The Provider | Pastor Daniel Groves | Hope City

today's gonna be amazing we get to partner with and share this day with juneteenth thank you for what you shared pastor brandon as we recognize the freedom and we're so excited we love diversity we're intentional about diversity i've been saying this a lot we're a church that's multicultural multi-generational look around the room y'all this is what heaven looks like thank you for your overwhelming enthusiasm amen [Applause] now we celebrate diversity because without diversity without a diverse church we're missing pieces of what the image of god looks like but across every location y'all we get to do this together i'm so fired up today is going to be an amazing day that uganda dream center piece that is so incredible because we do want to reach neighborhoods to nations we support local national and global missions but to see the uganda dream center with hundreds of people gathering they're shouting they're cheering right now they're fired up and excited every time i mention them they go bananas so one more time can we just welcome them let them know they have family over here today is going to be an amazing day uh today is father's day i know we keep saying it but it's important and father's day would not be father's day without a segment we like to call dad jokes look at the screens [Music] i learned it yeah yeah hey uh this is your first father's day as a dad yeah that's a little redundant but yeah yeah yeah yeah well it could have been more redundant if i said this is your first father's day as a father what we're gonna have today is kind of like a dad training dad jokes are vital here's the thing here's what you don't know okay i've been practicing i feel really good about this part why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants i don't know why it was in case he got a hole in one okay all right that's good that's a good start start off good start let's start what kind of person was boaz before he was married i don't know ruthless do seagulls fly over the sea i don't know why well if they flew over the bay they would be bagels um it's true it's good who was the most business savvy woman in the bible i don't know who pharaoh's daughter who went down to the bank of the nile and pulled out a little profit [Laughter] just a little one just a little problem a little chubby profit profit yeah oh that's good um what's browned brown and sticky batter a stick nice why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself why it was too tired like that's good where do boats go when they're sick they go to the dock with a with a cake dude you did you did great thank you yeah so like i said i've been practicing anything else i should know every dad needs a hat yeah um yeah and it's less about the protection of the sun but it's more because like you start balding when like well you become oh well that's awkward i just became a dad true that this has been strong that's next level deadness right there so anyways i'm gonna hey give me this hat though um it's the it's i need it to fit looks great hey uh i'm gonna head over to home depot you wanna roll with me no absolutely that sounds yeah the best plan you've had in a week come on let's make some noise for dad jokes pastor alonzo pastor andy pastor andy and pastor cindy they are our campus pastors at the woodlands pastor alonzo and kate they're our campus pastors here at west houston and uh you know we were talking and we were like you know what it only seems fitting that i continue with a few more dad jokes i've got a few uh myself i unfortunately uh was kind of a heavy week for us i unfortunately had to let our our lawn lawn guy go uh the guy mows our lawns because he just didn't cut it just didn't cut it that wasn't true either okay uh i i just don't trust stairs they're always up to something it's not bad it's not they're only going to get worse as we go uh talking about trust issues i don't trust uh you know certain trees uh like you know the other day i told my wife i was like i don't trust that tree over there it seems shady okay what do you call fish that wears a bow tie sophisticated okay did you hear the rumor uh about butter i i don't want to spread it i don't want to spread it i'm not gonna be that guy i'm not gonna be that one what did the duck say when he bought chapstick he said put it on my bill how do you organize a space party you plan it okay planet and last but not least what did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet he said supplies all right one more time we celebrate dad's day come on today's a good day that's a good day smattering of claptor and there's certain things that as we celebrate dads there are certain sayings my dad was watching the last service they may be watching again this service from florida but there's certain sayings that i've just kind of picked up along the way i have four kids having my oldest uh i told him upstairs i said buddy you're the one that first made me a dad he's 13 today give it up for brecken uh so i've got four amazing kids uh but there's some things that y'all dads we gotta we gotta be a little smarter in like i don't know if you heard the news about the the dad who was walking his dog this is true in florida a couple weeks ago he mistook a uh uh there was an alligator a seven foot long alligator that he thought was another dog with a leash and when he approached the thing bit him like this is why women live longer and he was so panicked about getting bit he got bitten again when he tried to call 9-1-1 with a squirrel uh that he thought was a phone okay that part was a joke but he really did get bitten by the alligator you can look it up it's unbelievable uh but i was reading some statistics