AUTHENTIC MANHOOD | Father's Day

No.

So, I wanted to preach with uh cargo

shorts and tube socks with sandals on

today. Uh but that got shot down pretty

quick. So I wore my uh wore my dad

shirt. Hallelujah. Uh man, every dad

knows there's two types of ground.

There's all the other ground and then

there's my freshly mowed yard, which we

call holy ground, right? And I tell you

what, you can tell a lot about a dad on

how he uh tends to his yard. Amen. Um, I

love the end of that video where uh the

thing that really matters is what shines

through, right? Uh, the kiddos.

Some of us are so focused on our uh yard

that uh one grass stain, we're about to

lose our salvation.

So, I want to preach the word today. And

uh if you're a first-time guest with us,

my name is Ben. I have the opportunity

to serve as lead pastor here. And uh

man, you know, the thing that makes a

yard holy ground

is the kids, the chaos, the mess. Amen.

>> Uh that's really what the heartbeat is

today to talk about the things that

really matter. Pray with me. Father, we

thank you Lord for revival breaking

loose on the inside of every soul in

this room. And Father, we choose Lord to

turn our ears spiritually towards

heaven. And father we thank you Lord

that today you just sit with us your

children and speak to us plain. So

father you communicate your heart your

word today. Lord I thank you for the

opportunity to speak as an oracle of

God. God I pray that we hear you in

Jesus name. Amen.

Uh first Kings chapter 2 I want to read

1 Kings 2 · chapter mention

just a few verses to kind of set the

stage this this morning. Uh verse one

says this. As the time of King David's

death approached, he gave this charge to

his son Solomon.

He says, "I'm going where everyone on

earth must someday go. Take courage and

be a man." Say, "Be a man."

>> Then in verse three, he says, "Observe

the requirements of the Lord your God

and follow all his ways. keep his

decrees, commands, regulations, and laws

written in the law of Moses so that you

will be successful in all you do and

wherever you go. So, this is King

David's uh deathbed commissioning to his

son Solomon.

And one thing I've learned, I've had the

opportunity uh in ministry to spend a

lot of times next to a deathbed. Amen.

somebody that is in hospice or nearing

the end of their life, uh they know they

only have a few days or a few weeks. Uh

and one thing that I've seen be

consistent is that conversation changes

when you know your life is about to end.

Amen. And we're no longer talking about

the grass.

We're no longer talking about the

weather or if the Knicks or the Spurs

won the game. there there's a lot of

things that uh kind of begin to uh not

be as important.

But those final days, especially final

hours, the conversation shifts to the

things that are the most important. And

so, King David is here and knows that

he's about to breathe his last.

He pulls his son in. Solomon, I have a

few things I want to share with you. I

know that it's about over. And he says,

"Take courage.

Be a man."

What in the world

does that mean to be a man? We have

western cliche

ideas when we use that term, man up,

be a man, right? Uh in our culture means

don't cry, be strong, right? Go punch a

bear, chop wood, you know, something. I

mean, it has this idea of

being tough. Yeah. But it's interesting

that King David, right after he says,

"Take courage, be a man," gives us a

biblical or his version of the

definition of masculinity.

Watch this. Verse three says, "Observe."

Say, "Observe."

>> Observe. observe the requirements of the

Lord your God

and follow all his ways. Isn't that

beautiful? That's manhood. That's

authentic spiritual manhood. He then

says, he says, "Then you will be

successful in all you do and wherever

you go."

See, we get this wrong idea of what

manhood looks like and we wonder why our

life is in struggle and destruction. and

turmoil.

Why we can never really succeed the way

that we

You guys with me?

The mark of success

is measured by your submission to God.

Today, man, I want to look at who God

says you are.

What God says is a strong man.

David defines masculinity.

He says being strong isn't a stoic face.

It's a submitted heart.

Amen.

Now, this is King David. We know that he

is a man after God's own heart. But he's

also a man that failed as a father more

times than we can count.

Right? I mean, that's a fun study just

to see all the failures of David.

That's encouraging uh to me because um I

have this uh well I'm a man. I have this

uh innate ability to do dumb things and

mess stuff up, right? Women, come on.

You're supposed to clap at that.

Yeah, that's big old lugs. Sometimes we

turn into dummies and and forget this

and miss that and do stupid stuff. Yeah,

King David is no exception. Uh he was a

father.

