Your Heavenly Father | 12 June 2015 | Francois van Niekerk
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To know your earthly father is a privilege; to know that you have a Father in heaven is life changing!
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Your Heavenly Father | 12 June 2015 | Francois van Niekerk
- 1. Pastor Francois van Niekerk
- 3. THE MISSION OF JESUS
- 4. Jesus showed the heart of the heavenly Father in action.
- 5. LIFE WITH THE FATHER
- 6. THE QUEST FOR KNOWING IS ENDLESS
- 7. KNOWING THE HEAVENLY FATHER AS YOUR FATHER WHO LOVES YOU, UNLOCKS THE FIRST STEP TO A MEANINGFUL LIFE!
- 10. LOVE
- 11. ROMANS 8:28 NKJV And we know that all things work together (synergeo) for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
- 12. Daddy, I love you!
- 13. THE HOLY SPIRIT MISSION
- 14. Romans 5:5 NLT
- 15. YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES YOU FOREVER
Editor's Notes
- Date: 12 July 2015 – first morning service Preacher: Pastor Francois van Niekerk
- Sermon: Your heavenly Father Introduction There are many fatherless people in the world. To have a father is a privilege; to know that you have a Father in heaven is life changing.
- Main points The mission of Jesus There are very few references in the Old Testament about God as heavenly Father. But that all changed when Jesus came to earth.
- Jesus showed the heart of the heavenly Father in action. I love and worship this Jesus. He stopped to love the one person and yet knew how to minister to crowds and even fed them when they were hungry. From the one to many, His care is real and reflects the heart of our loving heavenly Father. Apart from giving His life on the cross His mission was to reconcile us to the Father through the work of the Cross. He opened the way for our wayward hearts to come home and rest secure in God’s love.
- 2. Life with the Father To be reconciled with the Father means to live in His embrace – forgiven, set free and empowered. Above all it is about knowing that you are loved forever! When you know this, your heart comes home.
- There are many things to know in life. The quest for knowledge is endless, but only the Father’s love satisfies. Of all the things you need to know the most important is to know, I mean really know cognitively and experientially, that God is your heavenly Father and that He loves you forever. Without knowing this all other knowledge fails to make sense. It’s a case of knowing this or that, but so what? It does not make a real difference against the backdrop of eternity.
- Knowing the heavenly Father as your personal Father who loves you, unlocks the first step to a meaningful life! Knowing His love results in knowing your true identity. It answers the deep need for meaning in life. His love brings your life purpose into focus and your heart to peace. In practical terms, life with the Father means that you receive His love on an ongoing basis through His amazing care. Think of the lilies and the birds Jesus spoke of when He taught about the care of the Father.
- “Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion – do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers – most of which are never even seen – don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:26-34 (MSG)
- 3. Make the love connection The Father loves you. It is a fact that has been proven by Jesus’ coming to earth and His sacrifice to save your life. Knowing that you are loved and cared for by God the Father is one part of the picture. The other part needs to be coloured in by us. His love needs to be reciprocated – it calls for a response.
- Will you love your heavenly Father with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? You are loved, but will you in turn love Him? When the ancient call to love God as our Father is answered, the love connection (circle) is completed and it releases one of the most powerful principles in the Bible. The Apostle Paul describes it like this:
- ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.’ (Emphasis added) Romans 8:28 (NKJV) The Greek word for together is synergeo and the English word synergy is derived from this. On the basis of this love connection, God enters every situation and releases His mighty working power to make all the difference! When you live by His love, and love Him, something happens. He takes all things, even the contradicting and disappointing ones, and speaks His synergeo over them. I believe He speaks a command, even to things that don’t fit or feel right, to synergeo (work together). He does not do this because we’ve got it all right or because we really need or deserve it. He works synergeo because He is our heavenly Father who loves us and loves our love!
- One of the enemy’s greatest tactics is to get you to forget about this love connection. His purpose is to get you sidetracked or distracted by the detail and rational reality of life. If he can get you to live or step out of this love relationship with your Father, he knows he can take you down. Focus on your heavenly Father’s love for you in every situation and express your love for Him again and again. That’s when synergeo happens. God steps in and commands synergeo for your good! Your heavenly Father always works things for your good when your focus remains on being loved by Him and loving Him in return. Note the reference to being called to His purpose at the end of Romans 8:28. Realise that your first purpose in life is to live in response to God’s love and not in reaction to your circumstances.
- 4. The mission of the Holy Spirit Part of the Holy Spirit’s mission is to pour out the Father’s love in our hearts.
- ‘And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.’ (Emphasis added) Romans 5:5 (NLT) Don’t try to live a full life on an empty heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with the love of your heavenly Father. From this overflow of His love you can then go on your daily life mission to show His love to others.
- Application You have a heavenly Father who loves you forever! Let Him put His arms around you today and just love you. Receive His love and love Him every day in everything. Prayer Thank you for being my heavenly Father and loving me forever. Holy Spirit, please fill my heart with the Father’s love. I love You with all my heart, Father. Amen.