When The Father Is Home

Well, happy Father's Day, and of course, happy Father's Day to all locations that are watching and those that are within those 13 correctional facilities. We know days like this can be hard, especially when you're incarcerated. We're thinking about you today, and we also know there's just an array of emotions on these kind of moments and these kind of opportunities to celebrate parents. Maybe this is the first for you to have your father. I was thinking this morning, if I had 10 more minutes with my dad, what would I want him to hear? What would I need to hear? How many are thankful for the fathers that we have in our church and the fathers that have been in our lives? So for just a moment, I'm gonna ask across all of our locations, would you stand, all of our fathers, all of our grandfathers, just for a moment, I'm not gonna take much time. I got a million dollars to give to you if you stand up. Hey, every father, come on, let's just celebrate those dads. Come on. Jesus said something, in fact, stay standing if you can, if you can, if you can't, we'll have someone come help you. Jesus said, father, I've come to manifest your name. That name that he manifested was the first time that Israel and his world would hear the term father.

That's the name. The name father is what he came to manifest. And that just, of course, signals to all of us that there's a God in control. And I know as fathers, we don't feel often like we're in control, but I'm just here to tell you, we all have a heavenly father and fathers, I wanna encourage you, well done. Lord, I blessed every father, every grandfather, great-grandfather, and Lord, those that are new fathers and those that are about to be fathers, those that God are walking through, maybe something difficult with their son, with their daughters, with their family. Lord, I just pray, would you download from heaven, even today, an impartation of the same power that raised Christ from the dead, the same energy, the same life that came in that grave. Lord, would you come into the hearts of every father and encourage them today that it is not over. You have the last word. God, I pray that they would be encouraged and that they would be edified and strengthened in their journey, and that, Lord, they do make a difference. And we thank you for the difference that they're making each and every day. Answer their prayers, Lord. I pray, God, may you answer the prayers of every father, and we know what they're praying for,

that their family would be blessed and saved. God, we give you the glory. And all the God's people said, one more time, can we just thank all the dads one more time? You may have a seat. And I cannot express again my gratefulness as Pastor Todd said to you concerning Camp CK, and we got one of these emails that I just really feel led to share with you. I cannot express, this is from a mom, my total gratitude, but I'm gonna try. We adopted our son seven years ago, and it has been quite a journey. This summer, we felt like we were in a place where he could trust us to do some new things and try new things outside of us. We walked into Camp CK, and we thought, yes, he's terrified. And as he was not wanting to make eye contact, telling me he wanted to leave, asking me, Lord, what do I do? Or even how do I handle my son in this moment? And he was putting up guardrails to protect himself. And then it was noticed, and it had to be noticed when Miss Tanya walked up to us and asked if he was here for the first time, and walked us to his falcon cabin, welcomed by his leaders, and Zach never looked back. I stayed for the first part of worship and listened to the message

that came from 2 Timothy 1 and 7. There could not have been a more perfectly aligned verse for our son, who was battling the fear of being there. And while he was there, I waited for a phone call all day long, knowing that he had tried, but I'd have to go and pick him up early. Call never came. And I went to pick him up, and he told me he had the best day of his life. I waited for the call on Wednesday and Thursday. They never came. Last night, he looked at me and repeated 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7. And then it says, and thank you. Thank you is an understatement for a verse that will fit who he was and who he is, and who has God intended him to be. God has realigned his whole being, and I will never forget the joy after spending this week with you all. Thank you. Can we just shout out all of our team? And again, thank you. People take vacations. People give up their vacations. and time with not just their own family, but to replenish themselves by giving it away to other people. And I just am blown away by the heart of people

and the heart of people of Celebration Church. And so just again, thank you all for being so incredible. So incredible. Well, I wanna get into the Word as we are in a series around the book of Mark. And we're going to spend most of our time around Mark chapter two. If you have your Bibles, you can turn there. We're gonna be predominantly in those 12 verses in Mark chapter two, one through 12. Many years ago, I was putting my son Mason to bed. He's now 34 years old. And I was putting him to bed, and I think it was on Father's Day, wanting him to be proud of his father, the preacher, the pastor. And I was putting him to bed, the next day being Father's Day. I said, what does dad do? And he said, dad's a preacher. I'm feeling pretty good. Feeling strong about my leadership, about my calling, about my life. And then I said, what do preachers do? He says, you scream at the people. Now I'm starting to question my fatherhood. And I said, what else do I do thinking it's gonna turn? He says, you hurt people's feelings. Hmm. Giving him another chance.

