Sermon for June 16, 2019

Fathers Day Sermon

This morning I'll be reading

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

2 Timothy was written as a personal letter to Timothy but it has information that is needed pertaining to the way that the church should operate and I believe that it is important to today's church.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanksgiving

3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy, 5 clearly recalling your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois, then in your mother Eunice, and that I am convinced is in you also.

6 Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

9 He has saved us and called us

with a holy calling,

not according to our works,

but according to His own purpose and grace,

which was given to us in Christ Jesus

before time began.

10 This has now been made evident

through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,

who has abolished death

and has brought life and immortality to light

through the gospel.

11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, 12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me c until that day.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Church Fathers

CHURCH FATHERS Ancient and influential Christian writers who lived during the centuries following the apostles, and whose writings are regarded as formative for the doctrine of the Church.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

As I began my preparations for this sermon,,, I was led to this scripture after reading through several sermons on fathers day and I chose this because Paul recognized that Timothy was looking to him as an example.

Paul fully recognized that his life provided a model for Timothy and others to follow,,, and he carefully lived his life in Christ, knowing that others were observing him.

With today being fathers day,,, I wanted to take the time to talk about the benefits of being a church father in this church.

These same principals apply to all of us so it's important that we all listen this morning.

But,,, it seems like they will make more of an impact if we,,, as the men of the church,,, step up and actually do these things like we are commanded to do!

(2:45)

In these verses that I just read,,, Paul is writing his second letter to Timothy and it is written with the intent of helping Timothy in his ministry.

Timothy was the son of a Greek father and Jewish mother found in .

No mention is made of his father being a Christian, but his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were both known for their sincere faith if you remember from verse 5.

Whether or not Paul led Timothy to Christ cannot be known with certainty.

At any rate Timothy already knew and believed the Old Testament Scriptures, thanks to his mother and grandmother,,, seen here in these verses and in ,,, and Paul took him on as a promising protégé.

Paul thus became like a spiritual father to the young man, referring to him as “my true son in the faith” found in and “my dear son” in verse 2 above,,, and also in Philippians 2:22.

So we can see from these verses that Paul thought a lot of Timothy and kept him in his prayers.

If you remember,,, Paul was in prison during this time and wasn't able to visit or speak with many of those that he wrote to,,, but he was able to pray!

And that's what any of us can do when we aren't able to do the things that we feel like we should be doing.

Prayer is powerful and necessary for the growth of the church and anything that deals with the church or our lives as far as that goes!

We can pray no matter what and that's what Paul does here in the last of his days while that he is in prison.

So remember,,, even if you aren't able to help in any other way,,, whether it's because of sickness, age or being needed elsewhere,,, prayer is powerful and needed more and more today!

Then in verses 6 & 7 Paul is telling Timothy that he must remember that God has given him the spirit of power, love and sound judgement.

These three powers are supplied by the Holy Spirit and would make it possible for Timothy to stand tall against his opponents,,, nor should he be ashamed to testify about our Lord or about Paul.

Though Paul was held in a Roman prison,,, he called himself Christ’s prisoner—that is, a prisoner for Christ’s sake and purpose,,, some other examples are ; and and 9.

With this reminder of his own condition, which was far graver than Timothy’s,,, Paul encouraged Timothy to join courageously with him in suffering for the gospel.

According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, this is also found in ,,, for it is just in such circumstances that the power of God is made manifest,,, which means obvious or clear,,, and there is also another example found in .

Paul wants Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel, God or Paul.

In other words,,, to be sure that he stands up for the Lord,,, even if it means suffering similar to what Paul is going through.

Being sure to remember that the Holy Spirit has given him the power, love and sound judgement to get through anything that comes his way.

And that's true for us as well.

As Christians today,,, we are told over and over that we have the power, love and sound judgement given to us by the Holy Spirit too!

We should never be ashamed to share our story of how God has been faithful and true in our life.

Also realizing that we have everything that we need to give our testimony without fear.

In verses 9 and 10,,, it says: 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Paul says that God has saved us and called us to a holy calling.

