Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

PowerPoint PDF: Father God
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(strongly recommend for listening along with sermon MP3)

Introduction:
Fathers Day Video Clip
Fathers Day can be a blessing or a curse depending on your relationship with your father.
But I want you to know that the Ultimate Father has already revealed the fact that you are worth dying for.

The Lords Prayer: Matthew 6
Pray this way, Our Father

Jesus’ disciples do not need to inform their omniscient Father of their needs in prayer. He already knows what they are. Why pray then? Jesus did not answer that question here. Essentially we pray for the same reasons children speak to their parents: to share concerns, to have fellowship, to obtain help, and to express gratitude, among other reasons.
Jesus gave His disciples a model prayer known commonly as “The Lord’s Prayer.” Obviously it was not His prayer in the sense that He prayed it but in the sense that it came from Him. He introduced the model as such. Here is a way to pray that is neither too long, ostentatious, nor unnecessarily repetitious.

One of Jesus’ unique emphases, as I have already mentioned, was that His disciples should think of God as their heavenly Father. It was not characteristic of believers to address God as their Father until Jesus taught them to do so.
“Only fifteen times was God referred to as the Father in the Old Testament. Where it does occur, it is used of the nation Israel or to the king of Israel. Never was God called the Father of an individual or of human beings in general (though isolated instances occur in second temple Judaism, Sirach 51:10). In the New Testament numerous references to God as Father can be found.”308
The way we think of God as we pray to Him is very important. In prayer we should remember that He is a loving Father who will respond as such to His children.

I. My Father God Loves Me
Matthew 6:7-8 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” ESV

Matthew 6:26-33 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, “yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ESV

Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” ESV

1 John 4:9-10 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” ESV

John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” ESV

His love is active and sacrificial. He sent His Son into the world where he would be shamed and eventually executed. Christ’s love took Him all the way to the cross where He voluntarily laid down his life.

Quote: “Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.”

How do you respond to their expressions of care?
Interference? As over protection?
However they express it, they care deeply about you.
They would take a bullet for you.
They would give up everything for you.

II. My Father God is my provider.
Our Father God loves to give us good gifts
Matthew 7:11 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” ESV

He acknowledges that we are sinners.
We have sin in our lives.
We let ourselves and our children down.
We respond wrongly.
We have mixed motives.
And still we give good gifts.

Not every one can lay claim to the privilege of knowing God as Father. Only those who born of God (John 1:13), who receive Christ (John 1:12), and who are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) have the right to receive the inheritance of the the children—promises like Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” The privilege of prayer and the promise that God will work all things together for your good is part of the inheritance of sonship. That is what it means to have God as your Father.

John 4:10 “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”” ESV

Jim Valvano “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give to another person he believed in me.”

The Best Gift a Father Can Give is better expressed in this story
Michael Reagan received many gifts from his father, President Ronald Reagan. But at the 40th President’s sunset funeral, Michael described the greatest gift a child can receive:
I was so proud to have the Reagan name and to be Ronald Reagan’s son. What a great honor. He gave me a lot of gifts as a child—gave me a horse, gave me a car, gave me a lot of things. But there’s a gift he gave me that I think is wonderful for every father to give every son.

Last Saturday, when he opened his eyes for the last time…that’s when I realized the gift that he gave to me: that he was going to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He had—back in 1988 on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Point Mugu told me about his love of God, his love of Christ as his Savior. I didn’t know then what it all meant. But I certainly, certainly know now.

I can’t think of a better gift for a father to give a son. And I hope to honor my father by giving my son, Cameron, and my daughter, Ashley, that very same gift he gave to me. Knowing where he is this very moment, this very day, that he is in heaven, I can only promise my father this: Dad, when I go, I will go to heaven, too. And you and I and my sister, Maureen, who went before us, we will dance with the heavenly host of angels before the presence of God. We will do it melanoma and Alzheimer’s free. Thank you for letting me share my father, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Luke 11:13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” ESV

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” ESV

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
Matthew 26:39, 42, 53 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will…”
Sometimes He allows suffering to come into our lives.

III. My Father God is My Audience of One
Matthew 6:1-6 ““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, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. “But 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.” ESV

Matthew 6:17-18 “But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, “that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

He comes to all our games. He cheers us on in all our tests.
Who am I seeking to please?
Whose favor do I want?
Whose attention do I want to catch?
Live for Him. Work hard for Him. Study for Him. Dress up for Him. Dance for Him. And don’t let anyone else stand in His box seat!

IV. My Father God Opens My Eyes
Matthew 16:17 “And Jesus answered him, “blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” ESV

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” ESV

Daniel 2:29 “To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.” ESV

Matthew 11:25-27 “At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; “yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” ESV

Exclusive, intimate relationship
Does not want to control you. He…
Wants to turn everything over to you but wants to be sure
you are ready and can handle it.

Why Does He Open Our Eyes?
He reveals his will so that we can pray for it.
Matthew 6 “Your will be done” – his revealed will.

Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

He reveals his will so that we can do it.
He didn’t tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it.”

Mario Cuomo “I talk and talk and talk and I haven’t taught people in 50 yeas what my father taught me by example in one week.”

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” ESV

Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” ESV

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” ESV

John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” ESV

A reference to God’s revealed will.
Which true Christians, deep down want to do but struggle to
Obedience, not because we have to, but from the heart
because we want to.
John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” ESV
Make the thing that marks them as different the truth of
God’s Word!

Hebrews 4:9-13 “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, “for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” ESV

People are in such turmoil and confusion.
There is darkness in their soul and weariness in their life.
Where is there rest from wrestling?
In the center of God’s will
Revealed in His Word!
Must listen to it, read it, study it, memorize it
And trust it!
No wonder we get in such an state of confusion and darkness
We listen to people and don’t listen to Him.
Stop listening to anyone who does not encourage you to follow
the will of God for your life! Close the door. Do not
give them the time of day! There is a wisdom from the
world that makes sense to them. But they are without
God in their life and without hope in the world.
God’s secret will is things not revealed. His hidden plan for the future.

James 4:15 “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ESV

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” ESV

1 Corinthians 4:19 “But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.”

How does our Father opens our eyes?
We are to make our decisions on the cumulative evidence of God’s wisdom:
We are to seek His wisdom in the Scriptures.
We are to seek the wisdom of His Spirit
As a parent I have learned that my children can tune me out.
But I’ve also learned that it is not my voice they need to hear, but God’s. And when they are listening to Him it is amazing what happens in their life and what comes out of their mouths and the decisions they make.
We must trust in God’ss timing my our lives – His sovereign,
providential circumstances.
“He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”
Things don’t just happen!
God is in my every day.
He is at work in my life and the things we might easily view as coincidental are so often the evidence of
God’s timing in our lives. “Lord, in your time send me the mate of your choice.” That very day I met
Lois for the first time.

We must use our reason: our heightened, moral intelligence.
This is a calm, Spirit-controlled consideration of all the facts spread out on the table with God at our side.

We are to seek wisdom from other people.
This is the redemptive corrective of other people.

Hebrews 3:7-8, 15 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, “do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,..As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ESV

John 20:21 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ESV

V. My “Father God” is My Protector
Psalm 36:7 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” ESV

Psalm 91:1-2 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. “I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ESV

VI. My “Father God” is My Encourager
Colossians 3:21 “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” ESV
Opposite of discouragement is hopeful, happy, confident