Father's Day

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on June 15th 2025 by Colin D Cruz. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. 

Father’s Day

In a world where the definition of family is rapidly shifting, we must pause and ask: Where does the idea of fatherhood come from? Is it simply a social invention, or does it have a deeper, divine origin?

The Bible makes it clear: fatherhood is God’s idea. In Ephesians 3:14–15, Paul writes, “I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” The concept of fatherhood is not a cultural construct—it is rooted in God's very nature, modeled in the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Trinity.

Honour: A Forgotten Command

Among the Ten Commandments, nestled between prohibitions against murder and theft, is the call to honour your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12) This is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may go well with you.” Yet in our modern, egalitarian world, honour has become a forgotten virtue—especially towards parents and elders.

Jesus Himself, though fully God, submitted to His earthly parents (Luke 2:51). In doing so, He set the standard for us: to honour is to respect, to appreciate, and to love.

In Indian culture, we used to show this by addressing elders as “Uncle” or “Auntie.” Today, even toddlers are taught to use first names. While respect may look different across cultures, Scripture calls us to maintain a spirit of honour—especially within the home and the church.

Obeying vs. Honouring

One of the key distinctions that often gets blurred—especially in Eastern cultures—is the difference between obeying and honouring. Children are called to obey while they are under their parents’ care. But as they grow into adults, the call shifts from obedience to honour. Adult children still show respect and appreciation, but must make decisions under the guidance of Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

Parents, too, must know when to release. Enforcing obedience in adult decisions—like marriage or career—can lead to heartache when misapplied.

The Biblical Role of Fathers

Four biblical responsibilities every father carries:

1. To Provide

(1 Timothy 5:8) A father who fails to provide for his household “has denied the faith.” Provision is more than finances—it’s about safety, stability, and presence.

2. To Train

(Ephesians 6:4) Fathers are called to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. Sunday school can’t replace the father’s role. Children need the Word modeled and taught at home.

3. To Lead by Example

(1 Corinthians 11:1) Children imitate what they see. If we want godly children, we must be godly ourselves. Our lives speak louder than our words.

4. To Affirm

Drawing from Genesis 27 and the insights of Dr. Gary Smalley, fathers are encouraged to affirm their children through:

• Meaningful touch (a hug, a hand on the shoulder),
• Words of blessing and encouragement,
• Assurance of value, and
• Speaking a vision for their future.

Why This Matters

In a U.S. prison, hundreds of inmates requested cards on Mother’s Day. On Father’s Day, hardly anyone came. We’re living in a world where fatherlessness is rising—both through absence and abdication.

India, too, is catching up with this trend. Now more than ever, we need to reclaim what it means to be a godly father.

A Call to Action

• Children: Obey and honour your parents. It’s the pathway to blessing.
• Adults: Continue to honour your father and mother—even if they are not perfect.
• Fathers: Rise to your calling. Provide, train, lead by example, and affirm.

Let’s rebuild what society is tearing down. Let’s honour our Heavenly Father by reflecting His heart in our families.

In a world where voices compete for our time and attention, one truth remains timeless: fatherhood is a divine calling that reflects the heart of our Heavenly Father.

Four essential expressions of godly fatherhood: to provide, train, model, and bless.

1. A Father Provides

True provision goes beyond the basics. It’s about sacrificial love. Colin shared how his father worked long hours—even holding two jobs—not for luxury, but to gift his children something meaningful: a piano. That piano became the starting point for a musical legacy that shaped careers and destinies.

What you provide today can shape the trajectory of your child’s tomorrow.

2. A Father Trains

Raising children isn’t just about feeding and clothing them. It’s about discipling them.

Moments of prayer, reading Scripture, and life-giving conversations aren’t accidental—they’re intentional. Take time to ask questions, listen to their stories (even the wild, imaginative ones), and speak truth into their young hearts.

If we don’t train our children, someone else will.

3. A Father Models

Children learn more by what we do than by what we say. They are always watching. When they see us pray, serve, and love others, they absorb that rhythm and reflect it in their own lives.

Live in such a way that your children will want to imitate your walk with God.

4. A Father Blesses

Words have power. Our children crave affirmation, encouragement, and a hopeful vision. Even simple phrases like “I’m proud of you,” or “God has great plans for you,” carry the weight of heaven when spoken by a father.

Combine this with hugs, physical affection, and consistent encouragement—and you’ll raise children who walk confidently into their destiny.

