Everlasting Father | Jerry Harris

Well, good morning Crossing Church.

How are you doing today? I really, I mean, is it?

Like, are you surviving like all the crazy nutty stuff that is

going on? I tell you what, you go to the

grocery store. It.

Yeah. It's survival, isn't it?

It's just nuts and it's just going to get none of your

nuttier until next weekend hits and I hope that you're surviving

and this is like a moment of sanity and a Moment of clarity

and what is the rest of your holiday season?

I want to Welcome, all of our locations joining from all over

this region. So thankful for each and

everyone of you and if you're inside her online we're thankful

for you as well. And how many of you are not done

shopping yet? Raise your hands just be honest

how many of you are all done? Well, you're a little better

than first service. You're actually, you're actually

doing a little bit better. Well, if you haven't gotten

everything that you need to get, I'll give you a couple of great

ideas. One is, I don't know a better

gift that you could give your spouse.

Then inviting them to come with you to a marriage Retreat.

We've had four of those, you've had about 120, people go through

them. It's been a great experience for

them and we have three scheduled for the spring and you can get

on that. QR code and go down through the

tree and see when those are. I think there's one the end of

February couple in March and that would be a great gift to

give each other because there's nothing better to invest in than

your marriage. So once you to consider that

coming up in the spring and in the winter of 2023 actually

Begins the day after Christmas, The Crossing is taking a group

to the Holy Land. Now, that's a little bit.

That's an expensive gift that you could give in there about,

we're about half filled up already.

So if you're considering that you can get more information,

you can do the same thing on the QR code and see what's up with

that because that is a singular experience.

So it's a life-changing experience and hope every one of

you gets to do that sometime in your life.

Well, we're in the series called the gift I need.

Read. And last time, to tackle this

before, all of the what, over 40 Christmas, Eve type services

that were having all across the region.

And we've been looking particularly at a scripture in

the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 9, which is a

prophetic scripture about the coming of the Messiah, the

coming of Jesus, and we're kind of going through these different

Options that he uses these different metaphors that he uses

to describe the coming Messiah and the one that I was assigned

was Everlasting father. So I've been thinking about that

in the last few weeks as I've been preparing to speak with you

about the idea of an everlasting father.

And and so it it you know, when I think about my father, I get a

nostalgic and you may you may as well depending upon them.

Mean it, evokes different kinds of emotions depending upon your

upbringing, your experience. For me, it was a reflection back

to October 21st 1999. Now, October 21st, is my

birthday. So you can write that down in

case you can have someone that you need to, you know, just so

be ready for next year. But October 21st, I was born in

59. So it was my 40th birthday.

And it's that birthday. You know, your 40th, birthday is

kind of that birthdays that birthday when you go.

I have just crested the hill. And now I'm going to be going

down the other side, you know, and people that are all younger

than me are going to be considering the old right.

Like I'm over the hill. Maybe, maybe you might even get,

so I don't know introspective that you might contemplate your

own mortality. That particular day, October

21st, 1999, I was contemplating mortality Just not my own.

Because that was the day that I buried my father.

What a 40th birthday. To be able to lay my father to

rest, was it made it a very, very difficult day.

And I remember going, I mean I was officiating.

So I had the privilege of officiating, my father's funeral

and my mother's funeral, My Brother's funeral, and so I'm

officiating. And so I'm wearing two hats,

right? I'm wearing the I'm the morning,

sun hat and I'm missing my father.

And then I'm also that person who's responsible that

everything runs smoothly in this service.

And I wanted to make sure that he was properly honored and I

remember after Going through the service and, you know, into the

dad's body into the hearse and then taking the Hurst, the other

side of Indianapolis to Washington Park Cemetery, where

my mother had been buried five years before in my my family not

me. If they would have listened to

me, they would have made a different choice, but my family

picked out the casket and they picked out an oak casket.

Now, those of you that are thinking about would know

something about Oak, what is it? It's heavy, it's heavy, and for

some reason, we chose six pallbearers instead of eight and

you really needed to have eight pallbearers for this.

And so, my job, my responsibility, when the hearse

arrives at the cemetery is I go to the back.

Of the of the hearse I stand there, the pallbearers line up

backwards. They and they, you know, they

bring out the casket and then I walk in front of the casket to

the burial site about, maybe 10 feet in front, and they follow

me to the, to the burial site. So, that's what I'm doing and

going forward and, you know, there's just some circumstances

I have to be aware of. Well, I happen to look back now

my At the time was toward the front of the casket as one of

the pallbearers and as I looked behind me, I could see something

happening that my brother's knees were buckling.

