Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

      I love boating and although I have a fascination with canoeing and sailng, there is nothing like sitting in the drivers seat of a power boat with an inboard motor and pushing the throttle and feeling the boat come quickly out of the water and begin planeing along the surface of the water at high speed.

That's power and you have control of it at your finger tips.

A few years ago we drove to Arizona to visit my mom.

We drove there with our four cylinder Buick and every time we went up a hill, we had to slow down because the power was not there.

When we were visiting, I drove my mother's 1962 Buick Riviera.

It has 455 cubic inch V8 engine.

What a difference!

Now that is power, and I had control of that power.

It was great.

As men, we.

like power and we like to use power.

We also have great power available to us personally.

But power is a two edged sword.

It can be used to destroy or it can be used to build.

Atomic power can be unleashed in a bomb and destroy everything in its way.

It can also be harnessed and be used to produce energy that can fuel a city.

This morning I would like to focus on the power of a man in fathering.

We as fathers have great power at our disposal.

How will we use that power?

!

I.                   The Power of a Father

      Just as atomic energy can destroy or build, so we can use our power as fathers to break or build our children.

!! A.                 Power to Break

      The Bible gives us examples of fathering that destroyed.

Although a good man himself, Eli was not effective as a father.

He was destructive in using his power as a father.

We read in I Samuel 3:13, "For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them."

Eli did not use his power as a father wisely and as a result had a negative influence on his sons.

We have recently studied David and have seen how he was not a successful father.

He had great power as a king and also as a father, but he did not use that power wisely and also lost his sons.

We read in II Samuel 14:21,24, "The king said to Joab, "Very well, I will do it.

Go, bring back the young man Absalom."..."But the king said, "He must go to his own house; he must not see my face."

So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king."

Power used negatively is destructive of families.I read recently that men are involved 90 % of child and spousal abuse cases.

"A child's heart is easily bruised.

Easily torn.

Easily broken.

And once seriously damaged, no team of surgeons in God's world can repair it.

Only the Almighty Himself has the skill to restore its original balance, potential, and capacities."

One of the saddest stories I have read about a father using his power to destroy is the following.

"I was just 12 when my Boy Scout troop planned a father-son camp-out...I was thrilled and could hardly wait to rush home and give my father all the information.

I wanted to show him all I'd learned in scouting, and I was so proud when he said he'd go with me."

      "The Friday of the camp-out finally came, and I had all my gear out on the porch, ready to stuff in his car the moment he arrived.

We were to meet at the local school at 5:00 pm. and car pool to the campground.

But Dad didn't get home until 7:00 pm.

      "I was frantic, but he explained how things had gone wrong at work and told me not to worry.

We could still get up first thing in the morning and join the others.

After all, we had a map.

I was disappointed, of course, but decided to just make the best of it.

"First thing in the morning, I was up and had everything in his car while it was still getting light, all ready for us to catch up with my friends and their fathers at the campground.

He had said we'd leave around 7:00, and I was ready a half hour before that.

But he never got up until 9:30.

"When he saw me standing out front with the camping gear, he finally explained that he had a bad back and couldn't sleep on the ground.

He hoped I'd understand and that I'd be a `big boy' about it... but could I please get my stuff out of his car because he had several `commitments' he had to keep.

"That's when I realized that my dad never meant to go with me to the campout.

He just didn't have the guts ot tell me."

      "How do you restore the capacity to trust after trust has been shattered like that."

!! B.                 Power to Build

      Fortunately, fathers not only have the power to destroy, but also to build.

We read in the Bible about Samuel's parents.

Most often we read about his mother, but his father was also instrumental in the good parenting that went on there.

We read in I Samuel 1:3,23, "Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh..."..."Do what seems best to you," Elkanah her husband told her. "Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word."

So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him."

It was Samuel's father who was faithful in worship attendance and lead his family in worship.

We also notice that he was supportive of his wife and helped her in discerning God's will and in directing her to God's way.

It is great to read stories of faithful parenting.

"After her father's death, Sara went through some of his personal things.

Opening his Bible, she came across a pressed rosebud and two ticket stubs.

Suddenly, the memories came flooding back.

During her insecure, unsettling, and terribly important teenage years, her father had... used his power for good.

"I grew up in a poor family in the late 40's.

My father loved us very much and worked extremely hard to keep five kids in shoes and clothes.

but still, most of our clothes were hand-me-downs from the missionary barrel at church.

"During high school, I struck gold with a wealthy family at church who needed a baby-sitter.

I saved my money, and then one night, I wrote up a special invitation to my father, asking if he would go out with me on a special "date" the next evening.

"My father responded by picking up flowers on his way home from work, then brushing off and putting on his only nice suit--usually resserved for weddings or funerals.

"After all, "he said, "it's not often you get to go out with the `belle of the ball.'"

"We went to a local restaurant and had hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes.

Then we went to see a show, and we walked home together, arm in arm.

"I'll never forget how he hugged me when we got home, and how he told me he loved me, prayed for me and was proud of me."

      "Looking at those ticket stubs and faded rose from a special night nearly half a century ago, Sara realized how the power of that memory had warmed her days and encouraged her heart through all the intervenening years.

No matter what others may have thought of her, her father thought she was the "belle of the ball."

No matter what she accomplished or failed to accomplish, she could still close her eyes and see the pride glistening in ther father's eyes."

!

II.

Using Our Power to Build

      As fathers, we have great power with our children and our wives.

How can we use our power to build relationships and to help them become the best people they can be?

We will not gain our children by using the power we have as men or by the power we have because we are the head of the home or the power we have because of our place in society.

We will be most effective with the power of love.

Jesus was the Son of God.

He had power over the wind and the waves, he had power over life and death.

And yet in his relationship with the disciples and others around him, he set aside that power and used the power of love.

The Pharisees expected a power Messiah, He had that kind of power, but he also had personal power to change lives through love and kindness.

He used the personal power of love in order to always seek our best.

How did Jesus do that?

How can we as fathers do that?

!! A.                 Honor

      We know that the Bible tells children to honor their parents.

But have we ever realized that we can also find teaching that encourages us to honor our children?

Jesus is our example here.