I said, what else do I do? He says, you make people cry. Wow, yes. And then what else? He says, you pray for them and send them home. And I thought, that's exactly what church sometimes look like. I scream at you, I hurt your feelings, I make you cry, I pray for you and send you home and tell you, come back next week and we'll do it all over again. And I think in that particular analogy and frankly application, a lot of fathers are misunderstood. A lot of fathers, frankly, are misunderstood and I think our society has misunderstood fathers. You could read some of the articles, it's not hard to do research as it relates to what people have said, what your various publications have declared in the uselessness of fathers or how fathers are unnecessary. One of the anti-father movements said, fathers are as necessary as a fish needing a bicycle. The reality is, is that we have a society and we have a world that has attacked fathers and has made light of fathers and has done what it can do to take away the role of a father. And we have no question and there's no debate about the power of a mother.

But we also know God has created mothers and he's created fathers. And it takes the parts to make a whole. And everyone plays a part and of course, I think ultimately God has a desire to strengthen the fathers. Today I wanna talk to you because even Paul the apostle, he gives us these words in the book of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians before we get to Mark chapter two, he goes, you're gonna have a lot of tutors, you're gonna have a lot of instructors, you're gonna have a lot of leaders or preachers or communicators, advisors. There's gonna be a lot of people and you can say fathers do advising and fathers do preaching and fathers do instructing and they are leaders but he says, but you're gonna have countless tutors but you're not gonna have many fathers. There are many that want to tell you what to do but there's few that are gonna get down with you and walk you through it. And when Paul is giving this encouragement, in fact, he said previously, he goes, I'm not trying to shame you, I'm not trying to make you feel bad but what he was saying to the church was, you guys, you love all the big names and all the big preachers but he goes, but who's doing life with you?

And that's the role, that's the call of a father is doing life with their sons and their daughters. He says, I in Christ became your father through the gospel. In other words, he goes, I am your father, I am the one that frankly and if you've led somebody to Christ in a way, in a type, in a picture, you are like their mother or their father and you've seen them become children of God and our responsibility as givers of the gospel is to be willing to do life with people, is to get down where people are. It's like the story of this young boy at seven years of age walking in. He was fathered. He was mothered, he was cared for, he wasn't just brought into a large room and a big assembly, but the reality is that he found family. And I think in our world today, if we're not careful, we are morally and more divided than we've ever been before. I think that we are probably less comfortable in smaller environments. We are at, if you will, a distance, not just from one another, but from what Paul says, and I think he's saying it, and it's just a repeated truth and reality, is that we have been hurt, we've been exposed, or we have seen, and Paul says, guys, don't settle for anything less than a true father. Don't settle for anything less than true relationship. And then he would conclude these little words, and then he would say this. He goes, imitate me. And I pray that today, fathers, you're encouraged in your role. That you are encouraged in your calling, you're encouraged in your position. I think that we, as family members, also need to make sure that our fathers are encouraged.

I think that they need to be encouraged. I think they need to be strengthened in today's world. In fact, the Bible says in Malachi, one of the last verses, in fact, it is the last verse of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament, God wants to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and so that the hearts of the children can turn back to their fathers. And then God says this, lest there is a curse in the earth. In other words, if we don't turn fathers to our children, there's nothing for the children to turn to. It's our responsibility to make sure that we're turning towards them, that our hearts are turning towards them. And this is the call, this is the role, this is what we're all supposed to be. In many ways, even for those that are single mothers, there are those days where you're having to father, and like a father, you're saying, Lord, I turn my heart to my child. And without fathers, this is what God is saying in Malachi, there's clearly dysfunction. And this world, I think, more than anything else, is lacking true fathers. The world has mocked, the world has mocked the role, the importance, and God doesn't play when He says these words, the future depends upon the father. And that as fathers, we need to make sure that we are turning to our children so that our children have something to trust. So I want to go to the book of Mark, chapter two, as we are in this study of the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of all the Gospels. It's the shortest of the Gospels for a couple reasons, but primarily it's because Mark doesn't include a lot of the discourses or even the long teachings of Jesus, he just gets right down to what Jesus came to do. He focuses on the acts of God. And fathers, I think that's part of what we're supposed to do, get down to business. Let's get down and cover what needs to be covered. Let's get to the point. That's the book of Mark. We talked about last week how many times the word immediately is referenced.