and i thought that joke was better i'm gonna do it next service nobody likes it he got bitten again when he tried to call 9-1-1 from a squirrel okay moving on okay i i love this statistics over 2 500 adults were polled and they said 48 of them admitted to finding themselves using phrases that they were brought up with anybody you can echo that that's pretty good uh they said 54 of them said that they already will or already almost daily use their dad's saying some of you guys are guilty as charged like you're like yeah that's me i'm that guy okay and 73 revealed that they appreciate all the advice from their father over the years let me see if you guys can finish some dad sayings do you think i'm made of it's pretty good i'm not sleeping i'm just resting my gave that one to you don't talk back to your yeah don't make me turn this okay because i you're grounded till you're 30. nobody's heard though it's like a 28 year old neither like i'm still grounded this isn't funny it's not funny at all so i believe that there are some funny things that we picked up along the way and uh my dad he has these one-liners they're just amazing i don't even know where he comes up on them somebody said how are you doing today and he's like if i was doing any better i couldn't stand myself pretty good if i was doing any better i need to be two of me have you ever heard that one if i was doing any better i need to be twins you guys uh i woke up on the right side of the ground come on you ever that one i'm too blessed to be stressed like these dad one-liners now there's some quirky things that we picked up and i picked up along the way as a data forward but there's one that i believe is a legacy move i'm teaching my kids i'm passing this down i think it's so funny i thought the squirrel joke was as well it's fine uh but i've been doing this with my kids so like if we're at starbucks and they're like uh is that all we're like yeah they're like your totals 2138 because we buy for everybody got a big family and so i pull up they say 2138 and then i'll say but what if i pay cash and they're like what i was like what if i pay cash that's kind of a dad thing i'm passing on okay anyways i think it's pretty strong but i've said this before uh we are so grateful 86 percent of children at one point say that if their dad would step up their father would have made church a priority made their relationship with god a priority the outcome is so great and i just want to tell any dad who's listening or maybe you have lost your dad or maybe this is a tough weekend because of some situations of the way you were raised i believe there's hope for today because week number three at summer of hope city as we celebrate father's day we're going to be talking about our god the heavenly father but before we do i want to encourage you to go back two weeks ago pastor sean nebstad brought the heat how many all got up it was such a great weekend it was incredible and then last weekend my beautiful wife talked about purpose coming alive in the uncomfortable how many guys got something out of that how many of you guys are distracted with my father's day fit today because i look like blue's clues i felt like that was a little bit more compelling all right so today for week number three we're gonna be talking about the good shepherd but before we do i want you to begin to allow faith to rise because all throughout the six months of 2022 we've been talking about expecting the unexpected our prayer is that you might have walked in one way maybe you were scrolling and just stopped online maybe you walked into cinco or woodlands or you're part of one of our international campuses today is a day of miracles today's a day where you can walk in one way and leave set free healed and delivered i believe forgiveness is gonna break out breakthrough is gonna break out that diseases can reverse this weekend come on somebody the pain can disappear from bodies the mental stability can be come on emotional distress can be healed we're expecting the unexpected which is why we can celebrate over 2 200 people that have committed their lives to jesus already in 2022. yeah what a great start to the year and here's our prayers that you're going to finish strong inflation is among us and the threat of recession is upon us the thing that we can count on is jesus the one who's bigger than all of it the one who's bigger than rona and monkey pox whatever else you hear about online the truth is jesus and the presence of god and the gospel and the good news is going to continue to move forward how many all are grateful for your local church come on that you can plug in and connect so for week three of father's day as we honor all of the fathers pastor jackie said it she makes me call her pastor at home too it's a little awkward um maybe you stepped up maybe you stepped in as a step dad or a spiritual father we just want to thank you publicly for being such strong men some of our dads are no longer with us and we miss them and so this weekend maybe is a little difficult but we honor their legacy today maybe your dad is still around i want to encourage you don't let days and days and weeks go by where you don't just pick up the phone and say that you love them or that you're grateful maybe you have a dad who was absent maybe he was never present maybe he was around but wasn't with you i believe today god wants to heal and do some restoration and some hearts and for some of us thoughts of joy and celebration happen with our dad and others you were hoping when you came today that this would be a message as a one-off and maybe we wouldn't approach it like this but i felt really strong in my spirit i could have gone multiple different directions but i really