Seasons Come and Go

Fatherhood, like life, comes in stages. Infancy, childhood, teenage years, adulthood—each stage has its joys and challenges. Colin reminds us to cherish every one.

“They’ll be with you for 21 years… then they go off into the world. Make the most of this time.”

A Prayer for Fathers

The message ends with a moving prayer—thanking God for the privilege of parenting, confessing our weakness, and receiving His grace to reflect His heart as fathers.

Final Thoughts

Fatherhood is not about perfection. It’s about faithfulness. It’s about mirroring the Father who provides, trains, models, and blesses us daily.

Let’s rise to this calling. Let’s raise a generation that knows what a godly father looks like—not just by title, but by touch, time, and truth.

Happy Father’s Day. May your life reflect the love of the Father.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Dedicated Fathers

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on Sept 5th 2021 by Lasya D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

 What exactly is a baby dedication? Where does it come from?

 

I'm going to go one step back and first explain that we at Word of Grace Church are Evangelical Christians. By that, I mean that the final authority for faith and doctrine is the Bible - the Word of God. The Bible stands above every Pastor, Bishop, Pope, authority, or even Christian Tradition. What that means is that every Christian teaching and practice must be compared with the bible and where the teaching or practice contradicts the Word of God, that teaching or practice needs to be brought in line with scripture or discarded.

 

In Acts 17 - The great Apostle Paul came to Berea and began teaching in the Synagogue.  The Bereans were described as noble because they received Pauls message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11).

 As you listen to the word preached or you engage in Christian practices like worship, baptism, giving, etc - do you examine the scriptures to see if what is preached is in line with God's word - or do you blindly take it in. So we at Word of Grace aim to be Evangelical Christians.

 Even when Jesus taught the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24:27 - He didn't just tell them to believe. He took them to the Scriptures. And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Our Lord Jesus himself upheld the authority of Scripture and pointed to scripture to validate events.

 So what is baby dedication?

 

1. The dedication of babies is a Preference and not a command in scripture. So why are we doing it? Well, it's a good thing and does not contradict scripture. e.g. All those who are married - you must have had a wedding reception. Where is that commanded in scripture? Or you have celebrated your birthday. Where is that commanded in scripture? But wedding receptions and birthday parties are a good thing. The 2 ordinances that Jesus explicitly commanded in scripture are water baptism and the breaking of bread. We will come to them a little later.

 

2. The Purpose of dedication. What is happening here? Christy and Esther are so thankful to God for blessing them with baby Jason, that they want to publicly thank God for this blessing and want to present him to the Lord, and commit themselves to raise him up in the ways of God. The purpose of child dedication is really to be found in the purpose of the parents. Rightly understood, the ceremony is one of parental dedication. The parents are pledging themselves to obey the command of Paul, who in Ephesians 6:4 (NIV), tells parents, to “bring them up (your children) in the training and instruction of the Lord.” 
3. The Precedent of dedication is found in Jesus being presented to the Lord in Luke 2:22 ²² When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Jesus as an infant was presented to the Lord. Here it was the faith of the parents that were at work. At age 30 Jesus was Baptized. Here it was Jesus who chose to be baptized. 2 distinct events. One carried out by the parent's decision and one carried out by the individual deciding.

4. The Process of dedication - what exactly are the steps that are prescribed in Scripture. Well the answer is found in Hezekiah 3:16. There is no Hezekiah 3:16 and there is no process prescribed in Scripture for dedication or for that matter a marriage ceremony or a worship service. We take our tradition and make it gospel truth when the reality is that Scripture gives us much freedom in choosing how we celebrate, what instruments we use for worship or even a traditional white gown and vows at a marriage service. There is no prescribed format! For a marriage, the only two conditions are that they should be male and female and both should be believers. But the white wedding gown, the vows and the ceremony etc. are more tradition than explicitly mandated in the bible.

 

So what about the baptism of babies?

 

1. If you read the Bible from the index to the maps you will find exactly zero instances of babies being baptized. Zero, none. There are several accounts in the NT of adults being baptized - Jesus, the Ethiopian eunuch, the 3000 on the day of Pentecost, Cornelius and his household, the Samaritans, Ephesian disciples, the Philippian jailer and his household. In all these instances, they heard the word being preached, they believed and as a sign of their repentance and faith they were baptized.  Acts 16:31 ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.

The pre-requisite for being baptized is belief and repentance - Acts 2:38 Peter replied - Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...

