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If you have a Bible. Ephesians, chapter one, verse three. Ephesians chapter one, verse three. Where we're going to begin. And as you're turning there or finding your way there on your YouVersion app. I was listening to a podcast a while ago from one of my favorite biographers. Now this man has written some of the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times award winning, some of the best biographies out there and mostly presidents and founding fathers. And you know, just that's what his area of expertise is. And I was fascinated when he was asked the question about research what as he especially begins to get a sense of, you know, who the person is, the heartbeat of this individual. And he was asked that question and he stopped and he said, really, there's only two things you need to know to understand the forces that form someone. There's two primary things that we as biographers pay attention to. And it stopped me in my tracks. I can picture where I was when I heard this because he says, if you want to understand who someone becomes, all you need to do is look at their childhood and who their father was. It sucked the air out of my lungs to think as a father, what power I wield and as I thought about, indeed the forces that shaped me, how profoundly grateful I am for my dad who's now in heaven. If I want to understand who you're gonna become, I just need to look at your childhood and who your father is. This is why we as a church are always going to encourage and celebrate and speak life to every father in the church. If you're watching this at church online or on YouTube or listening on Spotify, what you're doing matters. Dad. God sees you. You are making a difference. You might feel like you are struggling. You might feel like you fell off the struggle bus.
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You.
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And we are going to point you to God, who is a perfect father whose love covers a multitude of sins, can help us heal from the wounds we've had inflicted upon us by fathers and the wounds that we've inflicted upon our kids. Come on. How many of you sometimes feel like already see the counseling bill for what I'm doing for my kids future? But I just encourage you, no matter what state of life you're in, if you're not a dad yet, you're going to be in a community encouraging other fathers. You're raising your kids in a church where there are spiritual fathers to be examples to your kids who don't have an earthly father. We are all in this together. God sets the solitary in families. Come on Somebody. And so here's what we're going to see. This is what we're going to see. We're all looking to God. Look at this. Ephesians 1, verse 3 on screen it says all praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. God is a perfect father who has blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing and he has given us and positioned us as fathers to, to give blessings to our kids. So here's the sermon in a sentence. The big idea today, through God's power you can someone say can give your kids the gift of a great childhood through. Do you receive it in Jesus name before you've even heard this sermon? Through God's power you can give your kids the gift, the enormous gift. Not a perfect childhood, but of a great childhood. And to help us continue in this message, would you help? Welcome from our teaching team Paul Rain, everybody to continue the sermon. Oh come on, we can do better than that. Help me welcome him.
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Happy Father's Day. Fresh life. Happy Father's Day. I've always had a great relationship with my dad. I know that is not everybody's experience. We grew up outside of the church. We kind of came in the church together and you know, there's been some ups and downs. But thank you, dad. If you're watching, it's amazing. If I can be half the dad to my kids that my dad has been to me, I will be satisfied. Speaking of my dad, When I was 15, my dad and I started taking golf lessons. I think it's a pretty standard thing for a father and son to do. And I was into it. It was a local driving range. We never actually went on a golf course. But you know, I do that now with my son and I hear over the dining table one day that we're not doing golf lessons anymore. I'm thinking, what? Dad has bought himself a hang glider and is going to go off the next weekends and learn to fly. And I'm thinking, shoot. I mean, nobody asked me. Well, 15 year old kid, who's going to ask me? Anyway, anyway, fast forward the next summer we're watching my dad fly his hang glider and crash his hang glider and fly his hang glider a bit higher and crash a bit less. And as we're on the hang gliding hill, I see a stolen hang glider. I'd read about it in a magazine and there was a reward out for this stolen hang glider. And I'm