Fatherhood
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Fatherhood
Fatherhood
Happy Fathers Day
Welcome to week 2 in the series, I have a question?
In these days when fatherhood has come into question, when some have not been Fathered, when some don’t know how to be a father because they have never had one or not had a good one.
Today’s question, What is a good Father?
When all around us there seems to be media that portrays Dads as stupid or lazy.
What does the world portray about fatherhood? what does the Bible say? How do we apply this to my situation, my life?
Concise Oxford dictionary
1 a man in relation to his child or children.
▶ a male animal in relation to its offspring.
▶ a man who provides care and protection.
▶ the oldest member of a society or other body.
▶ (the Father) (in Christian belief) the first person of the Trinity; God.
2 a man who introduces or founds something.
▶ (Fathers or Fathers of the Church) early Christian theologians who are regarded as especially authoritative.
3 (often as a title or form of address) a priest.
■ verb
1 be the father of.
▶ [usually as noun fathering] treat with fatherly care.
▶ be the source or originator of.
2 (father someone/thing on) assign paternity of a child or responsibility for something to.
If you were an Alien & were to get a picture of what a father was from some of the programmes on TV, mostly being kids TV, the role of father in the family would be someone who didn’t care, is absent, a complete fool someone who no one shows any respect for, incapable of making a wise decision & i know there are some people like that Dads who don’t do there job of being a Father but maybe it’s because they haven’t been Fathered themselves, there has been a complete attack on the role of Fathers.
If you are a Dad/Father who is providing in anyway for your family, financially, emotionally, Spiritually, Physically whether you live with your family or not but you show up in heart & mind then i honour you, well done, your doing a great job.
(whooping & Clapping)
As someone who is a Father, dad, Papa to my youngest for the past 26 years i want to tell you that i’m still learning, do i still stuff it up, big time, i sometimes watch other Dads in awe of how you have dealt with the situation even when they have been hurt by a friend. I would say dad will add them to the list, meaning one day there would be retribution brought upon that individual, but iv’e stopped the list was getting so big & hey am i going to go around killing everyone that has hurt my kids it would take too long & maybe i would have to put myself on the list.
I have to get better at this as well.
Where i watch some Dads deal with stuff in such an awesome Fatherly way.
I love my kids there awesome, i have 4 children & my Son in law & i love them with a passion, i want the best for them & i am very defensive of all of them, i mean it there awesome, i know there strengths, i know there weaknesses, they have each but there awesome.
April: My eldest, so talented, so giving, my goodness what a work ethic, doing a law degree at uni, so proud of her.
Grace: What a big heart, if there is someone on there own, then Grace will be the one to go over, make sure there ok, she loves people, her compassion towards others is incredible, i believe it is a real gift that Jesus has put inside of her.
Benjamin: Drumming, bass playing, guitar learning, basketball learning, God Loving, God searching while trying to navigate Church, school & sisters, amazing soft hearted Son.
Eva: Passionately loves Jesus, passionately loves her family & friends,loving, caring, sweet girl but also a little psycho.
compassion & Passion seems to run through the family.
Each of my kids have soft hearts & love people, all are easily hurt, my job as a Father is to nurture there gifts, to fan into flame all that they have not put it out, all are a gift from God to Tammy & me.
Devon: My Son in law, he calls me dad, it’s good, i feel honoured that another Man who is not born of me would want to call me that., passionate about my Daughter, passionate about music, another with such a passion for people, i haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like him, hes always smiling. i’m honoured that you would want my counsel, my advice.
You see when it was just me, i lived for me, before i was Stuart, son, brother, uncle, friend, i could always do what i want, as a Father you have to have others in mind, you have to think about the implications of what you say & do.
As the senior Pastor of Restore Church, i’m the Father of the house, everyone that calls Restore church home whether in England or Kenya are my Family they are my Spiritual Children, i have a responsibility for you & to you to do what is right before God.
My responsibility is to love all, lead well, to protect, to help you grow into the men & women of God that you have been designed & destined to be by God but you also have to play your part in that. That will be another sermon for another week.
Sometimes that job can be hard because maybe there’s stuff in your life that needs to be addressed, that you need to deal with so that you flourish same for my kids at home, my job is to encourage you to be all that you can be, to lift you up before God in prayer, to cheer you on.
Where do we get our example of what a Father should be, it comes from our Heavenly Father.
Your earthly Father may be awesome, he may be awful, i have a good Dad, has he made mistakes yep who hasn’t, he’s not perfect & nor am i, nor is any Dad on Earth only God the Father is perfect but i want to encourage Dads out there to be the Father that there families need, god didn’t put us here to survive but thrive. so what makes a good Father, let’s break the word Father down.
F, Friend we need to be a Father & a friend, not there buddy but a real true genuine friend, love your children, spend time with them, teach them how to live life, don;t abandon them to learn from TV, YouTube, facebook, twitter or whatever else they look at, teach them what it means to be a good Father.
The boys can take it through their lives as an example of how to be a Man, a Father to people & your Daughters can use it as an example for the kind of men they allow into their lives, the sort of man they would start a family with. Teach them Gods ways, why they ought to live for Him, help them see that Jesus is your best friend & He can be theirs too, show them how much He loves them, that He wants to be their friend too.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
A, Be an Author in their life, help direct their steps & mold them into the person God wants them to be. God is the Author of our lives, He speaks goodness & greatness over us all, let Him speak over yours & over theirs. The Bible says in
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
for You & for me & our Children Speak over them.
T, Let’s be truthful, never give a reason for your children to doubt your word, when they come for advice don’t be an ear tickler, always tell the truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
His word can be trusted, He is the absolute truth & we never need to doubt what He says.
For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
H, Be their Hero.
Be the one who is there for them in every situation, in how you live your life, bring your strength when they feel weak. Love no matter what, even when they are doing wrong & you can see they are making huge mistakes, love them, do for them what God does for you. Make Jesus your Hero, your protector, your strength, your hiding place.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Show all that He brings to your life so that your Children see it.
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
When you go to him even to hide He speaks goodness over you.
E, Be an encourager.
Encourage your Children to do right to follow Jesus, God is the best encourager, immerse yourself in His word.
And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
If your not naturally an encourager then get around people that are, learn form them.
R, Be a Rock
Stand firm in what you believe, as you feel safe in the rock that is Jesus, show with your life so that they understand where your strength comes from.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
Be a Godly Father, everything thing i have said has to be more than words taught to people, it has to be a living example for your children to see. Be a Godly Father, we will truly bless our children if we lead by example.
I’m aware that some didn’t have a good or Godly example of Fatherhood to follow, had maybe even a bad one, then we can help. If you in a church then speak to your Pastor if your part of Restore speak to me.
If your not a Christian & your listening to this we can help guide you through this, we all need Fathering let me introduce you to the greatest of them all God.
Pray
Communion