Gods Plan For A Family A Father

In Corrie Ten Boom book “I stand at the door and knock”

Is a story of a woodpecker who tapped his beak against a tree trunk and at the very same moment a lightning bolt came down struck the tree and totally demolished it.

The woodpecker flew away and said to the other birds

“I didn’t know there was such incredible power in my beak”

I can only imagine the amount of encouragement and boldness that this brough to the woodpecker.

As Christians

we need that bolt of lighting to come down and strike the tree to wake us up and bring some GODLY boldness and encouragement into our lives.

In our Society:

We have become a very spoiled, busy, fast paced society.

We want “Instant “and we want “perfection”

We have become a society where there is no room for error or mistakes.

We forget that people are human and we all make mistakes.

Especially so here in America.

We often focus on the negative and not the positive things.

We can walk into work or a church and see all the negative things

We can come home from work and see all the negative things at home.

Nobody took out the trash, dishes in the sink etc,etc

It is easy to focus on our failures in life, we have all failed in areas.

When we focus on all our failures and mistakes we get

Discouraged

Negative

Angry

Bit

It starts to seem that nothing we do works out

everyone else has all the breaks things just work for them I’m not like that.

But our failure does not have to define us and who we are.

We need to start looking at some positive things.

In the Bible there are 3 Institutions that were created and established by God.

Family, Government, Church

Because SIN Entered the world

And all 3 are under direct attack from the Enemy.

This morning we want to look at the family

The Family.

Genesis 2:21-24

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.

22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ’for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

It becomes clear Gods order for a family is between a man and a woman.

Not a man and a man

Or a woman and a woman

Mission statement for the family

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

There are many types of Fathers

Because of time we cant discuss all of them we will look at 4 types of Fathers

Dictator Father

He rules the House like a prison camp

This type of Father is usually a person of low self esteem, insecure.

He has already lost his authority and the only way he can try to hold on is to be abusive.

Absent Father

Has no influence on His family or children.

He’s not around.

If he is around has little or no influence.

I’ll just let them do what they want to do.

Special Father

This is a father that has favorites.

Leave little Johnny alone don’t touch him

But everyone else better watch out.

Godly Father

He’s not perfect but he loves the Lord.

He is trying

He is going to make mistakes,

sometimes he is going to blow it,

but he is going to come back and try to make things right.

First with Jesus and then with whom He has offended.

He does not let Pride stop Him from asking His Wife, His Children, His family for forgivness.

In Luke 11

One of the disciples came to Jesus and asked

Lord teach us to pray as John taught His disciples to pray.

These men had a relationship with Jesus.

Jesus takes them to OUR Father who art in Heaven

Begins to bring a closeness to the Heavenly Father

“OUR Father”

For years I hated my real father and had vowed that if I ever met him,

I would kill him.

I was Carrying the weight of Unforgiveness

I had already received Christ as reading a book it began to deal with unforgiveness to our fathers.