The Difference Fathers Make

Introduction:

A. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads among us today!! May God bless you on this special day that we set aside each year to honor our dads.

1. You might take a peak later at the article in the bulletin I put together. It reviews the interesting history of Father’s Day in the U.S.

B. Last month we celebrated Mother’s Day, and I broke into our sermon series on the life of David to address the subject – “The Difference Mothers Make.”

1. Today we will again take a break from our sermon series on David and focus on “The Difference Fathers Make.”

2. In my introduction of the sermon on Mothers, I mentioned that Mother’s Day is a difficult day for some people.

3. Well, Father’s Day can be difficult for some for the very same reasons.

4. Not all of us have had wonderful experiences with our fathers, and that can be cause for great heartache.

5. Some of us miss our fathers terribly, because they have gone on to be with the Lord.

6. And then there are those who struggle on Father’s Day because they are separated from their children, or they have never had the privilege of having children.

7. So for some, Father’s Day is a sobering day.

C. But then there are others who look forward to Father’s Day.

1. They look forward to being with their children, and the enjoy having their children show them special attention.

2. Others look forward to expressing their deep love, respect and appreciation to the great dads in their lives.

D. Nevertheless, whether Father’s Day is a great day for you or a difficult day for you, it is right for us to honor God’s plan for fatherhood, and to show respect for the fathers in our lives.

1. Both the OT and the NT contain the command – “Honor your father and your mother.”

2. And the apostle Paul reminds us that it is “the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph. 6:3)

E. I’d like to share a little humor about fathers as we get going.

1. One summer night during a violent thunderstorm a little boy went to his parents’ bedside.

a. With a tremor in his voice, he said, “Mommy, will you come sleep with me tonight?”

b. The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t, dear,” she said. “I have to sleep with Daddy.”

c. The boy turned and as he walked back to his room he shook his head and said, “The big sissy.”

2. The story is told about a father who had just made the perfect ham sandwich.

a. It had a thick stack of sliced ham, a fresh bun, crisp lettuce, and plenty of expensive, light brown, spicy mustard.

b. The man’s taste buds were aching with anticipation as he carried the sandwich to the picnic table in the backyard.

c. As he picked up the sandwich with both hands and brought it to his mouth, he was suddenly stopped by his wife who said, “Can you hold little Johnny for a minute while I make my sandwich?”

d. The dad took Johnny from his wife and sat there holding Johnny in one arm and tried to figure out how to eat the sandwich one handed.

e. It was at that point that the man noticed a streak of mustard on his finger.

f. Loving that spicy mustard so much, he just licked it off his finger.

g. Unfortunately, it was not mustard.

h. Later his wife said to him, “Now you know why they call that mustard ‘Poupon.’ ”

F. I have a preacher friend over in the Albany area whose congregation lets him say one gross thing per sermon.

1. I guess that’s my quota for today.

I. The Difference Fathers Make

A. Most of you have paid attention to the story of Nadya Suleman and her octuplets – that’s right eight newborn babies at one time!

1. At first the birth of the octuplets was celebrated, until the facts about their circumstances came to light.

2. One of the more troubling things was that Nadya was an individual who intentionally brought eight more children into the world without a father.

3. Keep in mind that she already had 6 other children – that makes 14 fatherless children.

4. What was she thinking?

B. Suleman’s case is so unsettling in part because it is an exaggerated picture of something that has become pandemic in the United States: the systematic abandonment of the norm of a two-parent home.

1. The media has gone wild over the spread of “swine flu” – even though it has had relatively limited impact so far (thank the Lord).