Because it was heavy. and he was going to lose it and I mean, I'm

thinking to myself, this will be horrible if that were to happen

and I figured out that day why they put handles on the ends of

the casket because all I needed to do was step back and put my

hand down on that onto that handle and lift up that handle

and I looked at my brother he looked at me and it was like

thank you thank you so much and I carried I helped carry Free my

father's body that the rest of the way to where he was set on

that part, that lowers the casket down.

And when I was doing that, there was something that occurred to

me. That all these years, those 40

years, my dad had carried the burden for me.

From the day, I was born. He carried the burden for me.

And here now I have the opportunity just for a moment to

return the favor and carry the burden with him.

And I have to tell you that, you know, I was blessed.

I was really blessed as a son to have a father, like, I had

because he bore the burden of his family and the burden that I

presented him with with so much grace.

I never heard. I can't tell you.

I'm I'm not lying. I don't think I ever heard.

My dad really raised his voice in anger, I can't remember him.

Ever swearing Not one off-color word out of his mouth, I can't

say either one of those things. But I could say those about him.

And that's pretty amazing. I'm not saying that he didn't

have his faults but I just didn't he didn't let me see

them. I never heard him, complain

about his responsibility, taking care of the family.

And with both of our parents gone.

By my mother five years before. And then my father, I remember

when we were walking back to our cars, after that little

committal ceremony was over looking at my brother and going

you realize we're orphans I never thought of that before the

idea that both of my, my parents were gone and you know how it

is, you know, matriarch and patriarch of the family.

And then all of a sudden, everything shifts, Everything

Changes, all sorts of things. And that I was going to have to

be the patriarch of my family now because that he had, he had

moved on now. Have to tell you, as grieving,

as I was, I wasn't grieving like other people who had no hope

because I knew something that my about my father's, see my father

gave me the greatest gift. Any father could ever give a son

any parent could ever give a child and that is the knowledge

of where he was spending eternity.

That changes everything. So I grieve but nothing not like

people who don't have any hope. Now, he was gone from us and he

was with the Lord. But what he left us with, was

priceless to me. Because I had received so much

from him, received his protection, his provision, his

financial investment, his emotional investment, his

spiritual investment. I mean, he was a key player in

me becoming a Christian. So I was kind of latching onto

my my mother and father's faith. I actually have a picture a Jack

and white picture that somebody I don't know who took it of me

in the waters of baptism with our pastor.

Baptizing me but my father got in the water.

Would that was something that was never done.

He got in the water in his Sunday suit and he's standing

there with his arms folded. Like you better do this right

man. You know, like I mean you can't

even see my face. You just see my feet?

You know, because I'm in the like the prone position.

You can see my socks and back then you were in our church.

You are actually baptized in the clothes you wore.

And and so it's kind of interesting that he gave me the

spiritual investment and he taught me and he trained me and

he gave me Grace and he gave me mercy, but most of all he gave

me love Now, by that time I was a father, I was a father four

times over and I was doing my best to instill the things that

my father had instilled in me into my children.

And I'm sure that I'm not. I don't live up to those

expectations, but I've trying and I try and and I reach

realizing something at by that time in my life at 40, is that

being a father is a lot more than just a biological reality.

That being a father is a responsibility.

And I was thinking about that word as I Was preparing to

preach today, the word responsibility because there's a

word inside of it and the word is side of the word.

Responsibility is the word response.

So when this baby is presented to you, how are you going to

respond to that? You know, it's more than a

biological reality because the response is, this is a big

responsibility. I don't know what this is going

to entail but this is a huge responsibility.

And my dad's response to that responsibility was great for me

and and hopefully it's continuing to live on in me and

then in my kids, I see it as they are now parents and I'm a

grandparent even though my father's been gone for 23 years

from this world. I see his legacy living on.

And I can tell you that even though he has been gone for 23

years, he'll always be my father.

Now, we've been in this book of Isaiah in the Old Testament,

Isaiah chapter 9. And when Isaiah is describing

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

the coming Messiah, he uses these really colorful metaphors.

Beautiful metaphors. I, I remember from when I was in

choir, and I was singing These in Handel's Messiah, because

there's a song in there. And his name Shall be Called

wonderful counselor. Hear that metaphor in their

Mighty God? Prince of Peace.

But then there's this one. That stands out.

You know, it talks about the government being on his

shoulders, that he's bearing, the weight of government, but

then there's this one one, this one metaphor that captures

something much more personal than all the others and it's the

one that I'm going to talk about today and that's Everlasting

father You see, when it describes him as a wonderful

counselor. I see him as somebody.