It just moves, there's a pace. There's something that Mark is capturing, even as fathers, we need to make sure that we're capturing, and that is the essence of time. My father died when I was 23 years of age, January the 10th, 1987. Little would I know that the morning that I would leave the house, my father was sitting on the couch, I can see it today, sitting on the couch, ready to watch the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers play basketball. I was going to my uncle's house to go deer hunting, and little would I know that the last day that I would have with my dad would be that Friday night, and then that morning as I would leave, I said, dad, are you sure you don't want to go hunting? He says, when I was a boy, we had to hunt to eat. I don't hunt for fun. And then he said something like this, I was in World War II, which means I don't want to see blood or another gun as long as I live. I said, yes, sir. And he had that Boston Celtic cap on, and we would get the news that later on that afternoon, dad would die of a massive heart attack, January the 10th, 1987, the day that he would, day before he would turn 61 years of age. And I often think about my age now at 61, that I've lived longer than my dad. And my dad made great impression upon my life, upon my brothers. They raised a two-star general. a colonel, and I'm in the Lord's army. They raised three leaders, and they raised three strong leaders. And I think that when you go to the book of Mark, you have this story of Jesus coming back to Capernaum, and it says, coming back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home. It's interesting. At home, home being was, of course, part of his base of operation, Capernaum. Some theologians say that he actually went to his home. He was in his home.

Most would say it was actually Peter's home. But there's something there that this Jesus came home, and it says, as a result, many were gathered together, and that there was no longer any room in that home, in that house, not even near the door, and he was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Being unable to get him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying, and Jesus, seeing their faith, not seeing his faith, seeing their faith, said, son, and this is why I can say that this story really does have a lot of application to you fathers and to all of us. The first words that is recorded out of the mouth of Jesus is the word son. Now we know he spoke the word. We don't know exactly what words he was saying. We'll get to that in a moment. But the first word that Jesus uttered in home, in this home, was the word son. Son, your sins are forgiven. There were scribes, there were religious people sitting there, and they began to reason, argue in their hearts. Why does this man speak that way? This is blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Exactly. It's also the first time, as Jesus referenced, and even is going to be referenced, the son of man. It's the first time in all of the scriptures where man has the power to forgive. And immediately, Jesus, aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts, which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and pick up your pallet and walk? It's just as easy because I have all authority to say walk, and I also have all the authority

to say forgive. And so that you may know that the son of man. And guys, whenever you read the reference and see the identity or the term son of man, that is always in relationship for you and for me to identify in this way that Jesus is saying, even as a man, and you as a man, you as a woman, you have authority to forgive. That is for us to learn by. In other words, you can't, when you read the word son of God or the title son of God, that's in relationship to his divinity, but son of man is in relationship to his humanity, which is for you and for me. And he goes, the son of man has power to forgive. And the Bible says, and he says to the paralytic, get up, pick up your pallet and go home. And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God saying, we have never seen anything like this, but I want to bring to you today. And I think that there are characteristics and features that we can all learn as it relates to when a father is home. When a father is in his rightful place, when a father is living the life that God has ordained, when a father is saying, Lord, I have been given this role, I've been given this task. I have been given this privilege of leading a son and a daughter. And just as Jesus enters into the home, there are characteristics and there are features. There are these traits that I do believe that all of us need to see in our lives and see in our homes. And the very first point that I want to get to is that when the father is home, the home is filled with life. When Jesus enters in, so does a bunch of people. Fathers bring a party. Make sure that when you're home, death is not home, life is home. And in fact, when Jesus enters into the house, the city begins to gather around that house. And fathers, you and I, I understand the labor, I understand the task, I understand. burden. I understand the bills. I understand the weight, the load that you carry. There's no