felt strong from the holy spirit that we were supposed to dive into a passage of verses that i like to look at at least once a year and it's found in psalms 23 and we're going to do that in just a moment regardless of our relationship with our earthly fathers we have available to us a relationship with the heavenly father where we don't just sing about him we don't just talk about him we don't just hear about him but we're actually in relationship with him we preach weekly at hope city about how this thing isn't about religion but it's about relationship and when we have relationship with the true and living god everything changes when you have a revelation of the character of someone and you have that relationship with them and you understand who they are and who they truly represent it changes everything now early on early on uh when jackie and i were just friends in college days i had commitment issues and i didn't truly see the character and who she was i only could see what my issues were and fear and commitment problems but the day that i actually stopped struggling with that responsibility of relationship is when i saw a revelation of who jackie was and then everything changed i was like what's up girl my friends call me ranch because i'd be dressing i didn't do that that's terrible that's the worst i'm sorry that would have never worked that would have never worked it wouldn't have worked are you are you gagging on the front row what's happening right now all right we're gonna save that for our relationship series in september pass it on y'all september our relationship series is gonna be next level how many guys enjoy the relationship series but it's when i saw who she was that we begin to develop a relationship we say this all the time y'all hope city is not about religion religion kills it's condemning it's damning it feels heavy relationship is life-giving it's a god that says i'm not mad at you i'm madly in love with you it's a god that says no matter how blemished and broken and duct-taped back together you are i still see you as valuable i still see you as mine shaped and molded in my image come on somebody can clap that's what relationship looks like so this weekend as daughters and sons i want to look at this passage of scripture found in psalms 23. it's a perspective of god our father as the good shepherd so to establish a couple things i think this is kind of important maybe some of you are a shepherd enthusiast but a shepherd's role is one who takes care of guides directs leads and covers that's the role of a shepherd what's interesting is that's also the role of a father it runs parallel a father's role is to take care of to guide to direct to lead and cover could have gone again in multiple directions but i believe that the good shepherd the attention of our hearts need to shift this weekend in a posture of the good good father and we're going to read through psalms 23 and i want to break down and unpack six specific verses today and look at how we can apply it to our own individual lives as his kids fully recognizing that god the father really is everything that we'll ever need so some context for psalms 23 david wrote these verses from a sonship perspective there's not anybody if you're a student of the bible at all you know david was messed up like david has some issues like nobody's gonna be like i mean i don't know give the guy a benefit of doubt no david had some stuff but that he still had this relationship this sonship position with god that he would write this passage of scriptures most of the psalms a couple other side notes about a shepherd's role is not only in the not only is the shepherd a protector and caretaker but the shepherd is intentional about knowing this is wild every sheep's name think about that like some of y'all don't even remember your kids names like yeah he's the fifth one we call him hot pocket sure who he is but they know they're like they knew the the sheep's name like get over here seth where's stacy like i think it's amazing they're so intentional the shepherd's role is to be intentional to know them by name and what this does when you apply this to our lives it makes a big god so much smaller a church that's massive that can reach thousands of people we also do connect groups to be small enough to know each other we serve a god who in the mass amounts of billions of people around the world still calls you by name looks down upon heaven and says i'm proud of her that's my girl that's my boy i think about all the billions of people our friend uh dear friend our kid's car auntie tasha tasha cobbs leonard uh sang a song and it goes he knows my name we all know that song he knows my name and i love this part right here because oh how he talks with me it makes this big god small oh how he walks with me oh how he tells me that i am his own the mixtape is for sale outside as you're walking out to the right no no but i love that song he knows my name in the middle of everything going on around me when you are laying in your bed crying out to god do you see me he hears you he's a personal god and i love how psalms 23 verse one through one through six describes it watch this the lord is my shepherd i like nothing that part right there we could just end the weekend say happy father's day happy juneteenth have a great day no no this is amazing the lord is my shepherd i lack nothing verse two he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters verse 3 he refreshes my soul he guides me along the right paths for his namesake as he calls you his kids verse 4 even though i walk through the darkest valley i will fear no evil why for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me verse five