Father's Day: My Life Mandate + The Look of a Father
On Father’s Day we came together to honor all the dads in the house and we were blessed by messages from both Pastor Jeff and Pastor Eric! In their joint-effort Father’s Day message, both pastors highlight the unconditional, overwhelming, abundant love of our Heavenly Father and the magnitude of His grace and mercy toward us as His children. God is the perfect Father whose example is one for all of us to follow as we raise up families in accordance with His will. Amen!
8 Life Mandates
Pastor Jeff shared a word of encouragement in My Life Mandate that portrayed a simple roadmap on how to live life in the way that follows the path God intended for us. He highlighted how dads should carry themselves and lead their families on the path of righteousness and in the pursuit of Jesus.
In his message, Pastor Jeff encourages us to develop our own mandates after asking ourselves, “How do I want to manage my household, my marriage, my life, and all the other elements of my life?” As we dive into the foundational scripture for this message and also Pastor Jeff’s life mandates, let’s consider how to put these principles into practice in our own lives!
Hebrews 13:7 (NKJV) Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follows, considering the outcome of their conduct.
Hebrews 13:7 (MSG) Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness.
How we speak, how we behave, how we connect with God and read our Bibles sets an example for our kids and families to follow. It’s our job to live lives that honor the Lord and Pastor Jeff’s 8 Life Mandates provide us with guidance and insight on how to do just that! For a deeper understanding of each of these mandates, be sure to watch the full Father’s Day message and soak up the wisdom our pastors shared with us!
- Maintain a Genuine + Growing Relationship with the Lord
It’s easy for all of us to get wrapped up in our jobs and chores and even our families but it’s critical to always prioritize the beauty of our relationship with Jesus. Having a strong personal relationship with God is all that matters! He’s not judging us by how much money we make or how many leaves we can bag in a day doing yard work. He looks at us as children of God who He loves without condition.
When Jesus picked the 12 disciples in Mark chapter 3, it says that He chose them to spend time with Him. We, too, are designed to spend time with God on a regular basis!
- Love My Wife as Jesus Loves the Church
Dad’s, the very best thing we can do for our kids is to love their mom. The best thing you can do in your marriage is decide that the girl you married is the girl for you. We focus on one woman, our wife, just as God called us to do!
Ephesians 5:25 (NKJV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
- Be a Loving + Nurturing Father to Your Kids
Ephesians 6:4 (NKJV) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Yes, it’s important for dads to be the man of the house and bring discipline when necessary, but the most important thing a dad can do is be loving and nurturing toward his children. Just like God wants to develop us, we too need to strive to develop our children.
- Have a Faithful Lifestyle that promotes the kingdom of God
We can’t act one way in church and a different way out in the community; our behavior and disposition and the manner in which we carry ourselves needs to be the same across the bours. We are individually one person with one life designed to be a light for Jesus no matter where we are.
1 Corinthians 9:22 (NKJV) to the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
- Demonstrate Good Financial Stewardship + Integrity
Being a person of integrity, especially in our finances, is critically important as Christians. If we want to raise up generations of children who do stumble and fall, then we walk in integrity and do the right thing for the right reasons.
Proverbs 19:1 (NKJV) Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than oen who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
Proverbs 20:7 (NKJV) The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.
- Develop My God-Given Talents to Fulfill My Calling
We need to go above and beyond the bare minimum when it comes to our work. We need to make the decision to do more than what is qualified as enough and always work at developing who we are as individuals.
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV) as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
- Maintain My Physical Health through Proper Diet + Exercise
1 Corinthians 9:27 (NKJV) But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Maintaining our physical health impacts longevity and longevity impacts the time we have to make a kingdom impact in our community as we lead lives that honor the Lord.
- Be Committed to Developing Stronger Relationships
Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV) A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV) A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
There’s nothing like God-centered friendships, but it doesn’t just happen; it takes effort. We need to invest in spending time with each other and growing in our relationships with God and our families, of course, but also our relationships with our friends, peers, and those around us.
People want to be around people who are full of joy, so let’s be those kinds of people!
Discussion:
What life mandates do you have for your own life?
After hearing this message, what mandates will you implement now?
The Look of a Father
Following his dad’s message, Pastor Eric Jones shifted focus from earthly fathers toward our Heavenly Father in part 2 of our Father’s Day message, The Look of a Father. Take a look at our foundational passage of scripture as we dive into God’s Word:
Mark 5:25-34 (NKJV) 25Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
29Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. 30And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” 31But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
32And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 33But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
There’s one thing that every dad has in common–Dad’s have the innate ability to, when used properly, command the attention and will of a child, to stop a bad situation in its tracks, and send a shiver down the back even in the most chaotic of moments…it’s called the dad look.
Whether you’ve given the look or received the look, you know the power it holds! No words need to be said in order to understand the weight and severity of the dad look. Pastor Eric shares a hilarious reflection of a time when Pastor Jeff was dishing out the dad look to his own children at a restaurant in The Look of a Father that is so relatable!
The point being, this look says more than words could ever say; it displays the expression, the countenance, and the tone of a father. With just a look, dad’s can communicate their pride, their love, their care, their happiness, and even correction and discipline.
Now…Think about how God looks at us…
In the passage we looked at above, we read a story about a woman with a horrific disease that qualified her as “unclean” according to Jewish law. This means that she was an outcast from society because she was unable to touch or be touched by anyone. She was rejected and suffered for 12 years, trying everything she could to eradicate her illness.
She didn’t know much about Jesus–wasn’t a follower or disciple of Him–but she had heard about His ability to heal through the grapevine and stories of others He helped. To her surprise, Jesus came to town on a mission to heal another man.
Sometimes, desperate situations call for desperate acts. Sometimes, great faith requires great risk. Despite knowing that she was not to be amongst society, the woman pushed through the crowd and reached out with a touch of faith. When she touches the hem of Jesus’ garment, she is immediately healed. Check out what happens next…
First, Jesus looked to “see her”
Like we see in our foundational passage, Jesus immediately feels the power of God released from His body and stops to see who touched Him. The woman was fearful of the repercussions of breaking the law and prepared for legal punishment from Jesus. Instead, Jesus looked to see her and told her to go in peace and be healed of her affliction.
Here’s the key: Jesus wasn’t simply physically seeing her in the flesh, standing before Him; He perceived her, knew and experienced her, understood what she was dealing with. The woman looked to Jesus expecting condemnation and rejection but was met with a Jesus who loves her with all His heart and He expressed that to her with the look in His eyes.
Just like the woman in this story, Jesus looks at us and says, “I see you and understand the pain you’ve been experiencing. I see the loneliness and the physical damage in your body. Even more than that, I see the damage to your soul, your desperation. But I also see your courage and your faith.”
He embraces us and reminds us that He’s come to bring a new kingdom where we find value and hope in His eyes. So much can be said with a simple look!
2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
In the face of Jesus–the countenance in His look–God puts Jesus on the woman to have an encounter with both the power of God and the look of God. We are to look at others the way our Heavenly Father looks at us as His children–with love and acceptance and affirmation. God sees us–the good, the bag, and the ugle–and chooses to love us anyway because we are His children and He loves us. That’s good news on a Father’s Day Sunday!
Discussion:
How has being truly seen by someone–a parent, a spouse, a friend–made you feel? What impact has the depth of that look had on you?
How can you look at others the way Jesus looked at the woman of blood?
Secondly, Jesus calls her “daughter”
When Jesus asked “Who touched Me?,” imagine what the crowd was thinking. How would Jesus react? What is He going to say to this woman who broke the law? She would have been used to being downgraded and called “woman” as she had little place in society. Because of her issues and rejection from the community, she had probably been called much worse than that, too.
Jesus chooses to call her daughter. That’s family language! With just one word, Jesus restored what was broken. Yes, her healing took place physically in her body, butJesus also ensured that His words would heal things within the woman that no one could see.
Jesus affirms her and presents her with a new identity. She was no longer “the woman of blood,” defined by her problems. She was a child of God, a daughter of the Heavenly Father.
1 John 3:1 (NKJV) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Jesus’ look toward this woman displays his affirmation and Jesus’ words toward this woman displays His acceptance. We have an amazing Heavenly Father who has actually adopted us into His own family, giving us the privilege of sonship and to be called His daughter. He’s made us one of His kids and accepted us in Him!
Discussion:
What does it mean to you to be a child of God?
How has the Heavenly Father’s love for you changed the way you parent your children?
How do you feel affirmed by Jesus? What does it mean to be accepted by Him?
We have a Father in heaven who loves us and calls us His own. He loves us and brings healing where there is hurt. He restores brokenness so that we are no longer defined by our faults and shortcomings. Our Father is a God of love and affirmation and acceptance. Praise the Lord!
Prayer:
Father, we love you. As we look at both parts of our Father’s Day message, we pray that You would speak to us through your word and our Pastor’s teachings. THank you for the joy taht we have in you! Help us, Lord, to be encouraged by our Heavenly Father as we continue through our weeks striving to walk, talk, look, and live more and more like Jesus. It’s in your holy name that we pray, Amen!