question about it. But if you have given your best of who you are at the office and now the only version they're going to get is their worst of you, the Bible says their house wouldn't be filled. I don't want you and me to miss, I think, our first responsibility. And that is that when you're home, life is home. Joy is home. Peace is home. Fun is home. I was on the phone on my way to church this morning and I said to May Claire, the granddaughter, I said, May Claire, I want you to finish this statement. She's three years old. I said, if I say to you, May Claire, I love my daddy because he, and she thought about it and she said, like a three-year-old should, he toots. Yeah. No, don't tell you. How many know? That's real world. She says, do it again. I said, no, I don't want to do it again. It could get worse. Is there laughter in your home? Is there joy in your home? Or is it heavy? Is it dark? Why was the city, why was the town gathered in the house where Jesus was? That's what the Father does. He's the progenitor of life. He's the giver of life. The Bible says in the book of Luke, chapter 14, verse 23, going to the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in. My father's house is to be full, full of life, full of life, full of joy, full of peace, full in the way that it causes people to feel comfortable in your presence. That's what fathers bring. And I want to encourage you in a world that wants to suck the life right out of you. You've got to fight against that, which is trying to destroy the influence of your father. Yes, we all have our days. Yes, we all have our seasons. Yes, we all carry burden. My daughter-in-law Reagan's sister has been recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her speech, her emotions, so many of her things that are not normal as a result of what has been found in the front of her brain as they are going to go in through her nose to do this surgery of trying to do what they can to get this tumor out, only to discover that ten years ago it was on the MRI and they missed it. I'm going to bed every night since hearing these words over Reagan's sister, God, heal her. I know that there are fathers in this room who need healing to manifest in their sons and their daughters. I don't know her that well, not that close to Riley, but because of Reagan, my daughter, I am now wanting to put myself into the hands and into the lives of her family, calling her father, calling Reagan, my daughter-in-law's father, yesterday, telling him that we are warring for her life. I know that many fathers are warring today, but don't lose your life. Don't lose your joy. God gives you what you need that in the midst

of maybe the darkest season of your family, God is the God who brings life and it's attractive. I believe that we as fathers need to remember that you are attractive. It's where the world wants to go. It's where the world wants to be. I think it's not a coincidence that there was a place and that place is close to a father. That's the cry of the world. If there is a father, I believe there will be a crowd and the true crowd sits at the feet of a father. Nehemiah talks about this power of a father. You alone, oh Lord, if you will, you are our father. You have made the heavens, the heavens of heavens with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the sea and all that is in them. Watch this. You give life to all of them. You give life to the heavens. You give life to the seas. Fathers, you give life to your family. Number two, when the father is home, the word is heard. Let's just put it like this, as the gathering is in the house where Jesus is, and they're coming from all different places, and all different backgrounds, and all different hurts, but Jesus was bringing the Word to them. What was that Word? Who would have liked to have been there hearing the Word preached by Jesus? It's one of the greatest phrases in all the scripture. He was speaking the Word. I think, fathers, you need to understand, and we all need to relate to this, I look at it like this, the Father brings the laws. I'm going to know, fathers, you bring the law. You bring the commands. You bring the order. He's got these sick people. He's got these broken people. He's got this whole community gathered, and Jesus was not wasting the opportunity to deliver what they all needed, and that was the Word, for in the Word is life. Fathers, I want to encourage you, bring the Word. Bring the scripture. Bring a psalm. Bring a proverb.