I can go and talk to and pray to.

And I know he hears me and I know that he responds to me when

I think Prince of Peace, I think of all of the clamor and turmoil

in my life and how he can bring peace into my life because of

what he has done for me. When he died for me, on the

cross was buried and rose from the dead.

When I think of Mighty God, I think about all of his power

power that can actually raise him from the dead, the power.

That could create the world of the universe, all this power.

But when I hear Everlasting father, now that's different

because that's personal, that's relational.

That's talking about his relationship to me. the things

that I know now as a father, and as a grandfather, and the things

that I witnessed with my father, I can describe some of that to

him and that is that he loves me no matter what.

That he gives me all these things even though I don't

deserve them and I didn't really have them coming to me.

This is special term Everlasting father.

Now, the night before, Jesus died for our sins, he actually

kind of connected with something from the book of Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

9. Even though those words were 700

years old, when, when we refer to them before Jesus, and he

said it by using a single phrase and and this is the night, this

is the night before he was crucified, look at what he says.

He says I will not leave you as orphans.

I want to stop right there. I'm going to read the rest of

this but But he's not saying your heavenly father will leave

you as will not leave you as orphans.

He's saying I will not Leave you as orphans now the idea of

Orphan has to do with parenting, right?

And so it's like even though Jesus is the son and we

recognized that the father is the father that's on his throne.

Jesus is ascribing to that like he is our father as well.

Like he has this kind of a relationship Tessa Harkens back

to Isaiah chapter 9, where the Son of God, the Messiah is

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

called Everlasting father. I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you before long. The world won't see many more,

but you will see me because I live, you will also live.

Wow, that's great because we know from his resurrection that

that power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Not only has the power to raised Jesus from the dead.

It has the power to raise you from the dead.

Has the power to raise me from the dead and as I'm

contemplating death on my 40th Day birthday.

I know that Jesus has the power to raise my father from death.

On that day, you will realize that I'm in my father, you're in

me and I'm in you listen to that relationship.

That's in there. The depth of this relationship.

So he's taking on the role of father to his disciples but not

just a father Everlasting father.

Is he, he wasn't going to let a petty thing like death at the

hands of mere mortals, separate him from us.

I think that's cool and Hebrews chapter 13.

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

It uses that term mere mortals. Look, I'll never leave you, I'll

never forsake you. That's that Everlasting quality.

So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper.

He did, he isn't that he was, he is right now because he exists

right now and I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me? What could mere mortals do?

To my savior, what could mere mortals do to a my Lord O?

They could put him on a cross. They could nail him to that

cross and he would pay the ultimate price and died on that

cross, but they couldn't keep him there.

Could they know they couldn't You see what my Earthly father

couldn't do? Because he was a mere mortal

just like I'm a mere mortal. My heavenly father.

My Everlasting. Father can do because he is more

than that. John the Baptist revealed this

to his followers when he was talking about Jesus, it's

recorded in John 130. It says, this is the one I

meant. He's pointing at Jesus and he

says, this is the one I meant when I said a man who comes

after me, has surpassed me because he was, before me now,

John, the Baptist was older than Jesus and yet he says he was

before me. So he's recognizing something

about Jesus, that's recorded also in Isaiah that he's an

everlasting. Father, the Hebrew writer also

describe, Jesus Everlasting quality and Hebrews. 13:8, Jesus

Hebrews 13:8

Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Same Jesus, that died for you, 2,000 years ago, The same Jesus

that you were introduced to when you decided to become a

Christian as the same Jesus that I'll meet you at the Gates of

Heaven. He's the same yesterday today,

and forever. And I'm sharing this with you

today because Jesus Christ being my Everlasting, father is the

gift I need. We're going to get all sorts of

gifts, giving them receiving them experiencing so many things

in this season, but this really is the gift you need.

I was blessed to have an Earthly father.

That was incredible for me. I'll forever be grateful that he

chose my mother because that was the best decision he ever made.

And you know what? He gave me a lot of great things

he gave me his name, he gave me his traits, he gave me his care,

his love and his inheritance, he gave me a family to be a part of

so that I could feel Chosen and special but you have an

everlasting father. And I have an everlasting

father. And the fact that I'm his child

is no accident. You see I'm Chosen and special

and so are you every single one of you your Chosen and your

special because God was involved in your creation.

I know the world never stops saying that where the product of

circumstance and coincidence, and that's just a complete and

absolute lie. That's not true.

There's nothing coincidental about you, there's nothing

circumstantial about you. You were in it together in your

mother's womb by an everlasting. Father who loves you, who knew

you. Before you were born.

