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you
Amen we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning of course want to wish a happy Father's Day to all of the
Father's Day
We worship together as we sing together and as we learn from your word in Jesus name. We pray Amen
Let's turn to song number 404
When the battles over song 404 sing it out on the first
Father of the Lamb
And shall I fear to know
His cause
Lord, what do you say
His name
And when the battles over
We should never come
Yes, we should never come
And when the battles over
We should never come
In the name of Jerusalem
Never ever come
Then when the battles over
We should never come
In the name of Jerusalem
404 on the second
Must I be carried
To the skies
On flowery beds
At least
While others
There's a spot to win the prize and so everybody sees.
Then when the battle's over, we should run around.
Yes, we should run around.
When the battle's over, we should run around in the river
and sail around.
There we go.
I won't you be proud.
When the battle's over, we should run around in the river
and sail around.
All the last.
Sure I must fight if the rain increases my love and joy.
I'll bear the toll before the prince appointed by the lord.
When the battle's over, we should run around.
Yes, we should run around.
When the battle's over, we should run around in the river
and sail around.
There we go.
When the battle's over, we should run around in the river
and sail around in the river and sail around in the sea.
Father's Day, we have a Father's Day verse there.
Before we get into the announcements, I do want to just say, of course,
thank you to all of you who have been praying for my family and I.
As we've been away, we were gone for nine days.
I think that's the longest we've ever been gone away from our church.
We got back late on Friday night.
I want to say, of course, thank you to all of you who are praying for us.
Thank you to the men who preached the last three services.
They did a great job.
I'm thankful that we have men in our church
that can stand up and preach while the pastors are away.
Many of you have been asking what we did for the last nine days.
Let me just tell you everything we did for nine days.
We went to the Statue of Liberty.
We went to Ground Zero, the World Trade Center Memorial.
We went to Valley Forge.
We went to the Lancaster Amish Country.
We went to the U.S. Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument,
the White House, the Jefferson Memorial.
We went to Mount Vernon.
We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
We went to the International Spy Museum.
We did all that while preaching to 127 people at a conference,
doing an all-day soul-winning marathon with 84 soul winners.
We had 40 salvations, eight baptisms.
I recorded eight different videos.
In all of that, we did not miss one church service.
We were in church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
As you can tell, even at our vacations, we are effective and productive.
We run a well-oiled machine even while we're gone away.
You guys have been asking, what have you been doing?
It's like, man, where do we start?
We've been doing a lot.
We're glad to be back, of course, and we're glad to be with you all.
If you look at the announcements there, if you open up your bulletin,
you'll see our church service, Sunday morning service, 1030 a.m.
We're glad you're with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for Church.
Of course, Sunday evening service, 6 p.m.
We invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study.
If you look at our soul-winning times, our main soul-winning times
are on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Then we have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 2 p.m.
If you'd like to go soul-winning this afternoon,
there'll be a time there for you to be able to do that.
If you're a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church
we're so glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you.
As you walk out of the church building this morning,
as you go through the main foyer or our secondary foyer,
you'll see a little table set up, and on that table you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you
for being our guest this morning.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have,
but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptists, and it's a documentary that talks about
what it means to be a Baptist, what makes us Baptists,
and it talks about our Baptist history.
We think you'll find this educational and enjoyable,
so we want to give this to you as a gift.
Please make sure you don't leave here this morning
without grabbing one of those on your way out.
If you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment
and fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin.
If you need a pen, just raise your hand
and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen.
You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well.
We're not going to do anything odd with your information.
We would like to just have a record of your attendance.
We actually would like to send you a little gift,
but we need your information to do that,
so please take a moment to fill the card out.
When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song.
When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering,
and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate,
or you can hand it to me after the service.
I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out.
I'd love for you to come by and say hello.
If you look at the announcements there, of course,
if you need to be baptized, please let us know.
We'd love to baptize you.
