Sunday, June 24, 2018

Father’s Day Sunday Service 2018: Our Father in Heaven Who Loves Us


2018 Father’s Day Sunday Service:
Our Father in Heaven Who Loves Us
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org



This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org, or Truth Digest on facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook at House of Faith Church

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Happy Father’s Day, dads!

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Matthew 6:9
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

 
I. OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN WHO LOVES US
a. Some of the best known words from scripture

b. If you asked the random person from the street to say the Lord’s prayer, most probably could say it in part if not completely
                                                        i. “Our Father which art in heaven...”

c. Many can quote this, yet, as it is with most quotes, saying it, understanding it, and living it are all different things.
                                                                               i. Whenever someone tries to impress with scripture quotes, and it is obvious they lack any understanding of what they are quoting, it’s good to remind them who else can quote scripture, satan.

                                                                            ii. In fact, he could probably beat every single follower of Christ at Bible Trivia.

                                                                         iii. Quoting, saying it, understanding it and applying it are all different things.

                                                      iv. “Our Father in Heaven”, what an awesome thought!

                                                         v. What a privilege to be able to address the Creator of all things as “our Father”

                                                      vi. Throughout the scriptures there are many places where God describes Himself in the terms of Fatherhood.


 Psalm 68:5 - “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God...”

Psalm 103:13 - “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;”
Isaiah 63:16 - “You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.”

Matthew 7:9-11 - Jesus said: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

John 20:17 - After He rose from the dead, Jesus told Mary to go to His disciples and tell them he was alive and he said, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”


II.      THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD
a. The glory of sons is their father - Proverbs 17:6
                                                                 i. There are pictures in the Bible that reveal something of God’s character. This morning I’d like us to look at three pictures of fatherhood from the Bible.

                                                              ii. Each shows us an aspect of our great heavenly father.

                                                           iii. The first is found in Genesis 22, the picture of;

III.   A WILLING FATHER
a. The Story of Abraham and his son Isaac
                                                                 i. Abraham was WILLING, in his love and devotion to God, to be obedient even in sacrificing his own son. This was the boy God had promised him, and he had waited years for his wife Sarah to conceive him. And yet, at the word from God, he took his son up Mount Moriah with Isaac carrying the wood for the fire of his own sacrifice.

Not only do we have a willing father here, but evidently a willing son also. It’s very doubtful he was a little boy - he was most likely a youth or young man - certainly strong enough to carry the wood up a mountain! But he had spoken to his father, and they went together willingly. And Abraham stood on that mountain, no doubt with his vision blurred by the tears streaming down his face, and he raised the knife to sacrifice his beloved son. And at the last possible moment, when Abraham revealed (not to God who knows everything, but to himself) he was obedient, even unto death, the Angel of the Lord called to him to stop. “For now I know that you fear God.”

                                                              ii. Those of us who are fathers here today can only marvel at this total obedience and faith. What a test!


b. God, likewise, is the willing father
                                                                 i. in His love and devotion to US, was prepared to give up His own son. His Son Jesus was willing and obedient, and carried His own cross up on a mountainside - a hill called Calvary - to give His life in sacrifice.

However, while Abraham was given a reprieve - because it was a test - there was no such reprieve for Jesus; it was no mere test! WE were in the balance. God went all the way and gave His son.

                                                              ii.  You see Romans says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”


c. Adam and Eve rebelled against God
                                                                 i. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God it cut the entire human race off from God. Right to this present day, man has continued in sin. And the Bible says that “the wages of (our) sin is death.”

                                                              ii. The wages of our sin is everlasting death.

When God gave up His only Son to death, He was dying in our place. Providing a substitute sacrifice, so that whoever believes in Him, trusting Him to be their Savior can be forgiven and come back into right relationship with God forever. Our heavenly Father was WILLING, in love and devotion, to give us His Son.

A WILLING Father. A father willing to die in place of his child.

                                                           iii. A WILLING father, a real man... unlike a lot of the men today who abandon their children.

1. Some father’s today abandon their children, leaving them to raise themselves.

2. Out of 27 of the deadliest mass shooters, 26 came from fatherless homes.

a. 63% of youth suicides
b. 90% of runaways
c. 85% behavioral disorders
d. 71% of high School Dropouts
e. 70% Juvenile Detention
f. 75% of Substance Abuse

3. In 2014 17.4 million children in the U.S. lived in fatherless
homes

4. In 2018 that number has grown nearly 4% to over 18 million!

5. In 10 years This number will be 21 million children, or more!

6. Why is the traditional biblical family so important?
a. I think the statistics are evidence of why God made us male and female, each with our own part and role to play in a family, that cannot fully be replaced or substituted

b. If fathers were not necessary, we would not see these statistics.


c. Just as I preached for the irreplaceable need for a mother in the home, I preach the same about the father.

d. 2 mothers will not work, two fathers are just as insufficient

e. There is a reason and purpose to God’s plan.

