Like Father, Like Son - Ps Caleb Hearne

Hi there and welcome to the Garden Church Podcast.

We're excited that you've tuned in to hear a message from one of our team.

I know that you'll be encouraged in your faith and challenged to live for God.

We pray that you'll encounter Jesus in new and fresh ways as you listen to this podcast.

God has got something great for you.

I want to begin today just by saying a big happy Father's Day to all the dads, the granddads, the stepdads, the foster dads, the spiritual dads, all the father figures in our world.

We honor you today, and uh what a privilege it is to be in the house of God together as well.

I know Pastor Amy did it before, but I want to honor Pastor Johnno, our senior pastor, this morning.

We thank you.

Come on, would you give it up for Pastor Johnno?

We thank you for your sacrifice.

We thank you, all the unseen things we never see that you just stand in the gap for all of us.

You're visionary, you're going places that no one's ever been.

And so we are so thankful we're behind you and we honor you today, Pastor Johnno.

Would you give it up for him one more time?

Amazing man of God.

And yes, Father's Day is a beautiful day.

Yes, it can be a difficult day for some.

And you know, some of us have had incredible memories of our dads.

You know, some of us wish our experience had been different.

You know, some here may be celebrating their first ever Father's Day, which is amazing.

I remember that moment.

It's such a great day.

Some people here maybe missing their dad today, and we are here with you, we're in the extending with the gap with you, and dads who are maybe sitting here sometimes thinking, I mean, I just wish my kids maybe they will forget the things that I didn't do that well and remember all the good things, okay.

There's moments for us as dads that we come into a place like this and we have all the different feelings.

But wherever you're at this morning, I believe God wants to speak to us today, and I believe that God wants to speak to us through his word, and I'm so excited to preach to you today.

It's an honor to be preaching on Father's Day as a father myself.

Um, it's such an honor, and you know, just because it's Father's Day doesn't mean it's just an opportunity to talk about fatherhood.

Today is an opportunity for us to talk about the Father.

The Father.

And so this message that there may be references to dads and men in the room, but this is for all of us, because this is to highlight our Heavenly Father today, that we can receive something as we look to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords this morning.

And so I want to begin with this for you today.

As every parent would understand, and there are many parents throughout the room, we understand that kids copy what they see.

Any parents here know what I'm talking about?

Kids copy what they see.

I am blessed, I have four children: two boys, two girls, and as a dad, I know my kids are constantly watching, they are watching everything I do.

Sometimes I'll be in, like, let's say, my living room, and I can hear in the rumpus, and I hear my kids, I'm like, where did they get that from?

And as parents, you realize pretty well most of the time, they got it from me.

Okay, they've seen these things, and that's the funny thing about being a parent, right?

Is that you realize your children are learning from you even when you're not intentionally teaching them.

Okay, they are watching us time and time again, they're watching what we say, they pick up our words, they pick up our expressions, our habits, our attitudes, our reactions, parents.

They can develop the same mannerisms that we have.

It's beautiful to watch when I see my dad, who I thought had some very specific mannerisms, that as a teenager or as a kid, I thought, I am never going to be like that.

And if you saw today, turn it to be honest, my dad is actually preaching in his church right now today, and I'm preaching today.

What a beautiful thing.

But there are mannerisms that my wife puts picks out to me all the time.

That's like, that's your dad.

That's exactly like your dad.

We are constantly looking at our parents, we are learning for them, and you realize they're just like me.

But there's something deeper here, church, because God actually designed us to learn through imitation.

And I'm our key scripture for today, I'm gonna read from the book of Ephesians.

If you have your Bibles, you're welcome to open them up today.

And we're gonna read from the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 1 to 2.

Ephesians 5:1–2

And I'm gonna read you two different versions because I just love the wording, and why not?

More scripture the better, amen.

So we're gonna read Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 to 2.

Ephesians 5:1–2

We're gonna start in the NIV, and you'll see it on the screens too.

It says, follow God's example.

Therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us.

And it says in the Amplified, and I love this wording, it says, Therefore, become imitators of God.