you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows verse six surely your goodness and love will follow me most of my life it doesn't say that it says surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever so we're going to walk back through this in a moment i want to unpack this verse and dissect a little bit and look at how there's six attributes of our father the provider psalms 23 1. we're gonna start here again the lord is my shepherd i like nothing somebody say i like nothing come on here's the first truth if you're taking down notes number one our father provides a covering he provides a covering like an umbrella a covering that shields absorbs covers what ultimately is needed because the lord again is my shepherd i lack nothing he's everything you need when you need it the peace the hope the joy the perseverance the fight the courage the confidence the wisdom the clarity everything you need when you need it is found in jesus come on say it out loud one more time i like nothing come on and again this is why i go back because i need somebody to grab this why it's so important to focus on relationship over routine relationship out of over just a religious encounter relationship over just checking a box and saying well i went to church oh it's all about relationship our father the shepherd provides again everything we need through relationship not do's and don'ts and rituals and rules but relationship i have trust equity with my kids that if they ever need to come to me about anything they know as their dad i'll be there for them why because we've got history i've got a 13 year old 11 year old six-year-old and a three-year-old we've got history at this point and my approach to god is knowing god you and i have history i can take a walk down memory lane and see all that you've been and how faithful you've been up until this very day june 19 2022 so when i face something now or i face something in the future i can stop and say but devil i know you're trying to convince me otherwise but god and me have history he showed up for me here he healed me over here he delivered me here he restored us here he provided here come on say out loud you and me have history come on but maybe you've gotten caught up in the prodigal life maybe you've fallen away maybe you feel disqualified maybe somebody told you god's mad at you got great news for you today he qualifies the called he does not call the qualified he qualifies the call it's a purpose a plan an assignment on every one of our lives at this point in my life at 42 years old y'all i know that god and i have history and he's somebody that i can count on look the person next to you and say he's someone that you can count on come on let him know the bible says in matthew 6 verse 26 i love this look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them this part right here is a loaded question are you not more valuable than they are you not more valuable than they psalms 84 11 says for the lord god is a son and a shield the lord bestows favor and honor no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly god is and will always be enough next verse here we go psalms 23 2. he makes me that's a lotus statement lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters see shepherd's job is also to know when the flock needs a break or needs to rest so write this down if you're taking down notes our father provides rest well some of y'all struggle with this and i've said this before because i have been guilty of this many times just wonder why you're so tired like i don't know i have to drink three energy drinks and a five hour energy three shots of espresso just all kinds of energy to try to get through the day because you're so tired listen i've said this before i'm gonna say it again because repetition is key some of y'all are just busy with things that aren't your business and you're just caught up in things that aren't connected to your assignment my prayer every day is god i don't want to say do or be connected with anything or anyone that's not connected to the assignment that's on my life i don't need to just be busy to be busy i don't need to just be busy and tired all the time because i'm constantly just filling my life up with busyness exodus 33 14 says the lord replied my presence will go with you this line right here and i will give you rest you know rest slowing down is actually a power move pace is proof of maturity and so when you discipline and position yourself we do something here at hope city all of our staff and they're grateful i'm grateful on mondays we take a sabbath day i had a father in the faith of mine tell me once he said whether you're in the marketplace or you're in full-time ministry whether you work a job in the world or you have a mic in your hand if you will take one day of sabbath every week god will bless you with six days of supernatural strength and i've lived that out we've lived that out it's not a day where we just fill it up with lots of things no it is a day of rest so my question for you is where is your resting place you know because i grew up in a family that says you know i'll i'll rest when i'm dead we'll work every day of our lives i'm like i get it but i also want to enjoy life along the way i want to take time and be present with my kids i want to take time and look at somebody in the eye and tell them hey i see you i hear you but so many times when we're not getting rest and we're just so busy some of y'all looking at me like you're mad amen i'm gonna move on leave the rest up to him i also want to encourage you i did a sermon uh you can go on our youtube channel called the rhythm of rest go back and watch the rhythm of russ i think it'll help somebody only a handful of you amen next