REWIND
The podcast "REWIND" features a collection of past sermons from Organic Church. Each episode takes listeners on a journey through the teachings and messages delivered during previous worship services. The content is a retrospective look at the spiritual guidance and insights shared by Pastor Michael and visiting guests!
Listeners can expect to revisit powerful sermons, meaningful scriptures, and impactful messages that have been shared in the past. The podcast aims to provide a convenient and accessible way for the church community and new audiences to engage with the timeless wisdom and spiritual teachings presented during earlier sermons.
Whether it's a reflection on a particular theme, a series of teachings, or a selection of sermons covering various topics, "REWIND" offers an opportunity for individuals to deepen their understanding of the faith and find inspiration in the timeless messages.
The podcast may also include commentary or reflections on the historical context of each sermon and how it continues to resonate with the present-day congregation.
REWIND
Our Father's Legacy (June 15, 2025)
What makes a father truly impactful? Is it the practical skills he passes down, or something deeper?
Drawing from the unexpected metaphor of assembling patio furniture, this episode explores the profound difference between building things and building hearts. Just as inadequate tools can't properly construct furniture, superficial approaches to fatherhood can't create lasting character in our children.
Every father possesses powerful tools that shape their children's futures—influence, strength, discipline, and guidance. The way we wield these tools determines whether we're constructing something that will endure or something that will quickly collapse under life's pressures. When examining scripture like Proverbs 22:6, we discover that directing children onto the right path requires discernment about life's many deceptive routes and unexpected obstacles.
The challenge of discipline emerges as a particularly crucial skill. As Proverbs 3:12 reveals, "the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." Correction flowing from delight creates understanding rather than resentment. This perspective transforms how we approach difficult conversations with our children.
Perhaps most significantly, we explore how integrity shapes legacy. "The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them." Children might ignore our words, but they never miss observing our actions. Through personal stories of parenting triumphs and failures, we see how even imperfect fathers can create godly impacts.
For every man wondering about his impact as a father, three essential questions emerge: Are you building a strong home? Are you building a legacy of faith? Are you building hearts that seek God? Your answers will shape not just your children's lives but generations to come.
Connect with us to share your own fatherhood journey and discover resources to strengthen your parenting approach.
Emmett, you're bending your knee like a normal kid today. He was walking like this for two days. I was like he just likes the attention. Oh, it had to hurt. Like, listen, I'm telling you, I can put the picture up on the screen if you guys want to see it. No, there are a lot of you that would not like to see that. I promise you, I could have probably taken these three fingers and stuck it in his knee. I mean, just peeled. It was gross. It was gross.
Speaker 1:I told the doctor when they came in to stitch it up. I didn't mind looking at the wound, but I wasn't about to watch him put the stitches in. And I said to the doctor I said listen, I can handle a lot of things. I'm not going to watch you do the stitches. He said good, thank you. I've picked more than one dad up off the floor who thought he was tough enough to watch. It's not the stitches that get me, it's the rolling of the skin. It doesn't look like your body should be able to do those things right, like anyhow. It was rough but he's good, he's healthy now we're happy Guys.
Speaker 1:Well, mike, you can't answer this question because you do it for a living. Yes, you do this for a living, so you can't. How many of you men here have had to build furniture in your house at some point or another? I'm not talking like put legs on. I'm like those bookshelves that are 73,000 pieces, but it really should only be four. Anybody ever built Ikea furniture? Okay, they do have pictures but no words and nothing ever lines up the way that it's supposed to. It is always a challenge to build Ikea furniture, but yesterday my wife, because she loves me so very much, bought a new patio set that had to be assembled. Bought a new patio set that had to be assembled. How many floors did you have left over? Well, see, there's a pack that said extras. I had to use some of those. So I was a little nervous. Let's just say I wasn't the first one to sit on it. We let everybody else sit on it first. If it's going to go to the ground, it's somebody else's problem.
Speaker 1:But while I was building it I thought man, it only this kind of project only works when you have the right tools. Amen, listen, they give you this little tiny Allen wrench that you can't actually get a full spin on inside of the spot that they want. And then they gave you this little thin. It's not even a wrench, it's a flat piece of metal with a U-shape carved out of it to hold the other side of the nut. It wasn't working. So you know what I did Got the impact out right, because we're gonna put this sucker together. It ain't coming back, apart A little bit of Loctite on the back of the.