Science proves this. Really.

Yeah, you know, in the process of human creation, a woman

provides only a single product of her DNA, but the man provides

between 250 and 400 million variations of his DNA. 250 and

400 million and only one of those.

Got to be who you are today. You are fearfully and

wonderfully made. You are special and chosen

before you were born, you are already at Birth.

You were one and half a billion. Now, some of you at listen II

mean, I'm saying a lot of great things about my dad and I know

that some of you are not relating to what I'm saying,

because you had a completely different experience with your

Earthly. Father, maybe you have some

deep-seated anger. Maybe there's a lot of hurt

that's in your life on account of him but I want you to see

something today that your heavenly father was much more

involved in your creation than your Earthly father ever was.

And before you reject the word or the concept of father because

a lot of people do a lot of people, they hear that they've

had those their experiences and they're like I don't even like

hearing that, I don't even like God being called that.

Understand that the Earthly fathers there is shadow images

of our true father. Our heavenly father I want you

to consider that you're his creation.

That you were designed in heaven to be his child.

That you were fearfully and wonderfully made and when you

came into this world, he gave you his name, he gave you his

traits. He gave you his care and his

love and his inheritance. You remember what he said to us

in Genesis chapter 2. Now let us make Mankind in our

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

image after our likeness and let him rule.

You're made to be his child. Bible tells us that we are

co-heirs with Jesus Christ. We receive a portion of the

inheritance that we receive from our father.

Look at the family. Look around you.

And look at the family that he gave us.

To be a part of while we're here on Earth all the way in and

passed the Gates of Heaven. But unlike our Earthly fathers,

he will not leave us as orphans. He'll be our father Beyond the

Veil of this life and into eternity.

You and I were the same, we're the same because when we came

into this world, we were born. We were completely and

absolutely vulnerable, right? The only thing we knew was that

we needed, but we didn't even know how to communicate it

without crying. And even though I didn't have

any ability to do that on my own and I was completely vulnerable,

my heavenly father, your heavenly father provided people

for you to meet those needs in ways that at that time you or I

could not comprehend because you were powerless and I was

powerless. To come to Jesus.

Is to recognize that you're powerless.

Is to recognize that you can't solve these problems on your

own. That you're weak and vulnerable.

That all you understand, is that you need that.

There's something inside you that needs to be filled, but you

cannot provide it for yourself and only he can provide it for

you. That's why Jesus says that the

only way to come to him is to come as a little child.

Because a little child recognizes that sometimes we try

to be so with it, you know, we try to be so smart.

And think how we're going to get try to utilize my relationship

with God. When the thing that we must

learn is that we are just powerless and weak like little

children needing to come to our Everlasting, father because when

we do that, that's when we truly begin to recognize who we really

are. and the fact that he is the gift that I need the most some

of us during this season, we're going to be thinking about the

Nativity. How many of you have a nativity

scene in your house? Raise your hand, if you have a

nativity scene, right? A reminder, Of what Christmas is

really about. I remember growing up, we always

had that nativity scene. It was always front and center

under the tree, like, the tree was raised up and there was that

a nativity scene? To remind us about Mary and

Joseph, and the animals, and the angels, and the Shepherds.

And later, the wise men, we see this little newborn baby that's

swaddled and lying in a manger and we might even think, oh,

look at that poor little baby, you know, in the in that Barn in

Bethlehem and and that and that little child is so powerless and

soul vulnerable, not really Because you're in that picture.

And I'm in that picture. You're in that Nativity and I'm

in that Nativity because it's us the ones that are standing in

front of it, wherever it's placed in our house, we're the

ones that are really vulnerable and Powerless, we're the ones

that are really needy. Isn't it interesting?

Sometimes we see things in the wrong way, the in the wrong

perspective. And that's the way the world is

now. The world has the wrong

perspective about the Nativity, even if they believe in the

Nativity or even if they remember this historical

reality, that Jesus was born, they see all the wrong things.

I wonder what you see, when you see the Nativity in your mind's

eye. Let me tell you what I see, I

know what the world sees. The world sees poverty, Mary and

Joseph, nothing powerless, pay nothing and Here they are in a

barn, but, you know what? I see, I see royalty World sees

oppression, you know, at the hands of the Roman government,

but I see Deliverance, deliverance, from sin, the world

sees in significance, but I see greatness the world sees taxes,

but I see gifts the world sees Darkness, but I see the light of

the world. The world sees, no room at the

end, but I see an open door to every human heart World sees

rejection, but I see an invitation, the world sees

godlessness, but I see the Gospel World.

