"Striving Side-by-Side" Philippians 1:27-30 Sunday Morning Worship Service

I know it's customary in some churches, not this church, some churches, for the pastor to take advantage of this Sunday to kind of lower the boom on the dads and remind you of all the things that you're not doing but should be doing as a father.

You'll never hear those words from me or from any other pastor at this church because we celebrate fathers here.

We celebrate the role that God has called us into as fathers.

The unique role that we have in the building up the life of the body of Christ.

And so we celebrate you today.

And I have a special message that I'd like to make application of in just a little bit.

The message is actually a universal one for the church.

It applies to all men, all women, all families, single or married.

It doesn't make a difference.

But I specifically want to focus on the application for fathers today in the life of the New Testament church.

So if you have a Bible with you and I hope that you brought one, turn with me to Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Philippians chapter 1 and put a placeholder somewhere near the end of the chapter.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

I want us to look at a short segment at the end of this chapter and observe how fathers in leading their families strive side by side with other dads in the building up and sustaining the church, the body of Christ.

For here is my premise.

In a general sense, I think we all can say that as families go, as families go, so goes the church.

As families go, so goes the church.

For the most part, the churches around the world are made up of families, the little bodies of Christ, those are families, led by fathers, and we know that as families go, so goes the church.

That's my premise.

Running in parallel to that, a corollary would be as fathers go, so goes the family.

As families go, so goes the church.

As fathers go, so goes the family.

Now, some of you thinking way back may remember the learning, the transitive property of mathematical equality in your schooling.

And that simply said, if A is equal to B and B is equal to C, then of course A must equal to C.

And here's my premise: if you lay that property over the church.

As families go, so goes the church.

As fathers go, so goes the family.

Therefore, if that's true, men, that we have an enormous responsibility.

Because as fathers go, so goes the life of the church.

Just that simple.

As fathers go, the strength, the character, the endurance, the projection of the church, as fathers go, so goes the church.

And so I want to make sure that we're focusing today on our study in the book of Philippians, chapter one, to understand about as dads, our individual and corporate contribution to the overall success and the mission of the church simply cannot be overstated.

As fathers go, so goes the church.

Let me illustrate.

The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

In company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples, of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one.

Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened.

He will fight savagely.

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full victory.

And then this is how he ends the letter to the troops.

Let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Powerful exhortation from the shepherd of the troops, if you will, General Dwight Eisenhower.

He and his staff had worked tirelessly to build a unified Allied force.

They knew that the Germans would be a formidable force.

And they continued to encourage the troops, reminding them that each individual, soldier, sailor, airman, and marine, each individual would be important to the strength of the Allied force.

Operation Overlord would rise or fall based on the individual soldier, bringing what he or she had prepared to the battle.

And then I would say that this on this Father's Day, in a very similar way, the corporate strength of the body of Christ in this cultural battle that we are in, the corporate strength of the body of Christ.

This church depends on the individual spiritual maturity of each man in this church.

A particular note, and what we are discussing today, is that the life and the health and the strength of this church is directly dependent on the life, the health, and the strength of each dad leading each family here in this church.

I stand by my premise.

As families go, so goes the church.

As fathers go, so goes that family.

As fathers go, so goes this church and every church.

So in the light of this need for unity and the side-by-side striving that dads are called to do, Paul wrote these important words here at the end of Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

I think we will find that it is a strong application to the strong role of fathers than the impact that we have on the life of the church.

Follow along as I read.

Philippians chapter 1, beginning in verse 27.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Paul writes, Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you, and that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind.

Here's the key words, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that is from God.

For it has been granted to you for the sake of Christ that you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now bear, and now hear that I still have.

By way of background, we know from the book of Acts about the beginning of the church in Philippi.

Paul on a second missionary journey had been personally directed by the power of the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia.

It was while he and Silas were ministering and sharing the gospel in Philippi that they met a businesswoman by the name of Lydia.

The scripture tells us that they led Lydia to Christ, and she actually began.

The church at Philippi began in her home.

And we know that Paul and Silas spent a lot of time with the congregation and those people in that home in Philippi, Lydia's home, but they also spent some time, Acts 16 tells us, in jail for sharing the good news of the gospel.

