June 21, 2026 · 03:25 PM
What Is the Father Truly Like?
DH
Daryl HannahAll right, we're going to be in Book of Luke 15. We'll go ahead and find places there.
Introduction: Father's Day Context
Book of Luke 15. Luke 15 Today, as we know, is Father's Day. And I do wish all the fathers a very happy day. And you know, ain't it funny? Mother's Day. You can find countless pictures. Countless. I mean, you go on up and just type in Mother's Day looking images. You'll find image after image after image. I mean, just all Kings of stuff. Stuff. Type in Father's Day and look at images and you have very few selection. It's like Father's Day really not that important.
I know sometime ago there's a little boy asked about Mother's Day, Father's Day. He said, well, Father's Day is about the same thing as Mother's Day, except it's a lot less expensive.
Other words, they don't get here the stuff. Mother. There was one time. There was one time that, you know, a mother had given birth to a child. And you know how they used to have them in this area and they had this glass wind. And you go up and look in at your grandkids or your children, whatever. But they said the lad was standing there gazing, said the mother just watched behind him and said she just eventually said she was taken by how. How amazed he was. And she walked up and put her arm through his arm and she said, it's something, man. She said, what are you thinking about? And he said, well, I'm just sitting here thinking how the world don't make that crib for 89.99. So father had a different perspective on our Hillary. As sentimental as murders.
Reading Luke 15
But if you found the places of Book of Luke 15. Stand with me. I'm going to read first few verses there. This is probably very popular. A lot of people probably y' all know it. But I want to talk about it in a different sense of what you probably heard it preached before, but said then drew near unto him.
Scripture Reading
All publicans and sinners were to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sin sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the 90 and 9 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, he laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over the 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance. I want woman having 10 pieces of silver. If she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? And when she had found it, she called her friends and her neighbors and together saying, rejoice with me, for I have lost or I have found the peace which I have lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. And he said a certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, father, give me my portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the young son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. And there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be at and he went and joined himself to the citizens of that country. And he sent him into the fields to feed the swine. And would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. And no man gave unto him. And when he had come to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and I will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and I am no more worthy to be called thy son than make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and he had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said unto his servants, bring forth the best roof and. And put it on him. And put a ring on his finger or on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it. And let us eat and be married. For this was my son. This my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to be married. Let us pray. Father, Luke 15:1–24
we thank you again for thy precious word. And, Lord, as we look at how wonderful you truly are and how gracious you are how, how merciful you are and how you are the Father of all fathers. And Lord, I just pray that each one would realize those truths this day. Father, I thank you so much for all that you do. Thank you for all the singing that we heard, the messages in the songs. And Father, we thank you for another day. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Psalm 103:13–14
This Psalm matches Daryl's prayer language about God's fatherly compassion and is offered as a related reading.
As we look at this, I know that a lot of times when you think of lost sheep, of lost corn and lost son, we've heard these powerful stories probably hundreds of times. But you know, when you think about these, it wasn't just about the sheep or the corn, it wasn't just about the lost son. But actually these stories that Jesus told about in this parable, he wants us to see, he wants us to know what kind of Father that truly it is, what is the Father truly like? And he wants us to know how we as his children can see the Father.
Who Was Listening That Day
So but before we begin, you know, you think about the people that was in attendance that day. As we read in the first few verses of chapter 15 you find that the first one was the publicans and sinners. And so they were the tax letter. In other words, they were the outcasts of society. They didn't have many friends, they didn't have a whole lot of hope going for them. And they were the ones that never seemed to be able to measure up in society in that day. And no matter how hard they tried, they always seemed to fall a little bit short. And they knew something was wrong and they knew something was missing in their life and they felt abandoned and no one really seemed to care what was really going on in their life. Luke 15:4–7 Nobody seemed to really care what was missing.
But then we have the disciples also. The disciples were there and they were men that gave up a lot of things to follow Jesus and they were well on the road. But they had been with Jesus long enough to know that they still had far to go. Luke 15:17–20 And therefore they always were eager to partake of what the Master had for them and whatever he had for them. And their hearts were always open to what words that Jesus spoke and, and the words of life, how they were to live their lives.
And so they were always open. But then let's not forget what other group was there. You had the Pharisees and the scribes, and they were the proud, confident ones that needed no one. Luke 15:1–2 They had all answers to life and they knew who they were, they knew where they were going and they knew that they were self righteous and judgmental and Critical. And they knew everything that there was, and they really wasn't in need of anything else because they knew who they was as the Pharisees and the scribes, you see. But we need to understand that they was listening. So Jesus said, you know, when they started murmuring and talking about how Jesus was eating with these outcasts, with these tax collectors, were these sinners, how he was eating with them and bringing them to Himself, and, you know, hey, they're beneath us and they don't really need to hear it.