This is an accomplished fact that Timothy could rely on now and we can as well.

This doesn't have anything to do with works that we might try to do to earn our way into salvation,,, but what God is calling us to do after that fact.

This was work that was given to Jesus before time began and it's now made evident by the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In verses 11 and 12 Paul says: 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, 12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.

Paul used this opportunity to tell Timothy that even though he had suffered because of his ministry,,, he was not ashamed.

He wasn't,,, because he knew the One that he believed in,,, and he was sure that God was able to take care of him until that day.

So,,, I believe from these verses,,, we can see why Paul is seen as an example of a Godly father that Timothy should follow and we should as well.

As I read several sermons,,, as I always do each week,,, I came across a sermon by Ken Anthony and in it he had a list of six attributes of a Godly father and he used each letter of the word father to help us remember them and the way that they pertain to a church father.

Beginning with the letter "F" in father,,, the F stands for "Faithful".

They are first faithful to God,,, and trust God with all their heart, soul and mind.

They believe that God will take care of them and their families,,, that God's promises are true.

They believe in bringing the family to church and are faithful when help is needed.

All of these same qualities are present in our church fathers.

Unless all of us have the faith in God that we need to live a full and joyful life,,, this church will suffer greatly!

The letter "A" in father stands for action.

Whenever their families or the church needs them,,, they don't hesitate to work.

They try to teach others by their examples of unselfish work.

Our church fathers are always in action in many ways.

They are always cutting grass, repairing whatever is broken, moving furniture, continuously working.

The letter "T" in father stands for Teacher.

Good fathers are teachers and prepare their children to enter into adulthood and face the world of today.

Also our church fathers are teachers by their example and teachings.

If we pay attention to them we will all be prepared.

The letter "H" in father stands for Hope.

Good fathers are the source of hope and inspiration for their families.

Good fathers are the pillars of strength and tell us everything will be alright when things don't go right.

In the same way,,, our church fathers keep us inspired and hopeful.

They don't let us get down and help us stay on the right track when things go wrong as well.

Good fathers also trust their children and encourage them to fulfill their dreams and plan for the future,,, both here in this life and their eternity.

Likewise,,, our church fathers trust us and encourage us to fulfill our dreams and plan for the future,,, again here in this life and our eternity.

The letter "E" in father stands for Example.

Good fathers are positive role models and children will copy their example.

Therefore fathers need to be good husbands, live moral lives and treat people with dignity and respect.

As the home's spiritual leader,,, good fathers take an active part in their children's spiritual development.

Again,,, our church fathers are positive role models and we should follow their example of treating others with dignity and respect.

Church fathers take an active part in the church by taking an interest in others spiritual development.

Finally,,, the letter "R" in father stands for reliable.

Good fathers are reliable, responsible and consistent.

They are also helpful in times of crisis.

Church fathers are also reliable, responsible and consistent.

We couldn't make it without the dedication of everyone that helps,,, whether it's during times that we just need help accomplishing something,,, during times of trouble,,, or,,, when things need to be fixed.

(12:29)

Today,,, I don't think that anyone will argue with me,,, that we live in a crazy mixed up world that is often anything but Godly.

We need to continue to be vigilant and aware that the secular culture is always trying to influence us and our children to reject God and live our life for ourselves.

This is nothing new but we need to always be reminded of these things happening.

That's why church fathers are always so important for our communities because it's what the men of the church do here in the church and outside these walls,,, during the rest of the week that helps so many see that they need God in their lives.

The church can make a huge difference if we take seriously our need,,, as well as the opportunity,,, to be seen as church fathers.

Paul wrote in :

14 I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children. 15 For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

Paul wanted us to imitate him and we should set an example like Paul so that others can imitate us.

We need to live so that others can see the love of God in us that they really need at this time.

So as we leave here today to celebrate fathers day however each of you have plans for,,, remember as you go about your week to continue to be someone that can be seen as a church father in our communities.

Because that may be the only glimpse of God that they will see,,, and it's our responsibility to show them if we can!

So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page -

Seminary - Hymn Page - 467