Pastor Aaron Cordeiro
June 21, 2009 - W0925

Pastor Aaron Cordeiro is Pastor Wayne’s only son. He pastors New Hope Hawaii Kai, one of  New Hope’s satellite churches. Not too long ago, He and his wife, Uilani welcomed their baby girl, Elliana Marie Kealohalani Cordeiro. She is approximately nine weeks old now.

Fathers, raise your hand. Yes. People next to them give them a “high- five.” Happy Father’s Day. It is a great honor to be with each one of you. My father asked me to come and share with you this weekend. I asked him, “How come?” He said. “Because you are a new father. It will be good for you. You are going to learn a lot quick!” Well…okay…

It has been a real joy being a dad. As a young dad, I am excited because I am experiencing what most dads experience in having children. It is interesting what you learn as a dad. Being a dad is not always easy.  I want to share with you what I am talking about and what a father’s hope is.

I am quickly hanging onto every promise that God has for dads. In Luke 12 Jesus said, “… fear not for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  I say…Lord give me all of that, please! Our Father promises each and every one of us hope especially as Dads.  As a young father, my prayer and hope is to be the best dad in the whole world:  that I may lead my family well, that I would love them, and that my children will grow up and fear God with all their hearts. I have been already finding out that it is not going to be easy.

As I was preparing for this message, I was already thinking of all the things I have been  learning and of how horrible of a Dad I am…and I have been only a Dad nine weeks! I  have learned that when my daughter is fussy, my first reaction is to immediately look for Mom.  I realized one day, when I had come home tired from a long day of work and Elliana was fussy, that I was telling her to, “Please use your quiet voice in the house.”  Gosh, she is just a baby; she doesn’t understand what I am saying.”  Then on the flipside, sometimes when Elliana is happy and I’ve had a good day at work, I find myself kneeling at her said speaking an alien language, “Oh…uh..ah…eh..eh. coo..oooh… ..eh…ahh...” I am a horrible communicator!  I have so much to learn as a father.

My worst father experience:  My wife was out of the house one day and I had to take care of the baby all by myself!  Fathers have you had to do that?  Well she had made a mess and I had just finished cleaning her up and wrapping the last round of duct tape on around her waist to keep her diaper on (joking) when I picked her up.  And I didn’t realize that kids at that age wiggle. Did you know that? Anyway, I had her propped on one arm and I was reaching over to get the burpy cloth when she suddenly went to do a back swan dive away from my chest. I looked at her and she looked at me with fear in her eyes. Then, with some sort of super human speed, I reached out to catch her in the nick of time. I said to her, “Isn’t this fun?”  All the while thinking what a bad Dad I am and that CPS (Child Protection Service) is going to be at our door any second now. I went to the living room and put her down.  After I realized what had happened, I started crying. My daughter is so precious to me!

With the little time I had with my daughter, I realized that I needed help. Dads raise your hand up; we need help!  I realized that there are certain things in life that we need to press into our Father for help. Sometimes we don’t know what to do. We need help; we need God’s help.  Sometimes we fathers have this warrior-like spirit in us –  spirit that we need to lead our homes and protect our families – that makes it hard for us to receive help but we really do need His help.

Now let’s look at an example from the story of Jesus Christ in Mark 10:13-16. In this particular passage, we will see Jesus’s example of a Father’s Hope for us and there are three principles we will pick up…

3 UNCHANGING PRINCIPLES

"People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.’ ”

Now, let us read from the top of your notes…

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. (Mark 10:13)

The first unchanging principle that Jesus Christ teaches us about a Father’s hope for our children is…

1. Share loving TOUCH!

Now this loving touch that the Bible speaks about is what you call a very appropriate loving touch. I am learning what appropriate is and is not. There are different love languages like quality time, gifts, acts of service and others. I don’t know about you but my love language is affection; I love to snuggle. I guess I got that from my Mom because she is just huggy-huggy. But as a young father, I didn’t know that there is something called overstimulation of children. Well I like to spend my time with my daughter hugging and kissing her. At first she loves it and she is cooing, but then eventually there is overstimulation and she becomes a stimulation time bomb. She gets too excited that she doesn’t know what to do it. She doesn’t know how to control it. Then all of a sudden, she cries... Whah!!! I didn’t know you could oversnuggle someone, but the Bible does talk about an appropriate loving touch. Why is this so important?

The word “haptomahi” is used in the Bible to describe the loving touch we are talking about.  In Greek, the word “ haptomahi” means to attach or embrace affectionately.  The first half of the word “hapto” means like when someone is rekindling a fire to help warm people and it also refers to drawing people near to embrace them in a very loving and appropriate way to give them warmth. This is the kind of loving touch that Jesus Christ gives. You can just imagine when He was sitting with the disciples and people are bringing the children, and He said, “Come…let me touch you and hold you and embrace you.” It is so powerful. When we as parents understand this powerful touch from God and use it with our children, we will see God’s miracle in our children’s lives.