It doesn't mean that it has to happen every day, or it doesn't have to happen every time everybody's got ... I just get this impression that when you are with Jesus, you're going to hear a scripture. You're going to hear a God thought. You're going to get a whisper from God. But what, fathers, your job is to bring the law. Bring the commands. Bring the order, for in His law, or in His Word, it is life. Proverbs chapter three, my son, do not forget my teaching. Let your heart keep my commandments. For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. I think it's 26 times the phrase, my son, my son, my son, hear my words. Hear my teachings. Notice how many know where the Word is, there's life, there's peace, there's strength. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This is what Jesus was communicating to them. He was letting them know that even if He was there or not, how many are thankful we have His Word? But He's there in His Word. Fathers, when's the last time you've just brought a scripture? I want to encourage you. Pastor George, I just don't know where to start. Genesis chapter one, in the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. Christ, this family has a beginning and it's God. Our blessings begin with God.

Our life begins with God. This food that we're about to partake, it begins with God. How many know God has given us every good and precious gift? It's come from Him. And so we bring the Word. We're filling it with life. We're bringing it all back to Him. And I want to say to you, fathers, 25 years from now, 30 years from now, 50 years from now, you want your sons, your daughters, your family to say, He always had a Word. The Father lays down the counsel of God, the disciplines of God. It's the corrections of God. It is Hebrews chapter 12. I think Jesus was taking this group of people and He was giving us Hebrews chapter 12. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are not truly His child. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits and live? They did discipline us for a short time as seemed best to them. They did the best that they could, but He disciplines us for our good so that we may share in His holiness. That's why fathers are necessary. That's why fathers play an important role. We bring the reality of what is wrong, what is right. Number three, when fathers are home, the messes are there. When the father is home, there are messes to clean up. When you see these four boys bringing their paralytic friend to Jesus and they can't get in through the front door, they just create a hole. What I see in this particular story, in this picture, is there's Jesus and all of a sudden,

here comes a human being being dropped down on a piece of carpet. It says pallet. But what you have is a picture of even in every home, let me just tell you, will never be perfect. It's going to have holes. It's going to have messes. And sometimes moms, how many would agree, fathers create the biggest messes. And the reality is, is that we've got to see through the messes. We got to be okay with messy. We got to be okay with difficult. We got to be okay with challenges. That's why James says, count it all joy. Count it all joy when you find yourself in various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith is going to produce endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect, complete, and lacking in nothing. But if any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously without reproach and it will be given to him. It's almost as though as Jesus is seeing this whole being opened up and if you could say it like this, that all of a sudden we've got this mess. But if you have wisdom, give it time. It will turn into a healing. How many of us, fathers, I want to encourage you, who made this mess? What is going on in this house all day long? You didn't do anything and I agree. They should be doing something. I agree that we have to give them chores. I agree that the house should be clean. I'm not against it. But if you think you're going to keep your house perfect, may I remind you, if God couldn't

keep heaven perfect, what makes you think you can keep your house perfect? If you think God made a mistake when Lucifer and along with a third of the angels, when they rebelled, if you think God made a mistake, well, then I have no hope for you. Even in a great home, the Bible tells us people make messes. Even angels made a mess. I want to encourage you, dad, just because there may be a mess right now in your marriage, a mess in your home, a mess with a child, a mess in a situation, can I tell you, doesn't mean you're a failure. Ask God's wisdom. Let God get in on the scene. Can I hear an amen? Before you react, before you scream, before you throw something, before you get in your truck, just going to get in the truck. You only have a truck. You got a Tesla, but it doesn't sound cool. I'm just going to get my Tesla. The reality is, is that Jesus did not manifest. Your children remember the extremes. They remember the highs and the lows. What our job is to do, is I think what James is pointing us to do, is remove those highs and those lows. Come to the place where you grab your emotions, and you grab your feelings, and you grab what you want in that form of you wanting to grab your son, or grab your daughter, or grab that wife, or whatever that is, you go, stop. Let God get in on the scene, beginning with him getting in your heart, and say, Lord, fill me with wisdom. Because that moment of you losing control may be the very thing that marks that son or that daughter for the rest of their life, that says, I don't want to go back to that house again. What is it that's going to cause them to want to come to our houses?