verse psalms 23 verse 3. he refreshes so i was going to say refreshed he refreshes my soul and he guides me along the right paths for his namesake it's like built-in gps from the holy spirit write this down our father provides guidance this is good y'all we need that how many don't need it because the bible says that in our hearts this is key proverbs 16 9 in our hearts humans determine their course but the lord establishes their steps we need guidance from the holy spirit we need guidance from our father so that we're not just surviving life just getting in in the seat of life and just driving aimlessly no no our father provides guide in psalms 32 8 says the lord says i will guide you the lord says i will guide you along the best pathway for your life i will advise you and watch over you isaiah 58 11 says and the lord will continually guide you and satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places they're talking about houston amen and give strength to your bones and you will be like a watered garden unlike a spring of water whose waters do not fail again psalms 23 3 he refreshes my soul to be refreshed i love this is to be renewed refresh equals refocus the word renew literally means to restart to reset to begin again you can wake up every morning put your feet on the ground take a deep breath in and say god i thank you that your mercies are new today for every mistake grace for every goof up i thank you lord god for a reset a restart a begin again how many all are grateful for a god of the do-over come on somebody that gives you a second chance next verse psalms 23 4. even though this is key even though i walk through the darkest valley it doesn't say you might do it no we're gonna go through stuff even though i walk through the darkest valley this line right here is powerful because of confidence i will fear no evil for you are with me why your rod and your staff they come for me number four our father provides protection that's good he provides protection how many are grateful for the protection of god how many of you guys have like you you know you shouldn't have made it like maybe it was a situation where somebody almost hit you or you were almost in a car wreck and you're like what a great coincidence no i'm gonna give god that one amen let me give god that one i'm thankful for his protection i pray every day god i speak psalms 91 protection around my family our doorways our windows our home we're not going to break down we're not going to have blowouts we're not going to hit anybody nobody's going to hit us i thank you for protection upon my kids and i'd just be some of y'all like well that's kind of a blob it and grab it no that's bible we have authority as children of god to speak life proverbs 18 come on 21 life and death is in the power of your tongue i would rather choose to speak life and thank god for protection over my family it doesn't mean we don't go through things but even though i walk through the darkest valley because here's the truth even those will come and those valley moments will come but i fear no evil why because the shepherd is protecting and comforting me isaiah 41 10 says do not be afraid for i am with you don't be discouraged for i am your god i will strengthen you i will help you and i'll hold you up with my victorious right hand john 16 33 we reference this verse a lot because jesus spoke these words and i believe more than ever in the season we're in as as as americans and people watching online from other everybody in the world is feeling these economic squeezes but specifically with what we're going through watch this i've told you this this is jesus's words that you have peace in me because here on earth you'll find many trials and sorrows but cheer up i love that part right there that just makes me want to smile the living bible says cheer up like look at the person actually smile real big come on they say if you forcibly smile for eight seconds it releases endorphins in your bible come on in your body look at your second choice and just smile come on just like this this just smile come on like a joel osteen book cover just real big the happiest guy on the planet they're right here i'm telling you he's the nicest guy i've ever met just like this all the time but cheer up that's what it says for i have overcome the world so i was this is a true story their day i dropped a big diesel truck i was filling it up it was just it was like man that was 75 something when it was at 78 and 81 i'm getting a minute 86 minutes when i got 87 but like i was at an auction it's unbelievable and i ate and i sold 94.56 i'm like what is happening and i stood there like this i'm not kidding i was like this and the guy next to me said why are you so happy and i said cause you got to have joy in the midst of all of this come on we got to put on joy and your joy is contagious i'm telling you walk into your office and people be like what's the matter with you you're like i'm putting on joy today i put on the armor of god and i also put on joy come on i'm telling you the joy of the lord is our strength next verse psalms 23 verse 5 you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies i love that you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows so number five our father provides confidence how many all need some extra confidence right now come on maybe you look in the mirror and you don't see who god has created you to be i'm telling you start looking in the mirror and be like okay this is what i'm dealing with amen come on be proud of your curves be proud of your curls be proud of who god has created you to be look at me like i got my dad's chin it's okay i got my grandpa's nose that's the truth look at me i'm like toucan dan