Speaker 1:My point is, as I was building, that I realized I could sit here all day and try to use these little tiny tools that they gave me in the box, or I could get the real tools out and do this thing in half the time. Amen, men, right, the real tools. Like we're going to. Like I want to be able to lose a finger while I'm working on this project. I didn't need the sawzall, but I had it out right. Like you never know, like that piece might be too long and hack it off Again.
Speaker 1:I wasn't the first one to sit on it for a reason. I realized that men oftentimes were seen as builders. Right, fathers oftentimes were seen as builders, but we're not just builders of houses and furniture and all of the Christmas time when all of those toys get opened and we sit there for hours on end assembling Barbie's dream house and putting stick in there. Right, we are not the builders of just things, we are the builders of hearts as well. Amen.
Speaker 1:And as I was building that project yesterday, I kept thinking man, it is important that I understand my role as a dad. It's important that I understand my role as a disciple, as a pastor, as a friend, as all of those things, because I have to be the builder of hearts, not just the builder of things. And as I thought about it, I realized that a lot of times we are looking at tools and we're trying to find the right tool, but we have more tools in our tool belt than we realize. We have the tool of influence, the tool of strength, the tool of discipline and the tool of guidance. Amen, dads, a lot of those tools can be hard to use. See, I've had to learn that the tool of discipline cannot be wielded with a heavy hand. That's not fun to say. Right, like Tina Bober and I, we get it right, we get it.
Speaker 1:If your kid comes to my house and your kid misbehaves, your kid's probably going to get whooped. I'm just telling you I look at things differently than most people. We're the neighborhood house. All the kids want to come to our house and hang out. If they're swearing or they're acting a certain way, bounce out. I don't need you here teaching my kids that right. I don't need a 14-year-old girl teaching my daughter how to kiss boys or how to. You know what I mean, right, and so we don't play that game.
Speaker 1:I am the builder of hearts. I have to wield that tool lightly, but I have to do it so that my kids grow up to understand what it is to be responsible, to be faithful and to love Jesus. Amen, above all things, that's what I should be. Listen, your kids need to know how to do math right. Your kids need to know how to read, but above all of that, your kids need to know how to love Jesus. It's important because they can read really, really well and be a mean person, right, they can be fluent in sarcasm, but it doesn't do them any good. In the spirit Amen.
Speaker 1:A hammer can build or it can break, and how a father wields that tool determines the legacy he leaves behind. Amen. So, fathers, you're all going to get out there today and I got everybody new hammers. Now here's the thing. Look, did you need a new hammer. Did you need a new hammer, andrew? You can grab one on your way out. It's okay if you didn't get one yet, you can grab one on your way out.
Speaker 1:But Alva said she wants one of these. I don't want to know why Alva said she wants one of these. I don't want to know why. Maybe she's starting a remodel project that nobody else knows about. But I took these hammers after they arrived and I took them to my mom's house and her and I worked together and we engraved them with Proverbs 23, 24, and it says the father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise, amen. And so I thought what a perfect tool for us men to have in our tool belt. It's a small hammer. It's for around the house, right, this is something that we can carry. But it's important to remember that when we wield that wisdom, that we can either create an amazing legacy or we can do a lot of damage.
Speaker 1:And my question to you is what does your legacy look like today? Mine is probably a mixed bag. You know. I think about what Father's Day means to me and what that looks like, and none of these are in my notes. So we're going to get a little emotional with you guys for just a second. But I realized that my dad and I didn't always have a great relationship and that was hard. Growing up right and as an adult, we served together, we worked together and it's a wonderful experience that we have that ability in life now. And I think about my two oldest boys, who I probably won't even see today, who I probably won't even hear from today. My legacy that I will leave with them is not the legacy that I'm leaving with my other three children, and that doesn't feel fair. But life sometimes is not fair and I will continue to encourage them to simply love Jesus above all things. Listen, sometimes my flesh fails and I know that, but I need everybody in my life, my kids especially, to understand how important it is to love Jesus every day.
Speaker 1:First passage of scripture this morning is Proverbs 22.6. It says direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Amen, direct your children onto the right path. Now, here's the problem. Life is not a single path. There are constant obstacles at every turn. Right, you're going to get down. What you feel like is the straight and narrow and then you're going to have a fork. You're going to find a wide road that looks clear until you start traveling down it, and then it's going to be full of briars and thickets and it's going to get harder and narrower and rougher and it's not going to feel good. That is because you've chosen the wrong path. Right. You've chosen a path of self-righteousness. You've chosen a path of self-destruction. Whatever it may be, it is not the place that God has called you to be. Hence the obstacles where he's trying to stop you. Amen.
