June 16, 2025 • 36 mins
Your Heavenly Father sees you, knows you, and has a purpose for your life. This Father's Day message delves into the profound truth that God is the perfect model of fatherhood—one who gives fish instead of serpents, eggs instead of scorpions.
What does it mean to be a good father? Through personal stories of fishing adventures and campfire devotionals, we explore how earthly fathers can reflect God's heart to their children. The challenge for every man is clear: Will you speak blessing or curse? Will you provide nourishment or poison? Will you pass down generational brokenness or break the cycle through surrender to Christ?
Luke 11 reminds us that even imperfect fathers know how to give good gifts to their children—how much more will our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask! This empowerment is what transforms ordinary men into extraordinary fathers who can say with confidence, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Whether you're a father struggling with your own father wounds or seeking to leave a godly legacy for your children, this message offers hope. True courage isn't found in stoic independence but in humble dependence on God. It's found in asking forgiveness when you fail, getting back up when you fall, and modeling authentic faith for the next generation.
The greatest Father's Day gift you can give your family isn't material possessions but a heart fully surrendered to Jesus. Join us as we discover how to knock on the right doors, seek God's direction, and live as men who reflect our good, good Father.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You have a good father.
I felt really strong today thatI was supposed to tell you that
you have a good father inheaven who loves you so very
much, that he has a plan and apurpose for your life and that
he very much knows exactly whoyou are and your circumstances.
That he loves you and he hasprovision for you and he wants
to guide and direct you.
(00:20):
That he is looking out for youand he hasn't neglected you.
That he is perfect and he isnot the one that will fail us.
He's a good, good father.
Would you say amen to that man?
I was just been thinking aboutso much of the goodness of God
and who he is as a father for us, and I think about how often,
you know, we have bad examplesof what that would be as a
(00:41):
father and how we, even asfathers, have failed, you know,
in our families or our childrenand how we draw short.
But he does not.
He is consistent, he is good,he is holy, he is a good father
who's looking out for us.
This week I got a chance to bewith the guys at the Camp and
Fish up north in Payson and gotto see the beautiful creation,
(01:03):
the sky the Lord painted for usthat night and it was just
amazing man just being out ofthe city and doing that type of
thing.
One of the highlights for mewas a time around the count fire
and just hearing from differentguys with a perspective,
hearing the words that the Lordhad given, and different ones
got to share a piece from theirheart in the scripture, what God
was using that for and just asa catalyst to charge all of us
(01:25):
on towards God, and what itmeans for us to share our story,
our testimony, and differentones were sharing that, and then
having conversation with othersabout man, I heard that
testimony.
I heard you know they'redevotional and it really it
resonated with me and I lovethat.
It was a really highlight forus, it was positive, it was
amazing.
It is interesting, though.
You know, as city people who,whenever we leave everything we
(01:47):
have here, like air conditioning, and we go set up a tent
somewhere, you know what I'mtalking about.
It's a little bizarre, a littlegreat, but it is good because
you get out of sorts, it givesyou a new frame of reference,
it's refreshing, somethingreally nice.
You got to spend some time onthe water, getting out there to
fish and just spend some timedoing that stuff or attempting
(02:07):
to fish in my case, where I was,like you know, not doing the
right things.
I was trying all I could but itwasn't quite working.
You know, it was amazing too.
We got a chance to kind of goand look at some of the creeks
and some of that fun stuff andsee some of the guys here as
they're kind of taking a look atwhere to throw the line or you
know what kind of stuff wasgoing on man just having a
chance to relax, maybe throw upa hammock between some trees,
like you see J-Bo here, just,you know, hanging out and
(02:29):
chilling, and then having thosetimes around the meals, so like
in the morning when we'd prayover the meal and have those
moments together, and then inthe evening, the same where we'd
pray over those meals and thenhave some conversation.
And I was so very blessed, man,because we had some amazing,
amazing food up there, thanks toTyler, our men's director, to
Pastor Angus, for all they did.
We have a hand of appreciationfor these guys.
(02:49):
They are awesome and they do alot to serve our church, but
amazing there as well, get somegreat meals together and spend
that time together and you cansee these guys.
There's some smiles on theirfaces because of just how great
it was the time together andjust having that camaraderie and
that friendship that's builtthere.
It is those highlight moments.
It's those moments around thefire hearing about what God is
(03:13):
doing, and for me it was anencouragement to see how
different guys they're usingwhat God has given them in their
story.
They're using that to sharewith others.
So I got a chance to see dadsand how they interacted with
their kids and their sons andand seeing them, you know that
that tension between, like youknow, keeping them from dying
and also letting them run amokyou guys know what I'm talking
about.
It's there's a tension theresomewhere.
(03:34):
It was awesome because you knowthese kids are running around
having fun and and beingcarefree.
You know running, running intoall the things and you know, as
a, you're like, oh, don't runtoo fast.
You know, at the same time,you're like as thinking about
when you were young, you're like, oh, you should run as fast as
you can, run fast, fast, fast.
And so there's that tensionthat's there.
But it's cool to see how theywere being intentional with
(03:56):
their sons and they're showingthem how to do things and
they're spending that time Evenother guys that are using their
story and sharing with otherguys about kind of their story
with God and how God broughtthem out of their past and their
brokenness and how God has donesomething dramatic and amazing
and encouraging in their lives.
He's bringing them forward to anew place.
They are not their past.
(04:17):
They are now who God hascreated them to be and I love
that intentionality.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
As we talk about who God is forus is that we wanna be those
that are good fathers.
So the challenge for us in themen in the room is to be good
fathers, be those that areexamples of what it means to
live for Christ, to beintentional in the way that we
(04:37):
live for God and that weunderstand what it means to be
courageous and to turn to Godwith everything that we have,
that we're those that are livingthat example because we have
experienced it for ourselves.
So we can't lead someone tosomewhere we've never been.
So, as men in the room, wechallenge you that you would
(04:58):
live for Jesus and see whathappens whenever you're open to
God working through your life,and see what ramifications will
happen through your life to yourchildren and to your
grandchildren as you live apartand set apart as unto God.
You say amen to that, friends,I can tell you, the impartation
of the story that my dad livedis an example to me.
It's such a profound reason ofwhy I now, today, have so much
(05:22):
of the understanding of Godbecause of what he shared with
me and then what I was able toexperience firsthand myself with
God and that's my ambition formy son and my daughters that I
would live that same way.
God, help me to be an example,to live that way, so that they
too can see what it means tolive and love God, and to do so
with passion.
Today I want to say happyFather's Day to all the dads in
(05:46):
the room, happy Father's Day toyou, to all the gentlemen in the
room as well, that, even ifyou're not a biological father,
you use your sphere of influenceto help others, to challenge
others.
Man, I applaud you.
Happy Father's Day to you aswell.
Thank you for using yourinfluence around, with everyone
around you.
It's such a blessing.
(06:09):
What we realize is that we'revery much people in need of a
savior.
None of us is perfect?
I'm the first one to tell youI'm not.
But what we are is we're peoplethat are on a journey, we're
following after Jesus, and so weuse this imagery of Christ
walking with his disciplesbecause that's how we are.
We're walking after him wherehe's leading us to go.
Our heart is to be more likeJesus and since that's true,
then collectively, what we'regoing to do is love God and make
(06:31):
disciples and reach the world.
That's what it means to livebeyond ourselves and to be
outward focus.
That's why we talk about havinga community and building those
communities amongst ourselves.
We want to be those thatconnect and grow and serve the
Lord.
We'd say amen to that, and today, as we look to scripture on
this Father's Day, we do so witha heart to hear the voice of
(06:53):
the Father.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone we're looking
at Luke 11 today Picks up herein verse nine, and it says, and
I tell you, ask and it will begiven to you, seek and you will
find.
Knock and it will be open toyou, for everyone who asks
(07:13):
receives, and the one who seeksfinds, and to the one who knocks
it will be open.
Lord, we just pray over thisword today, holy Spirit, you
would illuminate it in ourhearts and lives and challenge
us, lord, to be more like you.
We pray In the name of JesusChrist, amen.
Now, it's interesting, this ideaof a father, because so often
(07:35):
the idea of a father is, it'sabsent from a lot of our society
.
