Our Father - JJ Vasquez

We are so honored and happy to be with all of you here this Sunday morning. If I haven't had a chance to meet you yet, my name is Jaylene and I get to serve here as the online director. Listen, it's a very special Sunday because Journey Church Online is not the only one watching us. We are actually live here in our Fern Park building. We are actually on our second floor getting ready for service. Listen, if you are here at Fern Park and you can hear me, make some noise right there in your seat. That's right, I hear you guys. We're also live at our East Orlando location and our Kissimmee location. We can't hear you, but we know you're there, so make some noise at our broadcast locations. We love you guys. And we also have our Pando viewers watching, our inmates in the correctional facilities. We love you guys so, so much, and we're so honored that you decided to join us this Sunday. Well, listen, it's also a very special Sunday. Can you go ahead and give it up for all of the fathers in the room? Happy Father's Day. Listen, we are so honored for all that you do for our families, for the way you serve them, for the way you love them, for the way you just continue

to encourage us, inspire us. I wanna shout out all the dads in the room who are spiritual fathers, who are adopted fathers, stepfathers, fathers to ones who didn't even ask for you to be a father to, you showed up for them, you were there for them, you love them and encourage them, and we thank you for all that you've done. Or maybe today, you're like me, and you don't have a father to text, a father to have dinner with, a father to say Happy Father's Day to. I just want you to know that you're not alone. I honor you for coming to church. Thank you for inviting us into your pain, into your sorrow, and into the complicated emotions that can come with a day like today. But I just also wanna encourage you that today can be a resurrected day, because you serve a resurrected king. You serve the king of all kings, the father of all fathers, and that is our heavenly father. And I know that he has an encouragement that he wants to share with you, that he has love that he wants to pour out on you, that there is healing available for you today. So right now, I just wanna pray for everyone listening to my voice, and just pray with me. Father God, thank you so much for letting us be here this Sunday. Thank you, Lord, that you have a word for us

that we need to receive. Thank you that you already have things you wanna pour out onto us, God, that we didn't ask for, but that you knew we needed. And so, Lord, I pray that you allow us to receive it with open hands. Allow any distractions, any pain, any resentment, any bitterness, any sorrow to go away in Jesus' name for us to receive the life, the truth, the peace, and the hope that you have for us today. We love you, Jesus. We're expecting for what it is you're gonna do, and we ask this in your name. Amen. Amen. Let's get ready for service. ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ‪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Well, welcome home, Journey Church, and happy Father's Day. Come on, we want to honor all the dads in the room watching online. We honor you today. Let's sing this out. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You give all the praise, we sing. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You give all the praise, we sing. ♪ ♪ I've got a God who is for me. ♪ ♪ And he's known for making a way. ♪ ♪ He fought the battles so I wouldn't have to. ♪ ♪ All glory belongs to his name. ♪ ♪ And I've got a God who's been faithful. ♪ ♪ More than I could explain. ♪ ♪ Every season in spite of my weakness. ♪ ♪ He gave me a song I could sing. ♪ ♪ And I came to praise. ♪

♪ I came to praise. ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up today. ♪ ♪ I came to praise. ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, always. ♪ ♪ I've got a king who is risen. ♪ ♪ He put my shame in the grave. ♪ ♪ Went to hell and back and now I never ask who. ♪ ♪ And he did it all in three days. ♪ ♪ And I came to praise. ♪ ♪ I came to praise. ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up today. ♪ ♪ I came to praise. ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, always. ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning. ♪ ♪ I'm singing at night. ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning. ♪ ♪ That's how I'm fine. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it twice. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy. ♪ ♪ In the morning. ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning. ♪ ♪ I'm singing at night. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy. ♪

♪ That's how I'm fine. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's twice. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy the rest of my life. ♪ ♪ I'm singing it's holy the rest of my life. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. We say hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. Always hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. We say hallelujah. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. Always. ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning. ♪ ♪ I'm singing at night. ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the battle. That's how I fight. ♪ ♪ I'm singing holy. I'm singing twice. ♪ ♪ I'm singing holy for the rest of my life. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You get all the praise. Always. ♪ ♪ You get all the praise. Always. ♪ ♪ Oh, we thank You, Jesus. Yes, we do. ♪ Come on, give Him all the praise. Give Him all the praise. He is faithful. He is faithful, Jesus. We thank You. We thank You. Come on, we stand on His promises today. We stand on His Word that He is good, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And He goes before us, leading us to still waters. We thank You, Jesus. Yes, Lord. You never leave, You never leave, no.

♪ I felt the flame and wrestled the dark ♪ ♪ But I never knew till I had the scars ♪ ♪ How good Your grace could be ♪ ♪ How You would be my strength ♪ ♪ No matter what I have resolved on my lowest day ♪ ♪ You're still in control, I will not be afraid ♪ ♪ I'll get back up and say, come on, say it ♪ ♪ The Lord is with me, oh the Lord, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ Ever present in my hour of need, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ The Lord is with me, yes, we believe it ♪ ♪ And You never said it wouldn't be fine ♪ ♪ You promised that You'd be right by my side ♪ ♪ No matter how it seems, hold my confidence ♪ ♪ The Lord is with me, oh the Lord, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ Yes He is, oh He'll never leave me ♪ ♪ In my hour of need, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ The Lord is with me, yes, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ Ever present in my hour of need, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ It doesn't matter what it looks like, I know I'm not alone ♪ ♪ You're not alone, come on let's sing this out with confidence ♪ ♪ We will not fear, no fear may tell me to tremble ♪ ♪ I'm not gonna bow, I may be thrown in the fire ♪ ♪ But I'm gonna walk out the heat of the flames ♪ ♪ It won't consume me, no, it's nothing but smoke ♪ ♪ It may look like, it may look like a, come on, we're not alone, we're not alone ♪ ♪ Don't fear, don't fear, I'm not gonna bow, I may be thrown in the fire ♪ ♪ Come on, you're gonna walk out of this, you're gonna walk out ♪ ♪ You won't even smell like smoke, it can't touch you, it can't destroy you ♪ ♪ It can't destroy you, it can't touch you, oh, it's my life ♪ ♪ It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm not alone ♪

