by Hope City Church on Jun 16, 2024
### Summary
Today, we celebrate Father's Day by honoring not only our earthly fathers but also our Heavenly Father, who loves and cares for us deeply. Our Heavenly Father had a plan from the beginning to save us, and His love is the ultimate example of what a father's love should be. Regardless of our earthly experiences with our fathers, we can always look to God as the perfect model of fatherhood.
Drawing from the story of Mufasa and Simba in "The Lion King," we are reminded that everything that belongs to our Heavenly Father is also ours. We are encouraged to remember who we are and where we come from, just as Simba was reminded by Mufasa. This morning, we delve into Ephesians 3:14-20, where Paul speaks about the magnificent love and strength that God imparts to us. This love is not just a brute strength but a glorious inner strength that allows us to live full lives in the fullness of God.
We are called to live like the Father, embodying His characteristics. The first characteristic is correction. Hebrews 12:5-11 teaches us that God's discipline, though painful, is a sign of His love and produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. The second characteristic is molding. Jeremiah 18:1-6 illustrates how God, like a potter, molds and shapes us, sometimes starting over to perfect us. The third characteristic is healing. Psalm 147:3 tells us that God heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds, offering mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:13-24 shows us that the Father always welcomes us home, no matter how far we have strayed. This unconditional love and acceptance are what we should strive to emulate. Finally, we are reminded of the importance of planning and organizing our families, just as God planned our salvation.
### Key Takeaways
1. **God's Discipline as a Sign of Love**: God's discipline, though often painful, is a profound expression of His love for us. It is designed to correct and guide us, producing a harvest of righteousness and peace. Embracing God's discipline helps us grow and align more closely with His will. [49:33]
2. **The Potter's Hand**: Like a potter with clay, God molds and shapes us, sometimes starting over to perfect us. This process may involve crumpling and reshaping, but it is always aimed at making us better and more aligned with His purpose. Trusting in God's molding process is essential for spiritual growth. [56:33]
3. **Holistic Healing**: God offers comprehensive healing—mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. He places people and resources in our lives to facilitate this healing, ensuring that we are whole and capable of fulfilling His purpose for us. Embracing all forms of God's healing is crucial for a balanced and fulfilling life. [01:04:00]
4. **Unconditional Welcome**: The story of the prodigal son illustrates that no matter how far we stray, God's arms are always open to welcome us back. This unconditional love and acceptance are central to God's nature and should inspire us to extend the same grace to others. [01:09:32]
5. **Purpose and Position**: God may change our positions or circumstances, but our purpose remains the same. Understanding that our purpose is constant, even when our roles or locations change, helps us stay focused and faithful to God's plan for our lives. [01:02:39]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[35:41] - Introduction and Father's Day Celebration
[37:06] - Summer of Hope Series
[38:07] - The Ultimate Example of a Father's Love
[39:15] - Mufasa and Simba: Remember Who You Are
[41:45] - Ephesians 3:14-20: The Father's Love and Strength
[44:14] - God as the Model for Fatherhood
[46:55] - Characteristics of the Father: Correction
[49:48] - Embracing God's Discipline
[56:33] - Characteristics of the Father: Molding
[01:04:00] - Characteristics of the Father: Healing
[01:07:34] - The Prodigal Son: The Father Welcomes Us Home
[01:10:44] - Confidence and Love
[01:16:56] - Forgiveness and Acceptance
[01:17:53] - Organization of the Family
[01:20:30] - Invitation to Come Home
[01:22:04] - Closing Prayer and Call to Salvation
### Bible Reading
1. Ephesians 3:14-20
2. Hebrews 12:5-11
3. Jeremiah 18:1-6
### Observation Questions
1. According to Ephesians 3:14-20, what kind of strength does Paul pray for believers to receive from God? How is this strength described? [42:16]
2. In Hebrews 12:5-11, what is the purpose of God's discipline according to the passage? [47:58]
3. What does the potter do when the clay turns out badly in Jeremiah 18:1-6? How does this relate to God's actions towards us? [56:33]
### Interpretation Questions
1. How does understanding God's discipline as an act of love change our perspective on the hardships we face? [49:04]
2. What does it mean to be molded by God like clay in the hands of a potter? How can this process be both challenging and beneficial? [56:33]
3. How can the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:13-24 help us understand God's unconditional love and acceptance? [01:09:01]
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's discipline. How did it help you grow in your faith and character? [49:04]
2. In what areas of your life do you feel God is currently molding you? How can you be more receptive to His shaping process? [56:33]
3. Have you ever felt brokenhearted or wounded? How did you experience God's healing in that situation? [01:04:00]
4. Think about a time when you strayed from God like the prodigal son. How did you feel when you returned to Him? How can you extend that same grace to others? [01:09:01]
5. How can you better plan and organize your family life to reflect God's intentionality and care? What specific steps can you take this week? [01:17:53]
6. Identify one characteristic of God as a Father (discipline, molding, healing, unconditional love) that you want to emulate more in your own life. What practical steps can you take to develop this characteristic? [46:55]
7. How can you remind yourself daily of your identity and inheritance as a child of God, similar to how Simba was reminded by Mufasa? [41:45]
Day 1: Embracing God's Loving Discipline
God's discipline, though often painful, is a profound expression of His love for us. It is designed to correct and guide us, producing a harvest of righteousness and peace. Embracing God's discipline helps us grow and align more closely with His will. Just as a loving earthly father corrects his children to help them grow into responsible and mature adults, our Heavenly Father disciplines us to shape our character and strengthen our faith. This process, while sometimes uncomfortable, is a testament to His deep love and commitment to our spiritual growth.
