Fathers’ Day 2022
Theme: A Father’s Heart
Text: Luke 15:11-32 focus on verse 24
11 “… A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore, came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
INTRODUCTION
The cost of raising a child today is astronomical. According to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the cost of raising a middle-class child today is $286,000.00. You say so much? I believe it costs more. What makes up this amount?
1. 6,000 diapers
2. 18,000 Baby Wipes
3. 500 rolls of toilet paper
4. 200 cans of formula
5. 160 baby outfits
6. 10 gallons of soap
7. Health Care
8. Housing
9. A stroller
10. 250 toys
11. A Crib
12. A bed
13. A potty
14. A nightlight
15. Baby monitors
16. Music
17. TV
18. Three trips to Disney
19. Fifteen trips to Chuckee Cheese
20. 60 Road Trips
21. 5,000 pics
22. 200 children’s Outfits
23. 150 Pre-teen outfits
24. 300 Teen outfits
25. 200 pairs of shoes
26. 25 Backpacks
27. 4 IPads
28. 300 books
29. 300 pens and pencils
30. Crayons
31. 30 Lunch boxes
32. 60 Video Games
33. 50 boxes of Kleen-ex
34. 120 sleepless nights per year
35. 5 cars
36. $80,000 College Fees
37. 3 Prom dresses/suits
38. Patience
39. Money
40. More Money
41. More Money
42. Time
43. Time
44. More Time
45. More Time
46. Love
47. Love
48. More Love
What does it really take to raise a child? Parents
A father is the male parent of a child, says the dictionary.
? Former President, Barack Obama says, “Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”
? Frederick Douglass, the great African American leader once said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Possibly one of the most needed characteristics to be a father is setting a good example.
? Charles Kettering, the American inventor, engineer and businessman, declared “Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.”
But what does being a good father look like? What qualities are required to qualify for “Father of the Year Award?” Today, I ask the fathers to permit me to give you some advice.
1. Know your child’s heart
2. Show your heart
3. Follow God’s heart
In Luke 15, Jesus gave three parables about losses. The lost sheep, the lost coin and the “Lost son.” In the parable of the lost son, the younger of two sons demanded his inheritance from his father and went to a far country where he squandered it all. He became so poor and destitute that he hired himself out to a pig farmer to care for the pigs. As a Jew, this was despicable. What was even worse was when his earnings from the pig farm were inadequate to provide for his needs and he became hungry, he wanted to eat the pigs’ food. One day he came to himself and said, ‘my father has many hired servants and here I am hungry and starving to death.’ So, he decided to go to his father and plead for mercy and help. He arose and went to his father. He was still a great way from his father’s house, but his father, who had been waiting for the day when he would come home saw him, had compassion on him, ran to him, fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son: make me one of your servants. But his father said to his servants, Bring the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet (shoes were for the wealthy and sandals were for the poor). 23 And bring the fattest calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
1. Know your Child’s Heart
In this parable we can easily tell that the father knew his son. William Shakespeare, the great English Playwright, makes an important observation relevant to our message today, when he said, “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” Know your child’s heart.
But what does the Bible say about the heart of a child?
Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;” --In other words, a child has the tendency to do wrong. This is not surprising. In Job we read “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Job 14:4. The Psalmist declares in Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Then Jesus said in John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Understand this carefully, I am not trying to be mean, but understand that these little squirming people we bring home from the hospitals are sinners, born in sin, and shaped in iniquity. Understand that their little hearts are covered with a disease called sin. I am not saying that a newborn baby has committed sin, but as all humans that baby was born in sin. Because of the Fall of Adam and Eve sin’s dire consequences are attached to the very heart, embedded in the soul of every human being. They may be sweet and beautiful in appearance, but they are infected, their hearts have been poisoned by the toxic strychnine called sin, infected by the bacteria of the viral spores called sin. Paul says it like this in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Rom 3:10). Don’t be fooled by “coochie, coochie, coo coo coooo, and bebe, dada mama.” Know that child’s heart is contaminated with sin.