like, dad, that is it. That's the make, model, the colors and Everything. It'd been stolen from a hang gliding school. And I got a reward for finding it. What do you think the reward would be from a hang gliding school? Hang gliding lessons, yes. My poor mother now has her 16 year old son and her husband flying around the sky. And dad and I did. We went off every weekend with the hang gliding club and we were flying above the British hills where I grew up. We were either flying or we were in the pub waiting for the wind to pick up or die down and just wish we were flying. And I got a few pictures here of the early hang gliding days. This is me when I was 20 years of age. It was taken five years ago, Just about to run down that ramp. If you notice that yellow thing on the bar. I'll come back to that in a minute. Well, in a few minutes. And then the next picture, the next picture is a few seconds later, I'm running down this ramp and you see the hang glider is starting to lift me up. My little spindly legs there are just about to leave the ground. And if you go on to the next picture, this is not me, this is my dad. And he mounted the camera on his wing. And I just want to point out one thing here, those of you who think this, because I know a lot of people do. I've had people say to me, oh, I could never go hang gliding. I could never hang on that long. Well, you don't hang on. You hang from you see, he's attached to the hang glider. He could let go of that bar that he's holding onto the control bar. He could let go. He wouldn't die. Okay, there's going to be lots of parallels in this message between hang gliding and flying and the gospel and parenting. And a hang glider gives you physical wings. Yeah, you can. And if you believe that those wings will hold you up, you can run down that ramp and you can fly and you can go places you could never go on foot. And just the same, God has given each of us dads. He's given us spiritual wings. And if we believe those wings will hold us up, we can go places other people cannot go. Pastor Levi read for us there. Ephesians 1:3. I wanted to go over it again. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
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Is past tense. When we became a believer, God downloaded into our hearts everything we need for living a godly life. Peter said that same thing. That was Ephesians 1:3. This is 2nd Peter 1:3, it says, by his divine power, God has given us, us believers. He has given us everything we need for living a godly life. He's given us wings. Just let that sink in. Everything we need. Our wings are invisible. Faith is invisible. But friends, you can fly, dads. You can fly above the craziness of this world with the wings God has given us. And that's the title of the message. You can fly, dads, you can fly. My whole purpose in the next few minutes is to convince you that you can fly. As a dad, you've got this. You know, obviously the title came from Peter Pan and he said all you need was happy thoughts and pixie dust and then you can fly out of the bedroom and off into your dreams. But Isaiah tells us, and I like this version better, those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. That's a lot like flying to me. Wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You may never fly a hang glider, although in the first service we found somebody who did. So if you did, come and see me.
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But
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I'm going to go in the next few minutes, we're going to go over five ways. You and your kids can soar. We're going to use hang gliding to shine a light on different aspects of, of being a dad. The first one is watch out for overreaction. Well, that's a strange start, Paul. Yes. In my early 20s, I was working for minimum wage in Salinas, California, putting hang gliders together. And that wasn't really the joy. The joy was at the weekend we got to fly all these brand new high performance hang gliders. You take one out of the bag and we'd fly it. And I was at Fort Funston, just south of the Golden Gate, San Francisco. And there's a beautiful hang gliding hill there. The wind was perfect. I got a whole bunch of hang gliders to test fly. And on that picture you saw, there was no wind that day. You had to run, run, run, run, run, run, run. And eventually it lifted you off. But if there's a good wind blowing, you only have to take a one step and you're up and you're off to, and you soar above the ridge and you go backwards and forwards. And I was going through these hang gliders, test flying them. Yeah, that one's good. Land back on top, get the next one, unload that, fly that one. Yeah, that one's good. Land. Talk to a tourist, grab a snack, do the next one, just living the dream, you know, 20 years of age, having a blast. I get to the last hang glider, and it's like, oh, man, this is an xl. This is a huge