♪ The Lord is with me, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ He's with you, the Lord is with me, yes, He's right by your side ♪ ♪ He's there, He's there, the Lord is with me, the Lord is with me ♪ ♪ The Lord is with me, in the presence, in my hour of need ♪ ♪ Don't fear, they tell me to pray, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I'm gonna bow, I may be thrown into the fire ♪ ♪ I'm gonna walk the earth, I'm gonna walk the sky ♪ ♪ The heat of the flame won't consume me, it's nothing but smoke ♪ ♪ Oh, and in it I'm like I'm surrounded ♪ ♪ But I'm not alone ♪ Come on, church. ♪ The Lord is with you, he's with us, thank you Jesus ♪ What a beautiful song. Yeah, what an amazing reminder. Yes, he always is with us. And just staying in that same heart posture, we have a prayer request. We actually have a group of people going on a missions trip to Texas. So exciting. So that'll be next week. So if you can join us in prayer, feel free to reach your hand across the screen if you can. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for this day and all these people that you brought here, just gathered in your name, Lord. We just pray for these men and women that are going out to Texas on this missions trip. Lord, we pray that you just guide all of their steps and we pray that everyone who they encounter

just has the eyes to see and the ears to hear your word, Father, and we're so thankful and we love you. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. What a beautiful prayer, Danielle. Thank you. And here at Journey, we are a pray first church. So if you have any prayer requests or need anything prayed for, please drop it in the chat. Scan the QR code below and our prayer warriors will be out there praying for you, with you, and alongside you. Yeah, prayer warriors come on. I've seen you guys in that Journey app and the chat. Yeah, every time. And we wanna go ahead and welcome y'all. Yes, welcome back. Thank you for joining in. Thank you for tuning in. We love you guys. I wanna go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Alex. Thank you for being here. I'm so happy to be here with y'all. Yes, and my name is Christian. I get the joy and honor and privilege of being your online host today. And I'm Danielle, and I have the honor, the privilege, the joy, all of the things

to be one of your online hosts here today as well. Oh my gosh, you know who we gotta shout out? Who do we gotta shout out? The Pando app. Yeah, shout out to all of you guys. We love you guys. We pray for you every single day. Thank you for tuning in with us. Yes, absolutely. And I actually have another group of people we gotta welcome too. Hello. I know you guys that have been here already know what I'm about to say, but say it all with me. We got our FTGs. We got our first time guests. If it is your first time joining us online, go ahead and drop FTG in the chat and scan that QR code. We'd love to get to know more about you guys. And we think we found your church home right here. I mean, just saying. Yes, and if you're a FTG or OG, we have Next Steps for you. If you wanna be a part of what Journey is creating, learn their backstory and learn where we are going, please scan the QR code below to watch the video that we have for Next Step 1, where you can learn your God-given gift

and join us here at Journey to create something bigger, making Jesus accessible to everyone. Come on, that was good. On top of that, another way that you can get connected with us is if you go ahead and download our Journey Church app. It doesn't matter if you have an iPhone, if you have an Android, we don't have no beef over here. Okay, we love everybody. Go ahead and download that app. Okay, that's where you can see exclusively our prayer services on Wednesdays. You can enter all the chats. You can send prayer requests, pray for other people. You can see small groups. It's popping over there. Okay, so go ahead and download that app and we look forward to interacting with you guys during the week. Yes, and another way to get plugged in and connected is subscribing to our YouTube channel. That is where you can find all of our sermons, all of the podcasts, anything that you need and more. You can share it with all of your friends, but go ahead and scan that QR code to subscribe and get locked in to everything else y'all need. Yeah. And here at Journey, we believe in giving back to the community.

So as part of your generosity, we are partnering with University High School to improve their auditorium. With your generosity and partnership, we are able to upgrade the auditorium with new lighting, new audio, and LED wall, not only for us, but for the students. As we are making Jesus accessible to anyone, we are encouraging students and partnering with University High School to bring internships where students can partner with us at Journey on Sundays to learn production, learn creativity, and learn leadership. And all that is done by your generosity. So if you wanna partner with us at Journey, please scan the QR code below and give back to the community. That's so amazing. Yeah, that is just so awesome. I know we've been at University High in East Orlando for what, a couple of years? Yeah. Shout out to Pastor Hector over there. Yeah, shout out to Pastor Hector. We love you. We see you guys over there, East Orlando crew. And it is so amazing, just the fact that they've let us use their space and now we can give back to them. 100%.

And today is a very special day. We wanna thank and say, you know, happy Father's Day to all the dads. We wanna say happy Father's Day to all the father figures, okay? Because you're not left out. Shout out to my Uncle Chris. Thanks for showing, exactly. Thanks for showing up. Beautiful message out there today. 100%. And for those who, maybe you don't have your father today, maybe you've have, you know, it's kind of a difficult day for you. that we're standing with you, that we love you, that we're here. We are your family, and we're praying for you, and we all have our Heavenly Father. Yeah, you got our prayer warriors out there. 100%. Keeping that in mind, share this message, prepare your hearts, and we'll see you at the end. Yes, see you soon. See you guys. Bye. Worship, and church, lean in, because the God of heaven and earth is in the room, and he wants to meet with you. Let's worship. Let's take this time to welcome all of our locations joining us for worship.

We thank you, Jesus. We thank you, Lord. Just invite you to lift your hands this morning. Father, remind us who we are, your sons, your daughters, and we are here to receive the perfect love of a perfect Heavenly Father who has never failed us, who has never left us, who's always been there. Come on, he sees you and he loves you. Let's sing out a new song today. Thank you, Jesus. You're good, you're good. You're my Father, yeah. You're my Father, yeah. You, you're a good Father. Never a day you turned away from your own. You, you are my defender. You are my defender. You put it all on the line, ready to fight for who you love. Help me to believe. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. I wanna tell the enemy, it won't work. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. Cause I have a Father, yes. Oh, I have a Father. Thank you, Lord. Oh, you, you're a mighty warrior. You break the lies over my life. There is freedom, oh, freedom. You, you are my protector. Yes, you're a safe place with a strong name, Jesus.