Uh he lost a baby, had to work through

that. But man, he had lots of sons, lots

of wives. What was that guy thinking,

right? Multiple wives, multiple

children. Uh he had a son, Amnant, who

was a predator. He had a son, Abselum,

that tried to kill him. Uh that's

parenting 101. Don't raise a kid that

wants to murder you. Right?

And here he's talking to lots of kids.

Uh here he's talking to his son Solomon.

And uh Solomon uh was a lot of

theologians think maybe the 10th son in

line. Uh this is the second son born to

Basheba. The first uh child was lost uh

as a baby. And so David

knows his life has been a mess. Knows

that it's riddled with lots of different

failures. Yet in David's mindset, it

didn't disqualify him for speaking from

speaking truth and life to the son that

would listen.

Amen.

That's what redeemed men do.

It comes through redemption.

Uh they don't wait until they're the

perfect father.

But you father through failures, through

struggles, through pain. because you've

taken that pain and that failure to the

Lord to be redeemed.

Essentially, what David is saying, he's

going, "Son, I didn't work. I didn't

live this thing out perfectly. I know

that I've messed up and missed it. I

fell into sin with with your mom,

Basheba. Uh I fell into passivity

raising my other children. But I've

learned from my failures and I've

listened to God. And in these final

moments, I've got to share a few things

with you.

I want you to hear this and if you're

taking notes, you can write this down.

The success in your story doesn't come

from perfection. It comes from

redemption.

And that's for everyone in this room.

Sometimes, man, we mess it up and we

just we disqualify oursel, right?

Success in God's eyes doesn't come from

perfection. It comes from or through

redemption. And today I want to give you

three things that God does in men that

have received redemption. And I want to

speak in the context of fathers. Even

though these principles are applicable

to all, I want to speak in the context

of biological fathers, spiritual

fathers, but most importantly our

relationship with our heavenly father.

I have three you are. Look at your

neighbor and say you are.

>> Three you are in Christ. This is three

urs that happen uh with redemption.

Number one is you are fathers not

guides.

Fathers not guides. I want to start with

a diagnosis that might sting before it

heals this morning.

1 Corinthians chapter 4 and:e1 15 uh

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Paul is writing to a church in Corenth

that he planted that he uh with his own

blood, sweat and tears

uh through lots of travel and lots of

time and lots of trauma he birthed this

church and has fostered this church. the

people of that area. I mean, he's been

allin.

And in chapter 4 and verse 15, he says

this, "For though you have countless

guides in Christ,

you do not have many fathers."

He says, "I became your father in Christ

Jesus." Catch this. Through the gospel.

Through the gospel.

He makes a very clear distinction

between guides and fathers. Now catch

this. He says you have many guides in

Christ. Okay? There's lots of people in

the church that can guide you, but he

says there's only a few. Speaking to the

church in Corinth, there's only a few

that will father you.

Many guides, countless guides, he says

you do not have many fathers.

and that I became your father in Christ

Jesus through the gospel.

It's interesting the difference between

a guide and a father. A guide can give

you information, can give you the map,

can point and say, "That's the direction

you should go in life. That's what I

think you should do." There's lots of

instructors. There's lots of teachers.

There's lots of guides, but not many

fathers.

See, a guide can give information, but a

father transfers DNA or identity.

Amen.

Guide teaches you what to do. A father

imparts who you are.

If you're taking notes, you can write

this down. A guide gives you directions

to the destination.

A father gives you his name and walks

you there.

I I believe this that we are living in

the age of the guide,

the instructors, the the ones that'll

point and say, "This is the I don't want

to get dirty. I don't want to get messy.

I'm not going to go into the pit with

you, but but that's that's where you're

supposed to go,

right? Or I'm not going to help you up

or I'm not going to help you out, but

you need to get out. You need I'll

instruct you. I'll guide you. Get out of

the pit."

Right, man? We got guides everywhere. Uh

we got uh digital coaching,

right? We got YouTube, we got uh all

these uh different self-helps and

motivational speakers. Now we have uh AI

chat bots

that people are using

as a guide for their life.

Five steps to a better marriage. Just

follow these five steps and your

marriage will be here's here's 10 things

that will make you a better parent. We

have lots of guides.

Hear me. We don't have a lot of fathers

in the faith.

We don't have a lot of fathers in the

faith. And my experience in ministry is

that more people than not did not have a

great fatherhood experience while they

were a child.