hang glider. You know, I'm not a huge guy. You can see that. It's like, what do I do? It's like, oh, I gotta finish the job. So I start setting this thing up. I wasn't paying attention to changing conditions. I was distracted by this huge hang glider. Anyway, I come to take off, and I realize now I have to run, run, run, run, run, run, run. Because the wind had died down. Should have noticed that beforehand. But as I take off and I get off the ground, the front of the hang glider that we call it the nose, it tilts right up. And I'm thinking, yikes. If you stall on takeoff, it hurts when you hit the ground. So I pull that control bar down, and I go into a big dive to pick up some speed. And I'm thinking, whoa, this guider is crazy. And then I realized, oh, now I'm not above the ridge like I was on all the other flights that day. Now I'm halfway down the ridge, and I'm thinking, oh, I'm going to have to land this thing at the bottom and carry it up. So I look down to the beach for the landing zone, and there is no beach. The other thing I hadn't noticed is the tide's now in. We have ocean, we have waves, and we have rocks, and we have the hill. I'll finish the story later, just in case you were tempted to go. So, obviously, I overreacted on takeoff. And as parents, we can overreact on takeoff as well. If we were raised super strict. Yeah. And then when we get to be parents, it's like, oh, man, we couldn't, you know, we couldn't do anything as kids. We're gonna give our kids some freedom. We're just gonna let them explore the world for themselves. Well, those kids grow up, and then when they come to be parents, they're like our parents to this day. Don't know some of the things we did. We're gonna have some rules in our house, and you get this generational pendulum thing going. And counselors who counsel parents, they actually have a name for this. They call it pendulum parenting. Because if both parents were raised with one extreme, they will usually go to the other extreme. So I just want you to. When you get a little bit of time on your own, which, you know, could be today, could be three years time, I don't know. Just ask yourself, hey, are we overreacting to the way we were parented? So no pressure, no condemnation going into it. You're just asking a question. And if you are, you can make some adjustments to the big picture of your parenting. If you're not, that's fine. If you're making little adjustments, that's great. There'll always be little adjustments. The other way we can overreact is in the moment. We have any dads, any honest dads in the house who have overreacted in the moment dealing with their kids. I see a lot of hands. Yes, I have. I know I have way too many times. I know Pastor Levi has, because this was in my notes when he read them. And he didn't cross it out. So he could have. He could have said, paul, I've never overreacted. But obviously. And even the Pope, if he had kids, he would have overreacted as well. We have all overreacted. And I just want to encourage dads. You're not the only one. You're not the only one. Sometimes we sit here in the house and we think, wow, look at all these dads. They've all got it together. And then there's me. I mean, if they knew me. God knows you. He loves you. Anyway, there's a crazy story in Luke 9, the end of Luke 9. I'm not going to read it. But it's only a few verses. It's only in Luke, and you can read it. Luke 9.54ish. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. And he sends some of the disciples ahead of him to get a room for the night. And the disciples come back and they say, hey, the Samaritans won't let us stay in that village. They refused. And when James and John hear about this, they say to Jesus, we got an idea. And the idea could be, hey, let's just do some random kindness on the way through. Or, you know, let's kneel down now and have some prayer for them. But no, James and John, get this. James and John, who had been interning with Jesus for three plus years, eating and drinking and traveling with him, listening to all his sermons. This is James and John. How to solve the Samaritan problem. Fire down from heaven and burn the village alive. Great idea. Yeah, great idea. And you think you've got problems. Here's the thing, though. I bring this story up because how did Jesus respond to that overreaction? Does he put his hands on his hips and say, guys, been doing this for, you know, quite a while now, and you're still not getting it. I mean, we just don't burn people up because they don't let us stay the night. That's just not how we do things, you know? Remember the Sermon on the Mount? Do you remember that? Anyway, this is James and John. James and John, who in Luke 9:1 were given power to heal people. Remember, he sent them out two by two, and they were healing people. In Luke 9:28, they're on the mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah and Jesus. And then in Luke 9:54, let's burn