Father's Day 2026

Good morning. It's Father's Day and a couple years ago I wasn't even a dad yet, but I remember Ross opened up one of these Father's Days and he made it clear this is not a place where we're going to bash on dads or we're going to dig into them and tell them everything they're doing wrong. So if you're a dad in here today and you're clutching your seat, you can relax. We're not going to do that. And then in the same breath, I understand that Father's Day can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people and it might be a day just filled with joy. It might be grieving. It might be both. And so we want to be aware of that. And then a consistent reminder for each of us in this room that whatever it is that we're missing, whatever it is that we're yearning for, we can find in our Heavenly Father who is perfect and who will sustain us consistently. So before we go into God's Word, I'd love for us to pray together and then we'll dive on in. Father God, Lord, we love you. Thank you for being the perfect Father. Thank you for being an example. Thank you for sustaining us. Thank you even for the breath in our lungs this morning. Thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for another day. Lord, I just pray today that our hearts are opened up and ready to receive your Word. Whatever it is that you have for each of us individually, Lord, I pray that there's no distractions, that there's no sin, that there's no hindrance for your Word to land on fruitful soil on open hearts that are ready to serve you. Father, and then also just as we walk through days like this, I pray that you meet each of us in our grief, in our pain, in our joy, and that we surrender all of it at your feet

and that the focus of every day and every breath that we have is on you and about you, Lord. Thank you that we trust that your Spirit's here. I ask for it to move in just powerful ways that we feel your presence, Holy Spirit. Thank you for everything you do for us in the way you lead us and guide us. We ask all these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. So we're going to be in 1 Thessalonians today, chapter 5, and we'll be covering verses 1 through 11. And the title of that chapter is the Day of the Lord. And if you're like me, it's not maybe something you consistently think of, but Jesus is returning. We can sometimes talk about he came, he got crucified, he was resurrected, but he is also coming. He says that himself. There has to be a focus on his return because that is our hope, that Jesus is returning. In the same breath, I understand that sometimes when we talk about that, we may not fully understand the scope, I know I didn't until I studied it, of who God is. We sometimes can cling to he's loving, he's caring, he forgives us, but he's also more than that. He's a holy warrior king who will return, not like he came the first time, but he's coming to rule and he's coming to judge. We can get this idea that we like justice, but we don't like anyone judging, and that's the only way to get there. And so as we read these passages, I'd encourage us just to understand that this is a reality. Jesus is coming, and we'll talk about how he will return. So verse one says, now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying there's peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

It made me think of this church, we need to be a church who is able to say with confidence that we are well aware that Jesus is coming. Because if Jesus is coming, that will also assist in the way that we walk, it'll assist in the way that we think, how you wake up in the morning. We don't know when he will be here. He makes that clear, only the Father knows that, but he could be here today, he could be here tomorrow, he could be here past any of our lifetimes, but we have to live like Jesus is coming. That is part of our faith, is he is coming. We go to Revelation 19, starting in verse 11, we get a glimpse of how Jesus will return. It says, then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. Then the armies of heaven are arrayed, and fine linen and white in color. were following him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is how Jesus returns. And if this is the first time hearing that, it might be uncomfortable. You hear this almost aggressive scene.

There's judging, there's war, there's ruling with an iron rod. But at the end of the day, we serve a warrior king. And he is coming back to judge and to rule. Now, for us who are in Christ, this is actually a joyous moment because he's also coming to collect his bride. And I understand in reading that, we might not be able to find the joy in all of it, but our focus is on the groom who is coming to claim his bride. I have not met a single bride yet that on wedding day at the altar pauses and asks, well, what about all the single ladies? The focus that day is not about the single ladies. It's about the groom. She is there to get married to the groom. That's where her focus is. For us, this is a joyous moment. This is what we are yearning for, for our king to come back and to take us with him. As we navigate that, we also see this picture that I got to experience, not personally last year with the contractions, but with my wife. My wife was pregnant. And on Friday, she told me contractions were starting. It was our first baby, so I was already an expert. And I knew that I had one hour of five minutes apart contractions,

and then I take her to the doctors. So I got my stopwatch out. I'm timing her. We're talking through the whole thing. She's laughing. I, at one point, think I thought, this isn't as bad as people make it sound. We get to the hospital after all the criteria was met. We're at the hospital. The lady looks at my wife, sends us to triage. I'm wondering, why aren't we going to the delivery room? Baby's coming. About two hours after that, a doctor comes in and says, your baby is not on the way. Now, I didn't know what that meant because contractions happen every five minutes for one hour. She said, she won't be laughing at your jokes when it's real. And the only thing I can think is, you don't realize how funny I am. But we got sent home. And I pondered on that until the next morning when real contractions happened, and I realized, yeah, this is not the same thing. She was not talking to me. She was definitely not laughing at everything I said. And in that moment, as hard as it was, it was still joy-filled. Baby's coming, right?

