FathersA Time to Remember & Honor

God The Father

• The central Person of the Bible, of Heaven & of the entire universe

• Has All Power, Authority & Responsibility for All

• The Source & Protector of All Life and Goodness

• Jesus’ favorite title for God: 165x in Gospels

• Created us to be His beloved children forever

Fathers Matter to Our Father

• Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. (Eph.6: 1-3. Exodus 20:12)

Dads & Their Kids Matter To God

• "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”(Malachi 4:6)

FathersWhy They Are So Important

Life Without Dad

• 24 million children in America live in a fatherless home. 

• 40% of students in grades 1-12 come from homes with no biological father in them.

• 71% of teenage pregnant mothers have no father in the home.

• 71% of high school drop outs have no father present.

• A child is 4 times more likely to live in poverty if there is no dad in the home. 

• Most convicts did not have a close relationship with a dad

Life Close to Dad

• Kids do better in school, work and life

• They are more emotionally stable

• They tend to have stronger marriages

• They can relate to a loving God more easily

The Legacy of Dads

• Girls will try to marry someone like their dad

• Boys will try to be like their dad

• Girls will respond to their husbands like they did to their dad

• Boys will treat their wives like dad treated his mom

• Kids will see God the Father as they saw their dad

FathersWhat Makes a Good Father?

a Good Father

• Stays close to the Lord

• Prays for his children often

• Loves his wife well

• Is willing to be #3

The Best ThingI ever did for my children

Stay close to the Lord

• The best fathers are devoted sons of Our Father

• Children need to see the real God in their dad

• Dad’s need the Holy Spirit to be wise & strong

• Dads who love like God does, produce great kids

The Best ThingI have Ever Done With My Children

Prayed For Them Often

• I knew I could not be all the dad they needed

• God had to make up for what I lacked

• I was responsible for them, but…

• Only God could protect them

• So I prayed early each morning for our children

When fathers Pray

• Fathers have the authority to bless their children

• The protective prayers of a father are powerful

• Kids welcome the prayers of their father

• The devil rightly fears the prayers of a father

Love Your Wife WellThe Foundation a Strong Family

Love Your Wife Well

• Defer to her whenever you can:

• “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…”Eph. 5:25

Love Your Wife Well

• Praise her to your children:

• Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” (Prov. 31:28)

• Confess & forgive quickly. Fight for peace!

• “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Eph. 4:26)

Love Your Wife Well

• Study her to know how to please her:

• “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7)

Love Your Wife Well

• Do whatever you can to make her holy & happy

• “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies…for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church…” (Eph. 5:28-29)

Fathers Who Know How to Be #3

• Willing to put God #1, family #2 and self #3

• Lay down their lives for their wife & kids

• Value them > themselves

• Pay the price to bless & protect them

• Are willing to suffer to make sure they don’t

Fathers Who Knew How to Be #3

Just Like Jesus & Our Father

• Jesus gave up heaven to save us from hell

• Jesus humbled himself & died out of love for us

Jesus Revealed Our Father

• Jesus did & said only what His Father’s did and told Him to say. (John 5:19)

• “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…”( John 14:9)