So that is why biblical Baptism is also called Believers Baptism.

Babies cannot believe and they cannot repent. So if you were baptized as a baby - it was probably more a dedication than Christian baptism. 

 

2. Baptism - means immersion. Like a tea bag dipped in water.  In every instance where a baptism account is detailed in the New Testament - there is a body of water to get into like a pool or a river.  John the Baptist - did not sprinkle people - Mt 3:6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Mt 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water...

3. Baptism is a command of Jesus - Mt 28:19-20 Go and make disciples, baptizing them    At Word of Grace Church, we dedicate children rather than baptize them. Just as Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord and Joseph and Mary dedicated the infant Jesus to the Lord according to the Jewish custom. We believe dedication more closely follows the biblical pattern than baptism, of which we have no precedent of an infant being baptized in the Bible. Thus, this dedication does not impart faith or forgiveness of sins to JASON. Rather it is CHRISTY and ESTHER’S public acknowledgement that JASON is a gift from God to them, and that they have a spiritual responsibility for the Christian nurture and training of JASON.

 The precedent for child dedication may be found in Scripture, as in the presentation of Samuel to God by JASON in 1 Samuel 1:28 and the presentation of Jesus to God by Joseph and Mary in Luke 2:22.

 1 Sam 1:28 ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.”

 Luke 2:22 ²² When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

Ps 127:3 Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him

 Paul reminded Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15 (NIV), “how from infancy (he had) known the Holy Scriptures.” Jesus considered children to be infinitely precious, and in Mark 10:14 (NIV) said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” 

 

Charge to the Parents:  Let us hear the Word of the Lord as it comes to us in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV): “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

 1 John 3:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.  It is the command of God that we should diligently seek to raise our children in such a way as to lead them to trust Christ as Savior and serve Him as Lord. In response to this command, these parents bring their child today to present them to the Lord and dedicate themselves to this task.  

 A DEDICATED FATHER

I am going to share why a father is so important and why, if you are a father, you are important. In America, 90% of the prisoners are male. 75-90% of those prisoners grew up without a father. Suicides – 60 % of suicides take place where there is no father. 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. 80% of all people who commit rapes are from fatherless homes. A father is a very important person. Our role is vital. There can be another instance, you can have an absentee father. When you remove a father from a home, society becomes sick.

 

Fathers are needed even with animals. In Kruger national park in South Africa, the elephant population was growing so much that they were endangering other animals. They moved some elephants to another park where there is more space. Moving elephants is a problem. So they only moved only the mother and baby elephants. At that other park, the white rhino was becoming endangered because they were being killed. So they set up cameras to find out who is killing the rhinos. They found that the young male elephants were going on a rampage and killing the rhinos. SO they moved some of the adult male elephants to that park. These elephants fixed the problem! If you’re a father this morning you are the adult male elephant that will shape the life of your children.

 

Q. What is your role as a father?

 

1.      To protect your family: Men and women are different. Sadly the world is trying to go into a genderless society. They are confusing function with equality. We are equal but we have different functions. Men are more aggressive. Women say let's understand one another. When the person who is supposed to defend the family starts attacking the family, it is not okay. We protect the family by taking on the heavy-duty work.

 

2.      To be the provider: in Genesis when God created men and women, God said the men had the duty to tend the garden and to bring food to the table. Sadly, in our Indian society, women are working and husbands are gambling. Your wife may or may not work, but you are responsible to provide for the family. 1 Tim 5:8 “if anyone does not provide for his family, he has denied his faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. Looking after the garden was the primary job of the man. Earn the right to lead your family by

 

3.      To be the promoter: Your job is to take your children and train them up to become the best that they can be. Proverbs 22:6 “train your children in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it.” The first part is overwhelming love. Discipline is also needed. Either extreme is difficult. Eph 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” These are the 2 things sons and daughters are called to do. The command to fathers is this – in verse 4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” So you discipline out of love and not to exhaust them. You exasperate children when you promise and don’t show up.

a.      Hug your children and tell them I love you. Communicate love. Daughters who don’t get love from their fathers seek love out there. So beware of that.

b.      Love is spelt T-I-M-E. No matter what age they are, make sure you’re spending quality time with them.

 

4.      To be a priest for his family: it often happens that the women in the home are more inclined to follow God and the men want to do something else. In Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. So, fathers, your behaviour will determine the outcome of your children.

 Today we know better and we can strive to be better fathers. We have been given an amazing privilege and responsibility from God to lead our families.

