Man, it is an honor to be with you guys today. I want to welcome all of our campuses. We've got the venue here with us. We've got our online campus, North and Benson. I'm so glad that you guys are here today.
But I'm even more excited at the fact that today is Father's Day. Man, that is awesome. This is a day I get to revel in all of the great things that dads get to do. Like for example We are great at dad jokes. I love that.
There we go. Home. I love you, brother. Hey. I'm so excited that we are a part of dad jokes.
Like, our name is literally in the type of joke. Like, for example, what's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? One says, see you later, and the other says, in a while. I love that. We're also even included in physique, like the dad bod, you know?
Round around the edges, you know, but we're still tough. I love that, right? Or even better, we are great at inputting ridiculous things inside of conversations that make no sense, like there's more than one way to skin a cat. That's a bit depressing. We were talking about your kids' future here.
But you know what? I will say that dads are the best at giving advice. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that fatherly advice even predates the Ten Commandments. We find this in Exodus chapter 18.
So, let me give you guys just a little bit of information here before we jump into that scripture. The first thing I have to say is that if Moses did not receive the earthly father's advice, we may have struggled today to even receive our heavenly father's advice through the Ten Commandments. See, Moses had received an opportunity to serve God to free his people.
Now his people are out of the grasp of Pharaoh and Egypt, and now they're in the wilderness struggling on how they are going to live their life successfully.
So his father-in-law, Moses that I'm speaking about, His father-in-law came and noticed that some of the people in Israel are starting to get a little frustrated because they're waiting in long lines to get advice from Moses or to get commands from Moses on how to live their life.
So now Jethro has a moment where he's speaking with his son-in-law. To encourage him on how he can participate in presenting the word of God, judgment, and commands to his people.
So that brings us into Exodus chapter 18, verse 19 through 27. And it says.
Now listen to me. This is Jethro speaking to Moses.
Now listen to me. I will give you some advice. And God be with you. Let me first start with this. Everybody's got advice.
Everybody's got opinions. But if it does not point you to God, I just wanna let you guys right now throw it in the trash, throw it away. You don't need it. We need to be pointing people to God daily. That's why I love what Jethro is doing in this moment.
And God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God. And bring their cases to him. Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating, dishonest prophet.
Place them over the people as commanded of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case Sorry, every major case, but judge every minor case themselves. In this way, you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. If you do this...
And God so directs you. You will be able to endure and also All these people will be able to go home satisfied. I want to bring back to that point in verse 23. Where it says, and as God directs you. Just because you receive advice doesn't mean it's always good advice.
Pray to God. Ask Him, hey Lord. Give me a scripture. Give me something. that helps me take this advice that I may be guided by you.
Verse 24, Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
So Moses chose able men from all Israel, made them leaders over the people, as commanded, of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They judged the people at all times. They would bring the hard cases to Moses. But they would judge every minor case themselves. Moses let his father-in-law go, and he journeyed to his own land.
I love verse 27 because I feel like that's something that's so overrated that we have to grab hold of. Why is it important that the Bible tells us that Moses let Jethro go? That means that Moses was holding on to the advice and the opportunity to get godly wisdom. How many of us try to hold on to what God is giving us? How many of us try to hold on to godly wisdom?
I want to encourage you today: hold on to it. Hold on to it. Because it doesn't come Often. But then also, I also laugh at that scripture because I imagine that Jethro, after being with Moses for so long, said, All right, it's time for me to go to my recliner. Leave me alone, guys.
All right. Moses' willingness to receive, obey, and maintain his father-in-law's advice. Opened up the door for him to receive heavenly advice. And we find in chapter 20 that God calls to Moses, tells him to meet him on Mount Sinai, to pour godly knowledge on him and show him how Israel needs to live their lives through the Ten Commandments. What better way for me to speak to you guys today about fatherly advice than to utilize the gift of the Ten Commandments?
I've got three pieces of fatherly advice for you guys today, and I hope that you guys can grab hold of it. You guys ready? All right. The first fatherly advice is be mindful of how you treat people. The second advice is: don't forget where you came from.
