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
Father’s Day Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 68:4-5, 19)
Come, sing praises to God!
Rejoice in his presence!
For he is our God:
a Father to the fatherless,
and the defender of all who need protection;
the One in whom the lonely find a home,
and the prisoner finds release.
Bless the Lord,
the God of our salvation,
who sustains and strengthens us,
day after day!
Good morning FBK – and welcome to Worship!
Songs
Prayer
Prayers of Confession & Assurance:
Dear Lord, You are the King of the world, the Creator of all things, and the Giver of life. You have made us in Your image and invited us to be Your children—the heirs of Your Kingdom—and we give You our thanks and praise. We confess that we have sinned and fallen short of what You would have us be. We have found our identity in earthly things like work, money, family, reputation, our homes, our friends, even our country. We have worshiped them more than You. We have turned away from being part of Your Kingdom work to satisfy our own agendas. We have broken Your heart with our sin, and we are sorry. Please forgive us. Help us open our hearts to receive the gift of forgiveness that You offer through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Create in us clean hearts and fill us with Your presence. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Words of Assurance
Rest assured in God’s presence and love for you, that you are healed, restored, and forgiven. AMEN!
The Celebration of a Father
Today's Message: Pastor Dave Page
I am by nature not big on parties and celebrations. I’m an introvert, and a celebration for me would include just a few friends who don’t stay very long and liked to take as little as I do – how’s that for transparency?
Anything more, and I’d need a vacation.
On the other hand, there are times when we really must celebrate. In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that lead to celebration, including the celebration of a father waiting for the return of a prodigal son. They are just stories, but they illustrate much. Let’s look at these stories together.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
REDEMPTION IS WORTH CELEBRATING
- Jesus tells three stories (a lost and found sheep; a lost and found coin; and a lost and found son). He uses the first two stories comparatively to say that just as the shepherd and the woman celebrated when they found their possessions, there is great joy in heaven over one lost soul, who comes to Jesus and repents. Heaven rejoices when the lost come home to God.
- The third story of the prodigal son magnifies that truth. The son had taken his inheritance, left home, and wasted his money on foolish living. When he had nothing left and faced famine, all he could do was feed pigs for a citizen of that country.
- When he realized his foolishness, he decided to return to his father, confess his wrong, and ask only to be treated like one of his father’s servants. At least that way, he would have food.
- Apparently, the father had been watching and waiting for his son’s return, and he quickly forgave him and welcomed him back. The party held was a big one for the lost child who had come home.
Repentance and redemption are always worth celebrating.
Generally, our culture likes to celebrate things – we love birthdays and anniversaries, promotions, graduation, new homes, etc. We as First Baptist Church Kingsville are in the very preliminary phases of planning our 200th Anniversary – 200 years!!!!!! It’s easy for us today to look at these “milestones” or ‘special days’ on the calendar and celebrate and as much as its fun to do, a truth for us not to miss is that many of these celebrations or a celebration of the temporary – I think it’s very important to note that when heaven celebrates, it celebrates the eternal. When the lost are found there are eternal implications.
Read Luke 15: 11-12
THE TEMPORARY OFTEN LOOKS MORE EXCITING THAN THE ETERNAL
- We can only imagine the heartache of the father when his son requested his inheritance (as if to say, “You are dead to me now”).
- I can almost hear the younger son’s thinking: “I’m missing so much. Others are getting to do it. Why wait if I don’t have to? My parents just don’t get it. It’s my life, and I’m not hurting anybody.” The enemy dangled the bait of temporary pleasure in front of the son, and he swallowed it.
- In that moment, the son didn’t see a father who loved him more than he could imagine; he saw only what he was missing out on. And, he certainly enjoyed the first part of his journey, the temporary part as he wasted his money on what he had been missing.
Read Luke 15:13-14
He went to parties, though they could offer no lasting joy. They provided no real celebration.
