Fathers Day - 6-18-2023

For the things the Lord has done in our midst. I want you to

turn with me to the Book of Psalm and direct your attention to the sixty

eighth chapter in the fourth and fifth verses. It is so good to see

each one in the house of the Lord this morning. I want to commend

the fathers that have brought their children to the House of God. There's a

lot of great fathers that live in the world and there of the spirit of

the world, and they didn't make it a priority to bring their children to

the heavenly Father's house. I've got several of these preachers lined up to say

something to you that they feel like the Lord's put upon their heart, and

they will be doing that here in just a moment, and they'll be doing

the preaching part of this service. But I did want to point something out

to you all and just speak to our fathers directly. First, might I

say that on the fourteenth of the month of May of this year, we

celebrated our mothers, and how would our fathers be who they are without our

dear mothers. One of the great American patriots and leaders of this great country,

he said all that he is and ever hopes to be who owes it

entirely to his mother. I believe that. I believe a mother has a

prominent goal in the lives of all children are offspring, and I want to

say we appreciate each mother as well. I wasn't here Mother's Day. Every

year, around Mother's Day, we celebrate the mother of the Howell tribe,

Sister Howell, and we're usually vacationing around that time. But I did want

to speak to our mothers and say thank you for what would our fathers being

without the good mothers. So thank you so much for being such wonderful mothers

and our spiritual mothers. Those that are praying for us, meeting the Bethel

Holness Church, praying for us behind the scenes when no one else is a

realm, when nobody knows what us, the Bethel Holnesst Church we as a

family are going through. Thank you for praying. There's some unseen warriors in

this building, and I want to say thank you. I have every great

man that this country has ever admired or honored was certainly the child of their

dear mother and the molding of that mother and also of that father. I

know that a lot of times people have difficult times during these types of celebrations

because they don't have the upbringing that most in this building have had. They

don't really have very fond memories as to how will led a song a little

while ago. Title of precious memories, it's in that Church of God,

read back hymnal precious memories. How they linger. There's also memories that haunt

people. There's things running through people's head this morning that really troubles them.

They remember their childhood years and their memories of their childhood years, or anything

but precious. They're not good at all. Their victims of abuse, verbal

abuse, physical abuse, that even spiritual abuse. I want to say it

is certainly an atrocious act of spiritual abuse when a father does not find it

necessary to take their child to church, to not train them up in the

way that they should go. This morning, very early I heard from my

five sons be a text message. Four of those five do not live at

my house, so they message me, and most of them have hugged me

already this morning, part of the morning worship service beginning, and they said

these words, Father, thank you so much for showing us the way to

go. Just about every one of them said the same thing. And they

live in separate houses, you know, some many miles apart, some closer

together. But God was dealing with them this morning to say thank you Dad,

thank you Dad for showing us the way. Brother Phillip's been buying some

appliances for his home that he's fixing up for his bride, and he said

that. The fellow said, you know, I want to give you a

deal on this stuff. I want to make the price right and affordable for

you and your bride. And he did that. He said, the only

thing I ask in exchange for this is some good fishing holes. Tell me

where the good fishing holes are at, give me some information. And I

remember are going fishing with Dad. So I'm sure my sons remember going fishing

with Dad. We were fishing together just this past month. And there is

so much more to being a father or a dad and teaching them how to

hold a bait caster in your hand. And when you go to cast a

bait caster, the spoil that is not supposed to be facing up supposed to

be angle a little bit, so you rotate where your thumb is not on

the top, that you rotate it down where your palm is down and the

top of your hand is facing the sky, and that's how you cast a

bait caster like that. There's a lot of people have a problem of casting

a bait caster real because I'm not holding it properly. And it's neat to

know that dads have taught their sons how to bet a hook or wet alive

to take a six inch plastic worm and put it on the right hook and

put on the right size of weight because you don't want that weight to be

too heavy. You don't want it to see too fast the fish. You

don't want it to make too loud of a splash to scared fish away.

That's neat, you know. It's neat to know that you dragged them out

into the woods and went hog hunting. Brother ej Is set up in a

deer stand nearby with them and taught them out a hunting. All of that

is wonderful, that's great. It's it's neat to show them how to clean

a grill and to scrub it and clean it because mamma wants cheese burners and

it's good for them to hear you kind of sigh and says short, would

it feel like doing this, but I'm gonna do this anyway against my will

in order to please my family. Right, so many good things, you

know, brother Rick Jacob. We teach them ton't scout the yard, don't

cut the grass too short. And it took us a while here to even

get some of the growing men to figure that out. But we have voluscious

green yarn out there right now because we're cutting it to the rif length.

You know, you cut that grass too short. And if you live in

Florida, the sun it's so hot it literally burns up the blades of grass.

It'll burn them to a crisp, it really will. You'll walk out

there and you'll hear it crunching under your feet. Say, what is that?

It's the grass. The blades of grass are literally crunching under your feet.

Why because somebody cut it too short? Right? I asked the way

this morning. And so are you burning our grass? Are you burning our

grass? You know you pulled that little hard, hot vehicle up on the

grass. It's so luscious and green and it's just parked there and it's running

and underneath that the grass is, you know, just baking like a piece

of bread in the oven. It's just baking. And the longer you sit

there, the morning bakes. And after a while you got these little burnt

holes in the yard. You know that Saint Augustine you just made to have

laid in your yard. You're so proud of it. And Tyler decides to

park his vehicle in your front yard, sist wooten and pick his nose and

just play around and sit into ac with his gospel music going, and burns

big twenty inch diameter hole literally right there in your yard. And it's it's

good for old dad to say, come here, son, come aside for

a minute. Let me point this out and tell you don't do that.

That stuff is good. It's it's really good. It's it's really good to

tell your sons that you don't need to wear cologne that morning because you're going

hunting, because that DearS can smell you from miles away. So you need

to go to the neighbor's cow pasture and scoop your hand up in the old

cow patty, kind of smear a little bit of it on your face and

mag and kind of wipe it away and mask your natural smell. You know.

Just all of that stuff is just Neat. It's really Neat the greatest

example that I can think though of a father, as our heavenly father.

And there's a lot of people that could throw up their hand and fly a

red flag and say, you know what, I didn't have any of that,

and so they have a problem sometimes understanding the significance or the value of

having a heavenly father because they cannot relate to having a father in their life.

I've heard that one of the great preachers in our movement, if it's

true. I spoke with him briefly yesterday to tell him a happy birthday.

I have heard that he did not have a fatherly figure in his life during

some of his childhood years, his molding and shaping years, he didn't have

that. If that is true, and perhaps they were speaking of someone else

and not him, I don't know, but if that is true, and

it is true in the case of many other people that are Holdingness preachers,

they did not have a father, and so when they come into church and

everybody's talking about our Father God, the Hallo boys this morning said, you've

been the perfect example as a father. I think Brother Samuel, he said,

if I could just raise my children in such a way that they look

to me the way I look to you, and if they will feel about

me the way I feel about you, I will know I have done my

job. But there's some of you when you sit in church, and there's

other people, some that will be listening this morning, that will say I

didn't have that. So when I hear them say our father, which art

in heaven, that's where we get that term of heavenly father, our father,

because some of you did not have a father to call on. And

you can't waste a wonderful day like this to have a pity party. You

must embraced those that have been placed in your life. There's a lot of

wonderful women that could not bear children, but they have become a wonderful mothers

to people. I have heard from so many preachers affiliated with our church this

morning. The One and Dominica have heard from the pastor there all of our

preacher brethren. Thank you for being a spiritual father, they have said throughout

the years, But what about your heavenly father. I want to point out

something in these scriptures. Psalm sixty eight four and five, it says seeing

unto God, seeing praises to his name, extole him that writeth upon the

heavens by his name, yacht and rejoice before him. Look at this,

a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows. Is God in

his whole habitation. So we're coming to his house. We come into our

heavenly father's house, and there is no bait bag full of plastic baits.

You go to Pastor Howell's house, you will see a big duffel bag full

of plastic baitings. You will see cases full of lures. You know you'll

see that. You'll say, here is the house of what used to be

an avid fisherman, someone that gave up going fishing often in order to pioneer

a church. Someone is trying to get back into fishing now that the church

has been pioneered to planning and doing so good. But here's the evidence right

here of a man who used to be an avid fisherman, and no doubt

he has passed some of this on to his kids. In my cell phone,

I have received a Google photo reminder. Early this morning. Brother Jeremiah,

there you were standing on the banks of the clusa hatchie thumbing in the

mouth of a big catfish. You look like in Wade twelve to fourteen pounds.