look at my profile here we go that's grandpa emery right there but i look in the mirror and i'm telling you i embrace who god has created me to be with confidence hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 says let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may we may receive mercy and find grace in time and need let us draw near with confidence so my kids can come to me i come home they all run we hug we hang out but if i ever notice i know it's my oldest he's on the front row and sometimes he'll be like hey look hey dad hey how are you doing i'd be like hey sir i'm like why did you salute me and then i find out earlier in the day you know he might have had an issue or something with his mom and so but i want him to always know and i want my daughter finley to always know and i want my daughter daphne to always know and i want my little boy fox to always know that they can draw near to me with confidence as their dad we have that same approach with the heavenly father let us draw near to the throne of grace well he has his arms open wide and he doesn't say saw what you did last night at the club no he says i have forgiveness for that doesn't matter what you've done where you've been what you've lived out up until this point there is hope for today i feel like somebody should give god praise because in the midst of in seasons of chaos in seasons of drought in seasons when you feel like you can't catch your breath seasons where the enemy feels like he's attacking you from all sides i've discovered this the enemy can't take us out so he'll try to wear you out constantly just battlefield of the mind constantly trying to wear you down because he knows if he can wear you down you won't rise up with healing in your hands you won't rise up and know who you are in christ the bible says in deuteronomy 28 7 talks about how the enemy will attack from one direction but because god is with you the enemy will flee in seven directions come on in the midst of the valley moments it says that he prepared a table for you and he's blessing you even in the midst of chaos discovered in some seasons though that don't get the table without the enemies that's sometimes hard in our humanity because we want to just get the blessings and not have adversity sometimes i don't get the table without the enemies but the truth is even in the midst of those moments i can see god's hand working every single time i don't know who needs to hear this today but don't let the presence of the enemy distract you from how blessed you are you're more blessed than you now look at the person next to you and say you're more blessed than you know come on you may not have it all figured out your bank account may look a little funny things may not actually be panning out like you're hoping but i'm telling you never let anyone or anything or the lie of the enemy try to convince you that you're not blessed come on you woke up again today you've survived 100 of your worst days you're still breathing there's oxygen in your lungs he's not done with you yet john 10 10 says it this way that the enemy because he's sneaky he's crafty the devil doesn't like you i know a lot of people don't like to talk about the devil but he doesn't like you because he knows you're dangerous he knows there's a plan on your life and if you'll just figure it out but this is what it says the thief the enemy it comes to do what steal kill and destroy but our god this is our father he comes to give you life and we're going to tell this scripture over and over so that you can have it in abundance to a full place until it overflows i think one of the most amazing things about the bible is even though when you read all about the presence of god even in the midst of broken moments and adverse moments and situations that we're not proud of his presence is still present his goodness in his mercy is still chasing after us because he's always been there covering you but what he and what he needs from us is a confidence to rise up i i'm so blessed my dad like i said was watching last service and to hear my dad talk about the goodness and mercy of god in the midst of his poor choices to know that he was just one mention of his name away from being right there as his very present help in a time of need yo that's a game changer don't let the enemy convince you that you're too broken don't let the enemy convince you that there's no hope i had a dear friend a few nights ago i got my phone got bombarded my phone just text message after text message and a girl that my wife and i were connected to who uh was going to be coming out sometime in the summer to see us got to such a place of no hope she was convinced she couldn't go on any longer and took her own life and i want you to hear me today there is hope and hope has a name and his name is jesus no matter how far you feel away from him no matter how broken you feel or discouraged i'm telling you this father's day weekend there's a good good father who will love you and wrap you up in his arms everything can change with some family on our team the hale family matin sheila she lives up here actually uh part of our worship team here just a little bit go leading but matt has a really powerful story about what his earthly dad did to get him to the place where he's at now turn your attention to the screens i grew up in a small town called greenfield indiana in a small town in the midwest i grew up in a pastor's family and at the peak of my dad's ministry when my family was as happy as that they had ever been my dad felt compelled that we were supposed to leave my dad didn't understand clearly why only that he felt like thor was saying it's for matthew [Music] and what they did not realize what was