I remember as a youth pastor, alot of the breakthrough that we
had with students was that Icould serve kind of as a youth
pastor.
You know, a lot of thebreakthrough that we had with
students was that, you know, Icould serve kind of as that
older brother, that person ofinfluence with them and validate
them.
Because, you know, when we'reyoung, so often you know, as
children we turn towards our mom, because we love our mom, but
(07:57):
as we start to come of age,there's this thing that turns in
our heart that we want to havethat connection with our father
as well.
We want to have that connectionwith our father as well.
And I had so many differentstudents that they were
wrestling with this idea of whothey were, because they had this
empty father figure in theirlife, that they had this gap
that was there, either byspiritual means, that their dad
wasn't around and he wasn'tengaged in their life or he had
(08:18):
passed or something else.
But it wasn't that anythingagainst what their mom, but it
was that they were seeking thisvalidation from a father and
then, for some, because theydidn't have that validation,
they put this wall up in theirheart because they felt rejected
by a father.
So whenever they're prayingprayers to father God, whenever
they're singing these prayers,like these songs we sing today,
(08:39):
they have this wall up in theirheart against God, because they
put it there and it's somethingthat's separating them from the
very father that they're lookingfor, the very loving example
that they really want to connectwith.
And I think there's some realreasons on why we do that.
We do it to protect ourselves,we do it because we feel
emotionally vulnerable, we feelbroken, and so we're trying to
(09:03):
stay safe.
But what God wants to do is hewants to break down those walls.
He wants to open up doors tohim to have that relationship.
Jesus says behold, I stand atthe door and knock.
He wants to open up your heartand your life to him.
He wants to have open doors ofconnection to you.
He doesn't want you to livethis life alone.
(09:24):
And in the same way, you know,as fathers, we're also called to
be those that lead and byexample, and to be those that
seek first the kingdom of God.
And so often, you know, thethings that we get wrapped up
into is we start seeking thisand seeking that, and that's not
what he's talking to us about.
He's talking about seeking himfirst, and I pray often over
(09:44):
open doors for everyone aroundus, because what we want to do
is we want to go through thecorrect door that God is leading
us forward.
Would you say amen to that?
A lot of times we won't praybefore we go through and make a
big decision, go through adoorway, and then we start to
have results that we don't like.
No one said results they don'tlike.
No one's had results they don'tlike.
(10:05):
Okay, I'm going to try overhere.
We have results that we don'tlike, and then we have to back
up and be like God.
Can you help me now that I'vemade a bad decision?
Can you help me now, please?
Anybody.
And that's been my experiencetoo.
And sometimes the thing is wegot to back up out of there and
try again.
Wouldn't it be better if westarted before the big decision
(10:26):
and we fasted and prayed thenand said Lord, would you reveal
yourself to me here so that Ican go through the pathway you
want me to go?
We say amen to that and so welook to scripture here and it
starts to speak to us about whatthese things are.
It says here again for everyonewho asks, receives, and the one
who seeks finds, and the onewho knocks it will be opened and
(10:50):
see what it's talking abouthere.
As we start to talk about downthis line, is that the first
thing you're doing is ask andsee.
I think on the immaturity sideof our spirituality, the thing
we'll do is we'll just startasking God for everything.
Right, it's like Lord, could Ihave a Rolls Royce?
I also would like a Ferrari,and if you could really help me
out, it would be great if Icould right.
(11:11):
Instead, what he's actuallyasking is saying Lord, I ask
that you would reveal yourselfto me.
It says in scripture seek firstthe kingdom of God and his
righteousness and all thesethings will be added to you.
The kingdom of God and hisrighteousness and all these
things will be added to you.
And I could tell you assomebody who was like all right,
god, I'll yell, I will yardsale it for you, I will give all
(11:32):
these things over to you.
It's not about stuff and I likenice stuff.
Anybody else like nice stuff, Ilike nice stuff.
But the problem is, as soon asyou have a nice stuff, that
stuff is now used stuff and youneed new, new stuff right.
But the thing is that's theproblem with living for stuff is
that stuff becomes old, itbecomes crusty, it fades away.
The scripture says, becauseit's not eternal, that wood, hay
and stubble will burn up.
(11:53):
But if we live for the eternalthings of God, if we seek first
him, he will reveal himself tous and then all these other
things that other people liveafter.
Well, that's just a bonus foryou, that just comes to you
because that's something he cantrust you with, because it won't
become a little G God in yourlife to separate you from him.
(12:14):
Instead, it's just a tool inyour arsenal that you can use
for God and generosity and otherthings.
He's like man.
He wants you to have a goodtime, he wants you to have nice
stuff, but he doesn't want togive you that stuff.
So it becomes a God in yourlife and separates you from him,
and as men and as fathers, wehave to live that example for
our family as well, that thereason that we go and we want to
(12:37):
be a provider, the reason wewant to be a protector, is that
we have a care for them and fortheir life.
The intentionality is ourrelationship and our
relationship with God, not thestuff we trade our time for.
And I could tell you in my ownlife that I definitely fell into
that pitfall here and there,but that we would re-evaluate
(12:58):
what we're doing and realignourselves and seek first him.
And I will say the other sidetoo.
It says knock and it'll be opento you.
Well, that means that they werechecking the doors and the
doors weren't open quite yet.
Anybody ever been there?
Where you're not quite thereand I love the persistent widow
it says that she was looking forthe healing and so she kept on
going for the healing until shefound it.
(13:21):
And that's what I see here inthis scripture is you're saying,
knock and it will be open intoyou.
It's like, hey, lord, will youopen a door for me?
I need your guidance here.
And there's a tenacity, there'sa perspective that's there,
where it's like, lord, I needyour direction for my life, not
just my good idea, but I needyour direction.
I want the right door to walkthrough.
(13:41):
Friends, I could tell you sooften the conversations we have
about guidance for people, fromtheir youth all the way till
they're older, is that we wouldhave the direction of the Lord.
We want the guidance of God, wewant to go through the right
way and walk in the correct way.
That's when, whenever we'repraying for open doors, we're
saying, Lord, that you wouldopen the door for me, not that I
(14:01):
would try to kick on the wrongdoor till it opens, but that you
would open the door in my life,that you would make a way for
us, especially as a fatherleading a family.
You want to be someone who issaying, lord, as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lordand I'm going to align with you
and I'm going to go where you'releading me to go.
I want to have an open door andfollow after you.
(14:23):
And that's why it says hereagain for whoever seeks will
find, whoever asks will receive,and the one who seeks finds,
and the one who knocks it willbe open.
And here's the thing, thetension that's there is the
scary piece right Of trusting inthe Lord, because when things
are open before you, then youhave to take that leap of faith
(14:46):
to go and be obedient to whatGod is telling you to do.
And that's scary for a lot ofguys, because what it means is
that you're gonna have to giveup control and trust God with
where you're going.
And I can tell you you know inmy own life that that's been a
big, big piece was like God, Idon't know, I don't know if I
can do it.
(15:06):
He's like listen, you've askedfrom the right door, I'm giving
you the door.
Now are you going to beobedient, to walk through the
door or not?
And so I could say okay, lord,I'm going to trust you, I'm
going to take this leap of faith, I'm going to step out into the
unknown.
It's going to be an adventure,but I'm willing to trust you.
(15:41):
Here's an example of a leap offaith, too is that adventure
song that we were talking aboutearlier, where it's like hey, as
a dad, you're like hey, I wantmy kids to go and be courageous,
and I want them to go, and, youknow, be bold and be brave.
And at the same time you'relike don't do that that's very
dangerous Anybody else.
And that's a tension that welive in as parents because we
(16:02):
want to trust.
I tell you this, man when I wasgrowing up, the leap of faith
was a big deal, because you knoweverything that we had in my
era I'm right at the hinge ofwhere we had no technology.
Growing up to, everybody hadtechnology.
So in my day everything wassharp and we were running full
speed.
You know what I mean.
And we were running full speed.
It was rocks, it was concrete,it was sharp objects and
everybody was having a greattime doing it.
But now, as parents, we likenerf everything and make it all
(16:24):
soft.