And something in me said, you taught him how to do that,

and he had the greatest smile on his face. But the greatest thing that

we could do, fathers, and that's what you were doing this morning,

is bringing your children to the father's house. He said, right here,

my holy habitation, in his holy habitation, in your heavenly father's house,

because there's so much joy that we experience and we can receive in the father's

house. That's what Jesus said, He said, in my father's house,

there are many mansions, he said. If it was not so, I

would have told you what was Jesus going away to do. He was going

away to prepare a place for you all, and he is going away right

to also send the comforter to you all. And while the comforter is here

doing his work upon earth in the lives of mankind and womankind, Jesus has

prepared us a place. You'll notice right here in Psalm chapter number sixty eight,

verses four and five. And I'm just trying to open for these preachers

that are going to be preaching here momentarily. Verse number five said he will

be a father of the fatherless. So for those people that will come into

church and say, he never taught me how to real estate, talking about

their earthly father, he never taught me how to catch a fish. He

never taught me how to kill a deer. He never taught me how to

skin a hog. He never told me all the tricks of the trade.

He never told me about this. He never taught me about this, He

never showed me how to do this. For all of those that come into

the House of God, we could just sit back and say, you know,

I'm glad I could sit in his holy habitation and learn how a father

is to be. And we can look to spiritual fathers within that assembly or

within that gathering, and we can say thank you Lord for this role model

or this template that I could pattern my life after. It's great to expose

our children to that kind of example, right, exposing them to the example.

If you don't expose them to the example, they won't learn. Children

will learn if we'll expose them to the example. And I believe that there's

people today that should realize, even though they do not think initially good things

about a father, because they are victims of abuse, some of them hate

their father father, and so when they hear the word father, that's a

turn off. Immediately they'll say, I'm a mama's boy. I don't care

if I ever see my father again. I'm a lama's girl. I don't

care if I ever see my father again. Well, why do you feel

that way? Why do you possess such feelings? If you only knew Neil

grown as they say that, if you only knew I never had a father.

He was never there. He never played ball with me in the yard.

He never taught me that there's a proper way to hold the baseball.

He never taught me there's a proper way to hold the ball bat. He

certainly never taught me how to carry my bible under my arm to the house

to God. And he's certainly never exemplified a godly man before me. So

why do I need a father? Who needs a father? A father?

That's what's wrong with America as a Children are being raised and broken homes.

Single others are doing the parenting and there's no father around. We need a

father in our lives. In some way, I picked up a young man

this week because God spoke to me and said pick him up, just find

something to do with him. I said, say, Oh, Lord,

God said you need to influence him. I said, I'm busy, Lord.

I've never complained or tried to get out of anything the Lord has told

me to do. But I said, I'm really busy, Lord, and

he said, do it now, do it now. I said, yes,

sir Lord, find something to do. Yes, sir Lord, I've

never had a problem finding something to do. When we come to the House

of God, we can realize that our father expects us to do some things

just like we experienced this morning, and to worship service. He expected us

to just worship him and to praise him. And as we adored him and

praised him, he returned it. He said, praise and glory our way.

I'm telling you, the power of God was so prevalent, so strong,

and so amazing in our midst. I just wanted to point that out

to you all. There's there's probably a couple of people in this building,

and some that are listening. They'll say, but I don't have that example.

Brother Jesse's fixing to talk about. But I don't have that example.

Brother Nathaniel's fixing to preach about. I don't have that example. Brother Samuel's

fixing the speak of, I don't have that example. Their brother Caleb is

so proud of that he's had in his day. I don't have that example.

The brother Philip passed, I didn't have that. The brother Jonathan Edwards

speaks of, I didn't have a wonderful dad to truly love holiness and righteousness

and was willing to relocate my family for my good, was willing to pull

up out of his comfort zone, pull up his roots, to find another

job and try to get a fresh start. You know, great men of

God like this, You know you might throw up to fight and say,

hey stop, I don't know what you're talking about. And I want to

tell you something. What you need to do is focus on the Heavenly Father.

And so naturally there's people, Brother Nathaniel, They're not gonna have a

clue, and there's gonna be some envious, incombitous and jealous and saying,

wow, I missed out so much. I didn't realize people have it that

good. Or someone will say yeah, I knew they had it a lot

better than did a lot better upbringing. They were loved, they were cherished,

they were honored, they were respected even as children, they were treated

right, right, And so what do you do when you have no fatherly

example? Brother Jesse just looks up at the platform a guest minister's preaching.

He just looks over towards the piano, and he could lay eyes on an

example. If I'm looking for an elder saying of God, I could scan

the Caut congregation and in just a few minutes, I'll say there's some elder

saints of God. We miss us to Cheryl this morning as pastor of sitting

in a sound booth here in the Sunday school class, and I look for

Sister Cheryl. She's been very sick, vomiting, hurting in her back.

She thinks she's passing kidney stones. We miss her, We miss brother Dwayne.

Sister Donna said she's out of town for this holiday and she's sick as

a dog. She says she feels terrible, needs prayer, vomiting without control.

Others are missing this morning. So I look and I see that there

are some missing. But then I see there are some that are here that

are able to be here. They're healthy, and they're will embodying Brother Jesse

for some reason I'm grasping for straws and just trying to make things tangible and

lay eyes on a god fearing woman. I just look over his shoulder,

Seasus to Jackie Walker, someone that will say, hey, if this one

doesn't go, I'm going anyway. If I want to look for a pillar

in the church, I just lay eyes on brother Rick Jacob and look right

there at the front the church, sitting on the front pew, and just

see somebody that cares about the Lord and cares about his business. Just like

Jesus told his mother Mary, he said, wish you not that I must

be about my father's business. If I want to see a good example of

somebody that's about the father's business, on Saturday, between the hours of two

pm and seven pm, I will find men that are fathers, and brother

Christian and a father to be, and brother Caleb one day a father to

be. And I will find young men that are giving us public examples and

displays of how wonderful else to be a father. I can lay eyes on

that. But there's people that's gonna hear these young preachers preach, and they're

gonna say, I don't know what they're talking about. I've never experienced.

And if they're not careful with bitter words, they'll say it must have been

nice. Some of us weren't so privileged. This is why we need to

take our index finger and hit the reset button on our life, and we

need to say, if I wasn't provided that example, I will be that

example from my children. Now I feel the Holy ghost right there, and

I'm trying not to preach, because these young preachers are going to preach mommies,

if you did not have the best mother in the world, are the

best example of a godly mother. You can hit that reset button and say,

I am not going to be that from my children. I am going

to study this book. Follows. You can study this book. You can

study your roles as your gender, and you can look at this and realize

exactly who you want to be. And brother Jesse said, when I look

at this verse, and I looked at it several times this morning, a

father of the fatherless, the word of God is admitting that there's gonna be

people that said, my dad never took me fishing. He didn't want to.

He was a drunk. He'd rather lay out there under the old tree

down there at the convenience store. He'd rather hang out somewhere down there in

a place. It's just terrible. And my mother shielded me from his influence.

Or somebody said, my dad walked out of my life when I was

five years old, tried to walk back in my life at the age of

twenty. Was a brother Ray Asher that said, too late, Dad,

Too late, Dad, to come back in my life now that you don't

have to pay for anything. Too late, Dad, You've been sorry.

Too late, Dad. But he will visit the fatherless. He will be

a father to the fatherless. So, Brother Caleb, for those that will

hear you talk so finally of your dad fathers in this building, I want

to tell you all something. I can study this Bible from its front leather

cover to the back leather cover, and when I study the characteristics and the

attributes of our heavenly Father, I cannot help but love him. I have

seen single dads before bring their sons to church while their wives ran wild in

the world. And I've seen it many times where some of them young people

stuck it out and they're wonderful fathers. Today, I've got one coming to

mind right now, and they have a beautiful family. You know why,

because they studied this word of God. Every time it's mentioned Father, they

looked at it and they said, you know what, there's a void in

my life. That word father doesn't fit. But I'm gonna make it fit.

