Father’s Wanted, No Experience Necessary
1 Timothy 5:8, Ephesians 6:4, 1 Corinthians 11:1
Intro. Have you ever noticed that Mothers Day is the second most attended church service of the year. Second only to Easter. Have you noticed that father’s day is usually no more attended than a normal church service?
. Guys I believe that I speak for all of us. Sometimes we feel like the comedian Rodney Dangerfield. We just can’t get any respect.
. A little boy is quoted as saying this, "Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the gift."
. One father had a three-year-old daughter who was having trouble sleeping through the night. She’d often wake up several times in the night because she was afraid. Each time as he re-tucked her into bed, he would remind her that Jesus was with her and he would keep her safe.
Several nights in a row, she did this over and over again.
Finally, one night, the dad asked her if she had prayed to Jesus to take her fear away and help her fall asleep.
"Oh, yes," she assured him. "I prayed to Jesus… and He told me to come and get you!"
. I read another true story about a little girl who was frightened by a fierce thunderstorm. She cried out in fear and her father rushed to her bedside. As he held her in his arms, he explained that she didn’t need to fear. God would take care of her because He loved her greatly.
"I know God will take care of me and love me," she replied. "But right now, Daddy, I want someone with skin on."
. Dads, Fathers you are needed and you are essential to the survival of our children, our nation and our race.
. Let me bore you with some statistics for just a minute.
. - 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]
-63% of teen suicides are from fatherless homes. That's 5 times the national average. SOURCE: [U.S. Dept of Health H.S., Bureau of the Census]
-90% of all runaways and homeless children are from fatherless homes. That's 32 times the national average.[US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
-80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes. 14 times the national average. SOURCE: [Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, pp. 403-26, 1978]
-85% of children with behavioral problems come from fatherless homes. 20 times the national average. SOURCE: Center for Disease Control
-71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999]
-71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. 9 times the national average. SOURCE: National Principals Association Report
-75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. 10 times the national average. SOURCE: Rainbow's for all God's Children
-85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes. 20 times the national average. SOURCE: U.S. Dept. of Justice
-Daughters of single parents without a Father involved are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 71% more likely to have children as teenagers, 64% more likely to have a pre-marital birth and 92% more likely to get divorced themselves.
-85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections, 1992]
[-Fatherless boys and girls are: twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems. [US D.H.H.S. news release, March 26, 1999]
. Dad’s you are important.
. God’s grand design was for the family unit to be complete with a mother and a father.
. Our society will tell you that a two person household is not necessary or important.
. Society is wrong. While this day may seem a little less important than Mothers Day to many, it is not.
. Dad’s, fathers, you are important and we need you to be the father that God has intended you to be.
. Just what does a godly father look like. On fathers Day, what should we be thankful for in our fathers.
. The Bible has much to say about fatherhood and men being the leaders of their household.
I want to highlight three aspects of fatherhood that we can celebrate and be thankful for in our fathers this day.
. The first thing we should thank our fathers for is their:
. Provision
.Look at 1 Timothy 5:8 with me.
. 8But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
. Paul was giving Timothy instruction on how the church was to act and live and treat each other and he tells him that if a father does not provide for his family, he is worse than an unbeliever.
. The those that Paul is referring to are the men of the church and if they do not take care of their family, they are worse than the unbeliever.
. Even an unbelieving man knows that it is his responsibility to take care of his family.
. I can remember my dad working two jobs almost his entire life in order to provide for his family.
. While we certainly were not wealthy, we were provided for.
. He would work for eight hours at his assembly line job at General Motors and then come home and take care of our chicken houses and on Saturday, he would usually find someone else he could work for.
. Many times we don’t realize all of this until after the fact but our fathers provide for us and see that we are fed and clothed and have shelter from the storms.
. My dad spent his life providing for his family, what about yours?
. He probably did provide for you and you need to be thankful and thank him and honor him for all that he has done for you if he is still living.
. I can guarantee you that you will long to tell him after he is gone.
. Honor your father today for providing what you need or needed as you grew and matured in your life.
. Next we see that we should thank our fathers for:
. Instruction
Look with me @ Ephesians 6:4:
. 4Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
. Raise your children with discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
.Let me share a few words of wisdom that I believe all fathers have shared with their children.
. Don’t forget to check the oil
.Bring back all my change.
. How do you expect me to know, go ask your mother.
. If you break your leg doing that, don’t come running to me.
. Do you want to know why, because I said so.
. Get down from there before you fall and kill yourself. On second thought, go ahead, maybe you will learn something.
.Don’t put your feet on the furniture, your mother will kill you.
. The age old one we have all imparted to our children.
. If everybody else jumped off a cliff, would you jump with them.
