WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Come to God who gathers us in.
We come to God who nurtures us like a father.
Come to God whose arms are open and waiting.
We come to God who welcomes and forgives us.
Come to God who journeys with us.
We come to God who sees us as we really are and loves us anyway.
Come, praise our loving nurturing God!
GOOD MORNING FBK & WELCOME TO WORSHIP!
Songs
Prayer
Prayer of Confession & Assurance
O God, Father that you are,
you know what is right for us,
but too often we only want our way or no way,
instead of your way.
Have mercy upon us when we turn from you.
Forgive us when we do not realize
your fatherly love and direction for us.
Have mercy upon us indeed,
and teach us anew how to follow you,
Father that you are.
We pray this through your Son,
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Assurance of Pardon:
Blessed be our Father God,
the God of our salvation,
who daily bears us up
and rescues us from sin and death.
Our God is a God who saves!
Father's Day
Deep Roots
Today's Message: Pastor Marlee Page
What an honour it is to gather this morning and celebrate all of the wonderful fathers and father‐figures in the room today.
Thank you for your willingness to give your best to your children, grandchildren, and young people in the church and community even those who are not your flesh and blood.
We also can reflect on the fact that God is our heavenly Father who loves us and offers us His best by giving us Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins and the restoration of our souls.
Today is a stand‐alone message focused on the blessing that comes to every father who puts God first and allows God’s love to flow through him to his family. This kind of relationship is one that must be cultivated and tended to; it does not happen by accident.
As you know, I grew up on a dairy farm. My grandfather, my father and my uncle worked together tending the cows and the fields. There were 6 grandchildren on that side of the family and we all tagged into helping out as well. I spent most of my childhood in the fields picking rocks out of the dirt, when younger I would be driving tractors as we got older then we became the workforce hoeing fields and throwing bales of hay and straw all summer long.
I watched the hard work that my family put into working together to ensure an abundant harvest to be able to feed the cows for the year. They plowed and tilled, they planted, they pulled weeds. They spread fertilizer or spread lots of manure. Then we harvested. All the while, we were continually feeding, bedding and milking cows twice a day. It was a lot of work to be a farmer. My family had to live with intentionality and work hard 7 days a week to grow something wonderful. At the time I didn’t realize how much hard work went into it but as an adult and certainly looking back now- it was very hard work 24 hours a day.
Much the same is true for the men in the room who want to experience God’s blessing and be a blessing to their family and community.
Throughout the scriptures there is one theme that is utilized more than any other to teach the ways of God. The theme of agriculture and farming is a mainstay because that was how most people made a living in Bible times.
The authors used themes and stories that were familiar to their readers’ daily lives to help them grow. Though our culture does not often live with their hands in the dirt, I believe there is a little farmer in each one of us.
Today I want to look at the book of Psalms. This collection of 150 writings is known as wisdom literature because it helps God’s people navigate the ups and downs of life. These writings are honest and raw. I want to start by looking at the very first chapter, Psalm 1, which is written using this agricultural language.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:1‐3
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.
The original Hebrew of vs. 1 reads like this, “blessed is the man.”
To any ancient, near‐eastern Jewish man reading this passage, it would have caught their attention. Blessing was one of the most important concepts within the Jewish faith. Everyone was looking for a blessing. Everyone desired a blessed life. So, the writer offered two paths available to us.
It is a choice we have to make. One path leads to blessing and the other leads away from blessing.
The Hebrew word for blessing is the word esher, which means blessed, happy, a straight path.
This word is not about possessions, wealth, influence, or power.
This blessed life comes from living in line with the law of the Lord. This blessing comes from living in step with God’s will. We experience a blessed and happy life when we allow the Word of God to direct our steps and help us choose the happy path.
DON’T SEARCH FOR BLESSING WHERE IT CAN’T BE FOUND
There is a warning in the first two verses of this wisdom literature. Don’t search for blessing or happiness in places they cannot be found. Many of us tend to convince ourselves that the blessed life can be found in something we can buy, or success we can work for, or status we can achieve – Pastor Dave talked about that last week. It is something we all need to be reminded of that our true real blessings aren’t necessarily tangible things.
Think about this…. How many times have you not been able to find something that you know is right there in front of you? Today is not a day that I should be picking on the men in my life but this seems to be a worldwide problem for some men. Weekly, I am asked to find something in the fridge, I give directions to where it is and am still told it is not there. Eventually I get up and go to the fridge to quite easily reach around Dave and hand it back to him.