And that's the problem is it'slike sometimes we have to have
that tension of like hey, it'sgoing to be dangerous, some of
these things we go and do, it'sthings we go and do, it's going
to be an adventure trusting God.
We have to take that leap offaith and trust him and walk
this thing out.
So, looking back to thescripture, we see here where it
starts to pick up about thisidea of a good father.
Now in scripture it says whatfather among you, if his son
(16:48):
asks for a fish, will, insteadof a fish, give him a serpent.
Or if he asks for an egg, we'llgive him a scorpion and we can
see.
Obviously a good father wouldwant to give good gifts to their
child.
I can tell you as someone whorecently was just spending tons
of time trying to get a fish.
A fish is not an easy thing toget.
(17:10):
Now we can go to the store andbuy a fish, but someone spent a
lot of time getting that fish.
Can we agree on that?
So whenever you give somethinglike this, what it's talking
about it's more than just thefish itself, which is great and
delicious and yummy and thankGod for sushi, but the idea is
that it takes effort to do thisthing.
So what it's showing us like asa good father is that we give
good gifts to our kids.
(17:30):
We're doing something that'sintentional.
We're doing something that haseffort.
We want to do something that isintentional for them.
You can think about someonespending all the time out there
fishing and you know castingthis way and that I can tell you
that's my Thursday evening.
I was out there casting and wewere trying everything.
I was throwing the kitchen sinkat them, man, everything that I
(17:51):
had in my tackle box.
I'm tying this one on and thatone on and we're trying
everything.
No good.
And then the next day we're up,I'm trying all sorts of stuff
and I'm holding my face acertain way, like you're
supposed to do, like aprofessional fisherman Was not
working.
Friends down here catching allthe fish, these guys up here,
(18:12):
victor's catching fish, theseguys catching fish, pastor Angus
catching fish I'm like I got nofish, I got nothing.
I finally, mid-afternoon I gaveup.
I went and sat in a hammock.
So right before I sat in thehammock I threw one more line
out there and just set my poleand I'm like I'm going to go do
email in the hammock over here.
And as I came out of thehammock I was like, all right,
let's just roll this stuff upand get up out of here.
(18:32):
And as I rolled up my line,there was a fish.
My friends, there was a fish onthe line.
It was amazing and it wassuccessful and I didn't get
skunked.
After all, you see, our brotherSteve right here, man, he had a
bunch of fish there and, youknow, did well too.
So you can think about theintentionality of all that.
(18:54):
And I was like, thank you,jesus, I didn't get skunked, I
caught a fish, and so there's alot of effort.
Whenever, as a father, you wantto give something good to your
child, you want to give them afish and not a snake.
Now a snake and you see aserpent, a snake within
scripture.
So often a snake is somethingevil.
It's what's talked about as theone that's there, it's
something that's negative, andso we don't want to give
(19:14):
something that could hurt themand be venomous towards them.
You can see the snake that wehave in this imagery.
Man, we were walking yesterdayand, just as you're supposed to
put your hand on a piece of rockto walk by a path, there was a
rattlesnake sitting in the shadeand I was telling all our
friends that were with us inthat line.
I was like, hey, friends, watchout, danger noodle.
If you pay attention to thisone, this one will get you.
You know, this little thingwill bite you back, because the
(19:37):
snake is a curse.
So often the symbol of one is acurse, and what it means is that
you don't want to be a fatherwho is cursing your children.
You want to be a father who'sintentional towards them, and
there's a big difference betweenit.
So many people have had thesecurses spoke over them you won't
amount to this or you are tothis.
And they're passing a judgmentstatement Some of that been said
(19:59):
by their father over them fromthe time they're young and
friends, that's not who we are.
We are people who speak lifeand not death.
We're people who speak blessingand not a curse, and the reason
that we do that is because somuch is in the power of the
tongue.
And so what we want to do isspeak blessing and correction,
because we're doing that out oflove, just the way that God
(20:19):
corrects us.
It says because he's forgivenus much, we are called to
forgive.
In the same way, by his spirit,he corrects us.
It calls us, call into analignment so we can repent.
That's why, as parents, hetalks to us about being those
who speak the word of God andteach the word of God to our
family and to our children, sothat they will not depart from
(20:40):
it and that that'll be instilleddeep down inside of them.
And so what we're doing iswe're speaking life and speaking
blessing, speaking correctionand not a curse on their life.
One of the things I'm so verythankful for in my own life is
my parents were willing to prayover me and bless me every time
I left the house and even as I,you know, had my own nefarious
(21:02):
plans of what I was really goingto do and not the thing I told
them I was going to do, theywould say okay, jay, have a
great time.
Have a great time, honor God,make wise decisions.
And all I could feel is HolySpirit convicting me as I headed
(21:24):
out, to do bad things and makebad decisions.
Anybody else.
That's a good thing, becausewhat they're doing is they're
praying that blessing, sayinglisten, holy Spirit's going to
be all over you.
You're not going to have fundoing everything everyone else
is going to do, because you'regoing to feel convicted about it
.
And even though you're going torun and make a whole series of
bad decisions, you can't outrunthe hand of God.
He's going to bring you back tohimself because he loves you
(21:45):
that very much.
And not just that, but thescripture says that our prayers
are heard by him and theirprayers they're praying the
prayer face, saying, lord, thatyou would go and grab Jay out of
that mess that he's makingright now and bring him back to
himself, lord, that you wouldhave a relationship with him and
that he would know youpersonally.
See, they could have easilydone the reverse.
(22:07):
They could have easily beenlike well, you made a bunch of
stupid decisions, that's on youand it spoke a curse over me.
But instead they spoke life andthey said you know, those are
bad decisions, but you can makebetter decisions and you can
make a different decision.
And that starts with living forGod.
(22:28):
Friends, that's the kind ofpeople we want to be.
That's the kind of father thatwe're called to be fathers.
We're called to be a goodfather that speaks blessing and
not a curse.
The second part of this talksabout an egg and a scorpion and
I could tell you an egg man,that's a blessing, right, that's
something substantial.
If you guys don't like it toobad, I love eggs, I love
(22:48):
breakfast.
Think about how bougie some ofthat stuff.
You can see a picture of ithere.
Praise the Lord.
Anybody else so good.
I remember as a kid man, wewould have late night services
here and I was a pastor's kidman.
I was done man.
I was more than done.
I was done a long time ago.
And my parents are talking tothe third person and there's two
more people in line.
You know what I mean.
(23:08):
And I was like can we go?
We haven't even had dinner yet.
Man, I am dying.
Can I go, please?
And they're like I need to talkto these people, then we can go
home.
And I was like, oh for the love, please help me, lord.
I was hanging out with Faith theother day and Faith was having
the same conversation with me.
She's like let's go.
I was like Faith girl, this ishow it's going to be the rest of
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your life, because you're goingto wait for your parents
forever at church.
I'm so sorry, but what's coolabout the end of this moment is
that, you know, is that I waslike man, if I could only have a
breakthrough, I could go and Icould eat dinner.
And my mom would be like okay,you know what, when we get home,
we're going to have breakfastfor dinner.
And I was like, oh, thank you,jesus.
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I could hear the angels singingglory because this is my
favorite thing breakfast fordinner.
You know what I'm talking about,and so something about that and
this is what he's talking abouthere in the scripture is about
how the egg is a nutrient.
It's something that you'regiving, that's a nutrient to
your child and you would givethem an egg.
You wouldn't give them ascorpion.
So when you see that plate ofthose fried eggs with the bacon
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and the goodness from God,you're like, praise Jesus, what
you're not going to do is givethem something that's going to
bite them and attack them and bepoison to them.
See, that's what a scorpionrepresents, is the poison that's
there, it's danger.
And if you've ever had inArizona man, we have them
everywhere but if you've everwalked around and been right by
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a scorpion barefoot, you knowthe fear of what I'm talking
about.
It's that thing that's gonnaattack you, that thing that's
evil.
And so what we wanna do is besomeone who's providing, someone
who is instructing, someone whois giving good nutrients to our
children I don't mean justphysically, I mean spiritually
too and that we wouldn't besomeone who's instead trying to
poison them for the future orspeak negative over and those
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other things.