- A problem we face is that the world makes the temporary look so inviting. We see what we think we’ll get in the immediate, and we assume that choice won’t hurt us in the long run. We ignore the forever to gain whatever we can get now.
SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO WAIT AWHILE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF REDEMPTION
….and we don’t like to wait.
- The story of the prodigal son offers no information about how long the son was away from home. It does appear, though, that the father always had his eyes toward the road, waiting for his son to return.
Read Luke 15:17-24
- When his son finally came home, it was time to celebrate—and the father threw a party. A big one.
- Sometimes we face a long wait for a struggling adult child to return to faith. Though the point of the parable of the prodigal son is much bigger, we certainly see the picture of a father who longs for his child to return. One of the truths of this story that doesn’t get a lot of airtime is that the father waited for a considerable amount of time and the son eventually made it home.
- Some of you have been waiting for a long time, too. Fathers this isn’t just for you – All of you who are parents and grandparents – your child or grandchild has strayed from the faith. They seem to have no interest in the things of God. They may be geographically distant from you, wasting life far from accountability. You grieve, and you wait.
I think one of the things many of us are struggling in with the global coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, life stopped. Overwhelmed by the threat of a disease we couldn’t stop and for which we didn’t have the hospital capacity, everyone moved work and school into their homes. Do you remember those early days? We were told our children would be back to school in three weeks. By then we’d flatten the curve and life would go back to normal. But as the months passed, as children didn’t return to in-person classrooms in the fall, the waiting for “normal” to return seemed like riding a rollercoaster of depression, anxiety, fear, and listlessness.
We could only wait. There is a type of waiting where you remain walled off—you distract or numb yourself so you don’t have to face time. You turn in on yourself. You fill up on salty chips, Netflix-bingeing, social media, or conjuring up imaginative vacation plans—anything to take you away from your own lack of control, your own unknowing.
But folks, there is another type of waiting to – one that I believe is represented in the story of this Fathers waiting. It’s a waiting where you lean into the pain to more deeply experience a peace that passes understanding. This is the sort of waiting we see Jesus do in the wilderness at the outset of His earthly ministry—leaning into his identity as a beloved son, feeding on the Word of God so that it nourishes his very body.
Sometimes, for us, this is the difficult work of waiting, and while it feels barren, it strips us of our comforts so we can see what we’re actually feeding on. It’s a gift to feel our hunger pains and, as children, to expect God will feed us.
Fathers, Granddads – Church, my encouragement to you in your waiting is to not give up – keep praying, keep waiting, and keep watching for your lost one to come home. God’s in charge of the timing.
Take your example from this Father with his wayward child who patiently and faithfully wait for their return.
I know many of you deeply hope each day is the day when they’ll see a child walking down the path – don’t give up.
And, when that child does return in response to your prayers, no matter what their age – make sure you celebrate!
Read Luke 15:7
Because, in the heavenly realms, there will be great celebration!
Prayer
Father God thank you for your perfect fathering –
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
shepherded and nurtured; disciplined and challenged
so I can flourish in your purpose and plan for me
and bear my Father’s image more fully still.
Father God, thank you for your perfect example.
I praise you because you show all fathers how to love;
to shepherd and nurture; discipline and challenge
so their sons and daughters can flourish in this world as you have planned,
and carry your presence to all they meet.
Father God, bless all fathers today –
with wisdom, with patience, with courage –
and above all with love for their children.
Father God, bless all children today –
with openness to correction, with eagerness to learn –
and above all with love for their fathers.
Father God bless all who are fatherless today –
surround them with godly men to teach, affirm and guide –
and above all to love with the love of a father – in your strength.
Song
Benediction
As you go from here, remember this:
Because of the work of the Holy Spirit within us,
we are sons and daughters of God.
We have been adopted into his family;
God is truly our Father.
And if we are God’s children,
we are His heirs, and fellow heirs with Jesus.
So go in peace and confidence,
knowing that the love of God, our Father,
the grace of Jesus Christ,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
goes with us.