When we face challenges or corrections, it is essential to remember that these are not signs of God's displeasure but rather His loving guidance. By accepting and learning from His discipline, we can experience the peace and righteousness that come from living in alignment with His will. Reflect on the times when you have felt God's corrective hand in your life and consider how these moments have contributed to your spiritual growth and maturity. [49:33]
Hebrews 12:11 (ESV): "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you felt God's discipline. How did it help you grow, and what steps can you take to embrace His guidance more fully in your daily life?
Day 2: Trusting the Potter's Hand
Like a potter with clay, God molds and shapes us, sometimes starting over to perfect us. This process may involve crumpling and reshaping, but it is always aimed at making us better and more aligned with His purpose. Trusting in God's molding process is essential for spiritual growth. Just as a potter carefully and patiently works with the clay to create a beautiful and functional vessel, God works in our lives to shape us into the people He wants us to be.
This molding process can be challenging, as it often requires us to let go of our own plans and submit to God's will. However, by trusting in His wisdom and love, we can be confident that He is working all things for our good. Reflect on the areas of your life where you feel God is molding you and consider how you can more fully surrender to His shaping hand. [56:33]
Jeremiah 18:4 (ESV): "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do."
Reflection: In what areas of your life do you feel God is currently molding you? How can you trust Him more fully in this process and allow Him to shape you according to His purpose?
Day 3: Embracing Holistic Healing
God offers comprehensive healing—mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. He places people and resources in our lives to facilitate this healing, ensuring that we are whole and capable of fulfilling His purpose for us. Embracing all forms of God's healing is crucial for a balanced and fulfilling life. Just as a loving father cares for every aspect of his child's well-being, our Heavenly Father is concerned with our complete health and wholeness.
When we experience brokenness or pain, it is essential to seek God's healing in all areas of our lives. This may involve prayer, seeking counsel from trusted friends or mentors, and utilizing the resources God has provided. By embracing His holistic healing, we can experience the fullness of life that He intends for us. Reflect on the areas of your life where you need healing and consider how you can invite God's healing touch into those areas. [01:04:00]
Psalm 147:3 (ESV): "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Reflection: Identify one area of your life where you need God's healing. How can you actively seek His healing touch and utilize the resources He has provided to facilitate this process?
Day 4: Welcoming with Unconditional Love
The story of the prodigal son illustrates that no matter how far we stray, God's arms are always open to welcome us back. This unconditional love and acceptance are central to God's nature and should inspire us to extend the same grace to others. Just as the father in the parable ran to embrace his returning son, our Heavenly Father eagerly awaits our return when we have wandered away.
This unconditional love is a powerful reminder of God's grace and mercy. It challenges us to reflect on our own relationships and consider how we can extend the same love and forgiveness to others. Reflect on the times when you have experienced God's unconditional love and think about how you can share that love with those around you. [01:09:32]
Luke 15:20 (ESV): "And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him."
Reflection: Think of someone in your life who needs to experience God's unconditional love through you. How can you extend grace and forgiveness to them today?
Day 5: Understanding Purpose and Position
God may change our positions or circumstances, but our purpose remains the same. Understanding that our purpose is constant, even when our roles or locations change, helps us stay focused and faithful to God's plan for our lives. Just as a loving father guides his children through different stages of life, our Heavenly Father leads us through various seasons and circumstances, always with a clear purpose in mind.
When we face changes or transitions, it is essential to remember that our ultimate purpose is to glorify God and fulfill His will. By staying focused on this purpose, we can navigate life's changes with confidence and trust in God's plan. Reflect on the changes you are currently experiencing and consider how you can remain faithful to your God-given purpose in the midst of these transitions. [01:02:39]
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV): "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Reflection: Reflect on a recent change or transition in your life. How can you stay focused on your God-given purpose during this time, and what steps can you take to remain faithful to His plan?
Amen, amen. Come on, let's put our hands together again for the fathers here this morning. Amen. Amen. We praise God for all the fathers that are here today, that are celebrating all those who are in your lives, that are your earthly fathers. And we thank God for our heavenly Father. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our heavenly Father, the one that loves us and cares for us so much that He had a plan from the beginning of the world to save us.
And so we thank God for an opportunity to gather here together today on this Sunday morning. It's good to see you all. I'm Pastor David. Many of you all see me doing transitions on most Sunday mornings. I have an opportunity to bring the message this morning.
