Father's Day: Fathers Who Imitate The Son

A young boy was asked, "What's special about Mother's Day?" The boy retorted that "It's a day when mothers are treated like queens. They get a break from cooking as Dads take the family to a restaurant. And the mothers even get some gifts on that day." Then, he was asked, “What’s so special about Father’s Day?” to which he replied, “It’s a day the father drives down his family to his favorite restaurant to celebrate his special day and ends up paying the bill.”

I found something interesting known as ‘The Men’s Thesaurus’ (unknown author cited on sermoncentral.com). I made slight changes to this list.

Men don’t always say what they mean.

When a man says “IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN.”

He means: “I have no idea how it works.”

When a man says “TAKE A BREAK, HONEY. YOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD.’’

He means: “I can’t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner.”

When a man says ‘THAT’S INTERESTING, DEAR.’

He means: “Are you still talking?”

When a man says “CAN I HELP WITH DINNER.”

He means: “Why isn’t it ready yet?”

When a man says “YOU KNOW HOW BAD MY MEMORY IS.”

He means: “I can remember how much Sachin Tendulkar scored in a particular cricket match against Australia in 2007, the vehicle identification numbers of every vehicle I ever owned – but yes, I forgot your birthday.”

When a man says “YOU KNOW I COULD NEVER LOVE ANYONE ELSE.”

He means: “I am used to the way you yell at me and realize it could be worse.”

When a man says “YOU LOOK TERRIFIC!”

He means: “Oh please don’t try on one more outfit, we’re late and I’m starving.”

When a man says, “That’s not what I meant.”

He means: “If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.

Dads are special!

As a child, I thought that He-man, Spider-man or Batman are heroes.

But later, I realized that none of these heroes were there for me in any way.

It was my Dad who worked hard and provided for all my needs.

He raised me up along with my mother.

This is an awesome occasion to honor our fathers.

But some of you might have not experienced your earthly father’s love.

Or you lost your father at an early age.

But we can experience the perfect love of our heavenly Father!

Some of you may not be fathers as yet but praise God, you can be a spiritual father to many.

Now I cannot overemphasize the influential role of a father.

According to a survey, if the child receives Christ first in a family, there is a 3.5% probability that the rest of the family members will be saved.

If the mother receives Christ first in a family, the probability of the household getting saved goes up to 17%.

But if the father is saved first, the probability of the family to receive Christ is 93%!

That shows the significance of a father’s influence.

Fathers must imitate Christ in order to be a positive influence on their family and society.

Today’s text tells us that the ultimate goal of every believer, including every father is to become like Christ.

Would you take God’s Word and turn your Bibles with me to Romans 8:28-29?

I have entitled today’s sermon as: “FATHERS WHO IMITATE THE SON.”

The ultimate goal of salvation is to become like Christ (Romans 8:29).

Though Jesus never had any physical children, he is a perfect role model for every believer and every father.

I believe that this world desperately needs fathers who imitate Jesus.

CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE SERMON: Fathers must imitate Jesus in their lives.

I. FATHERS MUST BE LOVING LIKE JESUS.

The first characteristic that fathers must imitate is to love like Jesus.

John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus demonstrated his love for God and for others by dying on the cross.

Fathers must also love God and others.

Matthew 22:36-40: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

1 John 4:7-8: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.