In fact, that word father doesn't trigger good emotions, But I'm going

to read so much about my heavenly Father until the word father triggers positive emotion,

because I'm gonna realize my heavenly Father considers the sparrow that has fallen off

the barn loft to the ground. My heavenly Father considers the lilies. And

even though Solomon was such a wonderful father, and he was a father to

many children, even though Solomon, in all of his glory, with all

of his financial capacity and ability, he could not close the fields as gloriously

as our heavenly Father closes it. And to know that the eye of the

Lord is upon the fatherless to realize that if you have not been blessed with

a good home life. Since the Howell is my bride, she is wonderful

woman. I told her recently. I said, there is no way any

other woman could be such a great mother. There's no way you've just been

the best. But she come out of a hole and mother them off.

You hear this, I'm sorry, but she come out of a hole.

Whether it's a broken marriage, the marriage was together that it was severed.

The marriage was together and then it was severed. One of my apprehensions to

marrying her was has she learned their ways as that contaminated in her and corrupted

her? And will that adversely affect my life and my children's life. Will

our offspring suffer in the same manner that she suffered. And she didn't allow

that to happen. She took those disappointments and those things, Brother Nathaniel that

hurt her. And I remember watching her channel that through her heavenly father,

and when she channeled those negative emotions and those negative life lessons that have been

taught. You know, if you just fuss and fight one of you,

get your new car and leaves and be gone for a day, or be

gone for half a day, go up the road, rent an apartment,

you know that's not something you want to get into. And so I studied

the woman and I said, you know, I feel like she's had a

change heart. She doesn't want this. If you want to be a father.

You can be a father if you never get married, if you never

have offspring because of something that's wrong or because you just never find Missa's right,

you can still be a great father and a great example to the young

people that's in this church. And I want us to just pray as we

get ready to line up the preachers that are preaching this morning, and I

want you to say, Lord, I pray that I would be able to

be what you would have me to be for those around me, because there's

nothing worse, Sister Wooton, than somebody being full of bitterness and resentment because

of some area they're lacking, because of the carelessness of others. Sister Howell

could be crying every service about how her whole life was so deficient. But

I will tell you this, the how old children will tell you there is

no area in their life where they could say their mother ever gave them any

reason to think they were missing out. Concerning their mother, Brother Jesse,

that's a miracle. That's a miracle because she didn't have the whole life and

the upbringing that your wife has had. So I'm trying to tell you this

morning, I don't care what has happened up until now, as of right

now today, at this very moment, as these young preachers are preaching,

we can make up our mind. I'm going to be a great person.

Brian Free in Assurance sings a song. I want to be that man.

I love that song. I want to be that man. If you've never

heard it, listen to it. But I want to be that man that

the children know in the early morning hours, if I miss his dead and

I say pray for us, that he will pray for us. I want

to be that man that, no matter where I'm at on this planet,

at any given time, if I throw up in SS and say I need

help, my family needs help, that man will be there for me.

Why would that man get to that place where he could be depended on like

that, Because if he studies this Bible, he will realize that God would

teach him to be that kind of man. And if you want to be

that kind of man, you can be that kind of man. And what

I'm doing, I'm taking a bigger racer, one bigger than the size of

this big Bible, and I'm trying to raise your excuses for why you can't

be that man that's what I'm doing. I'm a racing I've got a big

blackboard up here full of our excuses or why we can't be that man.

But I want to tell you, if he'll look at this book and you'll

look closer at the heavenly Father, he will be that role model that you

need. Amen, Brother, deal him. Do you have a piece of

paper there in a pen? Get it out, buddy, those of you

that are preaching this born and raise your hand. We're gonna do something from

the youngest to the oldest. How old are you? Brother Jonathan? Eighteen?

Write that down, Brother Dilon. Let's see if I miss it.

I'm gonna miss it. I know I am. So that's what I'm Doings,

Brother Dilon, Brother Jonathan's eighteen. Brother Caleb, you're nineteen, Brother

Philip twenty one, twenty missed it, mom son? Really, guys,

miss mome son? Okay. Brother Samuel, you're twenty two, twenty one.

Okay, yeah, door steps one after another. I should have done

that, okay. Brother Nathaniel is how old twenty four? Twenty four?

You've twenty four, Brother Nathaniel, twenty four, Brother just is twenty five?

Yeah? Is there any other preacher in the building that I'm asked to

preach this morning besides those. Okay, so I was able to get that

right, Brother road Cap, from the youngest to the oldest. We're gonna

preach in that order. And whenever we had this many preachers preaching, I

might change it up. I might do it from front Q to back,

because there's always somebody to get it in their mind and say, he had

this one preach last because he's the best. He had this one preach first

because he's the best. I've been to camp eat before, and I've heard

preachers talk and that's why I hit that spirit of competition and jealousy and envy.

I've heard him talk about said, well, he figured I was the

better preacher, so he had me preach first. And I'm thinking, man,

I played high school ball. I thought, if you bet fourth,

you were the clean up man, and you drove everybody to the home plate,

you know. So to keep anything from like anything like that from happening,

what we're gonna do, I'm just gonna change it up like this so

that we don't think that brother Howell's got a plan. I don't have a

plan. I appreciate all of these preachers. This morning, we'll be preaching

from youngest to oldest. Next time we'll probably be preaching from oldest to youngest.

And then the next time we'll probably preach from left to right and from

front to back. Because God doesn't have respective persons and we don't either.

I guess brother, brother Jonathan, you're the youngest. So will y'all stretch

your hand towards heaven as brother asked the Lord to help Brother Jonathan this morning?

Me man, man, it's good to be in the House of God

this morning. UM. I want to say, I'm thankful for a dad

that raised me in church all my life, um, and being obedient to

God and making the move down. And really, I wouldn't be here today,

you know if um, if it wasn't for a dad you know that

raised me in church, parents that raised me in church. And I want

to say I'm thankful for a spiritual um father, a Bethel you know,

has made a true difference in my life too. I wouldn't be here definitely

if the whether for a pastor pastor how um. But there's something God laid

on my heart for this morning service. UM. When I found out I

would be saying something um. It's in the very familiar portion of scripture,

very familiar Bible character. Genusis, chapter six, versus eighth to thirteen says,

but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the

generations of Noah. Noah's a just man, imperfect in his generations. And

Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Sham, Madam and

Jabeth. The earth was also corrupt before God, and the earth was filled

with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt.

Flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God set up to

Noah. The end of all flesh has come before me before. The earth

is filled with violence through them, And behold, I will destroy them with

the earth. That's which Jesus the thought that kept going over over me came

to me last night. I can't get away from him. The obedience of

a father will spare his children. And I began to think, No,

Noah, I don't believe. You know, God told him he had to

build an art, you know, to spare them from the natural death.

But also believe that there was a spiritual death when it come to his sons

if you didn't obey God, because as we read, you know, it

was a wicked generation they were in, and God had was ready to sta

because it was so bad, and I believe his sons would have definitely lost

their life in the natural way and the spiritual way as being a man who

would do anything to obey God him to please him. God had started dealing

and speaking to know about the flood, how he would have to build a

god three sons, Ham and j Ff, and the rest of his household.

I believe that Noah was a great father in the natural sense, but

also believe he was a great father to his three sons, someone that they

can talk to about things in life, but also someone they could go up

to him and talk to him about the Lord whenever. Even though he was

many years he was building the art, they could go up to him and

talk to him about the Lord when they were they needed spiritual advice and things

of that nature. No doubt, there were probably a lot of times Noah

had to make sacrifices not to participate in other things in order to keep working

for working on the art, because he knew that he had to prepare for

his sons if he didn't want to lose them in the spiritual nature, aimed

in the natural nature, they would have died in the flood. But if

he didn't, they would have lost their life spiritually speaking as well, because

that's what the Lord I told him to do. Speaking of the part where

he had lay things aside sacrifice, that's but he would have faced many destructions

as family members. And there wasn't many people that got him York. I

believe it was his three sons, his three daughter in laws, and his

wife, maybe one or two other people. But I imagine day after day,

Noah's sons probably talked amongst their selves, talked to talk to all three

of them, right back and forth. Well there's that out there working on

the art. But we still don't see no rain yet. I don't know.

I believe, you know, I have confidence in them, I trust

them, but we're still not seeing after many years. The long time it

was, but it was for the safety of their very own soul that time.

