INTRODUCTION
SERMON
X. COURAGE
A. Courage is an important trait for the Christian father to possess. We are called to be men of courage. A man of courage will have the courage to walk with God. A man of courage will trust in the Lord when times are tough and when they are good.
1. It is tempting for us to live by sight instead of by faith in God.
2. There is a game that kids play where you take them and pair them up and you blind fold one of the kids and tell them to run through the woods while the other one tells them where to go. For instance the one without the blind fold tells the kid who is running blind folded through the woods when to turn to the left and right and when to jump over obstacles
3. Some of the kids will run as fast as they can through the woods, trusting that the one directing them will not let them run into a tree.
4. Other kids walk very slowly through the woods, not trusting the one instructing them.
5. Other kids are tempted to take off the blind fold because they are too afraid to play.
B. A good father will have the courage to follow Jesus and allow Him to direct his paths. Bill Hybels writes. “Cowards do not last long on their spiritual pilgrimages. They shrivel up and disappear. It takes enormous courage to repent and become a Christian. It takes enormous courage to follow God’s leading in the Christian life!”
C. “Some of His callings demand the best that you can muster. Some of His tests stretch you to the limit. Some of His adventures evoke great fears and doubts. Truly, spiritual courage is on the endangered character-quality list!”
D. Are you ready to run through the woods with God? Proverbs 3:5-6
XI. COMMITMENT
A. We live in an age where commitment is cheap. It’s cheap in marriage (till bad times do we part.), business, politics and athletics. Commitment in sports is cheap when a running back signs a six-year, multi-million dollar contract, then three years into it, they don’t show up for training camp because they want to renegotiate that contract. Why do they want to renegotiate it? Because the old contract was not convenient for him, because other people are making more money. MICHEAL JORDAN.
B. In our day when commitment is not convenient, we ditch it. When we commit our lives to the Lord, it is for a life time, even when it is not convenient.
C. When a boy has a father who is committed to his mother will have a tremendous advantage when he becomes a husband. A boy who has a father who is committed to Jesus will also have an advantage, because the odds are, they will be committed also.
D. As Christian fathers, let us model commitment to Jesus by having our children in church with us every Sunday. There will be times when we will be sick, but let’s put Jesus first.
E. Burton Hillis said, “ There’s a mighty big difference between good, sound reasons, and reasons that sound good.”
VIII. VISION
A. Proverbs 29:18 in the KJV says that where there is no vision, people perish.
B. In Luke 7:24-28 Jesus spoke to the people after John the Baptist left and asked them what they came into the desert to see? READ JOHN 7:24-28.
1. Jesus said that the people came to see a prophet. A prophet was also called a seer, because they could look past the immediate to the ultimate. He has been given the perspective of God Himself, being able to see the meaning behind the events!
2. In our day we are so busy with the now, we cannot seem to look past it. We cannot look out and see the long term consequences for what we do now.
3. A man with vision can look at situations that come up in the life of his family and realize good bad or ugly, the situation can bring glory to God.
4. A seer is a real man, the kind of gifted person we need in our families, homes, work places and society!
VII. ACCOUNTABILITY
A. Reggie White (The Minister of Defense. All Pro Defensive end for the G.B Packers), says that after the Lord, He is accountable to his wife. He says that I know that I can depend on her to tell me like it is. He said that God uses Sara to affirm or negate whatever may surface in my life.
B. As Christian men we are accountable to God for our families. He did not make you the head of the house so that you could neglect His children by not taking the role seriously. God has called you to be the spiritual head of the house.
C. When we lose a sense of accountability to God, our wives and Christian friends, we will go down the wrong path. A good father will understand the issue of accountability.
1. If we know that we are accountable to God for the way we raise our family, and treat the wife that He has blessed us with, we will do the best that we can to raise them the way that God wants us to!
