Chris Hodges - The Words of Our Fathers
That's awesome. Thank you very much. I love you so much with all my heart. Thought about you every single day. Took a few weeks off to do a little bit of ministry in some other churches and even got a chance to go up to Washington, D.C. and took a little bit of time off, got in the sun, played some golf, played really good golf, everybody, so that's a lot of fun. Got to spend time with my family and my precious wife, but I'm just so grateful to be home today. It's nothing like being at Church of the Highlands, nothing like it. I mean, from the very first note that sounded, I just was feel like, oh my goodness, I know. I mean, when we go to heaven, we're gonna wanna come back on weekends, isn't that right everybody? It's just that good.
And so, big hello to all of our locations, our campuses. We are one church that just happens to meet in different rooms across Alabama and Georgia. What an honor it is also to be in the rooms of the Alabama Department of Corrections, in 26 of those across our state. Yeah, come on, everybody, isn't that awesome? And I don't know why you're not here, but if you're watching online, we're hope you're having a vacation. I hope you're not sick or anything like that. But there's nothing like bein' in the room. And we miss you, we're so grateful that you're joining us right now online, like I did every single Sunday. I didn't miss a service. I've gotta keep up on everybody around here, you know?
And so, thank you for your faithfulness, and attendance, and your giving, and participation, and gettin' in Small Groups, and all that you do whether I'm here or not, but glad to be here, especially on this day, this Father's Day. You've already heard it a couple times. What an amazing video our communications and video team did. I mean, they never cease to amaze me at their talent and their ability to communicate stories, so thank you to Kellen Coldiron and the entire creative team that pulled that off. But I'm grateful to be here on Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to every father in the room, anybody who's ever fathered someone spiritually or biologically and the way you've influenced other people's lives. I wanna give honor to my dad, who's in heaven. He was best man in my wedding.
I learned so much from my own dad, and I'm grateful to God for him. Tammy's dad was my best friend in the whole world until he went to heaven. We talked on the phone every day for 27 straight years, and just miss him dearly, dearly, dearly. Both of those are with the Lord now, and God's replaced them with some amazing men in my life who I consider fathers, my own pastor, who's been my pastor since I was 15 years old, Larry Stockstill. I give honor to Larry Stockstill. I texted him first thing this morning when I woke up. Just told him how much I loved him. I'm grateful to God for John Maxwell, who has been my mentor for almost 30 years now and really not quite old enough to be my dad but close to, I still consider him a big brother, a father to me and Pastor Jim Laffoon, Coach Tom Mullins. Every single one of those, I got up very early this morning, first thing I did was text them and tell them thank you and I'm so blessed.
I'm so proud of my sons. All of my sons are amazing fathers. They surprised me, actually, I had no idea. They surely didn't show that while they were livin' with me. Come on, somebody, right? But they all turned out to be amazing, amazing dads and my son-in-law as well and just grateful to the Lord for that. I know not everybody has warm, fuzzy feelings like I do, and not everyone has had a great dad, but God still puts us in fathering situations, and I want to talk about that a little bit today. I have actually two little messages today. They're completely separate, but you can put 'em together, so forgive me for actually bringing two completely different thoughts because I wanna talk about the influence that fathers have had on our life, whether that was good or bad, and if it was bad, I've reserved some time at the end to talk about that for a few moments.
But I do want to talk about just the influence that fathers have on our lives, and I want to talk about how that happens and how all of us really need to be aware of what I consider to be the primary way influence is shown or influence is given. In fact, found an interesting study not too long ago about the influence on the rest of the family coming to Christ if one member of the family gets saved, like what influence they have. So if a mom or a wife gets saved, in 18% of the cases, the rest of the family is gonna give their life to Jesus. If one of the kids gets saved ahead of their parents or is in church ahead of their parents, in 22% of the cases, their parents are gonna come to church and get saved. But check this out, but when a dad or a husband does, it's 94% of the rest of the family is gonna get saved.