For most of you all, many of you all know this. I guess about a little over a week ago, Pastor Corey's grandmother passed away. He mentioned that last Sunday. And so yesterday were the services for her. And so he's still down in Jacksonville with them. We continue as a congregation, as a family, to pray with and for him and to continue to lift them up during this time of transition that they as a family are going through.
We thank God for an opportunity to have great pastors like Pastor Corey and Pastor Tamika. And we thank God for them. So in their absence, we just continue to pray for them. And we continue to move forward here today.
So good to see you all here. For all those that this is your first time here, welcome. We're excited to have you here. Those that are joining us online as well, we thank you for joining us and tuning in this morning.
We are in our Summer of Hope series. And as you all know, we just finished our mental health series. We just came out of that series, and God did some amazing things here in this place. And we thank you. Come on, let's give it up to God for what He's done, for the freedom that many have received, and the freedom that people are walking into even now in this moment, that God is continuing to move in their lives.
And so we thank God for that. And as we get ready, as we're going into this Summer of Hope series, having a chance to bring this message to you today, it is Father's Day. And being that it is Father's Day, obviously, I'll be speaking a little bit to the fathers here, but to everyone.
But I just want us to just be thinking about, no matter what your situation was growing up, whether you had a father that was present, a father that you're happy with that situation, or you're not, I want you to know that we serve a heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us. And we are able to look to Him as our ultimate example of what a father's love truly is.
And so let's just open up with a word of prayer. Father, we thank You. Thank You that You're here for us, that You love us, You care for us. We thank You for every person that is here today. Lord, we ask that You would speak to us. Lord, if there's someone here that needs healing, God, that You would just hear us. Lord, if there's someone here that needs to just experience Your love, that they would feel Your love today, to know that Your arms are wide open, ready to receive them.
I pray, Father, that You would stand in my body and speak through me, Father, to Your people. It's in Your name we pray. Amen. Amen.
So when I think about a father, I think about—I was trying to prepare myself for this message this morning. And I began thinking about the fathers that we see in society, the fathers that we may watch on TV. And sometimes those fathers are made to be a little messed up, have some weird thoughts, or just act not like the examples we see of our heavenly Father.
And I was trying to think of what could be one of the closest examples of a father that really speaks something special to today's message. And the thought—I like movies, as you'll probably get a chance to hear today. But if anyone's seen, I'm sure many of you have seen the Disney movie Lion King. And there's an example of a father, Mufasa.
And in that movie, Mufasa, who's the king, he takes his child, Simba, out and shows him all the Pride Lands. And he says, "Look out and see everything that's in front of you. All of this is yours. He says, 'Never forget who you are and where you came from. Remember that because it's mine, it's yours.'"
And so this morning, I want us to think about our heavenly Father. Everything that's His is yours. All the power He's given to you, the strength, the love, the encouragement, it's yours. And we can see that if you happen to watch any of the sequels that came after the original Lion King, Simba is always remembering what his father told him.
And so this morning, my goal is to remind you what your Father has told you about who you are, about what is yours, about the power that you have, about the abilities that you have to overcome anything, because He's already won the victory, because He's already claimed it, because He's already said it is yours, and it lies within you. Remember who He is. Remember your Father.
So I want us to look here at Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14. And I'm going to read this to you. And this is Paul the Apostle, and he's teaching those and talking to those at the church in Ephesus. And starting at the 14th verse, he's remembering about who the Father is and what the Father's ability is.
And it says, "My response is to get down on my knees when I think about the Father, before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit, not a brute strength, but a glorious inner strength, that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth, test its length, plumb its depths, rise to the heights, live full lives, full in the fullness of God."
Verse 20: "God can do anything you know, far more than you could imagine or guess or even request in your wildest dreams. He does it not by pushing us around, but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us."
And so this morning, when we think about and we talk about the Father's love, and we think about all that He's worked in us and through us, there's a man by the name of Stan Mast. He said, "We should not make God in the image of our earthly fathers. Rather, God is the model for us."
And so that's what I want to talk to you about this morning. God is the model for us. I just got a moment to tell you and show you about Mufasa and show you about the father that he had. And even some of you are thinking about the fathers that you all had and how you may have grown up and how you might have had a father who was present or a father who was not.
The picture of what we're seeing here is that we are not to make God the image of those fathers, but we see in God's Word that He is the model for us. Men, fathers, He is the model for us. And even if you are not a father, we still can learn from what God has shown us how we ought to behave, how we ought to act, how we ought to show love and compassion for all people.
We see here in the scripture, we have a picture of Paul, and he's showing us in these scriptures what will allow us to have a more confident and peaceful prayer life. If you think about your own personal relationship with God and you think about the characteristics of God, you think about what He's overcome, you think about who He's defeated on your behalf, that should bring you more confidence in the God that you serve.
You think about all the things that He's already set up, planned, and ordained for you. That should bring you more confidence and peace. So when you go to God, when you go to the heavenly Father, you can go boldly to the throne of grace because of the confidence that you have in Him, because of the God that we serve.
