Summer Recharge: Relationship Recharge

 

SUMMER RECHARGE! Sermon Notes Pastor Brad Myers

Relationship Recharge June 15, 2025

Today: “Relationship Recharge!”

Relationship Many Definitions: Boils down to “Connection!”

Book of Romans: Apostle Paul

• Date: A.D. 57
• Audience: Believers in Rome—both Jews and Gentiles
• Purpose: Clearly explain and show how Jesus transforms lives.
• Four Big Writing Shifts:
  • Romans 1–3: Sin
  • Romans 4–5: Salvation
  • Romans 6–8: Sanctification (becoming more like Jesus)
  • Romans 9–16: God’s sovereignty.
    • Romans 9–11: God selected Israel but welcomes Gentiles.
    • Romans 12–16: Practical living—how faith transforms relationships, (Connections through love, humility, unity, daily behavior.)

Romans shows us:

• Why we need Jesus
• How Jesus saves us
• How we should live as saved people

Romans 12:10-18 (NIV) Practical living—how Jesus transforms relationships,

• A relationship with Christ will transform the community in which we live!

1. Recognize the Value of Godly Relationships

Romans 12:10 (NIV)

“Devoted”: Greek word “philo-storgos”

• philós = friendship, affection
• storgēs = family love, natural bond (like parent to child)

“Honor one another above yourselves” – Greek: pro-ē-gou-menoi means

• “Take the lead in showing honor.” Don’t wait—initiate.

Fatherhood: God designed earthly fatherhood to reflect His own love!

Just as God honors us through grace, we should outdo each other in showing value to others. Not only to our fathers, but also friends, family and strangers!

Rising trend in our society that few people want to talk about:

Adult Children Cutting Off Their Parents

• I’m not talking about abuse situations or dangerous relationships.
• I’m talking about loving parents who raised their children, gave sacrificially, and are now being completely shut out with no warning, no conversation, and no willingness to reconcile.

Research: Initiated by the child, not the parent.

• Often, parents don’t even fully know why. One day, the phone calls stop, the texts go unanswered, and the holidays are silent.
• And when you finally hear something, it’s often a list of offenses you didn’t even know existed.

Q) Why is this happening?

1. Relationships are disposable.
2. Our culture teaches that anyone who doesn’t “support how you feel” is toxic.
3. Online influencers encourage cutting people off as an act of self-love.
   • Phrases: “You have to take care of you!”
4. Feelings have replaced Honor when it comes to relationships

Result

• Adult children are rewriting their childhoods
• Relabeling their upbringing, especially anything spiritual, as trauma,
• It’s spiritual deception. It’s pride disguised as empowerment.
• The enemy has always been after families, and this is one of his most effective tools right now – deception and division.
• These parents still have something to give. Love, advice, presence. Not perfection but something real. And now it just sits there wasted. Not because they failed but because their children decided they were no longer worth the effort. That is the heartbreak no one talks about.

2. We Need to Take Intentional Steps to Recharge all our Relationships

• Intentional: Done with purpose!
• It’s broke and I need to fix it!
• Remember “Rhythm of Rest”
  • Habits!: Get in the habit of doing something spiritual for rest?

How about “Rhythm of Intention??”

Romans 12:12 (NIV) (Triple Rhythm)

• “Joy in hope” Our hope in Christ empowers our emotional connection with others.
• “Patience in affliction” Every relationship will face pain—endure with grace.
• “Faithfulness in prayer” Relationship restoration begins in the secret place of intercession.

Romans 12:13 (NIV)

“Practice hospitality” – Greek: diōkō (διώκω) = literally “to pursue eagerly.”

Hospitality isn’t passive; it chases after people with love.

• Intentional Application: Coffee with Dad, blessing your child, reconnecting with a mentor, lunch just for lunch, are sacrificial acts of worship.
• The reason??: No reason!
• NO, what do you want…..

3. Let Your Recharged Relationship Reflect Jesus’ Love

Romans 12:16-17 (NIV)

“Harmony” – Greek: phroneō; meaning to “set your mind to it” in agreement.

• Be intentional in unity. Work at it!

Romans 12:18 (NIV)

Mirrors Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:38–48): radical love, humble peace-making, and forgiving enemies.

Thought: Living at peace isn’t about avoiding conflict—it’s about being intentional at initiating reconciliation.

Ephesians 4:31–32 (NIV)

Q) Why is it so Powerful?

• Names the struggles: bitterness, anger, malice. Father abuse emotions.
• Outlines a better way: kindness, compassion, forgiveness.
• Provides the motivation: “just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Story: Atlanta Journal‑Constitution: Thursday June 12^th

“Father’s Day: A time of healing for son whose dad died a mysterious death” 

• It’ a Real-Life Father’s Day Story: James B. Wells
  • Unresolved bitterness, rage and anger
• Background: James B. Wells 8 years old when his father, Jack Wells—a WWII and Vietnam veteran serving with a U.S. government agency—died in a plane crash in Vietnam in September 1965.
• The Mystery: The crash was officially attributed to small-arms fire from the ground, but James spent decades uncovering inconsistencies in the story—possible government or CIA cover-up.
• The Journey: Over 30 years, James collected over 400 personal letters from his father and spent years researching declassified archives, uncovering details that revealed deeper inconsistencies regarding the crash.
• Father’s Day Breakthrough: This past Thursday, just before Father’s Day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured James’s Book:

Book: Because: A CIA Coverup & A Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew.

• Book: Deep emotional healing and a renewed connection with his father
• Even across decades and death.
• Honoring the Past, Even in Pain: Unresolved bitterness, rage and anger
• Healing through Action: James’ book wasn’t just an intellectual exercise—it was a spiritual act of restoring connection across time and tragedy.

Whether your dad is alive, distant, or gone—you have an opportunity this Father’s Day to “write your own book”—to speak healing words, make peace, share memories, or extend forgiveness.