They probably didn't understand it, but it was for their own lives,

for their benefit. But they knew that they would have confidence in their father,

that he would hear from God. He was a man that they knew

they would he would get a hold of God, even though at times they

might not be where they need him. He had it spiritually. I'm sure

we've all been there. You see in Genesis chapter none. This was after

the flood and after God had noa Noah had made the choice to obey God

and stay with it. After many years, it says, and God blessed

Noah and his sons and set up to them meat fruitful and multiplied and replenished

the earth. Noah's sons were blessed because the father, who had a close

walk with the Lord and with obedient and everything the Lord would have him to

do. I believe that the sons of Noah looked back after the flood and

weren't aggravated or questioning what their father had been doing for all those years,

because the end result was it saved their lives. I'm so thankful for the

obedience of our spiritual Father here at beth Or Pastor, because obedience and sacrifices

have spared menia in this building, including myself. I do believe we will

see more things to come out of our Pastor's obedience because he hears from our

heavenly Father. And that's the same thing with Noah. If he wouldn't have

been in tune with God, if he wouldn't have been praying to his heavenly

Father, he wouldn't have had the impact on his sons as he did.

If it wasn't for our pastor and our spirit our spiritual father here at Bethel,

where would we all be if we all searched our hearts? Where would

I feel without my spiritual father here at Bethel? We would be in a

mess. I know I would be in the mess. I wouldn't be where

I'm at. I wouldn't be a preacher. I wouldn't be that. I

wouldn't have the Holy Ghost. And I just think the Lord far Pastor and

everything he's done. Come home, brother Philip, Brother Caleb, Come home,

brother Caleb. I told him, good thing, We wrote that thing

home. Thank for for the confidence of our past our spiritual fathers to um

so they will be here in the house support his house or heavenly Father.

I am very thankful as well. It's been said for my earthly father.

Same testimony as brother Jonathan. You know, we we were set. Mother

had a good job, father had a good job. Really in the world

times we had needed nothing, but yet spiritually we had needed something. That's

some thinking for our father and you know who didn't put you know his ideas

of what it should be before what God wanted for us be with me In

Songs one nineteen, verse seventy seven. Yesterday I was reading this chapter,

this is the longest chapter in the Bible may be known, And before I

was asked to say something, this phrase had been stuck in my head.

It's tender mercies. So just for a little while I'm talking about my father's

tender mercies. This verse says, let the tender mercies come unto me that

I may live, for Thy law is my delight. And brother ocap this

morning he mentioned the word when he was talking about Alba. Father. He

mentioned that word Alba in a tender endearment. And this word tender mercies.

That little that phrase is a word that means compassion, and it can relate

to the wound, cherishing the fetus and the having that compassion, having that

love, and it says that I may live. And this word, but

your tender mercies, your compassion coming to me, that I may live.

This live to live, It says to sustain the life, to live prosperously,

to nourish. I'm so thankful for my earthly father who has had compassion

on me that you know I could live, that I could be nourished.

He cared enough that he would provide so I could be nourished. For a

spiritual father who cared enough that he would help us to live prosperously. For

a heavenly father who cares enough that he would sustain our life. And it

says that law, this law is direction, it's instruction. Whenever I didn't

know which way I should go, and I add some choices, some opportunities.

The people I asked was my father and my pastor, and of course

I prayed to my heavenly father, because ultimately they knew the best direction.

And then there was times when you know, I didn't realize it, but

I needed some instruction. His law, it gives us direction, It gives

us instruction. It teaches us what is right, what is wrong. It's

my delight. The verse says, you know, we can delight in it.

We enjoy it. There's joy in it. And this verse brother Rod

cap this morning and Hebrews twelve, verse eleven, he mentioned this and I

thought it went right with this, and said, now no chastening for the

present seemed to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yealeth the

peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercise thereby. And that's what I

had written down. And I, you know, didn't really realize that there

was a verse about it. But you know, at the time, you

don't realize the joy. At the time, you don't. You don't enjoy

the direction. Sometimes you don't enjoy the instruction sometimes, but later on you

realize they kept me from a dark road. Later on you realize it kept

me from making really bad decisions that would ultimately influenced an impact in my life

in a bad way. And flipping over one or two pages to verse number

one fifty six, it's worded a little different, but the words in the

Hebrew are pretty much the same. That says, great are thy tender mercies,

Oh Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. This tender mercies is

the same compassion, the compassion for the child. This quick in me is

the same as that I may live. It's the same word. It means

to sustain life, to nourished to prosper his judgments are. It's the decisions,

the plans. I didn't understand my father's plans. At times, I

didn't understand well my heavily father was planning for the service. At times,

many times I didn't understand why my pastor made certain decisions. But we know

in the end that ultimately it was for the best lamentations. Three pastors preached

on this recently or taught from this recently twenty two and twenty three. It

is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions they

found not They are new every morning, and great is thy faithfulness. I'm

so thankful for a heavenly father that loves us our earthly fathers that you know,

many of us have those earthly fathers that love us our spiritual passion.

We can all say who loves us? And I got to thinking about,

you know, the how they correct us, because truly, you know,

we talk about tender compassion. You know, some people have said that it's

hard for a father to have compassion like a mother, which in a sense

is true. But a father can show his compassion by instructing us, by

correcting us, because he cares for us, He has compassion on us,

that he doesn't want to see us make mistakes that he may, that he

doesn't want us to make mistakes that others have made. So I'm so thankful

that he has mercies on us, that we're not consumed, we're not wasted,

we're not destroyed. So many children they have fathers who really don't care.

They let them do what they want, and they say, why I'm

being lenient, I'm being a you know, a father, I'm not being

a disciplinarian. But yet in the end, that child can be wasted,

that child's life can be destroyed. I'm so thankful that every morning it's new

that the patience of our heavenly father, the patience of my earthly father when

I was growing up and going through my harder to young teen years, and

then it says they're great is thy faithfulness, And I'm so thankful for a

father who is faithful. I'm so thankful that people can't always say this,

but I'm thankful that I've had a father who never walked out on us,

a father who was faithful to provide this, a heavenly father who's never walked

out on any of his chatter, a heavenly father who has always been there

to welcome them back when they've walked out on him. He's faithful and so

thankful for a spiritual father who's been faithful to become every service even when he's

not the one minister, and he's still ministers through a word of encouragement,

exhortation. He has something. He's always faithful to have something. And just

real quick I heard many years ago, back and Brown in a camp meeting

there was a preacher's daughter. This has been running over and over in my

mind. She went to Bible School, and she said. One thing that

she learned was you can't. She learned that while she was there, she

couldn't called out, She couldn't called that for this, She couldn't caught out

for that. But she learned she grew in relationship. I guess one good

thing for Bible School, maybe before, was she grew to learn that she

could call on her heavenly Father at any time. I'm so thankful he's faithful

to answer. I'm so thankful that he's always there for us. Right,

this is the best Father's Day ever. Come my own brother, Philip,

Praise the Lord God has blessed us with own these young preachers preachers great for

God man. I think the Lord for everything he's done. I think for

a wonderful father. Um. So if I had come to my mind when

m Pastor asked me to say so this morning, was I really appreciate my

father and what he's done for me, the man he is. And one

of the things that come to he was, Um, we had a guy

I won't call his name is right here that he's a local, started work

and it was for about a month straight. He would every day talk to

me about how he didn't want to be the father to his kids that his

father was to him. His father walked out, like pastors said on I

think maybe he was to show back up a trail. By this time he

was gone, settled into the bad ways of more Hazen and Cluistim. And

now it's it's extremely sad to see he's done good throughout and he's probably worse

than his father is now. He's he rarely sees his kids, his kids

four and two. And I think the Lord that my father had never done

that to me. And I sent him a song a while back. Love

is not a father and telling him what of him and his u Beyonce.

They were planning to get married and now they're gonna split up. So I

send he needs to be there for his kids. Like my father's damning.

I think a little for a father. Um, if you have your bibles,

we'll read out of a Saint Matthew five in verse four, fifteen and

verse four. Well, we'll start in a fifteen and verse two, Why

do do why do thy disciples trans get dress of the elders, for they

wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said under

them, and said Jesus speaking, why do you also transgress the commandments of

God by your transgression? For God commanded saying honor thy father and mother,

and he that curses father and mother, let him die the death. We

can pray that God, God, God, I am. Matthew's fifteen and

verse four said, for God command and say honor thy father and mother.