We, instead trying to poisonthem for the future or speak
negative over and those otherthings, we want to be those that
are actually bringing life andbringing blessing, being those
who are challenged to live thatway ourselves, first as an
example, and then that they canhave that impartation as well.
It says here in Luke 11,.
It picks back up.
It says if you, then, who areevil, know how to give good
(25:15):
gifts to your children, how muchmore will heavenly father give
the Holy Spirit to those who askhim?
Friends, this is exactly whatwe're talking about is that we
would be empowered by HolySpirit to live for him, that we
would live that difference.
And I can tell you, gentlemen,the challenge to be a good
father starts with a passion forGod.
(25:38):
It's a willingness to have hisHoly Spirit guide and direct us.
It's taking that step of faithto understand that we are frail
and we are broken and we are notenough without him.
And so we'd say, lord, that youwould have your way in me, lord
, empower me to be a man of God,to be someone who's walking in
your path.
That, even though I know I'mgoing to make mistakes, lord,
that I would ask for forgivenessand get back up and dust myself
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off and go after Jesus.
See, so often it's easy to justsit back and be like, oh well,
you know, and kind of give theexcuses why that's not being a
brave man, that's not being whata real man is.
A man takes authority of whathe's doing and he says I'm going
to follow Jesus, I'm going tobe willing to take all this
brokenness and give it to him soI could be made whole and not
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pass on brokenness to the nextgeneration.
If we don't, then the otherthing happens and the brokenness
inside of us gets broken andput down inside of the next
generation.
And the brokenness inside of usgets broken and put down inside
of the next generation and thebrokenness inside of them gets
multiplied to the nextgeneration.
And the curse of the brokennessis not broken because we keep
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on passing it down.
Friends, that we instead wouldbe willing to say, lord, as for
me and my house, we will servethe Lord.
As for me and my house, lord,I'm Lord.
As for me and my house, lord,I'm breaking these curses off of
my family right now.
That's paradigm, that'sperspective, that's all these
things that we pass down and wemodel to our children.
Lord, what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna say, as for now, I can't
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help what happened in the past.
But as for now, in this moment,I'm going to take full, full
responsibility for what I'vedone and say, lord, that you
would forgive me, or that youwould help me, or Holy Spirit,
empower me, because I want tolive different.
I want to have a difference inmy family for the future, for
the generations to come, thatthere will be a difference,
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because I'm believing for afuture that's brighter than my
past, and that future is foundonly in Jesus Christ.
James talks about it how theLord is the one that illuminates
us.
He is the source of all goodgifts.
It says it like this James 1,17,.
Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above,
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coming down from the father oflights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow due tochange.
See, friends, he is a goodfather.
He loves us so very much and hewants us to be the same kind of
father to our families.
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Our challenge today is toembrace what Holy Spirit has for
us, gentlemen, to be the kindof father that we're called to
be, the kind of father that ourfamily deserves to be a man that
loves God, that's courageousenough to say when we've made
mistakes, to ask forgiveness, tomove forward, because that's
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what a real man is.
A real man is someone who has aheart that's open to God and be
courageous enough to follow himwhere he's leading him to go.
You know, we can all stand andbe stoic and act tough, but in
the end we'll get the very exactsame results of brokenness that
were passed on to us.
Instead, let's embrace whatChrist wants to do in our lives.
(28:54):
Embrace what Holy Spirit wantsto do in us, so we can be the
difference.
And now we can say, as for meand my house, we will serve the
Lord.
Today we have this opportunity,as we talk about so often.
We want to be more like Jesus,and so there are those in the
room, even in the first service,who had that opportunity, and
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they took and seized it to makea commitment to Jesus.
We have people today, for thevery first time, make a
commitment to follow Jesus andinvite him into their heart and
life.
That same decision is for you,in that question of have you
embraced Jesus?
See, nobody can make a decisionfor you.
It's you that has to make thedecision.
(29:41):
For us, the symbol of the crossis one that's profound.
The cross is a place ofsuffering.
It's a place of threat that theRomans used against the people
to show their power.
And Jesus, as he came onto thescene, he lived a perfect life
and he took the sin of the worldupon himself.
He became the sacrifice for allpeople and he was whipped and
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he was beaten and he took all ofthat abuse.
For us it wasn't his, andbecause of our brokenness,
because of our sin, he took onall those things and he took our
sin and he died with it uponthe cross and in doing so he
becomes a sacrifice for allpeople, for all time.
But the amazing thing aboutJesus is that he is not dead, he
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is alive.
And since he's alive, then wecan have a relationship with him
, an active relationship wherewe are in dialogue and we're
following after Jesus every day.
See, I'm not offering fireinsurance.
This isn't just Jesus as Savior, this is Jesus as Lord.
It's the difference of what itmeans to walk out with him every
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single day.
Friends, we cannot earn thepresence of God.
We can't do enough good things.
It's not possible.
What do we as unholy people, wewho are evil, what can we offer
a holy God?
We offer nothing to him thatcan earn his grace.
No, by his grace and by hislove, he came all the way to us
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because he loves us that much,he loves you that much, that he
wants you to have a relationshipwith him.
Apostle Paul.
He writes to the church at Rome.
He says it like this because ifyou confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will besaved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
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With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you would stand to
your feet and bow your head.
If you're online, wherever youare, take a moment.
Prepare your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
Prepare your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
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You've heard this challengetoday of what it means to be
those who belong to Jesus, ofwhat it means to be fathers who
are led by his spirit, to bethose who are forgiven and a
part of the family of God.
Today is your opportunity toembrace Christ as well.
As heads are bowed here in theroom, christians are praying.
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If that's you, you never made adecision to follow Jesus, to
invite him into your heart andlife.
Today is your day, or maybe youhave made that decision in the
past, but you haven't beenliving it.
Friends, today is your day torecommit your life to Christ, to
live for Christ every day asheads are bowed here in their
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room.
If that's you and you'd say,pastor, I want to be like those
who made a decision to followJesus today.
I want to invite them into myheart and life.
If that's you, if you raiseyour hand right where you're at
today and say that's me, I wantto make a decision to follow
Jesus.
Thank you, lord.
Thank you, lord.
We see hands that are here.
See the hand.
See that hand.
Others making decision.
Thank you, jesus.
Friends online, wherever youare.
If that's you making decisionstoday, we're with you.
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Praise the Lord.
I'm gonna ask everyone to praythis prayer out loud after me
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
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Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking the decision to follow
Jesus today.
Several people raising theirhand today in this service
praise God.
Let me encourage you in this.
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If you are one of those thatraised your hand, connect with
us in the back.
We want to be able to putresources into your hands.
If you're online, message us sowe can connect with you as well
.
No one's called to live thislife with Christ alone.
The challenge for us is a littledifferent.
Today, as we respond, I'm goingto ask that every father that's
in the room if you would comeforward.
What we're going to do is justpray a blessing of God upon you
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and ask for his Holy Spirit justto fill you anew and, if your
family is with you, that theywould come and they would be
behind you and that they wouldbe joining us as we pray.
I'm going to ask myself, pastorAngus, pastor, they would be
behind you and that they wouldbe joining us as we pray.
I'm going to ask myself, pastorAngus, pastor Celeste, we're
going to be praying for thefathers across the front, so I'm
going to challenge every singlefather If you would come and be
bold, get out of your seat,come to the front.
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Let us pray that blessing of Godupon you during this song.
Lord, we thank you for your wordand we thank you for how you
breathe upon it and make italive to us, lord, as these
fathers come forward, lord.
We pray that blessing of Godupon them, lord, that they would
have an impartation.
They'd have a new revelation ofwho you are, lord, that they
would have more of you, lord.
It'd be less of them and moreof you, lord, a freshness that
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what you want to do in theirlife, lord, and, as a result, in
their families, lord.
We thank you how you use them,lord, as leader in their home,
lord, and how you use them asmen of faith to do great things
for you, lord.
We come to this altar, lord, tohave an impartation of your
blessing.
We pray In the name of JesusChrist, amen.
Hey, I just wanna tell you thisIf you've been someone who's
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said yes to Jesus in these lastfew weeks, let me encourage you
that you would be water baptized.