I show you this to show the power that God just sovereignly did. He just chose there to be this thing where inside of dads that they have this kind of much power, this influence in our life. And in some cases, like I said, that can be a negative thing. What they did had 94% impact in our life. It wasn't in a positive way. Talk about that at the end. But I do wanna talk on a more positive note, I wanna talk about the primary way that we use our influence, so this is a message for everyone, not just for dads. But I wanna talk about the power of our words. I wanna talk about how many verses in the Bible, I actually eliminated, oh, close to 50 verses that I just didn't have time to cover in this message, and I've got lots of scripture I'm gettin' ready to show you about the power of the tongue.
I once chronicled, actually, you know, I organized the book of Proverbs. It's the most unorganized book in the Bible. I mean, it keeps changing subjects every line, you know? So one day, old Chris Hodges, you know, that loves order, I got in there and just put 'em all in order, everybody. So if you ever... I should write that book but then, I went by and just every place that talked about the tongue, I just put a T and where it talked about money, I put an M, and I just, I organized the book of Proverbs for you guys, but there are a lot of verses. I mean, not just in that one book but all throughout the Bible. On the tongue, of course, this is probably the most popular or famous of them: "That your tongue has power. It has power of life," it can actually build something up, "or it can bring death," it can tear something down, "and those who love it," or how you use it, "you're gonna eat the fruit of how you use it".
One of the ways that I like to say it is that we tend to become who the most important people in our life say we're gonna become. So you're here today because the coach said something to you, good or bad. A mom or dad said something to you, good or bad. Some influential person, hopefully your pastor, that's why you come. You're here to come not to hear bad news but to hear God loves you and he cares for you very, very much and to be encouraged by that. But that's why words and the words that we say, but also the words that we're receiving, have such power in our lives. I am, again, very blessed. I don't want to use the word lucky, but I'm just blessed. I have never had bad relationships in my life.
My dad was a very stern person, actually. He was a disciplinarian. He was very, very excellent. It looked like his lawn had been cut with scissors. I mean, the brother just, he liked things in order all the time. We vacuumed the house every day before he came home from work. I mean, so I grew up in this real disciplined, but every day, he kissed me. Every day, he told me he loved me. Every day, he told me he believed in me. He expected a lot out of us, but my dad was a very loving, very, very affectionate person. My pastor, the same way, my pastor is a man of order. We wore a suit on Saturday for Saturday prayer. Are y'all listening to me, everybody? Okay, I mean the one with a tie. You know what I'm talkin' about? For Saturday prayer. He got up at 4 a.m. to pray on Sunday mornings. I used to join him. I was the only one on staff. No shame to all the other pastors on that staff, but I was the only one who would wake up at 3:30 to join him at 4 o'clock in the morning to spend three hours in prayer.
And really, I was watching him, like, my goodness, what do you say for three hours? I was learning and growing, but he was just such a man of order and taught me so very much. But I remember the words he spoke over my life about 24 years ago when I came into his office after a fast, and I said, "There's something stirred in my heart. I don't know what it is. I see something, and I don't know what to do with it". And he said with his mouth to my ears and more importantly to my heart, "It's time, Chris, for you to be a senior pastor". He says, "I wanna release you to go find a city that you can spend the rest of your life in". And those words, I never forget the power of those words. They were affirming. They were directional. They were important. They were meaningful. And to this day, I'll never forget.
In fact, I said to him, I said, "How do I know which city it is"? And he said the most important words in the world to me. He said, "You're gonna find a city that you have supernatural love for, that you're gonna be willing to buy your burial plot in". And I'm happy to tell you that even after 23 1/2 years, it's still Birmingham, Alabama, everybody, all right? So, to God be the glory for that. John Maxwell sat with me at a lunch one day, looked across the table and said, long before I was ever administering to ministers, he said, "God's gonna raise you up to be one of the top ministers to ministers. You're gonna help pastors". And I said, "John, I don't see it". He goes, "Trust me. I'm gonna help you get there, but God's called you to do that". It's the power of words. Are y'all listening to me, everybody?
