Join us on Family Talk as Pastor Brennan Beeler continues a powerful series on fatherhood and faith. With sincerity and zeal, Pastor Beeler discusses the complexities and responsibilities of being a father in today’s world, weaving together scripture, personal stories, and practical advice. He reassures listeners that, through faith and the Holy Spirit, fathers can equip their families with a legacy of strength and righteousness that transcends generations. Listen in and be inspired to take active steps towards becoming the spiritual leader your family needs, one godly decision at a time.
You’re listening to Family Talk, the radio broadcasting division of the James Dobson Family Institute. I am that James Dobson, and I’m so pleased that you’ve joined us today. Well, welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast ministry of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I’m Roger Marsh, and for today’s edition of the program, Dr. Dobson has chosen a very special sermon to share from a dear friend of the ministry. Pastor Brennan Beeler is a committed Christian who is serving the Lord by leading an organization called Regenerate Ministries. He’s the host of a national radio program and also serves as senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Eagle, a non-denominational church based in Treasure Valley, Idaho. Amen. Amen. Amen. You know, fathers have such an important impact on families, and I love my dad to pieces. He’s had such a tremendous impact on me as I was growing up. And, you know, one of the fondest memories I have of my dad is the fact that he was not necessarily an athletically-minded guy. Oh, he liked to watch sports, golf, tennis, things like that, but he wasn’t much of a participant. And yet when it came time to introducing me to the major sports, especially baseball, my dad was the guy who did that. He bought me my first baseball glove. He took me to a local park by my grandmother’s house and taught me how to play catch. Now, I can’t count on one hand the number of times that we actually played catch, maybe more than five or six times in my entire lifetime. But I still remember that moment at Michigan Park in Whittier, California, tossing the baseball back and forth with my dad. Boy. Those were good times indeed, especially now that my dad’s about to turn 92. You know, I believe dads are unsung heroes in our nation today. Unfortunately, fatherlessness is destroying many families and the fabric of society. You know, if more fathers were committed to setting a good example by leading their families and modeling Christ’s behavior, the changes could and would positively impact future generations as well as their own families today. Now, in the last edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, Pastor Brendan Beeler shared powerful statistics about the impact of absent fathers and also explained how men must provide a godly pattern for their families to follow, much like David gave Solomon the blueprints for the temple. Today here on Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, Pastor Buehler will continue this important message by showing how even those without father figures can find their pattern in our Heavenly Father. So let’s get into part two of this special message from Pastor Brennan Buehler on today’s edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now here’s the application for us today. First Corinthians chapter six, verse 19, now New Testament. It says this, don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God in the Old Testament? God was limited to that Holy of Holies. His presence was there over the Ark of the Covenant where the high priest, one man, on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement, would be able to enter in and get a glimpse of God’s glory. And in those days, people would go to the temple just to feel near to God, to worship God. But now, New Testament, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, and he said, It is finished. We are told in the Gospels that that veil that was the wall that separated the holy of holies from the holy place in the sanctuary, God’s presence from people was torn in two, ripped from top to bottom as if God just ripped it from heaven. symbolizing and signifying this truth, that God’s presence isn’t just for one person on one day of the year, but God’s presence is for every person every day of the year. And so now, New Testament, when you open up your heart to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes in and resides within your body, your life. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit. When you open your life to Jesus, it’s no longer you trying to be a better person, but it’s simply the empowerment of the Spirit to be who God has called you to be. Paul, picking up in that, says to the Corinthian church, you have to realize that your body now is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Listen, here’s the application. David wanted to build Solomon’s temple. But Solomon ultimately was the only one that could build Solomon’s temple. And you as a dad, maybe as a mom, a parent, wish that you could make all the decisions for your kids. That you, even for your adult children, wish that you could build their life because you know what would be best, what would work best, and what they should do. But listen, there comes a time where you can’t. Dads, you might not be able to make every decision for your kids. But here’s what you can do. And this is not only for fathers here today, but this is for single men. This is for married men. This is for moms and single ladies. This