We understood, okay, this is a hard season, but baby is coming. So as we read this, we need to understand, like those contractions, there will come a time that times may look harder and harder, but Jesus is coming. That is where our hope is. Jesus is coming. Now, we continue to read. We can see in verse four, but you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you're all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation. I did not know when contractions were gonna start for Katie, but we packed the bag. I say we, she packed the bag, so we were ready. You cannot know when something is happening and then yet prepare as much as you can in the current season for when it comes. We need to be aware that Jesus is coming. And what does that mean for us? What does it mean to be prepared

for the return of our King and our Savior? There's a really deep contrast here between light and darkness and day and night, and it talks about drunkenness. So as we navigate these things, we have to ask, what are the things that make us be spiritually asleep or spiritually drunk? Sometimes we forget that this book is not just physical, but it's talking about spiritual things. So that drunkenness is not only referring to physical drunkenness, but it could refer to spiritual drunkenness, a lack of sobriety or vigilance in our walk and in our faith with God. So what are the things that pull us from Him, pull our attention and make us live like this? So one of the things is lusting. And lusting isn't just over people, lusting, you can lust over things. You can have desires over things that you shouldn't have. Pornography, adultery, the things that we read, all of those things steal our attention from Christ. And they put it elsewhere and they numb our minds and our hearts towards them and we end up in this horrific cycle Seeking that instant gratification and we're just broken and broken and broken and our focus is no longer On our Lord and Savior. It's on everything else that we want or we desire The next one is alcohol and it talks about drunkenness here. But what are you drinking? When are you drinking it? And why are you drinking it? This is a hard topic I know that Different people drink for different reasons

But we can drink in a way that honors the Lord and we can drink in a way that dishonors the Lord How do you drink? That would be the pivotal question here is how do you drink? Then lies what lies do we believe what lies has the enemy fed us our culture or our best friend? That caused us to steer away from God. Everyone is a good person Everyone is going to go to heaven These are lies that we can believe over time and it causes us to not have a focus on the exclusivity Of the gospel and salvation through Jesus Christ, but it causes us to live in a life. That's not like the one written It's not that the one requested for us to live it. We're gonna be followers of Jesus Media is another one and every time I talk about media people laugh because I don't personally have it. So I'll make guesses But I've watched people scroll for hours and look like a zombie Scroll for hours and look like a zombie only to look up and realize. Oh life is happening around this So is media an issue for you? Is what you post an issue? Are you living a life seeking other people's approval? Maybe people you'll never even meet or care about you And so you go about this life trying to post the right picture or the right moment So someone else can have an idea or an image of you. That's not even real or accurate And then we have Fox and CNN I know that news outlets are something that we watch but how often do we go to them? And why do we go to them? We are not gonna find our Lord and Savior showing his scars off on Fox or CNN any given day He's not coming for that. Is that where we find comfort? Is that where we seek peace? To make sure that war stopped or that situations getting better instead of going to Jesus and understanding the reality of what's going on We can also fall into the trap that all these things I just mentioned are physical things TVs books drinks But the Bible warns us that our we don't wrestle with physical things We wrestle with spiritual things and someone challenged me recently and said that we have to be careful of being overly spiritual And as I've meditated on that I think this generation is more in danger of not being spiritual enough not being overly spiritual Do we acknowledge that there is a world outside of what we can see and feel and That there is an enemy seeking to destroy each and every single one of us

There are spiritual connotations to everything we do what you watch what you listen to Where you participate in things how you participate all those things can affect you and as fathers we have to be careful what we let into our households We can talk about being protectors, but we only protect physically and we rarely think of the spiritual So as we continue thankfully we're all children of light, and we don't participate in any of the stuff that I just said So what does it mean to be a child of light Where is that contrast because that's where we are supposed to live is in the light not in the darkness in sobriety not in drunkenness And it's important to know that we're not called just to not be drunk. We're called to be sober or vigilant. There is a difference Just not doing the bad thing is not enough We're called to something here you see the example of putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of Our salvation those are actions We don't just stumble upon our faith. We don't just stumble upon obedience. We don't stumble upon vigilance It's that idea of a soldier on a watchtower He's up there with a purpose looking for an enemy He didn't just land there one day and figure it out on his own. How are we being vigilant? How can we be vigilant in our walk with the Lord? One of the ways is through prayer Communion with the Lord brings sobriety to our lives It allows us to have the proper lens in our lives of the things that we participate in things that we don't His word his word is one of the best ways to get to know who he is But how much time do we spend in his word? His word teaches us how to walk It helps us make decisions in his word is wisdom to walk in a godly manner consistently in something that the Lord would approve Discipleship is another one And discipleship is so important because we need others to sharpen us Right as fathers we have the opportunity to disciple our children at home, to disciple our wives. Who are we discipling? Discipleship is one of the things by design