Say yes to Jesus, follow him inbaptism.
It's coming up soon so you cansign up on the app and follow
him in that next step.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
And, once again, happy Father's Day to all of you
men there here today.
We honor you, and so we havesomething for you.
As you head out, there's atable and an ice chest.
Ooh, I got you thinking, but Ijust want you to grab everything
that you can on your way out.
We just want to let you knowthat we love you and we honor
you today.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Before we go, I pray this blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
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Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen, know this, we loveyou very much.
You're a cornerstone.
God bless you and happyFather's Day.
You have a good father.
I felt really strong today thatI was supposed to tell you that
you have a good father inheaven who loves you so very
much, that he has a plan and apurpose for your life and that
he very much knows exactly whoyou are and your circumstances.
That he loves you and he hasprovision for you and he wants
to guide and direct you.
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That he is looking out for youand he hasn't neglected you.
That he is perfect and he isnot the one that will fail us.
He's a good, good father.
Would you say amen to that man?
I was just been thinking aboutso much of the goodness of God
and who he is as a father for us, and I think about how often,
you know, we have bad examplesof what that would be as a
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father and how we, even asfathers, have failed, you know,
in our families or our childrenand how we draw short.
But he does not.
He is consistent, he is good,he is holy, he is a good father
who's looking out for us.
This week I got a chance to bewith the guys at the Camp and
Fish up north in Payson and gotto see the beautiful creation,
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the sky the Lord painted for usthat night and it was just
amazing man just being out ofthe city and doing that type of
thing.
One of the highlights for mewas a time around the count fire
and just hearing from differentguys with a perspective,
hearing the words that the Lordhad given, and different ones
got to share a piece from theirheart in the scripture, what God
was using that for and just asa catalyst to charge all of us
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on towards God, and what itmeans for us to share our story,
our testimony, and differentones were sharing that, and then
having conversation with othersabout man, I heard that
testimony.
I heard you know they'redevotional and it really it
resonated with me and I lovethat.
It was a really highlight forus, it was positive, it was
amazing.
It is interesting, though.
You know, as city people who,whenever we leave everything we
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have here, like air conditioning, and we go set up a tent
somewhere, you know what I'mtalking about.
It's a little bizarre, a littlegreat, but it is good because
you get out of sorts, it givesyou a new frame of reference,
it's refreshing, somethingreally nice.
You got to spend some time onthe water, getting out there to
fish and just spend some timedoing that stuff or attempting
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to fish in my case, where I was,like you know, not doing the
right things.
I was trying all I could but itwasn't quite working.
You know, it was amazing too.
We got a chance to kind of goand look at some of the creeks
and some of that fun stuff andsee some of the guys here as
they're kind of taking a look atwhere to throw the line or you
know what kind of stuff wasgoing on man just having a
chance to relax, maybe throw upa hammock between some trees,
like you see J-Bo here, just,you know, hanging out and
(02:29):
chilling, and then having thosetimes around the meals, so like
in the morning when we'd prayover the meal and have those
moments together, and then inthe evening, the same where we'd
pray over those meals and thenhave some conversation.
And I was so very blessed, man,because we had some amazing,
amazing food up there, thanks toTyler, our men's director, to
Pastor Angus, for all they did.
We have a hand of appreciationfor these guys.
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They are awesome and they do alot to serve our church, but
amazing there as well, get somegreat meals together and spend
that time together and you cansee these guys.
There's some smiles on theirfaces because of just how great
it was the time together andjust having that camaraderie and
that friendship that's builtthere.
It is those highlight moments.
It's those moments around thefire hearing about what God is
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doing, and for me it was anencouragement to see how
different guys they're usingwhat God has given them in their
story.
They're using that to sharewith others.
So I got a chance to see dadsand how they interacted with
their kids and their sons andand seeing them, you know that
that tension between, like youknow, keeping them from dying
and also letting them run amokyou guys know what I'm talking
about.
It's there's a tension theresomewhere.
(03:34):
It was awesome because you knowthese kids are running around
having fun and and beingcarefree.
You know running, running intoall the things and you know, as
a, you're like, oh, don't runtoo fast.
You know, at the same time,you're like as thinking about
when you were young, you're like, oh, you should run as fast as
you can, run fast, fast, fast.
And so there's that tensionthat's there.
But it's cool to see how theywere being intentional with
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their sons and they're showingthem how to do things and
they're spending that time Evenother guys that are using their
story and sharing with otherguys about kind of their story
with God and how God broughtthem out of their past and their
brokenness and how God has donesomething dramatic and amazing
and encouraging in their lives.
He's bringing them forward to anew place.
They are not their past.
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They are now who God hascreated them to be and I love
that intentionality.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
As we talk about who God is forus is that we wanna be those
that are good fathers.
So the challenge for us in themen in the room is to be good
fathers, be those that areexamples of what it means to
live for Christ, to beintentional in the way that we
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live for God and that weunderstand what it means to be
courageous and to turn to Godwith everything that we have,
that we're those that are livingthat example because we have
experienced it for ourselves.
So we can't lead someone tosomewhere we've never been.
So, as men in the room, wechallenge you that you would
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live for Jesus and see whathappens whenever you're open to
God working through your life,and see what ramifications will
happen through your life to yourchildren and to your
grandchildren as you live apartand set apart as unto God.
You say amen to that, friends,I can tell you, the impartation
of the story that my dad livedis an example to me.
It's such a profound reason ofwhy I now, today, have so much
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of the understanding of Godbecause of what he shared with
me and then what I was able toexperience firsthand myself with
God and that's my ambition formy son and my daughters that I
would live that same way.
God, help me to be an example,to live that way, so that they
too can see what it means tolive and love God, and to do so
with passion.
Today I want to say happyFather's Day to all the dads in
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the room, happy Father's Day toyou, to all the gentlemen in the
room as well, that, even ifyou're not a biological father,
you use your sphere of influenceto help others, to challenge
others.
Man, I applaud you.
Happy Father's Day to you aswell.
Thank you for using yourinfluence around, with everyone
around you.
It's such a blessing.
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What we realize is that we'revery much people in need of a
savior.
None of us is perfect?
I'm the first one to tell youI'm not.
But what we are is we're peoplethat are on a journey, we're
following after Jesus, and so weuse this imagery of Christ
walking with his disciplesbecause that's how we are.
We're walking after him wherehe's leading us to go.
Our heart is to be more likeJesus and since that's true,
then collectively, what we'regoing to do is love God and make
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disciples and reach the world.
That's what it means to livebeyond ourselves and to be
outward focus.
That's why we talk about havinga community and building those
communities amongst ourselves.
We want to be those thatconnect and grow and serve the
Lord.
We'd say amen to that, and today, as we look to scripture on
this Father's Day, we do so witha heart to hear the voice of
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the Father.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone we're looking
at Luke 11 today Picks up herein verse nine, and it says, and
I tell you, ask and it will begiven to you, seek and you will
find.
Knock and it will be open toyou, for everyone who asks
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receives, and the one who seeksfinds, and to the one who knocks
it will be open.
Lord, we just pray over thisword today, holy Spirit, you
would illuminate it in ourhearts and lives and challenge
us, lord, to be more like you.
We pray In the name of JesusChrist, amen.
Now, it's interesting, this ideaof a father, because so often
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the idea of a father is, it'sabsent from a lot of our society
.
I remember as a youth pastor, alot of the breakthrough that we
had with students was that Icould serve kind of as a youth
pastor.
You know, a lot of thebreakthrough that we had with
students was that, you know, Icould serve kind of as that
older brother, that person ofinfluence with them and validate
them.
Because, you know, when we'reyoung, so often you know, as
children we turn towards our mom, because we love our mom, but
(07:57):
as we start to come of age,there's this thing that turns in
our heart that we want to havethat connection with our father
as well.
We want to have that connectionwith our father as well.
And I had so many differentstudents that they were
wrestling with this idea of whothey were, because they had this
empty father figure in theirlife, that they had this gap
that was there, either byspiritual means, that their dad
wasn't around and he wasn'tengaged in their life or he had
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passed or something else.