Speaker 1:A lot of times we want to give a lot of power to the enemy when those things happen, and I'll tell you that's exactly what happened last Sunday. I stepped into the pulpit and I said the enemy is trying to stop this move of the spirit, but really God was trying to make something great happen Right Now. It's not to say the enemy is trying to stop this move of the spirit, but really God was trying to make something great happen Right Now. It's not to say the enemy wasn't working, but it's saying God is always going to make something good of that challenge. And so when you're on that path and you're experiencing the challenges, you have to stop and say why am I continuing to do this to myself? Why am I not allowing God to move in my life and put me on the straight and narrow A path of clarity, a path of clear direction? Why am I not allowing that? I'm not allowing that because the self-righteous part of me wants to continue to be the dominant part of me. Right? Amen?
Speaker 1:How many of us feel that every day? Right? Sometimes it's self-satisfying, it's self-serving. I don't want to be that way. Sometimes it's self-satisfying, it's self-serving. I don't want to be that way. God, please take that away from me. But I realize that a hammer drives nails with purpose and direction. But that purpose and direction comes from your hands. Amen.
Speaker 1:I set the nail. Roger swings and misses and smashes my thumb. I set the nail where it's supposed to. That's why I don't let him have a hammer anymore. I set the nail, I swing. As long as I hit that nail on the head, that nail is going to go exactly where I told it to go. God operates in the same way. So long as that nail is set in the right place, when he swings it is guaranteed to drive exactly where it has been set to drive. A godly father is intentional in shaping the values and faith of his children. If we direct them onto the right path, they will not stray. That's not to say that they're not listen.
Speaker 1:I'm raising three kids in the church every Sunday, Sometimes Wednesday nights, sometimes Tuesday nights, sometimes Monday nights. Right, my kids will tell you. Are we going to the church again? They think they live here. Their bedrooms are just where they sleep. We are always in this building doing something. If you want to turn up the air because everybody's cold, I'm not, but everybody else is here, hold on, let me turn this bad boy up there. I need my big fan back, not everybody. I'm like, I'm sweating through this shirt, you're comfortable. Well, that's good. Nobody else is Like. People are getting blankets out, so I'll give on this one. It's only 66 degrees in here, almost hang meat.
Speaker 1:I know that it is important for me to shape their lives into loving Jesus, into understanding what service to the kingdom is right Amen. Because service is not just showing up on Sunday morning and singing praise and worship and then headed out at the end of the day. Service is mowing grass. I sent a picture to the young adults one time, and it's always funny when I do this stuff because I do it intentionally. I sent a picture and I was outside push mowing and I was so stinking sweaty and I said sometimes this is what worship looks like. Sometimes worship looks like a bloody fingernail because Roger smashed it with a hammer and like we joke about that stuff. But it's true. If you understood the amount of labor that goes into maintaining a building, you know Al came out and killed all the weeds in our parking lot.
Speaker 1:For us that is worship in a real form, because when you're doing that you're serving the body and you're serving the kingdom, amen. But a lot of times we think worship is simply coming and sitting and listening to a few songs and complaining, really, that we didn't like the songs that were played. Right, I didn't like that song this morning. That song this morning was just, I just couldn't get into it. Listen, not everything is here for you, right? Sometimes you're sitting here and you're like man, I'm feeling convicted. But I'm mad that I was convicted Because, if I right, I'm being convicted, god is speaking to me, but I'm angry about it because I don't want to be called out for that.
Speaker 1:Worship does not always come from the pulpit or from a song. Sometimes worship. Worship is done through service, amen. And so we're teaching that to our kids. Now I said that to say this At 21, my kids are likely going to walk away from the church.
Speaker 1:I'm not speaking that into existence, but I'm looking at it as a reality. Pastors' kids tend to run from the church because they've been raised in it, they've played under the pews, like my kids' DNA are in this building because they live here all the time. And at 21, they're going to walk away from the church, but by 25, they're going to be back in the church and they're going to be really hard to challenge because they were raised in it and they know what it is right, they get it, they understand it. They're not going to walk into a Pentecostal church and be afraid. See, a lot of us show up in a Pentecostal church or show up in a full gospel church and we're afraid of it because we weren't raised with it right, god didn't teach us or we didn't come to learn what God would do in our lives. I'm telling you as fathers, as the leaders of your houses, ladies, some of you, ladies, I'm talking to you. There's some single moms in here, whatever the case may be, but I'm talking to you just as much. It is important for us to understand that we are raising godly children. Every day we are raising godly children and we should be encouraging them to be in the house.