. One saying that I remember my dad using was, “ If you lay with dogs, you’re gonna get fleas”
. My words of wisdom for my sons was, “for every action you do in life, there are always consequences. Some good, some bad, but always consequences.
. I’m sure if you think back on your life, you can remember some of these words of wisdom from your father.
. Our scripture instructs us to not provoke our children but to be kind in our correction and discipline.
. A man by the name of Jim Burton said these words about being a father. "When I was young, baseball was my life. You can imagine the excitement I felt when my oldest son began playing. This game would be one of our main bonding mechanisms. If my son would just listen, I could help him be a great baseball player. Learning to read curve balls, shift his body weight with the swing, steal bases, turn double plays - these things separate the amateurs from the pros."
Burton said, "A pattern developed in our relationship. Because of my familiarity with the game, I saw every mistake my son made. In addition, I knew how to correct them.
"So post-game drives home became a critique of how to improve his game. It soon got old for my son. One night he finally said, ’DAD, COULD YOU NOT START BY TELLING ME EVERYTHING I DID WRONG. TELL ME WHAT I DID RIGHT FIRST.’"
. Fathers we must be faithful in our instruction but we need to be careful in how we deliver this. No one learns from nothing but criticism.
. If you are here this morning, more than likely it is partially because of godly instruction from your father.
. Thank your father on this day for his godly instruction.
. Lastly thank your Father for:
. Godly Examples
. Look at 1 Corinthians 11:1 with me.
. And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
. Paul was instructing the church in how to live godly lives and he said imitate me as I imitate Christ.
. Paul didn’t say imitate everything I do. He said imitate the things I do that are like Christ.
. Men we are to live a Christ like life as an example to our children.
. Yes we make mistakes, but we learn from them also.
. Yes we may have regrets.
, In his book, “If I Could Do It All Again”, John Dressler wrote about eight things he would do differently.
. "First of all, if I could do it all over again, I would love my wife more, because by loving my children’s mother more, I would create an environment of security in our home. Our love would be something they could see - something they would never have to worry about."
2. "Second, I would laugh more. I would relax & enjoy my children & laugh at their antics. I would spend more time with them & enjoy being a father."
3. "Third, I would present a more realistic model for them to follow. I would be honest with them about myself. I would let them know that I had problems in school, too, that I stumbled, & made mistakes, & failed. I would let them know that I understand, & that they can come to me when they fail, because I have been there as well."
4. "Fourth, I would listen to what they say. I would listen to their pains & problems & worries & concerns. I would listen when they wanted to talk to me, because now I realize that if I listen to them when they are small, & to their little problems, then when they are big, & have big problems, they will still come & talk with me."
5. "Fifth, I would stop praying so much for my family, & start praying more for myself, because a father’s prayers so often sound something like this, `God, make my son & daughter good people. Help them to succeed in school. Help them to find the right person to marry. Take care of them & protect them.’ We’re always praying for them, it seems."
"But I would start praying more for myself, that I might be the right kind of father, realizing that when I become the right kind of father, my children will probably be the right kind of children."
6. "Sixth, I would pay more attention to little things. I would begin to appreciate the touch of love & the word of encouragement. So many times we fathers are quick to criticize their failures, & so slow to praise & encourage them when they do something right."
7. "Seventh, I would create an environment of belonging. I would want my children to know that they belong, & that they are important family members, because I realize that there are going to be people saying to them, `Join this & join that.’ But if they have a solid identity in the home & in the family they will not easily be led astray."
8. "Last, but certainly not least, I would make God an intimate friend of my family. I would use His name freely. I would communicate to them that He is involved in all our family decisions. I would want them to see me pray & read God’s Word & search for His direction & leadership."
. If I could go back, I would also try to improve in those areas.
. One dad wrote of the importance of the things we teach our children be things of God. Giving our children the examples and models that they need to live a godly life.
. "I took my children to school but not to church. I taught them to drink but not of the living water. I enrolled them in Little League but not Sunday School. I showed them how to fish but not to be fisher of men. I made the Lord’s Day a holiday, rather than a holy day."
"I taught them the church was full of hypocrites and made the greater hypocrite of them and me.
"I gave them a color TV but provided no Bible. I handed them the keys to the car but did not give to them the keys of the kingdom of God. I taught them how to make a living but failed to bring them to Christ who alone can make a life."
. Dads, we to need teach and live as God has intended for us in order give instruction and examples for our children to live by.
. Many of you are here this morning in part because of what your father taught and modeled for you. Thank him today for what he has done for you.
. We talked much about our earthly fathers this morning, we also have a Heavenly Father who does all of this and more.
. Scripture tells us that He loves us so much that He gave his one and only son to die so that we may live.
. Do you know that Father today.
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
Outline and parts of sermon from: Fathers Day, Steve Shepherd, sermon central
The Father Figure, Jeff Strite, sermon central
