Who's Your Daddy?

Who’s your Daddy?

Romans 8:12-17

According to one expert children go through 4 stages of dealing with their fathers. In stage one, they call you da-da. In stage 2 they grow and call you daddy. As they mature and reach stage 3 they call you dad. Finally in stage 4 they call you collect....

So the title of my sermon is who’s your daddy? Or “Who do you call your dad?” you could say. You have your earthly dad. Some to which you are proud to call them your dad. I am so proud of my own father. Sense he has started that little church in Rupert, God has restored His strength in dad and I’ve never seen him happier. People are getting saved. He has to keep the baptism full all the time. Lives are being changed and God is using my dad to do it. I’m proud to call him my dad.

But then you have some earthly dads who leave their kids and never have anything to do with them. They don’t want to pay child support. They want nothing to do in the child’s life. When a child has a dad like that, their reply to the question of who’s your daddy is I don’t have one.

Some kids do not even know who their father is. Even their own moms are even not for sure, they may have had multiple partners or maybe went to some party and passed out.

So who’s your daddy? Whether you have a good relationship or not with your earthly father is not my point today, because you can always have a great relationship with my Heavenly Father. And that is what I want to spend a little time this morning to look at Him and the example He sits for us earthly fathers as well.

So lets start by allowing me just to brag a little on my Heavenly Father. Let’s start by talking about …

The Example He gives

What an example He gave to all of us, both fathers and everyone else. When you think about fathers, maybe yours was not much of an example. But you have to remember that He is not like a father; He is the Father! If you want to know what a true father looks like, don’t look at your earthly father, or my earthly father, or anyone other earthly father, no matter how good or bad they might appear. So what are some of His characteristics that He left for us to follow?

1. Great Fathers love unconditionally.

No matter what you do, or no matter how many times that you do it. Nothing can take His love away from you. Whether you are here this morning and a child of God or if you are sinner bound for hell, He loves you and nothing can change that.

Now like earthly fathers, we can loose fellowship with Him, but His love always remains. And that is the way we should be with our kids as well. They need to know that our love for them is unconditional.

2. Great Fathers put their children first.

To often in recent times, fathers get their priorities messed up. They want to be dads when it is convenient for them. They have there own hobbies and their own needs. But I always tell new parents, you no longer have a life. Your life now revolves around your child. And that was the way that Jesus was. He was always putting the needs of others before His own.

3. Great Fathers look out for their children’s future.

We plan and save for their education. We try to lead and guide them in making the right decisions. And while we should be concerned with those things, we should be more concerned with their eternal future.

Our time here on this earth is short. We should make sure that we are sitting the right example in front of them. We should not just take them to church and expect the church to show them how to have a relationship with God, we should live that relationship in front of them. Jesus desire was for everyone to be able to call Him, Father.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count as slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.

He is concerned about our future. His desire is for all to have a personal relationship with Him.

So those are just a few of the examples that He gives us, now lets just look at a few things about…

Our Father

When Jesus was teaching us to pray; He starts out with the words, “Our Father in heaven”. These are some of the most well known words in the bible. Most can quote at least the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer. And what a privilege to be able to address our mighty maker in this way. “Our Father”.