June 19th, 2022 Sermon

I asked the worship team if they would finish the mornings  pre-worship with great song “How Deep is my Father's Love for Us.”

The structure in the cadence of this song can make one feel this is an old hymn, but it actually was composed by Brit Stewart Townsend in 1995, he is also composer of another popular song “In Christ Alone.”

Are the words “How Deep the Fathers Love For us” To be looked at upon as  statement or a question?

If a statement then we have already concluded “How Deep the Father's Love for Us” goes. 

If a question then I will do my very best to answer it for you.

I have figured out that for the majority it is a question that if adequately answered is evolved into a statement.

John 3:16 is the most quoted verse in the entire scripture.

God the Father's love for us was proven right here, the depth of His love was a realized by His doing something that I could never do nor I doubt any father that I know could or would ever do, he gave his greatest possession His Son to give His life so that we might live.

This is a gift as explained by Paul in Ephesians 2: 8 and 9.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, least any man should boast.”

Let's do a quick poll by show of hands.

Fathers, would you give any one of your children’s life in exchange so that I could live?

Either would die for you.

I love you all as my good friends, but we all know that philia love (brotherly Love) has a limited depth it is conditional.

Realistically, only the Agape Love of God is capable of what he has done for us.  It is unconditional, his love goes to depths that people like John Newton could only explain in terms such as composition “Amazing Grace.”

How deep the father's love for us begins as a question and because it's a limitless grace becomes a statement of truth.

There is no real limit to its depth.

When we were growing up did we ever fail and disappoint our fathers?

When we did how did our dad react?

Well, whatever the reaction was if our dads were who God wanted them to be it would be done with love.

Their love was unconditional yet their responses to our words and actions could have been conditional.

I always had a tough time when getting my butt smacked (Mom was the disciplinarian) when the words “I’m doing this because I love you” were said. 

Our heavenly father's depth of love is boundless and unconditional to the Christian.

Yet, our actions sometimes force him to have a conditional response sometimes to remind us that He is our Father.

When He must react to our failures, we likely view it as punishment, but it is His way of saying “I'm doing this because I love you.”

The parable of the prodigal son is a representative of the unconditional love of a father for a wayward son.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

The onus and the responsibility to ensure this fell squarely upon the shoulders of the fathers and their families’ patriarchs.

First, they were to trust and believe in them in their own hearts, understand them and accept their truth in their own minds first. 

The application of God's law had to first be a guide to the fathers and were to be lived out as an example to be looked upon and recreated in the minds, and heart of the sons and frankly all the  family unit.

Just as God's commandments were to be obeyed as exactly that, those whom he gave charge to follow them, live them out and to pass on to the ensuring generations needed to do so.

The commandments nor the implementation of them, nor the instruction of them were suggestions, they were commands and were expected to be carried out.

I would believe father's obeyed; I believe many abdicated their God given rules and rejected Jehovah's instructions.

All you heard the words of Jehovah and Moses had a choice to make.

Fulfil their spiritual commitments as their families’ patriarchs or leave them unfulfilled.

each individual answer to God and God alone.

The faithful along with their unfaithful.

None physically crossed the Jordan into the land of milk and honey, the expectations being Joshua and Caleb’s.

No one over the age of 20 did so, the faithful fathers never saw the fruits of their obedience per say, but there is no doubt that the spirit of God walked with this new generation as the young men now took on their turns as the patriarchal heads of their forthcoming families.

now it was their responsibility to faithfully execute God's truths in their lives and pass the word of God to their sons and grandsons.

It's being 5000 years since God spoke these commands to his people. Those commands and expectations have carried through time.

Christian men, godly fathers we are to carry on the responsibilities we are expected by God to do.

we know that God is truth, the gospel of the son of Jesus, the power of his death, burial and resurrection must be lived out by us and it must transcend to the next generations of our families.

Being examples to our children of how a Christian father lives his life can be such great value. We can do so by treating our wives with love, grace, respect and honor.

Being consistent is our grace and in our discipline to our sons and daughters.

Making our homes havens of peace and safety.

Following God's word by assuring that our words can be trusted that our yeas are yeas, and our nays are nays.

Wives, children, and grandchildren that no matter what storms of life will bring, that we will be a solid rock for them.

Love God with all our heart, soul and mind.

Not one of us is ever going to be perfect, not one of us can ever say that we have or will do everything right, but if we are obedient and live out and pass along God's words and Christ gospel to our sons and daughters then one day we will stand before Christ and be well rewarded. We can never abdicate our role and responsibilities.

May we all run the good race, may we all finish the course and may our lives not only do these things, but may they also help our families to do the same and always keep the faith.

Paul Harvey's definition of a father; “A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic, a father never feels worthy of the worship in his child's eyes. He's never quite the hero his daughter thinks, never quite the man his son believes him to be, and that where this worries him sometimes. So he works hard to try and smooth out the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him, fathers are what give daughters a way to other men who are not nearly good enough. So they have grandchildren who are smarter than anyone.

Fathers make bets with insurance companies about who will live the longest. 

One day they lose and the bets paid off to the part of them they leave behind.