Speaker 1:Emmett used to mow the grass at the church all the time. It was when I could bring him I can't bring him now. When I could bring him to mow the grass, he did that every week for free. When I could bring him to mow the grass, he did that every week for free. And he did that because he felt like that was what he was supposed to do. That's what he was called to do. That's important, guys. There are grown adults who can't do that. There are grown adults who can't understand what service is right. And I could go through the list of things that we wanna get done. You know we need to pressure wash. We need to. It's still still got weeds growing. I don't think we're ever going to kill them all, are we, al? I think we could set the parking lot on fire and those suckers are still going to grow.
Speaker 1:There are so many things that need to be done around the building and if I say those things, people are like oh yeah, I'll come and help. But then we get here and everybody's standing around talking Marcus and I were just talking about that we don't really get anything done about that. We don't really get anything done. Do you know how desperately this building needs a real good, deep, clean, walls washed, toilets scrubbed? You know what I mean? Like we can only do so much every week. But the thing is is, even when we do it, if our hearts aren't in it for the service, if it's to make Pastor Michael happy, right. If it's to do it so that he'll stop complaining about it, you're not doing it for the right reason.
Speaker 1:Listen, I said to church council. I said listen, pastor Roger, and I have a big project coming up. I'm going to need lots of. I need lots of prayer for help and I said I need to. We need people to help mow the grass, just so we can make sure it's maintained. Marcus does a fantastic job, but he's also working full-time and has a family at home. Miss Teresa says teach me how to mow, I'll do it. Listen, that ain't fun work. But if she wants to do it, we'll let her do it, won't we, marcus? Put her out back. She can't even hit nothing with that mower right. That's big open field. You can get stuck. You can get stuck. This will be easy. This is a breeze.
Speaker 1:Then my point is if we can all come together and understand what it is to serve as our children, see, that our children walk into service and ministry right. Because let me ask, you know, children's ministry is always dicey, and that's not just our church, it is every church. I was talking to a mega church pastor and he said listen, we can't get enough volunteers. He said you have a small church. You only have a handful of kids. You've got small classrooms. He said it feels like a struggle for you. And he goes. You look at us and you say oh well, they've got 75 volunteers, he's like but we've got 14 classes four Sundays a month and we have to have three to four volunteers in each of those classrooms. It looks on the outside like because they have more volunteers in each of those classrooms. It looks on the outside like because they have more volunteers, it's easier, but they also have more kids.
Speaker 1:They're struggling with the exact same thing that we are, and my question is this why are we struggling with it if every one of us sitting here know that that generation is the next generation of the church. Why are we struggling with children's ministry if we know that we are all old and going to die someday? Amen, yes, willing to admit that that at some point my body is going to give out If we don't train these children? What happens to the next generation of children? What happens to the next? If we are called to lead our children onto the path of righteousness, why are we not willing to do that in the house of God? Why are we not Everybody's like we got a couple of people? Hey man, those are us with kids. Right, because we know it takes a village.
Speaker 1:We can't do it by ourselves because we can't be everywhere all the time. I wish sometimes, no, I don't wish I could be everywhere all the time. We caught Easton playing in a mud puddle the other day. Now, listen, kids will be kids, right, I want him to get dirty to play. The problem is the mud puddle the other day. Now, listen, kids will be kids. Right, I want him to get dirty to play. The problem is the mud puddle was in somebody's yard and he's digging a freaking hole in the mud. He comes home he's covered head to toe in mud. It's in his ears. Alyssa hosed him off outside. You ain't coming in until you're clean, right? He gets in the shower, he gets out. There's still mud in his hair in his ears. I'm like you're just going to have to be an outside kid now. I don't know what else to do, so I don't want to be everywhere all the time. But if I could split myself to continue to teach these kids and children, that would be my heart's desire, because I know that we need to do better to raise this generation so the next generation has some hope. Amen, amen. Okay. What passage of scripture was that? That was 22.6? Okay.
