Good morning.  Gift Five Away

The newest father

The man that plays the most instruments

The man that has most recently been pulled over

The man that has most recently changed his own oil

The man that has most recently been to the dentist

Well on Mother’s Day I began the service with some funnies, and today here are a couple for the guys.

“You,” said the doctor to his patient, “are in terrible shape, and unless something is done you’re going to die.  You’re under too much stress, and you’re not eating right.  Tell your wife that she must start cooking more nutritious meals.  And to help reduce the stress, have her keep the kids off your back so you can relax.  Then make a budget, and tell her she has to stick to it.  If she’ll do all this, you should recover completely.  Otherwise, you’ll be dead in a month.”

Obviously shaken, the patient said, “Doc, would you call my wife before I get home and give her those instructions?”  When he got home, his wife rushed to him.  “I just talked to the doctor,” she wailed.  “Poor man, you only have 30 days to live.”

Well guys, as long as we are alive, it is better to be a man.  Last year I had 10 reasons, and this year I have a new top 5 reasons why it is better to be a man.

5. When clicking through the channels, you don’t have to stall at every shot of somebody crying.

4. Car mechanics will tell you the truth.

3. A five day vacation only requires one suitcase.

2. Phone call can be over in 30 seconds flat.

1. Grey hair and wrinkles only add character.

All kidding aside, today is a very special day that we can honor not only dad’s, but we as a church are also honoring men.  To begin, I would like to start off with prayer.  Pray

It’s Father’s Day, and the very first national celebration of this day was 81 years ago today, on June 19, 1924, by proclamation of President Calvin Coolidge.  But it all came about because of the efforts of Sonora Smart Dodd.

Sonora was sitting in church in 1909 listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when the idea of Father’s Day first came to mind.  Having been raised by her father after her mother’s death, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her for all his parental sacrifices and for being, in her eyes, so courageous, selfless, and loving.  Through her efforts, President Coolidge designated the 3rd Sunday of June as “Father’s Day.”  And our nation has been celebrating it ever since.

When a man becomes a father, he isn’t given some sort of rulebook on how to conduct himself.  No one tells a man how to manage his household.  It is something he picks up from a couple of very important sources: First, from the way his own father treated him.  How he grew up as a child and interacted with his dad helps to teach him how to be a father to his children.  Second is what he learns from his relationship with God and by the Word of God.

You know, we heard a poem read this morning, and we listened to a song, that said I See Me.  It was about a father seeing himself in his son.  Well that is the truth, you children, will usually resemble you.  But today, I also want to consider God, looking at us and wanting to see Himself in us as well.  In Genesis 1:26-27 it says, “1”

So I think that when God looks at us, He hopes to see a little of Him in us, just like an earthly father sees in his children.

Dr. James Dobson, in his book, “Dare To Discipline,” says, “Good fathers are made, not born.”  Then he goes on to suggest 3 specific things for a father to keep in mind.

#1 - Children oftentimes follow in the footsteps of their father.  During the earliest years of a child’s life he or she usually spends a great deal of time with the mother.  But the passing years bring a change, and the father often becomes the example in attitude and in action that a child follows.

Like it or not, the example that a father sets about God, and the church, and spiritual things will make a permanent impression upon a child’s life.  Someone said, “Fathers are followed,” and this is not something that we can just turn over to mother to handle.  The father should be a spiritual leader in the home.

#2 - The 2nd thing he suggests is that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.  Next to his own close and personal relationship with God, a father’s top priority should be to love his wife.  Paul tells the Ephesian husbands and yes it is still relevent to men today to love their wives “…just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” In Ephesians 5:25.  If there is that kind of love in the family, then that home is blessed indeed.

#3 - Thirdly, a Christian father will arrange to spend time with his children.  No matter how fathers try to escape this idea, the fact remains that ultimately we control our time and can pretty well decide how we spend it.  Fathers, I can say without a doubt that the idea of being a good father and a good husband is the most challenging responsibility that we can ever face. 

Every father wants to be a good father to his children.  Since almost 40% of kids grow up without dad at home, we know there has to be another source of example for the developing dad, and that’s the example we have in Jesus Christ.  The best dads take their example from Jesus Christ and pass the legacy of the Lord on to their family.  The legacy of Christ’s love is the greatest gift a father can give, and to be like Jesus in the way we manage our household is the greatest expression of love a dad can give to his family.
So, to be a good father you need a model, an example of a father that you can pattern yourself after.  Where do you find such a father?  Where do you look?  Is there such a thing as a perfect father?  Well, as a matter of fact there is.  And today we are going to look at being a father by looking at God, the perfect Father.  And men, if you don’t have any children, some day you probably will, or at least you will impact others around you, so listen carefully.

