Our speaker on June 21 was Lay Servant Jim Kier. Pastor Jim (Bolton) enjoyed a brief break while Lay Servant Jim (Kier) lead the Father’s day worship service. Jim’s message took us into the Word to explore our relationships with our earthly father and with our Heavenly Father.
Click the below “Play” button to start the recording, scroll down, and follow along…
Jim’s scripture was from Ephesians 6: 1-4, 13-18. Open the following drop down box to read…
Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
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Ephesians 6:13-18 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. NIV
Father Trivia…
- A: Mothers day. It seems that on mothers day everyone wants to call home.
Q: What do you thinks happens on fathers day?
- A: The most collect Calls are made.
Ala David Letterman, here’s a top 10 list of the “wise sayings” of wisdom that our earthly fathers tell us…
Well, maybe your father doesn’t always have all the right answers, but God has blessed most of you with a Godly father, and he has commanded you to show him honor and respect. You should also remember to pray for your father and ask God to give him the wisdom he needs to train you in the way that God wants you to grow.
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Now let’s look at a different situation and how a wise father handles it.
One of my favorite books is “What’s so Amazing about Grace,” By Phillip Yancey. In the book Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter who grows up in Traverse City, Michigan….
Disgusted with her old fashioned parents who overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, the length of her skirts, so she runs away. She ends up in Detroit where she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. The man with the big car – she calls him “Boss” – recognizes that since she’s underage, men would pay premium for her. So she goes to work for him. Things are good for a while. Life is good. But she gets sick for a few days, and it amazes her how quickly the boss turns mean. Before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, and all the money goes to support her drug habit.
One night while sleeping on the metal grates of the city, she began to feel less like a woman of the world and more like a little girl. She begins to whimper. “God, why did I leave? My dog back home eats better than I do now.” She knows that more than anything in the world, she wants to go home. Three straight calls home get three straight connections with the answering machine. Finally she leaves a message. “Mom, dad, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, I‘ll understand.” During the seven hour bus ride, she’s preparing a speech for her father. And when the bus comes to a stop in the Traverse City station, the driver announces the fifteen-minute stop. Fifteen minutes to decide her life.
She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. But not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There in the bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and a great-grandmother to boot. They’re all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noise-makers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads – Welcome Home!
Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears quivering in her eyes and begins her memorized speech. He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. We’ll be late. A big party is waiting for you at home.”
I see Dads as being different, Dads just seen to be like some of the tools in the garage that are just sitting there until you need them. I don’t speak as an authority or that I know how to raise children, I am learning, and making many mistakes as I go.
How to Create a Relationship with Your Children…
What do you need to do to create a relationship with your child? The scriptures are the best reference we have, I want to share just 10 examples with you, but this doesn’t include all we need to be as dads.
In the Garden…
These are just a few examples of the relationship human fathers should have with their children. Before this can happen you need to know what is your relationship with God your Father.
Check out Genesis 3:8-9…
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
God demonstrated the relationship He wanted with us. Just for a moment close your eyes picture yourself in the Garden of Eden. The grass is green and lush, there are no weeds, can you feel the soft texture of the grass on your 
feet, do you smell the fragrance of the wonderful flowers surrounding you, do you hear the wonderful songs of the birds serenading you? Listen God has come to the Garden He is calling your name. God wants to walk with you through the Garden and have a discussion with you. Do you think you he will hold your hand, or maybe hum some music, just enjoying each other’s company? Isn’t this a wonderful picture, well this is the way God wants it to be.
Yes here comes the BUT, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and they had to pay the penalty of being separated from God. Adam and Eve changed their relationship with God. But you know God didn’t change His relationship with us. He stills wants to walk with you and me and for us to be close to Him.
Walking Tools: The Armor of God…
God gave us His full armor to be able to stand against evil when we meet it, and we will meet it. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Use the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.
God did this for all of us. God wants us. Even though He gave us these tools, he did not stop there He went much further. He gave us the His precious son Jesus Christ, so that we would be able to live a life that is worthy of the gift of life. Jesus was born, lived as we live, faced the same decisions we face and He did not stray from His relationship with God His Father.
Our Heavenly Father Gave and Gives His All in All…
But just showing, teaching and living was not enough for Him. He gave His all, He gave His life on the cross, He stood before God with our sins, so that we may enjoy a loving relationship with God our Father. Today Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God still representing and pleading on our behalf. Do we deserve this, of course not. We need to ask if we are doing our best to follow all God has done for us? Are we ready to walk in the Garden of Eden with God?
How is our relationship, and are we being obedient to God’s marvelous call?
Quiz Time!
As you reflect on what you’ve just heard/read, give this quiz a try. If you don’t understand an answer (or if you disagree with the “correct” answer, post a comment)…
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