GOD THE FATHER. So I want to spend some time tonight talking about who is God? How are we supposed to identify with God?

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1 GOD THE FATHER The last few weeks we spent some time in Ecclesiastes studying the worthless things in life that we chase. Those things that we think will make us happy, but in the end, just leave us feeling empty. We got to not only identify those things that we chase, but we also got to carry them around in our pocket for a week. Hopefully, all of you spent some time considering how worthless those things are, and then when you had the opportunity you gave those things up and left them at the Cross. Scott taught you guys that there is really nothing wrong with having passions, desires and things you pursue in your life, but that we need to make sure that the things we pursue, that we are not doing them for our own glory, but for the glory of God. So I want to spend some time tonight talking about who is God? How are we supposed to identify with God? There are lots of different ways to know God. Some of you may see God as being far away and distant. That God sits on his throne above heaven and really is not concerned about what is going on in the day to day detail of the people on this earth. Others of you may see God as someone to be afraid of. You see God as being judgmental. You see God as sitting on his throne, keeping a checklist of everything that you do wrong, just waiting to punish you at every opportunity.

2 Some of you may see God as a rule- maker, a killjoy, someone who just creates rules for your life that you can never live up to. Someone who makes sure your life is no fun. But I want to encourage you to shift your position on this. I want to encourage you to see God, not as being distant and far away or being some enforcer of rules. Instead, I want you to see that the best picture of God is to see him as a loving father. Someone who wants the best for you. Someone who encourages you. Someone who s always cheering you on and wants the very best for you and your life. Someone who has a plan for your life. We spend a lot of time talking about knowing God as a Savior, and that is a really important thing, and if some of you haven t accepted Jesus as your Savior, that is an issue you need to continue to think about and pray about. But I want to encourage you for everyday life, you have to look at God as more than just a Savior, you need to look at him as a loving father. When you look at God as a loving father, your relationship with God completely changes. If God is a loving father he is no longer distant. He is no longer a punisher. He is the kind of person who would pick you up when you fall down. Encourage you when you need encouragement. Set you back on course when you have lost your way.

3 Most of us get our image of God from our earthly fathers. For some of us this can be a really great thing as we have great fathers who set a loving example. For others our fathers are not so great. For me, I spent most of my childhood afraid of my father. One of the worst things my mom could ever say was You ve done it now! Go to your room and wait for your father to come home. At that point, I would be full of fear and rightfully so. My father was the enforcer of rules. There was no room for error. He was a task master. Of the hundred things I could do right, he was always able to see through those and find the one thing that I had done wrong. When he found it, there was punishment. So growing up, I saw God as a rule enforcer. Always disappointed in me when I messed up. I often thought that God would be so disappointed in me that he would at some point turn his back on me and walk away. For some of you, you may not have a dad or maybe your dad left because of divorce, or maybe your dad is around but so distant that you might as well not have a dad. For those people, you may see God as being uncaring and distant But I want to encourage you to not let that control your image of God. Do not let what your father has done control your image of who God is. If you were raised by a harsh, judgmental, impossible to please dad, it is very easy to have the wrong image of God. That God is going to be

4 harsh and belittle you. That God is always disappointed in you. That you will never measure up. But you cannot let this affect your image of God. When you know God as a loving father, you understand that there is no detail too small for him. He always wants what is best for you. He is an encourager. He is never too busy to address the concerns that you have going on in your life. My days are always busy. There are always people who want a little bit of my time. Lots of times I have to decide who I am going to speak to during a day and who I am not. While everyone is important, my day just gets so busy that I cannot speak to everyone or address all of their concerns. However, there is one exception to this. There are two people in this world that always have my attention when they call. I will be interrupted from any meeting. And that is Ty and Sara. They have 24 hour access to their dad. It doesn t matter when they call, I take their call. Good news or bad, I want to hear from them. That is the way it is with God. He is always there for you. He is always interested in what you are doing. He is always interested in listening to what you have to tell him or the questions you have to ask. God will always take your call.

5 When my kids call it always improves my mood. I typically have a smile on my face before I even talk to them. I see their picture on my phone as it is ringing and I start to smile. It is the same thing when you pray to God. listening. He smiles and he is When he hears from you he thinks that is my son, or that is my daughter. I wonder what they want to talk to me about today. The creator of the universe, the king of kings wants to have a personal relationship with you as a father. He wants to be your father. In the New Testament Jesus taught us to pray, our Father who art in heaven. He did not teach us to pray oh king of kings. Oh creator of all things. Oh smiter of the unworthy. He taught us to pray to our Father in heaven. He taught us that because God is a loving father. God longs to hear from us. He wants to hear from me and he wants to hear from you. He wants to be close to us. God is the perfect father. He wants to help guide you through life. He has wisdom that he wants to give to you. When we see God as a loving father, it becomes much easier to talk to him. To expect the good things from him. To accept his love and his forgiveness.

6 When you see God as a father, you can know that he is proud of you. Your parents may not be the biggest encourager s in your life, but God is. God is proud of you. As a dad, I am so proud of my kids. Do not go through life believing you are no good, or that you are a bad kid. Once you become a dad or mom you will understand this. As soon as your kids are born you fall in love with them and you are proud of them. You think that they are the best kid in the world. You think your son is the best athlete, the smartest. You think your daughter is the most beautiful thing ever created. The God who created the heavens and the earth says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made. Your heavenly Father gave you your looks, your freckles, your hair, your smile, your goofiness, your personality, your intelligence and he says that you are a masterpiece. When he talks about you he says Do you see my son? I am so proud of him. Do you see my daughter? I am so proud of her, she is so beautiful. God wants you to know him as his father. He is absolutely crazy about you. Some of you are probably sitting her saying there is no way that God could look at me this way, he knows what I have done. I have made so

7 many mistakes I cannot be anything other than a disappointment to him because I am a disappointment to myself. Listen to me on this issue. My kids could never do anything to make me stop loving them. I have not always been proud of their choices, but I have never stopped being proud of them. Kids make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. As a father, you forgive them of their mistakes and you want to encourage them to do better the next time. It is the same way with God. He is always more loving and more forgiving because he is your father and you are his kid. He is always going to be forgiving of you regardless of what you do. As long as you ask for forgiveness, he will give it to you and encourage you to do better the next time. I am not saying here that you can do anything that you want. That you should live life any way you want. To not be disciplined. But what I am saying is that you should not be beating yourself up for the mistakes that you have made in your life. God has already forgiven you for everything that you have done. He just wants more for you. Think of the story of the prodigal son, the son who went to his father before he was dead and asked for his inheritance. He then left and spent all of the money living the life, drinking, spending it on drugs, alcohol and women. After he had lost everything and was living with the pigs, he thought to himself I should get up and return to my father, because even my father s servants live better than I am living. When he returned home, his father saw him coming from a long way away and his

8 father ran to him. It is the only example in the Bible where you see God running, and God describes himself as a father when he sees his son, even though he has made mistakes, he runs to him, loves him, grabs him, hugs him and kisses him and throws a party for him. All God wants us to do is step towards him as a father and he will run to you. Start to see God as a father. Do not be afraid of him, but instead, step toward him. He is the perfect father and he has a perfect plan for your life. I m going to show you a video. Powerful video. It s about God s love to you.