It's a very small percentage. Do you

know what the church needs?

Men of faith that step up to father

>> the younger in the body of Christ.

It's quiet in church today.

Lots of information, lots of guides. I'm

not knocking information.

It's good stuff. Information is good.

You can't be mentored by an algorithm.

You can't be held and comforted by a

podcast.

>> I know. That's what I thought, too.

If you're watching online, there's a

fabulous young, beautiful child

that is agreeing. That's the amen

section.

The screen will

never have the ability

to look you in the eye and have the

heartfelt conversation

that's needed.

We need fathers.

We need fathers in the faith.

Information transfers through God's

identity only transfers

through fathers.

I'll say this spiritually and bi

biologically.

You can raise a child with a gues

mentality and what you'll get, what

you'll produce is a guided adult,

but fathers produce sons.

Fathers

produce sons.

There's a difference. I believe that we

are overguided and underfathered.

Church doesn't need more tour guides.

We have plenty of those.

We need spiritual fathers who don't just

point to the cross, but take up the

cross and carry it.

Amen.

Too many guides, not enough fathers.

So your fathers, not guides. Number two,

your sons, not orphans. Again,

lots of different experiences growing

up.

Some good, many not so good. And

depending on how we were raised in the

natural has a lot of times an effect on

how we connect with God in the spiritual

and how we connect with other humans in

the spiritual realm. Would you agree

with that?

Here's what God says. You're a son,

not an orphan. Romans chapter 8 verse14.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

For all who are led by the spirit of God

are the sons of God. For you did not

receive the spirit of slavery to fall

back into fear. Catch this. But you have

received the spirit of adoption as sons

by whom we cry, "Aba, father." The

spirit himself bears witness with our

spirit that we are the children of God.

And if then of children, then heirs,

heirs of God. And catch this, fellow hes

with Christ, provided we suffer with him

in order that we may also be glorified

with him.

That scripture reveals

how to obtain sunship.

Sunship is received, not earned.

Sunship is received,

not earned. Too many of us disqualify

ourselves and we never feel like we earn

we never feel like we deserve it and so

we keep striving and working and working

and working and striving for something

that God already said is 100% available

to you.

>> You're a son,

you're a daughter and the kingdom of God

sunship is received. And without

receiving sunship, by default, we serve

God as an orphan.

Let me give you some attributes of sons

and orphans.

An orphan is always trying to prove his

worth.

A son already knows his value.

An orphan is addicted

to a pause.

hungry because we didn't receive the

attention over here where it was freely

given. Uh now we're searching for uh

people to celebrate us.

Hungry for it, man. Chasing after it.

An orphan hears correction

as rejection.

A son hears correction as love.

I am thankful

for men and women of God that have loved

me enough to shoot straight with me and

check me and correct me when I was

getting off the path. Amen. Anyone in

the house of God today? Are you thankful

for that? Because a few more steps, man,

I would have been off in the ditch. I

would have really needed a lot of help.

But but when uh I started stepping this

way or acting that way, there were

people that loved me enough to said,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Uhuh. That's

not the way you should go."

>> Amen.

>> I had one spiritual mentor years ago

pull me aside and say, "Don't talk to

your wife like that." I was like, "Don't

talk to me like that." Right.

Yeah. It's exactly what I needed to

hear. exactly when I needed to hear it.

Where are the fathers in the faith?

Where are those that don't shrink back

with passivity

that'll say what needs to be said out of

love because I love you enough to speak

to you in a way that will keep you

chasing after him.

Orphans hear correction as rejection.

I'm never going back to that church. I'm

never going to listen to that pastor

again. You had to hear what he said. And

then they say what was said and it was

true and it was right and it was needed.

And I'm going, why are you offended at

somebody loving you enough to share

truth with you?

An orphan

hoards

what he has

because

he fears tomorrow.

He fears and doesn't trust the father's

provision.

A son

lives life with open hands.

freely gives and freely shares because

he trusts the father's provision.

Give and it shall be given unto you.

Press down, shaken together, running

over.

But there's some that just that orphan

spirit. We keep everything so close and

so tight because we we had to work

really hard to get this and and I I'm

not used to that that that sunship where

it's just freely given and I receive of

it. And so because I don't freely

receive, I'm not in a position to freely

give. That's not just of things. That's

with love. That's with peace. That's

with generosity.

