Thanks Pop!
Thesis: Thanks dad for being a servant leader and being a witness to me about who Jesus is!
Introduction: In our society today we have a disillusioning phenomena happening – It’s 40% of all households today have no father in them. The fatherless trend in families have caused many rippling effects today:
· Suicide is 3rd major cause of Teen deaths today. This horror reveals a sense of hopelessness in teens. Suicide is high in our area I’m told.
o There have been two suicides attempts in Amery among adults that have been unsuccessful.
o Remember we prayed against this at the all night prayer meeting. Thank the Lord they failed. Keep praying that there are no attempts even.
· Family splits have reached an all time high with 50% of all marriages ending in divorce and a large percentage of these are filled with hate and maliciousness after the divorce and it affects the kids.
o Many kids are used as pawns in the battle between ex-wife and ex-husband.
· Teen crime has escalated from a frustrated generation experiencing broken homes and absentee fathers and mothers.
o Think of all the school shootings all the teen shootings.
· Violent crime with Teens has sky rocketed revealing an angry youth culture.
o I saw a guy the other day dressed like the kids who killed the kids at Columbine and he was proud of them.
· Drug use has risen significantly in teens and pre-teens to dull the pain.
o Drugs in our area are high it was reported to me that this area has a high methamphetemine drug culture.
o Good news since the prayer meeting. There have been two major drug busts in the last two weeks in Amery.
· Sex outside of marriage has sky rocketed –kids looking for the love that is missing in the homes.
· Sexually transmitted diseases are escalating causing more heartache and death.
o Good News since the prayer meeting – The nude bar that was going to go in up by Turtle Lake is not going through. We had a pair of guys go up at the prayer meeting and pray against it.
· 30% of all women getting pregnant today are not married creating homes that are under a lot of pressure. Single parents and teen parents are under a lot of pressure and many give up. On school in our area today had 25% of their senior class become parents while still in their senior year.
o One out of three children born today are born into fatherless homes
o Lets continue to pray against this tend that more young people would look to Jesus for love and not each other.
· Schools that were once safe refuges have changed. Today it’s become a place of violence, drugs, rebellion, disrespectfulness and other serious problems. Part of the blame goes to fatherless families.
o Good News here we are seeing a revival among the young people in Amery. Jesus is the talk of the school and town since the Gospel fest.
o Prayer makes a difference.
o Push the Jesus March July 8th. We meet for worship here a message on prayer then go out in groups and pray through Amery. No Signs. Just prayer.
· I notice that a large part of kids without fathers are angry and upset- most want their fathers in their lives and the pain is evident.
· I observe that these effects have risen as fatherless homes have increased as fathers have disappeared in the homes and in their kid’s lives.
Today is Fathers day – a tradition that originated on June 19th in 1910 in Spokane Washington. It became a presidential proclamation in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill declaring every 3rd Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
Father’s Day has become a day to honor fathers. In essence it’s a day to follow the Biblical mandate to honor your Fathers. There are four main references to doing this in Scripture:
Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Leviticus 19:3 “Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord.”
Deut. 5:16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord God commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right. Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise-“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Today we will fulfill the commandment to honor our fathers today. Fathers you deserve to be honored. Fathers who are godly and who are there as servant leaders to their families are worthy of being honored. Men who are godly father figures deserve to be honored.
Dad’s I want you to listen to a poem from a teenager in Chicago who expresses how important you are as fathers and men who are important as fatherly figures:
Maggie’s Poem
Do you know, do you understand,
that you represent Jesus to me?
Do you know, do you understand,
that when you treat me with gentleness
It raises the question in my mind
that maybe He is gentle too?
Maybe He isn’t someone who laughs
when I am hurt.
Do you know, do you understand
that when you listen to my question
and you don’t laugh, I think,
“What if Jesus is interested in me too?”
Do you know, do you understand
that when I hear you talk about arguments
And conflicts and scars
from the past, that I think,
“Maybe I am just a regular person
instead of a bad, no good little girl
who deserves abuse.”
If you care, I think maybe He cares.
And then there’s this flame of hope
that burns inside of me for a while
I am afraid to breathe because it might go out
and I will once again have nothing
But a God who mocks and laughs
and ignores me.
