Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control, 6/21/15

Sermon 6-21-15  Fruit of the Spirit - Self-Control-Joy  1 Cor 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The series – fruit of the spirit

Self control and joy are cousins.  Self control leads to joy.

The right thing to do is the right thing to do…..

We all want the joy, but it is rarely found without some self control

Good decisions are often difficult at the time, but lead to long term joy.

For many of us the first thing that we think about is how we eat or don’t eat

Exercising.  Eating right.

Aaron israelite – its all mathematics

Pumpkin pie when I was 9 years old

Trip to donut shop when I was 14.

Bought them all.

Donuts are spiritual

Used to be on a donut a day to lose 10 lbs……

Self-control can have much deeper, more spiritual purposes than just being able to say “no” to donuts

During his term as President of the U.S., Lyndon Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion: "You can't run the country if you can't run yourself." Respecting Mrs. Johnson's wise observation, the President lost 23 pounds.

Self control is so much more than what we eat or drink……..

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies………

We live within a culture that pretty much encourages the lack of self-control

We are taught that joy is found by taking

For example –

"Betcha can't eat __just ___one____"

Its never enough

We are told to want more and more and more and more. And new and new and new

How about the sneaches?

God is not the cosmic killjoy

It’s got to be more than God not wanting us to have bad habits

Selfishness and unrelenting self indulgence is bad for you

Bleeds over into the church – we begin to think that we are consumers…..s

When I think about self control, one of the things that I think about is……..

Bringing every thought into captivity

⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:4-5

Frequently, when I think about self-control & how having more of it helps me grow closer to Jesus that I think about things like:

·        Protecting my mind from lust

·        Guarding my heart against resenting or hating my brother or sister

·        Throw the catalogues away if you don’t need anything……..

Some years ago I quit a bad habit [smoking]

I didn’t feel more spiritual, but I felt joy that that thing no longer had control of me

Joy in difficulty

Weeping lasts for a night but joy comes in the morning.  Psalm 30

          The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight

What hurts today will likely feel differently tomorrow

Email- really pastor? Just see the good

Toopta lost her fortune – sulked the rest of her life                    PICTURE

          YES YOU LOST YOUR MONEY

          YES THEY FIRED YOU

          YES YOU GOT DIVORCED

          YES YOU LOST YOUR HAIR

          AND YES YOU CAN STILL HAVE JOY

Yes, joy can come to us if we choose it.

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,  but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov 17:22

Joy is a choice

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years.  At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."

Phil middleton/mike greenlee in princeton

The staff at st johns in Houston

Learning to let the joy go

A conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren't free to say "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord." All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Let your balloon go.

Just as we train for a sporting event, we can train for spiritual life

Loving god does not come naturally to most people.  It must be cultivated.

We naturally love our selves

We don’t think we need it until a problem arises

New Sunday school class…….

“Train yourselves in prayer and reading the Scriptures”

Visited w a young man who told me that he had not been practicing religion………

Not going to church

I thought that he might not just run out and start because we were talking

I wanted to give him an easy place to start……

Go outside, look up……look around.  Say thank you…..

That is practicing religion

There is lots of joy in life, if we just look to see it.

Transition to fathers day

Paul is saying The Game is BIGGER than us as individuals.

Parents,  aunts and uncles, yes even grandparents need to instill self control……

Put also deliver a little joy……..

I told you that we would start w self discipline and end w joy

Here is

Father’s day

cloudy with a chance of meatballs……..2009

earl the deputy - Cal’s birth day clip

http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs/cals-birthday

God Our Father, Father's Day, Deuteronomy 33:26-29, 06/15/14

9Sermon 6-15-14       fathers day       deut 33:26-29

²⁶ “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. ²⁷ The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’ ²⁸ So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell^[f] secure in a land of grain and new wine where the heavens drop dew. ²⁹ Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”

Who is Jeshurun? -- is a poetic name for Israel. Derived from root word meaning upright, just, straight

Lots of old testament passages like this…….

those who are oppressed seem to measure God in terms of God vanquishing their enemies

it doesn’t mean that you should pray for your enemies to flounder.

