A Father to the Fatherless
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· 639 viewsThere is a trend today of pastors becoming instructors in Christ but not many are willing to take on the role of a spiritual father. If we are going to grow up the next healthy generation of christians and ministers we must learn how to become spirtual fathers and not just spiritual instructors.
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Introduction:
I remember when I was in High School there were so many of my friends that came from broken homes. it was very common to have no father in the home or step fathers in the home.
I’m sure that many of you in this room know what it’s like to live in a fatherless home.
You know the pains and the hurts that come along with it.
The fighting between parents.
The endless weekend trips.
Some of you may not even have know your father or had a relationship with him.
One of the first things I want to know when I begin counseling with someone is what there home life was growing up.
If the father was missing or absent I know that there are some key components of relationships that they missed out on.
That is not to take away from the single Moms. They are my heroes!! I don’t even know how they do what they do.
The book of James defines true religion as:
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:
Even a greater tragedy is the absence of spiritual fathers. You see you can have a father in the home and still be lacking a spiritual father.
I think that we would all agree that the greatest responsibility of any father would be to teach his children about the most important things in life.
The most important things in life is not baseball, football, and LaCross.
It’s not how to make money or be a good person in this world.
The most important lesson in life are the spiritual lessons about God and life.
If that is the criteria for a good father I’m afraid we are failing on every front.
Where are the spiritual fathers today. Turn in your bibles to 1 Corinthians 4.
15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
We don’t need more guides in Christ we need some Spiritual fathers.
A father can’t pass on something he doesn’t know.
A father can’t be an example of something he doesn’t understand.
Even most pastors today fail to be the spiritual father for their flock.
They don’t have time for the people. They are busy running the business of Church.
They farm out the pastoral jobs to professionals because they just don’t have the time.
So the world is full of spiritual orphans.
Men, we have the responsibility of being the spiritual fathers of our generation.
Even if you don’t have biological kids of your own you can still be a spiritual father to someone.
So what is the difference in a Spiritual Guide and a Spiritual Father.
A Spiritual Guide has no relationship with the student. Take a pastor that you love to listen to on the radio. He doesn’t know you. He has not prayed for you. He’s not there when you have the pain or trouble in your life.
5 Things That Define a Spiritual Father
5 Things That Define a Spiritual Father
A Spiritual Father Sacrifices for the Gospel
A Spiritual Father Sacrifices for the Gospel
9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.
Any good father sacrifices for his kids.
Many times kids don’t understand the amount of sacrifice that is given or required.
So it is with a spiritual father. Love demands sacrifice. When you become a spiritual father to someone they will require your time and energy.
So out of love spiritual fathers give of themselves and exhaust our resources for our spiritual children know that our reward is in their accomplishments and their success.
A Spiritual Father Reproduces through the Gospel
A Spiritual Father Reproduces through the Gospel
A Spiritual Father Reproduces through the Gospel
A Spiritual Father Reproduces through the Gospel
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Sometimes God gives you a spiritual son by you leading them to Christ.
Sometimes God gives you a son or daughter that has been abandoned.
A spiritual father knows how to use the power of the gospel to heal the pains and hurts of life and set a course for the future.
The gospel brings hope and peace where none existed.
A Spiritual Father Teaches through the Gospel
A Spiritual Father Teaches through the Gospel
Eph
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
A spiritual father teaches the disciplines of walking as a child of God.
A spiritual father gives instruction according to God’s Word.
A Spiritual Father Leads by Example
A Spiritual Father Leads by Example
16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
1 Cor 4:
No spiritual father says, “Do what I say not what I do.”
Spiritual fathers lead by example. He says, “Do what I do the way I do it, for these are the ways of righteousness.”
On Kim’s computer at home she has a post it not that says, “You teach what you know. You reproduce who you are.”
This is the key difference in a spiritual guide and a spiritual father. You can say anything but do you live what you preach. People want to see spirituality not just hear about it or even understand it.
A Spiritual Father Produces Spiritual Fathers
A Spiritual Father Produces Spiritual Fathers
17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
1 Cor 4:
The kingdom of God is expanded when we produce spiritual fathers.
We are disciple makers. Disciples that make disciples.
We are kingdom builders. And we do this through Spiritual fatherhood.
Closing Thoughts
God desires to adopt you and be a Spiritual Father to you.
God desires to adopt you and be a Spiritual Father to you.
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
2 Cor
17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
God places Spiritual Fathers in your life as living examples of following Christ. Do what they do.
God places Spiritual Fathers in your life as living examples of following Christ. Do what they do.
The only way to have Spiritual Fathers is to be Spiritual Fathers.
The only way to have Spiritual Fathers is to be Spiritual Fathers.