Jesus. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. I wanna tell the enemy, it won't work. No weapon. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. Cause I have a Father, yes, I have a Father. I have a Father who loves me just the way I am. And I have a Father who sees me and leads me by His hand. Even the trauma couldn't stop the plans you have for me. I know your healing is more than a feeling. Help me, oh, yeah. I have a Father who loves me just the way I am. I have a Father who sees me and leads me by His hand. Even the trauma couldn't stop the plans you have for me. I know your healing is more than a feeling. Help me, oh, yeah. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. I wanna tell the enemy, it won't work. No weapon formed against me, no, it won't ever prosper. No, it won't ever prosper. Come on, if you've got a father in heaven, would you make some noise today if you're grateful for the dad you've got in heaven. You know, today is Father's Day, and for some people, it's a day of joy and celebration as they reflect on the man they had in their life, but for a lot of people, it's a day of mixed feelings because maybe they never had that dad, maybe they never had that man. What I'm excited to encourage you with today is whether or not you had an earthly father. Hey, we've got a heavenly father who is good and strong and able and powerful. Come on, let's pray. Father, we love you and we thank you. Thank you for being the dad we didn't have.

Thank you for your love. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for your provision. Thank you for being in this room today. Father, thank you that through the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you've made a way for me to get adopted into this family and be a part of this family. We're just so grateful, and we love you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen. Come on, one more time, would you put your hands together for your father in heaven? Amen. And before you take a seat, I want you to find three people that you did not drive to church with today. Give them a big old high five and tell them, I got a dad. Come on, I got a dad. I got a dad. He's a good, good dad. Amen. Well, welcome to church. How many people are excited to be in the house of God this morning? Amen. Well, my name is JJ, if we haven't met yet. And alongside my wife Liz, we have the honor and the privilege of serving Journey Church as its lead pastors. And if you didn't know that, that probably means you are a first-time guest. And we're so glad you chose to be at church today. If you're looking for a home church, look no further. We think you walked into it not only because you're surrounded by the presence of God, but because you are also surrounded by some of the most amazing, honest, open, and transparent people in all of Central Florida.

Journey Church, will you prove me right by putting your hands together and welcoming all of our first-time guests one more time? Keep it going for Journey Church online. Keep it going for Journey East Orlando meeting at University High School. Keep it going for Journey Kissimmee meeting at Gateway High School. And keep it going for all those who are currently incarcerated, watching in jails and prisons throughout the United States through the Pando app. We're so glad you're with us. Hey, well, today's a really special day. It is Father's Day today. And I just wanted to take a second to honor all of the dads in the house. If you are a father in the room, would you do us the honor at all of our locations, would you please stand to your feet so that we can recognize you, honor you, say thank you? Look at all the men in church. Come on. If revival is happening in America, it's because the men are coming back to church. Shout out all the guys. You know, I said what I said, because studies are showing that men are actually coming back to church in numbers that we have not seen in decades. And I'm so grateful, because you don't have to be a perfect dad. You just got to be a dad that's connected to Jesus, man. And Jesus will fill the gaps wherever you drop the ball. There are no perfect dads. But we've got a perfect Father in heaven who fills us. So love you. Shout out. Well, I'm really excited about today's message. We got a special Father's Day message. I'm actually tag-teaming today's message with somebody. He's a special guest.

And normally, you know, I preach from here, and it's on stage, there's people watching. This sermon, we actually had to record it beforehand. And it'll all make sense as you watch the video, because it gets real emotional. And we just couldn't put our special guest through that four times, at least here at Fern Park. We have four services here at Fern Park. And so, I really think you are going to be blessed by today's message, whether you had a dad, are a dad, aren't a dad. I think it's going to hit you in a special way. So, we love you. Lean in, pull out your notebook, because I think God's got a special message for you this Father's Day. Come on, let's listen to the Word of God. Happy Father's Day, Journey Church. We're so glad that you're here with us. I know this is a little different than we normally do when it comes to Sundays, but I think you're going to like some of the surprises. that we have, not just for the dads, but for really anybody who came to church today. I really hope you're encouraged. Father's Day is a really special day, not just for me, but I think even in scripture, there's a reason why God is called the father. And it's not because God has a gender. It's not because he's male or female, but the reason why God is called father is because of the cultural and symbolic role that the father plays in the family. A father provides three things for their family. One is provision, and that is the food

and the shelter, biblically, in biblical times, all of your food, your shelter, your clothes were provided by the father. In addition to provision, they gave protection. And so if some barbarian showed up to your village and it was dad's job to get out there and defend, and it's cool that we have a God that not only puts clothes on our back and food in our fridge and air in our lungs, but how many people know it's great to know that we have a God that fights for us so that when the enemy shows up at our front door, we know we got somebody who can come to bat for us. And so he gives provision, he gives protection. And on top of that, a good father promises an inheritance. And that's something else we have in our father to know that our future is secure. In biblical times, the father left an inheritance, left the home, left property, left all of the provision and the protection that the son would need and that the daughter would need. And we receive that from our heavenly father. We have an eternal inheritance. And so if you came to church today worried about your future, let me just remind you, don't worry, your daddy's rich. He's got you, he's got your back. He provides, he protects, and he promises an inheritance. And I think the coolest thing is that Jesus wanted you to know every time he prayed

that his father was not just his father, but that his father was our father. When Jesus is teaching the disciples to pray in Matthew 6.9, he says, our father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I think it's so cool that Jesus wanted us to know that our father is not just his father, but it's your father and my father. I think Jesus is saying, hey, the kind of relationship that I have with God, the kind of relationship that I have with the father, the intimacy, the closeness, I just want you to know that's not just limited to me. That the same access that I have and the same love that I receive is the same access that you can have. It's the same love that you can receive. How many people are glad to know that Jesus is saying, hey, it's not just my father, he's ours. And in the same way that Jesus was shaped by the father, that the son comes from the father, he once told the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. Another way Jesus is saying, I look like my dad. I think that's a part of Jesus's heart for you and me too, that when we really connect with father God, not only does he provide, protect, give us inheritance, but listen, at the end of the day, we end up looking like him. We end up adopting his character, his heart,

the way that he sees and loves the world. And I don't know about you, but I wanna be like our father. And that can be a hard message for many of us to receive. It can be hard if you show up to the church today, you're a young man, maybe you're not a father, maybe you're a woman today, you're not a father. I think we can all relate to this message because whether or not you are a father, everybody in this room had a father. And so you feel the power of a father, or maybe you feel the power of a father because you didn't have a father. Still feel the weight, still feel the power, still feel the need, still feel the gap. Or maybe you feel the weight because you had a father, but you kind of wish you didn't. No matter what season, what history you walked into church today, I've got good news for today. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 18, God just wants to remind you, regardless of the dad that you had on this planet, I will be a father to you and you will be my son and daughter, says the Lord Almighty. Want you to know that today, regardless of the kind of dad that you had, regardless of the history of the pain or whatever you're carrying in today, I know Father's Day is a celebration for some, for others it's mourning. Some of us had a great father, but our father's not here anymore.