Underneath it all are the everlasting arms

Its fathers day

Jim truschke- mothers day, mothers are great.  Fathers day,dads are bad.

Sacrilegious to say that neither are religious holidays

But you would think that they were

Fathers day……maybe you are not a father and you wanted to be

Maybe your father was not nice.  Maybe you didn’t know your father.

God as father

Some don’t like to talk about god as father  because of things like this

My father was not perfect, but I have an idea of what a father should be like

And I personally feel comfortable calling him father

Even though we know that god is not a man or a woman

So is the sermon ever going to start?

I was thinking about all of this fathers day stuff.  should I talk about fathers? The heavenly father?

I thought of the first memory of my earthly father- oddly I compared it to the heavenly father

An interesting thing started to develop.

 I thought it interesting that the comparison of experiences seem to offer meaning

My first memory of my father

Yelling on Easter / the angry god of guilt

Fixing something on stairs/ the number of things that God has fixed over the years

Not around – god seems distant.  The heavens are brass

Ps 10

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?   Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Ps 13

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?   How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts   and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Then there were the times that I was not around…….

How did my dad feel? Cats in the cradle

aaron Israelite……..how did my dad feel?

Wow.  How does God feel? Cats in the cradle?

Enjoying nature- national parks/ the witness of creation

Yellowstone, grand Tetons, mesa verde, painted desert, petrified forest, Yosemite, muir woods, big sur, lassen, glacier, brice canyon, sequoia, crater lake, grand canyon

The witness of creation. Ps 19 the heavens declare

The last day at Yellowstone….shaken out of the bag

Allowing me to stand on my own feet- algebra problems

Preparing me for the future

Teaching us songs- throw the houlihan/choir director.  Singing in church

a song in my heart

I ride an old Paint and I lead an old Dan
Goin' to Montana to throw the houlihan

Feed them in the coulees, then water in the draw
Their tails are all matted and their backs are all raw

When I die take my saddle from the wall
Put it onto my pony, lead him out of his stall
Tie my bones on his back and turn our faces to the west
We'll ride the prairies that we love the best

A song in my heart ps 40

I waited patiently for the Lord;    he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock  and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,    a hymn of praise to our God.

Becoming friends-/ what a friend we have in Jesus

Want to go to my fathers table

Hugs from dad/Prodigal son story- sees the father from afar

Underneath it all are the everlasting arms.

The Pursuit of God - Part 1 Psalm 63:1-8

Sermon 6-16-13 AW Tozer…the pursuit of God xk

Chpt 1 Following Hard After God

Scripture:  Psalm 63:1-8

 ¹ You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. ² I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. ³ Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. ⁴ I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.   ⁶ On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. ⁷ Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

introduction

New series based on tozers book

Who he was

Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 - May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor [Christian and Missionary Alliance], preacher, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor.^[1] For his work, he received two honorary doctorate degrees [Wheaton College & Houghton College but had no college degree].

The sense that the book title sounds hard…pursuit of God

Book is avail in the bookstore

But it is not about making spirituality heavy, but  making spirituality relevant

Why this series is here

He felt that the church was going the wrong way, and it was 1946!!

pursuing God

Chapter one- following hard after God

Fathers day thought -1991 Hook – happy thought.  I’m a dad!

What should a person/a Christian father pursue?

Do the right thing –

Build Character, discover a relevant spirituality

Men’s Ministry/Father’s Day (really all of us)
The goal of Men’s Ministry is to come alongside men as they seek to become better husbands, fathers, grandfathers, role models, mentors and friends.  This looks like learning, experiencing and living out the Great Commandment to Love God and Love Neighbor.  Not an end, but a way of life.

I love baseball, we had a wonderful ball game in the circle a few years ago.

but just teaching kids baseball isn’t enough

All of our lives need another side, a deeper

The pursuit of God begins w God - Methodists teach prevenient grace

We love him because he first loved us 1 jn 4:19       SLIDE

The impulse to pursue god originates with him

So we are pursuing God, but we are not taking the credit

Yet, We all have a spiritual side

Our deepest Spiritual connections come from God

Psalm  42

As the deer pants for streams of water,  so my soul pants for you, my God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God… …..7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;

We all have a spiritual side but we have missed the boat

Yet we Christians have gotten it wrong- what it isn’t…….