Be that curses father or mother, let him die the death. That's a

very very strong scripture there, speaking of if you don't honor your father and

mother, you could die the death. That might not for instance, it

could very well be also a physical death to be a spiritual death. And

then at Saint Mark seven, at verse ten, it says for Moses said,

honor thy father and thy mother, and whosoever curses father or mother,

let him die the death. That's very and it speaks. I believe it's

the fifth commandment of the commandment of honoring father and mother, that you may

live a good life for say. And then another part in Exodus chapter twenty

one and verse seventeen, before I read down and tell a story I thought

about during Sunday school. It was a woman, but the father was coming

in and out on the on the family, and I remember her talking to

mom and dad, and they were trying to tell her, you need to

straighten this little girl out. And she was all mace and so mace,

Mace, Mace stole his car, mazing. I told her, don't worry

about taking it back. I remember mom and Dad looked at her and said,

if you don't stop, it's gonna be mace in your face. Right,

you straightened that kid up, and you need to raise her right.

And I thank God for parents that raise us right. And Exodus chapter twenty

one, verse seventeen says, and he that curses his father or mother shall

surely be put to death. And one man said, Matthew Henry said that

a curse. Let me find a curse is the sin of cursing. Cursing

your father is to those who speak ill of their father, or wish ill

to them who mock at them, or or give them taunting and a previous

language. And I looked at that word previous. I mean it believes I

says a taunting and a harsh language. Now we have we have to be

careful how we speak to our parents. They have the rule over us.

And I appreciate my my father. The stories man. We have some crazy

memories as kids. It's great memories. Something um that stood up to me

as well. My title for this would be, how about how about honor?

We have to we really do have to honor our father. And so

for instance, I'm in that verse speaking of put to death. If you

want a fulfilled life, you must honor your father. Something that come to

me on the ride of the church. Um, I wrote his down to

day much is I'm thankfull faithful father, a friendly father, a fishing father,

and most of all a fighting father. Never was a striker, but

spiritually the fight for our lives. And another thing, a father who will

fight. This is what I'm thank you for. A father who will fight

for your soul. This is my I thought about during Sunday school and pastors

talking about it. Those that don't have a good um natural father, a

father um for our father, a father who will fight. This is speaking

of our pastor, a father who will fight for your soul. If you

if you don't have a fighting father, you have been given a fighting pastor,

which is the chief elder, which is the father of the church.

So it is our obligation and duty to listen to our pastor, obey what

he says, and something for the parents as well. Proverbs thirteen and twenty

four, he says, if you spare the rod, or spare the rod,

spook of the child. I believe that's a different verse. I need

to I need to flip to Proverbs thirteen and twenty four. Proverbs thirteen and

twenty four says, he that spareth his rod hateth his son. That's basically,

um, if you don't discipline your kid right there, it straight up

says you hate your kid, but he that loveth him chasingeth him. Be

times, many of times I've never been be but I have been tore up

when I needed. All of us have like the road, cap said,

the old fashioned woodshed and us. If you spare the rod, you'll spoil

your kids. The simple factor of your kids and I aring you most likely

the fact that you didn't discipline them correctly. If you're discipline discipline them correctly,

they will respect you and honor you. And on that topic, UM,

I heard a preacher say a while about you, old timer. Um.

He said, Uh, kids are like canoes. Their best paddle from

the rear. So I believe we have to stick to disciplining. I appreciate

my father, appreciate my pastor. What a in factor. And uh,

I thank you for the opportunity to preach. And I love the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Come home, brother Samuel, Praise God. Yeah.

Yeah, certainly, I'm glad to be in the House of God this morning.

I'm certainly glad for my father that I have and my pastor. You're

in church, he's my pastor outside of church, he's my dad. A

lot of times when I'm sitting in the pew when he's preaching. I don't

hate Man him as dad. I hate Man him as Pastor. I thank

you for everything that He's taught me as a kid on how to be an

example for my kids. And I'm raising now. It is a challenge and

a journey that we've started. And as long as I can keep my eyes

on the example that God's given me, I believe that God will help me

raise my kids up in the right way. Brother Philip kind of preached along

the lines of what the Lord laid on my heart when we look at at

Proverbs chapter twenty two, verse six, Like the Lord laid it on my

heart to talk. I don't really feel like I'm gonna get fired up or

anything but train obeying. Yeah. Right here in Proverbs twenty two and six,

it says train up your child and the way he should go, and

when he is old, he would not depart from its notice with me here

in that scripture again it says train up a child in the way. We

must train up our child in the way that God has given us. What

is the way. It's a holy way, it's a godly way, and

it's a sinless way. But most to borrow it is a set apart.

That is the way that we have been given to train up our child.

And our children. There are a lot of examples in the Bible. There's

plenty of them of fathers who have showed us how to train up their children,

and fathers who has showed us not how not to train up their children.

And some fathers like well that Caleb said, seemed they could really care

less if their children's made it or not. All they was worried about was

themselves. But Abraham is a man who showed us he didn't train up no

cissy five cry baby boy. Isaac took the wood that he was to be

sacrificed with in his old hand. Abraham laid it in his hand. Once

they come to the point they left the two servants, he said, you

carry this, and I'm gonna take the fire and the knife. And as

they began to get up there place, Isaac read. Isaac says, father,

I have the wood, We had the fire and the knof, but

whereas the sacrifice, and as Abraham turned around has got everything in order,

he began to tie up his son. And in the Bible it usually tells

us everything that happened almost verbatim, And I didn't read anything in there where

it said Isaac began to pitch a fit, start kicking and screaming and hollering,

saying, Dad, don't do this to me. He knew his father

had to do what his heavenly father had told him to do. So Isaac

was obeying his father while his father was obeying his father. It is we

must we must obey our earthly fathers as they obey the heavenly Father who is

leading them in the correct way and showing them how to raise us. And

Epeesian six and one right here says children, obey your parents in the Lord.

For this is right right there. It says it, obey your parents

in the Lord. Your parents must be Christians. Unfortunately not all Christians,

not all parents are, and the kids are getting raised wrong. But Isaac

had been trained and showed how to obey. I've seen my dad slash my

pastor obey God even when it didn't seem to make sense for his family and

us kids. Yeah, he said, this is something God has told me

to do. I have to do this. When he heard from God telling

us to move down here, there was a lot of people that come to

him and say, your kids ain't gonna make it out, Your kids ain't

gonna turn out right. There's no there's really no other influence but yourself and

your mother, your wife. But that's all God needed. Why is he

has two people who were joined together in agreement, walking together, are not

divided. That's all he needs. He just needs two people, he said,

whether where two or three are gathered together, there am I. That's

all He needs, two willing people, and he can do anything that he

wants to. He can train up them children by God's health. Breathe God,

because we obey, because the pastor obeyed his heavenly father. We see

that all of us children, his kids, are saved and on their way

to heaven and truly saved. And I got some loved ones that can't say

the same. They stayed, They stayed put. They might should have got

up and got out too, but they ain't the way that they need to

be. You can see it in their lives. But we must obey our

heavenly Father. And the last thing I'd like to read is in Matthew fourteen

or fifteen and four. For the Philip just read this. Actually this come

to me as well, for God commanded saying honor thy father and thy mother.

And he that curses Father or mother let him die at death as well.

I thought the same thing. That is a very strong thing to say.

It may seem a little bit hard to say the little children, but

that's how important it is. It doesn't matter how old you are. God

don't care. He's no respect or a person. You must honor your father

and mother. It doesn't matter. And that is a commandment from God.

That is the fifth commandment in the Bible where it says that phrase God.

It doesn't say only honor them if they are alive. You can disrespect someone

even if they're dead by trans transgressor and not doing the same way that they've

done. But we must live the same exact way that our godly parents has

showed us, or we're disrespecting them and we're literally walking on their graves.

