Sermon Title: Awakened - Father's Day Edition

Devotional

Day 1: Behold: God’s Critical Message in the Midst of Drift

When religious routines replace vibrant faith, God interrupts with a “behold” moment. Malachi’s audience had rebuilt temples and restored traditions but drifted into spiritual sleep. The prophet’s “behold” shakes them awake, signaling God’s urgent message: He sends restorers even when His people wander. This isn’t generic encouragement—it’s a divine flare for those mistaking motion for meaning. God still speaks through His Word to those willing to stop, look, and listen. [53:17]

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
(Malachi 4:5-6, KJV)

Reflection: Where have you substituted religious activity for authentic relationship with God? What “behold” moment might He be using to redirect your heart today?

Day 2: Fathers, It Starts with Your Heart’s Orientation

God targets fathers’ hearts first—not their wallets, work ethic, or wisdom. The Hebrew word for “heart” (lebab) encompasses desires, priorities, and ultimate loyalties. Like Adam’s original call to “dress and keep” Eden, fathers are designed to cultivate godly legacies through daily work and worship. When a father’s heart aligns with God’s, children inherit more than rules—they catch holy affections. Spiritual awakening begins when men let God recalibrate their inner compass. [59:40]

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
(Genesis 2:15, NIV)

Reflection: What unconscious priorities does your schedule reveal? How might aligning your heart’s desires with God’s reshape your family’s spiritual climate?

Day 3: Generational Faith: When Fathers Plant, Children Inherit

A father’s spiritual choices echo for generations—for better or worse. Malachi’s prophecy links fathers turning to children with children returning to fathers, creating a cycle of covenant faithfulness. Like a gardener planting sequoia saplings, fathers cultivate what children will one day sit under. This isn’t about perfect performance but consistent orientation: small, daily turnings toward God compound into legacy. [01:05:25]

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
(Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NIV)

Reflection: What faith “saplings” are you planting today that your descendants might benefit from in 100 years?

Day 4: The Dreadful Day: When God’s Judgment Reveals Loyalties

Malachi’s “dreadful day” isn’t fearmongering—it’s reality-checking. The same event that liberates the redeemed devastates the rebellious, like fire refining gold but destroying straw. Fathers model how to face eternity: either clinging to Christ’s redemption or trusting self-made shelters. Eternal security isn’t inherited through family trees but through the blood-bought root of Jesse. [56:32]

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?”
(2 Peter 3:10-12, NIV)

Reflection: Does your life orientation reflect confident hope in Christ’s return or avoidance of eternity’s reality?

Day 5: Awakened to Christ’s Restoration Beyond Boo-Boos

The sermon’s closing “boo-boos” metaphor disarms shame—Christ doesn’t merely cover failures but resurrects new creation. Like Malachi’s 400-year silence breaking into Matthew’s genealogy, God turns dead ends into fresh starts. Awakening isn’t self-improvement but surrendering to the Father who blots out transgressions and births generational purpose. [01:11:03]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NIV)

Reflection: What “closed chapter” do you need to release to God so He can write your next season’s story?

Sermon Summary

Malachi 4:5-6 opens with “behold,” and that word calls for full attention. The text says, pay attention, do not miss this, because God is getting ready to show something critical. God’s people had come back from Babylon, the temple had been rebuilt, and the religious traditions were back in place, but their hearts had drifted. The contrast between looking religious on the outside and being spiritually asleep on the inside calls for an awakening, a mighty move of the Holy Spirit.

God sends Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Elijah’s name itself cries out that Yahweh is God, even before Elijah opens his mouth. Elijah’s ministry is not merely about a physical return of an old prophet, but about the kind of ministry that calls people to repent, to return, and to come back to a living God. The day of the Lord is great for the redeemed because God’s power, deliverance, victory, and promises stand on full display. The same day is dreadful for the wicked because judgment comes to those who reject God’s sin offering in Jesus Christ.

God’s word then turns toward fathers, and the text says the heart of the fathers must be turned to the children. The heart is not just feelings. The heart is affections, desires, priorities, commitments, the whole orientation of life. The Garden shows that man was made to dress and keep, to work and to serve, and fathers must return to that God given responsibility. God does not choose kings, armies, politicians, or “crazy Larry” for this work. God chooses fathers.

The children’s hearts are then turned back to their fathers. Generational life means that what sits in the father’s heart gets communicated to the children. If sin can move from generation to generation, then faith, hope, love, and the heart of God can move that way too. Children still carry responsibility to return, not to live forever blaming what happened twenty or thirty years ago, but to come back to the heart that is aligned with God.

Malachi’s final warning, “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,” leaves a sobering edge. Yet Matthew opens with restoration through the lineage of Jesus Christ. Jesus changes hearts, restores families, reconciles generations, and renews communities. What the locust ate, Christ can restore, because Jesus took the sin penalty, died, was buried, and got up with all power.