Here's a baby crying, but I can hear angels singing the world.

Here's a mother travailing, but I hear people rejoicing.

World sees just another mortal baby.

But I see. My Everlasting father. because

Isaiah said, For unto us. A child is born unto us a son is

given. And the government will be upon

his shoulders. And his name Shall be Called

wonderful, counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting father.

The prince. Of peace.

With all the things that are happening.

This Christmas season, all the things that are vying for your

attention Maybe right now at this moment is the time to

concentrate. On what you truly need.

The gift. You need the most We're moving

to a time of decision. So is that happening to you?

Is that as I is, it is it crazy right now?

Is it is everything like is your head like exploding?

Allison likes for me to drive her to High V.

Drop her off at the front. And then either Circle.

Or find a spot so she can call and I can pick her up.

And I kind of like that. because when you walk through, The

grocery store like might have five different counseling

sessions and I've got the aisle three yet.

So I'm all right with that. But not yesterday.

Not yesterday, yesterday was knots.

If you go into the high V parking lot, your IQ goes down

by at least 20. I don't know what get, I mean,

you know, it comes over people. I park in a spot.

I'm getting my car. Hit the doors in my car.

Come on, it's crazy people. You can see that they're

exasperated, they're rushing. It's crazy time, right?

And it can be a crazy time for you right now.

For lots of different reasons, it could be, you're trying to

get stuff ready because you got a lot of family coming in, it

could be that you're trying to get stuff ready because you're

going to be piling all your kids in the car and going, somewhere,

it could be That you're going to be facing Christmas alone this

year. And you don't have people to

celebrate with it's heartbreaking for you.

Could be a lot of different things.

And I don't know what's going on in your life.

I have no idea. But I know this.

That in spite of all of those things.

Last-minute shopping dinners to prepare for travel plans to

make. Loneliness to manage.

A heart that may hurt for one reason or another.

You have an everlasting father. If you are in an intimate

personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have an everlasting

father. It's hectic, is this time is you

have an everlasting father? As lonely as it can be that

empty place at the table, that was there last year that was

being filled by someone you love.

Regardless of your circumstance in the lower story, you have an

everlasting father. I've experienced a

quarter-century of Christmases without my dad.

Thirty years without my mom. And even though I don't get to

have that place and I would give a lot to have those moments with

them. I know.

That they're saving a place at the table for me.

At a table. In heaven.

Because I was not left as an orphan. and if you're here

today, And you don't have that knowledge.

Because that flows out of an intimate personal relationship

with Jesus Christ. If you've never made that

decision, don't make wait for somebody else to try to buy you

that gift. It's already been paid for and

it's available for you because of what Jesus Christ is

accomplished and make that gift your own today because it's the

gift that you need. There's going to be someone

right over there by the baptistry would love nothing

more than to talk to you about your next steps in becoming a

follower of Jesus Christ. and like the Christmas carol, says,

When that is accomplished. You can sleep.

In Heavenly peace. Because you have a an

everlasting father. Many of you today have made that

decision for Christ. But you are caught up.

In the insanity. That is the season of the year.

But you did something very wise today, you took time out of that

crazy, busy schedule to spend time with your father, in

Heaven, your brothers and sisters in Christ and you're

here right now. I wonder if you might squeeze

just a little bit more potential out of this moment, is this

great that you're sitting here. It's great that you're

worshipping is great that you're listening, but I wonder if you

might squeeze just a little bit more potential out of this

moment to come up here and get down on your knees and whatever

burden you're carrying. To let him have it because if

the government can rest on his shoulders and I'm not talking

about one government or one nation, I'm talking about all

governments and All Nations. For all time, if he can bear,

the burden of all those governments on his shoulder, he

can take your burden, too. Not only will he take it, he

asks for it and I wonder if there's some here that just

might as you're going into this next crazy week.

If you might say, I'm going to get low and I'm going to let

this burden come off my shoulders.

And I'm going to let the Lord have it.

Just be that little child. Knowing that you need.

And let him provide for that need.

Would you stand with me? Let's pray together.

Heavenly father, in Jesus name. I pray that this that this

congregation when it leaves this place today, will feel their

burdens lifted. That father your son Jesus.

He took all of that burden on himself when he carried that

cross up the hill. When he carried all of our sins,

the weight of our sins. On his shoulders.

And even now he's here to carry those burdens.

And that's something that he will do.

For us. For all eternity because he is

the Everlasting father. so, I pray Right now.

That, like little children. We'll let you have that burden.

In Jesus name, amen. In Jesus name, amen.