Okay, everybody look at me real carefully. This is not a preach. This is just a flat out truth. Okay, your words have that kind of power. What you're saying to people in every aspect of your life, your children especially, but even your spouse, your parents, your siblings, your coworkers, your neighbors, your friends, someone you don't even know. Don't underestimate the power of your tongue. All throughout the scripture, you just go read, it's not even in our text today. Go read all of James chapter 3. But Ephesians 4 says, "Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouth," why? Because it has that kind of power. And every one of us are guilty of it. In fact, I'm a good communicator. I don't think I'm the best in the world, but I'm a decent communicator. But my talent can also be my downfall. I'm so good at it, I'm so good at it.
And sometimes I've said things and I thought, oh, wish I could have that back, realizing the power of what I said or how I said, the harshness of it, or you know, whatever came, and the Bible says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths," this is convicting message for me. I hope it is for you. I don't want it to be condemning. I want it to be convicting. But it convicts me. "But only that which is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it might benefit the listener". And that's the theme verse of the day. I wanna show us how that we can use our words only to build somebody up according to the needs they have in that moment that it benefit the listener. Can I get a good "amen," everybody? It's the power of the Word of God, and of course, the Father in heaven had a Son too. He's a Father. Happy Father's Day to God 'cause he had a Son named Jesus, right?
And we know that they were in communication every single day. Every day, Jesus got up and spent time with his heavenly Father. Unfortunately, we don't get the communication. Like, we don't get the conversation between God the Father and Jesus the Son except for two places in the entire Bible. So, I'm gonna show you those two. What's interesting about the two is that in both places, when we finally get the actual words, they were having 'em, we just don't get to know them, but when we get the words, they're the same in both places. I want to show it to you. The first time is when Jesus was beginning his ministry. He shows up at the Jordan River. John the Baptist is baptizing, and the Bible says that "as soon as Jesus was baptized," which by the way, let me pause right there and say, Jesus was baptized, and he never even committed sin. Why was he doin' it? He was setting an example for me and you, and if you've never been water baptized, stop putting it off.
First Sunday of July, I want you to get yourself baptized, all right? "He got baptized, and when he went up out of the water. And at that moment heaven opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove alighting on him. And a voice of the heavenly Father said three things, 'This is my Son, who I love; and with him I am well pleased.'" You advance years or so into his ministry, Jesus takes 3 of the now 12 disciples off to the side, brings them to what's called the Mount of Transfiguration. It was a moment. It's kind of hard to understand, but Jesus actually, his body transformed into his heavenly body, started to glow. Moses and Elijah appeared. Peter kind of freaks out and says, "Let's build some idols right here to worship everyone".
That was human nature always to do it that way. Jesus said, "No, no, no, no". "And while he was still speaking," this is Matthew 17, "a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said," there it is again, "This is my Son, who I love; and with him I'm well pleased. Listen to him"! And I thought, what a great outline for all of us who need to understand the power of our words to say if we just did those three things to people, like, if we could give them "this is my Son, who I love; and with them I am well pleased," if we could just think about those three things as we communicate so that we get to the end of our lives and we can say this, that "Man, I'm gonna tell you, let me tell you about so and so. They spoke this over my life, and I became what they said. I believed what they said. Their words never tore me down. They only," wouldn't that be great? I want that.
I reassessed my own language and communication. I not only texted this morning my mentors and spiritual fathers, my natural ones are in heaven, but I also texted several of my sons, got texts from several spiritual sons already, answered them immediately, told 'em how proud I was of them, why? Because I'm gonna get to the end of my life and I want people to say, "Man, old PC always spoke life over me, built me up. He found my needs, and I benefited every time I listened to them". Are y'all listening to everybody? So let's look at this outline, these three things, and let me give 'em to you in this way if you're takin' notes, and you're truly godly, if you are, okay? And that is words of acceptance. This is "you are my son". You're my son. I'm with you no matter what, thick and thin. Why? 'Cause we are family.