Yet the church has made it so shallow…. And this is 1946

Christianity has become transactional, mechanical and spiritless”

Christ may be "received" without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is "saved," but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little.

Transactional Christianity looks like this

Hello Jesus yes I choose you

Shake hands with someone in the congregation

Walk away

Do I know that person?

“How tragic......everything is made to center in on the initial act of accepting God and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls...

·        a logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek him.”

·        Spirituality may begin here, but it is much more than a cursory handshake w Jesus

The church has engaged in trivial pursuit
Thinking of the game where you are rewarded for knowing lots of trivia

Many of us have “majored in the minors.” 

We settle for trivial pursuits (i.e. fame, fortune, power)

In the end anything less than pursuing God results in a life that is a fraction of the life God offers us.

We know much of the bible, but little of God

We know much of doctrine, but little of God

Tozer said,  “it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth....the Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring man to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter  into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.”

The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word. (14)

In his 1786 “Thoughts upon Methodism,” Wesley wrote:
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

We get stuck in the humanness of the moment.  The mechanics of a thing.

Stuck in churchiness

We sing a song and are caught up in the mechanics; should I sing? That person sings loudly – that drums are too loud – the words are off

And we never actually sang, never lifted our hearts to God never told him that we love him, never entered in.

A savoring is needed- a leaning into Christ.  A savoring of God

John 17:3 ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Transition-Salvation is not an ending but a beginning

The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition…It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the God

The infinite riches  of god, his joy.  His love.  His peace.

So there is more than this choice……ok, say more

Jn 3- ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

here is an invitation to spend time in the deeper part of your life.

When we begin to allow god to speak to us….

When we listen in prayer

Our life begins to be submitted to him in a greater way

This is not heavy but joyful

It is not difficult, but it is simple.  simplistic

Simplicity…come as a child

Strip down to essentials

Wesley focus on essentials

Strip down our theology

I don’t want to know about God, I want to know God

          Who are you God

          Who am I god?

          How can I be about your work today?

Paul said, "That I may know Him" (Philippians 3:10)

When we start to get on God’s wave length, we recognize that We know him; yet long for him more

holy people have a desire for God

Jacob wrestles with the angel.  Genesis

Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. (15)

Although the concept of a personal relationship is not specifically scriptural,

it is our experience that god is known personally.  Not via the pastor, not via your grandmother, but personally.

Describe how this happens for you  Pastor Gerald Fry, after work on Wed night

Moses prayed "O God, show me thy glory." (Exodus 33:18) People that seek God want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God. 

“The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man in the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”

Conclusion –

God waits to be wanted.

seeking God, spiritual discovery does not narrow one's life, but brings it, rather, to the level of highest possible fulfillment.

My hope is that your heart will burn for God. Yes for his church. Yes for his book, mostly for him

Lets pray together
O Father, at times I have so felt your presence, and your goodness.  
It was good and I wanted more!  
At other times I have been aware of my lack of desire and lack of thirst for you. 
I am painfully aware of my  need for grace.  
O Father, Son, and Holy  Spirit, I want to want you, not "sometimes",  but at all times, I want to thirst for you always.
Begin in mercy, a new work within me!
Say to my soul, “Rise up, my friend, and come away with me.” 
Then give me grace to rise and follow you up from "the misty lowland in which I have wandered for so long.
Raise me up.  Set my feet on a rock and give me a firm place to stand" not “sometimes”, but at all times. In Jesus' name, AMEN

Fathers Day Beyond Belief - Abraham & Isaac 06/17/2012

Sermon father’s day 6-17-12 beyond belief- Abraham and Isaac

Genesis 22:1-8 NIV 1984
Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”“Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about. ” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. ” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

What is the story
Why is this story hard to believe
I find it hard to believe that God would ask this of anyone
I find it hard to believe that they would go through with it

Abraham is called by God
I am your shield and your reward
No children
I will make you a great nation….as much as the sand of the sea shore

Hagar and Ishmael

Son at a late age…the son of the promise

Called to sac son
Collected servants, donkeys, wood for journey

Abraham trusted God

At the moment of sacrifice, Isaac is spared

A Ram is stuck I the thicket
He becomes the sacrifice

Abraham and Isaac walk down the mountain
Today this is a famous mountain

I wonder what Isaac thinks about all of this?