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[47:24] - Father’s Day And Malachi Four
[48:33] - Reading Malachi 4:5-6
[49:19] - Awaken Father’s Day Edition
[50:41] - The Heavenly Father Has Always Been There
[52:00] - Religious Outside, Asleep Inside
[53:17] - Behold, God Sends Elijah
[54:45] - The Great And Dreadful Day
[57:38] - Elijah Means Yahweh Is God
[59:08] - Fathers, It Starts With You
[64:06] - The Heart Moves Generationally
[68:08] - Warning, Curse, And Restoration
[69:17] - Jesus Changes Hearts And Families
[73:44] - Invitation To Respond

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Malachi 4:5-6
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” [48:55]

Matthew 1:1
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Genesis 2:15
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Observation questions

In Malachi 4:5-6, what are the two things Elijah is said to do before the day of the Lord comes? [53:17]
What words are used to describe the day of the Lord, and what warning appears at the end of the passage? [54:45]
According to Genesis 2:15, what was the man placed in the garden to do, and how is that work described? [01:00:21]
In Malachi 4:6, whose hearts are turned first, and toward whom are they turned? [59:25]

Interpretation questions

Malachi begins this promise with the word “Behold.” Why does that word matter so much, and what does it reveal about the spiritual condition of people who can look faithful on the outside while drifting on the inside? [52:59]
Elijah’s name points to the truth that Yahweh is God, and Elijah’s ministry calls people to repent and return. What does that suggest about the kind of restoration God wants before the day of the Lord comes? [57:38]
The heart of a father is described as affections, desires, priorities, and commitments, not just feelings. How does that deepen the meaning of “turn the hearts of fathers to their children”? [59:47]
Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ right after Malachi closes with warning. How does that shift help explain the way God answers the curse and brings restoration through Christ? [01:09:06]

Application questions

God’s people can keep religious habits and still drift from him. Where is that danger showing up most in life right now: prayer, worship, obedience, home life, or something else? What would waking up actually look like this week? [52:35]
Fathers are called to turn their hearts, not just improve their image. What has been shaping the heart lately—work, stress, anger, comfort, pride, fear, love for God? What would it look like to return those desires and priorities back to God? [01:00:06]
God gave man work to do and something to keep. In the home, where is there a need to be more present, more prayerful, more steady, or more servant-hearted? [01:00:25]
What sits in a parent’s or mentor’s heart often gets passed down. What is being handed to the next generation right now by words, reactions, habits, and values? What needs to continue, and what needs to stop? [01:04:41]
Children also have a responsibility to turn their hearts back. Is there an old wound, resentment, or excuse that has been allowed to keep shaping the relationship with a father or father figure? What might repentance, honesty, or a first step toward healing look like? [01:07:08]
Jesus restores what sin damaged. In which area is that restoring work needed most right now: a broken family relationship, regret from past failures, a pattern that seems generational, or a heart that has grown cold? [01:09:24]
The gospel means the previous chapter does not get the final word. What would it mean to believe that the next chapter can be different because of Jesus, and what step of faith would match that belief this week? [01:12:39]

Sermon Clips

69s

“See, leading up to this text, we find that Israel has returned from captivity from Babylon. They were back in the land of promise. The temple has been rebuilt. Religious traditions have been restored, but they lacked, and they drifted from God. The people looked religious on the outside, but they were spiritually asleep on the inside. Beloved, I want you to see this. We can have buildings that sit on locations for one hundred years. We can have programs that are a tremendous blessing to those that are outside and inside. We can look like Christians. We can sound like Christians. But if we have drifted away from God, we need a spiritual awakening to wake us up. We need a more mighty move of the holy spirit. We need a mighty move of his will and his way. God is calling us to wake up because he wants to show something.”

47s

“The same expectations that God has for fathers, fathers communicate that to their children. The result is is that the same children show forth the hearts of their fathers. Oh, I wanna make sure you didn't miss that. See, as the heart of the father is, the heart of the children are. And if the heart of the father is pure, then the heart of the children is pure. If the heart of the father wants to please God, guess what the heart of the children would be to please God? It is generational.”

66s

“See, you have to go back to the Garden of Eden to even find out what the purpose of the man was. It was to dress the garden and keep the garden. Dress meaning to work, keep meaning to serve. Man is the one who broke that original design with God. God has given man a responsibility, and the responsibility starts with you. For you need to return, you need to be restored so that God can do a mighty work in you and through you. He wants to pour into a reconcile relationship with you so that your heart is transformed. Your affections are transformed. Your desires are fixed. Your commitment is focused. Working and serving in God's vineyard. Fathers, it starts with you.”

59s

“See, I find something interesting in the text. For God chooses to use fathers. He doesn't choose to use kings. He doesn't choose to use armies, nor priests, nor politicians. No. Your uncle crazy Larry. No. He chooses fathers to the children. It seems like that is a major undertaking, one that has a lot of responsibility to it with eternal ramifications that will require a specialized person to come in and handle. But, no, chooses to use fathers. Man, I've seemed to think that you would think that it would fall into some skilled hands, some trained hands, some important people. But the text says, he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.”

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