Orphan spirit.

Orphan sees another man's blessings as

his own loss.

A son sees another brother's victory as

the father's blessing.

Amen.

Man, we serve a good God. We got a good

dad. And you got the promotion. You got

the blessing. You got this. Man, I'm

going to celebrate with you because

that's evidence of how good my my dad

is.

Orphans compare. Sons celebrate.

Orphans compete for the father's

attention. The son rests in the father's

affection.

You can write this down. An orphan sees

God as a taskmaster to be pleased.

A son sees God as a father to be

enjoyed.

I just believe this orphan spirit is the

root of uh so much rivalry,

burnout, envy,

sleepless nights.

Sometimes we're exhausted

uh because we've been serving God like

an orphan, trying to live the Christian

life as an orphan, trying to earn a

place that God said is freely yours to

begin with.

But the spirit himself bears witness

with your spirit that we are the

children of God.

You're not a hired hand.

You're not a charity case. You're not a

mistake that God is tolerating.

You're a son.

A son doesn't beg for crumbs at the

father's table. He sits down and eats

next to the father.

I think if I wanted you to receive

anything today, it would be that you are

loved by the father as a son.

You're loved by the father.

There's a scripture that I read some

time ago that really staggered me. I had

to reread it several times to go, is

that really what that scripture means?

Because it was messing with my head. And

maybe it was my own uh self-worth, lack

of selfworth or whatever kicking in when

I read it initially. But John 17:23

John 17:23

says this, and this is Jesus praying to

the father. He says, "Father, that the

world may know that you love them."

Catch this. In the same way that you

love me.

Are you guys catching that at all? Jesus

says, "Father, that you that they would

know that you loved them." This is this

is the disciples. This is Peter that

denies three times. This is Judas that

is an absolute idiot, right? This is all

the all the disciples. He's speaking

this. He's praying for them. And I just

he goes, I just want them to know, God,

that you love them with the same

intensity, with the same passion, with

the same exact love that you have for me

is freely available to them.

But do we believe that? Do we serve God

and and and live for God from that

foundation that I am loved equal to the

love that he had for Jesus? If that

doesn't mess with you, I don't know what

will.

He loves me.

The father doesn't love you

as a servant who performs well.

He loves you the way that he loves

Jesus, his eternal son.

Here's the truth. If you receive that as

a son, it'll change the way that you

live your life.

It'll change the way that you live your

life. It'll change your marriage. It'll

change your relationship with your

children. It'll change your job. It'll

change your fin. It'll change every

single aspect of your life if that's the

foundation of your life.

So, we're more than adopted in. We're

born again into the kingdom

as sons with a full inheritance.

It's my favorite sound in church.

The baby sounds.

Very talkative. Talk away, girl.

You know, if you're in this place,

you're going, "Man, I I'm identifying

with some of those orphan symptoms.

I think I tried too hard. I think I'm

trying to earn." Can I encourage you to

stop striving,

stop performing,

stop comparing?

Today can be the day that you come home

and rest in the father's love

and just be a son.

put on the robe of sunship.

The father isn't looking for more guides

or more workers or more servants.

He's looking for his children to come

home.

Your sons,

not orphans.

The God that we serve is

amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

There's a Genesis principle

uh when you read the creation account

and early days of all of creation that

each thing produces

after itself.

Uh we see it. It's still active today,

right? Uh a duck gives birth to a duck.

Lincoln and I were fishing at the pond.

Yeah, man. They're the little ducks.

They got the little babies, right? Uh, a

duck doesn't give birth to an elephant,

right? I don't think that would work out

too well.

But, you know, an elephant gives birth

to a to a baby elephant. And apple tree

drops and the seeds don't create

oranges.

Each thing produces after its own kind.

It is set and established in the fabric

of creation.

Not only naturally but also spiritually.

So if you spiritually have received

sunship and abandoned the orphan spirit,

you are now in position to become a

father that produces a son.

Each one produces after its own kind.

Man, I've had conversations with

parents.

I don't know. My kids is this, this,

that.

My kids got all these struggles and

troubles. And I go, man, uh, not trying

to sound critical,

but each one produces after its own

kind. Sometimes we call it generational

blessing or generational curses.

But each one produces after its own

kind.

What I've learned is that your child's

struggle is often

a loudspeaker announcing the condition

of your own heart.

Uhoh.