Come on everybody, right? It's the only song I know from my past, all right? But we're family, and family doesn't give up on each other. I accept you. I don't necessarily always approve of everything you do. When my kids messed up, and they did, I still accepted them without approving the behavior. Are y'all listening to me, everybody? And I'm telling you, the world needs to get back to that. We bail on people so fast right now. Man, they just slightly do something, "I'm done with you". No, no, I accept you, why? You are my son. When my kids messed up, I had a line. I encourage you parents to write it down. It was one of the best lines I ever found while I was parenting.
Parenting, by the way, was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Building this church doesn't hold a candle to raising those kids. God help me. These gray hairs are not you. Raising kids is tough. But every time they messed up, I always said the same line. I know this is what you did, but that is not who you are. And I was trying to let 'em know "I disapprove and I accept you". Acceptance also speaks to what I call words of faith. If you're a notetaker, write that down. Because words of faith speak things that you do not see. I'm not gonna state the facts. We all know the facts. I don't need you to tell me I've eaten too much on my vacation. You can see the tension on this button. Don't tell me, everybody, all right? No, no, no, I need you to tell me, "Oh, PC, you're looking mighty good today".
See, we don't need to think about what I can say to just state a fact that's... I mean, it's true. We don't need, I don't need you to highlight it. No, no, no, I speak words of faith, not what you are, but what you can become. That's how Jesus, by the way, sees every one of you. When he sees you, he doesn't see you in your sin. He sees your sin forgiven, cleansed, and he starts speaking to your potential. You speak over their life. You say things. Please listen to me, especially anyone older who mentors, coaches, teaches, has a nephew, a niece. Just, when you walk up to 'em, start speaking to their potential. The Bible says of Abraham in Romans chapter 4, "(Abraham) is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were".
What in the world? What would it look like if we started to do this with the people around us? I'm not statin' the fact. I'm just, let me tell you what you can become. Let me tell you what I see inside of you. I see some potential. I had a mentor right after I got saved. I was a shy, beat-up, I was bullied in junior high, not horribly, but bad enough to mess me up a little bit. And I had this coach named Tim who just kept speaking potential over my life. I was not good at anything. I didn't have, I wasn't given the equipment for athletics. I could play, only thing I was actually good at, I was a classical pianist, and I was very good. I had 30 piano students at 15 years old. I mean, I was very accomplished musician very, very young, but you can't push a grand piano down the football field. Are y'all listening to me?
Okay. So I wasn't in band. I wasn't in nothin'. I was nothin'. I was in nothin'. I was in choir, and I couldn't even sing, but I knew music. And I was looking for my identity, you know, just looking for, man, who are you? And when I got saved as a junior in high school, man, I had two coaches speak over my life. You're a champion. There's a champion. There's a champion on the inside of you. I see something. You're gonna lead this youth ministry. You're gonna make, like, I couldn't see any of that. This is what our Lord does, by the way.
The Bible says that, "People were bringing little children to him to place their hands on him, and the disciples were trying to pull the children away. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. And he said, 'No, no, no, let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child never enters it.' And he took them in his arms, placed his hands on them and he spoke well of," is what the word blessed means, to speak well of. What if we did that today? What if every person we met, we just, "Man, let me tell you something I see inside of you. What an amazing person you are, what a champion. You're a leader. Let's go, man, you got this. Hey, I'm with you. You're gonna be fine. Come on, man", and just be a coach. Be a champion builder. Come on, are y'all listening to me, everybody? I'm talking about words of acceptance.
Second one in the text is words of affection. "You are my Son, who I love". I love you. Boy, that's something. I meet people all the time can't say it. "Man, sure do love you". "Thank you". People are so afraid to show affection. I don't know why. Maybe, I don't know what, I'm sure there's a story behind it. Can't show any affection. I don't think we do it enough. So let me say, I don't even know if you've heard it today, but now, here you have. Look in my eyes. I love you with all of my heart. I think you're the most amazing church in the whole world, everybody! I mean it from the bottom of my heart. And I stand, I'm not behind a pulpit, but this is a pulpit. I'm standing behind this pulpit today, and I am preaching to America and any person that my words can influence, and I'm saying it's time for the cruel, hateful words to stop!