That can be equally sad. I just want you to know, according to scripture, God says, I'll fill in the gap. So I wanna speak today on a message titled, My Father. So here's the goal for today. So that when you leave here, you're not just thinking no longer God the father or the father God, but listen, God, my father, my father, God. And to help me bring the message today, I have such a great surprise for you, my actual father, Freddy Vasquez. Let's go. Dude, I'm so glad that you're here. Glad to be here. Thank you for saying yes and for doing this with me. This is gonna be fun. Yeah, should be. Yeah. This is actually not our first time tag team preaching. No, it's not. We've done it before, you remember? Yes, sir, I do remember. Yeah, when you were a youth pastor and you had me and we, I don't even remember what we preached about, but I just remember we did it together and it's good times. It's always a pleasure to hang out together with my son. Love you, man. Well, that's next week's sermon, my son. We just got, my father's what it is.

So if you don't know, this is my dad, Freddy Vasquez, and I got something that I brought, asked mom for, because we gotta let the people know, we gotta provide evidence that this is actually, you are my dad. And so go ahead. I got a place, I got a placeholder into two of that. So if you open it up, you'll see the first placeholder right there on the left. So look at that picture on the bottom left. That is the first time you became a father. That's at the hospital, right? Picture of me holding you at the hospital. Yeah, they'll see it on the screen. What do you remember about that day? What do you remember the day that you became a father? It was amazing. I got to share your first moments with you. You were born a little bit sick for a while, and mom didn't even wanna see you, so. Dang, mom. She was just, didn't wanna hold you until you were better. So I got the privilege of feeding you your first bottle, holding you for a first time, and spending some moments with you. It was exciting. That's cool. I found another photo in there. If you go to the second, where the second piece of paper is, and there's a writing on the right.

So next page on the, yeah, right there. Get rid of that white piece of paper. What does it say on the bottom there? Daddy's first Father's Day. So this picture was taken 40 years, 39 years ago. Yes, sir. That was a Father's Day photo of me and you as a baby, which is wild as I was looking at that photo almost 40 years ago. Yeah, I can't believe this is you now. How fast is 40 years? Too fast. Too fast, right? Too fast. It's crazy. Love you. Before we get into the message, I just wanted to share some cool stories like that I had and some lessons that you taught me. I don't know if you remember these, but there was that one time, I got like a couple, so we went through them quickly. But I remember that one time, Trisha's husband, Matt, he had the cabin up in, was it Pennsylvania, somewhere? Pennsylvania. And I had to do a job, I was young, and he was offering me money to do a job, and it was pulling weeds. And it was like the worst job ever,

because you pull a weed and another weed grows out, and you pull a weed and another weed grows out. And I remember calling you, complaining about this job, and I was like, yeah, the weeds just keep growing. It doesn't matter how much I pull it, the weeds keep growing. And he told me something I'll never forget. He said, everything you do, do it with all you got. It seems like a small task, a menial task, but it taught me early in life that no matter what the job, cleaning toilets, pulling weeds, painting walls, do it with everything. Turns out that was a Bible verse. I didn't know that at the time. Do it as unto the Lord. Other thing I remember, we weren't wealthy, but I remember every year we went on vacation. We tried. Almost every year. Yep. I remember going to Canada. I remember almost every year we'd come to Florida, right? Isn't that crazy? Almost every year. I was talking to somebody, my earliest memory ever, like human, of being a human being, is being at Disney with you. Yeah, we spent a lot of time at Disney. Yeah, which is why we live here now.

The other one, I'm sure you remember this, was when we would drive back from church on Sundays. We went to church in Brooklyn. We lived in Staten Island. How far was that drive? 40 minutes. And we would do that every Sunday. And you would say, look up over there. And do you remember what would be up there? It was a water tanker. So there's a giant water tanker, water tank, like over the, in the New York skyline. And as we passed by it, and you look at the sign, what did it say? I love you, J.J. and Liz. I love you, J.J. and Liz. What were you doing? Were you like a contractor? What were you? How'd you get up there? I may have to take the fifth on this one. It was a prison that I used to work in. And I climbed up to the roof and wrote on the tower, I love you, Liz and J.J. Vicky wasn't here yet, our little sister. So he loved you too, Vicky, you just weren't born yet. Yeah, yeah. But every time we would drive from church, it's like you knew that we would drive by that water tank and it'd always be a reminder of how much you loved me

and mommy so much so that you would break the law. Yeah. Yeah, vandal, it's called vandalizing, by the way. Until the warden found out. Until, then you got locked up in the jail. The other one, three more real quick. I remember you were working a lot. And one day I woke up in the morning and I went to the fridge to get food out the fridge and on the fridge was a post-it note. And the post-it note said something like, dear J.J. and Vicky, I know I've been working a lot and I haven't seen you lately. but I just want you to know I love you." And it was a little posted note. Do you remember that? I don't remember, but I see me doing that. I stuck with me forever. All the little things parents think you don't, kids don't see, they see it. Everything. Two more. One, this last one I know you're gonna remember, and I will save it for the end. One was when we were out at Blockbuster. It was the rain. I think I've shared this story before. And there was this guy behind us honking the horn because you couldn't move

because it was like a red light or something, or there was traffic. And I was in the backseat, still a little kid. And I kept hearing the horn honk, the horn honk. I think I got scared or something. And you got out the car, and you went to the car behind me, banged on the hood, looked at the dude in the face. You were like, I can't go anywhere. You're scaring my kid in the backseat. Do you remember that? Do you remember in the rain? It's like a movie. Unfortunately, I remember that as well. Yeah. All my stories are you breaking the law, it turns out. But I was actually super encouraged because I was like, that day, because I had always seen you as a patient man, but I was like, that day, I was like, my dad will fight for me if my dad has to fight for me, which was really cool. This last one is not great. It's not gonna make me look good, but it's gonna make you look good. I was a good kid, but I wasn't a perfect kid. You were good most of the time. I was good most of the time.