them up. Let's burn them up. Jesus could have said to them, you know, I'm done. I'm done with you guys. Just, I'm so glad you didn't sail your boat and we had that conversation because you need to get back up to Capernaum and start fishing again, because I just can't deal with this. I mean, I'm going to die for the sins of the world, and you're still trying to burn people alive. So, Dads, when we overreact, I just want you to remember, God does not abandon you. What did Jesus do with those overreactors? They went on to Jerusalem together. And when they get to the Garden of Gethsemane, probably the pinnacle of Jesus ministry, who does he take in the garden with him? James and John and Peter. Unbelievable. With a God like that, we can fly, Dads. We can fly. Going back to Fort Funston. So I'm halfway down the hill. There's nowhere to land. I can see people up on top all peering over, like, what is going to happen to this kid anyway? Backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. And there was just enough wind, just enough wind to get me soaring again. And, Dads, there's always enough wind to get you soaring again. Even after a big overreaction, there's enough Holy Spirit for all of us. Point number two, there's magic in the mundane. The dream of most hang glider pilots is to find a thermal. We'll talk about that a bit in a minute. And go round and round and up and up and all the way to cloud base. But the reality is, most of the hang gliding that we do is what's called ridge soaring. Let's just imagine for a minute that this stage is a hill and the wind is coming right up the hill, okay? So the wind's coming up, I can take off, and I can fly in that updraft. That's what I was doing there at Fort Funston and it's a lot like parenting. You're just going backwards and forwards on your hang glider. And in parenting, you just feel like we're just going backwards and forwards. I mean, we just. We get up and we go to work and we come home and we eat and we make a mess and we clean up and we go to bed and we get up and we go to work and we take the kids to school and we just go backwards and forwards, back, backwards and forwards. But parents, you've got to know there is magic happening in the mundane things of everyday life. You can't speed it up, you can't bypass it, you can't substitute it. It's just part of giving your kids a great childhood. You know, every time you manage to sit down and eat a meal together, relationships are being built. In every aspect of family life, character is being formed. Every time you press through something difficult, security is being developed. Every time you tuck them in at night, or every time the little one just hangs onto your leg, it's like, who is that stranger? It's like, yeah, they know who to trust. Mommy and Daddy. Deuteronomy. This is Old Testament. Six, seven. And this is talking about the commands of God. And it says, read. Repeat them again and again to your children. Repeat them again and again. Do you get the message? Talk about them when you are at home, when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you get up, when you are going backwards and forwards. Just in your everyday life, there is magic happening in the mundane. Embrace the opportunity. Before you know it, they'll be waving, driving off in their old clunker of a car, and you'll be like, enjoy college or enjoy your job or whatever they're going to. There's magic in the mundane. Number three, there will be conflict. You probably figured that out already, but I just want to bring a point out of the conflict. My dad and I were flying our hang gliders together off the coast of Wales, and it was a really windy day, so you could almost hover above the beach because the wind was quite so vigorous. And dad is here and I come over and I'm by Dad, and dad shouts to me, says, paul, I've got the camera, let's take some pictures. I thought, okay, that's neat. We've never done that before. So I fly off like this, and dad pretty much stays where he is, and I come in for a big bank up. And I bank up. It's like, yeah, take the picture, dad. But I realized I blew It I banked up way too soon. I would have been just a, you know, like a spider on the wall sort of thing. So it's like, okay, let's try that again. So I fly further away and I gain a bit of elevation. I come in, come in super fast. I'm going to leave it, I'm going to leave it. You probably know where this is going, but. And then I bank up and then my uppermost wing just clips my dad's hang glider enough that he lost airspeed and stalled and I just fell. I mean, just 200ft. I mean, hang gliders are supposed to go like this. My hang glider was going like that and I was weightless for a moment. I thought I was going to die. I could have died, but the hang glider pulled out. Yeah, scary. Collisions happen. Collisions are going to happen in your house as you're soaring backwards and forwards with your kids just going backwards