This used to happen with the Girls and their shoes as well. They would leave them wherever they got dropped; I would pick them up and put them away in the closet. They could search for a week, send out a search party, release the dogs and never find the pair of shoes that are neatly placed in the closet…. You know, the place they always are and belong.
As I look out into the world today, I see so many fathers and people doing the same thing – searching for blessings and the contentment we talked about last week all over the place only to find out that happiness can’t be found there. The writer of this Psalm wanted to help us find the life that God has in store. He wrote that if we want the life God has planned for us, we must be careful to search where it can be found. He points out three mindsets and ways of living that will lead us away from blessing.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked.
The word wicked means restless and ungoverned passions. That is a good description of a lot of us today. We are restless. We stray easily from the path of God. But blessing is not found by walking with and seeking advice from those who the writer calls wicked. You see, the blessed life will always be out of reach when we are restless and unsatisfied with what we have. When we walk in step with the wicked, we believe true happiness would be found if we had a different job, a different marriage, a bigger house, a better car, or a different set of circumstances.
Do you know why the author warns against walking with the wicked? Because he knows our emotions will toss us back and forth and keep us from seeing all that we have in life. I don’t want to miss the gift that my family is right now. I don’t want to not see the special things around me. I want to be content with my life right now so I don’t waste my time chasing something that will never fulfill or satisfy.
The author also says do not stand in the way of sinners. The Hebrew word for sinner means “one who travels in the wrong direction.” This passage of scripture is built around the concept of traveling paths that lead to the blessed life or away from it. Essentially, the sinner is one who makes choices in life that leads away God. They make choices that break their relationship with God and others. Standing in this negative place is easier than we think. Like a GPS, we need to constantly recalibrate and reorient ourselves to stay in line with God – to walk the His path and experience the blessed life.
Lastly, the author says do not sit in the seat of mockers. This last warning given in Psalm 1 is incredibly important. In fact, I see it as a dangerous mentality that is becoming more and more prevalent. A mocker is one who ridicules what is good and holy. It has become an increasingly popular stance to see the things of God as antiquated, foolish, laughable, etc. The mocker does not just hold these feelings for themselves but influences others toward the same mentality. The mocker sees reading the Bible or praying as a waste of time. They see honesty, sacrifice, and generosity as weaknesses. They see the idea of the resurrection as a joke and the authority of scripture, the Spirit, and God as misguided. The mocker is cynical about the things of God. I also think that some Mockers try and use God for their advantage as well. They use His name to gain our attention and to influence us to follow them.
We must be careful where we walk, sit, and stand and who we listen too. Blessing comes from a life that is cultivated and planted in the ways of God.
Rather than being planted in these areas, we have a choice to turn toward something else. The writer says that the blessed man is one who turns to the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night.
PLANT YOURSELF IN THE WORD OF GOD
Verse 2 says our delight should be in the law of God, and we should meditate on it day and night.
The Hebrew word for meditate is hagah (daw‐gaw), which means to growl, utter, speak, or meditate. When I read this it immediately made me think of Tim “the Toolman” Taylor from the show Home Improvement and the way he would grunt responses…. Such a man-thing to do!
To meditate on God’s word is to spend so much time with the text that it actually permeates your being and becomes a part of who you are. So, we speak about it often because we need to utter the scriptures daily. Meditating on God’s law is choosing the path that leads to blessing. Later in the book of Psalm, the author writes about the need for this meditation.
Psalm 19:14
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
You see, it takes a while to get the scriptures into our hearts. We must expose ourselves to its truth daily for it to make its home in our lives.
In line with Father’s Day, the best way I can express what this meditation looks like is the prep that takes place to grill the perfect steak. A very Father’s Day thing, right?
I do not do the streak grilling at our house but I have watched this dance happen many times over the years. First you must choose the right steak. Then you must season it and let it come to room temperature. While that is happening, you must prepare the grill so it is at the right temperature so that it seals in the juices and doesn’t bake the steak. This is where the sizzle sound has to happen. Once the cook begins, how long does it need to be one to get it to exactly the right doneness for the eater of the steak. Medium rare at our house. Then it must rest again so that the juices will stay in the meat when it is cut and not just run all over the plate.