Speaker 1:So here's what I want you to think about. Envision this have any of you ever built a tree house or maybe a fort out of pallets or something fun like that? You have Great. Well, I would say as a dad, because the idea is did your dad help you build that? No, you did it all by yourself. Oh, that's probably a fire hazard. Then Use extension cords to plug stuff in. That's how we do it here.
Speaker 1:Imagine building something like that as a father with your children. It teaches more than just skills and how to build right. It teaches them patience, it teaches them trust. It teaches them how important it is to start or to finish what you start. Amen. Those projects are important for a reason. However, you as a father are not teaching simple life skills when you're teaching your child how to be patient, how to be kind.
Speaker 1:I probably said six times yesterday while I was building that furniture I hate doing this stuff. And Emmett started counting and I was like I couldn't figure out what he was doing the first time. He's like one, two, three. I'm like what are you counting? He's like how many times you say you hate doing? This Sounds funny because I really do hate doing it, but it is a service to my wife. I didn't see my wife all night last night. She spent the entire evening on that patio set out on the back porch. I went out and sat with her for a while. She was out there long after I had gone to bed.
Speaker 1:It is important that we speak life. Listen. There are things in life I simply don't want to do right. But if I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength, then I can build a patio furniture without swearing, without saying I hate it right, and teaching my kids the importance of serving people you love right. That's hard Because when you're serving people that you love sometimes you're serving people even when you're mad at them, right, even when you're frustrated with them. Listen, my wife makes me dinner every night and most nights. She probably don't like me. She hasn't once poisoned me. She hasn't once withheld dinner from me because I've made her mad. That is love right, and we are teaching something that is intangible you can't touch. Teaching somebody how to love well, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 3.12,. It says for the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. I want to point out that it says a child in whom he delights. So, as a father, if you are willing to correct your child, that means you delight in that child right? That means I want you to live life to the fullest. Living life to the fullest does not mean being reckless and being haphazard. Living life to the fullest means understanding rewards and consequences. You know we live in a world that wants to give participation awards to everybody, right, like, just because you show up, you get an award. That's not how it works. When we went bowling as a group the other weekend, I wasn't about to get an award, for the best bowler was I, marcus? I probably wasn't even. How many of us were there? Five, six, something like that. Five of us. I probably wasn't in the top five.
Speaker 1:Life cannot be. Life has to. Our kids have to understand that in life, not everything is handed to you, that in life, hard work is rewarded. Listen, if you're trying, I'm excited for you and I'm going to support you in that trying, but work is rewarded. Listen, if you're trying, I'm excited for you and I'm gonna support you in that trying, but results are rewarded amen. You are rewarded when you give your life to Jesus. You are rewarded when you know that he is your Lord and savior, when you learn to worship correctly, in spirit and in truth, not just hands raised and singing a song right In spirit and in truth. When you can give over your life to something that you can't see. There's reward in that, and that reward doesn't come on earth. You're not getting a bag of money just because you follow Jesus. Some of us like to think that that because I follow Jesus, life will be easy. That's not how this works. You will be rewarded in heaven. Your riches are stored up there. You are teaching your children that every single day.
Speaker 1:I look at that passage of scripture, for the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. When the Lord corrects us, how do we handle that? Because it's called conviction. Right, and we just talked about it. I'm feeling convicted, but now I'm angry because I don't want to have to change. Conviction isn't correction. There is a difference. Right, when your pastor says to you that's not okay, that's correction. But when the Holy Spirit speaks to you and says that's not okay, that's called conviction. But when the Holy Spirit speaks to you and says that's not okay, that's called conviction. I'm going to tell you you better listen to the Holy Spirit a lot faster than you listen to me, because I'm going to tell you. I say it, you get offended, you get mad, whatever. I don't care. I don't care, because if the Holy Spirit is telling me you need to correct them. That's what I'm going to do, amen.
Speaker 1:But when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and to your heart and you're not listening to him, you're in trouble, because that means that your ears, your spiritual ears, have been turned off and you're not interested in what God would have in your life. Listen, all good things come from God. He's not giving you bad things. So when he tells you, hey, you need to stop smoking, you need to stop smoking. When he tells you, hey, stop talking about those people, you need to stop talking. And it should be as soon as you hear, uh-uh, nope, even if you're in the middle of the conversation. It needs to stop.
