Qualities I Like In Men And Fathers Series

Qualities I Like In Men and Fathers

Rom 5:1-4

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1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; (NAS)

Introduction

Did you know that the phone calls on Mother’s Day out numbers the calls on Father’s Day. For the Father’s among us there is good and bad news. The good news is that calls to father on Father’s Day are increasing faster that the calls to mom on Mother’s Day. The bad news is that many of the calls on Father’s Day are collect calls.

What kind of men do you like and respect? I want to share on this Father’s Day the kind of men I like and respect. These men have spiritual qualities that set them apart for the crowd. The stand out even in a crowd of Christian men. The qualities I think are most important are not limited too but include the following.

1. A Man With . . Calmness.

2. A Man With . . Character.

3. A Man With . . Conviction.

4. A Man With . . Communication.

1. A Man With . . Calmness. Rom 5:1-3

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A. This Calmness comes from . . Peace with God. v 1

1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

B. This Calmness comes from . . Position In Christ. v 1- 2

1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God

C. This Calmness comes from . . Persevering. v 3

3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

Illustration

In the Convention Sermon this year at the Southern Baptist Convention the preacher shared this illustration. He told about Fred Craddock who while lecturing at Yale University told of going back one summer to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to take a short vacation with his wife. One night they found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal—just the two of them.

While they were waiting for their meal they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting guests. Craddock whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn’t come over here." He didn’t want the man to intrude on their privacy. But the man did come by his table.

"Where you folks from?" he asked amicably. "Oklahoma." "Splendid state, I hear, although I’ve never been there. What do you do for a living?

"I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of Phillips University." "Oh, so you teach preachers, do you. Well, I’ve got a story I want to tell you." And with that he pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with Craddock and his wife.

Dr. Craddock said he groaned inwardly: Oh no, here comes another preacher story. It seems everyone has one. The man stuck out his hand. "I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born so I had a hard time. When I started to school my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunch-time because the taunts of my playmates cut so deeply.

"What was worse was going downtown on Saturday afternoon and feeling every eye burning a hole through you. They were all wondering just who my real father was.

"When I was about 12 years old a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in church on me. Just about the time I got to the door I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up and the preacher was looking right at me.

"Who are you, son? Whose boy are you?’ I felt the old weight come on me. It was like a big black cloud. Even the preacher was putting me down.

But as he looked down at me, studying my face, he began to smile a big smile of recognition. "Wait a minute," he said, "I know who you are. I see the family resemblance. You are a son of God." With that he slapped me across the rump and said, "Boy you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it."