And the third advice is, is our God should stay in our focus. Our focus should stay on God. Let's jump into the first one, okay? Be mindful of how you treat people. Exodus 20:13 through 17 says, Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal.
Do not give false testimony against your neighbours. Do not covet your neighbour's house. Do not cover your neighbor your neighbour's wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. I would hate to be condescending in this. But I will say this, hopefully many of you guys aren't killers.
If you are, stay away from me. I want to live. But There is something I think we need to grasp from these. uh commands here and that is There is a heart condition God is speaking to. That even though we may not visibly share the issues that are being described here.
These issues have become so convoluted over time, we've now justified them, covered them up, and now I can kind of wrap all of these things up with abuse. We are an abusive society. We're angry at everyone.
Now, for the next couple of moments, this is a hard topic for me, so I'm just going to just jump right into it. Men. Boyfriends. Gentlemen, fathers, husbands, look me in the eye right now. It's important to realize It's not just keeping your hands off the women.
It's how you speak to them too. God's watching.
Alright, I'm done with that.
Alright, so let's go ahead and do this here.
Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. All right. But see, this piece of advice is meaningful because again, it talks about the heart condition. What's inside of the heart? manifests in what we do outside of here.
See your heart might not be murderous but it might have embraced different avenues of abuse to try and get your way. Again, it's not enough to keep your hands off of people, but it has also a lot to do with how you treat people, how you speak to people. I find that Our heart conditions really come out loud and clear when it's time to be patient. Oh my goodness. Let me talk to you guys about a few things I struggle with when it comes down to being patient.
Oh my goodness, the grocery store line. See, it's bad enough that there is a teenager who doesn't know how to count and he's wringing stuff out slowly. It's crazy.
Now I want to literally shake the machines because it's a self-checkout.
So it's not my problem anymore. It's the machine. It's still not me. Anyway. But at the grocery store is a clear depiction of what your heart looks like and how you act there.
How about the gas station line? Man, I fill up my car at BJs. I love the little discounts. It makes me feel good. But how many of you guys have seen the BJ's lines and the Sam's Club's lines at some of your local gas stations where the line is all the way out into the road?
Oh my goodness, I have plenty of time to complain there. Yeah. Or even better. At a restaurant. when that waiter or waitress got your order wrong.
Mm-hmm. Man, that moment in time is when the heart condition really jumps out. I get frustrated. I'm upset. I'm anxious, I'm starting to tap my foot a little bit, starting to shake a little bit.
I'm starting to see myself complaining, and now here comes the verbal abuses. The world doesn't need to see you upset because that's not the God that we serve. Our God is patient. Our God is loving. He needs to see the best of us.
But how do I combat this? Psalms 51:10. David writes, God, create a clean heart. For me. And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Even David, through times of trouble, sitting in that gas station line of his life, or that grocery store of his life, or that restaurant of his life, recognized I need a clean heart. Because if I fail to have a clean heart, what's going to happen? The mighty men who follow me. the kingdom that serves underneath me. They're all gonna struggle as well.
Psalm 71.1 says, God is indeed good to Israel. to the pure in heart. If you want to see God's blessing in your life active, Maybe we need to pray for a pure heart. And the first way to do so is to ask for repentance. Father, forgive me.
I sinned. Father. Clear out my heart. Help me to see. What you see?
Surprisingly enough, I found that some of the best things that have ever happened to me. have happened when I didn't notice it. I've actually had to start to formulate and change my prayers and say, God, open up my eyes to see it. Why? Because our Father is a good God.
He's always doing great and mighty things. Why am I going through tough times? I'm going through tough times because of my perception of the times that I'm living in right now. Not that he's not good. And so I need to continuously ask for a pure heart so that I can see the blessings actively happening.
And again, I need to repent. Just because you sweep dirt under the rug doesn't mean the room doesn't smell anymore. The Lord sees the mess in your life. It's time to clean it up. It's time to ask for forgiveness.
So again, Watch how you treat people. It's important. The next thing is, don't forget where you came from. Exodus chapter 20, verse 12 says, Honor your father and your mother.
So that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord God is giving you. This piece of advice is something that ruffled my feathers a lot as a kid. Can you believe it? Parents are not supposed to make us happy. Shame on them.
