Finding, Walking, Sharing The Way: A Father's Calling

Devotional

Day 1: When "Holy" Becomes Your Compass

The threefold cry of "holy" isn’t religious repetition but a revelation of God’s complete otherness. This divine holiness becomes the plumb line for earthly fathers – not perfectionism, but a surrendered heart beating to heaven’s rhythm. Like Isaiah’s coal-touched lips, fathers are called to let God’s purity shape their words, actions, and legacy. True holiness isn’t isolation from life but immersion in God’s presence while navigating Walmart runs and parenting dilemmas. [43:00]

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary moment this week can become your “holy ground” when approached with God’s presence? Where might your family need you to model God’s wholeness more than worldly success?

Day 2: Emmaus Road Fathers Still Get Directions

Cleopas’ seven-mile wrong turn became sacred ground when Jesus joined the journey. Earthly fathers walk roads of doubt too – career uncertainties, parenting missteps, fading stamina. Yet resurrection power meets us in the detours. The test isn’t flawless navigation but willingness to let the Living Word reroute us. [01:06:19]

“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.” (Luke 24:13-15, ESV)

Reflection: What “Emmaus moment” from your past – a decision that felt like a mistake – might Jesus want to redeem through today’s honest conversation with Him?

Day 3: Arm-Wrestling Honesty With God

True fathering begins when we stop posing and start confessing – to God, ourselves, and our families. Like the pastor’s admission about his parenting regrets, spiritual leadership isn’t performance art. It’s bringing our real struggles to the One who turns Slim Jim budgets and closet-stored regrets into grace-filled teaching moments. [50:07]

“An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship.” (Proverbs 24:26, NLT)

Reflection: What’s one unspoken fear about fatherhood you need to “arm-wrestle into the light” this week? How might voicing it change your family’s spiritual climate?

Day 4: The Ministry of Mistaken Turns

Cleopas’ blunder – leaving Jerusalem right before Pentecost – mirrors every father’s fear of missing God’s move. Yet Jesus didn’t scold the wrong turn; He walked it. Earthly fathers discover that holy parenting isn’t about perfect timing but present connection. Sometimes the best legacy is showing kids how to course-correct with grace. [01:12:04]

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5, ESV)

Reflection: What current parenting decision feels like a “seven-mile mistake”? How might inviting Jesus into it transform anxiety into anticipation?

Day 5: Breaking Bread in the Detours

When Jesus turned their rushed supper into revelation, Cleopas learned holy fathering happens in interruptions. The rushed dinners, chaotic carpool moments, and “why’s the dog eating Pokemon cards?” crises become communion tables. Presence, not perfection, makes eternal impact. [01:24:49]

“Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7, NLT)

Reflection: What mundane family routine could become your holy “bread-breaking” moment this week? How will you recognize Christ’s presence there?

Sermon Summary

Father’s Day comes with a lot of weight, but the finger over the head saying, “Here’s what you did wrong,” is not the road here. Fatherhood gets seen through all kinds of pictures, good dads on old TV, bumbling dads in newer shows, absent dads, loved dads, dads already gone to the next place. But the word “father” did not start with culture, television, or family history. God was the first Father, so God gets the naming rights.

Jesus comes in Matthew 6 and shuffles the deck. The Father is not just “my Father” in some far off, untouchable way. Jesus says, “your Father,” the Father who sees in secret, the Father who rewards, the Father who listens. Jesus reveals that when the woman caught in adultery is forgiven, the Father is forgiving through Jesus. When the blind man is healed, the Father is healing through Jesus. The Father is not “the man upstairs,” not a copilot, not someone too holy to approach through a religious middleman. The Father has the hairs numbered and the cells held together, so the Father is listening.

Holy, holy, holy becomes the root of the whole tree. Love can turn into unholy love. Joy can become the drunken foolishness of Downtown Gilbert. Peace can become hiding in a prayer closet when God meant marching orders. But holy love, holy joy, and holy peace keep a man from becoming a Pharisee with Bible verses in his hand and no Father’s heart in his life.

Fatherhood then has a simple purpose: find the way, walk the way, and share the way. A father cannot lead a family if he himself is lost. A father cannot simply say he believes and then drift along until heaven. A father finds Jesus, walks with God, and shares that road without forcing the kids into fake religion.

Luke 24 gives Cleopas as the Emmaus father. Cleopas has good intentions, bad direction, wrong understanding, and a mouth full of confusion. Yet Jesus walks with him anyhow. Cleopas leaves the place where God is about to move, argues with God without knowing it, and still gets chosen. His mistakes do not cancel the walk, because mistakes are not the same as sin. God seems to pick him because he is still an honest man, a man whose words can carry weight when he returns to the others.

Honesty becomes nonnegotiable for a father. A father has to be honest with God, honest with himself, and honest with his family. Honesty also means being teachable, because God cannot relate to the lie. The Emmaus road shows that time with Jesus opens eyes, burns hearts, and sends a man back home with a witness: holy, holy, holy.

