FATHER’S DAY

6-16-2024

FATHER’S DAY

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. …

― A.W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy)

God is FATHER.

God is our Father.

• I am His !

Eph 1:3-4

³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

• I am His child.  

1 Pet 1:18-20

¹⁸ For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. ¹⁹ It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰ God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

• I am His child.

Rom 8:14-16

¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children[] of God.¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 

• I am His child. 

Your adoption liberates you from bondage to and fear of the law.  YOU are now IN GOD’S FAMILY! You have the full rights of His family, complete with His unconditional love. You are legitimate, no longer a slave or an orphan! There is no need to try and earn God’s love and acceptance! In Christ, you are completely loved, accepted, and forgiven!  ~Bob Sawvelle

Matthew chapter 18

“² Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. ³ Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁴ So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁵ “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. ⁶ But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Luke 18

¹⁵ One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him. ¹⁶ Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. ¹⁷ I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

1. We must turn From our Sins
2. We must become LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN
3. Anyone who doesn’t “receive the Kingdom of God like a child” will never enter it

We His children, but now, we need to make sure we are like children…

Ephesians 2:8-9

It Is by Grace you have been saved through faith not by anything of your own but by a gift from god; not by anything you have done so that nobody can claim the credit. 

1. God’s heart sings when I am .

Mt 6:9-13

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

1. God’s heart sings when I am .

John 15:1-5

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

1. God’s heart sings when I am .

Prov 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

1. God’s heart sings when I am .

1 John 5:3

 ³ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome

How?

Phil 2:14-15

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 

1. God’s heart sings when I am .

1 Thes 5:18

¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Blessings from being like this Child

Blessing that comes from being Dependent: 

2 Cor 12:7-10

Blessing that comes from being Connected: you ask for!! 

John 15: 7 (amp)

Blessing that comes from Trusting: Lifelong …not worried nor bothered

Jer 17:5, 7-8

Blessing that comes from being Obedient:

Prov 16:20

Blessing that comes from being Thankful:

Phil 4:6-7

I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God.  By God Himself, it is NOT!  How God thinks of us is not only MORE important, but INFINITELY MORE important.  Indeed, how we think of Him is of NO importance, EXCEPT insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us.  

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory