Father's Day: What Is a Man?

It is so good to be with you here this morning.

If I've never met you before, my name is Brandon Gillum.

I'm part of the teaching team here at RLC and if this is your first time joining us or you haven't done it yet, my hope is that you would take a look in that worship guide that you got when you walked in and take a few moments during the service to fill out that connect card.

You see in there, we just want to connect with you and invite you back again.

Let me say to all the men out there who are fathers happy Father's Day to you.

Yes, yes, amen.

We honor you on this day, the greatest holiday man has ever created, am I right?

Yes, I love it.

I'm just kidding, of course, but happy Father's Day to you.

It is great to have you here and I'm thankful to be here today.

I want to tell you a story real quick about something that happened to me this last week, and when it happened to me, I had this thought in my head that you know what I'm doing.

Okay, at this dad thing, this father thing at first, okay.

So I was mowing the grass outside and, if you don't know, I have three boys 12, eight and five, and I was mowing the grass and my five-year-old was out there running around and one of his favorite things to do is to catch frogs.

And he catches these big, enormous toads and we have a lot of them and he calls them big chunguses, big, big chungus.

So he's bounding through the grass and he grabs this huge frog and he brings it over to me and says, dad, he's proud, he's got it in his hand, probably squeezing a bit too tight, and says look at this big chungus.

And I thought in that moment man, this is awesome.

This is what boys do.

They get out in nature, they do things, they play, they have fun.

And just this overwhelming sense of pride filled me up.

And about that time he showed it to me and turned around and launched it like a baseball.

All good feelings gone.

We're going to work on that.

Don't tell anybody, dads, all that.

To say one thing at a time right, one thing at a time is all you can do.

So, if you remember from last week, we started a brand new series in the Bible, in the book of Romans, called the Champion.

Now, for today, and today only, if you haven't seen that message, you can go on our YouTube page and catch up from last week, but we are stepping away from the series for one week, one week in honors of Father's Day, and we're going to come back to it next week Because there is a message that has been on my heart for quite some time that I really wanted to put out there, and I didn't know the right time.

It was a difficult one, but I felt very convicted about it.

I had a friend that gave this message, a similar message to this, and it convicted me and I wanted to share it with you, and so I thought what a better day for a message about men than Father's Day, right?

So if I could give a title to this message, it would be I want to answer the question what is a man?

What is a man?

Okay, what is a man?

And so my hope is is that we can answer the questions biblically exactly what is a man supposed to be?

What are the callings God puts on his life?

What is a man supposed to be doing?

What is he called to do?

Now, first, let me just throw this out there.

A little disclaimer Ladies, obviously this is a message geared toward men.

However, please, please, do not tune me out, because there are things in there for you as well.

Okay, if you're a married woman, I'm trying to help grow the one you got right.

If you're a single lady, I want to help you find the right one and I want to use the Bible to do that Sort of a demand side problem or demand side fix to a supply side problem.

Maybe I don't know.

Anyways, all I'm saying is don't tune me out, ladies, there's some things in there for you too.

So now, as we dive into this, we're going to be starting off in the book of Genesis.

Okay, so if you've got your Bibles with you, you can open up to the book of Genesis and be ready for that.

We're going to skip all around and I'm going to read you the verses.

But let me say this first as I said, I have what's the word?

I've procrastinated and, embarrassed to say, I've been a little bit disobedient about getting this message out there.

It spoke to me a long time ago, felt convicted about it and it's a difficult one, and I kept putting it off and putting it off and I thought, well, I'll do it in a men's group someday, and didn't All that to say.

I hope it does for you what it did for me, and that it is motivating and convicting, and that you realize that it comes from love and compassion, and a sense of it convicted me, because I've messed it up before.

It's not a beat-down message.

It's not a message about how we're all failing all of this stuff.

It's just a message about how important this particular thing is, that we must get right, that we must be back on the rails with, and.

So what I want you to see is that in the Bible, there is this continual and constant theme all throughout the Bible.

When you read the Bible and there is a story about a man and what is going on with the man, what you will see in the Bible is this is that when a man will boldly step into the calling God has for him, things grow and begin to flourish, they get better, but when a man steps away from the calling that God has on his life, things begin to burn, they fall.

Destruction happens All through the Bible and it's evident in our society even today.

When a man is willing to step into his calling, things go well, but when he steps away, they go bad.

So let's get started.

This morning I want to give you a quote, and you may have heard me say this before.

It's one of my favorite things ever said and it's too good to not bring up again.

Pastor Tony Evans was addressing an arena full of thousands of men at a men's conference and he looked out across the thousands of men that were standing there and he said this.

He said if you want to change the world, you change a continent.

And if you want to change a continent, you change a country.

And if you want to change a country, you change a state.

And if you want to change a state, you change a city.

If you want to change a city, you change a neighborhood.

You change a neighborhood by changing a family and you change a family by changing the Father.

And that is my hope today that we can change the world together by beginning to look at what the Bible says about what it means to be a man, what it means to be a husband and what it means to be a father.

God created men and he created fathers in a very specific way to be this integral part of a family for raising up the next generation of young men and young women, and so on and so on.

So let me start you off first with some statistics.

These are not my statistics.

They are statistics.

I am simply the messenger, so bear with me on these.

President Obama addressed the nation a number of years ago and he pointed out some statistics that are interesting.

Now listen to these.

Fatherlessness is the number one contributor to the top five societal problems that we deal with today.

That's crime, homelessness, poverty, unwed pregnancy and then future fatherlessness.

Those are the top five things that our society deals with today, and the number one contributor to that is fatherlessness People that have been raised without fathers.

In 1965, 7.7% of children were born to unwed mothers, born out of wedlock 7.7%.

Fast forward to 2020, so even five years ago you realize what that number has risen to.

40.5% of children are born to unmarried mothers.

That is a situation that has turned into an epidemic, a disaster, and it's because men are stepping out of the role of fatherhood.

If you zoom out and you look at many of the things that are going on in the country today or this world, one of the common denominators is that a man will not stand up and he will not change, and I want you to see what this looks like from a spiritual standpoint.

It's very important, and what I want to show you is that when a family member comes to Christ, this is the influence or the effect on the rest of the family that that has.

So, first of all, if a wife comes to Christ, there is an 18% chance that the rest of the family begins to follow Jesus.

That's amazing 18% chance.

Now, what sometimes the Holy Spirit does is He'll work up in the bottom of the family through a child, and He'll work up through the family that way, and I've seen that many times before at our children's camps and things like that.

And so when a child in a family comes to Christ, there is a 22% chance that the rest of the family will then begin to follow Jesus.

That's great, but now statistics tell us that if a father comes to Christ, there is a 94% chance that the rest of the family comes to Christ A 94% chance.

That should tell you how important your role is right there.

So let me just make it very visual for you, very straightforward If you're a father in the room, will you please put your hand in the air?

Come on, dads, get them up.

Father's Day.

This is important.

Everybody.

Look around the people with their hands down.

Their futures are directly dependent upon the people with their hands up.

Their futures are directly dependent upon the people with their hands up.

You and the young men that aren't fathers yet that are coming behind you play a direct influence on the future of all the people with the hands down.

Thank you, you can put your hands down Now.

Society has this sort of zoomed out perspective, this worldly view of what they think a man should be.

I've got a good buddy that goes to church here.

Many of you probably know him.

His name is Stephen Stefano.

Is he here today?

Even better, because I'm going to talk about him.

Don't want to embarrass him Now.

Stephen, if you know Stephen, he's in great shape, he's fit.

You know he's got some tattoos.

He's always got boots on his feet.

He's ready to go.

He likes sports, he likes big trucks and fast cars.

He probably hunts, he probably fishes, and I guarantee you, if you pushed him far enough, he would not back down from a fight.

Now, those things don't make Stephen a man.

They make him awesome.

I love him for those things.

They make him a great friend.

But none of those things I just said make Stephen a man, and what I want to look at today is what is a man really?

And to do that, I want to give you three things that a man is not Okay From the Bible, and then I'm going to give you three things that God has called you to be as a man.

So number one being that a man is not an animal.

Now you may look at some of these things and think well, that's pretty straightforward, that's obvious.

It might not be as obvious as you think, and let me tell you this Genesis 1, 26 and 27 says it like this.

Then God said let us make mankind in our image, so that is, men and women in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over the creatures that move along the ground.

So here's what we need to understand God creates all of these things the trees, the birds, the animals, the stars, the seas, everything and they are all good things.

But there is only one thing that God creates in His image, and that is you, that is mankind, and that right there should tell you what an infinite value you have, no matter your race, your color, your ability, your disability.

You are created first and foremost in the image of God, and so he creates mankind in his image.

Then it says that he breathes life.

He breathes life into only one creature Mankind Mankind.

And the Bible says that Adam awoke and his eyes opened and for the very first time, he came face to face with God, his maker.

You have been created in the image of God and you are meant for a personal, face to face relationship with that creator.

It's a calling, because a man is not an animal.

You're the only one that he did that.

For Now, here's what I want to say men, animals, have very distinct features.

They are creatures of unbridled instincts and they are ruled by their desires.

This is how animals work.

Listen to this.

When an animal gets hungry, they eat.

When an animal gets angry, they fight.

When an animal gets tired, they sleep.

When they feel the desire, they breed.

In a lot of cases, animals will eat their own offspring, should they decide they don't want to raise it.

Now I'm throwing it out there, straightforward, honest.

In some corners of this world and in our society, the worldly belief of what a man is is that exact definition you are the manliest man when you can eat the most food, you can drink the most beer, you can bed the most women and have the most fights and win the most fights, and then convince a woman that it's okay to kill a baby in the womb before it's born because you don't want to be a dad, just like an animal.

And a man is not an animal.

But we've spent generation after generation after generation telling them they are Telling them that they are this purposeless animal and then we begin to act, all surprised when they act like it.

And then assault rises, homelessness rises, crime rates rise and single moms become single moms because a man is not an animal.

Number two is this A man is not a boy.

There is a difference between the word male and the word man.

And just because you are male does not make you a man.

And I know that because I have young boys, okay, and my young boys have friends and they sometimes cry when they don't get their way.

And a boy says to the world you take care of me, that's boyhood, it's not wrong.

You take care of me, you change my clothes, you dress me, you clean up after me.

That's boyhood and it's awesome.

But what the difference between boyhood and manhood in the Bible.

There is a difference.

The boy says to the world you were responsible for me, and as a young boy in that stage of life, it's cute.

But the truth is it's not cute to be a grown man, still in boyhood, acting like a little boy and little boys are awesome, don't get me wrong.

But grown men, still in boyhood, wreak havoc, and it's just the truth of it Wreak havoc on the family, they wreak havoc on the churches and they wreak havoc on the society.

So Iak havoc on the churches and they wreak havoc on the society.

So I want to show you a pattern in the Bible that God gives.

I'm going to read to you two verses from Genesis and a lot of people will miss this, but you're going to notice that God prescribes a very specific order in these verses.

A very specific order, a very specific order, and it is the transition of a boy from boyhood to manhood.

So from you were responsible to me to now I'm using my strengths to be responsible and to put into the world.

So Genesis 2.15 says this the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

That's step one, therefore, and they shall become one flesh.

Now, did you see the specific order there that God lays out?

God puts man in a garden to work it, then, as he works, he leaves his mother and father's house and then he finds a wife, and then they shall become one flesh.

That is the order.

Okay, that is the order.

Job move out of mom and dad's house, find a wife and then share the bed together.

Did you notice that order In God's design of a man?

That is the order.

That is the transition steps that get you from boyhood to manhood, from the responsibility of you take care of me to now I'm going to take care of myself and my family.

Okay, last one of these, if you're taking notes, probably the most controversial one A man is not a woman.

A man is not a woman.

Pretty straightforward, and here's why I say this.

This is why I say this God has created men and women, equals, but for different roles, for different roles.

And I want to show you something in the Bible that is often misinterpreted Genesis 127.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created them, male and female.

He created them.

Now, here's what I want you to see God is a great creator.

He made male and female both in his image, but different characteristics, different strengths, different purposes, and that's amazing.

That's something amazing.

Don't grab a hold of that enough.

We need to, as Christians, lean into that.

We are different, and the reason being that that is so important is because there are things that you can do that your husband can't do, and there are things that your husband can do that you can't do.

But when you become together, and especially, especially I'm just getting this, just getting this when you have children and the both of you work together, it is the only time a child gets the full picture of the image of God, because you're both created in his image and so, without both of you, even though you can do it, it happens it's harder to bring the full picture of what God has created you to be.

Now stick with me on this.

1 Peter 3.7 says this Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way.

Ladies, that's for you, huh, amen.

Showing honor to her, showing honor to her, showing honor to her as the weaker vessel.

Don't let me lose you.

When the Bible talks about a vessel every time, every time, it talks about a cup, and weaker does not mean equal.

Weaker means delicate, so you are a delicate cup, you're a different cup.

That's what that means.

Okay, so here, stay with me.

Two vessels, behold Big gulp, right.

One vessel, one vessel wine glass.

A different vessel, which one is probably sturdier, stronger, can hold up Big gulp, right?

If you're on a construction site and you want to be hydrating, this is what you want.

This won't work.

And you want to be hydrating, this is what you want.

This won't work.

Well, but if you're on a date night, this is what you want, right, for your grape juice, that's what you want it for.

This is what you want.

Which is better?

Neither?

Neither, Because they're made for different things and neither one can do the other's calling, neither one can do the other's job.

It is dependent upon the situation and it has nothing to do with characteristics.

It has nothing to do with which one is better.

It is simply that God created them to bring a fullness of the picture about.

Let me see when are we at.

Okay, so now I want to show you that there is this transition from boy to man.

Okay, that's important.

A boy goes from boy to man, but then there is a transition from man to husband, husband to father.

Ladies, let me say this and this is important because I've seen it.

I've seen it with my own eyes, in my own house.

I don't know how I don't understand it, but God has given you the ability to speak life into your man, to build him up, to pray for him, to set a cornerstone for him that he cannot set for himself.

It only comes from you, and he will not tell you this.

I will tell you for Him.

He does care what you think.

You're the only person most important to Him that he will care what you think.

And you must speak life into Him, you must pray for him.

Lydia, my wife, every time I come up here on Sunday, every time I'm nervous I don't know why.

I've done it enough now and I'm nervous.

But she prays for me, and every morning not always, but since we've done it well we circle up in the morning with the boys and we pray together.

And what I want you to know is that Lydia loves me, but she doesn't pray for me because she loves me.

She doesn't.

She does, she does, but first she cares about me.

But she doesn't pray for me because she cares about me.

She prays for me because God has called her to it, because she knows she speaks life into me and because I tell her I don't care what anybody else thinks of me, except for you and except for God.

And when we are not right, I can't even get through a work day, even if it's not my fault.

I can't get through Few and far between Few and far between, but I I can't get through Few and far between Few and far between, but I still can't get through the day because we're not right, we're not on the same page, and that is a gift that you only have.

And I know because there are things that my wife can say to me that can make me realize something in my life that if another man told me, it would cause a fight, and it's a caring and a compassionate thing.

But I know when she speaks she speaks with wisdom and it's because she loves me and cares for me and she wants me to do well and to be better, and so when she prays for me, there is a peace that comes over me, and I don't ask for it and she always does it and it's always fine, because you can speak life into him and God created you to do it.

You're the helper that's awesome.

You're the glue of the family when a man is changing from husband to father.

And I want to show you this by showing you three things that God has called men to do.

This is three things that God has put a calling on your life for.

One is God gives man work to enjoy.

So Genesis 2.15, we already touched on it the Lord God took the man.

He put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

So the number one thing of a calling of a man's life is God gives man work to enjoy.

Now I want to point this out to you.

Did you notice that in the Bible, when God was creating all of these things the trees, the seas, the animals he said all of these things are good.

And I've never noticed this.

God gave man work before the fall, before sin entered the world.

Sin entered the world, god gave man work and said it is good for a man to work.

And, as a matter of fact, men, I will go as far as to say you will never be as happy as you could be until you are pouring yourself out and with your God-given talents into God-honoring work.

Someone once told me men are like trucks.

They just drive better with a heavy load, and that's just the way that we are.

If you ask, go and ask some of these older generation farmers that are passing down farms to their families and you will find that they will work until their 80s and 90s.

And if you were to go and ask them, why is it?

Because the work is always fun.

No, but they may say to you I used to think that I was doing this work to keep the farm alive, but then I realized that I'm doing this work because the farm is keeping me alive.

But then I realized that I'm doing this work because the farm is keeping me alive.

God made man to work.

Let's talk about the second thing God gives man.

Genesis 2, 16 through 17 says this and the Lord, god, commanded the man saying you may surely eat of every tree in the garden.

So God is saying all of this is yours, everything here is yours and you can eat out of it.

But you shall not eat of the tree of good and evil, for that day that you eat of that, you shall surely die.

So I want to point out the second thing that God gives man is a will to obey.

He gives man choice, a will to obey.

And I want to point something out that I think that Satan is doing when he distracts our view of God, that you can see in this verse.

Satan wants to attack your view of God, and so what he wants you to do is he wants you to stop seeing God as this loving father who is chasing you down, who says, hey, you can have all of this.

And he wants you to see him as this constant rule maker, the one who puts the rules out there for you, who wants to control you.

Now look what God says in these verses.

He says everything here is yours, everything is yours.

There's thousands of trees here.

You can eat from any one.

You just can't eat from that one.

So there's a thousand yeses and one no.

God is like the best dad who goes to the store and he stocks the pantry full of all the best snacks, all of them, anything you could want.

But then he turns to you and he says but don't drink the bleach under the sink.

And we get upset about that when God says don't, it is don't hurt yourself, don't do something that is going to be bad for you, because I love you.

He doesn't want you to hurt yourself.

He wants good things for you.

But here's the deal you must make a decision, men.

You must make a decision, men, you must make a decision.

Ultimately, you have got to decide whose will is most important.

Is it God's will that has the most authority in your life, or is it your will that has the most authority?

Is it the truth of the Bible or is it the lies of the world?

There are going to be areas in your relationships.

There are going to be areas in your physical desires, your feelings, your finances and your morals that you're going to wrestle with.

And you're going to wrestle with them because where your desires become different than God's decrees, there's a problem, and you will wrestle with it.

And when you remove all the nonstance and all the background, noise what it ultimately comes down to there are two types of men and two types of women, two types of people, types of men and two types of women, two types of people.

Either the Bible stands in authority over your wants and desires, or your wants and desires stand in authority over the word of God, over the Bible.

God has given you, as a man, a will to obey, but before you can stand up as a man.

You've got to kneel at the foot of the cross and you've got to surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ in your life.

So let's move on to the last one.

Last one is this it's a bit longer passage, but it's important.

So track with me Genesis 2, 18 through 22.

Then the Lord God said it is not good for man to be alone.

I will make him a helper fit for him.

So the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and he closed it up, closed up the place with flesh, and the rib that the Lord God had taken from man, he made into woman and brought her to the man.

Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.

And the man and the woman were naked and they were unashamed.

So here's the third thing that God gives you as a man.

He gives you a woman to love and to protect.

This may be the most important thing that God ever calls you to.

Over your job, your finances, your dealings with society, your very first calling is to love and protect your family.

You are the protector and the provider and in God's time, God's good time, should he give you children, then that provision, then that protection extends also over your children and that's where the transition from husband, from man to husband and husband to father.

So here's what happened next.

It was awesome, awesome.

Man and woman.

God designed them that way, unashamed.

And it was great for about one more sentence in the Bible.

And then it goes on to say in Genesis 3, 1 through 6, now the serpent was more crafty.

This is Satan.

Now the serpent was more crafty, more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

And he said to the woman Did God actually say you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?

And he goes on to say and the woman said we may eat of all the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat the fruit of the tree in the trees in the garden.

We may eat of all the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden or in the middle, in the midst of the garden, nor shall you touch it lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman.

Surely you're not going to die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Sidebar Eve was already like God.

She is made in the image of God.

If she was thinking, she would have said I don't need that, there's nothing you can give me to be complete.

I am already like God because he created me that way.

It goes on to say so.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate it.

Do not miss this next part.

This sentence gets overlooked and it is the most important sentence.

Listen to this.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, who was with her, and he ate it.

Adam was right next to her.

The Bible doesn't say he was out hunting.

He wasn't out fishing or building shelter.

He was out hunting.

He wasn't out fishing or building shelter.

He was right there and if we were there, he'd probably say something that our society would say today when he saw something that would destroy Eve.

