The Godlyfather

The Godlyfather

Father’s Day Message

Joshua 24:14-15

June 15, 2003 Chester’s FBC, Chester, IL Mike Fogerson, Speaker

A THE IDEA FOR CREATING A DAY for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.

a Having been raised by her father, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man.

b Her father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.

*One time a little boy was asked to define Father’s Day and he said, "It’s just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the present."

B Anybody can be a father. It takes a special man to be a dad. It takes an even more special guy to be the "Godlyfather."

a Joshua 24:14-15

*Joshua is in Shechem: (Special place, Sacred place.)

Gen. 12:6-7* Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [7] The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Joshua 24:1* Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua 24:25*On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws.

JOS 24:14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. [15] But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

b Joshua’s most important life achievement was being a Godlyfather. (ETS)

C The greatest fathers are Godlyfathers. (ESS)

a I want my dads to commit (or recommit) to being Godlyfathers today.Obj.

b What are you doing that shows you’re a Godlyfather?

TS: Let’s look at two qualities that Joshua possessed that made him the "Godlyfather."

*=Put entire text on Power Point, reference ONLY in the listening guide.

I The first quality that Joshua possessed is that he. . ..was the priest of the home.

A I remember a little fellow, frightened by lightning and thunder, who called out one dark night, "Daddy, come. I’m scared." "Son," the father said, "God loves you and he’ll take care of you." "I know God loves me," the boy replied. "But right now I want somebody who has skin on." If I were starting my family again, that is what I would want to be above all else - God’s love with skin on

a Joshua was "God was God with Skin on."

*He was close to God,

Spent time with. . .Talked with. . .built a relationship with. . .

*Joshua COULD NOT show God if he DID NOT know God.

b Men, your kids need God with skin on.

*(IL.)Some months ago I heard a touching story about a humble, consecrated pastor whose young son had become very ill. After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness. The youngster had accepted Christ as his Savior, so the minister knew that death would usher him into Glory; but he wondered how to inform one in the bloom of youth that he soon would die. After earnestly seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit, he went with a heavy heart through the hospital ward to the boy’s bedside. First he read a passage of Scripture and had a time of prayer with his dear child. Then he gently told him that the doctors could promise him only a few more days to live. "Are you afraid to meet Jesus, my boy?" asked his devout father. Blinking away a few tears, the little fellow said bravely, "No, not if He’s like you, Dad!"

*Your boys/girls need to see God with skin and some of you are blowing it dads. How?