Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

"OUR FATHER"

1. Someone suggested that there are three awakenings in the life of one born into this world:
   1. When it awakes to see this beg and strange world
   2. The next stage is when it becomes conscious of itself that it is a distinct person with a distinct personality
   3. The third stage is when it becomes aware of God as the One who has to do with the adventures of life
2. But I like to add a forth stage, equally important:
   1. When the child passes slowly or with sunburst joy from the idea of God as a power, a ruler, to the sense of God as Father
   2. The discovery by the child that God is our Father will make the difference in its development, physically, mentally and morally

1. These words bring a new and revolutionizing concept of God into being:
   1. The term "Father" is found but a few times in the writings of what is commonly called the Old Testament - compare I Chron. 29:10 with Is. 63:16; 64:8
   2. It was not until the Son of God came into this world that the expression "Our Father which art in heaven" took on new dimensions
   3. It gives man a new and related concept of God
2. Let us note, briefly, some of the implications the opening words of the Lord's prayer - "Our Father which art in Heaven" have":
   1. This name for God shows a paternal relation between God and man
   2. God is the Father because He begot us - writes Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us" - I Peter 1:3; see also I John 5:1,18
   3. No other relationship between God and man can be closer and more endearing than that of Father and Son - John 3:16
   4. All that is endearing to us is the love of our parents - and that is what the name Father conveys to our hearts about God.

1. It connects us with heaven:
   1. This truth alone is most precious and endearing - God being our Father makes us at once citizens of heaven - Eph. 2:19; 3:15; Phil. 3:20
   2. Heaven will not be a foreign country to the children of God when they enter it; it will be in a sense "home coming"
   3. For there is our Father and our Saviour, our Elder Brother
2. But, when we say "Our Father":
   1. We are conscious of the fact that we are a part of God's family, and that is what Paul teaches very emphatically, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" - Eph. 3:14-15
   2. Thus we see that the words "Our Father which art in heaven" have a universal application including all beings in the unfallen universe in the family of God
   3. This glorious truth finds strong emphasis in Hebrews 12:22-29
   4. What is still more important is that God had made the angels ministers unto those who are heirs of salvation - Heb. 1:14
3. But there is till another implication which we must not overlook:
   1. The "Our Father" reminds us that God's love, affection and care go beyond us, they include others - our fellows
   2. That, in turn, teaches us not to think of ourselves alone when we pray, but rather include others too
   3. It is so easy for one to think of himself alone even when we approach the throne of God in prayer
   4. How universal is even the relationship of men to men, writes Paul, "For none of us liveth unto himself, and no man dieth to himself" - Rom. 14:7; 2 Cor. 5:15; can you see why Paul, being filled with awe to a point of exclaiming, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments" - Rom. 11:33