But do you remember the time you caught me sneaking a girl into my room? Yes. So this is crazy because your parenting move here was wild. So I remember coming out of the room, she was in the room, and I saw you. And I was like, oh, and I closed the door. And then you were like, JJ, I'm leaving. And then you left. And I was like, whew, my chance. And then, you know, whatever, whatever, she left. And then you came back home. And I thought, whew, all good. And then when you walked in, you sat down, and he said, so did she leave yet? And I was like, oh, he caught me. But now that I'm older, I look back, and I think how much grace and patience, because right now, Justice and Zane, if you're watching this, don't expect dad to act the same way grandpa acted. I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm busting in the room, I'm yelling, I'm throwing, I'm causing a scene. But you always, and that was just the image, you always gave Vicky and I, my sister, space to not endanger ourselves, but we made mistakes, we learned, and there was just a constant grace and forgiveness.

It was okay to fail in our house. And you just always approached us with love. I thought about breaking into that room. Did you? I surely did. And then I took a breath and said, back off, there'll be time to talk. Yeah. And I'm glad that you did. I don't know how different it would have been if it went the other way, but my level of respect for you and just such a great picture of a father God, patient, loving, allowing us to make mistakes, but never letting us get too far. I think the thing that still stops me the most about you though, dad, and a lot of people don't know, because a lot of people will be like, oh, JJ, you turned out great because you have a great dad. And I definitely have a great dad, the best dad in the world, but you didn't. You did not have such a great dad. Your dad was a pretty tough character. I think we got this for you here, Deera. I know that picture. You know that guy? Yep. What's his name? Gabriel Angel Vasquez. Gabriel Angel Vasquez.

And you're going to talk a little bit about him in a second, but I just want the first point as we're talking, just the first point of this message is, your lineage doesn't have to be your legacy because what you get doesn't have to be what you leave. And so just for those who don't know, I don't even really call him grandpa because I never met him. But for those who don't know your dad, why don't you just talk a little bit about your story and your dad's story and what it was like growing up? Okay. So my dad was not a great man. He wasn't a great teacher. It was hard to grow up in that household. He was a chronic alcoholic and he dealt with anger problems, issues. So because of that, we would end up getting beat up all the time. On two different occasions, he tried to kill me. The last time he beat me until he thought I was dead. actually had knocked me out. So I didn't have the best father. It was really, really tough. But I had a great mother who kept me in church, put me on the right path, showed me how to love God. And I guess she was the mother and father. And she helped me to be who I am today. As a young man, I always knew, because of my mom, what I wanted to do, why I wanted to serve God, how to love God, how to be with Him, and how to make the best of what I had. And I didn't really have anybody else to teach me how to be a father, except maybe in the Royal Rangers, which is a ministry for boys. God led me to that group, and that group I was able to grow and learn how to be a real man. And so, yeah, that was my dad. And that was our growing up. It wasn't easy.

I remember asking you, if we get some tissues, that'd be great, if you have any. But I remember growing up, I asked you, what's your favorite—do you have one good memory of your dad? Like one good memory. And I remember what you told me. You said, one time he took us to the beach. And we got there. I don't know what you guys thought, but then you showed up. And I don't know if you want to share just a little of that, you. Yeah, so the only memory, semi-good memory I have of him is he took us to the beach. And then come to find out, he only took us to the beach because he had his girlfriend there at the beach. So we ended up having to meet his girlfriend and my half-siblings that I didn't even know. And it wasn't just you. We have 11. I have 11 aunts and uncles, including you. He was that way to all of them. I remember you shared a terrible story of something that he did with Maribel and food. She wouldn't finish her food. And he broke a plate on the floor. We had these plates that were covered in porcelain. And she was, I guess, not liking the food. So he took the plate with the food and smashed it on her head and then cleaned up all the glass and stuff, put it in the plate, and made her eat it anyway. My question is, how did you make sure that you did not become like your dad growing up? Because I love my aunts and uncles, and many of them are coming to meet Jesus now. They're coming in this last third or fourth of their life, which is exciting. But for much of their life, some of the men turned out just like him. And I wouldn't expect anything less. When you have a father like that, all you can kind of be is what you see growing up. But you weren't. How did you make sure that you didn't become like your dad? So I always knew that, I just knew God was so real in my life. And I saw the things he did when he was drunk, which was all the time. I saw him shoot a gun through the roof of the house just for the fun of it. I saw him beat my mom. I saw him beat me, my siblings. Seeing him crash a car just for the fun of it. All those crazy things. And I just swore that I would never be like that. When I thought about you kids when you guys were born, I said to myself, they will never see what I... So I just decided not to do that. I can count on one hand how many times you spanked me. One hand, on one hand, on my whole life. And not because I was perfect, but because I remember you were saying, I just don't want to be that guy. And even when you spanked me, you would spank me with the belt and not

your hand because you didn't want to physically have to do that. Even with alcohol, I think it's really cool to know that you are now how old? 65. And a fun fact about Freddie is what when it comes to alcohol at 65? Never had a beer in my life. Never had a beer in your life. And that was a decision you made. Because of what I saw, I just swore I would never find... Probably if I did, I'd be an alcoholic now because I know that's hereditary, but I don't even want to find out. I don't want to be there. Don't want to go there. I remember going to a senior, a high school senior party, and because of your story, I stood away from alcohol my whole life, and grandpa's story, but then I tried it. I tried beer. I was like, I'll try beer for the first time. I tried it, and it was like the worst beer. Like, I guess beers have like rankings. It's like just, it's like not good beer, but I tried it, and I loved it. And I was terrified that I loved it, because you would say we got Jesus in our heart, but we got grandpa in our bones. And sometimes a lot of that gets passed down. So how did it change? I know you give God a lot of the credit. Tell me about the moment you met Jesus and how meeting Jesus changed it all, because up to that point, grandma loves God, but grandpa doesn't. And so how did you meet Jesus?

So I remember I was about 12 or 13 years old, and we actually lived right above the church. The church was on the first floor. We lived above the church in Madison Church, three or four days a week. And there was prayer vigils where they would pray at night at the church. And she brought me to one of those prayer vigils. And I remember I was just weeping and crying and begging Christ to come into my heart. Wow, at 12? At 12 or 13, yeah. And Christ did. And I got baptized with the Holy Spirit, started speaking heavenly tongues at that moment. And I just knew that was where I set my life and where I wanted to be. And at that moment, I decided I'm going to follow Christ. I'm not going to be like my dad. I never want to ever be at that point. And so that's how I came to Christ, that night. 12, 13 years old, at the altar, in encounter with the Holy Spirit. That's a note for our parents. It's so important to get your kids into church, to have them praying, to have those moments, even on encounter nights, where you bring them and they're just meeting God's presence. Because God's presence could do things in our lives that nothing else can.