But it wasn't that anythingagainst what their mom, but it
was that they were seeking thisvalidation from a father and
then, for some, because theydidn't have that validation,
they put this wall up in theirheart because they felt rejected
by a father.
So whenever they're prayingprayers to father God, whenever
they're singing these prayers,like these songs we sing today,
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they have this wall up in theirheart against God, because they
put it there and it's somethingthat's separating them from the
very father that they're lookingfor, the very loving example
that they really want to connectwith.
And I think there's some realreasons on why we do that.
We do it to protect ourselves,we do it because we feel
emotionally vulnerable, we feelbroken, and so we're trying to
(09:03):
stay safe.
But what God wants to do is hewants to break down those walls.
He wants to open up doors tohim to have that relationship.
Jesus says behold, I stand atthe door and knock.
He wants to open up your heartand your life to him.
He wants to have open doors ofconnection to you.
He doesn't want you to livethis life alone.
(09:24):
And in the same way, you know,as fathers, we're also called to
be those that lead and byexample, and to be those that
seek first the kingdom of God.
And so often, you know, thethings that we get wrapped up
into is we start seeking thisand seeking that, and that's not
what he's talking to us about.
He's talking about seeking himfirst, and I pray often over
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open doors for everyone aroundus, because what we want to do
is we want to go through thecorrect door that God is leading
us forward.
Would you say amen to that?
A lot of times we won't praybefore we go through and make a
big decision, go through adoorway, and then we start to
have results that we don't like.
No one said results they don'tlike.
No one's had results they don'tlike.
(10:05):
Okay, I'm going to try overhere.
We have results that we don'tlike, and then we have to back
up and be like God.
Can you help me now that I'vemade a bad decision?
Can you help me now, please?
Anybody.
And that's been my experiencetoo.
And sometimes the thing is wegot to back up out of there and
try again.
Wouldn't it be better if westarted before the big decision
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and we fasted and prayed thenand said Lord, would you reveal
yourself to me here so that Ican go through the pathway you
want me to go?
We say amen to that and so welook to scripture here and it
starts to speak to us about whatthese things are.
It says here again for everyonewho asks, receives, and the one
who seeks finds, and the onewho knocks it will be opened and
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see what it's talking abouthere.
As we start to talk about downthis line, is that the first
thing you're doing is ask andsee.
I think on the immaturity sideof our spirituality, the thing
we'll do is we'll just startasking God for everything.
Right, it's like Lord, could Ihave a Rolls Royce?
I also would like a Ferrari,and if you could really help me
out, it would be great if Icould right.
(11:11):
Instead, what he's actuallyasking is saying Lord, I ask
that you would reveal yourselfto me.
It says in scripture seek firstthe kingdom of God and his
righteousness and all thesethings will be added to you.
The kingdom of God and hisrighteousness and all these
things will be added to you.
And I could tell you assomebody who was like all right,
god, I'll yell, I will yardsale it for you, I will give all
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these things over to you.
It's not about stuff and I likenice stuff.
Anybody else like nice stuff, Ilike nice stuff.
But the problem is, as soon asyou have a nice stuff, that
stuff is now used stuff and youneed new, new stuff right.
But the thing is that's theproblem with living for stuff is
that stuff becomes old, itbecomes crusty, it fades away.
The scripture says, becauseit's not eternal, that wood, hay
and stubble will burn up.
(11:53):
But if we live for the eternalthings of God, if we seek first
him, he will reveal himself tous and then all these other
things that other people liveafter.
Well, that's just a bonus foryou, that just comes to you
because that's something he cantrust you with, because it won't
become a little G God in yourlife to separate you from him.
(12:14):
Instead, it's just a tool inyour arsenal that you can use
for God and generosity and otherthings.
He's like man.
He wants you to have a goodtime, he wants you to have nice
stuff, but he doesn't want togive you that stuff.
So it becomes a God in yourlife and separates you from him,
and as men and as fathers, wehave to live that example for
our family as well, that thereason that we go and we want to
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be a provider, the reason wewant to be a protector, is that
we have a care for them and fortheir life.
The intentionality is ourrelationship and our
relationship with God, not thestuff we trade our time for.
And I could tell you in my ownlife that I definitely fell into
that pitfall here and there,but that we would re-evaluate
(12:58):
what we're doing and realignourselves and seek first him.
And I will say the other sidetoo.
It says knock and it'll be opento you.
Well, that means that they werechecking the doors and the
doors weren't open quite yet.
Anybody ever been there?
Where you're not quite thereand I love the persistent widow
it says that she was looking forthe healing and so she kept on
going for the healing until shefound it.
(13:21):
And that's what I see here inthis scripture is you're saying,
knock and it will be open intoyou.
It's like, hey, lord, will youopen a door for me?
I need your guidance here.
And there's a tenacity, there'sa perspective that's there,
where it's like, lord, I needyour direction for my life, not
just my good idea, but I needyour direction.
I want the right door to walkthrough.
(13:41):
Friends, I could tell you sooften the conversations we have
about guidance for people, fromtheir youth all the way till
they're older, is that we wouldhave the direction of the Lord.
We want the guidance of God, wewant to go through the right
way and walk in the correct way.
That's when, whenever we'repraying for open doors, we're
saying, Lord, that you wouldopen the door for me, not that I
(14:01):
would try to kick on the wrongdoor till it opens, but that you
would open the door in my life,that you would make a way for
us, especially as a fatherleading a family.
You want to be someone who issaying, lord, as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lordand I'm going to align with you
and I'm going to go where you'releading me to go.
I want to have an open door andfollow after you.
(14:23):
And that's why it says hereagain for whoever seeks will
find, whoever asks will receive,and the one who seeks finds,
and the one who knocks it willbe open.
And here's the thing, thetension that's there is the
scary piece right Of trusting inthe Lord, because when things
are open before you, then youhave to take that leap of faith
(14:46):
to go and be obedient to whatGod is telling you to do.
And that's scary for a lot ofguys, because what it means is
that you're gonna have to giveup control and trust God with
where you're going.
And I can tell you you know inmy own life that that's been a
big, big piece was like God, Idon't know, I don't know if I
can do it.
(15:06):
He's like listen, you've askedfrom the right door, I'm giving
you the door.
Now are you going to beobedient, to walk through the
door or not?
And so I could say okay, lord,I'm going to trust you, I'm
going to take this leap of faith, I'm going to step out into the
unknown.
It's going to be an adventure,but I'm willing to trust you.
(15:41):
Here's an example of a leap offaith, too is that adventure
song that we were talking aboutearlier, where it's like hey, as
a dad, you're like hey, I wantmy kids to go and be courageous,
and I want them to go, and, youknow, be bold and be brave.
And at the same time you'relike don't do that that's very
dangerous Anybody else.
And that's a tension that welive in as parents because we
(16:02):
want to trust.
I tell you this, man when I wasgrowing up, the leap of faith
was a big deal, because you knoweverything that we had in my
era I'm right at the hinge ofwhere we had no technology.
Growing up to, everybody hadtechnology.
So in my day everything wassharp and we were running full
speed.
You know what I mean.
And we were running full speed.
It was rocks, it was concrete,it was sharp objects and
everybody was having a greattime doing it.
But now, as parents, we likenerf everything and make it all
(16:24):
soft.
And that's the problem is it'slike sometimes we have to have
that tension of like hey, it'sgoing to be dangerous, some of
these things we go and do, it'sthings we go and do, it's going
to be an adventure trusting God.
We have to take that leap offaith and trust him and walk
this thing out.
So, looking back to thescripture, we see here where it
starts to pick up about thisidea of a good father.
Now in scripture it says whatfather among you, if his son
(16:48):
asks for a fish, will, insteadof a fish, give him a serpent.
Or if he asks for an egg, we'llgive him a scorpion and we can
see.
Obviously a good father wouldwant to give good gifts to their
child.
I can tell you as someone whorecently was just spending tons
of time trying to get a fish.
A fish is not an easy thing toget.
(17:10):
Now we can go to the store andbuy a fish, but someone spent a
lot of time getting that fish.
Can we agree on that?
So whenever you give somethinglike this, what it's talking
about it's more than just thefish itself, which is great and
delicious and yummy and thankGod for sushi, but the idea is
that it takes effort to do thisthing.