What a miraculous story that Luke reveals to us in Acts 16.

And how Paul and Silas, even imprisoned in chains in that prison there in Philippi for sharing the good news of the gospel, they were praising God, singing at midnight, we're told the scripture tells us.

They were singing at midnight when God brought a massive earthquake that opened up all of the cell doors and released the chains on these men.

You can imagine the night watchman, the Philippian jailer, he thought he would lose his life as a result of all these prisoners escaping.

And Paul said, None of us have left, we're all here.

And then that jailer asked the apostle Paul, friends, he asked them the most important question in all of human history.

That jailer stopped, looked at Paul, and asked him the most important question of all of human history.

And he said, What must one do to be saved?

What must one do to be saved?

Friend, if you're here today, whether you're dad or not, have you ever interacted with that question in your life before?

The most important question in human history: what must one do to be saved?

Nothing else matters.

Not what degrees you have, how much money you have, who you know, whether or not you recycle, none of those things matter.

What must one do to be saved?

And the apostle Paul responded to him: believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

It's exactly what Jesus said to Nicodemus.

You know the story.

In John chapter 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus over the cover of night, and Jesus said to him, You're the teacher of Israel and you do not know these things?

John 3 · chapter mention

Nicodemus, you must, you must be born again.

Dads, if you're here today, and there's never been a time that you've interacted with that question, what must one do to be saved?

You're not filled up to be the all the dad that God has you to be.

Because part of our responsibility as fathers is the building up of the body of Christ.

And the building up the body of Christ starts in our homes.

It starts with our own children, it starts with our own grandchildren.

What must one do to be saved?

I hope you've wrestled with and responded to that question.

We have no hope otherwise.

As you can imagine, the church at Philippi had great affection for the Apostle Paul.

They loved him for bringing them the gospel and starting the church in their city.

And they supported, even though they were poor financially, they supported the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys.

And somehow Paul had gotten separated from them.

They lost track of Paul.

But it appears that when they somehow found him again, they set a representative, Apaphroditus, with another large financial offering for the Apostle Paul.

Paul's now sitting in a prison in Rome, chained to guards around the clock.

He receives this gift from Apaphroditus.

In response to that gift, Paul writes a thank you note back to the church's Philippi.

We're reading it right here.

This is part of the text.

This is the letter he sent back.

He wants to thank them for this financial gift, but also warn them and remind them that there are people that will come into your church to try to teach false doctrine.

There will people that will come into your church to try to build dissension within the body of Christ.

He says, be warned, be warned.

And he specifically is looking to build a strong leadership structure.

I would submit to you that it starts with the fathers of the families.

Because whether it was in the year 2020 or back in the day of Paul, as fathers go, so goes the church.

The need for strong leadership within the church.

And so I think the Apostle Paul is speaking here to the leadership structure that he's building, coming from the homes, coming from the men who are proving themselves, leading their homes, leading their families to Christ, and living a life that is godly in their own homes.

And so Paul wants them to walk in a manner worthy.

Look what it says in verse 27 Let your manner of life be worthy.

There's a certain walk you have to have, a stride you have to have as a father.

And I'm thankful to look around this room and look in the eyes of fathers that I know are walking and leading that walk.

I'm so thankful to be in the company of real heroes for the faith that are doing that right now in the midst of these pandemics and the storms of life that we are witnessing.

Well, that worthy walk that Paul mentions there is threefold.

First of all, I think we see in verse 27, it's a unified walk.

Dads, we're doing this together.

Striving together, shoulder to shoulder.

Secondly, it's a fearless walk.

We will encounter much difficulty, but it is a fearless walk.

And finally, we'll see in its sobering, it's a costly walk.

There'll be a payment to be made by society, by the culture for taking on this walk as a dad who's leading his family, leading his family well and contributing to the church.

Well, to start in verse 27, look what Paul writes.

Paul points out our need to be unified in our walk, worthy of the gospel.

He says, Let your manner of life be worthy.

The let your manner of life be worthy is a second-person plural imperative.

It means all y'all, all y'all dads, let the manner of your life, let your walk be a worthy walk.

It doesn't mean you can do it if you want to.

It's an imperative, he says, you better be walking this way, worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We often say that salvation is indeed free, but it's not cheap.

