Additional Helps for Fathers

Here are the books I mentioned in my Father's Day sermon. Any or all would be a blessing to you and your family.

Thoughts from Dad

Children do seem to grow up fast- this year my youngest crossed the line into being a twenty-something. This has happened in a blur of time. In fact, I now find myself telling young parents to enjoy every moment with their little ones because they will blink and the kids will be heading out the door.

As I have watched my children grow and change, I have to wonder if my Heavenly Father can see growth and change in me. I want to be a father and person who stays on the growing edge of life. I want my life to display constant growth in the Lord.

As we approach Father's Day, may each of us be reminded, especially those of us who are fathers, to continue to grow and change so that our Heavenly Father will be pleased with how quickly we’ve grown; and our children will follow in our footsteps.

I also invite you to service at Bible Center on Sunday we are going to be looking at Eph. 6:4 in a message entitled, What's a Father to Do? I hope to see you there.

Jesse Waggoner

Flag Day

June 14 is Flag Day, while not an official Federal Holiday it does commemorate the day in 1777 that congress adopted the United States Flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day and in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. The week of June 14 is designated as "National Flag Week." During National Flag Week, the president typically issues a proclamation urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week. I never tire of seeing the Stars and Stripes flying and so appreciate all that our Flag represents of our great nation.

Psalm 60:4 tells us that God has given us a Banner (flag) of truth. It is our allegiance to the truth that should be on public display before an often skeptical world. You have taken one step today to let your banner fly, you have come to hear God’s Word proclaimed, and for that I thank you. We must also live out God’s truth the other six days of the week.

So get your flags flying.

Jesse Waggoner

Unity

Just when you think you have the Bible nailed, you haven’t. We need to let it nail us. We might think we have internalized God’s Word, and then we come face to face with Ephesians 4:1-6. Here we find a recipe for unity among Christians; a recipe that requires each ingredient (many of which are difficult) to be mixed together for true unity to occur:

Humility – In Greek culture humility was a vice. Paul says we are to be completely humble.

Gentleness – In our culture gentleness is seen as weakness. For Christians, the opposite is true.

Patience – We live in a world of impatience. Yet unified Christians are to be patient with one another, long suffering and slow to retaliate when wronged.

Bearing burdens – This means making every diligent effort to reach out to other Christians with help.

Peaceful – Peace is the glue that bonds the unity. We are to live in peace within our church family.

Note what happens when these ingredients are combined: Oneness – Now that’s unity!

May we always have unity in our fellowship.

Bill Tanzey

Feeling Small

When we express size we often use comparisons to do so. Expressions such as "big as a whale", "small as an ant", or "the size of a breadbox" all communicate size. But if we can make it a little more personal, what comparisons do we use to determine our size? If you have stared at an amoeba through a microscope you no doubt felt quite huge; while peering into the Grand Canyon or viewing the ocean will make you feel quite small. Such experiences tend to put us back into our place.

The Psalmist David describes such an experience in Psalm 8. The thing that made him feel small was considering the extent of God's creation. He wrote: "When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained: What is man, that Thou are mindful of him?"

When was the last time you felt small in the presence of God? Perhaps this summer would be a great time to seek out some place to experience the awesomeness of God's creation. So pack your lunch and your Bible and head out to be impressed with who God is and what He has done. Seek to reach that point of feeling small, and while you are in that reduced condition, offer words of praise for His immeasurable grace.

Jesse Waggoner

Rewards

Webster says that a reward is something given in return for good or for service or merit. In our lives we are motivated by rewards. The most obvious is the paycheck we receive for work. There are three major kinds of employee payment. The first is a salary. This is a fixed payment at regular intervals for work performed. The second is hourly, whereby a person is paid a fixed rate per hour worked. A third is piece work where payment is made strictly on the basis of production.

In I Corinthians 3:8-9 God tells us that -"every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God:" It seems as if God's rewards are most like piece work. I This labor is not to get us to heaven but is the product of a life transformed by God's grace as one labors because he is on his way to heaven ( see Ephesians 2:8-10).

It is worth thinking about what rewards may await us at God's throne. All of us who are part of God's family are to be involved in the service of our Lord. Remember His Word to us --"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12

Jesse Waggoner

Are you Fat?

A few years ago, from a pool of 10,000 applicants, Harvard University accepted 1400 into their incoming freshman class. One applicant, a young woman, answered one question differently on the application: Are you a natural leader? She checked “No”. Yet she was proudly accepted into the new class. Arriving on campus, she asked her advisor why she was accepted, despite admitting that she wasn’t a leader. Her advisor smiled broadly and explained that there were 1399 accepted who answered “Yes” to seeing themselves as born leaders, so in the midst of all those leaders, they felt they needed at least one follower!

Ultimately God is looking for that kind of faithful follower. You need not be a superstar or theological expert; He’s simply looking for servants who are F.A.T:

Faithful
Available
Teachable

In Sunday's message we’re going to examine four such “FAT” servants. These four were so committed to their disabled friend; they went to extreme lengths to lead him to Jesus the Savior.

Oh, that we all can become F.A.T. Christ followers!

Bill Tanzey