But Jesus wanted to start in these parables. And I think there's a few things that we need to say about God the Father, about our Heavenly Father. Today we're not going to talk about earthly fathers. We want to talk about Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Father. Luke 15:11–32 His name is God Almighty. And you can look at the many James throughout the Bible, but we look at God as our Heavenly Father today.
The Lost Sheep: You Matter to God
When you look at it, the first parable is talking about the sheep. And, you know, he said he had a hundred sheep, and if one went astray, that was 99 just and one gone astray. He said, you know, he went out and searched diligently for them until he found it. And when he found it, he put it on his shoulders, rejoicing, and he come home and he said, I found it.
Have you ever felt like you was insignificant? Like you really didn't matter? Luke 15:4–7 Like you don't count? You? Do you ever feel alone in a crowd? Like no one really grace for you or about you or anything that has to do with you? Have you ever been tired or really hard? That someone that you even matter to anybody? Well, when you think about it, our Father grace about us, even to the last one, because we truly matter to Him. I want you to know today that whatever you may think, whatever you may feel, you have one. His name is Lord God Almighty and. And
he does care about you.
You matter to what? To God in all areas of your life. He created you. You matter to him today. And we need to understand that, you know, he's our shepherd. And as our shepherd, he loves his sheep. He grace for them, and he wants to protect them. Psalm 23:1–3 He wants to keep them safe. He wants to lead them beside the still waters. He wants to restore their souls. And he can do that if we are his sheep. But you know what a shepherd has a hard time doing? Doing these things for the sheep. Because they like to wander. They like to get out of his sight. They like to get away from Him. They like to go astray.
And now I Want you to know, you may have a wayward child, you may have been wayward yourself, but I promise you, wasn't out of God's touch. Luke 15:4–7 God didn't all of a sudden somebody have to come say, hey, you know who's not here today? And God said, I'm really who he is. Nowhere in the Bible will you find where you take God by surprise. God knows who's not here. God knows where you're at. And you'll never run far enough to get away from God because you matter to him. And you know what? No one has ever tell him that you're not where you need to be, because God always sees when you matter. He could have just said, hey, I still have 99. So what's one? When you look at the worldly perspective of the odds, they say, hey, I think we're doing good. We've got 99. Let's just not worry about that one. Let's focus on the 99. But you see, when we matter to somebody, when we matter to someone like God, God says, no, I'm not satisfied with 99. I want 100, and I'm not going to settle. I'm not going to rest because they matter to me.
Ezekiel 34:11–16
Ezekiel 34:11–16 relates to the sermon’s shepherding and restoration themes and is suggested as a helpful background passage.
And when you think about how you matter to God, then you know that he grace for you. He don't want just to settle for less. He wants to settle for all. Now that brings me, I shouldn't eat breakfast. I'm getting choked. That brings me to not just does he settle and want all of us, but he wants 100% of us. So many times we think that if we'll just do most of it, the 99% will say, if we keep 99% of our life with the Father, then we'll allow the 1% to be out of the Father's will, otherwise be doing worldly things. And we think that God is okay with that. God is not okay with that. Just like he's not okay with 99. Luke 15:4–7 Just and one lost and saying, hey, forget that one. I'll settle for the 99. He's not okay with 99% of your life. He wants 100% of it all the time. He wants you to be fully surrendered to him. He wants to be able to work in and through your life. Luke 15:11–32 He wants to be able to do the things that only he can do through you when you surrender fully to him. And that's 100%. He's not satisfied with 99%. He wants all of you all the time because he grace for you and you matter to him.
And so when we think about a lot of times when we think as he talks about how he disciplined the sheep and he carried him back on his shoulder, God has to disciple us when we get out of the way. Just like I've got a three year old grandson and I promise you, if I tell him to get out of the middle of the road, I'm not being mean and cruel, I'm not being misunderstanding, I'm not saying, well, it's going to hurt his feelings because hey, if he's in the middle of the road, he's getting ready to get run over. And I see the bigger picture. He don't understand that, hey, he's just playing and having fun. Just like God, when he has to disciple you, when you get out of line, he will disciple you. Not because he's mean, not because he doesn't care. It's because you matter to him. When we think about the Father, we matter to him. Always remember it. You may not feel like it to anyone else, but you matter to holy God.