Let us read Mark 5:26 together…

"And wherever He went-into villages, towns or countryside-they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged Him to let them touch even the edge of His cloak, and all who touched Him were healed." (Mark 6:56)

The touch that Jesus was speaking about brings healing. When I was in junior high, I don’t recall exactly what I did but I had done something to my sisters and I was sent to my room. I was mad!  I remember stomping around and thinking that I was going to just leave.  When my mother came to my room, I gave her the stink eye. She took my small chair at put it in the middle of the room. She sat on it and told me to come to her. I said “No!”  but she called again. I said no again but she called in her sweet voice, “Aaron come sit on Mommy’s lap.” Even though I was saying no, I found myself inching toward her. Deep down inside, I was hurting and I needed my mom’s hug. When I finally sat on her lap, she hugged me and began to rock me. Something happened that touch me deeply inside. I started crying and I was being healed of the pain I had inside. I was angry, I had my insecurities, and I wanted to isolate myself but it was in my mother’s touch that the powerful hand of God touched me. This for me was a reference of God’s healing touch in my life. In the New Testament, there are so many instances in which Jesus touches people and heals them. Parents, take a hold of that and fill your children’s lives with the touch from the Father’s hand.

The next unchanging principle this passage teaches us is …

2. Spend CONSISTENT and ABUNDANT time.

We read the passage in the Bible where Jesus saw the disciples not allowing the children to come to Him and His reaction was to get angry. Another translation is indignant. He got really mad with his disciples and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” What Jesus is saying here is that if we want to usher our children to receive the kingdom of God we need to let them come unto us. There is an unchanging principle called time that is consistent and abundant. Spending consistent and abundant time with our children is like fuel that will fill them up with love, direction, and hope.

Our lives are so busy. There are so many things we have to do. We come and go in our children’s lives. We disappear into our busyness. But if catch it, it would be good. The Bible reminds us that we need to be careful about the quality of time and consistency we spend with our children. Do you how kid spell love? T-I-M-E…time. There is  some interesting statistics about how long we have meaning conversations with our children. Guess? One minute. One hour. Nope…37 seconds! Gosh…(crowds reaction)!!! That is what statistic says. 37 seconds of meaning conversation with our kids. Wow..Yes…I remember my Dad always saying that there is no valid excuse for us not to spend time with our children. I want to stop and say “Happy Father’s Day to my Dad.” He might be watching on the internet. Well…my Dad taught me that there is no excuse not to spend time with your children. When we were growing up, my Dad went to my school when I was in kindergarten. Someone gave me a note from the front office of the school that says that meet my Dad at the front of the school. When I saw my Dad, he said to me “ Hey, Aaron, don’t tell anyone.I am taking you out of school today and we will go fishing.” Wow…I don’t know how moral this is or ethical. Don’t take it against my Dad. But my Dad did crazy things like that because he saw how important it was to spend time with us. You guys know how busy my Dad is.  My Dad has an open door policy at the office for us, his family. He tells everybody, his staff that if his children and wife call that they need to let him know. I remember one time my Dad was in a meeting and I called. He stopped and talked to me. He strike up a meaning conversation with me. My Dad understood that there is no excuse. My Dad taught me this at a young age. Sometimes we think that we make more money we could spend more time with our kids. Please don’t buy into that. Whatever is important to us that is where we are going spend more of our time into. Isn’t that true? If something is really that important we are going spend enough time to do it. Spend consistent time. In the book of James, it was said this ways…that life is but just a mist…here one day, gone the next. There was a person that asked evangelist Billy Graham “ If you have to do life all over again what would you do different?’ He said “ I would spend more time with his kids and my family.” 

Now let us read the next scripture…

"Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Each man's life is but a breath." (Psalms 39:4-5)

Here one day and gone tomorrow. Folks, we don’t have enough time. We are given precious gifts around our lives by God. If we don’t understand that, then our hope tends to fleet us.

So the first thing is share loving touch, second spend consitent and abundant time with our kids and lastly…

3. Speak words of AFFIRMATION.

Jesus the said, “And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” One day I received a note from my Dad. New Hope put out this nice note cards with the dove on it. It was nice to get that note from my Dad and it also had money. Wow! It was nice to get the money for the bills but it disappears quickly. I cherished the card with words of encouragement. I got stacks of cards of encouragement from my Dad. I so often still read them. Even men at my age we need affirmation from our Dads. Like..say Dad how am I doing? Are you proud of me? There is something about speaking words of affirmation that speaks life into people . Yes… we all need that affirmation. It says in the Bible that Jesus spoke to the children words of affirmation and encouragement. There is a point in the Scriptures that the Heavenly Father breaks the heavens and speaks about His Son…Let us read this together…

"And a voice from heaven said, 'This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3:17)

God, the Father, only broke the heavens once to speak about His Son. Sometimes I wander maybe it is because the words of affirmation is so important. I am please with you son…great job. I don’t think when this little children came to Jesus, I don’t think he said,  “I am too busy. What are doing kids?”In Scriptures it says that  He gather all them close to him and he gave them words of affirmation. He built up their hearts. He lifted them up. Just imagine how giddy and excited these children were. In the Bible it speaks of unchanging principles that each one of us can gleam from our Heavenly Father on this Father’s Day. When we understand about loving touch, when we understand about time that is not fleeting, here and there and when we understand about abundant time and consistent and words of affirmation, then we are looking for hope that are in our Lord. Then we are starting to find a hope in our father in Heaven.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1. What are the three unchanging principles about a Father’s hope? Share one of the     that you have experienced.

2. How do you incorporate in your daily life those examples given by Pastor Aaron concerning appropriate touch ?

3. What kind of affirmations do you give your children or family?

4. What fun things do you do with your children or family?

5. Which of the three unchanging principles do you need to ask God for help?