A MESSAGE TO FATHERS
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
1 Cor. 4:15, For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many Fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel.
Today, I ponder: WHAT IS A FATHER?
Our THOUGHT will be, NOT MANY FATHERS.
We base this on 1 Cor. 4:15, For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many Fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel.
How sad? There has to be a dad for the birth of a child. But many Dad’s never step into the role of being a Father. What is the difference between being a Dad and being a Father?
How sad, many children will never know a Father?
This lack could effect/affect the way the child sees God, as God is a good Father.
How sad the life style of a Mother that choose a life style that will give birth to a baby and not think how important a good father really is.
There is an element of our society that feels a Father is opitional, this may be an unhealthy idea.
HEALTHY FATHER --- HEALTHY CHILDREN
There can be a direct correlation between the overall health and well being of a father and the health of the family.
The enemy knows: WEAK FAMILIES -- WEAK CHURCHES -- WEAK SOCIETY.
No sadder words of pen or tongue, than the words what might have been?
We need many fathers in the church!
There are many men, but there are few fathers?
I ponder, WHY?
Why are there not many fathers?
This lesson will approach the problem of not many fathers.
1. THINGS NEEDED TO ILLUSTRATE THIS LESSON.
A. 2-- 40 pound bags of potting soil. (Depends on how many men you will have. This will prepare about 60 to 80 bags.)
B. 60 medium Zip Lock baggies. ( Before the service fill the 60 bags with dirt.) I gave the bags out several service after the special day. You can accent your points by repetition.
C. 5 or 6 bags of seeds. (I do: Forget me nots, sun flower, corn, mustard. See below for the lesson),
D. Bottle of water.
E. 60 red plastic cups. T
he cup represents you, the vessel of God. Red represents the blood of Jesus.
The total cost for me was about $21.00.
2. THE LESSON OF THE DIRT. I had my bags of dirt hidden under a red table cloth on the altar. Then call every man to the altar, I then gave each man a bag of dirt, and have them return to the pew.
A. Discuss the potential of that dirt. The bag of dirt could help feed the family? It could be useless?
B. You could throw the dirt at others, but if you throw your dirt, you are the one loosing ground.
C. The only difference between a mole hill and a mountain is how much dirt you have.
D. Don’t let you dirt become dirt. Col. 3:18, Husbands love your wife and be not bitter against them.
E. Bad dirt? 1 Kings 22:52, parents willfully choose evil.
3. A GOOD FATHER IS ON PURPOSE.
Good fathers are not an accident.
Men must step to the front and look ahead. Men need to see beyond today.Fathers must see the PlAN OF GOD, and propagate it.
Fathers must have VISION. They nee to be an example of maturity, integrity, honesty, and character. Fathers must realize they set the standard.
How many times have I reached children, for them to become teenagers and follow the example of their Dad and say church is not important?
How sad many kids feel like they are accidents?
4. THE LESSON OF THE SEED.
Call the children to the altar, let them pick several seeds out of the bowl of seeds that are mixed together.
By randomly picking out the seeds, you don’t know what you are getting, in life we don’t know many things, we do the best with what we have.
A. You can count the seeds in an apple,
but only God can count the apples in a seed.
B. Sickly oaks from sickly acorns grow.
C. It is not the size of the seed, but the growth of the seed that matters.
D. I often ask God for 2 by 4’s, and gives me a seed and says grow it yourself. This is a wisdom process.
E. Gal. 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for what so ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap... Don’t expect strawberries in you plant corn?
1. Forget Me Not seeds... Deut. 4:9, 23 ... life has a way of getting us so busy, we forget God and His Law.
2. Sun Flower seeds... Neh. 8:10, The Joy of the Lord is our strength, we need to be full of joy and zeal of life.
3. Corn seed... John 12:24
The corn seed must go in a wet ground, and get dirty and cold, and die to grow and reproduce.
To just eat makes fat, but is not necessarily growth.