Shame. In fact, I'm still blaming them for how short I am. Forgive me, Lord. Can you believe it? I saw a kid the other day.
have an ice cream cone in their hand. Crying because their parent did not buy them a toy. That's crazy. Because with inflation, that ice cream should last a whole month. Oh no.
Parents, it is not our job to make our children happy. It is our job to the best of our ability to feed them, clothe them, and educate them, which means that the Xbox. Which means that the fancy vacations and the self cell phones are not pertinent to them living. And this also means you are not the reason why. They are where they are.
You may be the reason for where they started. But it is God who raises up our children. We create the guidelines. I can't change children. But I can put them in the presence of God.
It is our job to keep them in the presence of God. Parents, we are responsible for creating the best starting point we can for our children. But again, we are not the reason for where they end. A brother told me the other day. He said, uh Man, in a moment where I was complaining about My childhood and about my dad when I was younger.
The gentleman who I was complaining to said, Hey, didn't your dad die like a couple years back? He said, yeah. He said.
Well then isn't it time to like, you know, forgive him and let it go? Even from the grave, we're thinking that our parents are responsible for where we are going. No, we just need to honor the starting point that God has given us, the cards that He's presented us, so that we can now take it to the next level and praise God for where we came from. Regardless of how good or bad our parents were. We need to remember where we came from.
Again, guys. We're not responsible.
Sorry, parents are not responsible for where our kids are going. But they should be creating a great starting point. Church, I don't care where they're hurt. the childhood trauma. Or the things that you think may have impacted your adulthood, I would like to encourage you today to let you know our Heavenly Father is in this room today, and He's ready to take your burdens.
to take your heavy load. And to bear them for you. But the only way we can do this is two quick steps. The first thing is, Forgive. Forgiveness is not for them.
It doesn't vindicate other people's crimes against you. It's for you to be released from the chains of those things. And then the second thing is... Move on! Move on!
I won't say what type of family member that I have, but we all got that family member out of Thanksgiving who tells that same story over and over again. Move On. Fathers, we need to give Are children a good starting point? How do we do that? First Let's not give our children a reason to be gender confused.
It is easy for me to blame society for what they're pouring into our children. Yes, society is guilty. The culture is guilty. But you know who I want to hold accountable as well today? Us as fathers.
It's our fault as well because we're giving our children a reason. To be gender confused, we're emasculating our sons and we are removing the femininity from our children. Let me give you an example. My dad and I love to do a bunch of competitions. And so much to a fault that it's like, you know, we've got a victory dance, you know.
Well, this one particular time we're building a deck and there's a bunch of screws and all we have is a bunch of screwdrivers in our hands. And my dad has this like bionic arm. I don't know how he does it. It was like the Lord specifically laid his hand on his forearms to where whatever he grabs a screwdriver, it just makes it happen.
Well, this particular day he challenges me. He says, hey, I dare you to beat me putting as many screws in. He said, go. We're on top of it. I'm screwing as fast as I possibly can.
About halfway done, I look over. He's down three screws already. I'm like, yo, Joe, turn it up a notch. And I'm going through. And by the time we were done, instead of looking at me and saying, you're not a real man, you can't put these screws in here as fast as I can.
He said, you're going to get there one day. Yeah. Thank you, Dad. I'm still not there. But thank you, Dad.
He didn't take that time to tell me I'm not a man. He told me that in that time, you're going to get there. He spoke positivity into my life. My daughter is 12. She's almost taller than me now.
It's crazy.
Again, I blame my parents. Anyway. But she loves to watch basketball. She loves to play basketball.
So now I sit down on the couch and I watch women's basketball with her. I never thought that I would have this opportunity to be with her. But that particular one particular day, my dad is watching me and my daughter watching these basketball games, seeing how excited we are. He pulls me to the side. He said, hey, this is great.
This is awesome. But don't forget She's a woman. That spoke lots to me. Because our girls, we're removing the femininity out of them. There's nothing wrong with competition.
But when they are feeling like they are ready to take on men in a battle, there's something a little wrong here. My daughter needs to be reminded of how beautiful she is. How she's a creation of God. And how important it is for her to live the life of the woman that God created her to be. How about this?
