Dad’s…It’s In The Genes
Video- Fathers Day Memories- Bought from Sermon Spice
Me- I have said many times to people, “The best sermon is your own testimony.” It is our stories and how God has worked in us that will help change the lives of others.
Testimony- (Rock Bottom Life)- This is the story of David told to the people as if it was a testimony i read out of Guide Post. Tell this story without saying David’s name and focus on how he grew up poor, loved music an skipping rocks, had an infectious personality, gained political power and eventually that power pushed God away and caused him to sin against God and his family. People lost their trust in him and he spent the rest of his life living for God and serving his people faithfully. God will forgive all of us when we come back to him. It doesn’t matter what we have done.
Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
We- All of us have sinned and let people down.
Pressure on man/God chose men to be leader/created Adam then Eve. Women are not less. Women are to be loved and treated with equality but someone must lead otherwise there will be chaos and so God chose men to lead in the home to lead in church’s, to lead in government.
The direction that you go is the direction that your family will go. Your priorities equal there’s.
I push you dad’s today because the stats are overwhelming… It is more likely that when a man goes to church his family will follow, but when a woman goes to church it is an uphill battle for her to get her family to go. Why? Because families are looking for dad to lead. That is how we are wired.
David understood this concept after he sinned. He made it his mission to not only make God the Lord of his life but to lead his family to a life that is driven by obedience. His last words are to his son and his words to Solomon are about learning what it means to be a real man.
God- I Kings 2:1-4
Vs. 1-2- David is dying, death is something we must all face. His time has come. He has served God the best way he knew how. God loved him so much that even through David’s sin God still called David the man after his own heart. All of us must face the reality of death and we cannot believe that we will always have tomorrow to lead our family to Christ. David wanted Solomon to understand this.
David’s hope is that Solomon will live for the Lord.
Vs. 2- Be strong- dad is not here anymore. What makes a man?
Some believe being macho(John Wayne) makes a man. That if you cry or express your feelings that you aren’t a man. You are weak.
Some believe that being a dominating husband and strict disciplinarian is being a man. Some think if there families don’t fall in line with everything they say then they are weak.
Being a man doesn’t mean making your family fear you. That is a coward.
Vs. 2b-3- A real man is someone who observes the requirements of God. A real man is a man who fears God, who loves and obeys the will of God.
Not a man that says, “My ways or the highway.” But that says, “God’s way and nothing else.” And God’s word says a lot about what makes a man.
Eph. 5:25- love your wife
Love Test For Men: Here is a test for men to see if they love their wives as Christ loves the church. Let’s pretend you and your wife on standing before God on judgement day. God says that you the husband can go to heaven and the wife must go to hell. She has no choice. But the husband has the choice to take her place in hell so she can go to heaven. Husbands do you love your wife enough that you would willingly take her place in hell so she could be in heaven? That is exactly what Christ did for the church when he took the sins of the world and put them on his shoulders. He took our place so that we could go to heaven. That is how much Christ loves us and that is how much we are to love our wives. It is an unconditional love.
Deut 11:18-20- teach your children- look for teachable moments for your kids. Not during commercial breaks but let them help you because they are watching you all the time and they will grow up to be just like you. So teach them early what it means to live for the lord.
Psalm 25:11- ask for forgiveness- drop the ego and fall to your knees. David did and we look at him as the greatest king ever.
Families you must understand we will mess up because we are not perfect. Wives, children we will mess up. We will not always be the man God ask us to be. We will have our David moments where we will fail you. We don’t mean to. It hurts us to do it. But unfortunately there will be times where we will hurt you and God ask you as family to forgive us as well and to help us move forward.
2 Corinthians 2:6-8- there’s a time to be angry and upset but then there is always the time to come basck and forgive.
Macho and too cool don’t make a real man, clothes don’t make the man. Christ Jesus makes the man. Teaching your children to obey God’s commands, admitting your wrong makes, being able to admit that you can’t do this life thing on your own, loving others who won’t love you back…because it’s exactly how God lived and God created man to be like him.
(Heart Surgery) Men you have to think of yourself as kind of a spiritual heart surgeon.
"Every day of your life, you reach into your wife’s heart and you either tenderly hold it and do whatever is necessary to keep all of her life energies flowing or you don’t. You may lightly scratch it, you may pierce it, you may rip it from her chest and stomp on it. Or... you may nourish it, grow it, and be the instrument of God’s choosing to powerfully influence it and allow it to radiate intense beauty." Jim Reynolds
That is our choice. It is great power that God has given us. And guys I know its frustrating. We didn’t ask for it. We didn’t choose to have this power, but God chose to give it to you and his word says he would never give us something we couldn’t handle. We can handle the hearts of our family by being real for Christ.
David tells Soloman that if he does this God will make sure he is successful.
Vs. 3-4- The promise was that as long as David’s descendants followed God they would always sit on the throne and be in power.
King after king that followed David would always point back to David or to their father after David as the person that influenced them to live for God.
Of course Christ was a descendant of David.
You- Take this home: Dad Knows Best!
Another way: Dad’s where you point your bow is where your arrow will go.
What to do: Swallow your pride- ask God today to forgive you. Ask your wife to forgive you. Sit down with your children and ask them to forgive you.
Families: Forgive your dad, forgive your husband. Let them know you love them.
Take advantage of the opportunities God gives you to help you grow as a husband and parent.
1. Don’t forsake the church- Heb. 10:25, “25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Hypocrites everywhere. There are hypocrites no matter where you go so don’t use that excuse to keep you from the church.
2. Get in a small group (grow with wife, get involved in your kids life)
We- Men it is incredibly important that we push each other. Help each other to live like God wants us to live.