You understand that we serve a God who is mighty and able to do exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think, or as the scripture says, even imagine. Think about everything that you desire. God has the ability to do far beyond that. This is the picture that Paul is trying to paint for us, for us to understand.
And he wanted the church to understand this, that my God, when I think about all that God has done, when I think about everything He's accomplished, that I can come boldly. I don't have to go to any man. I don't have to go to a priest. I myself can come and stand before God with confidence. And that will bring more peace to your prayer life.
So today I'm talking to you all about living like the Father. Living like the Father. What does it take to live like the Father? What does it look like to live like the Father? And there are some things that I want us to look at here. And there are some characteristics of the Father that I want to show us.
And some of these characteristics, I'm going to admit to you right now, are not going to make you feel the best. Some of these characteristics are going to challenge you. They may challenge how you father. They may challenge how you've been fathered. But I want you to understand that these are the characteristics of our heavenly Father, the perfect one, the one we are to look to, the one who looks down on us, and He cares for us, and He provides for us.
And so the first one is that the Father corrects us. The Father corrects us. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 5, I'm going to read this here. And it says, "Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son?" Now Paul here, he's talking to the church, and he's saying, "Hey, I want you to remember something."
And he's remembering this because he's going back to look at the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 11, I believe it is. And he says, "Hey, there's something I need you to remember about the Father. They've known this all through time. It's not just something that Paul came up with on his own out of the blue."
He's remembering what the scriptures have said before in Proverbs. And it says this: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves." And that's hard for us to take. It's hard for us to sit back and say, "Man, I don't want to be disciplined. I don't want to be rebuked. I don't want to be yelled at."
But there are times when we must, because if we are not, then the scripture, as you will see here in a second, we may not truly be children of God. It says that He disciplines the one who He loves, and He chastens everyone who He accepts as His son.
"Endure hardship." Woo! He's telling you that hardship will come. It will come. He says, "Endure hardship as discipline." There are some things that we have to get right in our own lives if we want to move forward and receive all that God has for us. It says, "Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all."
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be called a child of God. I want to be called a child of God. And so there is something Paul is teaching us and telling us, "Hey, well, if you want to be true children of God, you are going to have to undergo some discipline. You are going to have to undergo some chastisement."
And sometimes to get yourself in order. Parents know about that. Yeah, you have had to discipline your children for them to get in line so they can understand they can't keep doing the same thing over and over again and get away with it.
Jumping down to verse 11, it says that no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Yeah, it's painful. It hurts. But later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Here we understand that if we stick through and we take on some of that discipline, that rebuke, that it will produce something in us that will make us better.
The next time around, sometimes we take for granted being disciplined. So the question for you is, how do you look at God's discipline? How do you look at God's discipline of you? Do you embrace it, or do you shun it? Think about your discipline as a child. Did you embrace it? No, no, no, no. I know I didn't. It was not something that I wanted to deal with. It was not something that I wanted to face.
But it was something that I knew my dad truly cared about me. I knew that he wanted me to be better, to make better choices, to make better decisions. I'm sure some of you all may have had this, because I had this when I was growing up. When I was disciplined, my dad would bring me in the room, and before I was disciplined, he would say these words: "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you."
And I never really—I mean, look at—come on, really? At the time, the pain was mine. And in his mind, the pain would last forever and ever until I got myself together. And so he knew what it was going to produce in me. That's why he disciplined me, because he cared for me.
The scripture also says that we are to endure hardship. And I don't like being told—I’m sure none of us, men, we don't like being told we're wrong. Fathers, we don't like being told we're wrong. We just don't. But I need you to understand that when we are told we're wrong, if we choose to embrace being told that, step back, take a moment to think about what is being said and why it's being said, then maybe the next time we can have a more peaceful situation in our own families.
Yeah, it's hard, because every time I have a conversation or a debate with my wife, she is saying it out of love, kindness, and caring about me so that the next time I can get it right. And so that hardship that I face, or that we face, is only to make us stronger, to build us, to encourage us. Iron sharpens iron. And sometimes, and we don't like it, we need to be sharpened. And it takes a little bit of scraping, a little bit of banging. Yeah, it does. It hurts.
But it shows us in the scripture that when we do that, we can be trained in a way that produces peace in our families. I can think about—I told you all I love movies. We watch a lot of movies in our house. And about a little over a week ago, my family and I, my wife and I, we were actually watching the Ninja Turtles. Some of y'all, yeah, the Ninja Turtles. We were watching the live-action version of the Ninja Turtles.
And if anyone knows anything about the Ninja Turtles, there were these four guys—well, four turtles. And these four turtles were injected with this serum that made them the mutants, and they turned into teenagers, right? Started walking around, talking, and doing Kung Fu and Ninjitsu and all this other stuff, right? But they were trained to be ninjas by Splinter, Master Splinter, who was a rat who was also injected with the same serum.
This rat, Master Splinter, he was injected with the same serum. He trained them and he groomed them as he was their father. He knew that there was something that they were going to need to handle later on in life. And so he prepared them.
