SF291 - THE TRAITS THAT MAKE A FATHER GREAT (1 Thessalonians 2 6-12)

@PAGE NUMBER = SF291

@TITLE = THE TRAITS THAT MAKE A FATHER GREAT

@LEVEL ONE = 1 THESSALONIANS 2:6‑12

@LEVEL ONE = INTRODUCTION

@LEVEL TWO = Children form their opinion of their heavenly Father based on their earthly father.

@ILL TITLE = A FATHER'S LOVE

@ILL TEXT = The Presbyterian minister Paul Dwight Moody, son of the famous evangelist, gave a touching account of how his dad demonstrated the Heavenly Father's loving concern for His children.  The incident happened when Paul was only 10 years old, but the influence of that event left an indelible impression on his young life.  He wrote, "My father had told me to go to bed, but I misunderstood.  I thought he meant after I had finished my conversation with a young friend who was visiting our home with an older person.  So I continued talking and having fun.  A little later he came into the room again and saw that I had not obeyed him.  Speaking with that directness of which he was capable, he ordered me to bed at once.  His brusque tone of voice was new to me, and I retreated, frightened and in tears. But before I had time to fall asleep, he was at my bedside.  He explained that he had reprimanded me because I had disobeyed him, but this in no way indicated that he didn't love me.  As he knelt to pray with me, I noticed that tears were falling down over his rugged, bearded face.

@ILL TEXT = "That was nearly half a century ago," Paul Moody continued, "but I'll never forget the scene.  My father had unknowingly awakened within me the consciousness of the love of God.  No sermon on the Lord's compassion for His children has cast so much light on that subject as my dad's huge figure sympathetically bending over my bed in the twilight."

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@LEVEL ONE = 1A. A SINCERE AFFECTION (v.8a)

@LEVEL TWO = 1B. Deep Feelings

@LEVEL FOUR = Pictures a father holding a child tenderly and feeling himself drawn to the little one.

@LEVEL TWO = 2B. Demonstrated Feelings

@LEVEL FOUR = The Prodigal Son

@LEVEL FOUR = Best communication comes through body language

@LEVEL ONE = 2A. A TRANSPARENT LIFE (v.8b)

@LEVEL TWO = 1B. Must Be Visible

@LEVEL FOUR = Do not become a recluse

@LEVEL TWO = 2B. Must Be Approachable

@LEVEL FOUR = Not always right

@LEVEL TWO = 3B. Must Be Vulnerable

@LEVEL FOUR = Let them see you hurt

@ILL TITLE = CONCRETE PERCEPTION

@ILL TEXT = Children perceive life in concrete terms rather than in abstract.  Abstract ideas like faith become real only as they see you live them.

@ILL TITLE = STAINED‑GLASS CHRISTIANS

@ILL TEXT = Jo Sommer, writing an article in Sunshine Magazine, included the following lines of verse written by an anonymous poet: Others may be stained glass of rainbow hue; I would be a windowpane for the sun to shine through. A clear glass, a clean glass is what I would be, Unconcerned with temperament and personality. I would have the sun shine through me, so my friends would say ‑‑ Not 'What a lovely pane!" but 'What a lovely day!'"

@PAGE NUMBER = Page 3

@LEVEL ONE = 3A. AN UNSELFISH DILIGENCE (v.9)

@LEVEL THREE = Notice the descriptive terms:

@LEVEL TWO = 1B. Toil

@SCRIPTURE = kopos, kop'‑os; from a cut, i.e. (by anal.) toil (as reducing the strength), lit. or fig.; by impl. pains:‑labor, + trouble, weariness.

@LEVEL FOUR = Being a father is hard work

@LEVEL TWO = 2B. Hardship

@SCRIPTURE = mochthos, (by impl.) sadness:‑painfulness, travail.

@LEVEL FOUR = Being a father can be painful

@LEVEL TWO = 3B. Burden

@SCRIPTURE = epibareo, from to be heavy upon, i.e. (pecuniarily) to be expensive to; fig. to be severe towards:‑be chargeable to, overcharge.

@LEVEL FOUR = Fathers must carry their own weight and then some.

@LEVEL ONE = 4A. AN AUTHENTIC FAITH (v.10)

@LEVEL TWO = 1B. Holy ‑Devoted to God

@LEVEL TWO = 2B. Righteous ‑ Conform to God's laws

@LEVEL TWO = 3B. Blameless ‑ Reveals the degree of devotion to God and morality in conduct ‑ spotless

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@LEVEL ONE = 5A. A POSITIVE INFLUENCE (vv.11‑12)

@LEVEL TWO = 1B. Encouraging

@SCRIPTURE = parakaleo, to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation)

@LEVEL TWO = 2B. Comforting

@SCRIPTURE = paramutheomai,  to relate near, i.e. (by impl.) encourage, console:‑comfort.

@LEVEL TWO = 3B. Urging

@SCRIPTURE = mastigoo, to flog (lit. or fig.):‑scourge.

@SCRIPTURE = HEB 12:6<R>because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he *punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

@LEVEL TWO = 4B. Purpose (v.12)

@LEVEL ONE = CONCLUSION

@ILL TITLE = ON THE WINGS OF EAGLES

@ILL TEXT = We are told that and eagle flies under the baby eaglets in order to catch them if they fall while learning to fly.  In this way, God pictures the ready refuge we may expect from Him.

@ILL TEXT = This is a far cry from the father who waits to pounce upon his child's every mistake and to make the child fear to be anywhere near the father when he falls.

@ILL TEXT = God's perfect fatherliness is one of loving care, realizing that falls will come.

@LEVEL TWO = What Kind Of Father Are You?