Speaker 1:Because I'm telling you when God is moving in your life, you need to be prepared to hear it, because if he is correcting you, it's because he delights in you. It's because he delights in you. I don't know about you, but I kind of like that idea. God delights in me. When he hears my name, he becomes excited. When he hears my name, he thinks that is my child, with whom I am well pleased, and I can walk proud in that, and not in a confident, arrogant way, but in a very humble. I have the capability to raise people from the dead, because the same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in me. Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Godly father, does not discipline in anger, but in love. How many of you ever snatched ahold of a kid before? If you didn't raise your hand, you're probably lying to me, but that's okay. You worked out with the Holy Spirit. All right, you guys worked that out. But here's the thing when you raise children in today's world and now some of you legacy members aren't going to understand this, okay, because the world is a little bit different now I can't just snatch ahold of my kid in Walmart anymore, because CPS will show up at my house and take my kid right. So it doesn't work like that anymore. However, all I have to do is look at my children. Did you guys see me this morning? Come up front. I leaned into that group. I said if you can't stand there and be quiet, you can go back to your seats. And everybody went. Okay, and they stopped. All I have to do is look at my children, and it's not because I'm angry. Adeline knows, she knows and she doesn't get yelled at. She's a sweetheart. It's hard to yell at her. She's such a little princess. Dads, if you don't have a little girl, let me tell you, if you ever get one, all bets are off. It's game over. It really is. It really is.
Speaker 1:My daughter got a hamster for keeping her room clean. She kept her room clean and I bought her a hamster $170. Later I'm walking out of the store. The hamster was $20. I don't know how it happened, but I'll tell you I'm a sucker. That's how it happened. I mean, I'm not going to lie to you, but I understand that discipline has to come in love.
Speaker 1:And she cannot keep her room clean. She is like she's the artsy type, very like crafty. Nothing is trash to her. She keeps everything. She's trying to keep this giant box that our patio furniture came in because she wants to build a maze for her hamster in it. That box is like eight feet long. The hamster is this big. I don't think it's necessary. But nothing is trash to her. So her keeping her room clean is not something that's important to her.
Speaker 1:But is it a life skill that people should learn? Yes, because otherwise what happens? You end up on an episode of Hoarders. Right, she's got 72 hamsters, 48 eight foot boxes and we're there cleaning her house out. Right, it's not healthy and so you have to learn to teach that. But I have learned that I cannot teach that in anger I can't say your room is dirty, go and clean it. I have to say sweetheart, if you want to have nice things, we have to take care of them. Let's go clean your room. Do I want to spend my afternoon cleaning her room. No, but I know that if I bring that correction in love, she can do it For 30 days. She did it all by herself At day 31,. Guess what? It was an explosion and her mom said to her well, sissy, you've got a hamster now and if you want to be able to play with her in your room, you have to keep your room clean. She goes, oh yeah, and cleaned the entire room.
Speaker 1:There is something about teaching responsibility in love, bringing correction in love. That works differently than teaching responsibility in love than when we bring it in anger. Amen, just like our heavenly father, when he brings correction, it is with love. It is designed to grow us, not to push us back. Oftentimes we want to feel pushed back, but really it's growth and it's stretching. It's just uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 27 says the godly walk with integrity. Blessed are their children who follow them. Men, can I tell you something today? This is the biggest thing that you can do for your children is you can live with integrity. Every person in this room should be living with integrity. That means my wife is probably the most honest person I've ever met in my entire life, like she won't even call and dispute a late fee on a credit card if it was our fault, right? Like if you just genuinely forget. She won't call and dispute a late charge. She is just the most honest person. Now me, on the other hand, I'll call him and try to talk him out of that late fee every time, right, because I don't want to spend any money on something like that.
Speaker 1:As men, when we walk with integrity, when we know we can walk into a room with our head held high because we haven't done, said or acted a certain way towards anybody in that room, our children will learn to live with integrity. Because when we look to God, god didn't send Jesus to the earth to die on the cross so that we could live sinful lives just because Grace and mercy are wonderful, but we cannot abuse it. Once we become saved, we have to learn that grace is given to us as a gift and when we fall short, we are covered by it, but we cannot abuse it. If you abuse grace, I have to ask you are you really saved If you are constantly walking through life living outside of the will of God and not having strong integrity? My question to you is do you really know who God is and what he would want in your life.
