Father Figures

Let me explain quickly while I'm doing this morning because all the way back to last year and last year in May instead of doing a pure Mother's Day sermon I did a addressed the topic of mother figures and so my plan was and I said is that time to at Father's Day do the same thing but at Father's Day I was in the morning. After cherries passing and so was it here Father's Day last year so the sermon you're going to hear today is a year old at least

I just of the dust off of the last night.

I had several people come to me and say you wanted to hear that about the father figures. And so we're talking about fathers but we're looking at it from a broader angle. Obviously, as you know, I'm a big girl. Everybody Loves Raymond fan and one of my favorite episodes, it's not one of the better episodes, but it's one of my favorite is when the Frank has the dad has a young man from his office come over and meet the family because Frank is his mentor and Robert and Raymond are like who could possibly want dadaism into work. And that's really is a lot of funny stuff that comes off bad and sometimes those things happen in our world to A Jesus talks about a prophet without honor in his own country and its really reference to the fact that people who know you best know you warts and all and that sometimes have been a mises though the power of your influence. And so there are times when people look to other voices or other sources for Leadership, that's not a bad thing. And that's we spend this together. I hope that the that becomes of becomes clear. We probably could sit each of us as people not just as men and make a list of the people who were, like, fathers to us. The person that was the most like a father to me, was my maternal grandfather and I've been just as many times as someone that I adored, he died when I was fourteen years old. So I never really got to see him from an adult perspective and so he's a little bit mythical and in my background, but I can remember a day that my deck, my grandfather, my uncle, my sister's brother and his son. My cousin we were working on the fence and we had worked at it for quite a while and had fixed it. And my grandfather said, well what does that look like to you, Bruce Bruce is his son, Bruce's, it'll do it for now. And I'm like

Cuz I knew that my uncle had just sentenced us to two hours more digging because I knew exactly what my grandfather is going to say. You don't have time to do it, right? When will you have time to do it again? And so, my uncle knew it when you said it the first time you set us up at s, but we didn't told it would hold for 40 years, you know, that was kind of the way it came and we know those personalities. We know those people who this is of critical importance to me and if you're if you're going to be helping me, we're going to have to go in this direction. And at I have these standards and sometimes I can be really, really helpful to us and it helps us to increase our standards that you increase the things that we want to accomplish as well. You look through the Bible and find all kinds of examples of people who were father figures, When Abraham left to go live in the promised land, he took with him locked his nephew and Brett Abraham is very much a father figure, that's a lot and the complications that are fear in Abraham's live sometimes are related to lot. That's understood. Pharaoh and Moses Moses ever gotten the information from the people in the end High royalty. I would suppose that at least, at some point in time there were interactions and interchanges. My favorite one is Eli your River. Hannah praying that she would have a child and she does Bible tells us when the child was weaned. She brought him to Eli, who is the high priest? And I always look at it from Eli's position, you know? You brought me a preschooler. I just can't. Imagine what this man would have thought he would have responded when mom showed up at the temple and said he's raised what a challenge that would have been Eli turns out with none of very good. Father, to his own children. A great father to Samuel, Samuel intern was terrible, father, to his own children. So sometimes there's this reality in listening to person. Who's not your friend. Again, we'll look at that as it goes along. How's it work? To be a. I'm going to say the stand-in father, father figure, this next slide, I think it kind of gets us started on that road. You're a father to some and a father figure to many.

probably if you could sit down and people come to you and say you are a father figure to me or you have been a father figure to me or in this case you were a father figure to me and probably would scare a little bit. I didn't know people were watching me. I didn't know anybody was really listening to what I was going to say. I didn't know if somebody might actually change your life or make a choice based on something that I was sharing. And so, it really does remind us of how critically important it is the way we live our lives, because there are people watching their people who are not our children, but no swell, their people who may not even be family with a deeply connected through with said. They're looking for somebody to be available. We live in a world of lost fathers. Many times. We live in a world where people are looking for a fatherly voice, maybe maybe just for a day maybe just on this particular topic. But those opportunities to come up. I know there's a men and women in our audience today in our church being me who lost fathers very early. And that's really painful but it really can be life-altering and Broad number boys and some of you have done just marbles job in filling your life with without a father often times because of the people who were father, figures, somebody who was connected, or maybe somebody who wasn't, but my dad died. I was like like 30s. My brother was Twin Peaks. I think he's missed my dad in, or did he just now passed himself influence of leadership more than anybody else? That the family was just too early and a lot of ways,

Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods has had some problems. He's gotten into some things that have complicated his life in very strong and dramatic ways but she kind of look at the glass.

