Sermon Notes 6/18 – Father’s Day

First Service – Pastor Jeff Queen

Take Up Your Stones

3 Ways to point or Family and Friends  to Jesus 
We all have influence over others, people are drawn to a life led by Jesus
  • I refuse to lose the battle
  • I refuse to let the enemy have his way
  • I refuse to let the enemy have my family
  • I refuse to let the enemy have this Church
  • We are on the winning side.
Joshua 4: 1-3, 6-7
 Recognize your need for Jesus  
The purpose of this memorial was so that the people of Israel could teach their children about the great things God had done; so that the work of God would not be forgotten among the generations.
Men and Women of God, we need to start taking up our stones:
Recognize your need for Jesus  ( at this point it took 40 years in the wilderness for the Children of Israel to Recognize)
We will never be good enough, smart enough, never make enough money or have enough free time…. Our only hope is JESUS
At this Point, the Israelites already seen a river parted, the generation before them saw miracles, But they still
  • Complained
  • Got angry at God
  • And worshiped other idols…. Sound familiar?
Remember this: God has brought you out of something to bring you somewhere not for you to be praised but for Him to receive the Glory
The difficulty for us is that living with God requires sinless perfection, and none of us is perfect, nor will we be
We need the Savior, Jesus, because we need to be made holy:
Isaiah 43:7
We are all hand crafted and made for His Glory…
Our recognizing the Need for Jesus makes us dependent on Him therefore producing
a Trusting Relationship
a Surrendering relationship
The good and perfect will for you who were created in His image
HOW DID THEY GET THEIR LAND?
The Israelites were not to obtain this promised land by human force….giving themselves credit but the lord had them do things that were not the norm Why?
He would get the Glory.
Let your life be a reflection of God’s Glory
Show the people around you that you really do need Jesus (too many people in the world are trying to do it on their own)
Plus there is something really attractive about a man that surrenders fully to Jesus
  1. Realize What the Lord has done 
Not sure if its a man thing but I know I have a tendency to look at:
  • What I don’t have
  • The opportunities that I had missed
  • My shortcomings and failures
Men want to have the Fastest, loudest, strongest…. They want to win….
We can be naturally negative
I can easily forget my blessings and think about the negative
There is a reason that God told Joshua to specifically Collect 12 stones, for the 12 individuals over the 12 tribes
God is in the details…..
 Joshua 4:21-24
When your ” Children ask their Fathers”….. as a father, God has instructed me to:
Share in the goodness of God
Share in the Testimonies
Answer questions with real truth…
I encourage you Fathers, mothers, Children of God to always share what the Lord has done
My children have not grown up knowing us to
  • speak of the dumb things that other christians have said or done
  • the times people hurt of offended us
  • the times we were manipulated or lied to…… That stuff happens with Humans
They heard about the miracles, the breakthrough, the healings, the times when at 11:59, God came through 
We are all walking talking Miracles 
I suggest you write things down…
Recognize what the Lord has done in your life, write it down and share with everyone. ( Jesus gets the glory, people are impacted) 
The last part of that scripture is my favorite, “that you may fear the Lord your God [a]forever.”
Here we are today remembering the stones…… as I speak this word, it increases our faith
  1. Practice obeying the Lord 
God has an order, We want to do it our way
The Israelites finally reached their land:
  • There was death
  • disobedience
  • Hardship
  • Frustration
They had to be broken, broken of their want to do it their own way…
How was this proven?…. The city was not given over by guns, fighting, the strength of Real Men….
It was given over by Marching, shouting and playing instruments
I am sure that when the Lord asked Joshua to do it this way, he had to be thinking (is God serious about this?)
When they were asked to take up 12 stones, they may have asked the same question.
When men followed the Direct commands of God, no matter how non-conventional it seemed, THEY WON
Ladies and Gentlemen, We serve a God that is not of this world, His ways are not our ways
We need to step out of the conventional ways and follow the Ways of the Lord
I can’t help but to read that scripture and see the word Forever…. Forever is a long time
Our decisions can affect us forever
I want these decisions that are made to be the ones that God directed
How do we allow this to happen?
  • Pray daily
  • Read His word
  • Seek the Lord with your whole heart
  • Be desperate for that word
  • When you hear from the Lord, be quick to listen and be obedient
Let our obedience point to Christ

Second Service – Pastor Tony Salerno

Title “Dad” Scripture reference Romans 8:15

1.  Get right with dear old Dad
2.  Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you
3.  The principles of Honor and forgiveness are very similar
4.  When you practice honor and forgiveness not only is the principle of sowing and reaping in operation you are letting go of bitterness and all grudges
5.  Move past the victim mentality
6.  Be the Right Dad
7. 1st Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ
8.  Be an example of Jesus in your home
9. Don’t do as I do, do as I say, is not a practice that works
10.  Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it
11.  Develop an appetite for the things of God within your children
12 Get right with your Heavenly Father
13 Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you have received a spirit of Adoption as Sons b which we cry out ABBA FATHER!
14 You are adopted into His family  you are a son or daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ

Third Service – Pastor Dave Avery

The Battle is the Lord’s, The Race is Yours

“The race is bigger than the battle.” -Grandson Jack Peterson

1 Samuel 17:47  “…the battle is the Lord’s.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Paul uses athletic imagery to describe the Christian life.

1) Run to win.

-Contend for the prize

-Have self-control in all things

2) Stay on course.

-Run with purpose

-Don’t allow battles to distract you

3) Run with endurance. (Hebrews 12:1)

-Training

-Discipline

4) Fight with focus. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

– You are not fighting your wife

– You are not fighting your kids

5) Finish strong. (Acts 20:24)

Don’t quit! Don’t give up!

How you start doesn’t matter if you don’t finish well.

Don’t look for a pacemaker, look to the Pacesetter!

Hebrews 6:20, 12:2