and forwards. You're going to bump into each other. It's a pity. You know, when you buy any kids thing, it comes with 1000 labels on it. Even if you just buy an extension cord, it's like, do not remove this label. This product might kill you or whatever. Wouldn't it be good if when babies were born there was some kind of warning attached to them? I don't know, a tattoo on the thigh or something. It's like I'm a nine on the enneagram and I know you're a three. So we're going to have some conflict. Wouldn't that be helpful? But no such thing. God obviously knows best. The thing is when you clash, even though I was going that way, I was still flying. I was still in the air. I hadn't hit the ground, the world hadn't ended. And I want to bring out a point here for when we clash, we're still flying. Sometimes it doesn't feel like we're flying after a clash. There is something that we can do as dads, that only we as dads can do for our kids. Moms can as well, and uncles and aunties, but primarily dad. And it goes like this. Hey, son, I am so sorry. Daddy lost it back there. Do you forgive me? Do you think you could say that, dad? They're hard words, huh? I had to say that the other day to my 29 year old daughter who's living with us at the moment with her kids and her husband. That's a long story, but it's unfolding. They'll be in their place soon. When God gave you a new heart As a believer, he put humility in there. You've got wings. You can apologize, you can fly. You can go places that other dads can't go because you got Jesus and you can say, hey, I'm sorry. Take ownership, dads. You will save your kids from so much pain. If they don't learn to apologize and they go around with a chip on their shoulder or worse, life is going to be hard for them. Confess your faults. Take ownership. Eat humble pie. You can do it, dads. You can fly. Next time there is a bus stop. I hope the Holy Spirit brings this little moment to you. I'm sure he will. I'm sure he will. Point number four. Blessed are the spiraling. I borrowed this from a friend of mine. You might know him. You can get the book. If you're flying your hang glider in ridge lift and all of a sudden the air gets really turbulent, you probably just flew into a thermal. A thermal is a bubble of warm air that's rising faster than all the air around it. And you've seen the birds circle, they're circling in a thermal because the thermal's only so big. If you just fly straight through it, you miss out on the elevation gain. So thermals. The thing about thermals though is they're crazy turbulent. You can be flying along in smooth air and it's bouncing and you're trying to get into it and it's like you get into it and then you're out of it and then you're back into it and you're fighting with this invisible thing, bumpy and scary and all those things. Listen to me. When your 10 year old daughter comes home from school and she says, dad, the cutest boy in the school. I mean, the cutest boy in the school. We kissed today for like 30 seconds. It was so good. Dads, you just flew into a thermal. You were just going backwards and forwards to score and dance class and soccer practice and all of a sudden here is an opportunity for you to gain some elevation really quickly. Or your son comes home and is like, dad, your pickup was really nice. The cop said it's a write off. I'm sorry. We can go and look at it if you want. Yeah, the dads are groaning or they left the burners on the Blackstone when you told them to switch it off. Been going all night. Ouch. You see, when you fly into some of those crazy things, they just hit you out of the blue. You can fly straight through them. But if you start circling in that and figuring it out and working it out and praying about it, you will gain some elevation, you will gain some traction with your kids that you wouldn't gain any other way. My dad and I were flying our hang gliders. In fact, the day of those pictures were taken, I think, because I was flying that hang glider and dad and I are flying. We're not going up and we're not going down. We're just bouncing around. And all of a sudden I see dad starting to circle. And I go over there and whoa. We start going up. And that little yellow thing on my hang glider you saw, that's an electronic instrument. It starts beeping, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. I look at the dial and it's pegged. It's like, whoa, this thing is going up fast. So I get in there and I start circling and I fall out and I get back in and it's a bit of a fight. Anyway, after five minutes, my dad and I are 5,000ft above where we were a minute ago or five minutes ago. Can see all the other hang gliders down there, little tiny dots, because we worked with it. We got in there and worked with it. Don't ignore those crazy things that come into your life and say, why me? Why me? Why us? Yeah, it's an opportunity. Blessed. Ah, the spiraling Last 1. Number 5. Enjoy the smoother