 

   Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Who is a father? | Colin D

This Father's Day message was preached by Colin D at Word of Grace Church on June 16th, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

I am going to share why a father is so important and why, if you are a father, you are important. In America, 90% of the prisoners are male. 75-90% of those prisoners grew up without a father. Suicides – 60 % of suicides take place where there is no father. 90% of homeless and run-away children are from fatherless homes. 80% of all people who commit rapes are from fatherless homes. A father is a very important person. Our role is vital. There can be another instance, you can have an absentee father. When you remove a father from a home, society become sick.

Fathers are needed even with animals. In kruger national park in south Africa, the elephant population was growing so much that they were endangering other animals. They moved some elephants to another park where there is more space. Moving elephants is a problem. So they only moved only the mother and baby elephants. At that other park, the white rhino was becoming endangered  because they were being killed. So they set up cameras to find out who is killing the rhinos. They found that the young male elephants were going on a rampage and killing the rhinos. SO they moved some of the adult male elephants to that park. These elephants fixed the problem! If you’re a father this morning you are the adult male elephant that will shape the life of your children.

Q. What is your role as a father?

1.      To protect your family: Men and women are different. Sadly the world is trying to go into a genderless society. They are confusing function with equality. We are equal but we have different function. Men are more aggressive. Women say lets understand one another. When the person who is supposed to defend the family starts attacking the family, it is not okay. We protect the family by taking on the heavy duty work.

2.      To be the provider: in Genesis when God created men and women, God said the men had the duty to tend the garden and to bring food to the table. Sadly, in our Indian society, the women are working and husbands are gambling. You wife may or may not work, but you are responsible to provide for the family. 1 Tim 5:8 “if anyone does not provide for his family, he has denied his faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. Looking after the garden was the primary job of the man. Earn the right to lead your family by

3.      To be the promoter: Your job is to take your children and train them up to become the best that they can be. Proverbs 22:6 “train your children in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it.” The first part is overwhelming love. Discipline is also needed. Either extreme is difficult. Eph 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” These are the 2 things sons and daughters are called to do. The command to fathers is this – in verse 4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” So you discipline out of love and not to exhaust them. You exasperate children when you promise and don’t show up.

a.      Hug your children and tell them I love you. Communicate love. Daughters who don’t get love from the fathers seek love out there. So beware of that.

b.      Love is spelled T-I-M-E. No matter what age they are, make sure you’re spending quality time with them.

4.      To be a priest for his family: it often happens that the women in the home are more inclined to follow God and the men want to do something else. In Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. So fathers, your behaviour will determine the outcome of your children.

Today we know better and we can strive to be better fathers. We have been given an amazing privilege and responsibility from God to lead our families.

Let’s pray!

The heart of the Father| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on June 18th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

We know we have a heavenly Father when we are in Christ. We want to pattern our lives according to the Godly Father.

Q. What is a heavenly Father like? Luke 15 contains 3 parables which speaks about what the Father is like.

1.      Parable of the lost sheep:   ““What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’”

Q. Have you ever lost something and then find it?

Jesus was saying, in verse 7- “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”

Here we see the Father’s heart. God is rejoicing even when one person turn to him.

It is important when we read the Bible that we understand the context. Why is Jesus sharing these parables. In verse 1- “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” these sinners were outcasts in those times. The Pharisees and Scribes kept the law scrupulously. They memorised the first 5 books of the Bible. They did everything according to the law. They could only walk so much on the Sabbath, if you walk further, it is work. In Israel there is a Shabath lift where you don’t even press a button.

Tax collectors were not like our Income Tax officers. Rome governed most of the known world. They built roads because they sent soldiers to any part of the empire on these roads. They paid for these soldiers by taxing the people. They appointed Tax Collectors for this purpose who taxed the people more than they were supposed to, and pocketed the next. The Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these kind of people. Sinners, were maimed and with physical deformities because they were physically deformed. Other type of sinners were prostitutes and people who did jobs no one else wants to do.

Jesus was eating with people like this. In India we have this situation with caste system. Jesus broke down all barriers. He preached to them, ate with them and went to their homes. He explains the Father’s heart to the people who were questioning this behaviour of his. He repeats in verse 10- “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” God is looking for people who will repent.

