Faith-Filled Fathers

Good morning, Wesley,

It is a real joy to see all of you here this morning. Thank you for choosing to worship here.

Just a reminder, this week is Vacation Bible School. There will be a simple meal severed at 5:15. Bible School will be out by 8:30 each evening. Please see Georgia for more information.

On July 22, Carole Decean will be here to share about the Decean Ministries. There will be a special offering taken at that service for the mission.

This morning, I want us to look, for a few minutes, at what it means to be a Faith-Filled Father.

Today is Father’s Day.

To small boys were discussing Father’s Day. The older one of them, showing his wisdom, said, “Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the gift.”

Mark Twain said, “When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to the 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years.”

Someone said, “Parents spend the first part of a child’s life urging him to talk and walk, and the rest of his childhood telling him to sit down and keep quiet.”

I want us to think about some of the things for which we should say, “Thanks, Dad!”

First, what it does not mean.

It does not mean you are a perfect father. Perfection is not attainable. It is a goal beyond our reach. The best we can hope for is to improve, not perfection.

A Faith-Filled Father is a not a perfect father.

Because a Faith-Filled Father is not a perfect, but he also does not have all the answers. If the truth is told, he often does not even know what all the questions are.

A Faith-Filled Father is not perfect, does not have all the answers, and he will say, I am sorry; I was wrong.

For many men, these are the hardest words in the world to say. “I am sorry; I was wrong.”

D-Devotion

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

1 Timothy 5:8

Wow! That’s powerful. If a father does not provide materially for his family (food, clothing, shelter) then he has denied the faith of Christ and is worse than unbelievers.

Why would such a father be worse than unbelievers? BECAUSE EVEN UNBELIEVERS PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES!

Someone wrote,  My dad passed away on Dec. 11, 1982. If he was alive today he would be almost 93 years old. He lived to be 72. Dad drove a truck for most of his life. He hauled livestock to and from the Joplin, MO, stockyards. He hauled hogs, cattle, and sheep. Dad didn’t make much money but we always had food on the table and clothes to wear.

The old house we lived wasn’t much but we didn’t care. It was old, certainly nothing fancy and for a long time, we had no inside bathroom, BUT IT WAS HOME!

Dad was a truck driver, not a carpenter. However, when it was decided we needed a bathroom and another room on the old house, DAD BUILT IT. It wasn’t perfect but it served the purpose.

Dad always took my older brother Larry and me to the barber shop. Paid for our haircuts. And when money was tight, he got out the clippers and zip went our hair. AT LEAST, IT WAS COOL!

We didn’t have a car when I was small. If we went somewhere we all piled in Dad’s old International Harvester truck...a two-seater and no sleeper! And all three kids were on mom’s lap!

DID I THINK MY DADDY PROVIDED FOR ME? Sure, I did. I honestly don’t remember missing out on anything.

His father was Devoted. What difference does that make?

Don’t hear me wrong, I am impressed with single mothers raising children. They are hero’s. Because

Fatherless families are 4x more likely to live in poverty than families with both parents.

Children from single-parent families are twice as likely to experience mental health and behavioral problems compared to those with both parents.

Children with actively involved fathers are 33% less likely to repeat a grade and 43% more likely to get A's in school.

Fatherless children are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior, abuse substances, and enter the juvenile justice system.

Thank God for devoted fathers.

D stands for Devoted.

A- Attention

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”

Ephesians 6:1-3

CEV "Parents, don’t be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord."

LB "Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves."

In the 1960s, fathers typically spent a very small amount of time with their children on a daily basis, around 16 minutes.

Dads are spending more time with their kids than ever before. On average, dads with kids under 18 spend about 1.02 hours per day caring for and helping them, according to the Pew Research Center. This includes playing with them, providing physical care, reading to them, and helping with schoolwork. Fathers with younger children (under 6) tend to spend even more time, averaging 1.62 hours per day. 

The amount of time dads spend with their children has increased significantly over the past few decades, with some studies showing a nearly tripled increase since the 1960s. 

Parenting is a tag-team sport today. Both parents are involved.

D- Devotion

A- Attention

D- Duty

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.”

Ephesians 6:4

BE A COACH OR A CRITIC?

It much harder to coach someone to success, than to critic them into failure.

ILL.- A man by the name of Jim Burton said these words about being a father. "When I was young, baseball was my life. You can imagine the excitement I felt when my oldest son began playing. This game would be one of our main bonding mechanisms. If my son would just listen, I could help him be a great baseball player. Learning to read curve balls, shift his body weight with the swing, steal bases, turn double plays - these things separate the amateurs from the pros."

Burton said, "A pattern developed in our relationship. Because of my familiarity with the game, I saw every mistake my son made. In addition, I knew how to correct them.

"So post-game drives home became a critique of how to improve his game. It soon got old for my son. One night he finally said, ’DAD, COULD YOU NOT START BY TELLING ME EVERYTHING I DID WRONG. TELL ME WHAT I DID RIGHT FIRST.’"

Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Attending Church:

Adrian Rogers said,

I heard someone say a few days ago, “See, that just goes to show you that you can raise your kids in church all you want to, but……” and it literally shattered my heart. All because that kid had made a mistake. All because that kid’s sin was brought to light.

Let me just tell you…… We don’t raise our kids in church so they can grow up perfect. We don’t raise our kids in church because it magically makes them unable to sin or holier-than-thou.

We do however raise our kids in church so WHEN they mess up and WHEN they fall short, they know just who to run to. So they know that their Lord and Savior will NEVER leave nor forsake them no matter how big or small their mess up might be.

So they know their Heavenly Father will always leave the 99 if they are that ONE that needs saving.

So they will know what grace is like and give it out freely.

So they will know the unconditional love of their Father and love those around them just the same regardless of anything else.

So they know that there is absolutely NOTHING in this world they could do that our Saviors blood hasn’t already covered.

I will never apologize for raising my children in church. I will never apologize for making sure our family makes church a priority over anything else. Because it’s more than just a song and a sermon. It’s more than just a memorized Bible verse in Sunday School. It’s for when this cruel world we live in comes knocking on their door, they personally know the solid rock on

Thank you for being a DAD

D-Devoted

A-Attentive

D-Doing your Duty.