going on with me i was overcome with bullying and depression i figured people would care about me more if i wasn't here anymore i mean i was within days of taking my own life at 12 years old we were moving to a place that were a lot of unanswered questions about what is this place supposed to be like i found friendship for the first time and they accepted me for who i was and i got to be my complete self if i had not found those friendships and been taken out of this place and moved over to this place i wouldn't be i certainly wouldn't be here anymore he just listened for the voice of god and chose to follow it before hope city i was feeling a very spiritual lull and so when god said i want you to take a risk and do something different here god supplied hope city like that and we got to dive right in immediately we listen for the lord's voice when he calls our family to go out and do something when i came to hope city it like opened this door for me again and the lord just saying i was here the whole time and i've got some things i want to tell you and god just gave me this vision for i want you to tell stories that help kids that were just like you and so that's when i created greenfield and so greenfield is a scripted podcast for kids with the intention of telling stories that help them process their emotions help them not feel alone and i think god's given me stories to be able to tell these kids that just makes them feel like they're not alone and that they have something to look forward to in life to know that their best day is ahead of them and their circumstances don't define where they're going in their lives it's also very cool as a kid to hear the voice of god and i would not have known what that looked like if not for my dad and the impact of him saying this is what the lord's voice sounds like i wouldn't be able to speak into the lives of more and i hope too that that the voice of my dad hearing the voice of his heavenly dad that my kids would know what that sounds like too it's hard for me to remember back to everything that my dad has done for me but then i get little glimpses of pictures and little videos that he would take on his camera and i could look back on that be like wow my dad touched me on the head just to say that he loved me like that was a i never realized that or had the memory of that until i do that for my own son now the whole lineage of fathers in my family have all led up to this moment that i'm in right now that hopefully when i tell stories on a podcast for kids that they may feel like they can have some kind of hope i wouldn't be here right now in this moment even telling any story if it weren't him just listening when it didn't make sense to anybody else like he listened and said it's for matthew so why don't you go and do this for him come on can we celebrate the hale family i love matt sheila they're amazing kids i love that matt's dad had audacious faith to make a legacy decision and maybe that story was was tough for you maybe it was hard to to relate i want you to know that god the father has you in mind he has you and your future and what he wants to do through your life in mind and maybe you read or watch a story like that and say man i missed out on those moments but i think this father's day weekend the resounding statement that i want everybody to hear is it's not too late god loves you he's he's he has you and this purpose and this assignment and this call on your life i believe he wants to unlock audacious faith in you this weekend the next verse that i want to look at in closing is psalms 23 6. it says surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life this is the last part i will dwell in the house of the lord forever our father's love and who he is our father provides unending love our father provides unending love and this is this established knowing that god's goodness is following us consistently deuteronomy chapter 31 8 says the lord is the one who will go before you he will be with you he'll not leave you or abandon you do not be afraid to not be discouraged a few weeks ago i read this verse and i feel like it was fitting to this part of god having unending love for us as his kids romans chapter 8 verse 38 39 it's one of my favorite verses in the bible i love the amplified for i am convinced and continue to be convinced beyond any doubt that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present and threatening nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth or any other created thing will be able to separate us from the unlimited love of god i wrote in the margin of my bible the unlimited and unending love of god which is christ jesus our lord with every eye closed just for a moment today in closing as we shift for just a moment i'm going to ask some of our fathers and some of our leaders of the church to come out here on the stage for a moment kind of gather around me today as we shift the narrative for just a moment with every act close just for a moment i believe there's some healing that's going to take place in freedom and some lives that maybe you have felt fatherless i want to say this over those who maybe are struggling today to those who grew up with an absent dad there is a god who is present to those who grow up with an abusive dad there's a god who protects to those who grew up with an apathetic dad there's a god who is compassionate to those who maybe have lost their dad there is a god who is close to the brokenhearted to those who grew up without a dad maybe at all there is a god who calls you his own maybe you're here today and you say daniel i can't relate because i had a great earthly dad and i just needed to be reminded and refreshed today of how good my heavenly father