See, I love you enough to shoot straight

with you.

Your child's struggle is often just the

loudspeaker

announcing the condition

of your own heart.

You'll reproduce who you actually are,

not who you pretend to be.

Man, I am preaching better than your

amening today.

You produce

who you actually are from who you are,

not who you pretend to be.

The problem in Genesis

is that after the fall, Adam didn't just

produce

a sinner because Adam fell in sin. He

produced a refugee with a father wound.

We see Cain kill Abel

not just because of jealousy or of the

sacrifice, but because he felt unseen

by God.

Adam hid from God.

Adam ran from God. We see this

progression

reproducing after its own kind

spiritually and emotionally and

mentally.

Some of you are thinking about your own

childhood going, "Man, I'm doomed." If

that's the

Do you know that God redeems?

That God saves?

There's a scripture. It's not on the

screen because I'm just thinking of it

now

where Jesus talks about unless you hate

your father, your mother, your brother,

your sister, you cannot be my disciple

or follow me. The word hate is probably

one of the worst translations in the

entire Bible. But I've dug into it

because there isn't an English word to

translate from the original Greek.

There's not a word in our language

that's not even close to what it

actually means. It means that you have

to set it aside. And emotionally, I'm

more connected to God the Father than I

am my own biological family. They have

to be God has to be number one and they

have to be number two. And I'm not

really truly loving my mother and

father, sons and daughters, unless I'm

loving him more than I love them.

>> Redemption.

in redemption, salvation. Now you begin

to produce after a new kind.

Malachi chapter 4

Malachi 4:6

verse 6

says, "And he," referring to God, "he

will turn the hearts of the fathers to

the children and the hearts of the

children to their fathers, lest I come

and strike the land with a decree of

utter destruction."

You guys catching what actually turns

the heart?

God

God turns the heart. You You don't

strive for it. You don't You get a

self-help book or 10 ways to do this.

It's by submitting to God and God turns

your heart

towards the children. Can I say this? If

you had a father that their heart wasn't

turned towards you,

that's natural. Unless they had really

submitted their life to Christ, they

weren't put in position to have their

heart turned because God will turn the

hearts of the fathers

to the children

and then the hearts of the children to

the fathers. We see what comes first. We

lead the way by submitting ourselves to

God and letting God change our heart.

Number three in your notes, you're

turners, not runners.

Your heart has been turned

by God to the children.

And as a result of that, now your life

turns the hearts of the children

to the father.

That's good stuff.

In Malachi 4, this is the last verse of

the old last book of the Old Testament.

Last verse. 400 years of silence came

after this scripture.

400 years of silence. Think of all the

amazing stuff we read about in the Old

Testament. 400 years. God knows that 400

years there's not going to be any

prophets speaking. There's not going to

be any any fire falling from heaven or

waters being split. None of the

miracles, none of the signs, none of the

wonders. 400 years of silence. And some

of his last words are, "Hey, this is

what I'm going to do. I'm going to turn

the hearts of the fathers to the

children." in the hearts of the children

to the fathers.

God doesn't say, "I'm going to send

revival for church attendance.

I'm going to be quiet for 400 years." Uh

he doesn't say, "Man, I'm going to send

a better government program to help you

guys out."

He says, "I'll turn the hearts." The

word turn there is from the original

Hebrew shove. Say shove.

shuv is the transliteration.

It means a direct 180 degree pivot.

God was evaluating

the people of the day knowing that their

hearts are going one way. It's to the

sacrifices. It's to this. It's to all

the religious stuff. And he says, "I'm

going to turn their hearts in a new

direction."

180.

The turn

is proof

of God the Father living in you. It's

proof of sunship.

Here's a declaration I've made.

As for me, in my house,

we will serve the Lord. You ever notice

that it says we?

Because some leaders, parents

have lived it this way. As for me in my

house, I will serve the Lord. Now,

whatever Billy does, you know, I don't

want to force it on Billy.

You know, if Billy doesn't want to go,

then Billy doesn't have to. As for me in

my house,

we will serve the Lord.

>> We will serve the Lord.

>> My poor kids. God bless them.

People evaluate and they go, "Wait, your

kids just love seem like they love God

and they're plugged in and and my

response is that we don't give them a

whole lot of choice."

As for me in my house, we will serve the

Lord. Amen.

Oh, how much time do I got?