And there's a scene in this movie towards the beginning of the movie where the turtles, they go out and they get into some—well, they didn't get in trouble, but they went out above ground and might have been caught. And they come back and they're trying to sneak in, and Splinter sees them. They don't think Splinter sees them, but Splinter sees them.
And the thing that they were worried about was that they were going to have to go to this thing called the Hashi. The Hashi was a place of discipline, a place of punishment, so that they could think about what they had done and hopefully change their actions. This is something that they had to face.
And so this is a father-like figure who had their best interest in mind and had to put themselves in through a time of testing and a time of pain and uncomfortableness to get the end result that they needed so they could understand they can't just do whatever they want whenever they want to do it.
Sometimes God has to correct us. Secondly, God also desires to mold us. He desires to mold us. And we see this in Jeremiah chapter 18, the story of the potter. Going down to the potter's house, and I want to read this here at Jeremiah 18, starting in verse 1. This is coming from the message translation.
It says, "God told Jeremiah, 'Get up on your feet and go to the potter's house. And when you get there, I'll tell you what you have to say.' So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there working away at his wheel. Whenever the potter was working on turned out badly—as sometimes it happens when you're working with clay—the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.
Then God's message came to me: 'Can't I do just as the potter does, people of Israel? God's decree. Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment, I may decide to pull up people from a country by the roots and get rid of them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them.'"
When we think about the potter going down to the potter's house and we think about seeing somebody there molding and shaping something, and it gets a little bit messed up, it says here that he takes it, kind of crumples it back up, restarts it over again because there's some imperfections there. There's some things that he needs to change and form a different way.
I think about my son. He loves things. He loves to draw, loves to draw and write, make pictures and all kinds of stuff and color. And you know what? He's six. He's got a short temper sometimes, and he doesn't always like how his drawings come out. And so when he does that, if he messes something up, he balls it up, crinkles it up, and throws it like he's angry and throws it in a trash can.
Sometimes he'll pout and fuss, but he'll come back, get a new sheet of paper, and start over again until it turns out the way he wants it to turn out. And there's some things in our lives that—not out of anger—but God sees, and it's not necessarily the way that He wants it to be.
And you may think it's great. We may think we're on the right course, we're on the right path, we're doing what we're supposed to do, we're getting exactly what we want, we're making the money we want, we have the job we want, whatever it is. We got the boyfriend, girlfriend, the spouse.
And sometimes, sometimes God sees it, crumples it up, and says, "This isn't what I want, and I need to perfect you and change you and mold you and shape you into what you need to be." There are some areas in our lives where God, He's balled it up and thrown it in the trash.
There are some areas in my life where I thought, "Shoot, yeah, this is good." I was at the University of Tennessee for five years before I came down here to Georgia Southern. And I was—if anyone knows anything about track and field, that's the sport that I coach. If you know anything about track and field, you probably have heard of the University of Tennessee and their track and field history. Very prominent, lots of national champions, lots of professionals, Olympians.
And things were going great. I was doing pretty good. You know, things were really good. My last year there, our men's team finished third at the NCAA championships. Third place in the country. Awesome, right? I went on to prepare for the outdoor season. That was the indoor season. Prepare for the outdoor season.
And we still had a good team. Just finished third indoors. Now we're outdoor season. And you know what? We finished third. Third again at the outdoor season. But two weeks before the championships that we finished third, we were informed the head coach was being let go, and every single assistant along with them.
I was like, "Hey, this is—things are great." But all of a sudden, God had a different plan. God said, "You know what? This is not what I have for you." And there are times when we feel like we could be on a high. We could be on a high. We could be on a high. We could be on a high. This is the best thing ever.
But God has a different plan. And if that had not happened, I would not be standing here today. I would not have an opportunity to move in this situation. What I want you to understand is the scripture says, "Be not weary in well doing." You keep doing your part and let God do His part.
God knows where you need to be and when you need to be there. He is the one who molds us. He is the one who shapes us into what He needs us to be shaped into. I mourned that situation for a while, but I would not be where I am at today had I not been there then.
And so the thing I want us to understand is that God always will give you the same purpose, but He may put you in a new position. It does not matter if it is a job, if it is a spouse, if it is a new child. Same purpose, new position. God will always have a purpose for you that He set from the beginning, but your position may be different.
Your location may be different. There may be some of you here today that have recently moved to Savannah. Same purpose, new position. New job, same purpose, new position. You just got married. Same purpose, new position. This is what God is calling us to: the same purpose, new position.
The scripture says, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. I preordained you. I predestined you to be a prophet to the nations." This is what God had for Jeremiah from the beginning, before he was even formed. Same purpose, new position.
So we have got to understand that just because your position changes, your purpose does not. So not only does He correct us, not only does He mold us, but He also heals us. This is what the Father does. He also heals us. And we find here in Psalm chapter 147, verse 3, it says that He heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds.
This is the God we serve. One who heals. Correction, we don't want to think about that so much. Molding, I can maybe take a little bit of that. Healing, give me the healing. We have got to embrace it all. This is the Father. This is who we are to model after. He heals us.