The father of the Prodigal knew his son. He knew his son’s heart. He knew what the boy would do. He knew that he was not ready to embark on life on his own, but he released him anyhow. Sometimes children insist on having their own way and no matter what you do or say, they are going to do exactly what they want in the long run. You see the heart has been damaged. So, you must help that child get and keep a good heart. Even if you are dealing with a well-behaved compliant child, keep working on their heart. The Word of God says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” There is a way your child should go, not how she or he wants to go or how you want her to go but how he should go. To be best able to train your child in the way they must go, teach by example more than instruction. Show the child your heart.
2. Show Your Heart (FACT)
In the story of the Prodigal son, the Father showed his heart to his son. While growing up in his father’s house, he realized that his father was forgiving, so he said, “I will say to my father, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven and against you.’ ” He would not have said that, if he knew that his father was not forgiving. Next, the boy knew that his father was approachable. Because he said, “I will arise and go to my father.” If his father was unapproachable and unreasonable, he would not even think about going to his father. That boy knew his father was compassionate. That is why he said, “I am not worthy to be called your son.” He was appealing to his father’s compassion. That boy also knew that his father was trustworthy, because he said, “Make me one of your hired servants.” He knew he could trust his father to be a good employer that he could work for. The father had shown his heart to his children, so they knew him!
(FACT—F—Forgiving, A—Approachable, C—Compassionate, T--Trustworthy).
Fathers need to be forgiving, approachable, compassionate, and trustworthy. Show your heart.
3. Follow God’s Heart.
What does God’s heart look like? God’s heart is : Love, Merciful, Relational, Moral, Holy, Eternal, Awesome, Righteous, and True. Every father should strive to be like our heavenly Father and to do so follow God’s heart.
David was “a man after God’s own heart.” He was a man of faith, he was a man of love, humility, integrity, repentance, trustworthiness, and he was a man of worship. He followed God’s heart.
Hear David as he cries out in Psalm 42:1 “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”
In Psalm 84:2 David declares “My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
In Psalm 119:20 the Psalmist says, “My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.”
Then in Psalm 119:131 he declared, “I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.”
Psalm 63:1,2 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee …
Psalm 63:8 My soul follows hard after thee:
Psalm 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Psalm 143:6,7 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
When you keep following God’s heart, your heart will begin to change until you will have a heart like. You will have your Father’s Heart.
A child must see you following God. Don’t just tell them to follow God, follow Him and they would see God’s heart in you.
The Father of the Prodigal son followed God’s heart and showed God’s heart even when his wayward son was gone and had abandoned him.
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CONCLUSION and APPLICATION
In our story today we are not told how old the father was when his son left home. We do not know how long he had to wait for the boy to return but he waited. He kept on waiting and kept on saying, whose report would you believe? He had not been down that road before. His older son was a compliant easier to raise child who stayed put. So, he had no choice but to keep on trusting God. This father had something inside of him, something powerful in his heart. His mind was filled with good things, his heart was filled with faith, because he followed the heart of God.
Like us fathers today, he had so much negativity around him, so much doubt, skepticism, fear and unbelief. He could have given up and written off his son. He could have believed the devil’s report. Other fathers may have told him, just write off that ungrateful thief. But he refused to listen to them, and he kept on believing. There are a lot of fathers today that just give up on their children. They run away from home and abandon the children and their mother. They disappear into the woodwork where they could hide from their responsibility, but I say to you today, refuse to be a statistic and fight for your children. Fight till the last drop of blood runs out of your veins. Do not succumb to the negativity around you. Don’t follow the views of the world, the flesh and the devil but, keep showing your heart, keep on following God’s heart and keep on believing. Because one day like the father in the story, you will see your child break the horizon and show up with the right attitude and right behavior, just as you trained them, because like you, they too will have, Their Father’s Heart.