So what shifted inside of you? When you meet Jesus, is there like a, I know what it was like for me, but for you, was it like a peace instantly? Obviously, you still got the home you're living in. What changed? Nothing changed about our situation, but something definitely changed in my heart, in my mind. It became peaceful, it became joyful, it became, I had a reason to continue. In the midst of all of that. So anybody going through a hard time right now, crazy situation you can't control, you can have peace on the inside when all hell's breaking out in your life on the outside. What advice would you give someone who feels like they got a bad start? You had the dad you had. And I know that there are countless others watching this right now who are in a similar situation. They feel like it's unfair that I am the way I am because of what was around me. Yeah, well, just look at my life, see where I started, how I started, where I was, what I went through, what I suffered, how much I cried, how much pain, and to watch all the things that happened in our family. But yeah, here I am serving God happily, happily married, two beautiful kids, nine grandkids. I'm happy as can be doing what God wants me to do.

I would say to those people that think they got a bad start or just a bad card, I would say life is not determined by what you are born into, but what you make of what you have. So I didn't get much in life. I didn't get handed a golden spoon, but I took what little I had and I made something of that. I got a career. I looked for a wife that was serving God and she loves God with all her heart. And she helped us to raise our kids in the right path. So I would say, let God be a guide. Let him be the center of your life. Don't worry about where you think you should be and think about where you could be if you let God in your life first. I heard something recently, it said, when you're born, you look like your parents, but when you die, you look like your decisions. Yeah. And I think that's true. I had some verses with that. So if you go to Psalms 27 10 says, though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive you. And Isaiah 41 10 says, do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. So it doesn't matter where you are, what situation you are.

If you understand that God's in control and he's in control of your life, if you let him, you will get to where you wanna go. That's really good, dad. I remember asking you at a young age, cause I just thought you were, and I still think you are the best dad in the world. And I remember asking you, how did you become such a good dad when you had such a bad dad? Dad, and I'll never forget what you told me. You said, and I wrote it down because I've never forgotten it, but everything I ever needed to learn about being a father, I learned from God. God, my father, who really was the father. So if you're taking notes, here's the second point. Listen, God the father fills the gaps. God the father fills the gaps. Dad, how did God fill in the gap to become the dad you never had? So Psalm 68, five says, a father to the fatherless, a defender to the widows is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families and leads out the prisoners with singing. But the rebellious live in sun scorched lands. So in church, in church and in my Christian family, I found God, I found friendship, I found family, I found fatherhood, I learned how to be a father.

In Royal Rangers, when I had male leaders that didn't know me from a hole in the wall, but were willing to sacrifice their time and their efforts and weekends to go camping with me and teach me how to fish and teach me how to cook and teach me how to do all those things. In those people, I saw God, I saw a father. I learned how to be a father. I learned what I wanted to be, how I wanted to parent when I couldn't find that in an earthly father. Wow. So in summary, like the local church. Absolutely. Yeah, which is what I love that because the Bible says that the local church is the body of Christ. And so we see God in the church. And so even as you and I were talking about this and preparing for this session, and we were talking through this part, we were like, yeah, that makes sense. Like God taught me through his body, the same way a father would teach their son or daughter by doing things. God takes his body, the body of Christ, the church goes, this is how you dad, this is how you love, this is how you father, this is how you become a husband. And so you got to be a part of World Rangers,

which again, for those that don't know, I know we don't like to call it this, but it's the best way for them to understand kind of like Christian Boy Scouts, where you learn knots, you learn camping, and it was men pouring in to children. And so shout out to all of our Journey Kids leaders, by the way, whether you're a woman, whether you're a man, we need more guys out in Journey Kids because we have a generation of fatherless who need men to show them what a father looks like, what a man is supposed to be. So just a quick plug for Journey Youth as well, and for Journey Kids, we need more men because that's really who showed you how to be a man according to scripture. Yeah, and I would say to all those fathers that maybe think that they wouldn't know what to say or they wouldn't know how to do it or they wouldn't know where to start, the Bible says in Matthew 10, it says, I will not speak. Yeah, it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of the father speaking through you, when you open your mouth and you let God work through you, he will put the words into you. And when you look at me and you think, how could I have become such a father? I don't even know, but I know like even in Journey Church, I have hundreds of kids, young men and women

that refer to me as Papa Freddy, and I treat them like they're my kids. I love them like they're my own. And there's so many, not just here, but even throughout the country, in my years in Royal Rangers, just God taught me to be the father I am. Yeah, you've raised hundreds of spiritual kids all over the country through, you were a Royal Ranger instructor for so many years, and even at our church and growing up, so many looked up to you. And I think it's because you can appreciate the thing in life that you didn't have yourself. So you value it, you take it for granted when you have it, but when you don't have it, you just, you know others need it. So in our culture, we have a term called father wounds, and they're real. Father wounds are real ways our dads hurt us. Now I need you to know, it doesn't matter if you have the perfect dad, even the perfect dad is not the perfect dad. And there's a big gap between true perfection and even the perfect dad, and that gap, that's where we get hurt. So even the best meaning of fathers are gonna let their kids down in some way, shape, or form. And then that leaves marks on us. And like sunburns, we carry them around,

and then people touch us, we're sensitive, they say something, ah, that hurt, why did that hurt? Because there's a wound that hasn't fully healed. But the Bible teaches us that he, Jesus, was wounded for our transgressions, that he was pierced for our sins. By his stripes, we are healed. Here's the next point if you're taking notes. Our father was wounded for our father wounds. Our father was wounded for our father wounds. Yes, the father wounds are real, but so is my father. So is our. father and a big part of what he came to accomplish on the cross and to the resurrection is the healing of those wounds so I gotta ask you dad how did you ever get to the place to forgive your dad and move on and it's still raw I mean we're all these years later and you still choke up talking about him how did you forgive him only God so after all that abuse after all that that I endured God always kept bringing me back to the point of him on the cross and there were people who nailed him to that cross and put that spike on his head and stabbed him and yet he was able to say God forgive them for they do not know what they are doing and I got to the point to believe that my dad just didn't know what he was doing and he was wrapped up in his world by me as a Christian human being I still had to know that he was a human being who had a soul who eventually could find salvation and I decided that if Christ could forgive the men who killed him that I could forgive my dad he tell us about the the day you forgave him and we know forgiveness is a process you'll be forgiving someone your whole life whenever the wound goes back but there was a moment where you actually forgave him got to see him face to face many years later I was pretty crazy I don't think I've told you that whole story but I used to work for the Department of Corrections and I was at the prison I