If you can't say something nice... That's what your grandma told you. But we live in a generation, man, they'll give you the what for. I mean, it's maddening to me now. It's like the Psalms, "They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows". Is that what you wanna be known for? I sure don't, man. I sure don't. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. And I decided even the people I disagree with, I'm gonna disagree, but there will never be a cruel word behind it. I'm not gonna tear them down. I'm sick of it in politics. I'm sick of it in social media. It's gotta stop, everybody. You can disagree with somebody without being cruel. You don't need to sharpen your tongue and see how you can craft the right comment to rip them apart. My God in heaven. We see something broken and we want to break it more.
So all this, we have brokenness in the world right now. We have people mess up and like, Okay, let's pile it on now. That's what the world does. I'm sick of it. I am sick of it. The Bible says, "The tongue that brings," say the last word, brings. Is that what your tongue does? It's what I've decide my tongue is gonna do. If I'm gonna find somebody broken, messed up, disappointed everybody around them, man, they're already getting enough, I'm not gonna pile it on. I'm gonna bring healing. I'm not gonna bring harsh words. Our tone is too harsh, America. Our tone is too harsh. We need to tame it down a little bit. In fact, the Bible says when you're mad about something, "Answer gently, because harsh words don't work anyway". You're not fixing it. You're just makin' it worse. I wanna be a safe person to be around. I wanna be a safe person to confide in. I want somebody to be able to bring me bad news and say, "Shoot, that's no good. All right, let's pray. Let's work on this".
And just love people. Just love people. Words of affection. I don't say it enough to my spouse. She's gonna be in the next service. I'm gonna say it in front of everybody there. But I say it every day, but I don't say it enough. Not too long ago, I was working in my office at home, and I was working. And Tammy does not come down there much when she knows, 'cause when I get my head goin' in some direction, man, I can lose a thought or whatever. So she'll come in, and she'll stand at the door and just kinda barely make enough noise to let me know she's standing there. And I'll try to finish whatever thought I was typing or doing right there. And I was working on this, and she just needed a detail. Like, "Hey, do you wanna eat at this time or this time? Is this okay"?
So it was just, she just needed a quick little answer. And I turned to her, and I said, "Can I tell you how much I love you"? How many y'all know, it was a good night at the Hodges's house. Come on, somebody. I don't have five kids 'cause I'm good looking. That's right, every. Affection, are you affectionate? Are you accepting? Are you affectionate? Here's the last one, and that is words of affirmation. So not just acceptance, not just affection, but, "You're my son, and I love you, and I'm very well pleased. Hey, good job. Good job, You're doing a great job".
It's finding the good in someone and pointing it out. Wouldn't that be fun to do? Just find the good in someone and point it out. Do they have all good? Probably not. Know it won't be true if you try to look at my life, but hopefully, you can find some of the good. Point it out. Again, the world is so good at finding the one bad thing. Whoo! They'll tear you up, rip you up the side one down to the other. Why don't we be people who find the good and point it out? Proverbs says it this way in chapter 25. Are y'all getting anything out of this? I'm preaching myself so happy right now. "A word aptly spoken," you know what the word aptly means? Situational, circumstantial, intentional.
I found the right thing to say at the right time about the right thing. "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver," both valuable and beautiful. You won't find a verse in the Bible that says do the opposite of that. Find area of their life that's just lousy and let's just point, it's not there. And certainly, Jesus never lived that way either. Just know he found good things to say to amazing people, and he loved them. Like, oh, Jeff Kaufman here, I love you with all my heart, my friend. You've been a faithful friend for a long time. Henry back here two rows back, bless you, my friend. Sits in that chair every Sunday at 8 o'clock forever. His wife went to heaven not too long ago. Just still serving God with all of his heart. Love you, my friend. Love you, you're an amazing friend. Lane's been with me since he was zero, everybody, just, like, forever.