times. I left this one till last. Last hangard in illustration, if the wind is going over the mountains and then sinking over the valley and over the next mountain and sinking, you can actually get this phenomena called wave lift. And the wave, it has clouds on the top of the waves. You've seen lenticular clouds. I saw some the other day. And if you get your hang glider into some of this wavelift, it's not like a thermal, which is really bumpy and bouncy. It's super smooth. It's like being in the elevator. You just lie there and your little vario's going, beep, beep, beep. And you're just going up and up and up and up. And, you know, some people have. Not hang gliders, but regular gliders have gone to 40,000ft with no engine, just going up in this wavelift. I got my hang glider into some wavelength one time, and my buddy and I, I just went up and up and up until we were a mile above the ground. No effort, just in the right place at the right time. And dads, you can put your kids in the right place at the right time. You can set up some wavelength for Them and all the dads are saying, tell us, Paul, tell us. Right, I will. Thanks for asking. You just sit them down. Maybe you're going somewhere and they're in the back of the vehicle. Maybe you're sitting watching the World cup and you say, hey, just tell me what's on your bucket list for this summer. What fun thing would you like to do this summer? And just let them talk. Just let them talk. Just let them say anything they want. Don't guide the conversation. You want to go fishing in Alaska in Daddy's new boat? Yeah, Daddy hasn't got the new boat yet, but if you're on board, we could sell it to Mommy that we get the new boat. We could go to Alaska. No, just let them share their little hearts. Maybe all they want to do is go camping in the backyard. Maybe they want to go to the ocean and collect shells. Maybe they want to rent a jet ski and see if they can do 60. I don't know, whatever it is, just let them talk. And then, dads, this is your homework from this message. Make it happen. You can make it happen. Your 5 year old can't rent a jet ski. You can, you know, your 10 year old can't book a flight to LA to go and watch Peter Pan. You can make it happen. Dads, our son Caleb, when we were younger, when he was younger, he was like. And we were younger as well, I guess he was like 10. We listened to a book about the Wright Brothers to conquer the air. And, and Caleb, as he listened to the audiobook, he was just enamored. He was like, wow, this is so cool, dad. And we finished the audio book. He went back and listened to it a couple more times. And anyway, we flew out back east to do some church meetings. And instead of coming back, straight back to Montana as we normally did, we surprised Caleb by renting a vehicle. And we drive down to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and we go to the Wright Brothers National Memorial. We get to stand on Kill Devil Hill, where they took off and where they glided to because they didn't put an engine on their right flyer till many years later. So it's essentially a hang glider and where they landed and we take a, you know, a family selfie. It was a special time for Caleb going back to Pastor Levi's intro about how biographers look at the life of the father. What do we know about the rights of. Well, we know his name was Milton Wright. He was a preacher, traveling preacher of all things. And coming back from one of his trips, he bought his boys this wooden toy helicopter. And you wound up the rubber band and the rotors went round. This was before airplanes were invented. Remember this is the Wright brothers when they were kids. And this thing would shoot up in the air and hover for a while and then fall down to the ground. Who would have known? Who would have thought that little simple toy would set those two boys minds whirring and thinking and eventually they would change the way we travel. What little thing is it that you could do this summer, Dads, that would make a huge impact in your kid's life and maybe even for the world. You don't have to preach like Billy Graham to be a great dad. You don't have to earn like Elon Musk to be a great dad. You just need to believe that you have wings and you can fly. You can go places, dads. You can go places other dads can't go because you have wings. And in case you haven't figured it out, Jesus Christ is our wings. You can fly, dads, you can fly. Let's close with prayer. Father, happy Father's Day. What a joy to be in your house. Thank you for giving us wings. Thank you for being our wings. In faith, we believe we can fly. It's by faith. Thank you for not throwing us out when we overreact like James and John. Thank you for reminding us there is magic in the mundane of everyday life. Help us to recognize the opportunity and grapple with those crazy times and to plan something fun for our kids this summer. Father, we love you. We love you.