What is it that's going to come to relationships? That is you and I making sure that we're walking with the wisdom of God. Number four, when the Father is home, faith fills the atmosphere. Jesus seeing their faith, here's what's interesting. Jesus seeing their faith. He didn't say seeing their mess, seeing their problems, seeing the issues, seeing a paralytic. He said, I see their faith. Son, your sins are forgiven. What I think is a very strong point in this particular feature of the Father is that there was an atmosphere of encouragement. He sees their friends. He sees this man's friends bringing to Jesus their sick friend, but Jesus just opens it up with encouragement. This is awesome. Let me ask you a question. What's the atmosphere of your home? Is it faith-filled? Is it encouragement? Is it reward? Is it noticing? Is it building up or is it tearing down? All of us are called to be encouragers. All of us are called to breathe life. And even when people are making an effort, especially making an effort as they are making an effort to get their friend to Jesus, Jesus did not speak death. He spoke life and he says, now greater things are going to happen. When it comes to a father, can I just tell you, when it comes to your sons and your daughters, there needs to be an encouragement. And that encouragement comes where there's effort. You reward effort.

You don't reward laziness. But when they're trying, when they're moving, when they're growing, you find those moments. And you recognize that and you say you're doing good. I've noticed the difference I've noticed a change and you've got to notice and Jesus noticed and he said your faith you and your effort is going to Make a difference Make sure that what your sons and your daughters are hearing is Encouragement Bible says now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen or in this atmosphere faith There's a conviction, but there's also a confidence When I look at my three boys Mason Connor and Jackson and for those that have been in our church for any time you're not going to see a very low amount of confidence and part of that is the Atmosphere of faith that we have made sure that they are involved in Beginning with Laurie. Can I get an amen? may I just say anything good about our families is because of mom and The reality is is that Jesus wanted them to be encouraged and we wanted him and them to be Rewarded with faith for without faith. It is impossible to please God number five when the father is home love is expressed continually and so as they are dropping their friend down and Jesus said son Your sins are forgiven I'm sure those four boys that were dropping their friend down said we didn't get him here to get his sins forgiven We got him here. So we don't have to keep pushing him around the community We would rather him be healed than forgiven But how many know all true life begins with being forgiven? So what if you're healed, but you're not forgiven? You'll miss eternity Can I just tell you all true life with God begins at the root of what we all need and it's the root of why Jesus came and that is to satisfy the father by being the Lamb of God and Only Jesus can forgive which means Jesus has the authority which means Jesus is the one as God in the flesh Said to you and said to me and said to this young man. I was the one that was sinned against

But you're forgiven How many are thankful that Christ came To declare what you and I could not declare over ourselves as that was said already in communion Only God can forgive you and what is expressed is the word son That word there just simply means I am loved I'm not a slave. I'm not a guest. I'm not a visitor. I'm not just an anybody or a nobody I am his son Can I say that God looks at you today wherever you are and he says to you you are my son and What he's declaring and what he's expressing is this love and this love doesn't keep record of wrong The Bible talks about love does not act Unbecomingly, it does not seek its own is not provoked does not take into account a wrong Suffered or does not have a scorebook And what Jesus was declaring over this man more than anything else is what he needed forgiveness of sins Can I tell you what your home needs is for you to express forgiveness? if Jesus did it as the son of man. You can do it as a man or a woman Can I just tell you there will be no life in your home? Unless forgiveness is expressed Let my people go Let my people go let God's people go by expressing your forgiveness Maybe you've been hurt He'd been hurt by a son a daughter Maybe you've been taken advantage of maybe a father a mother has hurt you The reality is is there we know life in your home without forgiveness Do you realize there's no life without forgiveness? It's not if you'll be offensive who's offended somebody already this morning. Can I just see you? You and I as human beings offend We make mistakes we fail we fall short The Bible says we've all fallen short of the glory of God