                                                            iv. The second picture I’d like you to see is found in 2 Samuel 18. It’s the story of ...


IV.   A WAILING FATHER
a. The Story of King David’s son Absalom
                                         i. This is the story of when King David’s son Absalom had plotted treason against his own father. He raised an army and sought to bring about a military coup to take his father’s throne.

                                      ii. David’s loyal soldiers, under General Joab’s command, went out to stop them in battle. And they did, and in the fighting Absalom himself was killed. And the news was brought to David.

b. 2 Samuel 18:24-33
                                         i.  Here is David heartbroken over the death of his son, Absalom.

Absalom had not been a faithful son. He dealt treacherously with his father! He sought to overthrow him from the throne.

But David perhaps remembers the little boy he had bounced on his knee, the youth he had watched grow before him into manhood. Parents always seeing their children as children, no matter their age.

                                         ii. It was his flesh and blood. True fathers do not stop loving their children. David LOVED Absalom. At the news of his death, David’s heart was torn.

Here is a picture of God, the God who takes NO delight in the destruction of the wicked.

                                      iii. He loves us. We all have turned our back on God and gone our own way, and so many refuse to return, even after His willingness to give up His son for us - but God still remembers how it SHOULD have been / COULD have been. He knows the plans He had for us; the relationship He wanted with us. God’s heart is broken.

There’s a glimpse of this in Jesus’ words over Jerusalem.

                                       iv. The refrain sounds very much like David’s words over Absalom: “O my son Absalom; my son, my son Absalom”.

                                          v. Jesus said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” Israel would not receive Jesus, and in rejecting Him they were rejecting God.

Jesus heart was broken. God our heavenly father’s heart is broken by people who live without Him.

Our God is a holy God. He cannot look on sin condoningly.

                                          vi. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. There is no fragment of sin in His perfect nature. God loves you with a committed and everlasting love - a love more real and powerful than any other you have ever known - but do not mistake that God will sweep our sin under the carpet and overlook it.

                                       vii. He cannot deny Himself. God’s HOLINESS - His justice - means that He WILL banish people to hell, because although His love us unwavering, so is His righteousness!

                                       viii. The Bible is very clear about that.

                                             ix. But He will not do so gladly, but mournfully, with a breaking heart.


c. Not Willing that ANY should perish
                                                  i.  2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
1. It IS NOT God’s Will that any should perish

2 Samuel 14:14 says “For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.”

                                               ii. God DEVISES MEANS - He goes to extraordinary lengths and works extravagant plans - so that people can be saved.

1. No one will end up in hell by accident...they will have to work for it in life.

                                            iii. God sent prophets to prepare the way, He fashioned history to prepare a time, and then “when the fullness of the time had come”

                                                iv. He sent His only Son to live and die for us that we the banished ones may not be expelled from Him.

                                                v. Having done all this, do you think He won’t be heartbroken when people keep going without Him, lost in sin? It breaks His heart.

A WAILING Father.

                                                vi. The third and final picture is found in Luke 15. The story of ...

V.                   A WAITING FATHER

You remember this very famous story that Jesus told.

[The story of the prodigal son ... “A man had two sons...”]

This is another son who has walked away from his father’s house.

a. Gone off on his own rebellious ways.

The WAITING father is out in the fields - WAITING - LONGING - HOPING - LOOKING.

When the prodigal returns - even when he is still afar off - the father RUNS to embrace, welcome and restore him.

Take just ONE step toward God today, and He will run to you with arms open wide to embrace, welcome and restore YOU.

Give you a place in His household.

Dress you in the privileges of son ship / daughterhood.

He loves you! He’s a God of grace. He’s the WAITING Father.

CONCLUSION – OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES US

What’s your response to the waiting Father today?

Will you come home?

Will you cast yourself on His great mercy today, and say: “Father, I’ve sinned. I’m not worthy to be called your son. But I believe you willingly gave up your Son Jesus to die my death penalty. I believe you gave all in heaven to keep me out of hell - to have me home. And I will not ignore that sacrifice. Forgive me.”

When God hears that simple prayer of trust in Jesus, you’re going to find the waiting Father will receive you.