One of the uh classes I took in college,

it's from a Christian worldview

perspective, but it was understanding

the nature, human nature. And uh some of

these studies that were done in the 60s

and 70s uh were amazing. We got to watch

some of the videos that recorded all

this stuff. And uh they would have uh

kids in there with uh the thing that

they weren't supposed to do or the thing

that they weren't supposed to touch,

right? Uh, and then they would have uh

the really healthy good stuff over here

that they were supposed to do. They'd

give them really clear instruction.

These are like three-year-olds,

four-year-olds. Give them really clear

instruction to not do this.

Only do that. Dude, it's great. You guys

know how kids are, right? They start

with the little good thing. Most of them

did. One little kid just goes right for

the bad thing, right? That would have

been me. But they start with a good

thing and you can see the distraction in

their mind and in their heart where they

keep getting drawn and they'll look over

there and some of them would even walk

over and look at it,

you know, and then they would

go back over where they were. And then

they did the same thing without the bad

option in the room and all they had was

the good option. And you saw absolute

freedom in the kid. They loved it. They

the good thing they enjoyed it. It was a

blessing to them.

Don't give your kids an option. As for

me in my house, we will serve the Lord.

>> Amen. Oh man, none of that was in my

notes.

Uh parenting in 2026 would be really

upset with me right now.

And I don't care

because I know what the Bible says

>> and I've lived it. As for me in my

house, we will serve the Lord.

A lot of times we're praying. We're

asking for God to heal our land to turn

our kids' hearts to God. And we see the

progression that God will turn the

hearts of the fathers to the children

first. Then the hearts of the children

get turned to the father. And we're

praying,

asking God.

And a lot of times God is looking down

and asking us to allow our hearts to be

turned first.

Turn your heart back.

Turn your heart back. Redemption a lot

of times happens in connection.

Turn your heart back.

Sometimes we run from spiritually

leading or spiritually mentoring or

spiritually fathering and mothering. And

I felt it a lot of times it's easier to

scroll than to sit down and connect with

another human.

Anyone?

Yeah.

There's always that that temptation of

distraction and there's always that

temptation of self.

But every time I've chose to connect,

every time I choose to turn towards

them, God honors it and blesses it.

Say, "Turn your heart."

>> Paul said, "I became your father in

Christ Jesus

through the gospel."

You know, I my sense is that some people

in here are going, "Man, I I don't know

how to turn my heart. I don't know how

to do this whole thing. I didn't have

good parents, good role models, good

leaders."

Uh, it happens

through Christ. Amen.

Paul didn't say, "I became your father

because I had a great childhood."

Paul didn't say, "I became your father

because I had great uh training in

Judaism."

Paul said, "I became your father through

the gospel."

Okay, those were my three points,

but I have a bonus point.

We'll call it number four.

I caught a revelation from this

scripture that's changed the way that I

parent, changed the way that I pastor.

It's changed the way that I've

led

spiritually.

Psalm 127 verse4.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one's youth.

There's other scriptures that make this

kind of picture. How blessed a man is

when he has many arrows in his quiver or

whatever that is. Right? It's a window

weird. Why does God make use the analogy

of children like little arrows? Right?

Here's the revelation.

Your children are arrows, not

accessories.

Amen.

I don't know if you guys are catching

the same revelation that I had.

You know, I've heard this scripture

misused, mispreached

uh you know, in the idea of parenting

that we uh protect and we cover. And I

picture the little arrow like somebody

just like straightening up the feathers

of the arrow and keeping the arrow away

from everybody. I'm going to put it back

in the Okay, put it back in the quiver

now. And you you stay right here.

Listen, arrows in the hands of a warrior

are meant to be

released.

Amen.

An arrow is a weapon of war.

It's designed to be launched into enemy

territory.

To launch an arrow, you must release it.

Man, I watch parenting. Sometimes we

hold our kids so tight, man. We got our

little fingerprints denting their

destiny. But we never really let go.

I've seen a 80-year-old mother still

holding on to little Billy.

Like Billy's living in her basement. I'm

going, "Dude, you need to get you need

to let the kid go, right?" Yeah. Release

release old Billy. Let's see what he can

turn into.

>> Yeah.

Sometimes we get parents that

do understand that children are like an

arrow to be released, but they

have selfish ambition in the mindset.

They're aiming them towards a target of

their own desire, sports, college. Well,

this is where I always worked, so you

should work there. This is where I live,

and so I want you to live there.