First we see that GOD LOVES HIS CHILDREN
There are many passages of scripture that speak of God’s love for His children.  And I could spend the entire rest of this sermon quoting them – and many of them are familiar to us.  But just think about these two:

in I John 4:19 John writes, “We love because He first loved us.”  Wow! What a thought for us to consider!
And again in Romans 5:8 we read, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God did not wait for us to meet His expectations.  He did not wait for us to make Him proud.  He did not wait until we measured up to His standards.  He simply loved us and He loved us first.  God’s love for us is complete, constant, and unconditional.  We cannot earn it.  We cannot escape it.  We cannot erase it.  He may be angry when we disobey Him, or saddened when we stray from Him, but He never, ever stops loving us.

Listen to the apostle Paul in Romans 8:38-39 when he says, “2”

Erma Bombeck wrote something that is rather intriguing.  She wrote:
“When the Lord was creating fathers he started with a tall frame.  An angel standing nearby said, ‘What kind of father is that?  If you’re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high?  He won’t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling.  He won’t be able to tuck a child into bed without bending.  He won’t even be able to kiss a child without stooping.’  God smiled and said, ‘Yes, but if I make him child size, who will the children have to look up to?’

“And when God made the father’s hands, they were large…. The angel shook his head and said, ‘I don’t think you want to make hands like that.  Large hands are clumsy.  They can’t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails, or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats.’  “God smiled again and said, ‘I know, but they’re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of the day – yet small enough to cup a child’s face in his hands.’

“Then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders.  The angel nearly had a heart attack.  ‘Boy, this is the end of the week, all right!’ he said.  ‘How’s he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?’  “God smiled and said, ‘A mother needs a lap but a father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle, or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus.’

“God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could not be contained any longer.  ‘That’s not fair,’ he said.  ‘Do you honestly think that those large boats are going to get out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries?  Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least 3 of the guests?’  “Again God smiled, and He said, ‘They’ll work.  You’ll see.  They’ll scare off mice at a summer cabin, or leave footprints that will be a challenge to follow.’

“God worked throughout the night, giving the father few words, but a firm voice and eyes that saw everything.  Finally, almost as an afterthought, he added tears.  Then He turned to the angel and said, ‘Now are you satisfied that he can love as much as a mother?’  And the angel was silent!”

Yes, God does love His children – and so should every one!

Secondly, we find that GOD ENCOURAGES HIS CHILDREN
A psychologist tells about going to school as a little boy and failing a test in math.  So the teacher wrote a note and sent it home with him.  It said, “Your son doesn’t have an aptitude for mathematics.  He just can’t handle math.”

Well, his mom and dad sat him down and told him, “Son, I guess you just don’t have an aptitude for math.”  “So from then on I flunked every test in math,” he said.  “I never could do anything in math.”

“Then one day the teacher put a problem on the board and asked the class to solve it.  But nobody could figure out the answer.  I looked at the problem and suddenly realized that I knew the answer.  So I held up my hand and everybody laughed because they knew I couldn’t solve it.”

“But I walked up to the blackboard, worked the problem, and came up with the right answer.  Then I realized that it wasn’t my lack of aptitude at all.  It was just that everybody had told me I couldn’t do math, and because I believed that I didn’t even try.”

Now contrast that with how God throughout Scripture encouraged his children.  He encouraged Moses at the burning bush when He told him to deliver the nation of Israel.  He encouraged Joshua as Joshua set out to conquer the Promised Land.  He not only encouraged them with His words, but with His presence, and with His assistance.

In Joshua 1:9 it says, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

God saw the things his children could do and He encouraged them to go out and do them.  Sadly, many parents are more prone to send messages laced with criticism than with encouragement.

It is so important to watch our words.  The apostle Paul challenges us when he writes in Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Encouragement is a big key in developing those around you to do all that they can.

Thirdly, we see that GOD DISCIPLINES HIS CHILDREN
Just like a father here on earth, God disciplines His children as well.

Recently I heard a story about triplets, 3 young boys who got along well.  They saw everything alike.  They were loyal to each other.  If somebody got into trouble they wouldn’t tattle on each other.  A neighbor asked the father, “How in the world do you know which one to punish if there’s trouble?”

