Father's Day - 2022

Toes getting stepped on today, guys. Anyone not OK with that, you are free to leave, seriously.

ILLUST: Stats

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.4 million children, 1 in 4, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home.*

According to LifeWay Research Group, Fathers Day is the holiday with the single lowest average church attendance – statistically lower than Labor Day, Memorial Day and even the Fourth of July.

According to data collected by Baptist Press, if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only 1 child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults

If a mother does not go to church, but a father does, a minimum of two-thirds of their children will end up attending church. In contrast, if a father does not go to church, but the mother does, on average two-thirds of their children will not attend church.

When both parents attend Bible study in addition to the Sunday service, 72% of their children attend Sunday school when grown. When only the father attends Sunday school, 55% of the children attend when grown. When only the mother attends Sunday school, 15% of the children attend when grown. When neither parent attends Sunday school, only 6% of the children attend when grown.

Another survey found that if a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5% probability everyone else in the household will follow. If the mother is the first to become a Christian, there is a 17% probability everyone else in the household will follow. However, when the father is first, there is a 93% probability everyone else in the household will follow.

Here’s the point of all these statistics: Dad’s impact on the kids’ faith and practice is HUGE.

USA - Present Day

Gonna focus a bit on problems, issues, and understand this, the solution is clear, and right in front of us, hidden in plain sight

MORAL ISSUES

Abortion

Same-sex marriage

Lack of marriage - co-habitation

Immoral/Corrupt leadership

Marriage/Family - Divorce

CHURCH ISSUES

Bible illiteracy

Diluted faith - no firm teaching on repentance, hell, sin,

William Booth (Salvation Army) - “...I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be: Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell.”

Lukewarm faith

Lack of service in the local church

What’s the Problem?

I mean, we live in America, life is generally good

Can we at least agree there IS a problem?

As for me, I’m not a big “treat the symptoms” kinda person, I want to get at the root cause - THEN I can do something about it.

Psalm 78: 1-8, sets the tone (READ)

Possibly written toward end of David’s life - God’s people had seen faithful and unfaithful, prosperity and persecution

Life lessons learned? Not really.

“Ephraim” - refused to take God’s Word seriously

“Wilderness” - persistent pattern of rebellion, taught their sons to focus on themselves, more important than serving the Lord; showed they thought they could just “show up” now and then and all would just work out OK

Biblical Template for Fathers Wanting to See Cultural Change

1) Listen and Learn

Truth - we DO listen and we DO learn, but what....? What are we learning, what are we listening to?

We can tell what’s important to people. Look at the key issues coming up in the Illinois governor race, polled about most important issue, in order...

Economy, Corruption, Crime, Taxes, Second amendment, Abortion

Life is so important that it’s 6th on the list, and it’s not even close to the economy

Consider what the Lord is teaching, what He wants you to learn

The psalmist knows that He has given numerous opportunities to learn, prophets sent, over and over

This generation had learned from their fathers, so how were they doing?

They DID learn from fathers, but what?

Just like them, we teach, all the time - our kids watch and learn

So what were they purposefully taking time to teach? What are we?

“But I don’t know that much about God, Bible, etc.” It’s OK, your kids know that, so humbly listen, learn, and watch kids respond

2) Do - Then Teach

Best summed up for us in James 1:22

James 1:22 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

In the psalm, the older generation “did not hide the deeds of the Lord,” but they taught them, they recalled them, refusing to forget them, so they could teach them

But the ones doing this were few, and their culture, their nation, suffered because of that.

Teaching the next generation is not an option, but an obligation!

2 Tim. 2:1-7 speaks of this as well

You are teaching what you know, and what’s important to you

If serving the Lord, being involved in church, learning His Word, praying, are not priorities and important to you, then you are teaching that to your children and family

And if you are teaching that to them, what do you expect our culture and it’s future to be like? Be honest.

Verse 2 of this psalm - this is wisdom that FATHERS teach sons, so they grow up to be FATHERS who teach their sons

Why is the USA not faithful to the LORD?

Because children are not taught to be

And what we now see are just the symptoms of a couple generations of this non-teaching

Prov. 22:6 says to train up a child - DADs, this is to YOU

This is not your wife’s job. This is not the job of your children’s mother

(Oh, they help, tremendously, thank you!)

3) Decide on a Future Plan

Is God allowing pain in our nation due to the failure of fathers and husbands? Good question.

Look around, fathers and husbands are not getting it done overall.

It’s easy to look around and complain about the state of the state, the nation.

Guys, if you are willing to just let someone else do this work, then stop complaining about what you see on the news. Just STOP, because you are not helping.

CHALLENGE

Father’s Day - to enjoy your special day?

How about this, on Father’s Day, decide to be a father, and teach your children about God, the reason He gave you children.

But it’s hard! SO WHAT??? Is it worth it?

What better is there to do than to be faithful and serve the Lord?

What do you have better to do than be here, with God’s people, and worship and serve Him

But I’m a guy, I’ll look weak if I get all “Godly” like my wife.

(I don’t even have a response for that, dare you to meet Peter and call him weak…)

Why are you letting the ladies do the hard spiritual work? Really, WHY??

Your job is to lead your children to Christ and show them how to follow Him

NOT MOM’S JOB - she’s got plenty else to do (she can help, of course)

Then, your son will teach his children

Or your daughter will marry a Godly man who will teach their children, and she will help him.

THAT’S THE PLAN

Upset with culture? Then stop talking and DO

We talk big. How about we lead our families - spiritually? Our wives are desperate for us to do that.

“I’d do anything for my wife and family” - REALLY?? GOOD, start here.

Teach your children, young or otherwise. Lead your wife, not the other way around. (That’s God’s Word and His plan)

Psalm 78 is a humble reminder:

Cultures, nations crumble when ONE thing happens - when husbands and fathers fail to follow, fail to lead, and fail to teach.

Welcome to 2022 America

You can’t fix the nation - so start with your family, you can affect and fix that

And if you are already doing this? AMEN!

Learn, Do, Decide

Must learn from the past failures of ancestors

Must learn to be faithful to the LORD

Then you can lead and teach

Then you can raise up a generation that will have the same opportunity.

Those in charge now have forgotten God, turned their backs on Him

So you can learn from them and repeat that

Or you can learn from the LORD, and teach the next generation about serving Him

Break the pattern, and get busy serving Him

IF....it matters what to you that your children and grandchildren love and serve the LORD

It’s hard! Yes it is, that’s why God never leaves you alone to do it on your own.