God, as we celebrate those who have led us, who have guided us, who have given us structure,
direction, or God, we ask that you would continue to point us to who you are, because you are
our True Father, the one who continues to shine in the darkness, even at the times when
we struggle. We thank you that your love never fails. In Jesus Christ, amen.
Howdy. Well, now, at least the phone ringer was in the right key with the band, okay?
So at least that part is great. Happy Father's Day, everybody. How are you all today?
Yeah, I know. Now, let me check, though. All right. Are you all going to lunch afterwards?
You're going to take your father and all the children are paying with their own money,
right? Yeah, yeah. Let's check and see how many ties and how many wallets will be given
out over the next week. It should be good. But today, what a day to be able to celebrate
fathers. And I want to make sure that I also remember that in celebrating Father's Day,
we know that there are a lot of people who also serve in that capacity, those who are
uncles, brothers, grandparents, those who are mentors and teachers, and even at times
whenever single parents need to serve in both roles in a family, is that there is this parent
that ends up providing so much of what guides us and lead us in our future. See, the thing
is, is that fathers in so many ways are the ones who plant the seeds of what we end up
prioritizing in our lives, the ones who help us to find structure for who we are, and the
ones who help us in becoming who we're meant to be, or sometimes show us the people that
we're trying not to be. I promised myself as a child that my jokes would be much better
than my father's someday, and I have proven myself wrong. They are terrible. They are
terrible. My father's legacy lives on and always will. But the thing with this is that
when we discover how influential fathers really are in our lives, we also realize what a responsibility
that truly is. You see, it turns out that if you were to actually look at children and
identify whether they will or will not, stay in their faith or be worshiping in church regularly,
the biggest indicator is their fathers. Two thirds to three fourths of children, whether
they do or do not, stay in their faith and continue in worship, is based directly on
their fathers and what they do. This is not just something to feel as a weight, but rather
is a hope and a joy, because so much can be transformed by the love of fathers for their
children. Now, I have to say, though, is that oftentimes when we see what fathers are teaching
us, it can sometimes be a little bit tricky in what they do, because fathers, they're
trying to figure it out just like everybody else. For example, when it's time for fathers
to teach their children how to ride a bicycle. Now, my father taught me how to ride a bike
just like others may have. Now, you may have in your mind that scene in any movie where
the father is holding the back of the seat, right, and you're running along and you're
running along and the child's pedaling and then the father lets go. And then after a
little bit, the child realizes, I'm riding my bike, I'm riding my bike, and the dad says,
you're doing great, you're doing great, and the kid is so overjoyed. That is a huge lie.
Absolutely not. Because as soon as I realized what was going on, and I fell right over it,
I'm like, dad, you betrayed me. And I ran in. I did not touch that bike for like at least
a year. I'm like, no, my dad betrayed me. I cannot trust him. Absolutely not. Absolutely
not. Oh, man, what's up with fathers? But what ends up happening? My dad gets me back
out there, and I'm like, dad, are you going to let go of that seat again? He's like, when
you're ready? Yes, I will. And I've been riding my bike ever since. The thing is, though,
I'd say that I had kind of ridden my bike a little ways, and I fell over. Even though
I'd been pedaling on my own. But at that moment, I was like, oh no, my father's not there.
Would I technically be able to say that I knew how to ride my bike? Just from that one
moment, never getting back on it again. That question is something that was on my mind
in looking at Mark chapter four. You see, we're talking a little bit about the parable
of the seeds. But you see earlier in there, there's a context. Jesus had been talking
about the parable of the sower. And one of the things that's interesting about this is
that looking at this parable, it can genuinely cause us to have concern about faith. You
see, in it, there are these seeds that are being sown. And some of the seeds, depending
on where they go, may or may not do well. You see, some of the seeds, they're being
sown and they're eaten. And it turns out that for some, the Word of God is proclaimed
and nothing comes of it. Or for others, it says that the seed produces joy. And yet,
those very people will fall away, the ones that are withered as they grow up. And then
there are others that are choked because of the thorns and they don't end up bearing
any fruit. But this passage ends up asking a very difficult question. Does this mean
that a person can hear the Word and come to faith, but then lose their faith? And subsequently
lose salvation? Now, when I say this, I know that many of you who are here, you've already
got different thoughts in your head, different ideas, different views of this. Because the
church for centuries has debated this question in a lot of ways. And what's difficult is
that Scripture actually does have examples that may prove one way or the other. There
are some passages that say, like in John 10, 28, 29, no one can snatch us out of Christ's
hand. Or Romans 11, 29, that talks about God's gifts and his calling are irrevocable. You
can't lose them. Or John 6, 39, I shall lose none of those whom God has given me. But then
there are other passages, like Hebrews 6, those who are enlightened and having the Holy
Spirit can fall away. Hebrews 10, if we keep on sinning after learning the truth, then
there is judgment. Galatians 5, people falling from grace because they believe in a different
gospel. Or 1 Corinthians 9, Hebrews 12, James 1, 12, needing to persevere in the faith in
order to have the crown of life. It becomes this difficult question that leads people
to ask, once saved, always saved? See, that statement, once saved, always saved, it actually
did not originate here. You see, in reality, that idea that if you got saved at some point
in your life, but then later stopped believing that, well, if this is real, then therefore
everything else doesn't matter. It actually originated way, way back. You see, there was
this view that God only chose some people to be saved. And other people, God created
in order to be damned. And I say that because I'm hoping that we have taught you enough
by now to know that that is not what we teach here. But you see, teachers like Augustine
and then later John Calvin, they were spending all this time trying to figure out, is it
you? Are you saved? Are you one of the elect? Are you not? And in so doing, it was this idea
that if you could at least hear them say it one time that they believed in Jesus that now,
oh, you've just proven that you're one of them. But in order to go that route, we would
have to believe that God's love, the love of a father, did not really want to save all
of us. Could you imagine what it is to believe that the father would not love all of his
children? With that, though, is that that makes me wonder sometimes about how much we are
just desperate to hope that God still loves us even at the times when we feel far away.
See, there was some years back, you know, long, long, long time ago when I was a young
buck in my mid-thirties, not the old fart that you see in front of you today. Hey, I'm
shaving this beard. There's way too much white in it. I'm just, I don't know where that came
from. But with it, though, is I was getting ready to go to China. And I was talking to
my parents on the phone, and I called my dad, and I was letting him know that I was going
to China. And he was very concerned for good reason. But as I talked with him about what
the plans were and how things would work out while I'm there, but also how it was going
to be a part of my career and moving forward, and I felt like this is a chance to be able
to move forward as a person as well. And he heard it, and he said, you know, I understand,
son. You know, I'll be praying for you, and I hope that all goes well. Let me know how
I can help. I did not realize at that moment how much I needed my dad's approval. I was
in my thirties, and I was still looking to my dad because the weight lifted. See, that's
the thing about this debate and this question is that while we may question about, can we
abandon God? Well, we can abandon God. But God will never abandon us. See, that's the
thing about this is that God is not forcing us to be in his kingdom. God wants us in his
kingdom and has made the way. But he's not willing to force that on anyone. And because
of his word, he gives us the freedom to follow him. See, that's the thing about this is that
we made debate this idea that if someone, maybe somebody said that they believed in Jesus,
but they didn't really believe in him enough, or after all, and then later on they're just
expressing that they don't believe because they never did. But then there are others
who might say, well, but maybe they really did believe, but they allowed everything else
to distract and to pull them away. And the answer is, I have no idea. Because I am not
God and I can't look in anyone's heart. Neither can you. But in reality is that it doesn't
as much matter what we look to in the past as much as today is the question to you today.
Do you believe in Jesus as your savior? Do you want to follow him? Because with all of
these different debates is that the struggle that we want to look at and take seriously
is how so many times when we lose sight of the father, we don't spend the time hearing
his word and listening to his spirit. Because that's the thing about our life of faith is
that that seed is meant to be grown and nourished and fed. We are meant to stay in God's word
to continue to grow in that and that as God's spirit is speaking to us, is that we are listening
and saying, yes, God, I know that I need to hear you. Because maybe there is something
that we continue to struggle with. Some sin, some failure, something that it is that we
keep trying to justify in our minds, but God is saying, no, I need you to let that go because
that keeps pulling you away from me. And that's a piece about what we see about the love of
the father. Because fathers, your legacy matters. You see, oftentimes what we'll end up doing
is kind of deciding, okay, I have to get this thing done. And then after that, everything's
okay. As long as I can get up to this point, and then everything's okay. I got my child
baptized. Okay, great, awesome. Good luck. Hope everything goes well. Good job. Or, oh,
my child got confirmed. They said that they believe in Jesus. Okay, great, awesome. Okay,
now go get a job and go figure out life. Okay, I don't care if you're 14. Come on, come on.
The world's expensive. I need you to get out there. Let's go. There is no cutoff point
where the father no longer matters to the child. And that's a responsibility that we
need to hear. But it's also a joy that we get to hear. Because fathers, that seed that
is sprouting, is still growing and looking to you for where to go. As much as our society
may oftentimes dismiss and downplay the importance of fathers where we have images and ideas
of the bumbling dad who doesn't get stuff right, your words, your lives, your actions
matter. And not just whether or not you've brought this child to know who Jesus is, but
are they now going to do the same with their children as well? Because that's what we end
up seeing here in this question is not do we worry about once saved, always saved, but
rather right here right now. What is the faith that you see? And what is the word that is
strengthening you today? And that is my challenge to you. But at the end of the day, you know
as well as I do that you're going to stumble. You know as well as I'm due that you're going
to have the times when you're like, well, I raised my voice a little bit too much today.
For man, I really did exactly what I told my kids not to do. Or oh boy, I really wish
nobody had seen that. But here's the thing about faith. Like a mustard seed. That peace,
that faith that God has planted in you is what grows. We don't know how. We don't have all
the answers. We don't get it all the time. But God is still working in you. The frail,
flawed, imperfect, sometimes small person that you may feel like you are. But the people
around you need you. And so for you, my words are that God's salvation is still yours. And
that God's spirit is still speaking to you and has plans for you. So wherever you may
find yourself today, I hope that you find yourself in God's word and that his spirit
is speaking to you. May you live it out so that others can see the Father's love through
yours. Happy Father's Day and thank you for all that you do. Thanks be to God.