was walking through the hallway and I heard a voice that said to me ask for your dad what I just kept walking and then I heard it again he said ask for your dad and we hadn't seen him in many years so I went into the office at the prison and I asked for my dad and one of the guys punched the name down he said who is this I said that's just some guy I know and boom his name came out first name I hadn't seen him in years or heard from him and he was in a prison in Brooklyn I was in a prison in Brooklyn but it's two different prisons and he was there and I called my mom I call my brother you not gonna believe this I just found dad so I took that opportunity to actually go visit him after all this time I went there because I wanted to forgive him and I this time he's how old you're how old just about around you're in your 30s yeah somewhere in my 30s he's somewhere in his 60s 70s yeah probably 60s yeah and I found him there we went to visit him me and my brother I found them and I said to him hey dad you remember that beating where you almost killed me and it was bitter bittersweet it was he remembered but no emotion no I care no I'm sorry just shrugged his shoulders and I said to him hey I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you and I'm not holding any grudges that's how I forgave him when he wasn't when he wasn't responding like you wanted him to like you probably wish he had yeah that hurt even more but it is what it is yeah I did my part yeah yeah you were able to make it about a choice in not making it dependent on his response I think we've said this in the Pope of many times but forgiveness doesn't free them yeah I've never met my grandpa I'm the only thing I have to thank him for is that he made you but God and him will work out the balance that he accrued through his choices yeah but but you you you free yourself when you're able to make that kind of decision I did and now you forgave him but you're obviously still hurting and so what do you learn from that would tell people who maybe they think because they're still hurting maybe they haven't forgiven yeah you know they still have it I would see You need to let go and let God, let go of the hurt, let go of the pain. It's always going to be there.

I haven't been able to have this conversation ever without choking up. But I know in my heart that I forgave him, I put it behind me, I did my part. And whether he accepted it or not, I did my part. And that's what I think that all of us, I know there's plenty of people out there that are dad hurt and suffering still, thinking about, I have a brother that till the day he died was hoping that he would run into my dad one day so that he could kill him. That's the kind of hurt he put on us. But you got to be able to be strong, get past that, because we have to be like God. And if God could forgive, then we need to be able to forgive too, regardless of what he did and how he did it. I'm so glad you're the one saying that, because I've preached that, but it's easier to preach. I think people look at someone who preaches that hasn't lived anything like you've lived and go, yeah, it's easy for you to say, but you lived through one of the most traumatic things a person could ever live through. And to be able to say it, and I don't think you have the life you have right now if you have it forgiven. If you don't forgive, I don't think you can be the dad that God's called you to be, the husband, the minister, pastor, the leader, if you don't, if you're not releasing it to the Lord. And that whole thing of letting go and letting God, God handles that. I just trust that God can do the punishing, God can do the justice, God can do the balancing. That's not my job. My job is forgiving. You did such a good job of that. Absolutely. Before we close, just in general, for all the dads out there and moms out there, future dads and moms, any random parenting advice that you have that you can bless us? Because again, I think you did such a great job with us and we didn't always make it easy, but especially Vicky, you know what you did, you crazy girl, she's crazy. Yeah.

But look where she's at now, look where we're at. Everybody's doing good. That's great. And then that was always my hope that in the end, whatever little or much I did, that you guys could be who you are today. Yeah. So yeah, parenting advice. So I would say if you had good parents and they did it all right, I would say remember what they did, remember how they did it and make sure to treat your kids the way they treated you. And if you had bad parents, if you were in a situation like I was, remember what not to do and don't treat your kids like you'd never want it to be treated because that never works out. So treat them the way you would want them to treat you, the way you want to be treated by other people, because even though they're small, they're kids, they're people. And if you want to be treated right, we should be able to treat other people right. We treat our kids that same way. When they grow up, they're going to remember that. They're going to remember what you did, how you did it. Love them no matter what. When they do something wrong, when they don't do what you ask them, when they do the opposite of what you ask them, just love them because love covers all. That's right. And if you can forgive them, it's just going to work out better. Yeah. And lastly, I would say, remember that you and I were not perfect. We made our mistakes. We did things that our parents didn't want us to do. We went places where we didn't need to go. And we still got through.

We got over it. So can't beat up your kids because they do something wrong, you know, just have a heart. I think you also mentioned being there for them when they need you. Oh yeah. Yeah. I remember, I don't want to put this kind of pressure on every future dad, but I just remember newlywed. I get into my first apartment. I'm living in Gainesville. He's living in Tampa. So two hour drive. Yeah. I'm like, I call my dad, the water won't go down the shower. I don't know what to do. The water won't go down the shower. So I call him up. He's like, try this, try this, try this. He's like, you're going to need a Sawzall. You're getting, by the way, we got a maintenance man, but the maintenance man is not going to come for, you know, a day or whatever. And so my dad, two hours, first, you know, kid to get married, move out the house. Do you remember? I remember. He took my car, drove two hours and change to Gainesville, with your tools, unclogged my shower, had a meal and drove two hours back home. Something the maintenance man would have done the next day or maybe later on that week. Um, just, and that's always been you. You just always, you've always been there. You've been there. there. I think you you have to make it clear to your kids that you're going to be there for them