2.      Parable of the lost coin: “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

3.      Parable of the prodigal son: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’” What is he asking for? His inheritance before the Father dies. It is insulting, saying you don’t matter, just give me what I will get when you die. The son got the inheritance- which was land, cattle, etc. Then, this son sold everything and leaves his father’s house. He squanders it on  wild living.

a.      The son was doing a wrong thing- sometimes, God can let us continue in our wrongdoing for our season till we come to the end of ourselves. The Israelites kept worshipping idols. The heart was sinful. God let them continue in their sin till they were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians where they were surrounded with idolatry. So if you notice in the New Testament the 4 gospels have no mention of idolatry. They had come to an end of themselves and threw idolatry out. 

b.      The Trajectory of sin: In verse 14, after he spent everything, there was a severe famine. He spent everything irresponsibly. “And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.” He had great privileges in his Father’s house. To the Jews, pigs are unclean and to say they have to feed pigs is disgusting. He is willing not just to feed the pigs, but to eat what they were eating.

This is a picture of the trajectory of sin. Any sin we indulge will lead us to the rock bottom. But the good news is coming. There is a point in time when we come to our senses. We ask ourselves, what am I doing?

c.      Repentance: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father.” This is the act of repentance. That we turn from our sin and turn to our Father.

d.      Father’s response- if your son behaved this way, how long would you lecture him? The heart of the Father is this- “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” Even though the son turned away, the Father’s eyes looked out for him. He doesn’t say, “Let him come here and I’ll talk to him”. It is not respectable to run for the patriarch. But he was overcome with joy. He can’t wait. At this point, the Pharisees would have freaked out.

e.      Restoration: Verse 22-23 “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate” They were restoring his position and celebrating his return.

This is the heart of the father. We could be like the Pharisees wanting to judge them and deal with them. But the Father heart of God doesn’t only accept the son as a servant, but restores him as a son. Forgiveness is free but it cost the Father a great deal. Let us receive the heart of the Father- that is, forgiveness to the worst sinner. We are here to seek and save the lost. It is going to be messy, but restoration is the heart of the Father. The Pharisees did not understand the behaviour of Jesus, but he was simply displaying the Father heart of God.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

Father's Day| Colin D'cruz

This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church on June 21st 2015. To listen/download the audio please click here

Fatherhood is in the heart of God.

In Eph 3:14-15 Paul says “I kneel before the father…”

This concept of fatherhood is rooted in God. It’s biblical and Godly. Fatherhood is a part of scripture. In the gospels, Jesus says 21 times- “our father” and “your father” and 53 times, he says, “my father”.

In Exodus 20:12- God is giving Moses the 10 commandments. “Honour your mother and your father” is one of the 10! We all have different experiences with fathers. How do we relate with them? This is important to God, how we treat our parents.

Honour means to respect, love, appreciate. It begins internally and then manifests externally. This applies to all authorities. Today the world is becoming flat- where there is no destruction between boss, employee, etc.

Ephesians 6:13 says that this is one command with a promise of blessing. Honour as children is akin to obedience. Sadly today, it’s the parents who obey the children! Parents do not parent the children how to obey and honour. One way we honour people is respect. We teach our children to respect by greeting elders, look them in the eye.

When a child becomes an adult, are they required to obey? This is tricky in India because of the cultural influence. As an adult, you are no longer required to obey your parents. However, you would be wise to listen to them. But you are then responsible for your own decisions and actions.

When it comes to something unbiblical, we are not required to obey no matter whom. In Luke 2:51 it says that Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. Even Jesus was obedient to his parents.

Prisons are largely filled with men. This is often because of bad fathers or absent fathers. The big social problem in the slums is drunken men or fathers. The women are slogging away. The challenge is with the fathers.

Q. so what would God have us do as fathers?

1. Provide: for our families. This is primarily the father’s responsibility. 1 Tim 5:8- “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”. This is the father’s responsibility.

2. Faithfully instructing the children in the ways of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4- Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Spiritual instruction, discipline etc. is primarily with the father. The mother also disciplines but it is not abdication.

More is caught than is taught. So fathers need to live Godly lives.1 Cor 11:1 says follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

3. We need to affirm and love our kids. We need to hug our children- boys and girls. We have a heavenly father who affirms us. Who rejoices in us.

The blessing- what can you do to express your love to your children. Genesis 27:27-29

• Meaningful touch- kiss and hug your children
• Speak a message of love and affection. Sow to criticize and correct look with an eagle’s eye to appreciate
• Assure them of their value, also by spending time with them. Love is spelled T-I-M-E
• Hope- Speak to them of a glorious future.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.