is for every single one of us here today. Here’s what you can do. It is your responsibility as a person to provide the pattern for others to follow in the way that a godly person looks like. You are to provide them the pattern with your life that they are to follow. Hey, I can’t do it, but you can. But here’s what I can do. I can give you everything necessary, the blueprints, the pattern for you to follow. That if you simply follow the pattern that God has given, then your life will be built in the way that it needs to be. How am I supposed to build my life? Listen, God has given to you the blueprints. He has given it to you in writing. It is the word of God, the living word of God. His instructions for your life. It’s been very cheesy and classically said that the Bible is the acronym for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. B-I-B-L-E. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. But in reality, God’s Word, it’s the blueprints for us to build our lives upon. It’s the blueprints for others to be able to follow. And listen, men, the very fact that you are here today on this beautiful sunny day, you’ve chosen to be here saying the plan is making the Lord a priority. And by simply doing that, just by being here, not counting on the devotions that we need to be leading our families in and family Bible study, but simply just by being here today is making a huge difference. Do you realize that? For you to lead your family to the Lord is making a huge impact in the future of their lives. Your son, your daughter, our kids. They are looking to dad to provide the powder. They’re looking to the father. And the reason why that has even greater impact when the dad says, even when my wife isn’t going to get up and make the kids breakfast, even when my wife is going to sleep in on Sunday mornings, even when I have to get the kids ready and do the extra work. And even if I have to take the kids to church by myself, I’m going to church. And as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord when dad makes that as a priority and the kids see when dad does it. And when they see that in dad and his commitment to take the family and to lead the family to church that has a lasting impact in kids, more so when mom does and dad never goes. Because in the family, God has designed it to be where the man of the house, the father, is called to be the spiritual leader. It’s time for the godly men to put on the spiritual pants of the home and to lead their family unto the Lord. Like Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. It is a non-negotiable. This isn’t something that we might do on some days and not do on other days. You know, some parents say, you know what, my kids, it’s really hard to get them to church on Sundays. Yeah, welcome to the club. But I’ll tell you this, it’s a lot easier to get them to church when you don’t give them an option. When they see dad that says, you know what, are we going to go to church today? Maybe not today. We’ll go next week. Guess what? When you go every other week or you go once a month, guess what the kids do? They know there’s another option. they know we don’t have to go to church every sunday so dad i don’t want to go to church today dad i don’t want to go to church today mom i don’t want to go to church today and then it becomes a fight to get your kids to church and parents with even little kids say oh it’s just really hard to fight my kids to take them to church i’m just tired of having to fight them to get them to church and they’re three years old there’s a problem but i found this very real truth Guess what? My kids, we go to church every Sunday. And it’s not because I’m the pastor of the church. It’s just what we do. We put the Lord first. And because we put the Lord first, they don’t know anything different. They don’t know, oh, mom, dad, I’m just going to stay home today. Let’s just stay home from church. They don’t have that option. And guess what? They don’t fight us to go to church. When you don’t give another option, when you, like Joshua says, as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. We are gonna be involved in ministry. We’re gonna be a part of our church congregationally. We’re gonna go to serve and to pour out our lives. And we’re gonna talk to people after service. And we’re gonna have community. And we’re gonna pray for people after service. And we’re gonna see not what we can just get out of church, but who we can bless and give to in church by being a part of the body of Christ. Listen, your kids are watching. Even your adult children. Listen, grandparents, your grandbabies are watching. And we have the responsibility as godly men and godly women to provide the pattern for our children. But not only limited to our kids, but it’s also for all those who would be watching and looking at our lives. You’ve heard the saying that you might be the only Bible that someone ever reads. They might not open up the Bible, but they are watching your life. And is it true that they see Jesus in you? A man or a woman devoted to seeking after and serving the Lord. We have that responsibility to be leaders and men, especially to be the spiritual leaders in the home.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you’re just tuning in, you are listening to Family Talk. I’m Roger Marsh, jumping in for a brief moment to remind you that you’re listening to Pastor Brennan Beeler sharing his Father’s Day sermon about why a father or father figure is so important for the sanctity of families. And now let’s rejoin Brennan Beeler on this special edition of Family Talk.