Copy Him and follow his example, as well-beloved children imitate their father and walk continually in love, that is, value one another, practice empathy, compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us.

An offering and sacrifice to God slain for you so that it became a sweet fragrance.

Paul gives us a picture of what it means to follow Jesus.

Look at him, learn his ways, become like him.

So today, on Father's Day, my message is simply this like father, like son.

Like father, like son.

And this is for everybody.

You may in the room think, well, I'm not a son.

This is let's just think of it like father, like child, for every single person here, like father, like child.

And here's the thought that I really hope that at the end of this message you carry through and that this speaks to you.

And this thought is simply this we become like the father we behold.

We become like the father we behold.

For everyone in the room today, you know, we've all got different pictures of what a father looks like, but ultimately you gotta understand that the father that we are beholding today, yes, God has blessed us with beautiful heavenly fathers, but we are beholding the King of Kings, our Heavenly Father today.

And so we are all invited to become like our Father.

This is a calling upon all of you here in this room that you would be imitators of our Heavenly Father, irrespective of your story, irrespective of where you've come from, what kind of parent you had, we are all called.

We can change, we can grow, we can develop, and we can imitate our heavenly father.

And so through this scripture, I had four really simple revelations that spoke to me.

And I pray today, if you're taking notes, you can write these down, but I pray they're gonna speak to you.

For those fathers in the room, I pray this is gonna encourage you, it's gonna help you, it's gonna lead you, it's gonna guide you today.

And so my first bit of revelation was this we are loved before we are like him.

We are loved before we are like him.

In the NIV, it says, as dearly loved children.

The amplified says, as well-beloved children.

We are loved before we are like him.

One of the things I love about being a dad is, you know, let's say in my home, in my family, my kids don't have to wake up in the morning wondering, like my son doesn't wake up in the morning and go, uh, and I hope I'm my dad's son today.

My daughter doesn't have to wake up in the morning and think, Oh, I hope today I can be my dad's daughter.

My kids are my kids because they are my kids.

Whether they've had a great day or a terrible day, whether they've obeyed perfectly, like my children do every single day, or they've made a mess.

Whether they've made me proud or they've frustrated me, it doesn't matter.

They're still my kids.

That's why I love the language Paul uses here, church.

He doesn't say become God's children by behaving better.

He's speaking to us through the scripture and he says, as dearly loved children.

Paul doesn't begin with behavior, he begins with belonging.

He begins with belonging.

The behavior flows from identity.

We are his children first before we're like him.

He loved us before we ever knew him.

He loved us in our worst.

We are his sons, we are his daughters today.

My kids don't behave like my children, so they can belong to me.

They belong to me from the place that they know how to live.

They are my children.

That's how God relates to us today.

He doesn't say, Become like God, and then I will accept you.

He says, Because you are God's dearly loved children, live like your father.

This is the gospel.

This is the gospel.

Our behavior doesn't create our identity, our identity shapes our behavior.

I hope you're getting something out of this this morning.

We don't obey God so that He will adopt us, church.

Through Jesus.

That's beautiful.

He adopts us and then he teaches us how to live like children of God.

Romans 8:15 says, The spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

Romans 8:15

This means when you come to Jesus Church, you don't simply just get forgiven, you get a family, you get a father, you get a new identity, and when you know you are loved, you can begin to become like the one who loves you most.

You are already loved, church.

That's why you have to understand that as Christians, life isn't fundamentally about trying harder.

We can try all we want, it's about learning to live from the identity that God has already loved you, he's already there for you, that it doesn't matter how far or how good you try, that we're gonna need the grace of God.

You are loved before you are like him.

Number two, I've got here, Jesus shows us what the Father is like.

If we're all called to imitate God, we need to know what God is like.

And God doesn't leave us guessing.

Thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

Jesus says in John 14 9, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Think about that.

Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to wonder who or what God is like.

Jesus came not hiding the Father from us, Jesus came to reveal the Father to us.

We look to Jesus, and he is the representation, the imitation, the picture of God to us in man flesh.

We're gonna understand this.

If you want to know the Father, look to Jesus.

Look what Jesus did.

How did he treat people?

