Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day. All the dads in the room. We have a special treat this morning. We get to be blessed by the words of one of the men in my life who I consider a spiritual father, a spiritual dad, mentor, prayer warrior, leader. And not just his family in the church, in this region. And I talked to him in the back. He said, CJ, you know I don't need an introduction. So I'm not going to introduce him. He needs no introduction. But can we just clap our hands and welcome one of my spiritual dads, Mr. Eric Rogers. Come on up, Eric. He's going to share with us today. Thank you, Levon. Father God, we thank you for every word that's going to come out of his mouth. We pray, God, that you bless us, speak directly to our hearts, give us exactly what we need. In Jesus' precious and mighty name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, CJ. But I told him not to do that. I told him not to do that. And because he's my son, I'm just going to...never mind. Anyways. I did not come to preach today. I came... I came to simply have a conversation. Do y'all mind if I sit down? Do y'all mind if I sit down? I came to have a conversation with fathers and with men. And for sake of transparency, we're going to let the women ease drop, if y'all don't mind. If y'all don't mind. And I believe that what we talk about today will add some spiritual truths to what would be effective in what you can absolutely think about incorporating in your life. There's a scripture, and if you could put it up for me, and I'm going to pray. And just let us, if you don't mind, indulge me and bow your heads and close your eyes with me. Father, in the name of Jesus, Father, I ask for your anointing. I ask for your grace. I ask, Father, for simply your presence in your room, oh Father. Father, I ask that you speak to each one of us, Father. Speak to every man, Father. But certainly, oh Father, gleam truth through every daughter in this room, Father. I pray, Father, that what you would have and what you would do, let it be done according to your purpose, your will, and your destiny that you have for their lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now, I guess I got to stand up. First Corinthians 4 and 15 says it just like this. For though you might have 10,000 instructors, not many of you have a father.

In this world of mainstream media, social media, internet life coaches, we have adapted ourselves seemingly in a current and almost common life space, as you will, direction from instructors with respect for making marriages work, building wealth or business, positive thinking, parenting, and the list goes on. If I could just spend a few moments of your time this morning, gentlemen, with a conversation. Ladies, you definitely won't be left out. You definitely won't be left out. We live in a world today, men, that not only do they tell us who we are and who we should be or ought to be, it can be safely assumed that being a good father can almost feel impossible, based on the demands of others and the constant moving of the goalpost. This is who they say a man is. This is what you should do as a father. This is how you should be. This is how you should perform. This is what makes you a good father. I'm simply here to provide some encouragement, but also open your eyes, enhance your hearing, and add clarity to your journey on fatherhood. Now, I have three children, 34, 29, and 24. And I am privileged to be their dad. But they often tell me they have received the utmost privilege and gift. And besides anything else that would mean anything to me, that means the most to me. Because I remember when I got married, I really prayed this prayer. I did not ask God to make me successful. I did not ask God to give me any money. I did not ask God to do all of these worldly things

or intangible things. I simply asked God one thing, make me a great husband and a great father. That's all I wanted. Simply from where I came from in my background, I wanted to be more than what I had came from, which was when we get to the end of this, which was a demand that my father had put on me that I didn't even know or understand at the time. Because when you're a young man, any time an older man tells you something or corrects you about something or gives you insight on something, it oftentimes comes across as criticism to you. But he saw something in me. And the thing that he would say to me and my three brothers, but mainly me, I don't know why, he said, you are forbidden to do less than me. I was like, now wait a minute now. I don't kind of like all that. Now you're just threatening to? But to be who I am now gave me so much insight of what he was saying back then. And I'll speak to that a little bit later on. I'm just going to talk to you about you great fathers in here and you good fathers in here. I want you to just hear my heart so that I can drop some things into you so that you stay balanced in your fatherhood, OK? Do you mind? All righty.

In specific order, this is the essentials of a good father that God would put in alignment. If you want that kind of patriotic legacy deposit left in this earth, the first thing that is, God help me in this world. They might throw me away for saying this. In the sight of God, the order simply goes. Number five is you are a protector. Now to be a protector simply is someone where you have a natural instinct as men where, all right, don't show up over here because if you mess with this or that, you know what's going to happen. It's a natural instinct. You don't have to be taught that. That's already in you. That's something that God has given each man instinctively. It's just instinctively. That's just who you are. Number four is you are a provider. This is also a God-given natural instinct that we have, but has been lost in many ways in this fallen world. Here's the thing about it. This world will celebrate you if you meet these requirements, natural instincts that do not require spiritual support. This world will, they will celebrate you and I because the first thing they say is, he's a good provider. He's a good provider. But the reality of it is, God wants us to be so, he has a defined definition of who we are so much more than just being that. And sadly enough, that instinct has been so naturally and unnaturally lost, excuse me, that it's very difficult to even find good men, such as we are in this building, who are there for our children. Number three, he says now, the next most important thing

