Good morning                                                               

 

So what is it that every dad wants for Father=s Day?

 

Are they looking for a special tie, picked out by their children?

Are they looking for something that represents the love for them or some aspect of their personality?

 

Do they want a new multi functioning remote control that will operate every appliance in the house?

 

Do they want breakfast in bed or to go out for lunch?

Maybe it is sports illustrated magazine or some new tool.

 

What is it that dads really want for Father=s Day?

Well I just don=t know.

 

So I hope it is some laughter to start the day.

 

In honor of Father=s Day I am going to read a little from an E-mail that I received not too long ago.

 

It was the top 50 reasons why it was good to be a man.  I have put together my own top 10 from that list.  They are as follows:

 

10. Your last name never changes

9.   You can drop by to see a friend without bringing a little gift

8.   There is always a game on somewhere

7.   One wallet, one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons

6.   Price of a wedding dress- $2000, price for a tux rental- $100

5.   If someone forgets to invite you to something, he can still be your friend

4.   You can go to a public restroom without a support group

3.   If another guy shows up at the same party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong buddies

2.   You can do your nails with a pocketknife

1.   Your pals can be trusted never to trap you with, ASo...notice anything different?

 

Now when Bill asked me to fill in for him, I had no problem with saying yes.  Then I found out that he was going to be gone on Father=s Day.  So as I began thinking of what would be an appropriate topic for this special day, I had several important things that I thought every man should hear.  I thought of Matthew chapter 5 and the idea that husbands are to love their wives as Christ has loved to church, even to the point of death.  Also the idea of the Lost son in Luke and how the father forgave his son and embraced him when he came back to the father.  These and a few other ideas had crossed my mind.

 

Finally I heard a song on the radio that helped me make up my mind about today=s topic.

The song was Walk a Little Straighter, and it was from a sons point of view as he was walking in his father=s footsteps.  When hearing this song I decided to focus on how fathers, and mothers as well need to teach and lead their children.

 

In Ephesians 6:4 it says, A1"

 

Now this can happen in two ways.  One is by example, fathers and mothers need to provide their children with a Godly example to follow.  The second way is by verbal teaching.

 

These two ideas can be summed up in two words from the scripture. 

 

Training and Instruction.

 

Now though these words seem to mean the same thing there is an important difference between them.

 

Training is the way that we teach them using our example.  It is what we do.

 

Instruction is the way that we teach them using words.  It is what we say.

 

As I begin this morning I want to first look at how you are to model the Christian life to your children.

 

A father says, Ayou better get ready.  The bus will be here in a minute to pick you up and take you to Sunday school.@  The boy asked, Adid you go to Sunday school when you were a boy?@  The father replied, AYes I did.@  The boy said as he was getting dressed, Awell it probably won=t do me any good either!@

 

Obviously the son here could not see the good that Sunday school had done for his father because the father probably didn=t go to church anymore and was not modeling the Christian character that he should have been modeling to his son.

 

 

 

Now I think that some times when we give examples of things that it is good to provide a poor example of what we are talking about.

 

In the book of I Samuel chapters 1-3 we find that poor example of a father that I am talking about.

 

In these chapters we hear of Eli and how he was too busy for his own children.  Though he was  successful outwardly, he was not raising his children in a Godly manner.

 

Eli=s two sons were not following the Lord and it was due to the father not leading them in that direction.  The two sons had turned from God.

 

In Proverbs 22:6 it says, A2"                                                                             

 

Eli did not do this and in turn his children turned from the Lord.

 

Now we do have an example of a good father and that is in the form of Job.

 

If you will turn with me to Job chapter 1 and in verses 1-5 we will see that example of a good father.

 

A3"

 

In these verses we see Job setting a good example for his kids.  Also he takes the role as the spiritual leader and he made the necessary sacrifices.

In verse one we see his character and that is upright and blameless.

 

Verses 1-3 also give us what his priorities were, and they were in the proper order for his children to model.  Verse one mentions God, verse two is family, and verse three is the occupation.  In just these three verses we see how Job sets his priorities, God, Family, Then his Job.

 

Job wanted his children to have a good relationship with God, so he took the initiative in verse 5 and he made the necessary sacrifices in order to show an example to his children of how to follow God.

 

Job had a singular focus, and you must too.  The bible says that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  If you are torn between Christ and anything else you will not be able to provide a singular and Godly focus.  If you are one way on Sunday and a different way when it comes to other things in your life, you are showing your children that it is ok and they many times will follow in the same way.  What they see from you they will probably do. 

 

It is critical that we are the same people at home that we are at church.  People around us should not be able to detect the difference in us.

 

When trouble comes your way, you teach your kids whether God is real and can be trusted by how you handle the problem.  Do you cheat to avoid the hassle or lie to get out of trouble?  Do you trust God to meet your needs and teach your kids that they can do the same?  Seeing a parent who trusts and has faith in God, even in bad situations will strengthen a child=s faith more that any lesson they receive in church.