It’s the same when we are asked to meditate on the Word. We need to find, figure out and then practice so we know how to best get that scripture into your hearts. Find time each day to read scripture. Underline and highlight verses. Write them down and place them around your house or on your desk as reminders. Share it with others in texts or on social media. Figure out your way because here is where the blessed life is found. It is found when we marinate and sit in the precious Word of God. When we sit with it, it makes us a better person; it makes us a better child. Scripture makes us better people.
DEEP ROOTS PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT
The author of Psalm 1 introduced agricultural language as he detailed the result of a life planted in God’s Word.
Psalm 1:3
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.
Avoiding these three mentalities and meditating on God’s word day and night will plant us like trees next to streams of water. A good farmer knows there is only so much we can do when we plant the seeds in the ground; we have to trust God with the rest. The same is true with our lives. When we are planted by streams of water, we are placed in the right position to grow deep roots and produce good fruit from our lives. God’s Word helps us demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self‐ control (Galatians 5:22‐23).
This is the good fruit that blesses the people in our families and those we meet throughout the day. A family that shares things like love or joy with one another is a family that is healthy and happy. That is the blessing of planting ourselves in the things of God.
But maybe this morning you don’t feel like this. Maybe you feel like you have walked, stood, and sat in places you never should have. Maybe you feel like you have missed out on the blessed life. Some of us live with regrets. Here is the good news this morning: It is never too late to allow God to work in your life.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
In farming it is called cultivating the ground. The farmer plows and works up the dirt to turn it over to be ready for seed. He removes the weeds and rocks. No matter where you find yourself today, you can choose to cultivate the field God has given you, not the one you wish you had. Some of us this morning need to plow the fields of our lives to allow God to plant something new in us.
Some of you might not know this but back in 1989 when the international plowing match was here in Essex County, I was the Queen of the Furrow for Essex County. This was a competition held each year at the IPM and there were representatives from each county in Ontario. We had to say a speech on agriculture and plow a land which was an opening furrow and 3 rounds. So, when I talk about plowing I know a little bit.
We plow the land to prepare the soil to receive the seed for the next harvest. Sometimes you have to work the ground over and over again so it’s ready. I loved watching my dad work the land. Some years it was one once over, some years he had to do it in the fall after harvest and a couple of times in the spring to get it ready. But he knew when it was ready. And then we would plant.
It is easy to look at our lives and sometimes feel like it’s a lost cause. It has not gone the way you wanted. It has too many mistakes. We have walked with the wicked, stood with the sinner, and sat with the mocker. But that’s not the end. Plow it up, work it over and see what God can do in your life. Keep plowing until the weeds are gone, the stones have been picked up and the dirt is ready to plant. Then plant His seeds, cover it with His word and tend it daily with scripture, music and wise friends.
Then the harvest will be abundant!
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, on this Father’s Day, it’s an unparalleled joy to acknowledge that you are the Father we’ve always longed for and needed. Our most loving and engaged fathers have been a wonderful hint of what it means to be your beloved children; but they could never be to us what you alone can be. And our most broken and irresponsible fathers cannot rob our hearts of the joys we find in knowing you and crying, Abba, Father.
Thank you for adopting us, through the finished work of Jesus. Thank you for freeing us from our slavery to sin and our orphan-like ways; and for giving us the Spirit of Sonship, a secure place in your family, and an inheritance that can never spoil or fade, kept in heaven for us. Thank you for promising to complete the work you began in us, and for always, and only, disciplining us in love, even when it hurts.
Father, thank you for grace to forgive our earthly fathers who failed us, including those who broke our trust, hurt us, and misrepresented you to us. Continue to heal us and free us from the lingering effects.
And thank you for grace to acknowledge our failings as parents, and for promising us the strength we need to humble ourselves before our children, and to trust you to write stories of redemption in our families. Please do so, Father, to your glory.
Lastly, Father, we thank you for the spiritual fathers you’ve given us – the “dads of grace” who help us discover more and more of the multi-dimensional love of Christ. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
Song
Benediction
I would like to end today with a blessing for all of the fathers and father‐figures in the room. I want to invite every man around the room to stand. I want to bless you this morning. If your husband, dad, grandfather, or friend is standing up right now, I invite you to stand with them and lay a hand on them as we pray for them.
May God, out of his glorious riches, strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.
May you, being rooted and established in love, have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and may you know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
May God, who is utterly able, do immeasurably more for you and in you than all you can ever ask or imagine.
Have a great Week!