#253 Father’s Day

#253 Father’s Day
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

Have you noticed that when people die, their eulogies celebrate life very differently from the way we define success in our everyday existence?  Arianna Huffington

Muhammad Ali Funeral … “Service to others is the rent you pay for your time on earth.”

Celebrated the live of Ron Bruder … really a lovely man … he loved and was loved.

Fellow from work … helped him get sober … supported him … dignity!

“What everybody loved most about her was how she ate lunch at her desk. Every day.”
Or: “He was proud that he never made it to one of his kid’s Little League games because he always wanted to go over those figures one more time.”
Or: “She didn’t have any real friends, but she had 600 Facebook friends, and she dealt with every email in her inbox every night.” Or:
“But he will live on, not in our hearts or memories, because we barely knew him, but in his PowerPoint slides, which were always meticulously prepared.”

Genesis 48:15-16 “… he blessed Joseph, and said, … the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 

Genesis 27:38 “And Esau said to his father, ‘Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!’ And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.”

Ephesians 1:3  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

Acts2:33  “Being therefore lifted high by and to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promised [blessing which is the] Holy Spirit, He has made this outpouring which you yourselves both see and hear.”

1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Luke 15:1-2 “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

Luke 15:11-32
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ 20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him (HE LEFT WILL A BOAT LOAD OF CASH A FERRARI GUCCI SUNGLASSES AND DESIGNER SUIT … FATHER SEES THE REAL YOU … NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE WEARING) and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring[b] out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’” 

1 Freedom
“So he divided to them his livelihood.” vs.12
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,…”
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

2. Faithfulness
Vs. 18 “I will arise and go to my father,…”
Proverbs 16:6 “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.”

3. Tenderness
“…fell on his neck and kissed him.” vs. 20
Psalm 145:9 “The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.”

4. Forgivness
vs.22 “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.”
Restoration of position and authority and wealth. Deals with guilt and shame.
Free from actions and shame.   Tiger woods … still a good golfer … that sex addiction WHAT?

5. Availability
Vs.  “Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him…”
Hebrews 13:5 “He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor [c]give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

6. Humility
Vs. 31 “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”

7. Example
Vs. 32 “It was right that we should make merry and be glad,”
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

James 1:16
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

253 Father’s Day, PowerPoint Slides

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