you must be is a promoter. A promoter. He humbles himself and promotes others more than himself. He knows it is never about him. I remember when I first had my first child, I knew it was, I was like, okay, you know, oh God, I swear. CJ, I remember that you know how you'd be hanging out with your friends and you'd be doing all this stuff and you're just kind of just doing your thing. And I remember my colleagues, my boys that I went to school with, we hanging and all this stuff. And right after I had my daughter, there was something that shifted in me. And I wasn't even saved. It was just something that shifted. And I was like, well, now I can't like actually do this no more. And they would call me up and say, yo man, we clubbing? No, actually we not because I got a daughter now. Well, that got to do with anything. Well, they got a lot to do with a whole lot of stuff. You understand son? Now, the promoter thing is simply about, he helps his children. He encourages them to exist, flourish and achieve further in this world. He esteems their God gifts and talents to be used for God's glory. In other words, he makes sure to manifest the dream of God that he has placed in his children. He makes it come to pass in their life without any hesitation. Without any hesitation. Footnote, I mean, God really started blessing my life, our life and things like that. And I knew that when he was blessing my life that it actually had nothing to do with me. It had absolutely nothing to do with me. And the reality of it was, how I knew it didn't have anything to do with me, because everything I thought I would do and be, if he would have gave it to me 10 years before, was not even a thought. He just couldn't have did it. Now, there's a scripture that says it like this. Psalms 75 and 6 says, for promotions cometh neither from the east nor the west nor from the south, but God is the judge. He put it one down and he set it one up. Now understand, he said it doesn't come from the east or the south or the west. He says it comes from north. So whatever promotion that God has set you up, he sets you up in your business and your finances and all of those things, whatever your children are, he says, now I need you to be the promoter of that. Now, in some ways we've lost that a little bit in this time, because now we've handed our kids kind of, because I didn't get this, I'm going to make sure you never have to feel certain things. And I remember these little sayings my father would say to me, which I never could have, you know, figure out until I'm older now. He says, son, don't you hand your kids everything.

If you want to hand them anything, hand them some of your struggle. Just hand them some of that, so that they'll understand what this looks like. Now, number two, the essentials of a great father. is you must have a prayer life oh you must have a prayer life Luke says it like this he says like this he said and he spake a parable unto them Jesus to this end that men are always pray and not faint men King James verses that men are always pray and never cease now when he spoke the parable he was speaking the parable about a widow woman who had prayed so much she kept going back to Jesus where she wearied him till he finally she finally she finally after going to Jesus of God have you want to gonna frame it but it was that she God finally said the judge finally said I'm tired of you I wish you know listen what you want I'm just gonna give it to you because I'm tired of you coming into me that's how God wants us to be no matter how long it takes no matter how weary it may become no matter what those circumstances may be continue to go back to him and understand what he would have for you me us but men it starts right there being the provider and a protector and just promoting them and giving them things with promotion as a matter of fact that I didn't even mention where promotion comes you don't get promoted until you show the discipline of work that you're ready to receive what is necessary at next level living so if your child isn't showing you that he's ready to receive certain things the promotion is not you're supposed to make sure that they are ready for the promotion God is not even going to promote us until he knows we're ready to be promoted he's just not gonna do no not okay okay ladies this this this I gotta speak to y'all right now okay now just because your husband dad all those cover just because he doesn't break like you doesn't mean he not praying okay please understand something doesn't mean not praying okay cuz see I can walk in my house and I know when my wife plan praying I can walk in the room and I know when a bunch of women praying because I mean you you know what a bunch of women praying but men don't generally

pray like that you wanna know how men pray you really wanna know how men pray well Lord I need 275 dollars by Friday for this you know I need this now that's how men pray we don't do all that stuff you know the Lord like you know the people about to come over here and I need six hundred and twenty eight dollars by tomorrow and I know you able that how we pray you know so just because you don't see him praying doesn't mean he's not praying just because he doesn't pray like you doesn't mean that he is not praying whatever God would have him to be and do that is the thing that is connected to him and God and you have to allow that to be so okay now number five number one I believe is the most important and I have to add some context to this five piece number five a protector number four provider number three a promoter number two have a prayer in life but number one he's a prophet he's a prophet he's a prophet now the moment there's a theological term that's called the law first mentioned which simply states that the moment you hear something mentioned the first time in the Bible it sets the stage for how things will carry out in the life or a situation the law first mentioned now the law first mentioned first reared itself in patriarchal conversation or speaking into that child's life was Noah you can check me Noah Genesis 9 20 through 27 now this is very important because Noah wakes up after being drunk and his son saw him drunk which would absolutely in the natural perspective invalidate you in terms of how you are I in terms of how we would speak to our children because that's the barrier right there they've seen us in positions or situations or they've seen us make mistakes and now we pull ourselves back from even speaking it to them because we feel invalid he's he after he they he comes out of his drunken stupor he walks right over to them and he begins to speak right into their life the lineage don't don't disregard or disrespect the father in your own life rather he is a father who has been there or rather he is a father in your in your spirit because all of our flaws will be shown every last one of them will be shown but it doesn't negate the hierarchy in the

