Dad The Great American Hero

“Dad: The Great American Hero”

Father’s Day

June 19, 2005

Intro: Show video clip of kids talking about why their dad is a hero.

Today, we are here to celebrate dads. In our society today, dads don’t get enough credit. We always see on TV that dad never knows what’s going on. He is always in trouble and doesn’t really get it. Or, unfortunately, the media portrays that dad is not even necessary, so he doesn’t exist.

But, God has a different view of dads. And his view reminds us that dads need to be celebrated.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20:12 (NIV)

God desires for us to treat our parents with honor and respect.

Today, we are gong to look at dads as heroes.

A hero is defined as someone who is admired for their courage; a man among men.

That is a great definition for a dad. You don’t really understand courage until one of your children is in danger and you look at the lengths you will go to rescue that child.

And a man among men is one who can build a fort with one child, play video games with another and then set down to have tea with the youngest and her Barbies.

That is a hero.

The job of any hero is to rescue. To rescue is to free or save from danger.

Sounds like a dad.

Today we are going to use the word RESCUE to help us understand some roles of dad.

R= Relationship

The key aspect to being a dad is to recognize the vital role of relationship with your family.

“Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes, your household lush as a vineyard, the children around your table as fresh and promising as young olive shoots. Stand in awe of God’s Yes.

Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God!”

Psalm 128:3-4 (The Message)

God blesses us with relationships. He created us to be relational and social creatures, and our family is a sign of God’s blessing.

We need to cultivate our relationships with our wives and children.

“Our culture has persuaded most men that significance is related more to our balance sheet and our title than teaching our children and cherishing our wives.”

Patrick Morley

Some keys to remember about relationship:

1) Value your child’s uniqueness.

2) Feed your wife’s hobby.

3) Spell love TIME!!!

E= Encourage

We need to learn to encourage our family. We need to be the biggest cheerleaders and fans that our children have.

“Fathers, don’t scold your children so much that they become discouraged and quit trying.”

Col. 3:21 (Living)

There is a fine line between training a child and crushing a spirit.

Some steps for encouraging your kids:

1) Learn positive words.

2) Know the difference between important and superficial.

3) Winning isn’t everything.

4) Remember, their only kids!

S= Support

Learn to support your kids in their endeavors.

Spend some time in your child’s activities. Get to know their friends.

When answering a letter about what does a dad do, Erma Bombeck replied:

It wasn’t until my husband and I had children that I was able to observe firsthand what a father contributed to a child’s life. What did he do to deserve his children’s respect? He rarely fed them, did anything about their sagging diapers, wiped their noses or fannies, played ball, or bonded with them under the hoods of their cars. What did he do? He threw them higher than his head until they were weak from laughter. He cast the deciding vote on the puppy debate. He listened more than he talked. He let them make mistakes. He allowed them to fall from their first two-wheeler without having a heart attack. He read a newspaper while they were trying to parallel park a car for the first time in preparation for their driving test.

If I had to tell someone’s son what a father really does that is important, it would be that he shows up for the job in good times and bad times. He’s a man who is constantly being observed by his children. They learn from him how to handle adversity, anger, disappointment and success.

He won’t laugh at their dreams no matter how impossible they might seem. He will dig out at 1 a.m. when one of his children runs out of gas. He will make unpopular decisions and stand by them. When he is wrong and makes a mistake, he will admit it. He sets the tone for how family members treat one another, members of the opposite sex and people who are different than they are. By example, he can instill a desire to give something back to the community when its needs are greater than theirs.