Heroes, I Mean Godly Fathers
The importance of fathers cannot be overstated, especially in our modern culture. Like never before men need to heed the call of fatherhood and be the leaders God called them to be!
EPHESIANS 5:21-6:4
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.
31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 & Mark 10:6-9) 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
THE NEED FOR GODLY FATHERS
- Fatherless homes stats
- Personal stories from TJ and Jackie
- Children with emotionally disconnected fathers or absent fathers have higher rates of lesbianism & homosexuality
- Men who live disconnected from their wives and children have higher rates of loneliness and suicide.
- Single motherhood is a strain to women.
***NEWS FLASH*** Man was made biologically by God to be a father, married to one woman and to have children that live in a happy home.
FIVE PASSAGES ON THE BLESSINGS OF FATHERHOOD
(1) Genesis 2:18-25, “18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
(2) Psalms 127:3-5, “3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”
(3) Psalms 128:1-6, “1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord. 5 May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life. 6 May you live to see your children’s children— peace be on Israel.”
(4) Proverbs 5:18-19, “18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”
(5) Psalms 68:4-6, “4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”
FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF A GODLY FATHER
(Video of what a godly father is not… “false machismo”)
- A child of God (John 3:3)
- An obedient disciple of Jesus Christ (John 14:15)
- A loving husband (Ephesians 5:25) and provider (1 Timothy 5:8)
- A pastor to his family in the home, in the pew and everywhere they go (Ephesians 6:4)
Fathers represent God the Father in the family and are the foundation for human civilization.