The Ultimate Stewardship

I. I know that this may come as a terrible shock to you all, but I am going to be preaching a sermon today that goes along with what you would expect on Father’s Day.

A. Well, it is at least as much of the traditional Father’s Day sermon as I can muster.

B. According to the Bible’s design for the family unit the father was the leader of the family and was responsible for the well being of the family. It was his job to see to the needs of the family and he was also responsible for the education of the children.

C. It was his job to see to it that his children were prepared for life; that they were trained in the customs of the community; that they were trained in an occupation; and that they were trained in the ways of God.

D. When the bible says that the man is the head of the house it has a lot more to say about responsibility than it does control. The father was given authority only because he was given the responsibility.

E. And with all responsibility, if the responsibility is not handled in the correct manner the authority is honored in the same way.

F. Men if you are not responsible and do not use the authority given to you by God, in the way that you are suppose to, to see to the well being of your family then don’t be surprised if your wife and your kids do not have the respect for you that you think they should.

G. You were given authority in the home by God but if you are not responsible in the authority that you have been given, and if you don’t put the well being of your family above all else, then don’t be surprised if you don’t get the respect that goes with it.

1. And while I am on that subject, since you are given authority, and your wife and children are supposed to be in submission to you, if you misuse the authority that you have been given and they don’t adhere to the guidelines that God has established for the family then you in part are responsible for their rebellion against God’s plan.

2. Your position in the family, as God designed it, makes you responsible for the direction of your family.

H. The lack of responsible fathers may be one of the greatest down falls of our culture today.

1. With the increase in men that make babies and take no responsibility for them, there has been a great increase in the deterioration of society.

2. And I know that there are a lot of single moms who struggle with trying to raise children without the help of a father.

3. And, I know that there are a lot of families where the father does live in the home, where the mother is left with the responsibility of teaching the children about God by herself.

4. Men, are usually the first to moan and groan about the condition of the world, and the people who leach off of society, but men who don’t take their responsibility in being a father and husband seriously may well be the greatest reason that things are the way they are.

I. We parents are responsible for raising our children above and beyond everything else, and above and beyond anyone else.

II. So let’s look at some of what that means.

(Prov 22:6 NIV) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

A. One of the first and foremost responsibilities of parents, is to train their children, and when I say parents I mean the father and mother. But since the father is the one that the bible places in authority in the home that means that he is the primary person responsible.

B. That doesn’t mean mothers, if your husband does not do his job that you are to let the children go whichever way they want to, but it does mean that your husband is the primary one responsible and he does have the area of first responsibility and authority.

C. Unfortunately I know that there are a lot of you women that are thinking right now that there are a lot of men that abuse the authority that they were given and don’t take responsibility of being a Father that they should, and even more unfortunately you are right.

III. What I want to do is break that verse down that we just read and look at what it means in terms of being a parent, so you ladies listen too, because you might have to be the one that carries the load.