Be an example of financial responsibility. It is important, fathers, for us to teach our children how to be financially responsible. I used to work in finance where people would come to me and ask for loans, and man, it. Killed me the days that I went home after dealing with college students who were interested in moving forward in their life. Can you believe that they were taking out loans, asking for expensive vehicles, or trying to buy a home before they got their first job, or trying to be somebody important before they can even earn that thing?
Let me tell you, these kids need to learn how to earn it. Fathers, it's your job to teach them financial responsibility. I'm okay with you having a big house. I believe one day I'm going to have a huge house in heaven. I'm never going to be in there though, because I heard that the landscape's going to be great in heaven.
Anyway. And it's going to be nice. It's nice to have those cars. It's nice to have all those things. I'm not telling you to remove those things from your life, but teach your kids to earn it.
You had to. Why can't they? Show them how to maintain a home. I'm not asking every man in this room to be a Mr. Fix-It.
If you can't fix it, please find somebody who can. Your wives will love you for it. But maintain your home. Show your kids what it looks like to be responsible over preventative maintenance. feeing things before they break.
Noticing problems before they happen. Remember, this is an opportunity for you to pour into your kids, an opportunity to show them that this is time to be together. This is an opportunity for you to be the father over your home.
So remember. Don't forget where you came from. My next and last fatherly advice for you is keep your eyes focused and stayed on God. Exodus continues on and says, I am the Lord your God. This is verse 1.
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the place of slavery? Do not have other gods besides me. Do not make an idol of yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or in the earth below. in the waters underneath I'm sorry, in the waters under the earth. Do not bow and worship to them, and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God, am a jealous God.
I want to stop here for a second. Hey guys, that means the way that we dress too. We may not be making physical idols outside of here, like constructing things. And if you're good at crafting and smithing, talk to me. That's so awesome.
But anyway, it's also how we design ourselves. How we dress ourselves, how we present ourselves. Our kids are watching. That's a form of making another idol. I remember I used to flex in front of the mirror.
There wasn't much to see, so guys, don't look. But I used to flex in front of a mirror and get all excited and talk about how many people I'm gonna beat up and take down. Ooh, I'm good. That was making an idol out of myself. Instead of returning the glory back to God.
Instead of keeping him focused, It continues in verse 7: Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You are to labor six days and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work, you, your son, or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock.
or the resident alien who is within your city gates for the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days. Then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day to declare it holy. Keeping God first should be a simple thing. But it is not.
We've even made our jobs our idols, not just ourselves, but now the place that we work. It seems that our jobs and those things are now our identity. I want to encourage you all today. The Lord said. Take a day.
Breathe for a minute. Seek my face. Be in my presence. If you're working seven days out of the week, I have to ask you guys: when do you get time with God? When do you get time to be in his presence?
When do you get rest? And if you don't even have time for him, how do you get time at home with your family if you're working seven days out of the week? This is a very practical thing, but we suffer with it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, this is from 2024, 29 to 36% of people who work will also work on weekends, but that rate increases by 50% if you work more than one job.
Child. If these statistics are true, then that means that in 2024 it got worse in 2026. Take some time. God is here. And he's commanded his people.
Obey me. Take some time off. Seek my face. Put me first. I'm here for you.
I'm trying to bless you. I've blessed this day so that you could be blessed. I want you in my presence. All right, Pastor Joe, you're just talking. No, I'm not.
Because even in the book of Jeremiah they had to be reminded again. Jeremiah chapter 7, 23 through 25. Says this.
However, I did give them this command: obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. follow every way I command you, so that it may go well with you. Yet they did not listen or pay attention, but followed their own advice and their own stubborn evil heart. They went backwards and not forwards. Have you ever felt like you were running in a circle and you weren't getting anywhere?
Have you asked yourself, have I taken rest for a moment? Have I sought his face? Have I been in his presence? Have I obeyed his command? He's literally telling us to take a day.
Chill out, relax. But instead, we were going backwards and not forwards. Since the day of your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all of my servants, the prophets, to you time and time again. And in 2026, he's bringing me here to tell you guys, take a day. Take a day.