And I promise you it didn't hurt any of their feelings to hear those words. Why don't we do that? And certainly dads, to our kids, "You're the biggest... man, your room looks like a pigsty. Man, I can't believe, you terrible", no, "Children are a gift. They're a reward". Jesus had people speak into his life. I mean, when he was dedicated, which we, by the way, we do. We don't baptize babies, we dedicate babies, by the way, if you want your baby dedicated. Let our Children's Team know. We have a formal dedication service. We lay hands on them, give 'em a gift, their first Bible. Like, we wanna do that, okay? And Jesus was dedicated by a guy named Simeon. His parents brought Jesus to the temple, "And Simeon blessed," spoke well of, "Jesus and said to Mary, his mother, 'This child is,'" notice, he spoke a word, Jesus got a word spoken over his life from a guy named Simeon.
I just wanna be that. I wanna be the person who's gonna say things that affirm and bring life to people. And by the way, if this all stirs something up inside of you, you have an opportunity. You say, "Well, I don't have any kids, PC. I can't be a father, I'm not even married". "I'm a woman". Listen to me. Every one of us can worship one, serve one. Get involved in our Children's Ministry. In fact, if you can't decide where to get involved here at Highlands, I'm telling you, you want to live a fulfilled life? Serve in one of our children's church services. And every Sunday, come and just say, "Champion, you're a champion. Prayed for you all week. Hey, little Johnny, hey, you're a champion. God loves you. We're with you".
I had a third grade Sunday school teacher named Miss Frazee, and she impacted my life so greatly that I went to her house till the day she died. She lived in a little shotgun house in North Baton Rouge and just by herself, her husband had been long gone until she was well into her 90s. Even while I was in college, I drove halfway across Baton Rouge just to go see Miss Frazee, my third grade Sunday school teacher. Had a fifth grade elementary teacher who was full of the Holy Ghost. I mean, Miss Nelda Long, she was the first person, I wasn't even, I was in church, but I wasn't even a Christian, spoke over my life. Miss Nelda Long told me, she says, "You're gonna be a missionary to the world one day. The world's gonna know who you are".
She told me that. I was in fifth grade. I had a sixth grade teacher named Miss McGill. This is just secular, you know, public school. Full of God, spoke life over me. I just wanna put that inside of all us. I need to close. Let me give you this as a final verse. The Bible says, "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow down in your speech, slow to become angry". Just slow down. You don't have to react to everything. You don't even have to have to have an opinion about everything. Did you know that, by the way? Do you know when people say, "Did you hear about"? You can say, "I haven't". "Well, let me tell you". "No, no, it's okay. I have selective ignorance, and I'm enjoying my life".
Come on, somebody, right? I don't have to have an opinion about everything. Just slow down. I call it "think before I speak". This is an acrostic think. Is it true? If you don't know if it's even true, half the stuff we're repeating, we don't even know if it's really true. Just somebody else said so we're gonna just throw it out there too. We gotta stop all that. Is it helpful? Like, after you say it, ask yourself, did it help, or did it hurt? Is it inspiring? It should inspire people, our communication. Did I have to say that? Probably not.
Did you know that Jesus said in Matthew 12, "We're gonna be held accountable for every careless word that we spoke"? Ouch. Is it kind? Just kind. Because if you can't say something nice, just doesn't say it at all. So I wanna close this way. I wanna close by praying for and ministering to every person in the room who has had negative words spoken over you, and I don't normally end this way, but just be very reverent for a few minutes, please. 'Cause some of you have had, you have father wounds, and if it's not father, you just have word wounds, something somebody said over you that shut you down emotionally in some way, something negative that was spoken over you.