no matter what because there's going to be times in life where they're going to be lonely or hurt or need and I would want to think that the first person they want to turn to is me. Yeah absolutely I still call you when I get real overwhelmed and real scared like I got a therapist I got Liz but then there's something about daddy and nothing that ever changes which is a beautiful picture of our father someone that you run to when uh when you're when you're hurting well one last thing you taught me dad and I've got a little video here I want you to see but um it was from our camping trips and it was this rule that we always had on our camping trips there's a lot of rules but it was like one of the main rules I'll let you take a guess at it if you know this rule do you remember it there's so many rules there's one main one like when it came to the trash and it came to the oh always leave a place better than you found it always leave it better than you found it every time I went to a campground always heard that when we go in the woods leave that place better than you found it and I want you to know that when it comes to the Vasquez name you live that out you whenever the day comes for you to be with Jesus you need to go knowing that you left that name better than you found it way better and I'm not the only one who wants to say thank you I got a little video here that I want you to see and so when you're ready hit the play button thank you god for bringing god in our life in our life thank you for bringing god in my life thank you god for bringing Jesus in our life thank you for bringing Jesus in our life thank you for bringing Jesus in our life and being the role model we need thank you dad for bringing Jesus in our lives and breaking generational curses and no one talks about the generational blessings that you've brought into our life so thank you for that too I love you thank you Willow for bringing Jesus into our family and my life thank you Willow for bringing Jesus into our family and into my life cute man you uh left it better than you found it for sure thank you for changing the trajectory of our family and the bible says for a thousand generations is the goodness of the lord so those who love the lord and so not just my kids but their kids and their kids and their kids always gonna have you and Jesus to thank so amen we love you I love you I love you too can we pray for some people sure one first person hey if you're in the room today and uh you've got some father wounds you've got some hurt there's something in in you from the past that's been aching maybe your dad wasn't the dad you needed maybe he was but he's not here

anymore um maybe you wish you didn't have one um I want you to know that you got a father all the verses you read today you got a father and so if that's you um all across the room at all our occasions could we just bow our heads and close our eyes and after my dad finishes praying I got I got one more prayer so we'll just stay in that in that attitude but dad would you would you pray for all those yeah heavenly father I pray for every soul in this room and every soul in every location lord god that is suffering or hurting from pain because of their dad lord god or whatever the situation is lord god I pray lord god that as I was able to forgive my dad for what he has done lord god that you would bring peace to their heart bring love to their heart for that dad lord god that soul that is still a soul no matter what lord god that you were given the strength and the ability to be able to forgive lord god and put things behind them let god be who he is let you do what you do lord god and that they might able to live the rest of their life in peace knowing lord god that they put things in your hands for forgiveness for guidance lord god i pray lord god that you would touch their hearts that you would touch their souls that you would touch their minds lord god wipe their minds of all hurt of all things that would stand in the way of them being able to love and live lord god I pray lord god that you bring peace peace over their heart peace over their lives lord god and that you would continue to direct them lord god that they might do what you need them to do lord god to live a peaceful life thank you father in that same spirit once you continue to keep your heads bowed your eyes closed as if you're in the room today any one of our locations watching online and you don't have a relationship with jesus there's a father size shape hold in your heart I want you to know what my dad said I pray that when when they go through something they would know that their father is someone that they can call to be the first person they call you've got a father in heaven he's your father he's not just jesus's father he's not just my father He's your father. And if you need a dad right now, if you're ready to come home and welcome him into your heart through the person of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for you and for me, for God so loved the world,

for the Father so loved you, he gave up his son so that you could be a part of this family. Maybe you didn't have the best family growing up, but you can be a part of this eternal family. That's you. On the count of three, I want you to raise your right hand high all over this room with your head bowed. Just, I need my dad. I need Father God in my life. I'm ready to come home. On the count of three, raise your hand. One, two, three. All over this room, all over those rooms. Amen. If you raise your hand, I want you to repeat this prayer after me. And why don't we all repeat this prayer out so that nobody prays alone. Everybody say, Father God, today I come home. Today I declare that you are my father. You are my protection. You are my provision. I receive your love. Forgive me for my sins.

I declare I am a sinner. I declare you make me clean. I declare you today to be my father. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. And amen. Let's give it up for all those who made a decision to follow Jesus today. Welcome to the family. We love you. Right now we're gonna kick it to our campus pastors who are gonna give you next steps to let us know that the decision you made, but we love you Journey Church. Happy Father's Day and happy Father's Day, dad. Love you man. Love you man. If you guys made the decision to follow Jesus today, we are celebrating you. Absolutely. Heaven is celebrating you. And we want to know if you accepted Jesus into your life today. Go ahead and scan that QR code and our online director, Jaylene, will personally reach out to you, get to know you and your story and just how you got here today. Right? What a beautiful word, right?

Yeah. Oh my gosh. It was so powerful. It was. Just Pastor JJ with his father. I don't think any of us came in expecting that today, first of all. And we didn't even know Papa Freddy's story either. Like no dry eyes. What a testimony. I know. It was tears and laughter throughout the whole sermon. Exactly. What was your favorite part? Just the fact that he came in with so much vulnerability. And again, like you said, right, we didn't know his story, but for him to really have the strength to be that vulnerable with all of us, to show us firsthand by practice what it looks like to be a vulnerable man of God and stepping out and we see that in him, it was just so heartwarming. Yeah. It was just a story of such a strong man. And I loved when they said that your lineage doesn't have to be your legacy because I could say, you know, I didn't have my father in my life for many years. He was an addict.

He's, I know he's in heaven now. He passed away almost three years ago. So today can be kind of a difficult day, but, you know, just knowing that my past or his past or whatever else doesn't have to be my future. And that I have a father, father God to help me out through all of it. Yeah. Yeah. I think the whole sermon resonated because whether you had an abusive father or not, I think there was bits and pieces of it that it resonates with everyone. And you can relate to something that the message was just showcasing. Yeah, absolutely. And we want to know what you got away, your takeaway from this. So go ahead and drop it in the chat. Let us know what you learned or what you took away or just anything. Yeah. And if you want to re-watch the sermon or watch our past sermons or watch our after talk on Mondays, you can download the YouTube channel and subscribe to our YouTube page. A hundred percent. And then again, for anybody that is interested, you know, like my homie over here said L-T-G or O-G, you know, feel free to take those next steps. They're available online for step one. Whenever you're ready, go ahead and take that deep.

Yeah. And I know we do everything that we do because of your generosity. The fact that we're able to go online, we're able to go live every Sunday and have all of this equipment, the cameras, the lights, everything. It's all because of you guys. So if you feel called to give, go ahead and scan that QR code below. Yeah. And with that said, we want to wish you guys a happy Father's Day once again. Yes. We thank you for joining us here at Journey Church Online and we can't wait to see you guys next week. See you next week. See you guys. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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