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Key Takeaways

1. God defines true fatherhood God was the first Father, so God gets the right to say what a father is. Earthly examples can help or hurt, but they do not carry final authority over the word. A man learns fatherhood best by looking at the Father Jesus revealed, not by chasing guilt, image, or cultural noise. [53:26]
2. The Father is actually listening Jesus reveals a Father who sees in secret and pays attention to His children. The Father is not too far away, too busy, or too holy to hear the honest cry of a son or daughter. If God is holding together the body cell by cell, then the concerns of the heart are not beneath Him. [59:19]
3. Holy is the root Holiness is not cold religion or Pharisee behavior. Holiness is the root that makes love clean, joy clean, and peace obedient instead of passive. Without holy at the root, even good words can become crooked and even spiritual practices can become hiding places. [60:50]
4. Fathers find, walk, and share A father is called to find the way, walk the way, and share the way with the family. Leadership is not loud control or perfect performance, but an honest life moving in the right direction. Children often receive what is lived before them more deeply than what is forced upon them. [62:41]
5. Mistakes are not the same as sin Cleopas walks the wrong way with wrong understanding, and Jesus still walks beside him. That is good news for flawed fathers who fear making a bad decision. God can work with honest mistakes, but a dishonest heart loses the road while pretending it already knows the map.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[43:00] - Prayer and Opening Scripture
[46:53] - Father’s Day Greetings and Gifts
[47:18] - Remembering Earthly Fathers
[48:39] - Father’s Day Without the Guilt Trip
[53:26] - God Has Naming Rights
[55:33] - Jesus Reveals Your Father
[58:12] - Seeing the Father Through Jesus
[60:50] - Holy as the Root of Life
[62:41] - Find, Walk, and Share the Way
[66:19] - Cleopas on the Emmaus Road
[71:25] - A Father With Good Intentions
[74:24] - Honest Men Carry Weight
[80:33] - Teachable Hearts Hear Scripture
[90:19] - Practical Counsel for Fathers

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 6:1-6 (ESV)
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Luke 24:13-32 (ESV)
(Read the full Emmaus Road encounter with Cleopas and Jesus)

Observation Questions

In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus repeatedly uses the phrase “your Father” instead of “my Father” or “their Father.” What does this reveal about how Jesus wants His followers to relate to God? [56:03]
In Luke 24, Cleopas leaves Jerusalem confused and discouraged after Jesus’ crucifixion. What specific mistakes or misunderstandings does he make during his conversation with Jesus? [11:25]
The sermon emphasized that holiness is the “root” of love, joy, and peace. What examples were given of how these virtues become distorted without holiness? [01:01:17]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus shifts the language in Matthew 6 from a distant, Old Testament view of God to a personal “your Father” relationship? How does this redefine authority and intimacy?
The sermon said, “Mistakes are not the same as sin.” How does Cleopas’ story in Luke 24 illustrate this distinction, and why is it significant for fathers? [01:12:04]
Holiness is described as the foundation for “clean” love, joy, and peace. What might it look like for someone to pursue holiness without becoming legalistic or cold? [01:01:02]

Application Questions

Jesus says the Father “sees in secret” and rewards openly. What is one area of your life where you need to stop performing for others’ approval and instead focus on God’s quiet presence?
Cleopas was honest about his confusion, even arguing with Jesus. Where do you need to practice that same honesty with God, family, or yourself? [01:15:16]
The sermon challenged fathers to “find, walk, and share the way.” What is one practical step you can take this week to model faith (not perfection) to those watching your life? [01:04:06]
How could prioritizing “holy, holy, holy” as the root of your decisions reshape a specific habit, relationship, or goal in your life?
Cleopas’ story shows Jesus walking with him despite his mistakes. What fear or regret about past failures might God be inviting you to release so you can keep moving forward? [01:16:20]
The Father “has the hairs numbered and the cells held together.” How might trusting His care for details change how you pray about your family’s needs? [59:42]

Sermon Clips

80s

“``I would say it's three things. We'll go down this path. The first purpose is to find the way. Because as a father, you are created by God to lead your family. But how can you lead your family if you yourself are lost? You lead them in the wrong direction into the wrong things. So as a father, the first thing we must do is we have to find the way. The second thing we need to really do is to learn how to walk the way. Not just, well, now I'm a believer. Once saved, always saved. Thank God I'm a country boy. It's not that I'll be saved, I'll just hang out, go to heaven. It's not that, well, our you know, we go to church a couple times a year, but it's better than nothing. Anytime you go to church is good, but walk with God. But it's finding the way, it's walking the way, and finally, what's really important, it's sharing the way with your family. It's finding the way, it's walking the way, and then it's sharing the way.”

48s

“I will say this, if you want to be effective as a father, you must be an honest man. You gotta look in the mirror, be honest with yourself. You gotta be able to look at God and be honest with him. You gotta look at your family and be honest with them. Yes. You can make mistakes. Mistakes are not the same as sin. They're just mistakes. But you have to be an honest person. And I do believe, my opinion, my inference is that it only makes sense to choose this man if he could be a faithful and true witness and his words would have weight to them when he got there. So I believe that's the case.”

45s

“He made mistakes. He left at the wrong time, going the wrong direction with the wrong doctrine, talking to Jesus and saying gibberish. And God picked him anyhow. So you flawed father. Hooray. Fathers are flawed in that regard that we are not perfect. And some men, I believe, they're afraid to father because they don't wanna make mistakes. Who am I to lead this family? You know, what do I have to say? You got plenty to say. Find the road, walk on the road, and then share that road. Amen?”

46s

“We have his full attention. He said the hairs on your head are all numbered. And that's really understating the case because he's the one making every cell in your body work. So do you think he's interested in what you got to say? If he's keeping track of your 15,000,000,000,000 cells or whatever you got, I think he's probably interested in what you got to say. Yes. Because he's a listening father. He's a listening father. So Jesus revealed and he came to show us father, father, father is what he called him. Do you think men that God is telling us something here that we as men could learn?”

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Finding, Walking, Sharing The Way: A Father's Calling

Devotional

Day 1: When "Holy" Becomes Your Compass

Day 2: Emmaus Road Fathers Still Get Directions

Day 3: Arm-Wrestling Honesty With God

Day 4: The Ministry of Mistaken Turns

Day 5: Breaking Bread in the Detours

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Finding, Walking, Sharing The Way: A Father's Calling

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