He welcomed people who were rejected, he stopped for the people who everyone walked past, he had compassion for the hurting, he forgave people who failed, he served people who couldn't repay him, he pursued people who were far from God, church, and ultimately he laid down his life for us.

He is the perfect revelation of the Father.

Colossians chapter 1, verse 15 says, The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 1:15

So when we look at Jesus, we're not simply learning how to be better Christians, we're discovering what the Father is like.

What he's like.

Amen.

I just want to be more like my heavenly father.

And this matters because you cannot become like a father you don't know.

You need to know the father, you need to know the father, church.

If I want to imitate God, I need to know God.

And the clearest picture of God we have is his son, Jesus.

Jesus shows us what the father is like.

Number three.

Number three for you today.

I hope you're getting something.

This point here, number three, what we behold, we become.

What we behold, we become.

And I could talk all day about stories of my kids.

Okay, any parent knows.

You start to see in every situation there's a new story, new story, new story.

And for me, any parents here would notice that your children, and I I was laughing about this this week of stories I could think of, but I think of moments where I hear my kids do something and I go, Man, I don't remember teaching them that.

I don't remember thinking, you know, like let's say, for example, there's something that, you know, even though I may be the perfect husband and the perfect father, okay, there are certain things in my life that is God's still refining and sharpening.

Okay, any other men who are on the journey?

Yeah, okay.

And I know for me, I find that our kids reflect certain behaviors that we may demonstrate.

One of them may be when my aunt, my beautiful wife, Georgia, asked me to do something around the house.

And sometimes my instant reaction, which I'm working on, might be, yes, but I'm like if anyone understands this, so be like, can you please do this for me?

And I'm like, Yes, I'm just anyone done that before?

Like, I'm just doing this, I'll be there in a second.

I'm just so there's moments for me where there's times where I'm like, she needs me now, but I'm like, my thing's more important than what you've just asked me to do.

Right?

Yeah, eggshells, not a great thing, okay?

And I'm growing, I'm learning in this.

And then the other day, I was really in need, and my daughter, my eldest daughter's standing there, and I'm like, Margot, quick, I need you, come here.

And she goes, Yes, I'm just and I heard it straight away, and the blood was boiling quite quickly because it was like, I really needed her, and she's like, Yeah, I'll be there, but I'm just and the revelation, the thought I had rather that was like, Man, I don't remember sitting down and telling my daughter to say that when someone needs you.

But this is a picture of discipleship.

Hear this proximity produces resemblance.

The more time your kids spend around you, the more they naturally pick up from you.

So 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18, Paul says that as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into his image.

2 Corinthians 3:18

This language is so powerful, church.

If we can catch this in our lives, we've got to understand we behold and we become.

We behold and when we and we become.

Yes, it's great to know a lot about him, but is your life reflecting him?

We become like the Father, we behold.

That's what God is doing in us.

He's forming Christ in us, church.

And that isn't something we accomplish through willpower.

You can try all you want, but we need the presence of God.

We need to spend time with him, we need to behold him to become like him.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

When we sit and we stop and we surrender to him, he does a work in us.

The more we walk with him, the more we fill our minds with God's word, the more we worship, the more we behold Jesus, the more his character begins to shape us.

I want to be like my heavenly father.

Think about what happens when you spend time around someone.

I know if any parent here, or maybe even as teenagers, your parents will say, Don't spend time with that person because they're rubbing off on you.

Has anyone ever had that before?

I had a few of them in my life.

And you start picking up these expressions or vocabulary or humor, even the way they see things, you become familiar with them, and eventually you start sounding like them.

The same is true spiritually.

The same is true spiritually.

We become like the Father we behold.

The more we live in the presence of Jesus, his character begins to appear in us.

So the question isn't just this.

Am I trying to be like Jesus?

Which is great.

That's a great question.

It's am I spending enough time with Jesus that his life is being formed in me?

We become what we behold.

This is so important.

The last one here for you.

What we become, we pass on.

Now this is for everyone, okay?

We become what we pass on, no matter what season you're in.

Young adult, student, child.

It doesn't matter what season you're in.

Because this is where what we do matters.

