THE BEST FATHER’S DAY GIFT EVER

THE BEST FATHER’S DAY GIFT EVER

CONNECT Father’s Day can be a tough day at church. On Twitter one pastor said, “Honor mom on Mother’s Day; rebuke dad on Father’s Day!”  Another said, “Mother's Day: moms are awesome; Father’s Day: here is everything you dads have done wrong!”  This is why many men don't want to attend today!  I honor you for coming.

GIVE BOTTLES AWAY; PRAYER

TENSION What was the most memorable Father’s Day gift you ever received?  The ones I remember were homemade!

What was the best gift you ever gave?

I want to give three dads a gift today (give away books)…

SOLUTION On this Father’s Day, I want to encourage dads and moms to impact the world through the next generation.

INSTRUCTION In John 3 we get the best known Jesus pic…

TEXT John 3:1-21 (NKJV) There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

³ Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

⁵ Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

Go back and look at vs. 16 and 17…

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Three keys: God loved; God gave; God sent.

PRAYER

Jesus came to reveal the Father.

John 12:45 (NKJV) “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.”

John 14:8-9 (NKJV) Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus declared that He revealed the heart of God. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus identified Himself as God’s gift: the greatest gift ever given. Let's look again at the three keys I touched on earlier.

1.     God loved… the world.

A friend of mine said it this way: God so loved what He lost in Adam… God wanted His creation back!

The motivation was love. The object was the lost people of the world.

2.     God gave… His Son.

God gave the best; the only gift that would accomplish the task....

3.     God sent… Him to the world.

The destination was the world. The goal was the salvation of all men and women.

Now listen to what Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed…

John 17:18 (NKJV) As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

After the Resurrection, Jesus said this…

John 20:21 (NKJV) So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Can you see it?  Just as Jesus was sent into the world, so we have been sent into the world.

Let me go one step further: Just as God gave His Son to the world, the greatest thing we can do for our children is to give them away to the world!

APPLICATION

1.     Encourage them to serve.

Matthew 20:20-28 (NKJV) Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons (James and John) came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

2.     Encourage them to sacrifice.

Romans 12:1 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

3.     Encourage them to be sent.

Isaiah 6:8-9 (NKJV) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go, and tell this people…”

INSPIRATION

Paris Reidhead, “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”

Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2000 to 3000 slaves. The owner had said, "No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he's shipwrecked, we'll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he's never going to talk to any of us about God. I'm through with all that nonsense." Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic, there to live and die without hearing of Christ.

Two young Germans in their 20's from the Moravian sect heard about their plight. They sold themselves to the British planter for the standard price for a male slave and used the money they received from their sale to purchase passage to the West Indies. The miserly atheist planter would not even transport them.

The Moravian community from Herrnhut came to see the two lads off, who would never return again, having freely sold themselves into a lifetime of slavery. As members of the slave community they would witness as Christians to the love of God.

Family members were emotional, weeping. Was this extreme sacrifice wise? Was it necessary? As the ship slipped away with the tide and the gap widened, the housings had been cast off and were curled up on the pier. The young men saw the widening gap. They linked arms, raised their hands and shouted across the spreading gap, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!" 

This became the call of Moravian missions. And this is our only reason for being...that the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering! 

EXAMPLES

Invitations to special service

Mission conferences

Training Union, RA, GA

Watchman Nee: Waste

“Give me Burma lest I die”

Peace Child, “Eternity in Their Hearts”

Jim Eliot, “Through Gates of Splendor”

Mission Week at Glorita

INVITATION

Don’t force your children to ministry or missions; just raise the issue.

What are you going to do in life?

Where are you going to college?

Have you asked God about it?

My kids can go, but leave the grandkids here!

MODERN OPPORTUNITIES

YWAM

CFNI

Schools in China