that Jesus not only showed us, but left for us to continue to do in. We do that here with life groups and other one-on-one discipleship. We all need to be seeking consistently to be discipled and to disciple. Fasting is another one. I think, I didn't start fasting until a couple of years ago. I thought it was always optional, but Jesus said, when you fast, not if you fast. Fasting is a part of our faith and it gets our minds off of the physical and onto the spiritual. It's no more about what am I gonna put in my tummy today? And it's, you know what, I'm gonna focus on Jesus. So how often do we fast? And then worship, I love worship. It's probably my favorite thing. And worship just sets our hearts in such a solid posture before the Lord, understanding who He is. And all those beautiful hymns and songs that talk about what He's done and remind our souls who He is and what He's done and why we believe, all those things are important for our walks to have sobriety in our spiritual walk with the Lord. Those things pull us towards the Lord instead of pushing us away from Him. And then the beauty of it is putting on the armor of God.

If we are in this faith, we did not get here just by an intellectual endeavor. You can be presented with all the facts in the world and that does not mean that you'll believe in Jesus Christ because it is an act of faith. So what does an act of faith look like? Faith does not come from all the facts that we have. Faith comes from a profession inside of us that we believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. And I love that picture of putting on that breastplate of faith and love. And then a consistent reminder of the helmet of the hope of our salvation. And as we think of these things, the importance is Jesus Christ. That's where we'll find all of this. And if we read in verse nine, you see, "'For God has not destined us for wrath, "'but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, "'who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, "'we might live with Him.'" I don't know how each of you entered in this space today, whether you're a father or not. I don't know what you're carrying. I don't know what you did last night or this morning. I don't know what you're seeking in this place today. I don't know if you feel broken or lost, if you're just tired of all the lies, or maybe this is the last chance you're giving life. But I can confidently tell you

that you can leave all those things today at the foot of the cross and leave transformed with a new purpose and with a love like you've never felt before. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is the premise of all of this. Jesus wants to save. He came to save. And if you're a lost or unbeliever today in this place, we were all like that too. No one person was born a believer. I wasn't. And I would beg and plead with you, if you're feeling Him tugging on your heart, if you're feeling Him tugging on your heart, if you're asking Him to speak to you, by the way, the fact that you're in this room today is a declaration of His love towards you. Come find people. We'll have a prayer team up here that will pray with you, but no one can help you make that decision. That is your own decision to make. But He loves you and He wants you. And everything that you're seeking will be fulfilled and found in Him. It's Father's Day, and I understand that there could be a tension for us as fathers, at least for myself there is, because I can tend to believe in the lies of the enemy. And I can look at my baby girl sometimes and wonder,

why did God give me a gift like that? I don't deserve her. And the reality is there's probably some truth in there, but God has declared something different over my life, and He has gifted me to her, and He is consistently equipping me to raise her to be one of His daughters. So if you're a dad today and you feel regret or shame or guilt, and it might be because of the life that you've lived, or it might be because of the life that you're living, if you're in Christ, I'd like to remind you that Romans 8 says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Any condemnation you might be feeling, any guilt or shame, that is not from the Lord. He convicts us. He doesn't shame us. And so I would ask you, if you came in today and you're burdened with those things, leave them at the cross. We can lose our effectiveness in our households if we're carrying all this sin that we were never designed to carry in the first place. And there might be a fear to speak into our children or into our wives. There might be a fear to lead because how can someone like me lead a household like this? Well, I couldn't without Jesus, but because I have Jesus, I have a confidence in Him that

He will sustain everything He's given, and by design, He's made me the father of a household. The other issues that I've struggled with in the past are worthlessness, burdens. I can feel weak or unloved. Somewhere along the road, someone taught us men that saying the word love is awkward or weird. I don't know who taught us that, but I know I've participated in that. And I'm here to tell you that you're loved beyond anything you ever understand. And it's okay to tell each other that we're loved. It's okay to feel the need to feel loved, because you were designed to be loved. God loves you. I have a confidence that in your household, you're also loved. Maybe you don't hear it often enough, but you're loved. I grew up in a Christian household with my father, but that wasn't my father's story. I had the opportunity to visit Guatemala this year, which is where my daddy's from. And growing up, you know, your parents always tell you, like, you know, I went to school and it was uphill both ways, and you're like, yeah, it was. And so he would talk about these plastic soccer balls that he would play with, and I had never seen a plastic soccer ball. We always grew up with nice soccer balls around here, and so when I got to Guatemala and I saw a plastic soccer ball for the first time, I was like, oh, okay, they're real. But two, this is what my old man played with. And in Guatemala, I was with Edify, who we partner with, and they do a lot of schools with Christian-based learning, and we got taken to different schools, and I got to play soccer with a little kid who was also on a scholarship. So an American family pays for his schooling in Guatemala, and that hit real close to home, because 50 years ago, an American family paid for my daddy's school in Guatemala. So here I am sitting with a young man kicking a ball around, who is my dad 50 years later. And I'm confident my dad did not teach me to kick a soccer ball because he thought great things would come of it, but now we have a ministry here at 121, specifically around the sport, and we meet every Sundays to play with troubled youth here.

