· Tonight, 40% of all American children will go to sleep in a house in which their fathers do not live.
· Before the age of eighteen, more than 50% of our children will spend a significant portion of their childhood living apart from their fathers.
· A generation ago, an American child could reasonably expect to grow up with a dad. Today, an American child can reasonably expect not to.
· Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend in this generation.
· Ill.: Word Study Sheet:
· Some causes of fatherless children:
1. Feminism
2. Homosexuality
3. Adultery/Fornication
4. The Welfare System
5. Women in Workforce
6. Culture and Society
7. Divorce
8. Abolition of Marriage
9. Incarceration
10. Domestic Violence
I. He’s a husband before he’s a father, 1
A. I Cor. 14:40 “Let all things be done decently and in order.”
B. God’s order for the family is…
i. 1 husband + 1 wife = Full quiver of children ( but wife must come first)
· Ladies, do you want to diminish your chances of getting a husband? Have children, first!
· Give a man the privileges of marriage, without the responsibilities of marriage and there will probably never be a marriage!
· While dating, our women are giving Executive privileges to an entry-level position.
o I Cor. 7:1-2 “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
o I Cor. 7:9 “But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
o Eph. 6: 23-33
o I Cor. 11:3 “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
ii. Ps. 127: 4-5 “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
II. He’s worthy of honor, not just the mother, 2-3
A. Because of his position
i. The Christ figure in the home
ii. Many children don’t respect God, but they never respect their fathers
B. Because of his participation
i. In providing for his home, Gen. 2-3 (Adam worked)
1. It is NOT the Governments responsibility to take care of our homes. It’s OUR responsibility!!
2. I Tim. 5:8 “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
ii. In protecting his home
iii. In influencing his home
III. He’s involved in the raising of his children, 4
A. Prov. 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
B. Not just the discipline, 4a
C. Not just sports
D. Not just the things that interest Dad
E. But, in the nurture of the Lord
i. Education
ii. Instruction
iii. Correction, Heb 12:5-11
F. But, in the admonition of the Lord
i. Mild rebuke
ii. Mild correction
Conclusion:
· Do you think it happened by accident that so many men are failing to be the father to their children?
· Do you think it’s a coincident that so many women are raising children by themselves.
· Do you think that it is happenstance that Fatherless children are now abandoning their own children, just like they were abandoned by their own fathers.
· Or, is all of this happening by design? On purpose?
· Whose design? What’s the purpose?
· Satan has stolen…
o The honor of Fatherhood!
o The respect of being a Father!
o The dignity of fathers raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord
o The power of fathers to shape the next generation of Civic Leaders
§ The next generation of Religious Leaders
§ The next generation of Fathers! Of Mothers!
· What he has stolen won’t be returned, without a fight. But, whoever wins this fight, wins the heart, and mind and souls of the next generation of our children.
· It’s time for men to step up and be the fathers God has called them to be!
· It’s time for mothers to realize they need a man in the life of their children!
· It’s time for Christians to take back what the devil has stolen from us… the honorable position of a Godly Father!