 

Another thing that we must watch is the way we speak and the way we treat others.  If younger people don=t see the relationship between our speech and how we treat others with our beliefs and church attendance, they will never feel the need to attend church themselves.  We have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.  We can not tell children, Ado as I say, not as I do.@  They may not be at liberty to imitate you openly now, but when they grow up into their adult life they will imitate you and your lifestyle.

 

 

 

As we look back at Job, he truly was the good example of how we are to live a life of example to the children around us.  This is the type of people that we all need to be.  We all need to show the younger generation how to follow Christ faithfully in the way that they see us.

 

We can demonstrate this in our daily prayer habits, study of the scripture, fellowship with others, and faithful participation in church services and activities.  If the kids see this from their parents they are more likely to copy that as they mature and begin their adult lives on their own.

 

Now the second thing that I want to address is the idea of instruction.  This is the teaching that is verbally given to your children.

 

In Psalms 78:1-8 it says, A4"

 

Then again we find a passage in Proverbs 9:9 and it says, A5"

 

These two scriptures clearly lay it out for us that we need to instruct our children and the next generations to follow in the Lord and provide them with the knowledge that we have been given.

 

It is not enough to live your faith, but you must also verbally instruct and explain why you have faith to the younger generation.  If you live a godly life and never fill in the blanks that arise in your child=s mind, they will never have a complete picture of a godly example.  Again we go back to the story of Eli, he was a godly man and a priest.  However he never instructed his children in that way and they turned from God and in turn they were destroyed.

 

If you will turn to Deuteronomy 11:18-21 we see that it says, A6"

 

Now these verses are of great importance.  In fact if you will turn back a few chapters to Deuteronomy 6:6-9 we find that these words are written almost exactly the same way.  If it was important enough to have in this single book twice to remind people of it, then it is definatly important enough for us to look at and to apply to our lives.

 

Here in these passages we are told of the importance of teaching these things to the children.  Not just to tell them, but tell them all of the time so that they will learn it.  Children need to be taught and they also need repetition in what they hear and see from the adults in their life.  Kids quickly forget lessons learned unless the lesson becomes a part of their everyday life.  These important things need to be taught to the youth today, and they need to be done verbally as well as visibly.

 

The role of the father and mother is to teach their faith to their children.  You need to teach and train, not preach to them.  Another important thing is that we need to start early.  It is harder to get them to understand and catch on to an idea when they get older than it is when they are at a young age.

 

When we see the consequences of sin, this is the perfect thing to use as a teaching tool.  ARemember when I taught you that....@ and it can be whatever the case may apply to.  Now I am not saying to teach your kids to look down on those who fail, but use the everyday opportunities as teaching tools and examples that we can easily fall into if we don=t follow God.  However if you have not already laid the groundwork by your lifestyle and verbal instruction, these teaching opportunities will not be as effective.

 

Now there are many different times to talk to your children about your faith.  The verses a minute ago listed some such as: when you sit down, when you are walking along the road, and when you lie down.  Some common ones could be: at dinner, on the way to school or other places, during free time, or when you get them ready for bed.

 

There is no better time to talk about things of God than at bedtime.  It is at this time that younger kids crave a routine, and a possible routine could be: get ready for bed, have a family prayer, individual prayer time, and then give them a separate time with both mom or dad to talk and to bond.  This provides a great opportunity to discuss religion and what you believe and to simply talk about God.  It doesn=t have to be just like this, but there does need to be a routine in place.

 

 

Parents can not teach their kids from a distance, or in a passing moment.  There must be an ongoing relationship and an ongoing routine that the parents can follow and be able to build the relationship and instill the things that they want their kids to know about God.

 

It is also important that the parents have a proper relationship with Christ first.  Because it is impossible to pass on to others what you do not have yourself..

 

Now as I said I feel that this is an important issue.  I feel that we need to make sure that we are living a Godly example and giving verbal instruction to the younger generations and especially to your children.

 

If we don=t give them an example and instruction then someone else will.  Rock artist Marilyn Manson who is in to several bad things and has songs that talk about death and killing said in an interview once to the parents of kids that listen to his music, AIf you don=t take care of your children, I will.@ 

 

This is an important issue, and we need to step up and act on it before someone else does.

 

The character of your children tomorrow, depends on what you put into their hearts today.

 

So as I go back to my first question this morning, what is it that Father=s want on Father=s Day?

 

The answer is simple, and that is to see their children begin to develop into godly adults like their parents.

 

To see them become Christian examples to others as they have seen in their parents, and to see them begin to pass on that verbal teaching that they had received.

 

Now I may be wrong, but I think that the best gift that a father could receive is to see a godly son or daughter arise from the teachings of himself and their mother.