—Home Church Sermon— According to Hallmark,
Father's Day is the fourth-largest day for
card-giving.
72 million cards are sent each year.
Fifty percent of these Father’s Day cards were sent to fathers and twenty percent were sent to husbands.
Consumer spending on Father's Day is expected to rise to an all-time record of $17 billion in 2020.
I don’t know why that is so, unless everyone is shopping online this year due to quarantine.
Though not as big as Mother’s Day,
Father’s Day is still a big deal.
I remember reading years ago that Mother’s Day logged in the largest number of phone calls.
That same article went on to address Father’s Day.
I assumed that it would say that the second
highest number of phone calls
were to Dad’s, but this is
not what I found.
Father’s Day was actually referenced as
in a number-one position,
but in a different category.
The category was in “Collect Calls”.
with all the cell phones,
I didn’t know people made that many
collect calls anymore,
but they do,
and dad’s rank #1 in that category.
That reminds me of a joke that I heard years ago about Father’s Day.
As I remember, it went something like this;
When asked by his children what he wanted
for Father’s Day.
One father said, “Why don’t you get me
something that the whole family can
get something out of.”
Can you guess what they got him?
Here is what they finally came up with after thinking and thinking about it.
The perfect Father’s Day gift for their dad
(perfectly matching his request)
was a “wallet”.
Something
“the whole family could get something out of.”
And they did “regularly”. (Ha Ha)
If we view how God presents himself in the Bible from the beginning to the end,
we find him also like a wallet.
He gives and gives.
And everyone can be blessed by what he gives.
God the Father gives his Son, Jesus.
“For God [The Father] so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him [Jesus] shall not perish but have eternal life.”
-John 3:16
Jesus gives us himself in sacrifice
“Though he [Jesus] was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
-Philippians 2:6-8
God gave us creation
He created the world, and his CREATION gives.
It gives beauty and majesty,
Awe and wonder,
Recreation and hiking,
And testimony to his greatness and glory.
And he gives to all equally.
Psalm 19
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
7 The law [The Bible] of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes [The Bible] of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Our Heavenly Father gives us hope
I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
-Jeremiah 29:11
One small boy defined "Father’s Day” as;
A Mother’s Day for Dads
where you don’t have to spend
as much on a present.
I want to make sure that this Father’s Day that we are giving God, our Heavenly Father, “equal time”
and equal consideration.
I say this because of the fact that many people use their own father as a picture of what they
believe God, the Heavenly Father to be like.
The result can be that God gets a bad rap.
Very simply put,
It is unfair to judge God by our earthly experiences.
So, I would like to share some blessings that God, your Heavenly Father has for you.
If you have seen glimpses of these blessings in your earthly Father, great!
Thank God.
But if you have not, I want you to be assured that you have these blessings in your Heavenly Father.
Thank God for that.
Please be very careful not to downplay or even ignore what God, your heavenly Father is really like because of a bad experience with your earthly
father or father-figure(s).
God is not disappointed in you.
God will not punish you.
Some have a real fear of our fathers.
We fear punishment and rejection.
(Wait until your father gets home!)
He loves you.
He forgives you.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
-1 John 1:9
He will never leave you.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
-Deuteronomy 31:6
He values you.
“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
-Romans 5:8
God never chooses favorites.
God will never say
Why can’t you be more like your brother or sister
As God, our heavenly Father cuts us slack and is patient with us,
So, we fathers should be patient with our children (who are a blessing from God our Father),
And so, should we children be patient with
our earthly fathers.
They are not perfect and are ever learning.
Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years."
Thinking about the illustration of the wallet
that I used earlier,
as well as the fact about children calling their fathers “collect”,
God’s answer to your asking him what you can get him for Father’s Day is simply;
Call.
Call collect.
Call often.
There is nothing He likes more that to hear from you!
All Glory be to God!
One child said about Father’s Day that it seemed like a, “Day set aside as an attempt at giving
dads equal time.”
Let’s all make sure that we give God the time that he deserves and desires.
You will be glad that you did.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for all that you give to us.
The greatest gift is Jesus.
Help us to be Jesus to others,
And thank you for always being Jesus to us.
Amen!
A very Happy and Blessed Father’s Day to you all.
Pastor Dave
Word of Life Church
17525 W. Bell Rd.
Surprise, AZ 85374