This story cuts to the quick and asks how much do we believe in God?

Lessons from this story
1. Almost everything in life must be prepared for –
The servants, the wood, the journey, even the knife
In life there is no free lunch

2. Commitment is a cornerstone of successful relationships
I am in this for you and us, not just me
We sacrifice our children to everything else,
Work, money, Sports, selfishness
why not give them to God?

The need for a father to give the child to God
Hannah and Samuel

3. Everyone has a boss, everyone has a father, everyone has a God
Tough lesson to learn

4. I love you enough to do the right thing
It is not your job to make them happy

5. I love you enough to allow, even cause you pain
I am crying over this, but you must learn

6. God will always provide
He is always trustworthy

7. Knowing god is more important than even life itself
One of life’s toughest lessons

At the deathbed of the saints it is put to the test. Is there faith?

8. Your moments with God will shape you forever
You will mark your life by experiences with God

9. Tim c and his landlord
In the moment of life and death, we remember what is important
Don’t wait that long to value those whom you hold dear
Lets not wait for the moment of truth to love and honor God

10. What we find beyond belief, God actually does
Again man was in need of rescue
Again a sacrifice was called for.
This time, a son wouldn’t be placed on an altar, but on a cross.
We call him the Lamb of God, a perfect sacrifice, he is Jesus the Christ.

What we struggle to imagine, Jesus accepted.
Though it is death we should experience, we are offered new life.

So to our earthly fathers, and to our heavenly father,
Happy fathers day

Fathers Day Galatians4:1-7 06/15/08

Fathers Day Galatians4:1-7 06/15/08
1What i am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is not difference from a slaves, although he owned the whole estate. 2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under basic principles of the world. 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

What do I want for fathers day? No tie, no shirt, no shelf for my boxing trophies...what I want for fathers day, you cannot wrap
I want two things
I want my children to love their mother,
An I want them to love one another
When you love your mother, and love one another, you honor me.
If you don't love each other, no neck tie is going to sooth the pain.
You are brothers and sisters....live that out

I think God wants the same thing for his children too.

The scripture today tells us that we are no longer slave, we are sons, sons and daughters of God. That means we have a father.

On fathers day we usually think vertically
What does it mean to have a father
It means that someone loves me
Kneau Reaves in parenthood...you need a license to hunt, to fish, to drive a car, they will let anyone be a father...it takes someone special to be a dad

a "childless couple who wanted to adopt a little boy approximately 6 years old. They had visited several adoption agencies and finally found a child that was a match for their family. As they visited with the child, the wife said, "If you would come and live with us, you could have your own private room, a nice yard with play equipment and all the toys you could ever want. Would you like to come and live with us? "The little boy hesitated a moment and said, "No I don't think so." The couple was stunned, They felt that they had offered the child everything a child could want. The husband said to the boy, "We've offered you everything anyone could want. What more do you want?" In words far beyond his years, the child replied, "I have a nice yard and a playground here at the home. I don't need that. I just want someone to love me." Farrell, Cries From the Cross (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994) 36.

Don't you know that children all over the world of all ages are looking for a dad

Adoption ministry
Amazing things that they are doing...every child needs a loving home

Misty Dixon...if you are looking to care...

On fathers day, we should also think horizontally
We should look to our earthly siblings and thank God for them.
I have two sisters. We weren't always close
But we are a part of the same family
I love them and they are mine
I honor them today and give thanks for them

On fathers day we must remember that we are adopted into God's family
we have a heavenly father
ok, now I an ok. I am loved by God. It means more than that
if all of us have the same father, then we are brother and sisters in Christ.

that is why hospitality in our church is so important...every person who is waking in the door is looking to feel that the belong
do you greet them? Do you hug them? Do you take time to make a connection with them?