Because this is where fatherhood matters, fathers in the room.

We are all leaving an imprint, whether we realize it or not.

In the context of fathering or being a parent or as a mother or as a father, our children are watching.

They're watching what we value, they're watching what we speak, they're watching the way I treat their mother.

They're watching what happens when I'm angry.

They watch how I respond when life doesn't go my way.

They're watching what I do with my finance.

They're watching and how I treat people who don't I can't get anything from.

They are watching me.

And perhaps most importantly, they're watching our relationship with God.

In this room today, can I speak to you?

Do they see dad pray?

Do they see dad worship?

Do they see dad serve?

Do they see dad open the scriptures?

Do they see dad apologize when he gets things wrong?

Do they see dad trust God when things are difficult, church?

Because here's the thing our children are always watching.

Our children are looking to us, and they will learn what we say, and they will imitate what we live.

I hope this isn't too hard on you.

This is speaking to me.

This is speaking to me today.

This is a revelation I'm feeling more so for me today, but I hope you're catching something from this.

And I think then the greatest things a father or mother can give their children is not the perfect example.

They need to see dad knows where to go when he doesn't have it all together.

I'm going to God.

I'm going to my father.

When I don't know what to do, when I don't know the right decision, I'm going to my Lord.

When I feel down, when I feel broken, when I feel hurting, I'm going to God.

I'm going to him because I want my kids to learn that.

I want the next generation to learn that.

You, youth, young adults, when you're around people, you want to show the next generation who to go to.

You want to speak of God's goodness, of what he's done with you.

What if your role, what if your story isn't perfect?

My question for you today is you know, I want to pause here because Father's Day can bring pain.

Maybe your father wasn't the man you needed him to be.

Maybe he wasn't there.

Maybe he was there but didn't know how to love.

Maybe your relationship was complicated.

Maybe you're carrying wounds from your childhood for all people today.

Maybe your father, maybe you're in a room, you're in the room today, and you're a father yourself.

And you might be carrying regret.

There might be things that you're carrying from a father.

Thinking about things you wish you'd done differently.

But here's the hope of the gospel.

Garden church, your past, yes, can influence you, but it doesn't define you.

It doesn't define you.

We get a fresh start when we look to the King of Kings.

We receive a family, we receive a father, we receive identity.

Church, this is so important for us because when you come to Jesus, you receive that identity, that love.

Man, I need his love.

I need his grace.

I need his truth in my life, church.

For us, we receive this from the Father.

Romans 8, we are adopted as God's children.

And suddenly you have a father who teaches you a new way to live, a father who shows you what real love looks like.

A father who restores, who forgives, a father who doesn't abandon you.

And that means the story can change with you.

You can rewrite the story.

You can rewrite the story, church.

You know, when I think about all through scripture and you read the stories that Jesus shares with us and all these moments of describing who the father is, and you read these things, and it just fills you with emotion.

I was reading the other day through the book of Luke and Luke 15, and Jesus tells us about a father who runs.

A father who runs.

And this might be for someone here today to be reminded that we have the father who runs.

You might be thinking, What are you trying to say here, Caleb?

You know, in Luke 15, Jesus tells a story of a son who walks away from his father and he wastes what had been given to him.

And he ends up broken, and eventually he decides finally when he's at his wits' end to go home.

But what I love about this story, church.

As when the son comes home.

The father isn't standing there with folded arms.

The father isn't standing there in judgment.

The father isn't standing there with condemnation.

The father sees him.

And what does he do?

He runs to him.

The father runs to him.

The father embraces him.

The father restores him.

The father celebrates him.

And the father, this is what Jesus came to reveal.

There is a father who runs to you.

And maybe some people here today, this morning, need to know that God is not waiting for you to get your life together before he loves you.

He's the father who runs to his children.

Church, today you need to know that there is a God, there is a God who loves you.

And he wants you to be in relationship with him.

And as Father's Day today, man, I want to be like my father.

Like father like son.

Like father like daughter.

Like father like child today.

God and church, this is my thought for you today that we would become like the father we behold.

And so right now, I'm gonna pray.

We're gonna give a moment for you.

