One Little Acorn

Good morning and welcome in. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.

About 20 years ago we moved out to Koochiching County. Because of the teachings of Holy Scripture I needed to turn away from the jobs that I had recently held because at that time they didn’t share my faith.

I ended up purchasing three acres that nobody really wanted and in a 40 below winter built my family a tiny cabin in the middle of the Woods

I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to make a living up here. It was like deciding to become an Eskimo and move up to the Artic and not knowing anything about how to fish or make an igloo. The town that we moved to is one of the smallest ones I’ve ever known, but I did trust that God would show me the way.

I learned how to pick balsam boughs and pine cones which to me was as foreign as being a martian on another planet.

I learned how to use a cutting torch and cut and prepare scrap iron. I learned how to use a chainsaw which is something that I had never used before in my life. All of the things that I learned in the last 20 years I handed down to Andrew so that he can provide a living for himself in the future. He’s become better at these projects than I ever was.

Being a dad is to become a teacher. You hand down your attributes and your knowledge to your children. It’s good to be educated by others at a school but I don’t know of any closer interpersonal learning relationship than one can have than with a dad who is with you each and everyday.

A lot of the people in our community up here work together as families. We know a lot of the loggers up here who work together as families. Others milk cows and sow crops as families.

I believe it’s a responsibility of a dad to hand down to your children the things that you hold dearly, especially your Christian faith.

When you log wood, eventually your son can grow up to become a logger. From a child he is watching what you do each and every day.

When you mine coal your son can grow up and become a miner because he watches his dad discuss it each day after work. The Lord Jesus spent time with his disciples each and every day so that as they watched him they would grow into maturity and eventually become preachers.

Acts 4:13

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Whatever the child is or becomes is a result of what the dad is or believes. It’s the children who truly represent the beliefs of their dad.

In the church we inherit a new Father. The Apostle Paul was like a dad to the church who was guiding them and leading them on the road of Christ. Followers of the Christian faith are going to take on the attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matt 4:18-22

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

¹⁹ And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

²⁰ And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

²¹ And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

²² And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

The Apostle Paul was a preacher and his son in the faith, (Timothy) became a preacher. The Lord Jesus preached God’s Word and His Apostles became preachers. So you see the acorn doesn’t fall very far from the tree.

1 Tim 1:2

² Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

If someone’s a logger it’s a good chance their dad was. If they’re a mechanic it’s a good chance their dad was. If they’re preacher it’s a good chance their dad was.

When it comes to preaching, look at what one person can do with 11 men. The Lord Jesus spent his time increasing their knowledge day by day and pouring himself into his followers. Eventually his disciples went out and made their own disciples.

Matthew 28:19 – Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Think about what God can do with just one person. Look at the things that were accomplished through the Apostle Paul. He was just one man but through him God did incredible things. God can do amazing things with just one little acorn.

God can plant that seed deep down within our hearts like a mustard seed and it grows up huge. Just think about it, it’s a seed that is very tiny but look what happens when it finally grows up, it’s bigger than you could ever imagine!

Think about what God has done for us through His only begotten son Jesus Christ. He only sent one, His only beloved, and look what has happened in the world because of it.

A true son is a representation of everything that you believe. Jesus is a perfect replication of His heavenly Father. A son embodies your beliefs and your values.

In both the Old and the New Testament are numerous examples of men of God who took younger men under their wings and helped them to grow in their spiritual faith.

Remember the Lord Jesus had many disciples that turned away from him. It’s not the amount of disciples that one may have, it all comes down to having just one that shares your beliefs perfectly…..

And therein is that one little acorn.

Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

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