God forged the arrow

with a specific darkness in mind for it

to be aimed. And let God aim the arrow.

Amen.

>> You don't aim it. God might minister to

you which direction they're supposed to

go, but you better know that you heard

from God before you begin to speak that.

So parents, you hold the bow, you grab

the string,

you pull it back.

So try societyy's trying to take the bow

and arrow out and turn it into a pillow.

Wherever, oh, if you fall, you can land

here. It's going to be soft and

comfortable. Oh, you couldn't do it.

I'll just pay for it. I'll just do it.

Oh, you're struggling again. I'll just

do this and do this and do this. And

while we have a heart to help, what

actually helps? Oh man, is this turning

into parenting 101?

You're not a pillow.

Stretch them with the word. Pull them

back with the discipline of the Lord.

Back to what David spoke to Solomon in

his final moments.

What it actually means to be strong is

to observe the requirements of the Lord

and follow him in all that you do.

Let me say this. You might not have had

a parent

that launched you well.

Maybe

you were an arrow that got broken and

stomped under feet.

And you know what?

That's okay

because God is a repairer of broken

arrows.

>> God is a repairer of broken arrows. And

God is one

loving father

that will draw you back and launch you

exactly where you're supposed to be,

exactly when you're supposed to be

there.

I'll ask the worship team to join me up

here.

Let me say this. You'll never draw

strength from a father wound.

Amen.

You'll never draw strength from looking

back to the past hurts and holdups and

well, my dad was this or my dad wasn't

that.

You'll never draw strength from that

unless you're redeemed.

Unless you walk in sunship. Now the test

becomes the testimony.

Thinking about it when Jesus

showed Thomas the scars in his hands.

You guys remember that? Yeah. Tell me

that wouldn't freak you out. Jesus comes

walking through the wall showing his

Yeah.

Now I've evaluated and I said you know

uh God easily in the in the uh uh

resurrection could have removed the

scars.

Why did God leave the scars there?

To show that pain and power can coexist.

To show that test can become the

testimony.

We don't forget what happened. Well, we

still got the scars there. We still We

still see it,

but I'm no longer nailed to the tree.

Amen.

Let's stand to our feet all over this

house.

If there could be

one way, and it is impossible to, but if

there was one way that we could actually

begin to define who God actually is.

He is love and he is father. And if

there was a way that we could begin to

understand how we connect with him,

there's one way

that I can see clearly to explain that

is that you are sons and daughters.

That's it.

If you never knew anything else that's

written in the book, you just received

the fullness of truth right there.

Through Jesus Christ,

we can be redeemed as sons, adopted into

the kingdom.

Not just in this life, but in the life

to come for all of eternity.

Father, I thank you, Lord, for freedom

in this house. Freedom, God, for your

love to flow, God, for us to be able to

receive.

Praise you, Jesus.

And father, I speak blessing over every

heart, over every soul, over every home

represented in this room.

Father, I pray now for every broken

relationship between parents and

children,

God, that you are the redeemer,

Lord, that you can take the broken

things and make it right.

And so Lord, I speak power and blessing

and grace

into those relationships right now.

Lord, I pray

more than you ever have that you would

turn the hearts of the fathers to the

children.

Father, I pray too for those

God that have struggled with the past,

the hurts, the wounds,

the abuse, the lack, whatever it was.

Lord, I pray, Father, that you would

allow our hearts to be healed and

redeemed,

no longer living under the pain of the

wound.

Father, I thank you for receiving us as

children.

We could understand

what a father really is,

who a father should be. Lord, I'm

thankful for spiritual fathers,

spiritual mentors in this house, those

mentors and fathers that have been in

our lives. God, though they weren't

biological, Lord, we're thankful that

you sent somebody to love us with the

love of the father to lead us and guide

us. And Father, I pray for each of those

that serve at that capacity, God, that

you'll continue to strengthen them,

Lord, that they will spiritually,

Father, those that are not their own,

pour in and be a blessing to them.

Father, I pray for the children in this

room,

God, that they would know first that you

are the father that loves them.

Praise you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. We honor you today.

We're grateful for you, Father.

And Lord, in this moment, we say happy

Father's Day to you.

I love you.

I'm thankful and grateful to be your son

in Jesus name.

Amen.

The altars are open. Let's worship the

Lord together.