An Mvd Needs The Mvt's

The premise and much of the material for this sermon comes from a sermon by Wayde Wilson

An “MVD” needs the “MVT”

We’ve talked in the past couple of weeks about call and being called. Last week Steve and Shannon were called to present Trenton for the Sacrament of Baptism. The Confirmands were called to a life of service. Our newest Elders were called to serve our church. Now, today, I’d like to talk about another, extremely important calling. It being Father’s Day, I’m sure you can guess what I think this calling is.

You know, any man, or boy for that matter, can father a child; it’s a job that takes little talent. You’ve heard the saying: “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” Men will hold many jobs in their lifetime. They may not be good at some of them, they may even fail to succeed in a given job, but the rate for failure in fatherhood is actually higher than in any other occupation. Dads have a huge full-time job that most people underestimate. I believe it is the most important task a man can tackle.

Let me repeat that. The most important job (or project) you will ever have in your life is being a good dad to your children. Now, I mentioned project because being a dad is a large, long-term undertaking in which you often ascribe your feelings and values to your children.

Now, men love projects. We love to build things. But men, if you want to take on a project, if you want to build something, you need to know that building something is always easier with the right tools. So, today, I’m going to help you put some tools in your toolbox. To help you be the “Most Valuable Dad” you can be, I’m going to give you some of the “Most Valuable Tools” to keep in your toolbox.

TOOL #1: THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Yeah, I know that most men view this little pamphlet that I hold as absolutely worthless. A waste of paper and ink. Because when you have the technological intelligence of a man, you instinctively know how things go together! Am I right, guys?! You don’t have time to be bothered with all that reading and useless details of how to put your new gas grill together. You tell your wife, “Agh! I’ve put together hundreds of these things! No problem!” Two hours, maybe a few choice words for the manufacturer, and some thrown tools later, you’re taking apart what you’ve gotten together and starting over again because you left out something and the thing won’t go together right! And you realize, you should’ve read the instructions!

When you don’t read the instructions, you waste a lot of time and run into a lot of trouble. You get mad, lose your temper, say things you shouldn’t say, break things, throw things, lose things…it’s bad. Think about it! While all this is going on, who’s right next to you? That’s right. Your son or daughter, your “great helper”.

Listen up, Dads. If you want your “project” to be successful, if you want to build a healthy family, you’ve got to read the INSTRUCTION MANUAL (BIBLE). Being a dad is a super-tough job! You can’t do it on your own technological expertise. You need help. Before you pick up another tool, you need to become as familiar as you can with the God’s INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

There’s valuable information in here that will tell you how to be a good husband. How to love and discipline your children. How to build a healthy home. How to be a man of God. It’s all in here! But a lot of you guys either aren’t reading it or you’re doing that other guy thing, you know, “I don’t need directions. I’m not lost!” When you don’t read the instructions, you waste a lot of time and run into a lot of trouble. So the first tool in your toolbox should be the instruction manual.

TOOL #2: HAMMER

When I think of a HAMMER I think of CONSISTENCY. You can’t drive a nail with one blow. You’ve got to hit the head of that nail over and over until eventually you’ve driven the nail home. Some of you have built your own homes. Maybe you’ve been around when builders are framing a house. If you have, you’ve heard the rhythm of the hammer blows as they do their work. A nail isn’t driven with one blow of a hammer. A room isn’t built with one blow from a hammer. A sturdy wall isn’t made from a couple of 2”x 4”s just thrown together. No, every sixteen inches you lay another 2”x 4” and hammer it into place. Blow by blow, nail by nail, 2”x 4” by 2”x 4”, you get a sturdy wall, and then another and after a while, you get a room and soon, a whole house.