How does He heal us? We just finished up this mental health series. We talked about mental healing, the way that God heals us mentally, the people that He puts in our lives to be able to help us and talk to us and help change and redirect how we think and how we are moving about certain things.
The Father wants to heal you. He wants to heal you mentally. He also wants to heal you physically. Doctors, these are people He puts in your lives. Chiropractors. I used to—I was a track and field athlete myself, and I went to the chiropractor twice a week, had massage therapy. These are ways of healing that God has put different people in your lives in order to heal you physically, emotionally.
And God also heals us spiritually. How does He heal us spiritually? One of the ways—the other ways He heals us spiritually here is through prayer. The other ways He heals us spiritually here is also through our freedom in small groups. We have opportunities through our freedom groups and our small groups here at Hope City Church to be able to heal spiritually and to break the chains that may have been holding us down.
These are things that God has instituted for us so that we can be healed. There are some things I want you to understand that God did. And Pastor Corey talked about this during the mental health series when we speak about the Israelites getting to the promised land. God knew that there were going to be some challenges if they were to go the short route.
But because God desired for them to be healed from their situation, He sent them the long route to get to the destination. He knew the opposition that they would face and that those things would take them back to thinking about the enemy and thinking about, "Hey, you know what? Let's just go back. Let's just go back to Egypt and stay under Pharaoh's control."
There are some things that God wants to get to you sooner, but He knows it's not the right time. He knows you're not in the right position. And He knows for some of you all, and even me at times, we're not healed from our past. We're not healed.
And so He can't give us something because He knows that we won't be able to steward it properly. And it's hard for us to take that. It's hard for us to sit back and say, "Well, you know what? I want to have this job. I want to be making this amount of money for my family," or whatever it is to be able to support my kids.
But can you steward it properly? Can I steward it properly? Whatever it is, think about that thing that you desire, you want, and it hasn't happened yet. You haven't gotten it yet. The dream, the desire, whatever it is, it's not going to happen. God wants us healed. He wants us to be fully healed so that we can operate in the blessing that He has in store for us.
This is all a part of the healing process that God desires for us. So there are some things as well that God desires. And for you to receive your full healing, I want you to know that the Father will welcome you home. The Father welcomes us home.
And we see that when we look at the story that Jesus told and talked about with the prodigal son. It says, and this is in Luke 15, verse 13, it says, "Not long after that, the younger son, he got it all together, all that he had, and he set off for a distant country. And there he squandered his wealth in wild living. And he had spent everything. There was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need.
So he went and he hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to the fields to feed pigs. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your other hired servants."
So he got up and he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, he was still far away. He hadn't got back there yet. He was still a long way off. His father saw him, and he was filled with compassion for him. So he ran to his son, he threw his arms around him and kissed him. And he said to him, 'The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against you and against heaven. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found." So they began to celebrate.
God will always have an opening for you to return. No matter how far, no matter what you've done, no matter how far you strayed, no matter what you thought, no matter what happened last night, there is always an opening for you. There is always an opening for you with the Father. He always has His arms open, ready to receive. Just like we saw here with the prodigal son.
He grew up under his father. And there may be some of you here, you were here, you grew up in church, whatever it is. You gave your life to Christ once, and you went away. You strayed. You've gone, ran rampant, whatever. The Father's arms are always open, ready to receive you back.
So what do we do? What do we see from the Father that He's given us that we can give others? There's three things, and then I'm going to be finished. Three things. The first one is confidence and love. Our Father gives us confidence and love. And we see this in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7. It says, "For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but it gives us power, love, and self-discipline."
I'm going to tell you all a story about my son and I. Earlier this week, I took him to the pool. And we were in the pool swimming, playing, having a good time. We're in the shallow end. My son is six years old, about this tall, something like that. And he says, "Daddy, I want to go to the deep end."
Now, he can't swim-swim. So I said, "Oh, you do? Okay. Grab onto me." Took him over to the deep end. Go over, and he grabs onto the wall. He's on the wall, right? And he's looking around. He's playing, playing. He's like, "I can't touch the bottom." "No, you can't touch the bottom."
"Well, I think I want to touch." "You want to touch the bottom? I'll take you out there. You can touch the bottom." "No, no, no, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good." He said, "Okay, well, you know, I can take you and I can help you touch the bottom." "Nah, I'm too scared."
"Okay." He said, "Well, how do I do it?" I said, "Well, you have to hold your breath. You have to hold your breath to get under there." "I can't hold my breath that long." I said, "Let me see how long you hold your breath." He goes and puts his face in the water, comes up. I said, "Oh, it's about five seconds."
"Okay." I said, "Well, why don't you try it again? Hold it for as long as you can." Puts his face down. I'm counting. "Well, you're doing pretty good." Comes up. "That was 13 seconds." "13 seconds? Yeah, that was 13 seconds." "Whoa, yeah, I think I can do it."
I said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah, I think so." I said, "Okay, well, let's do it. Let's do it. Come on, come on." And as soon as I get ready to pull him off the wall, he squeezes on real tight. "No, no, no, no, no." I said, "Come on, you can do it." I said, "Do you trust me?" "Yeah, I trust you."
