Your Father Knows
Sermon on the Mount Series
8-6-17
Matthew 6:8 (ESV)
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Concerning the title “Father”
πατήρ=PATER=Father
Ἀββᾶ=ABBA=Pappa
Galatians 4:6 (ESV)
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Fathers provide 5 things:
Love
Acceptance
Intimacy
Security
Affirmation
If you have an angry, judgmental god, you’ll be a rigid, judgmental, and addicted because you won’t understand God’s grace
Behavior is based on belief not knowledge- What I think I believe
Romans 12:1–2
“God is not a magician. He’s not waving some magical wand. God is saying, “Here’s the process of renewing your mind.” Becoming a part of the family of God, being a believer in Christ, there is something that happens instantaneously. But then the Bible says our mind has to be renewed.” —Paul Cole
Fathers That Lie About God
Don’t love graciously unconditionally
Don’t Accept
Distant- This is the distant “clockmaker” god of the deists- Thomas Jefferson
Insecurity- Yelling, threats, coerce, manipulate
No affirmation only criticism
John 15:9
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
John 17:23
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
His love is unconditional and unfailing, and it always works for our ultimate good, even at great cost to himself (Psalm 100:5; Roman 8:28, 32).
Psalm 100:5
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:32
Romans 8:15–17
His love does not hurt us or demand of us what we should not give, like abusive perversions of love. He does not manipulate us with fear.
My Heavenly Father wants to heal my father wounds
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
“From what planet or what world does this kind of love come?” Where does this love come from???
The kind of love that has been LAVISHED on us=That we should be called the children of God
No one would say it’s inauthentic for an athlete to practice shooting drills or extra sprints just because they were not in the midst of a game.
We understand that it’s about shaping ourselves to be the kind of player — and the kind of person — that we should be for the real thing, with the desired mindset and behaviors that will automatically take over in the heat of the big moment.
Change trajectory
1)- Talk to God about how you feel about Him. He can handle it. He already knows anyway. He also knows Himself.
2)- Don’t be afraid to get some counseling. We are blessed at Cornerstone right now. We have tested resources available in this area
3)-Tell someone/others in the church about this and ask for prayer and understanding. This is the power of relationships in the body of Christ and also small groups.
There are no good guys and gals. There are only Graced Guys and Gals.
“Emotional wounds typically come from three sources.
1)Things people do to us.
2)Things people take from us.
3)Our own sins.”
We’ve been wounded by the fall. We’ve been wounded by our own sin and by the sin of others. Here are my choices. I can either get into a process of spiritual healing of those wounds and receive the fullness and abundance of intimate relationships with people, or I can refuse to experience healing, keep people at a distance, and try to medicate the pain. -Dr. James Reeves
To call God “Father” means, then, that he is near to us, intimately concerned with us, fond of us, crazy about us.