Not your phones, all started after his father passed away. As long as the father who had been the strong leader and guide her, a teacher and coach was in his life easier for him to do certain things. And certain things are follow certain paths and we often don't recognize that we missed so much these father figures where they are a bottle of your father's or they lose a move from our lives. We look for opportunities to have somebody else to fill that role. That's one of the things that I wanted to share today was for men to be aware of those opportunities. There are people looking to you, they're probably people who are initiating conversations with you or spending time with you because they would like to have a different relationship than what they have. And it's something that we obviously can give serious attention to. Answer this before I'll say it again. When I was at ocee, the Bible faculty, they are the men there or not only good Bible teachers but they were good men and spiritual man and a model of Father figures and that was

You're a real plus to all of the students, but I moved to Houston. West use right here and then not too far away. Actually he was the Central Church. Did it one point in time was the biggest church in Houston. Their Minister has been the guy by the name of Burton Coffman New York have been the minister at Manhattan and now, as I'm starting in the ministry, he's come back to Houston. And he's at the next church over and we have real strong relationship in real strong connections, and he had very, very strong employees opinions that he shared. And he was such a Ministry mentor to listen to him. He's about my age right now, when I was in my mid-20s about the h, i a very, very open and very, very transparent and very willing, 3 minutes, a mentor to the young ministers. And we were certainly all blessed by that. Another guy who was a minute's who was a father figures movie with Jay Lockhart him speak. He had, he had an uncle named Stanley. And this is from the Arrow when when it was a little more common for people to have relatives, if they were closed. And they each two. And so Jay and Stanley were just a few years apart with Stanley was a little bit older. So whenever J winter do Stanley, he would introduce him as his great-uncle. Sandy was saying, not your great-uncle. I'm your uncle and I want everybody to know that I got a really good uncle great-uncle Stanley,

It's not a system where we draw cards or change names. It sounds like somebody says, I need a father figure. It happens in a different fashion than that. It happens when there is availability, it happens. When there is willingness it happens, when there is a need, those opportunities present themselves and often it's based on special knowledge in the special experience.

few years ago, I shared with you of A book called Council of dads and talked about this many times of Bruce peeler was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. He was a young father had two young daughters at that particular point in time. And so, his suggestion of how to deal with that is that he solicited, six friends who would serve on his Council of dads, if he were not able to function as a father. And that story became a really powerful story. He told us 64 guys who had different talents and abilities and experiences because he wanted these young daughters. If he was a year to have the best possible advice to fill these critical roles, especially the ones that they can't do that as fully or, or maybe there's an area that they don't have quite the, the Practical knowledge in order to do that. Now, I understand the movie Macys is on TV that one point in time, one of the Network's Made It TV show about it, from one I can find out feelers. Health is very, very good. And he's talked endlessly and interviewed and made available to the press all six of these guys. And so, you may know a whole lot more about that. Then I do, but as a good father, you sometimes used to place to be safe. I don't know. Sean brought a rabbit home. One time he killed with his bow. I was scared to death. Now, I don't know. Don't know about that. He said he was also head County DHS Johnson. Could you come over here and help me skins rabbit? That's just one little thing. Somebody knows somebody else. When we fish in the pond in normal catfish, I was like to know what to do with that. But what am I going to do with that? I called Jim Wilson.

Do you know? So we did it down there and he cut it up and sent us home with the beat. All those are just ways where are brothers and the people that we know that we have contact with step in at times and say, okay I'll tell if with this I'll deal with this, it's something pretty that you don't know about. It can be something so is as different as just the way we approach, say hugging and not hugging affection. And there may be other father Figures were more comfortable doing something. So children or people would like The third thing. And I miss this a couple of times recently. I wish that I had figured this out in Electra Lee a lot earlier than I did.

And that's the idea of confirmation. No. As parents, we teach our children values, we want them to have values. We want them to be able to do critical thinking at least based on God given values. What are the things that helps that so much is when your kids experience confirmation of what parents teach through the people that parents associated with?

What do I need to be at church? That's an excellent reason, right there. What? We bring to the fellowship is with somebody else. When somebody else's child wants to hear about this, you know, they're going to hear a similar point of view. We're confirming each other's values as we experienced difficulties. We become resource people. We become teachers, we become people who could listen to all little or to the various things that people are are dealing with has a particular point in time. Confirming our values and he has a very strong reason that God put us into a family relationship. Sometimes it doesn't always work out. Just like it's supposed to. I told you this story before one of the guys again for he was going to teach my son and his son, how to play golf. So he took them several times and how to Jimmy the ball machines. You have to pay child how to sneak onto the fourth hole in the sink off of the 11. So you didn't have to pay Greens fees. A lot of things are really

So when he wanted to show, what am I saying? Something else I wasn't quite as excited about him being the leader. And we have a responsibility that you're obviously Okay, I've talked way too long and I'm, I'm not even halfway done, and you're going or no.