The Lost Coin: You Are Valuable to God
But not only that, when we look at the lost coin, what happened when the woman was looking for a lost coin, it says she brought her light out and she went sweeping in the dark corners she went to try to find she had 10 pieces and lost one. Luke 15:8–10 And so she said, hey, you know what? That's valuable to me. God is wanting you to know today that you matter to him, but you're very valuable to him. He's standing back and saying, hey, I see what's going on in their life. I look at them and I see where they stray, I see the problems they have.
But you know what? They are valuable to me. You are valuable in God's eyes. I want you to know that. I don't want you to ever let anyone, your boss or anyone fit tell you that you're not valuable to God because you are valuable to him in all ways, shape, fashion and form. He's saying, just like the lost, lost coin, the woman was looking for it everywhere, looking in the dark. She was sweeping the floor trying to find it. Because she said, hey, the value's not in the lost coin. Because I promise you, you'll never go to the store and you'll never say, hey, I want to buy two of these, I want to buy two of those. And, and they're going to ring it up and they're going to say cash or card? And they're going to say, oh, I've got a lost coin and I'll pay you later. They're going to say, I don't think so. Get out of here. The value is not in the lost coin where the value's at.
He said, hey, I know where the value is. It's when I've got you back in my possession of what I can do with you, when I have you where I need you to be. And so you become very valuable. And I see your work, I see what you are when I'm working through your life, I see how valuable you can be. And so many times we think that if it's lost, it's of no value. We think if it's. We try to put the value in the thing, but the value is not in the thing. The values are what God does with the thing. You see, that's where the value was with the woman. She said, hey, I'll find it because it is valuable to me. And when I find it, then it becomes worthy, it becomes worth the value that's in it because of what I'm going to do with it. God wants you to know. He wants you to be where he wants you to be. Luke 15:8–10 He wants you to be fully surrendered because you matter and because you're very valuable to him. Yes, even you. And you can put your name in it. I can say, Darrell matters to God. Darrell is valuable to God. And each of you can put your own name in it and. And say that you matter to God and that you're very valuable to God. Luke 15:11–32
The Lost Son: Unconditional Love
But what about the lost son? What about the next parable? Well, you understand that here we have two sons, and we didn't really talk about second. I didn't read that. And we're not going to discuss the second one right now, but we're talking about the one that decided to go on his own. He said, give me everything that's coming to me. I want to take it. Because I don't want this no more. I don't want this life no more. And I want to go on my own and live the way that I want to live. And I'm telling you right now that there's people that have followed Jesus Christ and all of a sudden decide for whatever circumstances come their way that, hey, I'm not going to follow him no more. I'm going to do this on my own. That way didn't really work for me. That way didn't satisfy me enough. And so I want to do this on my own. You may say, well, you don't know people's situation. You don't know their circumstances. No, but I. But God does. And God knows that when they decide to go on their own, that they're saying that they can figure it out better, that they can do it on their own, and they don't need God in control of it. Luke 15:11–32 That's exactly what they're saying. They may not come right out and say it, but I promise you that's exactly what's going on in their mind. And hey, I don't need anybody to tell me this, and I don't need anybody to tell me that because I am big enough and I am strong enough to do it myself. And that's what the Son was doing, you see.
And so the Father said, okay, well, here it is. I'll David it out. I'll give it to you. Here's your portion. What happened? He went on to a far land. He tried to go far. It says he went to a far land. The reason he went to a far land, he was trying to get as far away from the Father as possible. I promise you, when you're living in a world of sin, when you're living a life that is not blessing unto the Father, I promise you that you're going to try to get far away from him. You're going to try to go to what end. You have to go as far away from him as you can. Luke 15:13 But let me give you a little bit of an information. You can't get far enough to be away from God. Luke 15:4–7 You may think that you can, but you can't. And so as he went on, he began to. He had all these parties and had all this stuff going on as we read about in his life.
Psalm 139:7–10
This passage expands the sermon theme that no distance can separate us from God's presence, reinforcing the 'you can't get far enough' idea.