Do you know, do you understand
that your words are His words?
Your face, His face
to someone like me.
Please be who you say you are.
Please God, don’t let this be another trick.
Please let this be real
Please.
Do you know, do you understand
Who you are?
Copyright Maggie Gross 6/23/94
Maggie shared this poem at a convention I was at. It was riveting and full of compassion and insight. Dads and those who are fatherly figures in the church listen again to her question, “Do you know, do you understand who you are?”
I. Fathers and fatherly figures do you know that your presence makes a difference?
a. The impact of a fathers presence
i. Fathers presence
Alexander Maclaren learned this truth about a fathers presence when he accepted his job in Glasglow. Just sixteen was he and his home was six miles from the big city. Between home and the city there was a deep ravine, supposedly haunted – terrible things happened there. He was afraid to go through there even in the day time. On Monday morning his father walked him to work and parting said,” Alex come home as fast as you can when you get off Saturday night.” Thinking of the deep ravine, Alex replied, “Dad, I will be awfully tired Saturday Night. I will come home Sunday morning.”
His dad replied no Alex , you have been away from to much and these six days will be a long time. Come home Saturday night.” All that week Alex thought about walking through that ravine at night. On Saturday night he got done work and headed home. He reached the ravine and fear gripped him. He looked into the inky blackness, and he could not move. Tears came to his eyes. Then suddenly he heard footsteps coming out of the darkness toward him. He turned around and started to run. Out of darkness came the grandest sound he ever heard his dad calling his name. His voiced said, “Alex it’s me I have come to meet you. Alex reported, “Together we went through the valley and I was not afraid of anything because my dad walked with me.”
1. A godly fathers presence in the home brings a feeling of security and comfort.
2. His presence helps to calm fears.
3. His presence aids in the assistance of helping to raise the kids for the Lord. The mother is not left alone to raise the kids by herself but it’s two people working together as a team.
4. This creates an atmosphere of safety and security.
II. Fathers and fatherly figures do you know that not only does your presence make a difference so does you protection and watchful eye on your kids.
a. A father’s protection makes a difference!
i. Keeping watch on his own
In the pioneer days of our country, there was a boy whose home was situated in the backwoods. A school had been opened some miles away from where the boy lived. Part of the way to the school led through a dense forest. The boy’s father was strong, brave backwoodsman. He wanted his son to grow up to be strong and brave. So he told his son that he would have to go to school alone! When the boy walked through the dark forest, he always expected to meet a bear or a wild Indian. With the passing of the days and weeks, his fear subsided. Then one afternoon, he saw a great bear standing right in his pathway! The bear growled and glowered at the boy. The boy stood motionless, filled with fear. Even if he had run, it would have done no good, for the bear would outrun him. As he stood there, a shot rang out. The bear fell dead. Then, from the bushes, the father emerged. “It’s all right, Son. I’ve been with you all the time. Every morning I have followed you to school, and every afternoon I have been in the shadows watching you. I kept myself hidden from you because I wanted you to learn to be brave!”
1. This father is a father who deserves to be honored he trained his child to be brave but never left him abandoned. He was always there in the background to lend a helping hand when needed.
2. Fathers “Thank You!” for your protection it makes a difference, it builds confidence and security in you kids.
3. It helps to teach them to be brave but they know your always be there to lend a hand when they cannot handle the bears in life.
III. Fathers and fatherly figures do know and understand that not only does your protection make a difference so does your daily insights, your teachings and directions to your kids.
a. Fathers your daily directions to your kids helps to give them insight and wisdom from your many years of experience and from your relationship with the Lord.
i. They are listening even if you do not think so- It’s making a difference. This illustration is so true!
My Father When I Was:
4 years old: My daddy can do anything
5 years old: My daddy knows a whole lot
6 years old: My daddy is smarter than your dad
8 years old: My dad doesn’t know exactly everything
10 years old: In the old days when my dad grew up, things were different.
12 years old: Oh, well, naturally Father doesn’t know about that. He’s too old to remember his childhood.
14 years old: Don’t pay any attention to my father. He is old fashioned!