Speaker 1:See, my children always joke that I'm never home Like they see me in the evenings. I'm always on the go. Dad's always doing something. But we had an Elvis show at a nursing home last Thursday in Mount Vernon. It's an hour and a half drive. One way. The kids go with us and we get there and I'm watching my kids set up all of the equipment by themselves Like they know what they're doing. I know that that sounds silly, almost like slave labor. That's not the point. I take a road crew guys. No, they have learned that that is part of our ministry. We consider that part of our ministry when we go into these places and we sing to these people. You guys saw the pictures that my wife posted.
Speaker 1:I don't see that in the moment because oftentimes I'm distracted by what's happening around me, but the joy that comes to those people my kids are learning that. Every time we go somewhere together, every time they're in this building, every time they go to a birthday party, my kids tell people, if I tell my daughter I love you, I love you more than you love me, and she won't say I love you. It's always I love you more than you love me. My children know how to love and love. Well, my daughter will give any one of you a gift for absolutely no reason. Now again, sounds silly, but that's my love language. That's how I show her love and her mom love, and she sees that and because she sees it, she embraces it. Right, like, I feel like I can show my wife the best.
Speaker 1:My wife's love language is quality time and physical touch. Both of those things drive me bananas. Right, I am a busybody. I want to be moving. So if she wants to spend time with me and it's at Target, I'm cool. We can go shop all day long. I don't want to spend time sitting on the couch. I'm not going to stare lovingly into her eyes. Right, it's not who I am, but I have to learn how to make time for that, because my kids see it. Now, if you ask my kids, they'll tell you.
Speaker 1:My wife and I fight all the time because we love to argue with each other for the sake of the argument. Right, like anybody do Wordle every day. Nobody even knows what Wordle is. Anybody do Wordle every day. Nobody even knows what Wordle is. Okay, it's a New York Times game where you have to guess a five-letter word and it's a different word every day and you get six guesses. Okay, we challenge each other every day to beat the other person, right, and so I love the days that I get to beat her because I rub it in her face. Right, it doesn't happen. Often she's way smarter than me. But then when she beats me, she rubs it in my face and my kids are like will you guys stop fighting about Wordle? They don't know what fighting is. They've never seen parents fight to know what fighting is.
Speaker 1:I can promise you there are some of us in here who have had fights with our spouses that are knock-down, drag-out, screaming matches right? My wife and I have never experienced that in our marriage and I'm thankful for that. But that makes my kids a little bit skewed to the world, right, because they're not going to understand, but they're also not going to accept if a spouse treats them that way, because they see what love is. They see what it's like to be in a safe and loving environment. It is important for us to walk with that integrity every single day. Right, if your kids are in the back seat and you pass somebody on the highway and you flip them off. Your kids are going to learn that right and they're going to think it's acceptable.
Speaker 1:I look back and I think, man, I've done some stupid stuff in front of my kids. I'll've done some stupid stuff in front of my kids. I'll probably do some stupid stuff in front of my kids this afternoon. I'm not proud of it. I'm saying that as a Christian who is still learning and maturing and growing. Those things are going to happen. That is where I am covered by grace. But when I do it willingly and knowingly, then I am asking for them to question my integrity at every turn.
Speaker 1:I know I've told you guys this once before and I want to share this quick story again. Several years ago actually many years ago, when my wife and I had first gotten married, our marriage was not perfect and it wasn't hard. We didn't hate each other or anything like that, but there was a struggle and we could feel it. We knew. And that year for Christmas she asked me what I wanted and I said I want you to write me a list of everything that I do that does not bring good fruit to our marriage. I remember getting that gift on Christmas morning. It was the worst gift I've ever received and that sounds funny, like I asked for it. It hurt because it made me realize all of the things that I'm doing that are not good and they're not helping my wife or my marriage. I have that note to this day. I keep it in my sock drawer and every once in a while I pull that note out and I look and I go. I have come such a long way since I've been married and I'm thankful for that every day.
Speaker 1:But I'll tell you, I lean on my wife to show me integrity, to help keep me accountable. Right, it's important that we understand the power of relationship with one another. Accountability is what makes us and what holds us to being of strong integrity. Amen. I know that if we do it, that our children will learn it and they will continue to walk in it. My children do not hang on every word that I say, right, unless it's the wrong one.
