Father’s Day 2019

Today is our day men – Father’s Day. Jesus would often use objects to get His truth into the hearts and minds of people.  He used: Fishnets, fishing, bread, water, rivers, trees, fruit, shepherd/sheep, and the list goes on and on,

So today I want to use an object to help with message.  Before I do however, I need to have you hear a few dad jokes;

• I thought about going on an all-almond diet. But that’s just nuts.
• Want to hear a joke about construction? I’m still working on it.
• I wouldn’t buy anything with velcro. It’s a total rip-off.
• “I made a pencil with two erasers. It was pointless.”
• “Did you hear about the circus fire? It was in tents.”
• “When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent.”
• I know a lot of jokes about retired people, but none of them work.
• If a child refuses to sleep during nap time, are they guilty of resisting a rest?
• I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon. I’ll let you know.
• The secret service isn’t allowed to yell “Get down!” anymore when the president is about to be attacked. Now they have to yell “Donald Duck!”

Now for our object, you can do almost anything with one of the greatest things in life ever created – do you know what it is?

Duct tape.

Astronauts in the crippled Apollo 13 space capsule used duct tape to improvise a lifesaving carbon dioxide filter. Duct tape is standard equipment on the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Someone said that mechanics once used duct tape to temporarily patch a small hole in the windshield of a passenger jet.”

Duct tape lessons for Father’s

1. Stick to what it was intended to adhere to.

That reminds me of a story I heard.  A young couple took their two-year-old daughter to the home-improvement store. She got tired of walking, so the husband let her ride on his shoulders. As he walked, she began pulling his hair. Although he asked her to stop several times, she kept on. Getting annoyed, he scolded, “Madison! Stop that!”

“But, Daddy,” she replied, “I’m just trying to get my gum back!

Adhere closely to what you were designed to — your main purpose is to adhere to Jesus Christ, to worship Jesus.

We were called to have a relationship with God.  Jesus understood he was to adhere to the Father.   As a matter of fact Scripture tells us he only did what His Father said.

He did and said only what the Father let him to say and do.

Galatians 4:6 – ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

The word Abba is an Aramaic word that would most closely be translated as “Daddy.” It signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father to his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his “daddy.”

Not only do we need to stick to what is was intended to adhere to, but we also must

2. Be strong yet flexible.

Eph. 6:10-11 – ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Be strong and yet flexible to listen to God however He may decide to talk with you.  To Moses he came in a burning bush.  To Elijah with a whirlwind.  To Balaam with a donkey.  And by angels to yet others.

If you are not flexible about how God talks to you, you are probably going to miss it when He does.

3. Hold things together.

The only way I know how to hold things together is to cast all my cares upon Him.

The first thing that Noah did when he survived the flood.   Before he built a house, he built an altar.  Because he is a priest.

And as a man you need a prayer life.

Let me explain something to you ladies.  You don’t think your man prays, because he doesn’t pray like you. Men don’t pray like women.  See when the women pray you know it, you come into the house and you can hear them.  Oh Lord, the devils out to destroy our home, but devil I want to serve you notice you can’t have our family, I rebuke you devil in Jesus name.

See I women comes to God tells Him how she feels.

The men, however, pray something like this.  God I need my rent money by this Friday. In Jesus name.

Men you can’t just come to church, you need a prayer life.

You can’t handle everything on your own.  Fathers hear a bunch of stuff.  Kids come to daddy, wife comes, and problems seem to find us.  As the Father of this assembly, I need to learn to cast things to Him, or I will crack.  Men you too need to cast it to Him or you will lose it.

The Scripture tells men to pray without ceasing, do you know why it tells us to pray that way?  Because you will have problems coming to you without ceasing.

When I pray for my children, or talk to my children I don’t pray for them or talk to them as their pastor, I go to my higher calling and pray for them and talk to them as their father, because God has placed me as the priest over my house.

Colossians 1:17 – ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

4. Don’t think it’s the permanent solution.

Duct tape is often used to fix things but can only do so temporarily.

Listen you might think you can run through life and be the answer to everything, but I need you to understand something.  There is only one answer and it isn’t you.

Jesus is the answer.

Acts 17:28 – For in him we live and move and have our being.

Gal. 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Let me close by reading something from a great theologian named Erma Bombeck

When God Created Fathers…

When the good Lord was creating Fathers, he started with a tall frame.

And a female angel nearby said, “What kind of Father is that? If you’re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won’t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping.”

And God smiled and said, “Yes, but if I make him child size, who would children have to look up to?”

And when God made a Father’s hands, they were large and sinewy.

And the angel shook her head sadly and said, “Do you know what you’re doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can’t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on ponytails or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats.”

And God smiled and said, “I know, but they’re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day…yet small enough to cup a child’s face in his hands.”

And then God moulded long, slim legs and broad shoulders.

And the angel nearly had a heart attack. “Boy, this is the end of the week, all right,” she clucked. “Do you realize you just made a Father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?”

And God smiled and said, “A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle, and hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus.”

God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer.

“That’s not fair. Do you honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?”

And God smiled and said, “They’ll work. You’ll see. They’ll support a small child who wants to ride a horse to Banbury Cross, or scare off mice at the summer cabin, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill.”

God worked throughout the night, giving the Father few words, but a firm authoritative voice; eyes that saw everything, but remained calm and tolerant.

Finally, almost as an afterthought, he added tears.

Then he turned to the angel and said, “Now, are you satisfied that he can love as much as a Mother?”

The angel said nothing more.