So what it's showing us like asa good father is that we give
good gifts to our kids.
(17:30):
We're doing something that'sintentional.
We're doing something that haseffort.
We want to do something that isintentional for them.
You can think about someonespending all the time out there
fishing and you know castingthis way and that I can tell you
that's my Thursday evening.
I was out there casting and wewere trying everything.
I was throwing the kitchen sinkat them, man, everything that I
(17:51):
had in my tackle box.
I'm tying this one on and thatone on and we're trying
everything.
No good.
And then the next day we're up,I'm trying all sorts of stuff
and I'm holding my face acertain way, like you're
supposed to do, like aprofessional fisherman Was not
working.
Friends down here catching allthe fish, these guys up here,
(18:12):
victor's catching fish, theseguys catching fish, pastor Angus
catching fish I'm like I got nofish, I got nothing.
I finally, mid-afternoon I gaveup.
I went and sat in a hammock.
So right before I sat in thehammock I threw one more line
out there and just set my poleand I'm like I'm going to go do
email in the hammock over here.
And as I came out of thehammock I was like, all right,
let's just roll this stuff upand get up out of here.
(18:32):
And as I rolled up my line,there was a fish.
My friends, there was a fish onthe line.
It was amazing and it wassuccessful and I didn't get
skunked.
After all, you see, our brotherSteve right here, man, he had a
bunch of fish there and, youknow, did well too.
So you can think about theintentionality of all that.
(18:54):
And I was like, thank you,jesus, I didn't get skunked, I
caught a fish, and so there's alot of effort.
Whenever, as a father, you wantto give something good to your
child, you want to give them afish and not a snake.
Now a snake and you see aserpent, a snake within
scripture.
So often a snake is somethingevil.
It's what's talked about as theone that's there, it's
something that's negative, andso we don't want to give
(19:14):
something that could hurt themand be venomous towards them.
You can see the snake that wehave in this imagery.
Man, we were walking yesterdayand, just as you're supposed to
put your hand on a piece of rockto walk by a path, there was a
rattlesnake sitting in the shadeand I was telling all our
friends that were with us inthat line.
I was like, hey, friends, watchout, danger noodle.
If you pay attention to thisone, this one will get you.
You know, this little thingwill bite you back, because the
(19:37):
snake is a curse.
So often the symbol of one is acurse, and what it means is that
you don't want to be a fatherwho is cursing your children.
You want to be a father who'sintentional towards them, and
there's a big difference betweenit.
So many people have had thesecurses spoke over them you won't
amount to this or you are tothis.
And they're passing a judgmentstatement Some of that been said
(19:59):
by their father over them fromthe time they're young and
friends, that's not who we are.
We are people who speak lifeand not death.
We're people who speak blessingand not a curse, and the reason
that we do that is because somuch is in the power of the
tongue.
And so what we want to do isspeak blessing and correction,
because we're doing that out oflove, just the way that God
(20:19):
corrects us.
It says because he's forgivenus much, we are called to
forgive.
In the same way, by his spirit,he corrects us.
It calls us, call into analignment so we can repent.
That's why, as parents, hetalks to us about being those
who speak the word of God andteach the word of God to our
family and to our children, sothat they will not depart from
(20:40):
it and that that'll be instilleddeep down inside of them.
And so what we're doing iswe're speaking life and speaking
blessing, speaking correctionand not a curse on their life.
One of the things I'm so verythankful for in my own life is
my parents were willing to prayover me and bless me every time
I left the house and even as I,you know, had my own nefarious
(21:02):
plans of what I was really goingto do and not the thing I told
them I was going to do, theywould say okay, jay, have a
great time.
Have a great time, honor God,make wise decisions.
And all I could feel is HolySpirit convicting me as I headed
(21:24):
out, to do bad things and makebad decisions.
Anybody else.
That's a good thing, becausewhat they're doing is they're
praying that blessing, sayinglisten, holy Spirit's going to
be all over you.
You're not going to have fundoing everything everyone else
is going to do, because you'regoing to feel convicted about it
.
And even though you're going torun and make a whole series of
bad decisions, you can't outrunthe hand of God.
He's going to bring you back tohimself because he loves you
(21:45):
that very much.
And not just that, but thescripture says that our prayers
are heard by him and theirprayers they're praying the
prayer face, saying, lord, thatyou would go and grab Jay out of
that mess that he's makingright now and bring him back to
himself, lord, that you wouldhave a relationship with him and
that he would know youpersonally.
See, they could have easilydone the reverse.
(22:07):
They could have easily beenlike well, you made a bunch of
stupid decisions, that's on youand it spoke a curse over me.
But instead they spoke life andthey said you know, those are
bad decisions, but you can makebetter decisions and you can
make a different decision.
And that starts with living forGod.
(22:28):
Friends, that's the kind ofpeople we want to be.
That's the kind of father thatwe're called to be fathers.
We're called to be a goodfather that speaks blessing and
not a curse.
The second part of this talksabout an egg and a scorpion and
I could tell you an egg man,that's a blessing, right, that's
something substantial.
If you guys don't like it toobad, I love eggs, I love
(22:48):
breakfast.
Think about how bougie some ofthat stuff.
You can see a picture of ithere.
Praise the Lord.
Anybody else so good.
I remember as a kid man, wewould have late night services
here and I was a pastor's kidman.
I was done man.
I was more than done.
I was done a long time ago.
And my parents are talking tothe third person and there's two
more people in line.
You know what I mean.
(23:08):
And I was like can we go?
We haven't even had dinner yet.
Man, I am dying.
Can I go, please?
And they're like I need to talkto these people, then we can go
home.
And I was like, oh for the love, please help me, lord.
I was hanging out with Faith theother day and Faith was having
the same conversation with me.
She's like let's go.
I was like Faith girl, this ishow it's going to be the rest of
(23:29):
your life, because you're goingto wait for your parents
forever at church.
I'm so sorry, but what's coolabout the end of this moment is
that, you know, is that I waslike man, if I could only have a
breakthrough, I could go and Icould eat dinner.
And my mom would be like okay,you know what, when we get home,
we're going to have breakfastfor dinner.
And I was like, oh, thank you,jesus.
(23:50):
I could hear the angels singingglory because this is my
favorite thing breakfast fordinner.
You know what I'm talking about,and so something about that and
this is what he's talking abouthere in the scripture is about
how the egg is a nutrient.
It's something that you'regiving, that's a nutrient to
your child and you would givethem an egg.
You wouldn't give them ascorpion.
So when you see that plate ofthose fried eggs with the bacon
(24:11):
and the goodness from God,you're like, praise Jesus, what
you're not going to do is givethem something that's going to
bite them and attack them and bepoison to them.
See, that's what a scorpionrepresents, is the poison that's
there, it's danger.
And if you've ever had inArizona man, we have them
everywhere but if you've everwalked around and been right by
(24:31):
a scorpion barefoot, you knowthe fear of what I'm talking
about.
It's that thing that's gonnaattack you, that thing that's
evil.
And so what we wanna do is besomeone who's providing, someone
who is instructing, someone whois giving good nutrients to our
children I don't mean justphysically, I mean spiritually
too and that we wouldn't besomeone who's instead trying to
poison them for the future orspeak negative over and those
(24:54):
other things.
We, instead trying to poisonthem for the future or speak
negative over and those otherthings, we want to be those that
are actually bringing life andbringing blessing, being those
who are challenged to live thatway ourselves, first as an
example, and then that they canhave that impartation as well.
It says here in Luke 11,.
It picks back up.
It says if you, then, who areevil, know how to give good
(25:15):
gifts to your children, how muchmore will heavenly father give
the Holy Spirit to those who askhim?
Friends, this is exactly whatwe're talking about is that we
would be empowered by HolySpirit to live for him, that we
would live that difference.
And I can tell you, gentlemen,the challenge to be a good
father starts with a passion forGod.
(25:38):
It's a willingness to have hisHoly Spirit guide and direct us.
It's taking that step of faithto understand that we are frail
and we are broken and we are notenough without him.
And so we'd say, lord, that youwould have your way in me, lord
, empower me to be a man of God,to be someone who's walking in
your path.