But you can honor people several ways, like a Christian dad, or even

a dad that isn't saved, you still are required to honor him. It

doesn't say only honor you're saved parents. But you can honor an by doing

something that he loved to do. Some of us we got our loved ones

died and went on, but they loved to go to church just what they

each leaved and breathe. So we must honor God by coming to church and

spending time in prayer. And children, we are to respect our parents and

our fathers. That means if you go to him and he said, you

ask him, Dad, can I do this? Dad? Can I go

there? Here? And he says no the first time, that doesn't mean

asked again until he says yes, Because most likely your father knows something about

that person that you're wanting to go with. And if you keep harping on

him, harped on him, Dad can I go? Dad? And I

go and he finally says yeah, then you end up getting hurt or killed

or getting this letter kidnapped from someone. That's why Dad's ain't saying no because

they don't want to see you have fun. They're saying no because that's what's

in your best interest, is to stay, stay by your parents and be

with him. Praise God. But we look back at what it said.

They're saying, respect your fathers and my mother's and I pray I feel like

God gave him this. I pray that our kids can f follow a after

t the age honorable e earthly or role models that said is follow after the

honorable earthly role models. And to some of you that might not be able

to read er spell that says Father. But I'm thankful, so thankful for

what God has done for me in my life and for my God and Father.

As he follows Christ, I want to follow him, wanting us preaching

this morning. Come home, brother Nathaniel, Praise the Lord God. I

appreciate everything that's been said already. Amen, It's been manner for our souls.

Amenas gone looking forward. Amen. Hear the Jesse as well, and

they were thankful for the presence of the Lord the way he was here with

us. Man, Praise God. You can't put a price telling that you

think, Um, God for our role models. Amen. So has been

said so much with probably not enough yet. Amen. A life, a

lifetime worth of thanking God for things that are good is is We'll still fall

short. Amen. If you were to be able to live the opposite of

the blessings God has given me, if God was to take you this morning

out of the whole are end and the home life you enjoy, Amen,

and put you on to skidding roads somewhere. Amen, I guarantee you it

would be a little different. Amen. This morning, and if you've got

tired of hearing it, you would it may be one that was shouting it

from the rooftop. So I'm so thankful for our pastor so thankful from my

father and man, we're gonna look in John chapter number three. Amen,

the Lord de layed this all my heart. I haven't been able to get

away from it. I do have a burden. It may be a little

different, Amen. I pray that you'd bear with me as we get where

the Lord is leading us here. I do have a burden, and I

hope you'll hear, Amen, what I'm saying to you and understand your faith

steps on your toes. It's not because I'm trying to hurt you. Man,

I'm just trying to share the word of the Lord. We do a

man John Chad for Saint John Champing number three and verse number thirty. The

Bible said he must increase, but I must decrease even Lord, we thank

you for this service. Thank you God, for the ministers Lord that you

have spoke through already this morning. God, we thank you for their burden.

We thank you God that we know Lord, the burden we feel God

is actually your compassion and love Lord, for these that are gathered. Lord,

how you care for us and love us. Lord. We're so grateful

for it. Lord. We ask please speak to us. God, show

us you're willing your way moving work God in every heart and life. Lord,

we thank you for all that you've done, Lord, all that you're

doing, all that you will do. God in Jesus name, we ask

him, pray praise God, AmAm man Oh, I thank you for standing

for the word of God on him. Man. Saint John, chapter number

three and verse number thirty said he must increase, but I must decrease him.

Man. Uh, this verse here is talking about an adding and a

taking away of if you would and there, I have to cover a little

bit of ground to get where I'm going here, as as I actually about

probably five minutes, I could take you to where I was standing. I

was walking to a particular room in the house. And uh, I was

just just walking and a term coming to my head, and I wasn't sure

why I got to thinking on him. About five minutes later, Pastor asked

us if we would be ready to say something this morning, and that term

was a father figure and man there. That term is often used when someone

describes an individual that has had an impact on their lives. And that term,

again I said, is a father figure. This term applies to those

that are biological and non biological vessels of lifelong impact. And we live in

a very selfish generation with selfish parents, with selfish kids. And we live

in a generation where people don't want to sacrifice time for their children. And

we live in a generation children where the children don't want to sacrifice time for

the parents. Amen. But here, if we can have a selfless mentality,

Amen, we would realize in our lives we must decrease in all things.

It's never okay for us to try to elevate ourselves because if we try

to elevate ourselves a mean God, no doubt, we'll put us down.

The Amen. And we see the roles in the family to God, to

stabless father, mother, children. Amen. There's children to try to elevate

themselves above the parents. There's wives that try to elevate themselves above the father,

and ultimately as well, there are fathers to try to elevate themselves above.

Amen. The real Amen, head hot show. Amen. When I

say at work, Amen, when the boss comes in, I tell so

and so that's the the head haunch of the hat shows. Amen. So

that's the one right and God is Amen. If you wouldn't know, disrespect

men. Amen. But he is the head hauncho. He's that one Amen

that everyone will answer to. Amen. But we must have a mentality of

decreasing. I'm gonna try to be brief here. Amen. What I would

like to start with a man, is the roles I have witnessed in my

life as Amen, as I grew up. And we're gonna flip over to

Ephesians. Amen, where he's gone Ephesians chapter number six. We're gonna look

at verse number four, and I would like to start Amen with an aspect

here. Amen, praise God. It Verse number four said, ye,

fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the

nurture and admonition of the Lord. Now, this gives us two characteristics of

a father. This gives us one characteristic, which is nurture that has been

talked about already this morning. This also gives us the characteristic that they must

possess and wield, Amen, as the Lord leaves them, and that is

admonished. Now, the three mental points that I like you to follow with

me this morning, our friend, forge and forerunner. Amen. And here

we see there is an aspect of a father, of fatherhood. Amen,

that creates the bond that will tether together father and son, Amen, for

as long as life shall last between those two. Amen. Friendship is an

important rule of a father. Amen. As they put themselves out there,

as they decrease, Amen, as they stoop down to the level of someone

that is needing to grow. Amen. And this is a very important aspect

of a father here, that they would have, Amen, that ability to

nurture, that they would be able to be a friend and not a provoker,

That they wouldn't stir their children up, but they would be someone that

brings them up in the nurture of the Lord. Amen. This Amen is

something that we don't see very often today. We see fathers that are two

gangster for their children. We see fathers Amen that are too busy at the

job for their children. And then we see churches Amen, that are suffering

because of these mentalities. Amen. And that Prince God, it is an

adverse effect on the children when they grow up without that important role. Amen.

And I experienced it throughout my life. And Amen, my father was

more than just Amen, and admonisher. Amen. But he was a friend.

He was someone that I felt like I could communicate with, and I

would encourage the fathers here and then this morning to be Amen, that individual

that the child would be comfortable and going to. If you don't ever have

an open door of communication, Amen, when they get into hard times,

they'll feel like they can't Amen, come to you, Amen for that nourishment

and guidance. So an important role of the father is friendship of Amen.

They must be Amen, someone that is a loving father, someone that is

not Amen, as I'm already said, stirring them up to wrap. Amen,

but they must be Amen, a loving parent. Amen. We've seen

those Amen, to have had a bad day, so they get hard and

they take it out of the children. And then we've seen those and having

bad dad work and they get home on and take it out on the wife.

Amen. But you're not to have that kind of relationship and you're not

to set that kind of example for those better following you. Amenben, We've

all still seen, Amen, a bad side of friendship in the parental role

of Amen, where the father would be a Amen, Amen, a friend

beyond what he should be. Amen, he would lose Amen his respect because

of a man he never established the separation between children and then in parenthood.

Amen, and you find him in child and that Amen, and I will

as a result argue Amen with their parents. You find as a result,

Amen, a prease got people that don't have the proper respect of Amen,

and prise off. This is a challenging role. Amen. You must walk

a find line here where they know. Amen. If that says no,

that means no. Amen. But then is a cry I said, Amen.

They can come to you as a friend. Amen, say I've been

going through something, I'm struggling. I need help in this a particular area.

Amen. Some moving on here, Amen, following Amen, our mental

outline to forge Amen. As I'm saying it, we've seen people go beyond

what they should have went in this friendship role. Amen. And because it's

such a fine line, Amen, you have to tread very carefully. Amen,

because if you have lost Amen their respect, and then you will not

be able to properly mold them Ephesians if you would four and thirteen. Now,

this is something that a lot of parents Amen that Amen don't don't do

with their children because they want to be Amen. The favorite parent they want

to be the one that left that the child knows he can get his way

with her, she can get his way with Amen, my friend, you

can't be in a competition Amen, with the other half. You have to

be tethered together. Amen, and united in the fact that you want to

see God. Amen, forge him into something. Amen. Now if he's

four and thirty, said till we all calming the unity, the unity of

the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,

under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So here

he's saying that we are working towards a goal. Amen. God. And

parents often failed to see and then this praise God as a needful aspect praise

God. They fail to realize that actually the forging that relationship with the child

out weighs the friendship relationship in Amen, me eat Amen, and in the

praise God in in uh, you know what I'm saying, Like like,

if you were to line them up, the necessity of forging will outraigh friendship.