Salvation is free, but it's not cheap.

The God man Jesus Christ intentionally went to the cross and allowed himself to be crucified so that his blood would be shed in payment for our sin.

He is the Lamb of God who gave his life to take away the sins of the world.

Paul says it ought to be a unified walk where every man, every dad in your church ought to be walking in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It involves every aspect of your life, is what Paul is saying here.

And Paul is speaking about that your devotional life, your prayer life, your work life, your church life, your financial life, every aspect of your life ought to be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's dad setting example.

Every dad living a life worthy, living a life that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As fathers go, there goes the life of the church.

A strong church that's walking with Christ, that's serving well using their spiritual gifts.

It's because we have dads that are walking in a manner worthy.

I am thankful to be part of that kind of church here at Emmanuel Bible Church.

Dads walking in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Paul said the same exact thing in the very next chapter of Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Here's what he said about what it means to live countercultural, to actually go against the stream of the flow.

He said, We are to be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights of the world.

Dad's that we are unified and we are all walking in a manner worthy of the gospel, and we are so counter-cultural, the world cannot help.

But notice we don't fit in.

And I'm okay with that.

Walking in a manner worthy of the gospel.

And we know that it doesn't necessarily come natural for every one of us to be walking in a manner worthy.

In fact, we know that for a fact because Paul writes this in Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul says, if it came natural, you wouldn't have to do this.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

It's not like breathing or fluttering your eyes.

But Paul says, discipline yourself in verse 7 of chapter 4, 1 Timothy, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.

We have to be intentional about being disciplined for the purpose of godliness.

And he says the result of that here in verse 27 is that we have an incredible local witness and built-in accountability.

I'm looking at some families and some dads over here that I know.

And I'm thinking, the fact that they live their life walking in a mount of worthy challenges me.

And I'm looking at some dads over here and thinking the fact that you live your life worthily and your work ethic is such, and that you're leading your family and leading your children to Christ, that challenges me in a good way.

And this family's challenging this family, and this family's challenging this family.

It's exactly what we know about in Proverbs 27, 17.

As iron sharpens iron, so does one man, one leader, one dad of a family, sharpen yet another.

And that's what Paul is talking about here.

And men understand that as dads go, so goes the church.

And therefore, that dad wants to walk in a manner worthy, and that's challenging that dad, and all that, and that's challenging me.

And we're striving side by side, unified.

Walking in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And look, Paul says, it's either I see you up close or even I hear about you.

The reputation extends a long way.

Paul's writing to the church of Philippi, but he's imprisoned in Rome.

And he said, the word of your walking in a manner worthy, dads, the leaders of the church, has come all the way to me.

The reputation goes so far.

And I think just speaking about our body of Christ right here, members of all ranks and parts of the service and the military, working in the Pentagon, National Capital Region, people that are all involved in all levels of the government, running a small or large business in the education field or in the medical field.

At the dad's leading those families, the reputation goes long and far.

And the reputation reflects on the success in the life and the strength of this local body here.

Emmanuel Bible Church, known as a solid Bible-believing, Bible teaching, Christ honoring, justice seeking, compassion offering, church, is all because the dads are walking in a manner worthy of the gospel.

And that's why the Apostle Paul has such high emphasis on the leadership structure of a church.

He breaks it down in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1, what the qualifications of an elder and a qualification of a deacon are.

Titus 1 · chapter mention

And we used to have the pastors and the elders, and they're all here, they're all dads here in this church, striving side by side, walking in a manner worthy of the gospel, unified in our approach to ministry.

I think you know this, but maybe if you've not been to a membership class, that Pastor Alex, who's sitting right up front here, leads, and I would encourage you to see Alex about membership.

But maybe you don't know this, but every single decision your elders make, 37 of us, every single vote we take has to be 100% unanimous.

There's never a split vote.

We don't go with 99 to 1.

It has to be 100% hands go up in the air.

Because we are all walking in a matter worthy of the gospel and we're unified, striving side by side.

That strengthens the body of Christ.

That's exactly what they've Apostle Paul is speaking about here.

Our reputation is based as dads go, so goes the church.

As fathers go, so goes the church.

Every individual dad.