And you'll find that what happened, he went broke. You know what I didn't read about? Maybe you read it, but I didn't read it. All his friends come right along the side of him, said, here, let me help you out. Let me give you a little. Hey, I was partying with you. I was drinking with you. I was having all the fun with you. Let me give you a couple extra dollars. Let me feed you. Now, maybe it's in your word, maybe it's in the scripture that you read. But nowhere that I read did I read that. So where were the friends? You see, when the funds dried up, they fizzled out. Have you ever noticed that a lot of times the fringes you think you got, as long as you're providing whatever it is, everything's hunky dory. You're the best, you're the life. But when things run out, it's like that old saying, I'll stick with you through thick and thin, but when it gets thick, I'm going to thin out. Well, the same thing when you get broke, I'm going to get away from you as well. And that's what happens. I promise you. You'll find yourself in those situations. Situations. You'll be like, where's all my friends now? You're not spending money like you was. You don't have to spend. You're not doing the things that you once did because you don't have a way to do it. Luke 15:13 They've moved on, and you find yourself in a pig swap. A pig stock, a pig pen. I don't know how many of you ever been around pigs, but they smell. I promise you. Luke 15:15–18 Take a pig out, bathe it, put on perfume, lipstick it, paint its toenails, do whatever you want to, turn it loose. And guess where it's going to go? Back to the mud. It's a pig. And I promise you, they ain't no cute pigs. Pot belly pigs, miniature pigs that ain't cutener. Pigs, they make good bacon and sausage and all that stuff. But anyhow, needless to say, pig is a pig. And when you find yourself eating with the pigs or stalking the hogs as he did, and that's what was going on with the sun, he found himself wishing he could have some of their food. Looking at the husk that he was eating, nobody was offering him food. And he was like, now wait a minute, here I am at the bottom of the barrel. I found myself at rock bottom. The hired servants have even got food. Maybe they got a little bit of extra bread they can spare me, you know, I found myself in a place that I don't know how in the world I got here, because I was living a life that I loved. I didn't answer to no one, I didn't follow no one. And I definitely didn't have a father that was telling me what to do and how to do it. And guess what? I'm at rock bottom now. No more how. But, you know, maybe I can go back and he'll hire me. Maybe he'll just give me a job. I believe that's what I want to do. I'm going to run back and ask him, father, can I be one of your hired servants? Can I just work for you? And so we come back with our head hunkered down, as the whole saying goes, with our tail between our legs. And we come back and we try to think of how we're asking what we're going to say. Luke 15:18–19
And that's what he was doing. He was thinking it out in his own mind, how he was going to present it to the Father. But when we think of the Father that we matter to and when we think of the Father that we're very valuable to, what was the Father doing when he come up the road? He was out there looking for him. He wasn't saying, well, he left me, so I'm not going to worry about him no more. You see, he has an unconditional love for his children. He had an unconditional love for the Son. And what did he do? He said that he run to him. He didn't wait on him to come up there and drag his tail and say, forgive me. He run to him, and he loved on him. And he said, hey, bring him the robe, bring him the ring, bring him the sandals, bring him the fatted calf, bring him everything. When you think of all those things, and each one of those things, I promise you, has sandals of what they mean, and I'm so far lost in my notes, I'll never get back to it. But I promise you, when you think about the robe, it was a mark of honor. When you think about the ring, it was about authority. It was about a love. And when you think about the shoes, it was signed, other words, I'm no longer a slave. Luke 15:22–24 I have shoes. I am of sonship. In other words, I am of the family. And that's what the shoes represented. When you think about the fatted calf, it's an expression of rejoicing. And I promise you, when we think of the unconditional love that our Father has for us, when we think of the unconditional love that he has for each and every one of us, no matter where you're at in life, no matter what's going on, he still loves you. I promise you that. We love him because he loved us first. 1 John 4:19 We find that in the Bible, God demonstrated his own love for us in this.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And the Father's love in us is complete, it's consistent, it's constant, and it is unconditional. I want you to know today that we can't earn it. But I promise you, God will provide it. Luke 15:11–32 God wants to provide it. And there's nothing can take away the love that God has for us. How do I know that? Well, Romans 8:38,39
Ephesians 2:8–9
This passage clarifies the sermon’s claim that we cannot earn God's love or salvation, showing that salvation is a gift received by faith.