Breathe. What God is telling us this. The God of the universe. the God of the heavens and the earth. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The God that parted the seas, the God that brought Israel out of the wilderness and into the promised land, the heavenly Father that redeemed our sins through the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, is asking desperately for your attention right now. He's here in this room. And he's calling to you. The sad story is, is that my dad was in the military. Um There were days that he had to stay away because he was either at base or going overseas for stuff.
And it was crazy. But the opportunities that he did come home, he was home. This one particular day, I'm outside and I'm at the basketball court and I'm hanging out with all my friends. I'm distracted by the things that are around me. I'm not paying attention.
It took them a couple of times to call to me. When I finally heard his voice, and trust me, I heard it, it was booming. I said, you know what? I might want to go inside. The rest of my friends knew the same rule that if one parent tells the one kid to come inside, we probably all need to go inside, right?
It's probably time.
So I'm hanging out with my friends, I'm cracking all these jokes. I head right inside of the house, totally missing. That my dad wasn't just calling me. He was sitting at the bench that particular day, and he wanted me to come to him. And I missed it that day.
An opportunity where he could give me advice. that only a father to a son could give. But I missed it.
So I want to encourage you all today, let's not miss it. The Lord is calling you right now. I can't expect that everyone in this room knows who Jesus Christ is and the Lord over their life or the God that I'm speaking about.
So let me make it very clear. Our God is calling us right now. Who is that God? He is the God of the universe, the God of the heavens and the earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God that parted the seas, the God that brought Israel out of the wilderness and into the promised land, the heavenly Father that redeemed our sins through the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the God that's calling you by name right now. He said, come sit right next to me. I want to talk to you. If you don't know who that Jesus is. I want to encourage you right now.
He's calling to you. If you're online right now, And you're like, who is this Jesus I'm talking about? He's calling you. Uh If you've lived a life for 20 years. But you found so many struggles and you're trying to still figure out if you're saved or not.
He's calling you right now. That God is saying come sit next to me right now I'm going to pour some wisdom into you. If this is you today. Let's pray for a moment. Let's accept that God into our hearts.
Let's receive the wisdom He wants to give to us, the salvation He's desiring of us. Let's redeem ourselves by using the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen? Let's pray. Father, Only Jesus' blood could redeem us.
Many of us may not know who you are. The father We know that you sent your son to die for us. Because we were sinners. We failed thousands of years ago, but God we know. that the way to true life is through you.
So, Father, we admit our sins. We admit the problems that we may have brought upon our lives or the opportunities and advice that we may have thrown to the side. We admit those things right now. But we believe that you can still redeem us. that through your Son we are saved.
So father We confess right now you being Lord over our life. and that it could have only happened through Jesus. Take our lives today. Make us whole. Bless us today.
that we can now show the world. What it looks like when we are obedient to your advice. and obedient to your command. We thank you. We praise you for all these things.
In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. And amen. Hey guys Can we get excited for just one more moment? Because I believe somebody got saved today.
And my Bible says we should be rejoicing. Because someone was redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. It is the joy of the Lord that is our strength today. Let's worship Him today. Come on, turn to worship and stand.
Control yourself. The joy of the Lord is my. Straight. It's more than Feeling the joy of the Lord enjoy all the Lord is my strength, oh my soul, oh my soul. Bless his name, all that is within me.
Say, The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Let it rise up like a river, overflowing, Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no living overflowing, Holy Spirit. Let it rise up like a river, overflowing, Holy Spirit. With no limits overflowing, Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Oh, my soul, bless his name. All that is within me says, The joy of the soul, bless his name. All that is within me says, The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I don't know about you guys, but again, I'm going to be celebrating a few different things today. I'm going to be Celebrating my dad jokes.
I'm going to be celebrating my dad bod. I'm going to be celebrating all these things. But also, I'm going to be celebrating being in the presence of Jesus Christ. And you know what? That celebration is going to ring loud to this world.
So I want to encourage each and every one of you guys today: let's show the world who our Heavenly Father is. Let's celebrate Father's Day in the best way we can today. Bringing people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let's go and take the land for Jesus Christ. Amen.
I love you guys. Enjoy your day.