And then but if you're in that competition and then to try to be

the best, to try to be the favorite, you won't have an ability

to mold here Ephesians is telling us. And then we're working to watch a

goal, and where unified they our goal. He is Amen, to come

to the foodness of the structure of God. Amen. If it wasn't for

Amen a father that would realize I needed moldy, Amen, that would realize

I needed the pressure put on when I not stop her. And then he

had to go beyond friendship, and he had to put his hands on me.

He had to put a belt on me a man. When you put

that on in a fire, Amen, when you begin to heat it off,

there is no doubt bath that will come out to this process of forging

God and then of my praying. If you don't follow the example, Amen

has already preached the wassa. Then you must apply the rod of correct you

to the seat of learning God, and then you will you will ever be

here. Amen, is a same playing trend amber. God gave you a

role and a responsibility. But you must trust and here and you must apply

correction when it's necessary. Amen, jove just a little did Amen of that

out of this verse? I found it, Amen to be stirring to my

soul. Joe ten in verse eight, and I'm trying to be quick here

this morning. Amen, I don't want to amen, praef God, not

see what the Lord have me here? And I'll say too much soon y'all

help us a man, praise God. I pray for a praying church here

this morning. I know this service has a purpose in a planet and man

Job number two and Joe, chapter number ten and verse eighth. Then thy

hands haven't made me and fashioned me together round about yet thou dost destroy me?

Amen? Now there are times, amen, children, you don't understand

why. Amen, There there is such an amen, almost an aunt slought.

You've ever been there? Amen? Where where all of a sudden you're

like, man, I thought me and Dad were great. I thought I

was his favorite. Sudden I'm kidding about that. But you you you feel

like you're you're selling real smooth right, and then all of a sudden it's

out there. They get stirred up, and for about a month you're in

the target. Okay, now here, Job is saying, Lord, you

made me who I am, but now you're destroying me. So Joe now

has been Amen, fashioned by God. God made each one of us individual

league and then with attributes, aspects, personalities, Amen, that he made

us all unique, and then he made chold unique. He made our parents

in neede. Amen. It's great. Amen, I'm lid go to have

Amen. Amen, a church full of the same individual praise God. Amen.

The kind of strength here Amen, And parents, your children are the

same as Pastor off and says Amen. And amen you say, brother Nathaniel,

Amen, your oldest aint even to you, Oh my God. Amen,

this is the power of an example. Amen, that I can look

at my life and realize what it took to get me here. Amen's a

bear with me? Is I preached to you from the power of an example?

Amen? By my title, here is a successful silhouette. Amen.

Now a silhouette is something of Amen. The praise God that is is almost

fading in. Amen. You lose the characteristics. Right If I'm standing here,

Amen, and I'm setting up against the wall, but then a brighter

light was behind me. Due to that light, you would lose the characteristics

of my face. You would no longer see my ears, my nose,

you would see a black shadow. And then now apparent your role here.

Amen, it's the fashion your children. Amen, and make them what they

should be. And I'm I'm gonna feed up here. Amen, let's feed

up here, flipping the First Corinthian So a successful silhouette. Silhouette, Amen

must be Amen, apparent role, Praise God y'all. Hopefully you'll see where

I'm going here in just a moment. And then so we've been through the

friendship role, and then we've talked about how important it is a man that

you have that open door communication. And because God didn't put you in their

life for such a purpose, we've talked about the importance that you fortune make

them. And there'll be times they say, well, you taught me to

do that, not to you in their heads. If they say that,

do you were on the house, Amen, But you deals say, amen,

you taught me to do it. Amen. But then you will later

on realize what I was doing wasn't excess. You know, there's measures you

can do things in a man. It has it's been said already. What

you do in moderation, your children will do in excess. Amen. So

children, let them forge and molte you to the children. You need to

be now. First Corinthians eleven and one said, be fathers of me,

even as I also am of Christ. And I hope I'm not running over

here, I'm almost done. A father must be a forerunner, where it

is the life lived above reproach that will inspire them to endure the forging process.

Now, if you're not being a forerunner, if you're not being the

bar, if you're not being an exception, if you're not being a man

that one that you should be, and then you won't experience a kick back

in your life when they try to put you through the forging process. And

that my parent in my life was always a forerunner. He was always someone

and that I was trying to measure up to, and that I was he

was. I never felt like I was greater than him. And then because

he represented God so well and they been here, we see we must be

diligent in our walk with God and maintaining our integrity. For failure in one

can lead the failure at all. The Bible said, I must decrease.

And then if you're gonna be a forerunner, and at some time it is

gonna require pushing the plate back some gid is gonna require them coming down to

get a drinking three in the morning and fighting you ling on the couch,

praying God. And if there is a forerunner, someone with a burden for

their child, someone that knows they can't forge them on their own, but

they must submit to God and let him work through them. Oh God,

silhouette, the dark shaping outline of someone against the back, a man against

the brighter background. And then the Bible says, here followed me as I

also followed Christ? Why could they follow? Apostle Paul was such great amen

faith that he would not stumble before them because he was a forerunner. He

was someone that set the bar. Someone said this is the expectations. Anything

below it is not accept the boy. If you ain't meeting the bar,

then you know we ain't gonna make an exception. Amen, We're gonna send

you back through the forging process. I remember a time in my life when

I was a little bit of a do fee I where a cowboy had one

day, a flat do the next and maybe I throw amen the next day,

Amen, praise God. Got promised sixteen or seventeen Amen, nod.

How would y'all, how would y'all what would you think of me to day?

If I was still that man? How would you respect me? And

look at me this morning? I'm say, yeah, I'm gonna listen to

my brother Nathaniel saying, if y'all saw me as an individual that could just

change whatever he wanted to do from day to day, he might look like

a redneck one day. Amen, he might have. I never did,

but I could have put a comb in my hair, walked around with a

beat bar, I mean a big old beat box. Amen, praise God.

But but this, this wasn't time in my life when I found myself

going through those odd clots I talked about AYMN where I felt like every message

was to me. I felt like every time pastor got up and priests it

was to me. I felt like every time I Amen walked downstairs like out

of a little bit charged. Hey, I'm thankful for it. And to

day you may look at me and say, wow, a man, he

ain't that way anymore. It wasn't because of what I did get to go.

I probably would have been saying, Saint bumbling fool, ain't mad.

That just was like a wave from the day to day. Man, and

you, my friend, they manver done. When your parent begins to put

their hands on you and mold you, you must realize they are a friend,

yes, but they're altenate responsibility is to forge you. And if they

are a man that you would hope to beat tomorrow, Amen, in characteristics,

and that you should let them make you that mad. But if they

are not, you should look to someone that he is and then a compa

It isn't that water, Maybe then you the whole to be in twenty years

you have a pastor in a little model that will show you the way and

at a service and sometimes are nothing more then a forging process with God against

the mold. You slash your back on the wheel, troubles you down and

says I've got un with you, I got happy with you. I see

to the macha, the thank you in the silhouage, I see to mouth

tyler and then I hes bucking out the sada. He's blocking out me.

He needs to lose that characteristic. Amen. We must follow those romods sitting

for us. And I'm told you there was a man who showed me kindness

despite my failures. He showed me friendship. There was a man, despite

my falls and falls, saw good at me and worked to remove the bath.

He was a forge. There was a man that when I looked at

him, all I saw was an outline of him because I saw saw more

Christ in him than humanity. He was a forerunner. I'm proud to call

this man this morning, a man, my friend, my fores and my

forerunner and my father. Yeah, I love you Dad. Let me read

it to you again. There was a man who showed me kindness despite my

failures. He showed me friendship. There was a man despite my fail the

falls all good in me and work to remove the bad. He was my

forge. There was a man that when I looked at him, all I

saw was an outline of him because I saw more Christ than him than I

saw humanity. He was a forerunner. Parents, you must decrease. You

must lose your attitudes, your selfish pride, your ambition, because if you

ever hope to be an influencer, someone that could change your life, you

must ultimately first be a forerunner. You must be that quan that is an

example and man. If you hope to forge them, you must be a

forerunner about friendship, even about forging. The truth is, you must be

a forerunner. I'm so thankful for my dad this morning, our pastor a

man, and I give honor to him this morning for the life he lived.

