Our Father - Pastor Tim

Our Father

May 24, 2026 | Ephesians 3:14–19

What do you picture when you hear the word father?

For some of us, that word carries warmth and safety. For others, it brings up complicated feelings — absence, disappointment, or unmet expectations. Whatever your history with that word, today's message invites us to look at it again — through the lens of Scripture, and through the life of Jesus.

A Name That Defines a Family

In Ephesians 3, Paul drops to his knees and prays to the Father. It's a posture worth pausing on. Paul — a man who had seen visions, planted churches, and endured suffering for the gospel — still comes to God on his knees, as a child to a father.

The Greek word for family is patria. It's directly derived from patēr — the Greek word for father. That's not a coincidence. In the ancient world, a family received its identity and its name from the father. Every family found its source in the father.

The same is true spiritually. When we receive Jesus, we are adopted into God's family — and He becomes our Father. That's not a metaphor. That's the reality of what salvation means.

God himself said it plainly in 2 Corinthians 6:18: "I will be a true Father to you, and you will be my beloved sons and daughters."

Jesus Came to Reveal the Father

It's easy to reduce the cross to a transaction — sin in, forgiveness out. But Jesus didn't go to the cross just to forgive sins. He went to reconcile us back to the Father. There's a difference.

Forgiveness clears the record. Reconciliation restores the relationship.

Jesus came to show us who the Father actually is. He said plainly that if you've seen Him, you've seen the Father. Every miracle, every act of mercy, every moment Jesus stopped for someone the world had passed by — that was the Father on display.

And in Matthew 6, Jesus points to the birds in the sky and the wildflowers in the field. The Father feeds them. The Father clothes them. And then Jesus asks a question that should stop us in our tracks: "Aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?"

The answer, in the Father's eyes, is an overwhelming yes.

A Love That Fills

Romans 5:5 tells us that God pours his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The original language gives us something richer than a casual reading might suggest.

The word translated loves describes an undefeatable benevolence — an unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good of another person, no matter what they do. It asks nothing in return. It does not calculate the worth of its object. It is a love that is chosen, not earned.

And the word fill means a pouring out — something given generously, dispersed in abundance.

This is not a love that trickles. It overflows.

John puts it beautifully in 1 John 3:1: "Look with wonder at the depth of the Father's marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children."

The word look there is a command to behold — to stop and take in something extraordinary. The Father's love is not background noise. It's a marvelous exhibition, and we are invited to stand in front of it with wide eyes.

The Trap of Performance

Here's where many of us get stuck: performance.

Performance, at its core, is staging a role — presenting a version of yourself you hope will be accepted. We do it in relationships. We do it at work. And tragically, we often do it with God.

We show up clean. We hide the mess. We try harder after we fail. We earn our way back into the room.

But the Father doesn't work that way. His love and acceptance are unconditional — not because He lowers His standards, but because He is love. It's not what He does; it's who He is.

The enemy knows this, and he works hard to keep us from settling into it. He is, after all, the father of lies. He will stir up shame, whisper that you're too far gone, and push you toward performance — anything to keep you from resting in the Father's arms.

Don't let him.

Nothing Can Separate You

Paul closes Romans 8 with one of the most defiant declarations in all of Scripture. After listing every terrible thing that could come against a person — tribulation, distress, persecution, danger, even death — he says:

"I am persuaded."

The Greek tense matters here. Paul isn't saying he was persuaded once, back when things were good. He is saying he remains convinced. He is not budging. No argument, no circumstance, no voice of accusation is moving him from this position: he is loved.

The word separate means to sever, to tear apart, to disconnect. And the word from implies distance.

Paul is saying: there is nothing — not a single thing in heaven or on earth or in the depths of hell — that can put distance between you and the love of the Father.

Not your past. Not your failure. Not your doubt. Not your worst day.

Nothing.

A Closing Thought

Your relationship with God as your Father is not a side note to your Christian life. It is the foundation of it. Everything flows from knowing — really knowing — that you are loved, chosen, and kept by a Father who sent His Son not just to rescue you from sin, but to bring you home.

You don't have to perform. You don't have to earn it. You just have to receive it.

"Look with wonder at the depth of the Father's marvelous love that he has lavished on us." — 1 John 3:1 (TPT)