I guess my church was expecting me to preach on faith of our fathers that is the hint that I received but as usual I did something unexpected. I preached about faith fathers instead. I described to them the gentleman and his wife who were my faith family when I first came to Christ. I had gone and gotten myself baptized but I had little faith beyond that point. I had just moved to a new town and was attending a church that was of the same denomination that had baptized me. I didn't know anyone and not many people stopped to talk to me after the church service. Three days later a loud knock at my apartment door almost gave me a heart attack. No one ever comes to my home. I looked out the keyhole and saw a skinny little man staring back at me. I opened the door he looked harmless enough. Turns out he was from the church and had come to check on me. His wife explained that they visited all new comers who left an address. This couple invited me to sit with them in church and introduced me to everyone so that I was not alone in a church. Have you ever had that experience? It is very unpleasant to go to a church and have no one make eye contact or say hi. But this place was different. I was welcomed into this church community in a way I had not been welcomed at my last church. Mr. N. would ask what I had been reading during the week and if I had any questions he would answer them and if he did not know the answer he would own up to it and get back to me. He never gave me money and he was not someone I called whenever I needed a ride. But this couple gave me somelthing more important than money they gave me a Godly relationship that showed me what a father should be. My dad was killed by a drunken driver when I was six months old and my mom never remarried. I did not have a clue why people made such a fuss over having a dad or why it was so important to compare God to being even better than an earthly dad. My understanding of these questions evolved over the years of hanging out with Mr. N. and his wife. They taught me alot about scripture and how to live your beliefs out loud where the world could see them. Mr. N. is an unapologetic christian. He is ornery as ever and I am so glad that he and Mrs. N. banged on my door so many years ago. When I first began to understand that the Lord was calling me to the ministry I started to call my family. Mr. and Mrs. N. were among the first people that I told. When I preached about faith fathers I used my relationship with this couple to explain the concept to the church. It was not what they expected but I believe it is what they needed. When I prayed over the sermon this is where the Holy Spirit led me. I wonder sometimes if people know what a pastor goes through in writing a sermon. I fast and I pray. Then the Holy Spirit shows me a scripture and then I begin to study that scripture. To go through the concordances the books of testament history, the bible dictionaries, the study bibles, and the online searches. Then you pray more and wait for the Lord to show you how to apply what you have learned in a sermon that will prayerfully reach their hearts. So next time you don't like the sermon remember it was not the pastor's idea it was (if the pastor is faithful) the Holy Spirit's idea. Happy FAther's day y'all.