I read a book years ago called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge, and he says that father wounds create posers, and in men, it usually makes them incredibly passive or incredibly aggressive. So when you see an overly aggressive man, the team knows, I usually say, "They have a father issue". Or if you see somebody shut down, like, they won't even think about their potential, especially a man, it's their opposers over something that happened in the past. So what do we do about it? We need to let God heal us. Can I hear a good "amen," everybody? We need to let God heal us. But there are some steps we can all take too, and the first one is that when you have a relationship that disappointed you, there are good ones out there, everybody.
I call it find a father, find one. Because the Bible says, "A father to the fatherless," and he's talking about God, "a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling," and then he doesn't end there. He doesn't just become the father that you never had. "He sets the lonely," with John Maxwell and Coach Tom Mullins and Pastor Jim LaFoon, and he'll put... my dad's in heaven. I miss him. Billy, you have no idea how much I miss Tammy's influence in my life. "But God set the lonely man in a family, and he leads forth everybody who's been hurt and locked up in the pain by your past was singing". This is God's plan. He puts you in relationships. Look at me. Don't give up on 'em. Don't give up on the fact that God will put you in a relationship.
Here's the second thing is not just find a father, be one. Because I've learned that... don't miss this. This might be the best line of the whole message, that for everything that you're missing in life, instead of asking for it, give it, and if you give it, what you sow, you'll reap. Like, if you need a father, be one. If you need love, give love, right? If you need kindness, show kindness. "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man will reap what they sow".
So don't fret about what you do not have, be it. And when I say father, I'm talking to, that's a principle, not a gender. Every one of you can pour your life into the lives of other people, and you will receive such an abundance. I'm working very, very hard right now to pour my life, not only into this amazing church, but also into a thousand Highlands College students and then thousands of pastors. It's work, and it's messy at times. And there's things you're like, ah, you know? But man, I got up this morning with a bunch of texts saying, "Thank you, Dad"! Mayo Sowell was the first one, by the way, at about 4:30 this morning. He calls himself Son Mayo. He signs every text to me "Mayo Hodges," and I'm reaping, and you can too. It'll fulfill your life. Find a father, be a father, and of course, relate to God as father. Jesus said, "When you pray, say our," not our God, not master, not Lord. He is all those. He goes, "No, no, no, relate to him as Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name".
So, happy Father's Day to God. We love you, Lord. You're a good, good Father. That's who you are. He didn't know I was going to do that, so. "Whatever's good and perfect," last verse, "comes down from us from God our Father, who created us all the lights in heaven. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give you birth by giving us his true word. And we, out of all his creation, became his prized possession". Everybody stare at this for one second, please. So everybody who thought, "God doesn't like me like he likes you". Nope, you are his prized possession. "But I messed up". You are his prized possession. "But I didn't even talk to him one time this week". You are his prized possession. God wanted me to tell you something. Very quietly behind me, God wanted me to tell you something. You're his son or daughter. He loves you, and he's well pleased. Let's bow for prayer:
So Father, today I'm asking for every person who carries a wound, or a hurt, or something in their soul that is just destroy, they feel destroyed by it, heal them right now. Just open your hands and receive a healing. And God, I'm asking that you put them in relationships. Let them be that relationship, and let them know you that kind of a way. And Lord, every one of us in this room repent for the way we've used our mouth to tear somebody down instead of build them up. I'm sorry, God, for the way I've used my mouth to speak not well of, but I've cursed, and I've spoken negatively to people and about people, and I'm sorry, Lord, forgive me, and let me be like you, God, to speak blessing and not cursing, only things that benefit the listener. God, we pray over our children, spiritual children, those that we influence. We make a commitment this week, God, that we're gonna show love and blessing to them.
With heads bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you're far from God and you want to get right with God, you're one heartfelt prayer away from him forgiving everything, cleansing everything. All you do is make him the Lord of your life. You give him full control. I'm gonna help you with a prayer. Pray it right there where you are as campus pastors come. Just say:
Jesus, forgive me. I receive what you did for me on the cross, and today, I surrender my life to your lordship. Your will, your way. I'm following you. You're the Son of God who rose from the dead, and today, I put my faith in you. In your name I pray, amen.