06-12-05 Dads Day Father's day is next week
I want to address the men today; Ladies this does not mean you go to Rothschild’s with the church donuts and get a bye.
Take notes for them get the CD and put it in their truck. Mark the CD as their favorite music.
Unfortunately, most men starting out in marriage haven't fully grasped their role as a husband before their wives inform them that they will be a father!
What does it mean to become a father? It is not about having off spring, it is about being Father like..
There are responsibilities and challenges in fatherhood
We are going to look at the M's this morning, Manager, Minister, and Model.
It is the week before father’s day and I want to help them get it right before then, so they don’t get a tie…
I. Manager emphasis on the MAN and not the….. ager
A. Many men, who prepare themselves diligently and work hard to become efficient managers on the job, hardly give a thought to their role in managing a complicated living thing like a family
B. When you think of it, a family is much like a manager role
1. A family needs attention in all areas
a) Personnel, capital reserves, facilities, cash flow, planning, inventory control, suppliers
b) Even competition
(1) For example, cultural influences seeking to undermine the family's well-being
(2) Are we watching what is competing for our children’s attention and love
2. The mother shares some of these man… gerial duties
a) The father should always be looking at the big picture…….
b) Men we should not be asking our wives why are the kids doing such and such…..
c) Our father always has the big picture in mind
d) Here are some components for your other job description as the family man ager:
(1) Know the strengths and weaknesses of those you are responsible for:
Proverbs 27:23
"Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds"
(2) Exercise self-control, and train those you are responsible for:
Ephesians 6:4
"And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord"
(3) Engage in ongoing enhancement of personal skills and exemplify high character those you are responsible for:
Psalm 78:72
"He shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands"
(4) Abide by instructions and bylaws contained in the company policy manual (the Bible):
Proverbs 24:3-4
"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches"
*II. Minister
A. Ladies, To be a minister to the family, a dad does not need to prepare a five-point sermon he will deliver in the family room while wearing a suit
1. But guys, we do have the responsibility to oversee the spiritual well-being of our children
a) That means….. To know what is going on in their lives of those God has put in our care
(1) And bring the spiritual evaluation of the needed direction in any condition
b) Another word describing this role is shepherd
(1) That's right—a little flock of sheep share your living space
(2) A good dad will minister to his flock by voluntarily and eagerly caring for their needs
(3) Just as you now should be caring for the needs of your wife, you will bear a new responsibility to care for those of your children.
(4) The Shepherd's Psalm begins with the sentence,
Psalm 23:1
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want"
c) When I was a very young child my mother made me learn this psalm
(1) I had a very simple mind at that point ………My first thought was “why am I learning this psalm”
(2) As I memorized this first phrase with no understanding my Next thought was “if he is a Shepard I do not want”, Why am I being forced to learn what he wrote?
(3) Real funny……..
(4) I have a question for the fathers ……
(a) Is Jesus a shepherd you want?
(b) If he is….. do not leave your children wondering this or anything else you are trying to teach them actually means
(i) Even as youngsters, teach them now
(ii) We get it……. we assume they do
(iii) Do we test their knowledge of what we are teaching them
(iv) Do we help them correct the wrong answer they get
(v) With the right answers, with gentle guiding
d) Children "want" a lot?
(1) Latest computer games
(2) Name-brand shoes
(3) God gives us the responsibility to provide for their most basic needs—physically, emotionally, and spiritually
e) By providing them with basic security
(1) Father’s Love your wife, defend her, honor her, to your kids
(2) Father’s Love their mom
(3) By doing this You will help them "lie down in green pastures."
f) Above all, the Dad minister-must be responsible for transferring God's truth to his children:
Proverbs 4:1-2
Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,
And give attention that you may gain understanding,
For I give you sound teaching;
Do not abandon my instruction
(1) Your children will need you to lead them spiritually
(2) It will take your attention
(3) We have a tendency to abandon our responsibility, we are told do not abandon
(4) What you want to teach your children needs to be clear in your mind
(a) Things such as "being faithful in little things,"
(b) "Becoming a person of character," someone who keeps their word even if it cost them personally, doesn’t lie, doesn’t cheat, works hard
(5) Being the Father Minister is the role of Transferring truth
(a) It is beyond life-skill training about sex education, morality, and manners, appropriateness, how to go out to dinner and not be a disruption to others?
(b) Your kids should know what to do in an emergency, such as a fire in the house, etc.
(c) What to do in a spiritual crisis,
(d) How to distinguish what is emotional, what is spiritual, what is physiological, and what to do for each……
! III. Model Father
A. If "all the world's a stage," as Shakespeare said,
B. Then every dad is always in the spotlight doing a one-man play for an audience that never leaves the theater—
1. The children are smarter these days
a) They always watch their daddy and don't miss a thing
b) Every dad is the family role model, whether or not he wants the job
Turn to
1 Timothy 6:10-11
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
2. Paul lists six virtues to be pursued by every man of God:
a) The first two are overarching general principles
(1) Righteousness, godliness,
b) While the last four are more specific
(1) Faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness
C. My earthly dad does verse 11 very well, he continues to model it every day for me for my kids
1. My dad since he has known the Lord has walked in Integrity, honesty, generosity, unconditional love, acceptance, and love for God the Father that puts anyone I know to shame
a) For me his “normal day,” is a provocation to me to be more
A weighty proverb states,
"What a man is determines what a man does."
I like a quote by playwright Eugene O'Neill even better:
"You do not build a marble tower out of a mixture of mud and manure."
2. Are we Men our families look up to?
a) I'm comforted by the fact that a man's character is shaped by his relationship with God
(1) That's where my hope lies
(2) God hasn't given up on me
(3) He's still squeezing the mud and manure out of my life, building the strong, enduring marble tower instead
IV.Union track meet
Story
· Everyone started equal
· At the start of the race Sam’s team was in next to last
· The second group of runners a guy from the other team pulled ahead on the inside of the track
· Sam’s turn came and he coming from the outside of the track Sam thought he was way behind
· Sam poured it on for all he was worth
· On the far side of the track I see him making a killer time
o While in his mind he thinks he is “far behind” and not doing what he is needing to do
· I am in the stands yelling so loudly I am hoarse for 2 days and can not speak
· They did not win but went from next to last to 2nd
o What a thrilling great race, the other teams had to really scramble to stay in it
A. Men we are called to a race not a sprint but a relay
1. How good is/was are hand off
2. Are we cheering on from the stands until we are hoarse
3. Can your runners we have trained hear us above the crowd?
B. The relay race that has God's eternal truth as its baton
1. The psalmist said about the Lord and His works and intentions for all generations:
Ps. 78:5-7
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which he commanded our fathers,
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments.
2. I want to run the father-child relay to the best of my ability
a) We are not the one who crosses the finish line we hand off to those that will
(1) Relay folks practice handing off the baton
(2) They have lanes and distances they have to meet or they are disqualified
(3) The relay race is not necessarily won by the last runner but how well they all run
(a) Are we running full tilt or half hearted
(i) Hoping our kids being faster then us
(b) Are we resting on the performance of our great fathers that ran full tilt
(i) For us thinking we can coast