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If you're here and you would say every location, church, online, I want God's help to help me be the kind of father that God is to me. If that's you I'm describing, you're saying, I want every spiritual blessing. God, open my eyes to see that I already have it in Christ that I can fly. But I feel like I've been getting tired. I feel like I'm just struggling. And so I want the Holy Spirit of God to come upon me to help me soar with wings like eagles. If that's you, I'm just grabbing, just shoot up a hand all across the church. Every dad, just say, God, help me to fly. Help me to soar. God, help me not to overreact. Help me to be blessed in my spiraling God. Thank you. And I pray your blessing on every single hand that's being raised, every single life, every single home that represents God, every single person who will go on to soar because of the toy Helicopter. In Jesus name we can put into our children's hands. You can put your hands down now. And I want to pray now for another group of people, those who are here. And you've never said yes to Jesus. And let me tell you, you're never gonna be the kind of dad or the kind of human you're meant to be until you have a relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. So if that's you I'm describing, you would say, I don't have the confidence to know that I'm gonna live forever in heaven. I've not been forgiven. I might be religious or go to church, try to be a good person, but I don't know Jesus, if that's you I'm describing. We're gonna pray and my wife Jenny's gonna lead you in a prayer if you're ready to give your life to Christ. The Bible says Jesus stands at the door and he knocks and if we open the door, he will come and he'll come into your heart right now. You're not listening to this. By accident. God has drawn you into this moment so your whole future can change and you can point back to my childhood as a child of God, who is my father. This can happen today. If that's you I'm describing, pray this prayer with Jenny. We're all praying it with you. No one praying alone.
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Yes. And you can pray. Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father, Father, I surrender to you today.
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I surrender to you today.
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I give my life to you.
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I give my life to you.
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Thank you for sending Jesus thank you for sending Jesus. To die on the cross and rise from the dead.
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To die on the cross and rise from the dead.
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Giving me life and power over death
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Giving me life and power over death
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and purpose in this life and purpose in this life. I give my heart to you. I give my heart heart to you. Change me from the inside out.
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Change me from the inside out.
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In Jesus name.
Fresh Life Church Podcast
Episode: You Can Fly
Date: June 22, 2026
Host: Pastor Levi Lusko
Guest: Paul Rain
Main Theme: Empowering parents, especially fathers, to “fly” in their role through God’s strength—drawing lessons from hang gliding, the spiritual role of fatherhood, and practical encouragement for family life.
This special Father's Day episode explores the parallels between hang gliding and fatherhood, focusing on the profound impact fathers have on their children. Pastor Levi Lusko and teaching team member Paul Rain share personal stories, biblical reflections, and practical wisdom, highlighting that God's power enables every dad to give their child a great—not perfect—childhood. The episode encourages fathers to embrace their unique calling, recognize their spiritual inheritance, and confidently "fly" above life’s challenges.
[00:00–03:51]
Pastor Levi introduces Ephesians 1:3 and references a biographer’s insight:
"If you want to understand who someone becomes, all you need to do is look at their childhood and who their father is." – Pastor Levi Lusko (01:10)
A heartfelt message to fathers:
"What you're doing matters, Dad. God sees you. You are making a difference." – Pastor Levi Lusko (01:35)
Emphasis on spiritual fatherhood and community support for every child.
Sermon in a Sentence:
"Through God's power, you can give your kids the gift of a great childhood… Not a perfect childhood, but a great childhood." – Pastor Levi Lusko (03:10)
[03:51–08:27]
Paul Rain shares a personal story about hang gliding with his dad—connecting to how "God gives us wings" and the courage to soar as fathers.
Parallel: Our spiritual "wings" are supplied by faith; believing God equips us for the journey of fatherhood.
Key Verse:
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing…" – Ephesians 1:3, repeated by Paul Rain (08:06)
"Our wings are invisible. Faith is invisible. But friends, you can fly, dads. You can fly above the craziness of this world with the wings God has given us." – Paul Rain (08:46)
[10:12–20:00]
Paul recounts a hang gliding mishap caused by not adapting to changing conditions, likening it to "pendulum parenting"—overcorrecting based on one’s upbringing.