That, even though I know I'mgoing to make mistakes, lord,
that I would ask for forgivenessand get back up and dust myself
(26:00):
off and go after Jesus.
See, so often it's easy to justsit back and be like, oh well,
you know, and kind of give theexcuses why that's not being a
brave man, that's not being whata real man is.
A man takes authority of whathe's doing and he says I'm going
to follow Jesus, I'm going tobe willing to take all this
brokenness and give it to him soI could be made whole and not
(26:22):
pass on brokenness to the nextgeneration.
If we don't, then the otherthing happens and the brokenness
inside of us gets broken andput down inside of the next
generation.
And the brokenness inside of usgets broken and put down inside
of the next generation and thebrokenness inside of them gets
multiplied to the nextgeneration.
And the curse of the brokennessis not broken because we keep
(26:46):
on passing it down.
Friends, that we instead wouldbe willing to say, lord, as for
me and my house, we will servethe Lord.
As for me and my house, lord,I'm Lord.
As for me and my house, lord,I'm breaking these curses off of
my family right now.
That's paradigm, that'sperspective, that's all these
things that we pass down and wemodel to our children.
Lord, what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna say, as for now, I can't
(27:07):
help what happened in the past.
But as for now, in this moment,I'm going to take full, full
responsibility for what I'vedone and say, lord, that you
would forgive me, or that youwould help me, or Holy Spirit,
empower me, because I want tolive different.
I want to have a difference inmy family for the future, for
the generations to come, thatthere will be a difference,
(27:30):
because I'm believing for afuture that's brighter than my
past, and that future is foundonly in Jesus Christ.
James talks about it how theLord is the one that illuminates
us.
He is the source of all goodgifts.
It says it like this James 1,17,.
Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above,
(27:51):
coming down from the father oflights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow due tochange.
See, friends, he is a goodfather.
He loves us so very much and hewants us to be the same kind of
father to our families.
(28:12):
Our challenge today is toembrace what Holy Spirit has for
us, gentlemen, to be the kindof father that we're called to
be, the kind of father that ourfamily deserves to be a man that
loves God, that's courageousenough to say when we've made
mistakes, to ask forgiveness, tomove forward, because that's
(28:33):
what a real man is.
A real man is someone who has aheart that's open to God and be
courageous enough to follow himwhere he's leading him to go.
You know, we can all stand andbe stoic and act tough, but in
the end we'll get the very exactsame results of brokenness that
were passed on to us.
Instead, let's embrace whatChrist wants to do in our lives.
(28:54):
Embrace what Holy Spirit wantsto do in us, so we can be the
difference.
And now we can say, as for meand my house, we will serve the
Lord.
Today we have this opportunity,as we talk about so often.
We want to be more like Jesus,and so there are those in the
room, even in the first service,who had that opportunity, and
(29:17):
they took and seized it to makea commitment to Jesus.
We have people today, for thevery first time, make a
commitment to follow Jesus andinvite him into their heart and
life.
That same decision is for you,in that question of have you
embraced Jesus?
See, nobody can make a decisionfor you.
It's you that has to make thedecision.
(29:41):
For us, the symbol of the crossis one that's profound.
The cross is a place ofsuffering.
It's a place of threat that theRomans used against the people
to show their power.
And Jesus, as he came onto thescene, he lived a perfect life
and he took the sin of the worldupon himself.
He became the sacrifice for allpeople and he was whipped and
(30:01):
he was beaten and he took all ofthat abuse.
For us it wasn't his, andbecause of our brokenness,
because of our sin, he took onall those things and he took our
sin and he died with it uponthe cross and in doing so he
becomes a sacrifice for allpeople, for all time.
But the amazing thing aboutJesus is that he is not dead, he
(30:23):
is alive.
And since he's alive, then wecan have a relationship with him
, an active relationship wherewe are in dialogue and we're
following after Jesus every day.
See, I'm not offering fireinsurance.
This isn't just Jesus as Savior, this is Jesus as Lord.
It's the difference of what itmeans to walk out with him every
(30:45):
single day.
Friends, we cannot earn thepresence of God.
We can't do enough good things.
It's not possible.
What do we as unholy people, wewho are evil, what can we offer
a holy God?
We offer nothing to him thatcan earn his grace.
No, by his grace and by hislove, he came all the way to us
(31:07):
because he loves us that much,he loves you that much, that he
wants you to have a relationshipwith him.
Apostle Paul.
He writes to the church at Rome.
He says it like this because ifyou confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will besaved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
(31:29):
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you would stand to
your feet and bow your head.
If you're online, wherever youare, take a moment.
Prepare your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
Prepare your heart for what Godwants to do in and through you.
(31:51):
You've heard this challengetoday of what it means to be
those who belong to Jesus, ofwhat it means to be fathers who
are led by his spirit, to bethose who are forgiven and a
part of the family of God.
Today is your opportunity toembrace Christ as well.
As heads are bowed here in theroom, christians are praying.
(32:13):
If that's you, you never made adecision to follow Jesus, to
invite him into your heart andlife.
Today is your day, or maybe youhave made that decision in the
past, but you haven't beenliving it.
Friends, today is your day torecommit your life to Christ, to
live for Christ every day asheads are bowed here in their
(32:33):
room.
If that's you and you'd say,pastor, I want to be like those
who made a decision to followJesus today.
I want to invite them into myheart and life.
If that's you, if you raiseyour hand right where you're at
today and say that's me, I wantto make a decision to follow
Jesus.
Thank you, lord.
Thank you, lord.
We see hands that are here.
See the hand.
See that hand.
Others making decision.
Thank you, jesus.
Friends online, wherever youare.
If that's you making decisionstoday, we're with you.
(32:54):
Praise the Lord.
I'm gonna ask everyone to praythis prayer out loud after me
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
(33:17):
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking the decision to follow
Jesus today.
Several people raising theirhand today in this service
praise God.
Let me encourage you in this.
(33:38):
If you are one of those thatraised your hand, connect with
us in the back.
We want to be able to putresources into your hands.
If you're online, message us sowe can connect with you as well
.
No one's called to live thislife with Christ alone.
The challenge for us is a littledifferent.
Today, as we respond, I'm goingto ask that every father that's
in the room if you would comeforward.
What we're going to do is justpray a blessing of God upon you
(34:01):
and ask for his Holy Spirit justto fill you anew and, if your
family is with you, that theywould come and they would be
behind you and that they wouldbe joining us as we pray.
I'm going to ask myself, pastorAngus, pastor, they would be
behind you and that they wouldbe joining us as we pray.
I'm going to ask myself, pastorAngus, pastor Celeste, we're
going to be praying for thefathers across the front, so I'm
going to challenge every singlefather If you would come and be
bold, get out of your seat,come to the front.
(34:21):
Let us pray that blessing of Godupon you during this song.
Lord, we thank you for your wordand we thank you for how you
breathe upon it and make italive to us, lord, as these
fathers come forward, lord.
We pray that blessing of Godupon them, lord, that they would
have an impartation.
They'd have a new revelation ofwho you are, lord, that they
would have more of you, lord.
It'd be less of them and moreof you, lord, a freshness that
(34:41):
what you want to do in theirlife, lord, and, as a result, in
their families, lord.
We thank you how you use them,lord, as leader in their home,
lord, and how you use them asmen of faith to do great things
for you, lord.
We come to this altar, lord, tohave an impartation of your
blessing.
We pray In the name of JesusChrist, amen.
Hey, I just wanna tell you thisIf you've been someone who's
(35:03):
said yes to Jesus in these lastfew weeks, let me encourage you
that you would be water baptized.
Say yes to Jesus, follow him inbaptism.
It's coming up soon so you cansign up on the app and follow
him in that next step.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
And, once again, happy Father's Day to all of you
men there here today.
We honor you, and so we havesomething for you.
As you head out, there's atable and an ice chest.
Ooh, I got you thinking, but Ijust want you to grab everything
that you can on your way out.
We just want to let you knowthat we love you and we honor
you today.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Before we go, I pray this blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
(35:56):
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen, know this, we loveyou very much.
You're a cornerstone.
God bless you and happyFather's Day.
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