He said, “It’s easy.  I just send all 3 to bed without their supper.  And the next morning I spank the one with the black eye.”

Now I don’t know about his method of determining the guilty party.  But I do know this: God is good.  He is a loving father.  He is a perfect father.  His intentions and actions are never evil or unloving.  Yet He still disciplines His children.  He does not discipline in spite of His goodness, He disciplines because of His goodness.  He does not discipline in spite of His love, rather, He disciplines because of His love.
Deuteronomy 8:5 says, “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”

And in Proverbs 3:12 it says, “The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

And the Book of Hebrews it says in 12:10-11, “3”

The man who disciplines his children wisely is reflecting the character of God.  Parents discipline because they love their children.  It teaches them responsibility.  It teaches them that wrong actions have negative consequences.  It helps them to start living right.

Wrapping things up this morning, we see OUR RESPONSIBILITY
In the light of God’s love, encouragement and discipline, we must realize that it is our responsibility to bring our children up in the training and in the instruction of the Lord.

I think that acknowledging God and worshiping Him ought to be a habit, the best habit we can ever have.  Again, I think we have to begin when children are very young.

Psalm 78, Deuteronomy 6, and so many Bible passages tell us to teach our children as we sit down and as we stand up, as we walk along and as we lie down, and to pass on from one generation to the next the instructions of God so that they won’t be stiff necked and rebellious.

Now we can do that in a right way, or we can do that in a wrong way.  We can create misconceptions about God in the home.  A parable is told about 3 fathers who each felt the soft hand of his child in his own hand and realized the responsibility of teaching his child about God.

One felt the awesome responsibility that was his, so he taught the child about the power and the might of God.  As they walked down the pathway of life and came to the tall trees in the forest, he pointed to them and said, "God made them and God can cause them to come crashing down anytime He wants to."  As they walked in the hot sun he said, "This is God’s sun.  He made it and He can cause it to be so hot and so intense that the plants in the field will wither and die."

Again and again he hammered home the power of God and how the child must be obedient to God.  Then one day they came face to face with God, and the child hid behind his father, afraid even to look, refusing to put his hand into the hand of God.

The second father also realized his responsibility to teach his child about God.  Hurriedly, he tried to teach all the important lessons he knew.  As they looked at the trees they only stopped for a moment to gaze at them.  As they looked at the flowers of the field they hurried on by.  He told stories, but they were hurried and crammed together.  He filled the child full of facts, but he never taught him how to live, or to love God.

Finally, one day, at twilight they came face to face with God, but the child only gave God a casual glance and then turned away.

The third father felt the touch of a tender hand in his and adjusted his steps to the tiny steps of the child.  They walked along, stopping to look at all of God’s beauty and grandeur.  They walked in the fields and picked the flowers.  They felt the delicate petals and smelled their fragrance.  They watched a bird in flight, and another building her nest and laying her eggs and sitting on them until they hatched. 

They watched all of the beauties of nature while the father told his child stories about God over and over again.  Finally, one day in the twilight they saw the face of God, and without hesitation, the child placed his hand trustingly into the hand of His heavenly Father.

So what type of father do you want to be?

So when God looks at us, is He going to see Himself?

In closing, we have a gift that we would like to present to all of the men here today, no matter whether you are a father or not, we are hoping that you will demonstrate these same characteristics in you life in the future as well.

So, while they are passing them out I want to give you some keys.  I have 26 keys for you and they are also the ABC’s of being a good father.

A.     Always trust them to God's care.

B.     Bring them to church.

C.     Challenge them to high goals.

D.     Delight in their achievements.

E.     Exalt the Lord in their presence.

F.     Frown on evil.

G.    Give them love.

H.    Hear their problems.

I.       Ignore not their childish fears.

J.      Joyfully accept their apologies.

K.     Keep their confidence.

L.     Live a good example before them.

M.   Make them your friends.

N.    Never ignore their endless questions.

O.    Open your home to their visits.

P.     Pray for them by name.

Q.    Quicken your interest in their spirituality.

R.     Remember their needs.

S.      Show them the way of salvation.

T.     Teach them to work.

U.    Understand they are still young.

V.     Verify your statements.

W.   Wean them from bad company.

X.     Expect them to obey.

Y.     Yearn for God's best for them.

Z. Zealously guide them in biblical truth.

Let’s pray

Invitation