patriarchal requirement that God has on our life and on your father and on your mom's life so I'm saying to you father because you made a mistake don't you because they've seen something that may not be just right with you don't you stop don't you stop now let's talk about Joseph here we're gonna talk about Joseph and we're gonna talk about Jacob we don't really have a conversation here Genesis 49 and 26 now there's a chair here come here son yeah sit right here now 49 and don't you worry about it you ain't got to say nothing okay you good you don't want to say nothing okay Jacob 49 and then two now Jacob called his sons together and said I am Jacob stop right there I am Jacob your father is real come gather around as I tell you your future he says I am Jacob I'm your earthly father I am the supplanter the trickster I've done some stuff you've seen me do some stuff you know my life has been kind of jacked up if I was to say it that way but he also says he didn't just say come here cuz I'm your father he said I'm Israel I'm the one who has wrestled with God I've wrestled with God and I have such a connection with God and I have all and I have been so so close to God that I now walk with a limp. Let me tell you something. He did not come to him talking to him as his son, a little boy. The tribe of Israels have came from Jacob. His sons, and he knows what Joseph has been through. He knows everything about what he's been through. You know everything about me humanly. I know everything about you humanly. But that doesn't negate the connection that God has put together. He has blended together the human with the divine. That's why the prayer life is so important because when God fuses those two together,

it doesn't matter how people see you humanly. You already know that God has placed something in you spiritually. You understand? Now he begins to talk to all of his sons, but for sake of argument, because ladies, I said I was going to keep you involved, right, for sake of argument, I'm going to speak to the Joseph in him, but I'm going to speak to the Josephine in you. Watch what he says. He says, Joseph, you are a fruitful vine, growing near a stream and climbing a wall. In other words, scripture says it simply like this if you define it. You are a healthy plant. No matter what the obstacles, walls placed in front of you, you successfully overcome those. The branches that you have extend over any obstacle. He says this to Joseph. He says, let me tell you who you are. Through every circumstance, through every situation, I know what they try to do to you. He said, every obstacle that gets put in your way, everything that comes up against you, he said, because you are planted, because you are a plant, because you are healthy, because you walk with me,

because you are in my care, he says, no matter what happens, any obstacle that comes across, you will extend above it, because you will overcome it. Enemies attack you with arrows, refuse to show mercy, 23, but you stood your ground, swiftly shooting back with the help of Jacob's God, an all-powerful one. His name is the shepherd, the Israel's mighty right. Despite fierce attacks from your family, despite who left you, despite the fiery darts of the enemy, ta, ta, ta, ta, I'm trying, I'm here, I'm trying to, mm, mm, mm, everything that keeps coming your way, he says, despite it all, you did not break. You didn't break. You didn't break. I speak to your endurance, not your own power, but God's power, because God is with you. God is with you. God is with you. 25, your help come from God, your father worship from God all-powerful.

God will bless you with rain and streams from the earth. He will bless you with many descendants, 26. My son, the blessings I give are better than the promise of ancient mountains or eternal hills. Joseph, I pray these blessings will come to you because you are a leader of your brother. I declare to you, Joseph, he just says it like this, Joseph, I declare to you, you will be abundantly blessed, both materially and spiritually. Now he says this to him, steps away afterwards, gets in his bed, lays back and goes home to be with the Lord. No, you can go back down there. Now, let me tell you a story. I'm going to close on this story. 1998, this day always kind of fares difficult for me from time to time. But today, for some reason, my wife was like, honey, do you need this? Do you need that? And I really just wanted to say, I just normal. I just want to do everything like normal. But in 1998, I had the privilege of doing my very first eulogy. And my very first eulogy that I ever did was my father's. And I remember that as I did this eulogy,

