Preaching About The Father

Preach About The Father

One very simple way to create a series of messages on doctrine (the subject of this series of posts), is to preach through the Apostles’ or the Nicene Creed.  The next important message, then, after reflecting on how God reveals himself, is to preach about the Father as Creator.  The Apostle’s Creed begins by saying, “I believe in the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.  We’ve already seen that God reveals himself through the creation (here’s the post), and so the next message in your doctrinal series would be to reflect on the fact that God reveals himself as Father.

Jesus Presents God As Father

There is a powerful passage in Scripture where Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.  They have noticed that Jesus consistently spent time in prayer with his Father.  So, sensing the power that this gave the Messiah, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  What Jesus taught them must have been shocking.  Here’s what he said, as recorded in Matthew 6:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

The Father Is Presented As Abba

I can imagine the disciples looking at each other in shock.  You see, these people were used to coming before God with a sense of awe and wonder and fear all mixed in. They came knowing that God punished disobedient people.  In their history they could look back at God appearing with lightning and smoke on Mount Sinai and speaking the Law for his people.  Israel was so terrified they pleaded with Moses to go and talk to God in their place.  God was a fearful being.

Now Jesus says that we should approach this fearsome God as “Father”.  The word in the original language is “Abba”.  Here’s how the importance of that word is described in one Bible Study site:

In biblical tradition, Abba Father refers to our rich relationship with God, helping us to describe God as both a loving parent and a divine authority.

The idea of calling approaching God as our Abba is to identify him as the loving parent.  What a change from the Old Testament fear of God!

Preaching About God As Father

The Father is the great creator, but he also has a tremendous parental love for us.  Your people need to know that.  When you preach about God as Father, this is a doctrinal message that will ring in the hearts of your people.  Maybe you can call upon your own relationship with your father for illustrations of the close bond between father and child.  If not, there are many available.  Here’s one for your use:

THE GRACE-FILLED FATHER

Six-year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard, and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten. Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for his Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove, (and he didn’t know how the stove worked)!

Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky. And just then he saw Dad standing at the door.

Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him, and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.

Source: Dr. Wess Pinkham, The King’s Seminary

Conclusion

Doctrinal preaching, you see, is not dry. Preaching about the Father can give joy and hope to your people.