I said, "Well, then come on." "I'm too scared." I said, "Well, all right, I'll tell you what. Let me show you how long it takes." He said, "Well, you're taller than me." I said, "Yeah, but you want to touch the bottom. Here, I'll make myself shorter."
So I pick my feet up, so I'm about his height, right? And I just kind of float down, and I push myself back up. He said, "Oh, it was only like four seconds." I said, "Yeah, you can do that. You just went down there for 13 seconds. Let me see you do it again." "Okay, do it again."
He said, "That was five seconds." I was like, "Yeah, five seconds. Cool. Okay." So I grab him. He's holding on tight. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." I say, "Do you think I'm going to let you get hurt? I said, 'Do you think I'm going to let you drown?'" "No." "Do you trust me?" "Yes."
Took a little bit longer. Got him away from the wall. I said, "Let's do it." I said, "I'll do it with you. Hold his hand." I said, "Are you ready?" "No, no, no, no, no, no." "Come on, we got this. You ready?" "Okay, okay." I said, "All right, let's do it. Here we go."
"One, two." I said, "Hold that. You got this. I'm not going to let you drown." "Okay, here we go." "Two, three." "I did it." "Yeah, you did it." You know what he said after that? "I want to do it again." "Oh, yeah?" He did it again. We did it again together. I said, "Okay, now you do it on your own." "Okay, here we go. I'll hold your hand." Boom. Did it on his own.
Next thing you know, we're back on the shallow end. He said, "Daddy, I want to go back to the deep end." "Okay." I said, "Okay." I said, "Okay, look around because we were off the wall. I said, 'Look around. You see all this space and opportunity out here? You got all this room to flip, do all that stuff you do in the shallow end, but you got more space. You got more depth, more places you can go, more fun you can have.'"
There is so much more that God wants to give us. There is so much more that He has in store for us. And sometimes we're holding on, white-knuckling it to the wall. But God is saying, "Do you trust me? Will you trust me enough to hold on to me and then trust me enough to let—to know I'm not going to let you drown?"
I don't know about you, but God has pulled me out of many deep places. And it's a summer of hope, and we're in a summer of hope series. And I want you to know and understand that, yes, there's beaches and pools and we can go into the deep end in, but if we just trust God, we can go to the deep end with God and in our lives and in the things that God has in store for us.
So yes, the deep end is scary, but once we take the plunge, we can go back there by ourselves the next time because we know that God is always going to pull us out. No matter how challenging it gets, He's always going to pull us out just like I had with my son.
Confidence and love is the first thing. Second, forgiveness and acceptance. Hebrews 4, verse 16 says, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
See, there's a show my wife and I, we just started watching recently. I guess binging it, if you want to call it. It's called Suits. If anyone's—if some people, yeah, they got some grudges they are holding on this show. And these grudges are having an effect on future court cases that they're always going to.
It's always this guy named Harvey, and they can't stand this man. They got a grudge against him. So they're trying to mess up these cases. Everybody's coming after him. But it is up to us to forgive because God forgave us. We must learn to forgive because God forgave us. He sent His Son to die on a cross for us. He's accepted us.
In our sin, in our shame, He's accepted us. And because He's done that, we can forgive. We should forgive. Finally, my last point is the organization of the family. God has specifically designed and organized His family. Yeah, He set out a plan for you and for me.
He said, "You know what? I know you. I know what's going to happen. I know what's happening. I know the sin, the separation that my children experience and that they're dealing with. And I know that I've got so much more in store for them. And because I do, I'm going to send my one and only Son to die on the cross for their sins."
And He said that, "You know what? Before it was bulls, goats, lambs I would have them sacrifice. But this one sacrifice, my Son, is going to be all the blood that's needed." This was a plan that the Father had.
Now, how does that relate to us as fathers, as families? We've got to make sure that we plan out things within our families, not to just let it just come and go. Whatever happens, happens. There's a plan. Our plan may not be to sacrifice our only children, but we've got to sit down, figure out how we're going to organize our finances, figure out how we're going to raise our children, how we're going to train them, how we're going to discipline them, how we're going to be good examples of what it means to be a husband to your wife, what it means to be a good father, to raise your children in a way that pleases God.
What does it mean to be a child of God? Organization, planning out. Just like the Father planned out our salvation. He planned it out so that we wouldn't forever be eternally separated, but that we would have an opportunity to come back, to be welcomed home.
Let's stand to our feet as we get ready to end today. We saw the story of and heard the story of the prodigal son, the son who strayed away, who went, tried to do things on his own, and he realized, "Man, life was so much better back with my father. All this stuff he had, wow, I could have had this. It could have been mine. And let me go back and see him. Maybe he'll make me like a servant. I'll take that, least to be in his presence."
But God has even more in store for us. Whether you were here once and you strayed away, or whether you've never made Him your Father, today, I want you to know that He planned for you to be here in this place to hear this message so that you could say, "Father, I'm coming home."