Speaker 1:Easton proved that that Christmas Eve where he stood up and told everybody I was getting cold because I say swear words. He thought that was hilarious. He still tells that story to people. It doesn't matter the good things that we do, because they hold on to the bad things, because that's what the world has conditioned and we have to break that cycle. Amen, was that Proverbs 27? Yes, so we're going to go to 2 Corinthians 6, 18, and I'm going to button up for you. It says and I will be your father and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
Speaker 1:At the end of the day, he is what we should be looking to for guidance, for integrity, for leadership, all of the things we could go through the Bible and we could talk about all of the people that he has anointed and all of the wonderful things that they have done. But oftentimes we get stuck on their downfalls, don't we? You know, if you guys listen to the podcast I have listened to their episode about Jonah and the whale probably a half a dozen times and I've probably got seven messages alone out of that podcast episode because oftentimes we remember the story of Jonah as him being swallowed by a whale. Right, that's the story. There's so much before and so much after that we tend to not pay attention to. That is what life is like with our children every day. They have one thing that they focus on, if you ask my kids and maybe we should do this some Sunday we should.
Speaker 1:Everybody should write down one thing that they know about me on their way into the building. Right, my kids, I guarantee, will all relate back to Elvis in some way, shape or form, because it's how they identify. Yesterday, emmett had to show one of his friends all of my Elvis jumpsuits. They were in my way, shape or form, because it's how they identify. Yesterday, emmett had to show one of his friends all of my Elvis jumpsuits. They were in my office. He saw one on the mannequin and Emmett's like oh, that's nothing, and he's opening this closet door. There's two there. Open that closet door, there's four there. And to him I don't want to say he's embarrassed by it, but there was something about that. That that's just how they identify me. That's fun for me, but it's not how I want my life to be.
Speaker 1:I don't want my legacy to be left on simply on music. I want my kids to remember me for being a godly man. I want my kids to remember me for being of integrity. I want my kids to remember me for always being the best leader that I could possibly be Amen. Sometimes that is hard to do, but it is our responsibility. I will be your father and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. We are responsible for looking to him for all things, not just looking to one another.
Speaker 1:We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to other dads on TV. Can I tell you something? That's all fake. They have time to rehearse that right? You know, when your kid busts out the garage window with a baseball bat, you don't get rehearsal. Before you handle that, right? We had a broken garage window years ago that we still don't know who did it. My kids ain't admitting to it. You know why? Because dad yells right. Somebody's getting whacked with a wiffle ball bat because they put it through the garage window. We have to learn to correct in love, because we gain so much more from that. God sent his one and only son to die on the cross so that we might be saved. That is dedication. That is commitment to what our lives should look like. Amen.
Speaker 1:Remember, whether you had a godly father or not, you have a perfect father in heaven. He invites you to be like him strong, wise and full of grace. And, dads, as we leave here today and you grab your hammer, I want you to focus on these three questions Are you building a strong home? Are you building a legacy of faith and are you building a heart that seeks God? You and you alone hold that hammer. You wield faith. You wield fear. It's your choice.
Speaker 1:Every day, kids have a short turnaround. Just because you're angry one moment doesn't mean you have to hold on to that all day. We do that, right People in general. I had a bad five minutes and so my day is ruined and I'm gonna be mean to everybody that I come in contact with. It's not how life works. It is our responsibility to understand how to lead with love and not just strength.
Speaker 1:I'm encouraged by the men of this church. I am encouraged by all of the people that I've had in my life. Again, life hasn't encouraged by all of the people that I've had in my life. Again. Life hasn't been perfect. Not every person that I've ever met has been a great father figure. Some of them have led me down a path of destruction, but God never wanted that for me and he was able to stop me and turn me around, and I am thankful for that every single day.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, father. As I stand here, I am thankful for my father, for my grandfather, lord, for all of the men in my life, who have been father figures, who have taught me how to love, how to have grace and mercy. And, lord, I know you placed them in my life for such a time as this. Every season, every moment, you were working things out for my good.
Speaker 1:Father, I pray for every man that's sitting in this building today that they would be able to lead their family with love, with strength and kindness, with grace and with mercy. Lord, all of the things that you have given to us. I pray that we're able to give them to our children, that we can lift them up and not tear them down. Lord, there are no words that we can speak that will show the exact love that you have for us. The only thing that we can do is to continue to point towards you in all things. We know that on the straight and narrow, father, you will bring our children into your fold, under your wings. Father, god, you will protect them, but a praying father will help facilitate. Lord, every man that's in this building. I'm praying for great strength in them today that they might be able to find confidence in you and not in the world. Lord, I thank you and I praise you. I give you all the honor and glory In the mighty name of Jesus, and the church says Amen. Love you guys.