You will not say the right thing at all times. You will not have the right motive at all times You will not respond The way that you're supposed to respond to Everyone is going to drop the ball. Everyone has dropped the ball Everyone comes short in every home in every location In every location every father every mother every son every daughter all of us have gone astray And Wherever there are humans there are problems and There are offenses Jesus said offenses are going to come So what makes for life Forgiveness You know, there's no relationship there's no marriage there's no hope without forgiveness let them go not only let them go let yourself go let the home go the way that it's supposed to go and it can't go without forgiveness say it I forgive you I pray that this day is the day you make that phone call dad I forgive you or dad I asked you to forgive me I pray that you make that phone call to that son of that daughter that maybe you haven't heard from for several years that prodigal that prodigal knew that he had missed it and he cried out for a father and the Bible says that father seeing his son a long way off having already seen him was running towards him fathers mothers if that son of that daughter calls forgive let them go let yourself go and there has to be this expression of love there has to be this expression of I do not hold this against you the Bible says if we hold hatred or unforgiveness and bitterness in our heart the Bible says you are still in the dark and you will be blindfolded from all that God wants to do in your home quickly number six when the father is home the enemy is pushed back and when Jesus sees and hears those scribes and those religious people reasoning inside of their heart why and how is Jesus able to forgive them he begins to attack them he begins to push back the enemy over accusations

fathers you have a responsibility to make sure that your home is protected by you and that you're not allowing life to be taken away by the enemy who comes to steal kill and destroy if the father's voice is in a vacuum the devil's voice will have volume and we have a responsibility to speak to the atmosphere and to speak life and then lastly number seven when the father is home direction is given and as that young man who came in crippled but he came in crippled spiritually and physically is now spoken to by Jesus and his sins are forgiven Jesus gives him direction he says pick up your pallet now go to your house fathers you know what your job is to point your children as it had already been said in Proverbs chapter 2 and verse 6 22 and 6 that you and I are to train our children in the way that they're supposed to go in other words we give them direction we're pointing them where they're supposed to be when Laurie and I as we began to have our boys 34 years ago 30 years ago 26 years ago what we wanted and what we knew was our job is to raise them up in the direction that they are going to go or even the direction that God wanted them to go to but we had to create an atmosphere that was going to be conducive for their confidence for their strength for their discipline so that they could thrive in the calling in the God the God calling that they had upon their life and Jesus gives direction he didn't just walk away he pointed that man you go home for the glory of God you're gonna go home you're gonna build your home you're gonna build your life you're gonna be a great father a great mother you're gonna be what God has called you to be and so today as we see this story in the book of Mark chapter 2 it's incredible picture of what happens when a father is where he's supposed to be that's my prayer today I'm gonna ask for our campus pastors to come and they're gonna close us in prayer happy Father's Day everybody we love you guys is every head bad yeah we can thank God for that with every head bad and every I quit there's a need for fathers my first question is to the fathers here today how many of you you want to be where God has called you to be let me see your

how many fathers want to be in the will of God your first call is to be a son my first responsibility before I'm a father I am first a son I'm the son of my heavenly father and I want to obey his voice I want to love his will and before I say anything I want to do something I want to model for my boys my wife my family you as spiritual children I want to model I want to be an example that's first and foremost Lord whatever it takes for me to be a man of God Fathers, can I encourage you, would you whisper to the Lord, whatever it takes, make me a man of God. Can we, in fact, all say that because we have a Heavenly Father today that wants us to be great sons and daughters? Can we say this to the Lord? Whatever it takes, make me God, what you want me to be. Today I pray that you'll come home, wherever you are, whoever you are, come home. There's a Heavenly Father. And the same power that manifested in this young boy's life is the same power that can manifest in every life here today, if you're willing to come to the Father. And he says, whoever will come, let him come to me. In no way and no wise will I cast them out, I'll receive them just as they are. And maybe right now life isn't good. Maybe right now life is without direction. Maybe today you are very aware of your sins, you're very aware of your past, you're very aware of guilt, you're very aware of shame, you're very aware of all the mess. Can I just tell you, the Father is here. And he says, come to me. You have one decision to make that can change your life. And maybe, Fathers, you're struggling even with this message. Can I just tell you, come to the Father. He will give you everything that you need, beginning with forgiveness. How many want your life to be found in the Father's hands today? Let me see your hand all over this place.

Can we just say this out loud, Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the manifestation of God. You are God himself. You came to bring the heart of the Father, to reveal the Father. And Lord, I come to you today asking for your power to cleanse me, to wash me, and to change me. I can leave today a new person. You're the God who makes all things new. Right now, I'm new because of you. Can you believe it, church? If you believe it, can we give the Lord a clap of praise in this place today?