And the message I preach to you this morning was nothing more than a

message of observation. What will your kids say of you? Not parents did

that? Maybe not even parents this morning? Parents tomorrow. Love y'all.

Don't you appreciate this wonderful preaching. Don't you appreciate what you feel in your

soul? Right now? Come on, brother Jesse, Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Sure he is good to be in the house of the

Lord this morning. I do appreciate everything that we have heard thus far.

Happy Father's Day to to everyone that is father's yea, those to the role

of father and and those that that one day hope to be fathers uh.

I certainly give honor to my father today. I love him with all of

my heart. I've told him many times, many times if if I could

be half the man and half the father that he was for me and my

kids, I really feel like they be in good shape. And I personally

feel like one of my greatest responsibilities in life is my responsibility of a father

to my children, and more precisely or the responsibility of a godly father to

lead my children to an altar a prayer one day and to see to introduce

them to our our heavenly Father. If my hope and prayer that one day

my children will be my brother and uh, I think the Lord so much

for everything. I want to look briefly this morning on First Coronicas, chapter

number twenty two. We're gonna read a verse. We're gonna skip around one

time. But I uh, I took my boys to the part of the

yesterday for a little while. And uh robe well, a little before we

got there, Pastor uh had asked us to save something this morning, and

so I took him and I would let them. I let them play a

little bit, and they they had a good old time. And uh well,

at least the two older ones did. Mount Max and I'm sure enjoyed

his mama's. But I felt like the Lord just whispered this into my heart

real quick. I was thinking. I was thinking along the line while I

was watching them play of good examples of fathers and in the Bible, and

and uh, I want to I want to talk a little bit today about

King David. And we'll look at that text real quick. We're gonna start

in the first verse. We're gonna read through the fourth verse, and then

we're gonna skip down. Then David said, this is the house of the

Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

And David commanded together together the strangers that were in the land of Israel,

and he set masons and Hugh rock stones and Hugh Wrot stones to build the

House of God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the

door of the gates and for the joinings, and brass in abundance without weight,

also cedar trees in abundance, and also cedar trees in abundance for the

Zidonians. And they attire bought much cedar. Would to David looking down at

first number eleven. Now, my son, the Lord be with THEE,

and prosper thou and build the House of the Lord thy God. As he

said of thee, only the Lord give THEE wisdom and understanding, and give

THEE charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord Thy

God. And I want to talk for just a few minutes on Hey,

give me a hand. God. We ask you right now that you would

move in this service God, as you had done so already. God,

we ask that you would touch each heart and lie God, each mind and

each one of that that we need your help. We need to feel your

power in your prisons. God, we ask that you would move for us.

God, lighten our hearts and be a lamp unto our feet. Will

give your glory, honor and praise in your name. We praise Amen.

So so uh we we know this story and and uh it's King David has

a great desire to to build the House of the Lord for for Jehovah.

He had wanted to build him a temple. But we know that that God

didn't allow uh this King David to uh to build this temple. The God

told him that he was gonna let his son Solomon build it the cause of

the blood and the man of war that David had become. But but the

thing here that that uh uh that that I want to arrive at the point

that I want to arrive at in this is that King David did everything within

his power to make sure this Solomon had everything he needed to give him the

best hand up that he could have to give him the best shot and doing

God's will for his life. He wanted to make sure that he had stole

it up. We can read back, and I only read a portion of

all the stuff that David stored up in the storehouse and up. But David

put in store everything that he could get his hands hold, and every every

little bit of gold, every little bit of tree, every bit of wood

that he could get his hand on to give Solomon the best head start and

the best jump on it that he could give in And that's what I want

to talk a little bit this morning is as and I look across this this

congregation, and I see most fathers. I mean, I would just about

save every father in this house has has took the responsibility seriously to give their

kids and their children the future that they that they needed, the best future

that they could give him. And and that is our responsibility as fathers and

future fathers to give our children's what they need to traverse this perverse generation.

They're they're getting stuff thrown at him every day that they never that we've never

seen before. They the wickedness in this land is is growing up. And

it's all responsibility as fathers to teach them how to live pure and undefine lives

and how to go to bed at night with a clean conscience, and how

to wake up in the morning with a clean conscience, and and how to

live a life every day with a clean conscience. This world is it's only

getting worse as we go on, and and the worst the world gets,

the more fierce the battle gets for our little ones, these ones that are

coming up behind us, being our children or not. It could be someone

that that we don't even know looks up to us. And and I'm sure

that we have people that look up to us, each one in this in

this building, and and and that their battles are only gonna get harder,

and they're only gonna get get more more fierce with time. And and we

ever hope to see them, if we ever hope to see our our children

make it through this life with without just just scars of sin and up and

all the just the telltal signs of a life of hardness, then we have

some praying to do, and and we have some fighting and some standing for

the right to do. We have to help our children and those that are

following behind us, like David did. David. David said, well,

if I can't do it, I shure I'm gonna help someone else do it.

I Shore am gonna give them a hand up and up, and that

our children and those that are following us aren't depending on us. They are

depending on us and counting on us to show them the right way. And

it's up to us to show them the way that they should go. The

go the Bible said, train up a child and the way that they should

go when they grow hold they will not depart from it. And I feel

like, now that's a great uh benefit to us tonight and this morning,

to to have godly parents like many of us have, we you know,

to look up and they gave us that that boost, that that that that

head start into this this thing towards our heaven to beat our heavenly father.

And that's what we need to work for. And now these are our fathers.

Let's just we need to make sure that we are giving our children.

We're praying for our children and and uh my prayer. I remember growing up,

I hardly remember a night until we moved into the two story house that

that my father didn't come to the hallway down the hall with my sister's bedroom

and right here was was our our brothers. We got father was slept in

one king size bed and uh. I hardly remember a night that went by

that my dead dad didn't come to our doors and pray with us each night.

And the night that I can remember that that he didn't do that.

He would always say, don't forget to pray, don't forget to pray for

you, for you go to bed. I've always remembered something he prayed,

and growing up I didn't understand it. I think it was just the way

you said it. But now I love it. I pray it myself.

He says, should you come or call? I want to make it,

and that that's my prayer. I want shouldn't he come a call? I

want my children to make it, and I want to I want to pay

the path for them that they conceived the righteousness of God and live a life

that that can get them to heaven, a life they can get them from

this life to the next. I hope that we take our responsibility seriously,

and I believe many of us do. But it is a great responsibility.

And I pray that the Lord will help each one and touch us to be

what we need to be, like the examples that we have been given to

us and I and I'm very thankful for my fathers today and I love him

with all of my heart. And let's pray for our children. Let's train

them up the way that they should go. Let's let's give them up what

they need, and let's try to do our best for them. That's my

prayer this morning, that we will do our best for our children, that

we can give them a life that is pointing towards God and a life that

is pointing towards righteousness and truth. I thank the Lord so much this morning.

Praise the Lord. Let's stand right now. Please, could we pray

together. I know the Lord has spoke to some this morning, if not

all, could you just tell him whatever it is it's on your heart and

your mind. Would you speak that to him right now? This is our

older service. We'll spend some time freedom before we dismiss and go to the

fellowship. Paul, Heaven and Father, we thank you that you have spoke

to us. God. We thank you Lord. Undoubtedly you have ministered to

each and everyone in this building. God, male and female, adult and

child. God, you have spoke to us. Please, God, please

continue to speak to us. We praise you for Thank you for the preacher,

Thank you for the burden thank you for the messages, thank you for

us delivery at kidistraction. Thank you for our fathers, every one of them.

It's here being a great example for their families. Grateful as Abraham was

Lord, and thus they respect. We praise you for this, and Jesus

Aben, you may be seated. Well. We're doing things a little bit

of different this year, doing things a bit differently this year. We appreciate

all of our fathers. We want to ask that everybody remain is seated.

Please, you're going to be called