He’ll take you as His own son or daughter. And you’ll live with Him forever.





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Sunday, June 17, 2018

They Must Be Giants – Part 5: The Giant Named Hate


They Must Be Giants – Part 5:
The Giant Named Hate
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org



This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org, or Truth Digest on facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook at House of Faith Church

SERMON INTRODUCTION
Most of us are all familiar with the story of David & Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.

Remember these points from David & Goliath over the next few sermons;

I.       The battle between the Palestinians and the Israelites was a spiritual one.  

II.   David had the Holy Spirit just as all of those who belong to God have access to.

III.   David recognized the battle was spiritual even though everyone around him could not.  He was walking in the spirit, not by sight, but by faith.

IV. When David faced the giant, he knew the battle was not a man against a giant, but a giant against the power of God.

V.    The battle was the Lord’s!  David had the right perspective.

We must remember these points in our lives as well when we face things.

1.      It’s a spiritual battle
2.      We have the Holy Spirit if we belong to God
3.      Recognize the battles we face in our lives are spiritual
4.      Those battles are the Lord’s

PREVIOUSLY
Part 1 - David and Goliath
Part 2 - The Giant Named Unforgiveness
Part 3 - The Giant Named Fear
Part 4 - The Giant Named Anger


TODAY’S SERMON
Part 5 - The Giant Named Hate

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Proverbs 8:13
 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I {the LORD} hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”

The overall message of this series to the church is;
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, the battle is Spiritual and the battle is the Lords.

I.       WHAT IS THIS HATE?

1.      Hate is a behavior comes from anger (which we spoke about last week.)
1.      Anger is a behavior which comes from the emotion of fear.

2.      Remember, there are only two emotions, love and fear, everything else we experience is a behavior based on one of these emotions.

3.      Just as it is with anger, there is righteous hate and unrighteous hate.

4.      Just as it is with anger, when you have unrighteous hate, you are in sin.


2.      Living in a state of sin cuts you off from relationship with God
1.      You miss out on God's blessings, God's protection, and all the other benefits of living in the Kingdom of God here on earth.

2.      Scripture also says that God does not hear the prayers of the unrighteous.


3.      We cut ourselves off from relationship with God when we live in sin.

1.       Galatians 5:19 – 21; acts of the flesh (opposed to living in the Spirit)
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and dishonesty; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, conflict, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, rebellion, division 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

2.      These fruits are not the fruits of the Spirit, but fruits of our sinful nature, our flesh.
3.      Living in sin and unrighteousness cuts us out of the Kingdom of God.

4.      If you are living in sin, you are not living in the body of Christ.

1.      Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. “

2.      It is IMPOSSIBLE to live in sin and in the Body of Christ.

4.      Those living in sin, claiming to be in the Body of Christ, are seriously mistaken and deceiving themselves


II.   RIGHTEOUS HATE?
1.      Yes, there is righteous hate
1.      So what is righteous hate?

2.      What does God hate?

3.      Is it as Westboro Church suggests?

4.      Does God hate fags?
1.      Some so-called Christians (false converts) would like you to think so
1.      Any time a self-proclaimed Christian speaks anything against the teaching of the Bible, they are false teachers, false prophets, false converts, and need the saving power of the Lord to change them and get them in line with His Holy Word instead of perverting it.

1.      Proverbs 8:13
“ To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I {the LORD} hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”

2.      We know the scripture we read states that those who live in unrighteousness will not inherit the Kingdom of God, but does God hate fags?
1.      Some say that's what the Word of God says in Leviticus 20:13

2.      Listen closely in the original Hebrew from the LIT;

3.      Leviticus 20:13
“And a man who lies down with a male, as one lies down with a woman, both of them have DONE an abomination…”
4.      The Word of God clearly states that they have “done” something God hates.

5.      Isn't that what happens when any of us sin?

6.      We “do” unrighteousness

7.      The scripture says God hates what they have done, what any of us do when we live in unrighteousness.

8.      God doesn't hate them...He hates sin.

3.      Those who judge are condemning themselves
1.      What the so-called loving Christians (false converts) who cry out “God hates {fill in the blank with a person}”, whether it be gays, soldiers, Americans, Muslims, etc... all they are doing is saying that God hates people who sin.

2.      Remember, God also states in Leviticus that he hates adultery, which Jesus says we commit in our mind if we even think with lust.