is in following the model of our heavenly father here on father's day in june juneteenth we commit to stand together in unity as fathers to love one another and to lead us strong men of god i want the dads and some fathers that are representing on this stage of diversity would you stretch your hands out towards our church family god we speak a fatherly blessing from young dads to dads who are now granddads god thank you lord for a church that is representing the father's heart [Music] they say statistically that 86 of children will choose to serve the lord or go to church if the dads and fathers will step up and be apart so god right now we just thank you for a church of spiritual fathers big brothers and mentors maybe mentors and fathers and spiritual fathers who will step in in replacement of dads who are not present or who are no longer with us god i thank you for the faith of these fathers now as we commit as a church to be strong men of god who refuse to allow a fatherless generation to lose hope and lose heart so god today we give you praise and we thank you for the outcome of breakthrough of joy of encouragement in jesus name come on somebody give god praise come on give it up for our dads too i just wanted to have that moment thank you guys [Music] and zach zach come here okay you're about to have a baby come on give it up for zach new dad on the way matt matt over here our our fearless worship director you're about to have a baby as well well your wives your wives are but y'all are about to be dads your dads we also have tabs on our team as well i just want to acknowledge you all for your first father's day such a good day can y'all stand your feet [Music] i love these two um these two songs that i want to go into here just for a moment before we close out the service would you lift your hands towards heaven jesus today i thank you for a peace that we can't comprehend [Music] holy spirit we need your presence god i thank you for a refreshing to touch every heart every daughter every son [Music] if you need some peace and some healing in your heart maybe towards a dad that you lost this weekend or maybe there's some unforgiveness that you've been holding on to i want you to let go of it now as we lean into the presence of god i'm telling you there's healing right now run to the father i'll fall into grace i'm done with the my soul needs a friend so i run to the father again and again and again and again [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] again no reason to wait my heart [Music] [Music] it's who you are [Music] it's who i am [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on [Music] you are perfect [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] and i'm loved by [Music] in this right now [Music] just for a moment if you're here today and you say daniel here's the truth i don't know the father like you've talked about i don't know him as my shepherd i don't know him as my covering i don't know him as my protector i don't know him in relationship where he's a dad who wants to give me rest i don't know that unending love today with every eye closed just for a moment the reason we do all of this is to introduce you to the one who is the good good father the bible says in romans 10 verse 9 and 10 that when we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that jesus is lord we will be saved other religions will say there's multiple ways to god but the bible says in john 14 that jesus is the way the truth and the life he hung on a cross he shed his blood he died for you and then on the third day he got up and the resurrection power brings us life and freedom price has been paid in full anybody has ever told you you have to give money for this or televangelist has told you to sow a seed in order to get your breakthrough in salvation this gift is free why because it's been paid for and full jesus already paid the entire penalty for your life that's good news it's really great news so if you're here today and you say daniel here's the truth i don't know jesus as my savior but i want to experience that unending love or daniel today on father's day i'm coming back because i got caught up in the prodigal life and i want to rededicate my life today across all of our locations specifically in this room right now i'm going to count to three and if that's you you say i want to give my life to jesus or rededicate my life today one today's my day two on father's day weekend three you're talking about me would you lift up your hand i'm looking all over the room i'm looking all over the room hand i see you my friend i see you my friend i see you my friend come on hands popping up all over the room i see you thank you buddy i see you buddy i see you come on let's give god praise for a bunch of friends who just said today's my day well come on let's pray as a church family say this out loud everybody present say jesus you're talking about me i've been living for me and it's not working today on i'm going to choose to live for you i repent for every struggle every sin all my issues and i ask for your forgiveness from this day on i choose to receive your unending love thank you for being my father thank you for being my savior thank you for being my lord in jesus name amen come on can we give god praise if you also just gave your life online come on our team is right there to help you come on one more time hope city make some noise a bunch of people just got saved rededicated their lives [Music]

Channel: Hope City

Views: 28,478

Keywords: Jeremy Foster, Hope City, pastor jeremy, jermy foster, jeramy foster, hope city church, daniel groves

Id: f21mR5XR46U

Length: 52min 56sec (3176 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 19 2022