Scripture Quote
tells us that. For I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nor high, nor death, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Lord, I want Romans 8:38–39
you to know that our Father, we matter to Him. He sent Jesus and it matters to him how much of your life you're really giving Him. It matters to him what you are and who you are. And you know that you're valuable to him even if you don't feel like it. I promise you right now he's looking at you and he sees what he can do in and through you. He wants to work in and through your life. He wants to see others come to Jesus Christ through you because of how valuable you truly are. Our value is not determined by what we are, but what God will be able to do with us. And most importantly, the unconditional love that he has. When you think about his grace, when you think about his mercy, it's real. It's real. His forgiveness is real. His love is real. And anytime we want to leave the pig pen and the self and sin that so easily takes us over, God is going to welcome us home. God is going to be waiting for us and we don't have to do anything except come back and say, lord, forgive me, forgive me. That's all you have to do. It's as simple as that. But you have to come now. I know I told you this is probably a message like you wasn't expecting. Because usually you hear these three parables talking to the lost. And I am by all means talking to lost, but I'm in all means talking to Christians as well. Because sometimes we lose our way, sometimes we forget who is our Heavenly Father and we start trying to do things on our own. He's not satisfied with 99% of it. You may say, well, that's pretty good odds. I'm a lot better than my spouse. I'm a lot better than my children. I'm a lot better than my mom or dad. I'm a lot better than my brother or sister sitting on a bench beside that right in front of you, behind me. But you know, God knows their hearts. He knows their lies and he knows your. And he's not wanting you to comparing it. He's wanting you to look deep in your own heart. Luke 15:20–24 If I give him 100%, have I fully committed to Him? If so, then God wants to do a mighty work and he wants you to watch him at work. He wants to use hands clean in Jesus where He's put you, whether it's in work, whether it's in school, Whether it's just out of community, whatever the case may be, God wants you to hear this. Now, I know this is probably a Father's Day message, like, he wasn't faithful, but our Heavenly Father loves us, and we truly do matter to him, and we truly are valuable to him. And he has an unconditional love. It don't come with a criteria. A lot of times we like to put things on, well, if we'll do this or if we'll do that, then we'll. But God says, no, I love you until I created, but I want you to be. But I still love. I'll disciple you, I'll chastise you. Do whatever it takes. That's all love. Someone once said, how much does he love you? I said, well, if you look at the grace he loves you that much. That's how much he loves you. And pretty much, I don't know, for your eyes keep s. But that surrounds every one of you, ain't there?
Invitation: Come Just As You Are
I love you that much. Guess what? If I look out that way. Stand with me. Almost a single word. Luke 15:4–7
singing
Just as I am. Just as I am.
Are we gonna come later? Huh? Page 81. Just as I am. And you know what? That's the way God wants you. Just as you are. Luke 15:20–24 He wants you to be saved today. He wants you to know that you can come to him asking for him. You can pray and ask Jesus. You don't have to. The reason I want to clear this up. So many people think that you have to to come to the elder to be saved. That is misleading in itself. That's not wrong when it's misleading. You can pray for salvation no matter whether you're in your car, whether you're in a pew, whether you're walking down the road, whether you're at home on the porch. You can pray for salvation.
James 4:8
This verse encourages the same immediate, personal response the preacher invites—drawing near to God right where you are.
But what he wants you to do is make it publicly known. He says, if you deny me before men, I will deny you before the Father. Matthew 10:32–33 If you confess me before men, I will confess you before the Father. So you don't have to walk down an aisle to get saved. You can ask Jesus to save you. But I understand once you're saved, you're going to want to tell people, not deny Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. So I wanted to clear that up. But you can pray where you're at. If you need to be saved, if you just need to pray for whatever it is, remember, you matter to the Lord. Luke 15:20–24 You are baby Lord, and He has unconditional love for you. But you have to call. You have to ask for him. You have to ask him into your life because he ain't gonna force him.
Sam, worship for me. And that is me come to the. To the san. I. Just one more verse and then we're not going to leave, by no means, but one more verse. And I want you to think about it as you sing. Just as you are. That's all the Lord wants. Just as you are. I'm not trying to press you. I'm trying to explain to you the Lord loves you this morning. He wants you. He wants you as we sing this. Sing it.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for all that you've done for us. We thank you, Lord, for this message. We thank you, Lord, for just the invitation. Father, if you've spoken to someone's heart here today, or many hearts here, I just pray, God, that you was glorified through it. I pray, Lord, that they took up business with you, Father. And Lord, seek your will in our lives. And Father, as we all, Lord, look into your word each and every day. I pray, God that we'll just continue to ask the Holy Spirit to give us what we need. And, Father, convict your hearts where need be. Because none of us are perfect. We all fall short. But Lord, we should strive for that mark of perfection. And I pray God that each one of us would realize those truths this day. Matthew 5:48 Father, it's hard to live partly in the world and partly in you. It's impossible. We can't do it. We need to surrender it all. We need to come just as we are. We need to ask you to be the Lord of our lives, 100%, Father, may we be free. Luke 15:20–24 May we feel that freedom through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Thank you again for all that you do. Now, Lord, as we continue off shortly on the pray, Lord, that you'll continue to bless the fathers this day. Bless the mothers as well. But Lord, as we celebrate Father's Day, may you bless all fathers. And thank you again because you tell us that you'll be a father to the Father of us. So we must say, well, we don't got a father, but we got you, our heavenly Father, thank you, Jesus, for all you do. Romans 8:15–16 Christ name I pray. Amen.
It.