I remember when I first got to the Naval Academy in the summer of 1975, when you go through what's called plebe summer, you've got to memorize all these little ditties and facts and things about the Navy, and we had to memorize 27 laws of the Navy.

Each law is four stanzas.

27 laws of the Navy.

I barely remember my Social Security number.

This was a stretch for me.

But one of them I remember stood out, and I think it's very apropos for our study here about the strength of each individual dad.

Here it is.

On the strength of one link in the cable dependeth the might of the chain.

Think about that.

A massive warship with that anchor chain.

Each individual link of that cable.

On the strength of one link in the cable dependeth the might of the chain.

Who knows when you may be tested?

So live, so live that thou bearst the strain.

In other words, live your life every single day in a manner worthy that you're linked with other parts of that chain such that you can anchor the gospel well.

Walk in a manner worthy.

Well, not only are we called to have a unified walk, but look in verse 28.

We're called to have a fearless walk.

Paul says, don't be frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction.

We know what happens at the end.

But our opponents to the gospel will often oppose us publicly.

Paul says, don't be frightened by them.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that comes from God.

Man, we're to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel and not fear those who would oppose us.

God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I saw this in a real tangible way just last year, about eight, nine months ago.

I led a team of men.

There were 12 of us, all dads, or one of them actually was just about to become a dad.

Twelve dads of yours.

We went to a communist country.

We were going there to partner with a ministry to help them build a church in a local community.

We had a lot of bags, 24 bags filled with a lot of really expensive tools and expensive equipment.

We had talked about ahead of time how our strategy was going to be to once we got in and had to get through customs, because the last thing you want to do is get your bags confiscated or taken from you, and the last thing you want to also do is have to pay a high-duty tax.

I didn't have a ton of money with me to be able to pay this tax.

And then finally, the last thing you want to do is get thrown in jail for coming to a communist country to help build a Christian church.

And so we had a plan that as quickly as you could get your bags and get out through customs and get in the parking lot, that would be better off for everybody.

And so seven of our men were able to do that quickly without getting noticed.

But then the customs officials figured it out.

And they stopped the last five, including me.

And I remember when they called us over to this one inspection area, they took each of our bags and began to open up and pull out all of this expensive equipment and tools.

And in my mind, I'm thinking, well, we're not going to be able to use that while that's going.

And then it started to get a little more serious.

I'm thinking, these guys are looking very angry.

We may not be leaving this airport.

We may be going directly to some kind of a prison somewhere.

They were so agitated by all of the equipment that we had that they called over the head of the customs and he came over to me.

He spoke very good English and he looked at me and he said, Are you the man responsible for these men in these bags?

Again, we said we weren't going to lie.

I wasn't going to throw my friend under the bus.

And I said, I am.

He said, What are these for?

Are you by chance bringing these into our country to help build one of those Christian churches?

And I paused before I responded, knowing that how I answer could really decide the fate of the rest of my life.

But I remembered studying the book of Acts that just before we had left on this trip.

And you know, Paul, the Apostle Paul had gotten to the city of Corinth, and he was having great opposition in the city of Corinth.

And God came and spoke to Paul, and here's what he told Paul.

Pretty similar what the Apostle Paul is telling us.

Don't fear the opposition.

Here's what God told the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

He said, Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no man will attack you in order to harm you.

For I have many people in this city.

That's what God told Paul.

And so when that customs official asked me, Are you here to build a Christian church?

I said, Yes, we are.

All of the bags are for building this church.

He said, wait here.

And he went over and continued with the other two customs officials.

And they went through every bag, pulled out every piece of equipment, packed it all back into bags.

He gave it back to each of our guys, took all of our customs forms, and said, Follow me.

And we were not going out the same way that the other men had gone out.

I thought for sure, we're going to some holding tank, we're going to jail.

And he walked me all the way around another way out in the parking lot.

And as he looked at us, we were standing in the parking lot with our bags.

He winked at me and said, Adios, amigo.

God said, I have many people in this city.

Do not tremble or be dismayed.

Dad's the Lord our God is with us wherever we go.

There's not a place we can run from Him, not a place that we can hide from Him, not a place that He will not cover us.

It doesn't always turn out we are in the parking lot with all of your tools, not having paid a cent.