And I want you to know that His arms are wide open, ready to receive you today. Today, the Father's love, it's what we can look at, what we can emulate, what we can try to be like. We'll never be perfect until we're with the Father, but we can strive to be more like Him every single day.
Let's bow our heads in a prayer. Father, we thank You for Your word today, what You've spoken and shown us. Thank You that You are a Father that loves us and cares for us so much that while we were yet sinners, You sent Your Son to die for us.
And You said that if we would believe on Jesus Christ, that He died for us, that You raised Him from the dead, that we shall be saved. So today, if there's one here with their heads bowed and eyes closed that wants to give your life to Christ, we want to give you that opportunity.
If you say, "You know, I've been to church, I've heard the word of God before, or maybe this is the first time you've heard it, and you say, 'I want a relationship, not just to come to church, not just to sing the songs, but I want a relationship with this God that you're talking about. I want a relationship and to have God's presence daily in my life with me, His Spirit to live in me, to lead me, to guide me, to direct me.'"
That today you want to give your life to Christ. On the count of three, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. You don't have to come out your seat. I just want you to raise your hand just so that we can pray with you and for you. If you want to give your life to Christ, on the count of three. One, two, three. Is there one today?
Amen. I see that hand. Praise God. Amen. I see your hand. Praise God as well. Amen. Is there another? Amen. I see that hand. Praise God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen.
Let's pray this prayer together, everyone. Say, "Heavenly Father, I thank You. Thank You that You love me so much that You would send Your Son to die on the cross for my sins. Lord, I know that You love me, and I ask You that You would forgive me of any and everything that I have done to separate myself from You.
Today, Lord, I give You my heart. I give You my life. I ask that You would come and live in me. Holy Spirit, I thank You. Thank You for being here for me. I ask You now that You would live in me, dwell in me, lead me, guide me. In Jesus' name, amen."
Come on, let's put your hands together for every soul that's come to the kingdom today. Amen. Amen.
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "I want you to know. That we serve a heavenly father. Who loves us and cares for us. And we are able to look to him. As our ultimate example. Of what a father's love truly is." [38:07](16 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Everything that's his. Is yours. All the power. He's given to you. The strength. The love. The encouragement. It's yours. And we can see that. If you happen to watch. Any of the sequels. That came after. The original Lion King. Simba is always remembering. What his father told him. And so this morning. My goal is to remind you. What your father. Has told you. About who you are. About what is yours. About the power that you have. About the abilities that you have. To overcome anything. Because he's already won the victory." [41:21](48 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "God can do anything you know. Far more than you could imagine. Or guess. Or even request. In your wildest dreams. He does it not by pushing us around. But by working within us. His spirit deeply and gently. Within us." [43:16](18 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The father corrects us. It says in. Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 5. I'm going to read this here. And it says. Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement. That addresses you as a father. Addresses his son. Now Paul here he's talking. To the church. And he's saying. Hey I want you to remember something. And he's remembering this. Because he's going back to look at the book of Proverbs. Chapter 3 verse 11. I believe it is. And he says hey. There's something I need you to remember about the father." [47:58](37 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The father welcomes us home. And we see that when we look at the story that Jesus told and talked about with the prodigal son. It says, and this is in Luke 15, verse 13. It says, Not long after that, the younger son, he got it all together. All that he had. And he set off for a distant country. And there he squandered his wealth in wild living. And he had spent everything. There was a severe famine in the whole country. And he began to be in need." [01:08:18](32 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "When we think about. And we talk about the father's love. And we think about all that he's worked in us. And through us. There's a man by the name of Stan Mast. He said. We should not make God. In the image. Of our earthly fathers. Rather God. Is the model for us. And so that's what I want to talk to you about this morning. God is the model for us." [43:44](26 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "When we think about the potter. Going down to the potter's house. And we think about seeing somebody. There molding and shaping something. And it gets a little bit messed up. It says here that he takes it. Kind of crumples it back up. Restarts it over again. Because there's some imperfections there. There's some things that he needs to change. And form a different way." [57:56](28 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "The scripture says. Be not weary. And well doing. You keep doing your part. And let God. Do. His part. God knows. Where you need to be. And when you need to be there. He is the one who molds us. He is the one who shapes us. Into what he needs us to be shaped into. I mourn that situation for a while. But I would not be where I am at today. Had I not been there then." [01:02:02](26 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "There is so much more that God wants to give us. There is so much more that he has in store for us. And sometimes we're holding on. White knuckling it to the wall. But God is saying, do you trust me? Will you trust me enough to hold on to me? And then trust me enough to let, to know I'm not going to let you drown. I don't know about you, but God has pulled me out of many deep places." [01:15:02](28 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "God has specifically designed and organized his family. Yeah, he set out a plan for you and for me. He said, you know what? I know you. I know what's going to happen. I know what's happening. I know the sin, the separation that my children experience and that they're dealing with. And I know that I've got so much more in store for them. And because I do, I'm going to send my one and only son to die on the cross for their sins." [01:17:53](41 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
Hi, I'm an AI assistant for the pastor that gave this sermon. What would you like to make from it?
© Pastor.ai