4. Mustard seed... Mat 13:31, faith may appear small, but it can grow and support life.
4. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT FATHERS ARE LIFE LONG LEARNERS.
Growth is not by accident.
Every farmer has a plan. This plan takes time and great effort.
Each Father must realize they walk as an example, and children see actions more than they hear words.
Men must arise to the call of God and see life is building and growing daily.We must continually be improving our personal and family skills.
Being a Father requires great balance in personal devotions, family devotions, faithfulness to the church, faithfulness to the Mother.
5. WATER, ALL KNOW LIFE IS DEPENDENT ON WATER.
Water represents the essentials of life.
1 Sam. 26:11-12, while Saul slept, David took Saul’s cruise of water.
Saul had lost the anointing of God.
We must guard our hearts and daily walk to keep the anointing flowing.
Rain often comes in small frequent doses.
But occasionally, it comes in a flood.
Sometimes, there are dry spells, but good growth has deep roots.
Eph. 3:17.
6. VESSEL, RED CUP.
What are you going to do with your vessels?
This day God gave you, what are you going to do with it?
I have the ushers to pass a red cup to every man. Letter 2002 on the side?
A. Empty vessels have little use?
B. Heb. 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.
C. The value of the vessel is not within the vessel but the availability to be used and reused.
D. Isa. 64:8 God is the potter, we are the clay.
E. Jer. 18:4 God can use marred vessels, and remake us over and over.
F. The little cup must realize it’s value is in helping growth and bearing fruit.
7. MANY FATHERS ARE CONTROLLING AND MANIPULATIVE.
What is a healthy Father?
A healthy Father is not a perfect man?
He will make mistakes, but he must know how to say, I AM SORRY, I AM WRONG, PRAY FOR ME TO BE BETTER.
In the race of life there will be difficulties and problems, but every Father can find the solutions with the Bible and faithfulness to the church.
8. LIGHT.
Mat. 5:14-16, all growth grows toward the light.
You cannot separate light from the warmth.
9. Whatever develops from this dirt, these seeds, the cup, will be totally dependent on your actions.
The dirt can stay in the bag and mold?
You can lose your seeds?
You can let the cup stay empty?
You can let your seeds grow and never water them, and they will die?
You can care for them carefully and not transplant and go to the next level?
You can grow the seeds, and the plants you grow bear seeds and you could have the perpetual life cycle.
This does not depend on God this depends on you and your efforts?
God is depending on men becoming Fathers.
We must see the spiritual side, you cannot reap if you don’t sow?
Sow little reap little? 2 Cor. 9:6.
The reason the are not many fathers is because we can only see the dirt as dirt, and not the potential of the dirt.
10. SPIRITUAL DUTIES OF A GOOD FATHER?
1. TO TEACH ... Deu. 6:7;
2. TO TRAIN ... Prov. 22:6;
3.TO PROVIDE ...2 Cor. 12:14;
4.TO CONTROL ...1 Tim. 3:4;
5. TO NURTURE ... Eph. 6:4;
6. TO LOVE... Tit. 2:4.
11. DANGER ZONE ... PROVOKING.
Eph. 6:4 ... Fathers provoke not your children to wrath...
Don’t tease and incite anger, or stir purposely ...
Provoking and mean teasing can become a game, and it will eventually backfire.
12. BEING A FATHER IS MORE ABOUT THE CHILDREN THAN MORE ABOUT THE PARENTS.
Being a good parent is more about "THEM" than you.
Children are a gift of God, what you do with them is your gift back to God.
You must develop a persoanl relationship with God, to become what God has planned for you.
A good Father is a gift from God to the family to prepare the hearts and minds for service to God.
MANY CHILDREN SUFFER FROM HAVING POOR fATHERS, COULD YOU REACH OUT TO OTHER CHILDREN?
This lesson should be approached quickly and not dwell any great length of time in one area. Perhaps this will become fodder for later lessons.
His servant,
Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
Kyfingers@aol.com
Will you help me? Could you pass this on to others?
You might help a little pastor with a thought if you would pass this on to them.