21 years old: Him? My Lord, he’s hopelessly out-of-date!
25 years old: Dad knows a little bit about it, but he should because he has been around so long.
30 years old: Maybe we should ask dad what he thinks. After all, he’s had a lot of experience.
35 years old: I’m not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad!
40 years old: I wonder how Dad would have handled it. He was wise and had a world of experience.
50 years old: I’d give anything if Dad were here now so I could just talk this thing over with him. Too bad I didn’t appreciate how smart he was! I could have learned a lot from him…
b. Your teachings are essential to see to it that your kids succeed and make the right decisions.
i. Deut. 4:9 “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
ii. Deut. 11:19-21 “Teach them (The commands of the Lord) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”
iii. Children are to be taught by their parents – they are role models to them and it will make a difference .
iv. Proverbs exhorts us to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (22:15)
1. Thanks dad for all the training – I Thank You and the Lord Thanks you. It makes a difference!
2. Dad’s keep up the good work – Train and teach your kids- It will make a difference for all eternity.
IV. Fathers and fatherly figures do you know, do you understand that not only does your insights, directions and teachings make a difference but so does your daily influence – you are a role-model!
a. Your influence conveys messages of conduct to your children and those who look up to you:
1. Influence
There are little eyes upon you.
And they’re watching night and day;
There are little ears that quickly
Take in every word you say;
There are little hands all eager
To do anything you do;
And a little boy who’s dreaming
Of the day he’ll be like you
You’re the little fellow’s idol
You’re the wisest of the wise’
In this little mind about you,
No suspicions ever rise;
He believes in you devoutly,
Holds that all you say and do,
He will say and do, in your way
When he’s grown-up like you.
There’s a wide eyed little fellow,
Who believes you’re always right,
And his ears are always open,
And he watches day and night;
You are setting an example
Every day in all you do,
For the little boy who’s waiting
To grow up to be like you.
Author Unknown
V. Fathers do you know, do you understand that your leadership will mold lives for all eternity.
a. Joshua was a father who has worthy of honor because of his stance in Joshua 24:1-15. He demonstrated a godly fathers leadership.
i. “But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”
1. It did not matter what everyone else was doing. He and his family would serve the Lord in spite of the pressure from the culture to not serve Him.
a. Joshua did not do it his way but he chose to do it God’s way.
b. He knew from experience that a father must make certain basic commitments to God and to God’s principles.
c. He knew that his stand in the home would affect the nation as a whole on the national level.
i. Which it did!
2. This example from Joshua shows the importance of fatherly leadership.
3. This is the type of leadership that is worthy of honor by the Lord and what we honor today.
a. Thanks to all you dad’s who have made this proclamation to serve the Lord in spite of the worlds pressure to not do it.
b. Sad to say many women have made this statement. Many more mothers have made this commitment than fathers. Today we need more fathers who are willing to make this stand. It makes the difference!
c. Fathers need to be the leaders the Lord has called you to be. It makes a difference
d. We thank you for being servant leaders:
i. See Comparison of proper leadership that a father should have – It’s Servant leadership!
1. See the chart!
VI. Today is Father’s Day a time to honor fathers and father figures. But for some here today you may not have a father or you had a poor father. But there is THE FATHER OF ALL -- WE NEED TO HONOR HIM -- HIS Name is GOD!
a. The Bible tells us that he is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows (Psalm 68:5).
b. He promises us that He is our “Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6).
i. Means he will never leave us!
c. He promises to be “a father to all who believe” (Romans 4:11)
i. Good News – Would you like a Father?
1. He is there for all who put their faith and trust in Him.
2. He’s the most faithful Dad of all.
3. He will be with you always – His presence will be there!
4. He will protect you.
5. He will guide you.
6. He will teach you.
7. He will give you wisdom.
8. He will, if you let Him, influence you.
9. He will lead you from here to eternity
10. He is a father who is loving and caring
11. He is the father that knows best!
ii. Invite Him today into your life to be your father you will never regret it!
Conclusion: Now we are going to honor our earthly fathers like the Bible commands us to do. Lets read some sayings of honor to our fathers.
