First Church: Dads
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Big Idea:
Big Idea:
The church is by definition a gathering of God’s people. As a Pastor of a church I need to be continually reminded that my family is my first church and I am their Pastor first. But this is also true of any father. He is the Pastor, he is the Shepherd, he is the Overseer of his family.
What is Biblical Fatherhood?
What is Biblical Fatherhood?
In his outline of the qualification for an Overseer (Pastor/Elder) in , Paul specifically calls out an Overseer’s role as a father. He says:
4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
1 Tim
As fathers, I want us to this as our primary role, we are to Oversee our families. Whether you work for a church, construction company, consulting firm or anything else your family is your first church. As Fathers, we have been given little disciples that we have the responsibility, the primary responsibility, to raise up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Can’t just be the fun parent.
Q: What is the hardest part of being a Father for you?
when stress comes
i’m a perfectionist
communucation
sickness
‘you are not in this with me’
sarcastic
1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
The Character of a Father
The Character of a Father
Our vision is to see every Father functioning as a Pastor of his family and living out the qualifications of an overseer.
“2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
Q: Which of these traits to you most struggle with?
Col 3:
Where do we learn how to Father?
Where do we learn how to Father?
1. The Character of God.
1. The Character of God.
God is referred to as Father for a reason. Our best source of what it means to be a biblical father is looking to our Heavenly Father and how he parents his children.
This is what a Father looks like.
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Q: What strikes you from these verses?
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Q: What does this revelation of God’s name reveal to us about being a father?
2. God’s Word, specifically the Book of Proverbs
2. God’s Word, specifically the Book of Proverbs
Proverbs is a book of instruction that is literally written from the perspective of a father to a son.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
1 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
3 When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, 4 he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.
Prov 4:3
10 Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. 11 I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
Q: Anything strike you as we read those?
starting youg
presence of a father
to heart of a father — to live
3. Our Earthly Fathers
3. Our Earthly Fathers
We tend to do what our fathers did, or try to do the opposite. Either way our fathers form a framework for how we understand our roles as fathers.
4. The World
4. The World
Our society has no shortage of books on parenting. Furthermore, fatherhood is presented in all kinds of ways in movies, shows and books. The image of Homer Simpson was perhaps one of the most telling shifts of what a father is in our society. Rather than the picture of a strong, humble, confident, tender, responsible protector we are given in the Bible, Homer is a picture a fat, lazy, dumb, irresponsible, weak, selfish father.
Q: Which of these four influences has been the primary influence on your fathering?
The vision is not just for you or your families but for the generations to come. marriages in particular and families in general are what hold a society together.
Appeal to the Bible as the source of authority. Grandma knew what she was doing. Parenting is not done in the laboratory but in the home.
This was a big one for Ryan — culture gives us quick, step by step stuff but the bible doesn’.
Parenting is ultimately discipling and discipling is a slow process.
God is ultimately the parent of our kids.
You are the Spiritual Leader of your Family
You are the Spiritual Leader of your Family
Leadership in the home begins with the Father. This is what the Bible means by the term headship. Ultimately responsibility for the health of the family rests with the father. This is why in God addresses Adam before Eve, because Adam had ultimate responsibility for his family.
How are we leading our children?
How are we leading our wives?
How are we leading ourselves?
Are we leading in sacrifice? In submission? In repentance? In worship? In our devoting daily? In prayer?
How do we do this?
How do we do this?
By the Power of God’s Word
By the Power of God’ Spirit
By the Power of God’s Grace
Together with God’s People
Q: How can we as ‘busy’ fathers be in community together?
weekly may not happen
but regularly, maybe monthly in person
is there a digital space that could work
Tension in getting together time of day.
Challenge on technology n
Tentative on sat 9am