SPEAKER 01 :
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 puts it this way. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way that you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. You are called to give your children the pattern in which they are to build their temple by virtue. Just by simply being at church has a huge impact in their life by providing the pattern for them to follow and to build their lives. But you might say today, well, pastor, listen, I didn’t really have… a father figure in my life. Maybe you didn’t have a Christian father in your life. Maybe you just didn’t have a man in your life that would be that example in which you could follow. Maybe you’d be one that would say, you know what, my dad wasn’t one that really went to church. Or maybe you’re one that says, you know what, I don’t like Father’s Day because my dad abandoned my family. maybe you never had a father to begin with maybe you’ve been estranged from your father or maybe even today you’re mourning the loss of your father you might say how can i pass on the pattern when i haven’t yet even received it listen you have a heavenly father that has provided to you the pattern in which you are to follow. David said, Solomon, God has provided it all in writing, the word of God. But John chapter 1 verse 1 says that the word was with God, that the word was God. Jesus is the Father becoming flesh and dwelling among us. And whenever you don’t know, what is the pattern? How should I build my life? What example do I have? You can look to the life of Jesus Christ. The example for your life to build your life upon. You see, Psalm 68 verse 5 declares that God is a father to the fatherless. And Psalm 27 verse 10 says that when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. So even when you didn’t have the pattern or don’t have the pattern in an earthly father, you can have the pattern to follow in your heavenly father, who is Jesus becoming flesh. And look at verse 19 one more time. It says in verse 19, every part of this plan was given to me in writing from the hand of the Lord. The Lord has inspired this pattern and has given it to us of what a man should be like. God is that father. And as long as you model your life after Jesus, you have the pattern of a father to follow. So now here’s the pattern. Here’s the plan. Here are the blueprints in which we are to build our life upon. That is the solid rock. All the ground is sinking sand. But on Christ, the solid rock, I stand. Jesus taught a parable in Matthew chapter 5 of the wise man that builds his house, that is his family, his life upon the rock. That is the solid foundation of God’s word. And when we build our lives on God’s word, listen, when storms come and problems happen and family is in turmoil, that we have that solid foundation when everything else will be swept away. We didn’t build our life upon sand. We as the godly men that God has called us to be have built our lives upon the word of God. And that’s why it’s so important for you, especially as men, to know God’s word. To study God’s word. You see, a lot of people in churches today… say the church is just so spiritually immature because many pastors in the pulpit aren’t preaching god’s word and i agree with that implicitly because many churches don’t even teach god’s word church has become a pep rally for christians for them to get get all excited and amped up and maybe a verse or two sprinkled in with a motivational speech and that’s all it is And it’s not based upon God’s word. But listen, no matter how great and how deep a message on Sunday morning might be, it’s not enough to sustain you throughout the week. I want to be in a church that doesn’t just give me milk, that gives me the meat of God’s word. That’s great, you should, and that’s necessary. Men, you need to be in the word of God. We need to know God’s word so that we know the pattern, the blueprints that God would have us to build our lives upon so that we can model it for others. And then it says, and we’ll close with this in verse 20, David continued to give this exhortation, and this is the same exhortation for you men here today. Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. And he will see to it that all the work related to the temple of the Lord is finished correctly. Here’s the encouragement for us today. Be strong and courageous. And for us to do the work, we’ve got to put the work in. And don’t be afraid or discouraged. And I think that’s so important because when we hear this and we think about how we have been doing last week and the week before and the weeks prior, we think how we have been doing and how we’ve been failing and how we haven’t maybe been accomplishing all and really been the pattern for our families to follow. Maybe we’ve let our families down. It’s easy to get discouraged, isn’t it? And even be afraid of even trying. But we see, don’t be afraid or be discouraged. And here’s the reason why. For the Lord God, my God, is with you. And he will not fail or forsake you. And he will see to it that all the work related to building the temple of the Lord is finished correctly. The Lord will be with you and he will see to it that even your son’s temple will be built correctly. Even when we fail, and maybe today you realize, you know what, I haven’t been doing well. Well, here’s the word of the Lord for you today, then start today. Start today. Well, you know what? I think it’s too late. You