Encouragement to avoid reactive or extreme parenting, both in philosophy and in moments of stress.
"Sometimes we sit here… and think, wow, look at all these dads. They've all got it together. And then there's me… God knows you. He loves you." – Paul Rain (14:15)
Biblical example: James and John suggesting to "call fire from heaven" (Luke 9) shows even those close to Jesus overreact.
"When we overreact, I just want you to remember, God does not abandon you." – Paul Rain (17:47)
[20:00–23:30]
Most hang gliding consists of ridge-soaring: simple, repetitive, but sustaining.
Parenting often feels repetitive, but growth and security are built daily.
"Parents, you've got to know there is magic happening in the mundane things of everyday life." – Paul Rain (21:25)
Reference to Deuteronomy 6:7—teaching faith "again and again" in daily routines forms lasting character.
[23:30–28:22]
Paul shares a story of clashing midair with his dad—symbolizing inevitable family conflicts.
Key advice: The essential, healing power of parental apology.
"There is something that we can do as dads… Hey, son, I am so sorry. Daddy lost it back there. Do you forgive me?" – Paul Rain (27:00)
"When God gave you a new heart as a believer, he put humility in there. You've got wings. You can apologize, you can fly." – Paul Rain (27:30)
[28:22–32:07]
Hang glider pilots gain altitude by "spiraling" in thermals (turbulent updrafts)—just as in parenting, unexpected and turbulent moments are opportunities for growth.
When faced with family chaos or unexpected developments (a daughter’s first crush, an accident), circling back, working through it, and praying can bring new heights.
"If you start circling in that and figuring it out… you will gain some elevation, you will gain some traction with your kids that you wouldn't gain any other way." – Paul Rain (30:45)
[32:07–35:10]
Recounts "wave lift"—the rare, smooth, and effortless gliding conditions. Dads can create these for their kids by being intentionally present and planning joyful experiences.
"You can put your kids in the right place at the right time… Just let them share their little hearts." – Paul Rain (33:39)
Practical suggestion: Ask your children about their summer bucket-list dreams and help make one happen.
Shares the story of the Wright brothers’ father giving them a simple flying toy, which later inspired them to change the world.
"What little thing is it that you could do this summer, Dads, that would make a huge impact in your kid's life—and maybe even for the world?" – Paul Rain (34:45)
"You don’t have to preach like Billy Graham to be a great dad. You don’t have to earn like Elon Musk… You just need to believe that you have wings and you can fly." – Paul Rain (35:00)
"Jesus Christ is our wings. You can fly, dads, you can fly." – Paul Rain (35:12)
[35:23–37:44]
Pastor Levi prays for all fathers, asking for God’s Spirit to help them "soar with wings like eagles."
"God, help me to soar…help me not to overreact…Thank you…for every single person who will go on to soar because of the toy helicopter we can put into our children’s hands." – Pastor Levi Lusko (35:45)
Invitation for those needing a relationship with Christ—emphasizing that true fatherhood flows from knowing God as Father.
Jennie Lusko leads listeners in a prayer of surrender to Jesus (37:11–37:44).
| Timestamp | Segment / Highlight | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–03:51 | Introduction; biographer's insight on fatherhood; big idea preview | | 03:51–08:27 | Paul Rain’s story—hang gliding metaphor; blessing of spiritual wings| | 10:12–20:00 | Lesson 1: Overreaction vs. steady parenting; biblical example | | 20:00–23:30 | Lesson 2: Magic in the mundane moments of everyday family life | | 23:30–28:22 | Lesson 3: Conflict is inevitable; importance of saying "I'm sorry" | | 28:22–32:07 | Lesson 4: Spiraling in challenges breeds unexpected elevation | | 32:07–35:10 | Lesson 5: Making memories, planning wonder—little things matter | | 35:23–37:44 | Closing prayers; invitation to faith; practical homework for dads |