Being A Godly Father Of Encouagement

Someone noticed ... that the word "father" appears in the dictionary ... just before the word ... "fatigued" ...and just after the word ... "fathead."

So, ... to all of us fatigued, ... fathead fathers, ......Happy Father's Day! (Long Pause)

Today is Father's Day, ... and let me wish a "Blessed Father's Day" ... to all the fathers and grandfathers ... who are here today. (Pause)

Indeed ... It is Father's Day, ... and the very first national celebration ... of this day .... was on June 19, ... 1924, ... via a proclamation ... of President Calvin Coolidge.

But it all came about ... due to the efforts of a woman named ... "Sonora" Smart Dodd.

Sonora was sitting in church in 1909 ... listening to a Mother's Day sermon .... when the idea of Father's Day ... first came to mind.

Having been raised ... by her father, ... after her mother's death, .... Sonora wanted her father to know ... how special he was to her.

For all his sacrifices .... for being, .... in her eyes, so courageous, ... so self-less, ... and so loving.

Through her efforts, ... in 1924 .... President Coolidge ... designated the 3rd Sunday of June ... as "Father's Day."

And our nation has been celebrating it ... ever since. (Long Pause)

There is a wonderful wisdom saying .... in the Book of Proverbs: Hear God's Word: BIBLE ..."Bring up a child in the way they should go ......and when they are old ...they will not soon depart from it". END (Proverbs 22:6)

We love our children and grandchildren .... yet sometimes ... they turn away from us... and from God.

Sometimes they journey on roads ......that we do not understand ... or roads ... that we do not approve of.

Yet in the end ... if our hearts are open ... if the foundation is well laid ... we see them return ... much as the Prodigal Son ......returned to his father.

This seems to be ... the record of things.

If the door is open, ... they will normally pass through it. (Pause)

I am convinced ...that part of the problem we have as parents ......is not that we necessarily have difficult children ......or difficult grandchildren ...though there are times ... that can be true.

I am convinced ......a portion of the problem ......is that we as parents ......often do not know the way ......our children should go.

BIBLE ..."Bring up a child ... in the way they should go ......and when they are old ...they will not soon depart from it". END (Proverbs 22:6)

More importantly ... even when we know the way ... we as parents and grandparents ... so often fail ......to live it.

So, ... our children become angry ... distant ... alienated from us ... and from God.

So, ... what is the way?

Bear with me ladies ... as I speak to us men... for a moment.

Well .... As men ... as men under the Lordship of Christ ... we must ... actually live .... Godly lives.

We must keep promises ... concerning our relationship ... to the Lord.

We must keep our promises ... in our relationship with our family... and our relationships ... with others.

We must be mature in the faith ......and be the spiritual head of the family ......as God .... has called us as men ....to be.

We as men ... must commit ourselves ....to building strong biblical marriages ......and support the mission of Christ ......with our time, .... With our talent ... and with our prayers.

As men of Christ ......we must devote ourselves ...to demonstrating the love of Christ ... not only in our home ... but in our community community.

Hear God's word from 2nd Corinthians:

BIBLE "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has ... passed away; ... behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of ... reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ ... God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ...the message ... of reconciliation." END (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

We are what?

We are A new creation called to ... reconcile with others ... to forgive others ... as we want to be forgiven ... by the Father. (Matthew 6:12)

As men of Christ ... we are to live moral ... and virtuous lives ......based on ... Scriptural principles.

And The result will not only be the renewal of our own lives; ... It will bring renewal to our families, ... to our churches, ......to our community and ultimately ......to our world.

And it is working ... it is working because the secret of all successful marriages ......... of all successful parenting...... always rests ... in two sets of hands.