Doesn't always work out that way.

But Paul says we are never to fear the opponent.

Do not tremble or be dismayed.

Well, thirdly, not only do we have a unified walk and a fearless walk, but in a soberling way, soberly, sobering way, Paul tells us that the walk could be very costly.

Look what he says in verses 29 and 30.

It has been granted to you for the sake of Christ that you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.

Engage in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Man, if we're walking in a manner worthy of the gospel, and we're indeed leading our families counterculturally according to the word of God, we may pay a price.

We're striving side by side.

I'm with you the whole way.

I'm never going to leave you.

God's never gonna leave us.

We're doing this together, but there may be a price to pay.

He says it's been granted to us.

It sounds like it's a privilege.

It's been granted to us to suffer for the gospel.

Somehow, through God's marvelous grace and love, God not only gave us the free gift of eternal life, but it seems he also is giving us the privilege to suffer for the gospel.

You remember how in Ephesians chapter 2, where Paul begins to describe our condition before we were saved?

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

You were dead, and he said, in the trespasses and sins.

Joyce, you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

You followed the ways of the world, you followed the God of this world, Satan.

And you actually were happy to be there.

And verse 4 of Ephesians 2 says, But God, because of the great love with which he has for us, he made us alive.

He took us from spiritual death to life.

By grace you have been saved.

Not based on my degrees, not based on my ability to recite the laws of the Navy, not based on my ability to recycle, none of that.

It's all by God's grace that he saved us.

But there's some fine print that goes after that.

Paul described it to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

He said, All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, he said, you will be persecuted.

But hasn't come to your address yet?

It will.

It will.

But it's not like we didn't know about this ahead of time before we signed up for salvation, before God called us to Himself.

Remember, Jesus had explained to his own disciples in John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

He said, Men, hey, if the world hates you, remember, remember they hated me first.

The very next chapter, John chapter 16, Jesus says, In this world you will have trouble.

John 16 · chapter mention

He said, But I've overcome this world.

Remember how Jesus had communicated what Paul's lot in life would be through Ananias, the man that would lead Paul when he was blinded on the road to Damascus.

Remember, Paul learned what his fate in life would be.

He said, Paul was told that he would be a chosen instrument of God to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, and that he, Paul, must suffer for my name's sake.

Even James writes about this.

We studied this before in our study of the book of James.

James writes, rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character.

Proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint.

Men, if you are walking in a matter worthy, leading your family well, strengthening the body of Christ, you will get pushback.

We will get pushback.

That's why it's so important to be doing this unified, side by side, without any fear.

We already know what's coming.

If we look at the cultural horizon that's out in front of us right now, today, look at what's out in front of us.

Just read the newspaper, watch what's out there.

Chop your waters are ahead.

But I'm thankful to be going through that journey with some godly heroes.

Dads who love Jesus Christ.

They're leading their families well.

They're using their spiritual gifts to contribute to the life of the New Testament church.

They're walking in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our God will not be mocked.

I believe the call for strong families and strong dads leading those families, the call has never been greater.

As dads go, so goes the church.

Two quick takeaways, I think, for this passage.

Anytime we look at the scripture, I think we have to make an application both for the non-believer and the believer.

The believer obviously is usually a standout from our passage, usually jumps off the page at what the application is, but not necessarily for the unbeliever.

And by the way, the reason we make application for the believer and the unbeliever is because the unbeliever understands the truth.

Romans 1 says they understand the truth, but they suppress it in unrighteousness.

But it will come back to Bidom one day.

And so, friends, if you're here today and you fulfill the role that we're celebrating today, a dad, and there's never been a time that you respond to that question, what must one do to be saved?

And I would put you in the unbeliever category.

The good news for you is that you will probably never be persecuted for your faith.

As the culture goes, you're riding in the flow of the culture.

You'll never be persecuted for your faith.

The bad news is I must be just full disclosure is that this world is not all that there is.

The scripture tells us very clearly that it's appointed once for every man to die.

Every one of us will die.

And where will we spend eternity will be how you answered that question or respond to that question.

What must one do to be saved?

You've given your life to Jesus and you're fulfilling the role that we described this morning.

As fathers go, so goes the church.