Leslie. I quickly want to say and I will make you a quick, is we have in the Bible, be a the New Testament, this several very powerful examples, but one of the most powerful in this topic it's going to be Paul and Timothy I mean Timothy is is Paul son, biological born son? Paul is the father. Are they related though? Not at all. This is a father figure. Who matched up with a young man who didn't have an active believing father in his life? Palm Timothy, just literally create a family relationship. In Acts chapter 16 of yours, 51 versus with you here. Both came to Derby and then to lystra, where disciple, they Tennessee live, whose mother was Jewish and a Believer, but his father was a Greek. The Believers at Lister and I told him spoke well of him. Fall 1 to take him along on the journey. So he circumcised him because of the Jews who live in that area. Will they all knew that? His father was a Greek and then Timothy continues to travel with Paul and Silas of the second missionary journey. And if you go back to the beginning, remember, Paul, and Barnabas are going to go together. But Barnabas wants to take John Mark who also went on the first missionary journey, but he quit and came home. Impulses, I want to take some R and scripture says, if it this is catching. The difference was so sharp that they didn't go together. They broke up and went on two different missions.

Barnabas has John Mark and Paul, I don't know if it's already been here before. Certainly makes sense that he knows about Timothy before and both of them.

Because they handle this thing in a very positive, Christian way. First, when Paul writes 1st, Timothy in 1st Timothy 12, he says to Timothy my true son. In the face. And then when he writes to Timothy my dear son, Do is none of this is like a son to me the number of ways. He has his Emissary, he's his representative Timothy because he knows he has to steal the ability to do what it is that Paul would like for me to do at a particular place, they are so close and that's whole process. Okay, that's what anniversary of 2nd Timothy chapter 1.

Polaris is I think God do I service my ancestors did with your conscious as night and day? I constantly remember you in my prayers, please talking to Timothy recalling your tears. I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy and reminded of your sincere Faith, which first live in your grandmother Lois and the mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you for this reason, I remind you to Fan the and into Flame, the gift of God.

Which is in you to the laying on of my hands with a spirit, not getting make us timid but gives us power love sophism with. So many personal, there's tears when they get these guys leave, there seemed sad Hall is reminding him Spirits. You fan the flame. You work up to give, don't don't let it be misuse or lay the sign. They love each other. They care about each other and they're trying to Paul's trying to motivate him and it's because he's able to do that for the because of this relationship. This is the last night. Any sense in 2nd, Timothy chapter 4 verse 9? Do your best to come to me. Quickly. He's talking here directly to Timothy for Dimas because he loved this world has deserted me and gone to the Sun. Christians have done the galatia and Titus to donation basic needs. Nobody here. Zombie go save one of them as abandoned. The others are off, doing good and positive things. Only with me, get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my Ministry.

I sent pictures to Ephesus. Louis Burger King. When you come bring the cloak that I left with karpis at your ass and my Scrolls, especially the parchments. Call Raisa Timothy and I'm lonely and I'm cold. And I'm bored.

I need your help. Come sit with me, somebody with me. Bring Bri Funko cuz I'm cold. Bring the stuff. I've written, it would be important to me to go back and say, you'll be doubted and maybe you and I talked about it. It's just so deeply personal. Isis man, who's about to leave is saying to this literally adopted son. So much, I want to transfer you. You've already received over Oculus gift by my laying hands on you. The things that I need from you as well.

And look, did you notice Mark verse 11? That's the guy fall didn't want to take on the second missionary, journey, what's he asking? Timothy to do down. get your mark and bring him here to both of those guys. Are Paul becomes their father figure. Arc difficult, Father Figure, even this boy that he left behind initially, maybe Paul me more than than other people may be understood. One of us may be understood the potential or all of them.

It will differ crashing. Submarino. John Clayton. John and Phyllis had a child that had though,

it was blind, had muscular dystrophy cerebral palsy schizophrenia, and some other mental challenges, they

Took care of Tim his entire life and John has written a book called. Timothy, my son in my teacher. And I just love so much humility of that, because if you read that book, that's exactly what you got. The lessons that I learned for my special needs. John's amazing if you make a little bird in so many different places.

We have opportunities to be involved in these deep rich relationships, maybe for a day, maybe for the rest of life. What does these opportunities come to you? Willing. Totally frightening. It's scary. Because I need you to play other roles. and being the Father Figure such a critical one and if such great need in our world and in our society, Would you go with me?

You're going to be, thank you for good men. We thank you for the men, like our grandfathers and great-grandfathers and fathers before we thank you for the Love that they have. You think you are? Good. Strengths, thank you for their commitment. the father, I thank you also for the younger fathers, who followed behind two, I really connected to affection and and love and leading and we just have so many good Fathers and that's such a positive thing. We thank you for that. Lord, I know that there are times when you want us as men. Who aren't still biological fathers to be spiritual fathers. And I pray that we might be aware and awake for those opportunities. Help us to utilize them when they emerge. give us wisdom in those moments of discourse, help us some model, but you would have us model so that all of us can come more closely to being the people you want to be We pray this to your son. This morning, we offered, Jesus is invitation, you need to respond to that. We encourage you to do that while we can sing together.