The other thing, amongst many, that my dad has given me is this is my daddy's Bible, and he's carried this thing around for 20 years. So I actually get to preach the Spanish service out of this Bible today. But the reality is, even this is not the most valuable thing that my father has given me. Because the most valuable thing that he gave me is teaching me who Jesus was, and leading me to live for Jesus, and have an authentic relationship with him. It's the single thing that has transformed my life the most. It's the single thing that has been consistent since I encountered him. It's the single thing that unifies us the most. So as we think of Father's Day today, first I'd like to encourage children, and if you're in this room, by the way, you are somebody's child, but in my household, my wife lost her dad about eight years ago. I still have both of my parents, but I've watched what it looks like for someone to grieve over a missing parent. Love your parents. Take advantage of your parents, of their time, of their affection. Seek them. Scripture says to honor your parents. We can never be too old to do any of those things. I've learned with her that once they're gone, they're gone, and there's nothing that can happen to bring them back. There's no way to get another kiss, or another hug, or advice from them. So as children on this Father's Day, let's love our fathers. Let's honor them. Let's seek them. Let's tell them that we love them, because they're not eternal. And just like we're a gift to them, I've realized they're a gift to us. Parents are a gift to children as well. So that's some encouragement for us. And then for dads, you are absolutely necessary.

I read a statistic recently that 85% of inmates have an absent father at home. Your presence at home matters. Your leadership at home matters, both physical and spiritual. The things that you teach matter. I'm fairly confident, as my dad led us to know who Jesus was, he never figured that one of his sons would be preaching great fine texts without having his Bible. But that's for the Lord to do. The outcome is for the Lord to handle. We need to be obedient in this moment, and lead our kids to live for Jesus. That is the best thing we could ever do for them. We might think that leaving a house, or money, or cars, and education is where it's at. And ultimately, those can be great things to leave your children. But if you don't leave them with this, if they don't know who Jesus is, if you don't teach them, then you missed out on the best thing that you can hand down generation to generation. So as we close, I want us to read Psalm 127. And then I'll close out in prayer. And I wanna ask, if you're here with your dad, that you pray over him. I know it can be awkward because we usually don't pray over our dads, they pray over us. But I would just invite you to take that step of obedience and pray over your father. Tell him how much you love him. That'll be the best thing you can give him today, not whatever grill or thing you bought him off of Amazon. So Psalm 127 says,

unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Everything we do is empty without the Lord. So I encourage you today, dads, wherever you are in whatever season you are, make the Lord the center in your household, in your marriage, as a father, at work, because that is what all of this is about. He's coming. He's coming for us. So as we pray today, just allow the Lord to sing over you. He loves you. You are his chosen. And that cross that we consistently like to talk about, he had you in mind. He had me in mind. We're chosen by him.

We're handpicked for his purposes. He loves you and he holds no record of your wrongs. So whatever it is that you're bringing today, just lay it at the foot of the cross and leave it. You don't have to leave today the way you came in. You can leave transformed and renewed and rested. Father God, we come before you broken and weary, Lord. Lord, we just ask today that you remind us who we are to you. Help us see ourselves with your eyes, not with all the lies that we have believed, Lord. I pray for the dads in this room, that you give them rest, that you take any burdens that we've taken on that we should have never been carrying, Lord. I pray for healing where there needs to be healing. I pray for restored marriages where there needs to be a restoration and a miracle, Father. I pray for the confidence to speak boldly your truth in our homes, to our children, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs. Father God, thank you that in you we have everything that we need. Thank you that you're the perfect example of a good, good Father. Give us the wisdom to lead and the humility to love and serve the way that you love and served us first. Father, and for every household represented here, I pray that your spirit fills every inch and corner of every room, Lord,

that your glory presses out anything that isn't of you. Father, make us vigilant men that watch over our homes, that watch over our spouses and our children. Give us a heart like yours that desires justice and purity, Lord. Thank you for today. Thank you for all the dads that are obedient to you. Thank you for the ones that from here will leave change. Lord, I just pray that this moment impacts generations from this day forward, Lord, that your truth rings loudly and boldly in our homes and in our hearts. Father, thank you for ministering to us. Thank you for providing for us. Thank you for your rest and your comfort. And as we leave today, I ask, Lord, that this isn't just an hour of a sermon on a Father's day, but it's a new truth that we live by, that we sustain and hold on to, Lord. We love you deeply. We ask all these things in Jesus' precious name, amen. You