and goodness from our father in Heaven. We have the indescribable reality of his peace in our lives.
Have you ever tried to describe the peace that God gives you? I've tried so many ways. In songs, and sermons, 1 to 1. It's one of those things that has to be experienced in order to really understand.
And so we long for those who we love, we long for those who we know and truly care for to come to the knowledge of God. And we know that Jesus reveals the heart of God. Jesus reveals the Father heart of God.
And what is that heart like? What is the heart of God? How does God love? How does God love you?
The Bible gives us amazing insights into God's love.
The passage that was just read a few minutes ago by Sharon highlights a number of ways in which God loves us.
Today were going to hear some different voices, some friends of mine who you will know if you attend church at the mission.
Both of these fathers deeply love their children. both of these fathers also love God. and both of these fathers have insights into the character of God.
First we are going to hear about patience.
There other words that are used in English that are synonyms to patience. Long suffering is a good one. that describes patience which endures a lot of waiting, and endures that waiting in pain, longing for the best for one's child.
Here's William sharing a few thoughts on patience.
Thank you William for sharing. I really appreciate it.
Another way that God loves you is in his kindness. That means that God is benevolent toward you. He is well -meaning. Kindhearted, tenderhearted, warm-hearted towards you and me.
That means very clearly the God is no tyrant. God is not angry toward his people.
You know how you feel about those closest to you, assuming that's a healthy relationship?
That is a tiny little expression of the vast kindness and warmth of God.
So here’s the thing: God is kind to us, always. And the way he is kind to us is sometimes cloaked in other people's flesh.
But you have to have eyes to see it. Do you have to have a heart that is open in order to understand it. Have you ever known anyone with a closed heart?
Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who was completely shut down to you? Of course it's not possible. May we have hearts that are open to receive the warm-hearted kindness of God, even if he acts through other people.
Love always protects.
When you get into a car, either by yourself or with your family, do you pray for God's protection? I actually did that constantly when our children were young.
When you're a father, you think about your Children's Welfare. You think about possible threats to their well-being.
You plan for their safety. You are not naive about who to trust with your children. You are very careful. You are not naïve about the human heart’s capacity for evil.
In the Bible, David, who was just like you and me except that he got called a king, said this in Psalm 23: “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”
Knowing that God protects us helps us to not fear. Knowing the God who protects us personally and intimately helps us to live in Freedom. love always protects. God always protects.
Does that mean that sometimes bad things will not happen? Of course not. Life is full of unpredictable and sometimes very unpleasant experiences.
We have to use our brains, and we dare not blame God if we run into trouble because of something stupid that we do.
But it is fair and true to say that we live under God's Divine protection. Do you believe that? You are protected. So live free.
Love always trusts
This one is interesting because we usually think of it being us who places our trust in God. But there is a profound sense in which God entrusts much to us.
He trusts us with the gifts that He has given us…to be used for His glory and for the furthering of his kingdom.
He entrusts us with the message of the Gospel, which we have the responsibility to share when we have the opportunity.
God trusted me and Barbara with two beautiful young babies when we were less that 30 years old. That was huge Trust.
So yes, love always trusts. And God trusts you. And God has entrusted you with everything that you have in your life. Use it for his honour and for his glory.
Love always hopes
This one, honestly, I believe God's holds most tenderly. We find this in Scripture. We see this expressed in passages like this: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. 2 Peter 3:9
God does not want anyone to perish, but rather wants that everyone come to repentence. That is hope.
He doesn’t force anyone to come to Him in faith to receive salvation, but He holds out the offer of salvation to all: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Love always hopes.
We feel that ourselves. We desire the best for the people that we love the most. For our children, for our close friends.
When we know that there are two roads ahead, one that could lead to bad things, another that will lead to good things, and we know that it's not our decision but rather it is the decision of the one that we love.
We hope and often pray that they will make the right choice. Love always hopes. Do you have hope in your heart?
To believe that there will be a better day? I hope you have hope. It's what gets us up in the morning.
And love perseveres. it does not give up. Let's listen to Rodney McClain, one of our elders, as he explains:
Insert Rodney's video
Amen. Thank you Rodney.
Finally, Love Never Fails. God's love never fails. Can you say that with me? “God's love never fails".
All of these words that we've been exploring today reveal what God's love is like. All of these words found in 1 Corinthians 13 4 - 8 give us insight into the heart of Our Father in heaven.
How do you respond the love of God? How do you respond to God's love, which we find in Jesus.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends”.
And in a very short amount of time, Jesus did just that. He gave his life for his friends.
The same Jesus gave his life 2,000 years ago for his friends, was also giving his life for you because he wants you to receive the love of the father.
He wants you to know heart of the father. Do you know that you are loved? Do you care that God loves you and wants the best for you.
I hope that you do. And if you have not done it yet, I pray that you will choose to receive Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, as the master of your life. That you will accept his gift which is free, of salvation.
He gave his life on the cross so that you could be forgiven for your sins.
That you would be free to live a life that knows joy, the joy of God's shepherding of your life, the joy of deep friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World;
the joy of being a vessel through which God brings blessing to others, shows kindness to others, expresses mercy and goodness to others, perhaps helping to transform their future.
This Father's Day, may we celebrate our Father in heaven.
Human dads...the absolute best thing we can offer our kids is to point them to God our Father, and to do so intentionally, not only by our words, although words are important.
But by our actions, modelling what it means to love God, to serve Him, to honour Him and to obey Him in all things; and when we make mistakes to keep short accounts with God so that our relationship with God stays strong.
May we each understand the fatherhood of God. And in doing so, may we each experience healing in all of our relationships through the Father heart of God.