I'm gonna welcome the team to come back up.

And let me make this really clear for you this morning.

This message, even to Daz today, isn't go home and do better.

Do more.

Because as much as we can try, we will fall short.

We won't live up through everything we would hold on to ourselves.

But you're gonna know this is why we need Jesus.

Jesus didn't simply come to show us what God is like, church.

He came to bring us back to God.

He came to bring us back to God.

Through the cross, our sin is forgiven.

Through the resurrection, we are given new life.

Through the Spirit, we are adopted into God's family.

This is a word for us today.

And God begins to do something beautiful in us.

He makes us more like Jesus.

This work that he does in us.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

You know, so Christianity isn't about becoming the perfect person, it's about becoming a perfect person who looks increasingly like his father.

So let me ask you this question, church, on Father's Day.

What are you becoming by the Father you behold?

Because we're all becoming something.

We're being shaped by something.

Yet God is inviting us into this moment to say, look at me, know me, walk with me, become like me.

And every dad here, maybe your prayer isn't, God, help me to be the perfect father.

My prayer is this, and our prayer can simply be this father, make me more like you.

Because if I become more like my father, my children experience him through me.

And maybe the greatest legacy I can live is not just what I give them, not the experiences I give them, what they get through me, but maybe the greatest legacy I can live is not just things, not just what I can build for them, but who I become in front of them.

So, church, we become like the Father we behold.

Look to Jesus, fathers in the room.

This is a charge to you to look to Jesus, behold him, bring him back into the center of your world.

Every single person here, this is a message for you that our family, the next generation, the people in our world, your workmate, your apprentice, your colleague, they are looking to you, they are seeing you.

And we and our prayer today is that we would become more like our father.

And today, maybe you don't know this God that I've been speaking about.

A father who runs.

Today, in this place, irrespective of what your story has been, who your father was, what you have experienced, you have to know today that this is the truth of the gospel, that there is a father who runs to you, who loves you, who wants to tell you he loves you before you are even like him.

But as we say yes to him in moments just like this, and you choose to follow his ways, then you will see your life transformed.

That you will see him start to flow through your life, and it won't just impact your life, it'll impact the people in your world, your kids, your family, your father, your mother, your friends, whoever it is, your influence as you imitate God, you will see that flow out into your world.

And so, right now, I want to give an opportunity for people in this room.

If you can, if would you close your eyes in this space?

Maybe you're here today, and you want to say, Yes, Caleb, I want to know that Father who runs.

I've never decided to follow him, I've never said, Teach me your ways and submit in my life to God.

This is your moment right now.

Why not Father's Day in 2026 to come and to meet the Father?

And all he's asking is for a moment of responsive faith.

And so, right now, the reason why I've asked you to keep your eyes closed so no one else is looking around, this is a decision between you and God right now.

And you gotta know there is a father who loves you, who wants to give you a new identity, to give you a hope and a future.

And so, right now across this room, if this is you, if you want to say yes to Jesus for the first time, you want to choose to follow his way right now.

Would you lift your hand?

No one else is looking around.

If that's you today, you want to say yes to Jesus, would you lift your hand for me?

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, God, thank you, Jesus.

Yes, thank you, God, thank you, Jesus, amen.

Lord Jesus, this morning we pray, Lord, we thank you, Lord, that you sent your son to make the invisible God visible, that you sent your son to give us someone to imitate, to be like.

Lord Jesus, I thank you for your Holy Spirit that helps us, that leads us, that guides us, that transforms us today.

God, we need your love.

Lord, we need you in our everyday.

Lord, as we behold you more in our world, I pray, God, that you would, Lord Jesus, transform us and form us to reflect you, Jesus.

And so, God, I thank you, Lord, as we behold you, help us to become more like you, like Father, like Son.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

How good was that message?

I know that you would have been blessed.

Garden Church is a flourishing, life-giving church based on the northern rivers of New South Wales.

We have a passionate commitment to see you make a difference in your world, thrive in community, and most importantly, connect you to Jesus.

Visit our website, gardenchurch.com for more details of ministries, a hub, and even some great resources to empower your life.

Be blessed and be lucky.