know, my kids are grown. I may be growing up. I wasn’t that. And I didn’t know this. And I didn’t understand this. And I didn’t understand the influence that it had. And maybe your kids are in high school or college or out of the house or even married. Listen, it’s never too late for you to start. Well, I don’t know. You know, I haven’t been the best example. Well, God has a reputation of using people that were failures to do great things in their future. God used Saul to reach the world and to start churches and write two-thirds of the New Testament. Saul was a Christian killer. He had failed for many years in his life, and God still used him. Peter, he failed. Peter had a temper and would often put his foot in his mouth. Noah, well, he got drunk. Jacob, well, he was a liar and a cheater. King David had an affair. Jonah ran from God. Gideon was insecure. Miriam, she was a gossiper. Martha, she was a worrier. Thomas, a doubter. Sarah, she was impatient. Elijah, he was depressed. Moses, well, he stuttered. Zacchaeus, well, he was short. Abraham, he was old. Lazarus, well, he was dead. What’s your excuse why God can’t use you? It’s never too late. When you say, God, my life is yours. I want to be the man or woman that you’ve created for me to be. And I want to learn of you and I want to follow your example. And when you think there’s no way, then you realize Yahweh. When the enemy tells you, no, there’s no way. There’s no way for you. And you can just say, Yahweh, God can do it in your life. You be the pattern and you’re going to see God see you through and God will see our kids through too. Aren’t you thankful for that today? I believe in a God who is faithful and will complete the work that he has begun in my home.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. Now, if you missed any part of today’s dad-focused broadcast, or if you’d like to share it with a dad in your life, or another guy who is walking through the seasons of fatherhood, just visit drjamesdobson.org forward slash family talk. It’s no secret that when fathers embrace their God-given role as spiritual leader, well, the impact ripples through all generations. Study after study confirms what Scripture has always taught— Children with engaged, godly fathers are more likely to develop a strong faith, healthy relationships, and emotional stability. That’s why here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, we’re committed to equipping dads with the biblical tools they need to lead their families with strength, wisdom, and grace in these challenging times. As we kick off the month of June and we’re just a couple of days away from Father’s Day, I’m thrilled to share some exciting news. Right now, generous ministry partners have stepped forward with a special matching grant. This means that every dollar you donate to the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute between now and June 30th will be matched dollar for dollar. With your support, we can continue strengthening marriages, equipping parents, defending religious freedom, and promoting the biblical values that help families thrive. To have your gift doubled in impact, go to drjamesdobson.org today. Or you can call us at 877-732-6825. That’s 877-732-6825. Be sure to ask for the special resource that we’re offering as our way of thanking you for your tax deductible donation of any amount here in the month of June. It’s Dr. Dobson’s book, Your Legacy, along with the companion DVD. In this thought-provoking resource, Dr. James Dobson shares personal stories of his own spiritual heritage. alongside practical strategies for instilling unshakable faith in your children and grandchildren. You’ll discover how to build a family legacy that withstands today’s cultural pressures, from political correctness to moral relativism to, well, spiritual indifference. Whether you’re a parent of young children, a grandparent, or someone hoping to start a family one day, this powerful book and DVD combination provides the blueprint for creating a home where faith thrives across generations. It addresses challenges like reaching prodigal children, building loving relationships, and even shares testimonies from parents who got it right despite the obstacles. Now, you can request your copy when you make a secure donation online at drjamesdobson.org or send your tax-deductible donation through the mail. Our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. Once again, you can write to Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk or just put JDFI for short. P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. Well, I’m Roger Marsh, and on behalf of Dr. James Dobson and all of us here at the JDFI, thanks so much for spending some time with us today. Be sure to join us again next time right here for another edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
Join us on Family Talk as Pastor Brennan Beeler continues a powerful series on fatherhood and faith. With sincerity and zeal, Pastor Beeler discusses the complexities and responsibilities of being a father in today’s world, weaving together scripture, personal stories, and practical advice. He reassures listeners that, through faith and the Holy Spirit, fathers can equip their families with a legacy of strength and righteousness that transcends generations. Listen in and be inspired to take active steps towards becoming the spiritual leader your family needs, one godly decision at a time.