and I never did it before, we met the gravesite, committed the body, and I committed the body, and I was thankful that I had the privilege to do that. But I could remember something he said to me. And every flaw that I knew about my dad, he said, you can do anything you want, son. And he said to me, if you are who you are with God, he said, if you can't bury me, then who am I? Who have I became to you? In the moment I committed his body, I did not remember it until I walked away. I walked away, and I turned, and I stood for a moment, and I remembered those words. So what I am saying to you is, April 23, 1998, and I never remembered that date until today. And I never remembered that moment until today. What I'm saying to you great men is, do not forget this moment today, who God said you were, and who God says you are. You may not have never had anybody speak into your life and tell you who you are, but you heard who you are today, Joseph. You heard who you are today, Josephine. You have heard who you are. Don't you forget it. CJ? Yes. Can we bow our heads? You know, it's never lost on me on days like today

when we talk about fathers and we celebrate. There's so many who never had a father, who doesn't know what it feels like to have someone who's a protector, a provider, a promoter, who prays for you, who's a prophet. But can I remind you here, if you never had one, we all have a father in heaven who protects us, who provides for us. who promotes us, who never ceases to pray for us, and who's a prophet and speaks over our lives. I wanna thank you, Eric, for reminding us today of what that should look like. But can we take some time right now and just thank God for being a father that we all need, a father that we can all look to, a father that we can all rely on. Father God, we thank you today for being a good, good father all of our lives, God. Father God, for those in here who need a father, for those who need an example, Father God, remind our hearts today, Father, that you are the one we can look to. You are the one who gives the example. You are the one who did it first. You are the one who always protects, God, the one who always provides, who always promotes. You always sit at the right hand of your father, making intercession for us, praying for us. Father God, we live, Father God, as the result and beneficiary of the prayers

that you pray over us, God, and we are thankful for you, God. Father God, as we say happy Father's Day, and show thanks to all our earthly fathers, Father God, we say happy Father's Day, and thank you to you first, God, because you are the one, God. You are the father who continues to give us life. So good to us. You've been so good to us, and so faithful, and so kind. And Father God, I pray, God, that we will look at the words that you speak over us, and we would take it to heart, God, and we would walk in it, Father God, and we would live it out, Father. Father God, I thank you for every father in this room, every father in the making, every young dad, every old dad. Father God, I pray, God, you would continue to strengthen us all, continue to lead us all, so we would take the rightful place, our rightful place in our family's lives, in our community, God, in our churches, in our schools, God, in the lives of our children, God. Help us to be the men that you called us to be, God. And Father God, even as we spoke last week, God, help us to remember, even in our weakness, especially in our weakness, is when we will experience your strength.

So Father God, help us to be men who first look to you and rely on you, who call on you, Father God, for the areas in our lives that we are weak. We thank you, God. We thank you, God. We love you, God. We honor you. Can we all stand? I don't know why it's so strong in my heart even as we get set to leave today. Those five points that Eric pointed out. I pray if you never met a father who exhibited all five of those, my prayer for you is that you begin to know God in such a way that he shows you each one of those in himself. He shows you how he carries out each one of those. The protector, the provider, the promoter, the praying man, and the prophet. And as he shows you who he is, as he reveals each one of those characteristics of himself to you, I pray that it grows roots so deep in your heart that you begin to live each one of those things out. I tell people this all the time, and we'll pray and we'll leave. One of the most formative parts of my life, as a dad came way before I was a father. It came at a time where I had been praying.

My wife and I, we weren't married yet. I don't even think we were engaged yet, but it had came out of a time of prayer. And I was praying, and then I had got on the phone with my wife, who was my girlfriend or whatever she was at the time to me. I don't know, we've been together forever. I forget what she was. I loved her though. And we were on the phone and I'm on the phone with her and I just start crying as I'm still in this mindset of prayer. And she's like, babe, like, what are you crying for? And I told her, I said. I don't know but God is making so real to me right now. He said to me what he's going to do to our lives is going to be great, but what he's going to do to our children's lives is going to be even greater. And it was the thing that God spoke to me before it had happened. Talk about him being a prophet. It was the thing that he spoke to me even before we were married, before we had kids. That allows me today as a father to look at my kids with the word that God has spoken to me for them. It says, I don't know what your story is but I tell you what, God said that what he's going to do to your life is going to be great. And I speak that over your life and I pray that over your life and I'm here to walk you through it and steward you through it. And so I want to encourage every parent in the room, God has called you to get before him as Eric Rogers preached today and be people who pray so you can hear from God and get a vision from God of what he wants to do in your life and over the lives of your children. I pray over everyone in this room, God you make us praying people, God, that'll hear from you and so we can speak your very words, the very words of life, the very words of truth, the very words of strength over the people who you've connected us to and called us to steward over and raise up and to live out. We love you God and we thank you God that you are a good, good father all the days of our life and Jesus precious and mighty name we pray and everybody shout aloud amen. Amen. God bless you. Happy Father's Day. We will see you all next week. God bless you.