VI. SELF-DISCIPLINE
A. 1 TIMOTHY 4:7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; DON’T READ ALL!!
B. A good father will be a model of self-discipline. We will teach our children that there are times when we cannot have it all. We will also show them that it takes self-discipline to take the time to study God’s Word, to pray and to come to church.
1. Self-discipline is when your conscience tells you something and you don’t talk back.
V. FIDELITY
A. 1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
1. God is first and we serve Him only
B. Matthew 5:28 but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
1. As fathers we want to let our children know that our wife is the best woman on the face of the planet. They need to know that we love them more than anything except God.
2. The Godly man has no room in his house for lustful material.
3. The Godly man has no room in his mind for any other god except the one true God nor does he have any room in his mind for any other woman other than the wife that God has blessed him with.
4. Our children need to know that their dad will be faithful to their mother and to Jesus!
C. Job 31:1 (N.I.V.) I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.
IV. SACRIFICE/SERVICE
A. Sacrifice in the Bible does not mean that we give everything up, but rather we give our best to God. In the Old Testament when God required the Jews to give 1/10th of there flocks, God asked for the best that they had, not so half dead animal.
1. Sacrifice is giving to God with joy. We have made sacrifice to mean something sad and weary.
B. I have been around a lot of fathers who will work 70-80 hours a week in the factory and claim that they are sacrificing for there children, when in reality it is for there their own toys.
1. The children would rather have dad at home a little more. Dad being at home is more important that seeing dad drive the newest car on the block.
C. Our children need to see that we are men of sacrifice, that we will give our best to God no matter what the cost.
D. Abraham was a great example of a man of sacrifice, he was willing to give his most prized possession to God when God required Isaac. Abraham was willing to give his best and God rewarded him for it.
III. HONOR
A. Honor is a gift that we give to someone. It involves a decision we make before we put love into action. Love for a person begins flowing when we decide to honor that person.
B. We give our children the gift of honor by:
1. Extending it first to our parents.
2. Helping them find value in troubled times.
3. Recognizing our own parenting strengths and style.
4. Providing a healthy balance in our homes.
5. Establishing love boundaries.
6. Building positive loyalties.
7. Offering honor to God.
II. LOVE
A. MAT 22:37 And He said to him, "’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ MAT 22:39 "The second is like it, ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
B. The love chapter 1 Corinthians 13. Patient, Kind.
C. A team of researchers wanted to learn how much time middle-class fathers spend playing and interacting with their small children. First, they asked a group of fathers to estimate the time spent with their one-year-old youngsters each day, and received an average reply of fifteen to twenty minutes. To verify these claims, the investigators attached microphones to the shirts of small children for the purpose of recording actual parental verbalization. The results of this study are shocking: The average amount of time spent by these middle-class fathers with their small children was thirty-seven seconds per day! Their direct interaction was limited to 2.7 encounters daily, lasting ten to fifteen seconds each! That, so it seems, represents the contribution of fatherhood for millions of America’s children.
I. FAITH
A. Orel Hershiser writes about faith:
1. My faith has been a balancing agent in my life. Christ thrills me with who I am in Him, and reminds me gently who I am not. When I suffer, I know I’m still loved. When I’m on top of the world, I remember my accomplishments mean nothing in light of eternity. The biggest surprise to me was to discover that Christ is real. He is not some nebulous concept, some idea or system or approach or philosophy. He’s a Person, someone I can know.
2. He goes on to say that his fait has made him want to be the best that he can be at all that he does.
3. If we know who we are in Christ, then we can deal with anything that life deals us.
4. If our faith is strong, we will know that our children are a gift from God and we will want to take the responsibility to do the very best we can do to raise them in a way the is pleasing to God. If we see our children as ours, instead of a gift from God, then we will do as we see for.
CONCLUSION
On Father’s day let us honor our fathers, and as fathers, let us take the challenge to raise our children in such a way that they will want to serve Jesus all the days of there life! The greatest gift that we can give our children is an environment in which they know that we love them and that we love God.
As father’s we want to do all that we can to help guide our children toward Jesus!