Sit in different places....

the most powerful thing a church can do is to show God's love
To visitors, to new Christians, to those who have a different theological background than you do, to those who hurt you in the past.

Rules for my childre
You never leave you wingman
this person will always be your brother, will alays be your sister.
stand up for them, stand with them
we are a team, we are a unit, one day you will stand at the funeral of your parents. You will need each other in such moments.
your brother and sister are God's gift to you
love one another, forgive one another

The Cundiff brothers picture
this picture embodies what I am speaking about
do they never fight, no, I'm sure they have their moments
but they have trained, worked
we are only successful in the race of life when we are successful together and so I have done what I can and now I am straining to launch you and while you run, everything inside of me is going to be rooting for you
brothers we are brothers

we are brothers and sisters
look around your church...who are these people?
this may not look like any other church you have been a part of
the worship may be a little different
that is not the point.
this may be a different house, but we are all adopted into God's family
you bave no enemies here. If you are thinking that, you are thinking wrong/
Our souls are connected in ways that you cannot even see.

Jesus' Mothers and Brothers
Matthew12:46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stool outside, whanting to speak to him, 47someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.

48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my borthers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my father is heaven is my brother and sister and mother."


Dances with wolves
I am wind in his hair
Do you see that I am your friend?
Can you see that you will always be my friend?

Maybe you are here and you don't sense what I am talking about
That doesn't mean that it is not true
We haven't known each other for very long...
That is not the point...
You are a child of God, hw loves you deeply
You are my brother, you are my sister

Happy faters day, heavenly father. From your loving children. Amen

Pray, o Lord, let me see that we are connected. Let me see that these people are my brothers and sisters. I thank you for them.

Father's Day Romans 8:12-17 6-19-02

Sermon 6-19-02 fathers day Romans 8:14-17
I am not a perfect father
Always something that your children could say in a bad light
Like to be know as one of the good ones
Like to thing that for every bad one there was 50 good stories

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes from above from the father
List gifts that fathers give

Do our fathers love us?
My dad loved me, showed it by a,b,c
Taught me about values
Shoes, not new, but shoes
Taught me to respect my mother
Heard it first when I was 38

Earthly parents usually provide intellectual or emotional
Rarely the spiritual and character guidance needed
1960 17% no biological father present
1990 38% no biological father present
some inner city neighborhoods 80% no biological father present

Someone must love our children……
Allen Walden’s letter
Like to tell my children how I feel about them today
• Everynight when I lock the doors before bed……
• Everynight when I go in to check on you….
• Every day that I leave lunch money on the table….
• Everytime I drive you somewhere……
• Everytime we share a joke…..
• Everytime I invite you to work around the house…..
• Everytime I am hugging you…. Everytime we have a talk….
• Every time that I tell you that I love you, I m telling you that I love you

Abba Father………….Daddy
We don’t get it

Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ
Except your inability to understand and appropriate it

Someone here in the pews that you like
Who is it
Stand up …they are excited about you.
God is more excited than that
This is how he feels about you…..happy fathers day
This love is the tie that binds

Hearts of the Fathers to the Children Malachi 4:1-6 6-17-01

Sermon 6-17-01 Fathers Day
Mal 4:1-6 Hearts of the fathers to the children

Men Jokes

No more serious subject than fatherhood
Christian….yes
Husband…yes
Fatherhood is one of the major arenas where our faith is played out

Malachi prophecies
John the Baptist
The work of Christ in restoring relationships

Hearts of the fathers to the children
Hearts need to be changed

• Submitted hearts
Moses…take off your shoes, you are on holy ground
Never trust anyone who isn’t someone elses sheep

• Working hearts
Bring in the bacon
Work around the house
Work with the family/work at the family

• Home is where the heart is
Hearts that know where home is
Hearts are pulled away
Bowling/hobbies/friends/others
Life can be frustrating
Go home
They need you

Erma bombeck story

Close…blest be the tie that binds