This Sunday is Father’s Day, so let’s take time to be thankful for our heavenly Father and our earthly fathers. Take time to reflect on God as your perfect Father. Thank him for the gift of his Son Jesus, by whom we call him Father. As John wrote, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 Jn 3:1). We have an eternal Father-child relationship with God through Christ. 

This relationship is not just in name. Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Mat 7:11). Any blessing we receive from our earthly fathers is just a glimpse of what we have as God’s children. God has given us fathers to reflect him as they love, provide, guide, and protect. So take time this week to thank your father for the ways he has reflected the fatherhood of God. 

But for many, Father’s Day is a yearly reminder of just how rare this blessing is, with fathers either absent or embodying a fatherhood altogether different than God’s. This is a tragic reality in our fallen world. If that is your situation, who has stepped in to be a spiritual father? Those who mentor, teach, encourage, and sacrifice for us remind us that fatherhood so often transcends a title. This Father’s Day, thank a man in your life who has been a spiritual father to you. And for the fathers wrestling with guilt over your own failures, receive the forgiveness of Christ and the strength of the Spirit to grow more like your Father in heaven. 

This Sunday we gather to worship our perfect, loving Father who gives us every good gift in Christ. Reflect on the relationship you have with him. Thank him for being your good Father. 

Mike Stroh
Associate Pastor