SERIES: Living through the Lord’s Prayer (7) Today: “Our Father”

Matthew 6:9

1. we have 21 people flying down to Mexico today. They are going to spend 5 days in Vicente Guerrero working at an orphanage. Here they are on Father’s Day flying down to Mexico to love children in the name of Jesus who don’t have fathers.

2. I want to look at the Lord’s Prayer today with fathers in mind. I want to view it through 3 different angles. It begins like this – our Father.

our Father
1st angle – we are not alone
1. Jesus taught us to pray our Father in heaven. Our Father. Our is a 1st person plural pronoun. 1st person plural. This means more than one. More than 1 person calls God Father. In fact, hundreds of millions do.

2. we are linked through God to one another. God is my Father. God is your Father. God is our Father. We are God’s children. We are not alone.

3. this means that our journey here on earth is a communal journey. We seek God the Father TOGETHER not alone. Solo expeditions are out. NOT my Father BUT our Father.

4. it’s like running the Hood-to-Coast relay which I hope to do in August for the 1st time in 3 years. 12 of us runners on the team (annette vaughn, scott taylor, tammie volland, derek willis, dana tyler, sam gilmer, jack pendleton, del hemphill, karen archibald, debbie waalker & tony pizzuti). 1000 teams; 12,000 runners; 100s of volunteers. This small city moves in mass from Timberline Lodge to Seaside. We journey together, fight traffic together, fight sleeplessness together, fight sore muscles together, fight cramped vans together; fight body odor together; fight to find the shortest line to the nearest portapotty together. It’s a wonderful experience.

5. our Father. We pray this with others – Alliance people, Mennonite, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Four Square, Greek Orthodox & Quaker. We pray this together – Men, women, youth, children, senior citizen. We pray this with those from different cultures – Anglo, Hispanic, Russian, Peruvian, Chinese, Iraqi, Canadian & Hawaiian.

6. our Father. Every day the Lord’s Prayer is prayed by hundreds of millions of people from thousands of ethnic groups & nationalities. The Father unites us all in him & none of us are alone.

7. dads, what are we doing to introduce our children to the Father? How are we letting our children in on this great news? That there is a God. He’s our Father. And we are not alone.

2nd angle – we have an identity
1. our Father. We are children of God our Father. We are his, each & every one of us. From the oldest to the youngest. We are daughters and sons of God. The only way we can pray this prayer is by praying it as his children.

2. Darrell Johnson – we are not just creatures of the Creator. We are not just servants of the Master. We are children loved by a Father.

3. the 1st word in the Greek text is Father. I am a son made in the image & likeness of my heavenly Father. I derive my identity from him. I can be family-less, homeless, country-less, job-less & still have my identity. How? My true identity is in God the Father who transcends family, home, country & job.

4. 18 years ago this month Heather & I attended a Barton family reunion in Dodge City, Kansas. My parents grew up in Dodge City. I was born there. I still have a bunch of relatives there. It was fun to show Heather around –
® this is Trinity Hospital where I was born
® this is my great Aunt Leatha
® this is a bridge that my grandfather built
® this is the church my parents used to attend & this is a stained glass window in memory of my grandfather
® this is where my sister Janice is buried
® this is my Aunt Bonnie, my mom’s twin sister
® this is the wind that never stops blowing in western Kansas

5. I’ll never forget when it was all over. I flew out of Dodge City on a little puddle jumper headed to Denver. I looked out of the window & I could see all of Dodge City down below. I unexpectedly teared up & felt all kinds of affection for that little place. In some mysterious fashion my identity was rooted there. I felt like I was a part of that city.

6. but the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that our true identity is found in the Father. We are his & he is ours. Our Father.

7. dads, what are we telling our kids about their God-our-Father identity? Their heaven-home? That they have a Father in heaven that, unlike us, will never let them down?

3rd angle – we are daughters and sons of a Father who has revealed himself
1. in telling us what we should pray Jesus reveals to us what he knows about his Father. The Lord’s Prayer is a revelation of who the Father is & what he is like – a picture of God’s nature & character.
2. our Father in heaven. Heaven speaks of the reality that permeates life on earth. Heaven is where God is, so to speak. The control center of the universe. There’s a greater reality to life than this earth. Earth is encompassed in heaven’s realities.

3. hallowed be your name. God’s person & character are such that he should always be honored. God always acts in ways that are consistent with his character. God is to be stood alone above & beyond all else.

4. your kingdom come. God the Father is also a King. The King of kings. The Father is active in our world setting up his rule. The Father defines his kingdom with things like salvation (forgiveness of sins), healing, deliverance, justice, peace, compassion, beauty, peace.

5. your will be done. God the Father has a plan. He is at work fulfilling his plan. He asks us to join with him in advancing his kingdom & doing his will.

6. here’s something on my summer reading list – It’s Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks by Howard Behar. Behar joined Starbucks as a senior executive when it had just 28 stores. He finished his career at Starbucks as President.

7. he writes about the Starbucks kingdom. He writes about how he motivated 1000s of Starbucks workers to accomplish the will of the company.

8. our Father leads a kingdom. He has a plan for that kingdom. And so Jesus taught us to pray your kingdom come, your will be done.

9. give us today our daily bread. Our Father cares about our needs. He’s our Provider. He’s not just a God concerned with our souls. Our bodies are important to him. He made them, redeemed them & will re-make them for eternity.

10. I love our Food Panty. We have the honor of living out the Lord’s Prayer by providing food for the hungry in answer to their prayers.

11. a mother with 2 children called asking for food this week. The 3 of them came to the church. I took them into the Food Panty. The kids were all smiles, like it was Christmas. The mother was weighed down, carrying a huge burden. What an honor we have to serve the needy.

12. think of Canby Cares on July 19.

13. forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. God the Father highly values relationships. He has a relationship within himself as Father Son Spirit. At the center of the universe we find Relationship. And that’s what we are made for. To live in community with God & each other. Summer talk on July 22.

14. God is a Reconciler, a Forgiver. He wants relationships to work. The Father is a Liberator who frees us from resentment, bitterness & an unforgiving spirit.

15. 15 years ago I visited the National Civil Rights museum in Memphis, the site of the old Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As I left the museum I was greeted by a short, little African American woman. She was all smiles, loving, kind. I engaged her in conversation. Her deceased husband used to own a funeral home in Memphis. He provided cars for King when he was in town. He picked up King’s body after his assassination.I talked to her about that terrible time. About racism. About being a black American in the South. Terrible things had been done to her. I asked her about her joyful spirit. She said it flowed out of forgiveness. Forgiving her enemies who had deeply hurt her & her people.

16. and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. The Father knows our weaknesses. Where we are prone to sin. He knows that we face an enemy who seeks to ruin us. We have a Father who is our Protector. The evil one wants to fill every temptation we face with enough evil to trip us up.

17. dads, are we introducing our kids to the Father who is revealed in the Lord’s Prayer? His person? His character? His kingdom? His will for our lives? His forgiveness & protection?

Close in prayer.



Music i listened to while sermonizing – vineyard music; bill douglass; jon buller; neil young; cold play

Books i read & studied while sermonizing – the hiding place by corrie ten boom; the message of the sermon on the mount by john stott; studies in the sermon on the mount by martyn lloyd-jones; the shack by william p. young; communion with the triune God by john owen; romans by john stott; dogmatics in outline by karl barth

Sermons, podcasts I listened to while sermonizing – a prayer for friends & Jesus Christ the one Lord by earl palmer; dwelling in the gospel by tim keller