But if not, there'll be one day that you will spend eternity separated from all of your family, all of your kids, all of your grandkids, in total isolation.

Remembering that you had been challenged about the gospel.

For eternity, you will suffer.

Fathers, if you never put your faith and trust in Christ, whether or not you know it, your wife and your kids, they need you to be walking with God.

They need you to be leading in the family.

Let me encourage this to be the day of your salvation.

For those of us who know Christ, I think there's a twofold application.

I started it early by saying, I know today, Father's Day, may be a difficult day for some.

Here's my encouragement to you.

Break that chain of dysfunction.

Break it right now.

Break that chain, you said.

I'd maybe not have had such a great role model as a dad growing up, but things are gonna be different.

I'm completely connected to the word of God.

I'm gonna completely be connected to other dads that are walking in a matter worthy, and no matter what, I'm going to change the course of history for my legacy of my family.

I'm gonna be the dad that God wants me to be, and I'm gonna be the grandfather and the great grandfather and so on, and I'm gonna now leave a legacy of loving God and leading well and being a contributing member to the life of the church.

Make a decision to break that chain of dysfunction.

And the second and last thing I would encourage you with is, and I know so many of you are walking in a manner worthy, leading your families well.

That's why this is a strong church.

Because as fathers go, so goes the church.

But our testimony and our influence should go beyond just the corner of Batclick in Braddock Road.

I love what Dr.

Tony Evans, when he writes about this, he says, hey, you want to change the United States?

By the way, have you seen the headlines lately?

I don't know about you, but I'd like to change the United States.

You want to change the United States, he says, then what you need to do is change each state.

And if you want to change each state, then you got to go to each city.

And if you want to change each city, you've got to start with the community.

And you want to make a change in the community, you've got to go to each neighborhood.

You want to make a change in that neighborhood, you probably better start with each family.

And just think of that.

Dad's in this church walking in a mount of worthy, impacting your family, which can't help but impact your neighborhood, which can't help but impact your community, which can't help but impact your town and your state and eventually your country.

Somebody asked me recently who said, with all that's going on in the world between racial disunity and the COVID issue that we're dealing with, why is the evangelical church silent right now?

I said, we're not silent.

Our rhetoric has not changed for 2,000 years, and here's what it is: you must be born again.

You must be born again.

There's nothing that will change the heart of anybody looking at any other individual differently than unless you're controlled by the power of the Holy Spirit who controls your mind and your heart.

You must be born again.

You're the teacher of Israel, Nicodemus.

You don't understand this?

You must be born again.

We're changing the world one family at a time.

We're strengthening and continue to strengthen our church one family at a time.

Led by a father who is walking in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Unified, fearless for the gospel of Jesus.

Happy Father's Day to your dads.

We celebrate you today.

Thank you for what you're doing and what you will do for the kingdom for this church.

God be the glory.

Let's pray together.

Father, we make application of this passage today that Paul wrote from a prison to the church at Philippi, and we make application of it here.

I'm thankful that I serve in the company of so many spiritual giants.

We call them dads.

We set apart as a nation to celebrate them today, their lives.

We celebrate them every week here at this church.

Because we understand how you have equipped them and you use them in the life of this church.

Father, nothing would happen, nothing good we would do apart from the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

So we thank you for the shed blood of Christ, therefore giving us the Holy Spirit, which guides and directs how we live our lives, how we view others, how we view the issues of life.

Father, is anybody here that does not know you, men or woman, that you would help them wrestle with, give them no rest until they come to the conclusion about what must one do to be saved.

Would you call them to yourself?

Thank you to God for being our heavenly Father.

Thank you for the one that loves us more than any earthly father ever could.

We praise you today.

Individually and corporately.

This church, we praise you today.

In Christ's name.

Amen.

And now for a parting word from Pastor Jesse Johnson.

Thank you for joining Emmanuel Bible Church today through this resource.

It's my prayer that if you live in the DC area, I'll be able to meet you on some Sunday at Emmanuel Bible Church.

For more information on our church, you can go to IBC.church.

Or for information on the Master Seminary and the Washington, D.C.

location, go to tms.edu.

I hope this resource helps you seek God through Jesus Christ, serve the Lord with joy, and share him with boldness.

May the Lord bless you.