Father’s Day Celebration
Exodus 20:12 NKJV
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Honor – worth that brings respect, fame, or reverence
I Kings 2:1-2 NKJV
1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
I Corinthians 16:13-14 NKJV
13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.
Luke 15:11-14 NKJV
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. ’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
Most people don’t think of grace as an attribute of strength. To call a man graceful or gracious certainly doesn’t bring a picture of a strong man to our minds.
II Corinthians 12:9 NKJV
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
We can’t be a strong dad without God’s help.
Let’s return to the father in Luke 15 and see what being strong in grace looks like.
The first thing we noticed about this father was that he had the strength to listen to both of his sons. That wasn’t easy because he didn’t like what he heard from either one of them; each son spoke words that brought pain to this father.
This is a strong man full of grace and love. This is a picture of God when we mess up.
Luke 15:31-32 NKJV
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
To be strong in grace means we listen and look for ways to bring about reconciliation, healing, and understanding.
Grace is also the strength of perseverance. The father kept the door open and kept looking for his son to return.
Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,
My Beginning. My Forever. 