3.      Verse 23 tells us that “all of these things they committed, I abhorred them.”

4.      The abominations are not the people, but the actions of the people.


4.      The argument of 1 Corinthians 6:9

1.      But what about 1 Corinthians 6:9?
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders”

2.      Well, you are correct, homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God, and neither will the sexually immoral (pornography, lust, adultery, fornication or sex outside of  marriage, etc...), idolaters (putting ANYTHING before God, whether it be an object, or person), prostitutes, and so on.

3.      And if you keep reading, you will see this;

4.       10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
5.      Listen, God does not hate sinners...He abhors sinful behavior...and sinful behavior that is keeping you from the Kingdom, can be washed away...in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.


II.   What exactly does God hate (Righteous Hate)?

1.      We need to know
1.      Because this will help us understand what righteous hate is.

2.      As it is with anger, most of the time we feel hate towards something or someone, it is going to be unrighteous, and if we do not repent, we are living in sin.

2.      We read that God hates the acts of the sinful nature in Galatians 5
1.      We know from scripture that God is a righteous God, and judge’s unrighteousness.  Therefore, if God hates something, that is righteous hate.

2.        One of the most well known lists of what God hates is found in;
1.      Proverbs 6:16 – 19

16 There are six things the LORD hates,
       seven that are detestable to him:

17 conceited eyes,
       a lying tongue,
       hands that shed innocent blood (murder),

18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
       feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19 a false witness who pours out lies
       and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

3.      Haughty eyes, means uplifted eyes.  Head held up.  Or pride, arrogance.
1.      Pride tops the list, as it always does, for it is what caused Satan to fall.

4.      A lying tongue
1.      God hates lying so much, it made it to His top 10 list

5.      Hands that shed innocent blood, this is murder...one of the 10 Commands, “thou shalt not murder”, not kill as some translations say, murder.  We know in war and defense killing takes place, which is different than murder.

6.      A heart that devises wicked schemes

7.      Feet that are quick to rush into evil

8.      A false witness who pours out lies
1.      A false witness is a person who is teaching things other than what the Word of God teaches, in the name of God.

9.      And stirring up dissension among brothers.  Causing problems in the church, divisions, clicks

3.      We see from this scripture again, it is the actions that God hates.

4.      How easy is it to be a liar?

1.       1 John 4:20
“If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”


III.                        Does Jesus Hate?

1.      You will not find a scripture that says “Jesus Hates” in the Bible
1.      Jesus is the full expression of God's love

2.      We see that Jesus loved all He came in contact with, no matter what their sin

3.      He said that He did NOT come to judge, but to set captives free

4.      Are you helping those trapped by sin to be free through Christ Jesus?

5.      Or are you finding yourself trapped by sin as you stand there pointing at their sin?

2.       Deuteronomy 25:16
“…all that do unrighteousness, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
1.      ALL that DO...
IV.GOD'S LOVE MESSAGE

1.      We see that the New Testament is a message of love to the lost
1.      The world, everyone in it, is full of unrighteousness and sin

2.      Yet, while we were still sinners, God sent His only Son to die, to pay our debt

3.      This is God's love for us

4.      Now we are to share the love God has given us with the world

5.      With who?  Those who already love God? No!
1.      Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

2.      We are to take the message of salvation to those who need it most...the lost

2.      Our mission as Jesus instructed
1.      There is not one scripture where Jesus told us to go into the world and tell them how much God hates them...

2.      Is that serving the Lord?

3.      Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28 to go into all the world, which includes every race, nationality, religion, and preach the Gospel, baptize them into a knowledge of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then teach them to obey all that Christ commands.


3.      Telling someone, “Hey, God hates you! Now make Him your Lord and Savior and trust Him.” is absolutely insane.
1.      Is this teaching people how to love the God who loves them?

2.      Is this making people want to seek the Lord with all of their heart?

3.      Jesus said, “I did not come into the world to condemn it, it is already condemned.  I came to save it!”

What we should be preaching is that ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God!

This is why we preach the 10 Commands, to show that apart from Christ, we are all unrighteous and in need of the Savior Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

We, as the Body of Christ are supposed to be saving people from their captivity!

We need to show Christ’s love for the sinner, the same way Christ showed His love to us when we were lost and trapped by sin.

It is OK to have righteous hate for sin, but it is sin to have unrighteous hate for the sinners!

That’s what the devil wants, so you never reach the lost!

Righteous hate belongs to actions alone, while unrighteous hate is for anything, or anyone else.

Preach to reveal their sin, and preach the result of living in that sin...hell.

Then preach the answer to their sin, payment already made by Christ Jesus...making Him their Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to change their lives, eternally!


Want to learn more about Salvation and Getting Saved?   

Want to hear the audio to this sermon?   




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