You know what I've kind of been wondering what that fruit tastes like myself.

Right, I don't want to be a supporter of the patriarchy here.

She's a strong, independent woman.

She can make her own decisions.

You do you boo, that's what he said.

You do you Something like that.

So here's what I want you to say, here's what I want you to see.

The original problem, the original sin, was not that Eve ate the apple.

We get that messed up.

The original sin even wasn't that man did anything wrong.

It was that man did nothing.

The original sin was the passivity of man.

Men, hear me, the greatest temptation in your life will not be lust of the eyes, it will not be the loss of your temper.

The greatest temptation in your life will be a lack of leadership in your family.

And here, please I know this because I've done this If you will not step up and lead your family, satan would be happy to do so, and he will.

And he'll do it without asking, and this is why it's so dangerous.

This is what happens in Genesis 2 and 3.

Think about this After the fall of mankind, eve takes the fruit.

She gives some to Adam.

Then God comes to the garden.

God is searching for his children.

God knows they've sinned, god knows they've been disobedient, and yet a loving father seeks them out.

He comes for them.

But watch what he does.

He addresses Adam for the sin of Eve, and that is because Adam is the one who is responsible for his family.

And he comes to Adam and he says let's see.

He says where are you, where are you?

He comes into the garden and he yells out to says where are you, where are you?

He comes into the garden and he yells out to Adam where are you?

Where are you?

Where have you been?

And it's the same exact question he echoes to this day.

You know, we come into all these problems and these predicaments and we have this tendency to look to heaven and be like God.

Where are you?

And a lot of times I think God's looking at us saying where are you?

Where are you?

I gave that to you.

That's the family I've blessed you with.

Where are you?

Your children are a mess and your children are rebellious.

Where are you?

Your finances are struggling.

Where are you?

Your wife is hurting and melting and struggling.

Where are you?

That matters, because if you are not leading, satan will Right.

So then we come to the question what do you do then?

What do you do?

Do you just do better?

You just say I'm going to do better.

I'm going to strap on my boots, cowboy up, let's make this work.

Let's do better.

Won't work.

Been there, tried, it Won't get you there.

You need something outside of yourself.

You need a purpose, you need a power to redeem you from that original fall.

You must have it.

Let me read you something from Romans 517.

For if by the sins of one man he's talking about Adam For if by the sins of the one man, death reigned, reigned all over the world, through one man, death reigned through that one man.

But how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness Reign in life Through one man, jesus Christ.

One man failed and one man was successful.

You know what the book of Romans refers to Jesus as Calls him the second Adam, the second Adam.

Think about that.

The first Adam failed at a tree and it brought death and destruction to the world, stepped out of the calling that God has for his life, and the world fell.

But the second Adam, he carried his tree, he stepped up and, a matter of fact, he hung on that tree and he succeeded and he brought back in life and abundance.

Jesus Christ was the man that Adam failed to be.

The second Adam.

Go back to Genesis 2.

What should Adam have done?

What should he have done when the serpent came from his family?

What should you do?

What should I do?

The moment that he saw the enemy coming for Eve, the moment he should have stepped forward, put himself between Eve and the tree, put himself between Eve and the servant and said over my dead body.

That's what he should have done and he should have looked him directly in the eyes, crushed his head with the heel of his boot, risking his own life for his family.

And the Bible says that a thousand years later, after death and brokenness reigned in all men everywhere, jesus Christ came as the second Adam.

And when the serpent was coming for us again, when we meant to be dead, jesus stepped forward.

This time and he put himself between us and the tree and between us and the serpent.

And the Bible says that in that moment, when he laid down his life because of his love for us, when he did what the first Adam couldn't do, the serpent's head was crushed and the renewing power was brought forth in all men, all men, freeing them from the enslaving power of death and sin that the passivity of man brought on the world.

God has called men to be different, godly men, to rise up, because the fight isn't over.

Death is still here, they're still coming after your family, and I want to task you with exactly what I tasked myself with.

I'm saying this just as much to me.

It's the same thing that Paul tasked the men of the church of Corinth with in 1 Corinthians 16.

He says be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be vigilant, act like men and do everything you do in love.

Let me pray for you this morning.