The baptistry is filled, the water is warm,
and we have everything you need to be baptized.
We've got baptistry robes and shirts and shorts and towels and hairdryers,
whatever you need, we've got it.
There's two ways you can go about it.
If you'd like to speak to somebody about baptism,
maybe you're not sure what baptism is or if you need to be baptized,
on your communication card you can check off that you'd like information about baptism.
Maybe you've already spoken to somebody, then all you have to do is
at the end of the service, after the preaching,
while we're singing the last song, we step out that door,
one of our staff guys will meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptisms.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events,
of course, we have a Sunday morning series called Journey with Jesus.
It's a verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of Luke.
We're going to take a break from that this morning.
Being Father's Day, I'll be preaching a Father's Day sermon,
and we have our Happily Ever After series as well
that we're going through on Sunday night.
I'd also like you to notice that we are a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the church service.
We never separate children from their parents for any reason,
but we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating.
They have monitor sit-ups. You can watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service,
or if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use the mother-baby rooms or the daddy rooms.
If you're not sure where those are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin.
It'll show you a layout of the church building.
It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy rooms are.
It'll show you where all the restrooms are.
If you look at the announcements there, of course, we want to wish all of the fathers a Happy Father's Day.
We have a special service lined up for you today,
and I'm going to be preaching a Father's Day sermon this morning,
and we're going to have our children's choir, the older choir.
They're going to be singing for us this morning after the offering in honor of Father's Day.
And then we have a special gift, like I said, for all of the first-time guests,
but we also have an additional gift for all of the men and boys in the service today.
We have a Father's Day gift, but it's not just for fathers. It's for all men.
And we have these Verity Baptist Church T-shirts that we had made,
and you can see that they're very nice shirts, very good quality shirts,
and we're going to have them in the main foyer after the service.
So as soon as the service is done, if you go out to the main foyer, there'll be some tables set up there.
The tables closest to us will have the shirts for the men,
and the ones closest to the wall to where the screen is will have the shirts for the kids.
So please make sure you go by and grab a Verity Baptist Church T-shirt as a Father's Day gift from us to you.
And again, it's not just for fathers. It's for all of the men and boys in the service today.
For Mother's Day, we gave T-shirts to all the ladies in the service.
So for Father's Day, we gave T-shirts to all the men.
So make sure you do that. Stop by there after the service.
If you look at the announcement, we have the Young Men's Workshop coming up.
This is on this Tuesday, June 21st at 10 a.m.
This is for young men ages 8 to 17, and their dads are invited to a workshop to learn the basics of how to work with their hands.
And if you'd like to sign up, you can do that on your communication card.
We're going to have lunch for you, so we'd like to know if you're coming so we can prepare for you.
And if you have any questions, you can see Brother Joel Usher.
He's the one setting this up for us, and he can answer all of your questions.
And the boys, they're not going to want to miss it, the project for this week.
I don't know if I can announce it. Brother Joel, can I announce what it is?
I should not announce it. Okay.
For liability reasons, we can't announce it, but boys are not going to want to miss it.
So make sure that you are here for that.
We have a baby shower coming up for Miss Rebecca Lunsford this Saturday, June 25th at 3 p.m.
And Miss Rebecca's having a boy, and she's registered on Amazon and Target.
It is a potluck, so if you can, please bring a dish to share.
And if you'd like to attend, you can sign up on your communication card.
Usher's dinner and training.
If you are an Usher, we'd like you to sign up for this dinner on June 28th at 7 p.m.
And if you are not an Usher, but you may be considering becoming an Usher,
you can also come to this as well, and you can sign up on your communication card.
It is training for the Ushers, and then an appreciation dinner as well.
So make sure you take some time to look at that.
VBC Church Picnic is on Monday, July 4th at 3 p.m.
The address is there for you, and we'd love for you to join us, of course,
for the Church Picnic at 3 p.m. on 4th of July.
We're going to have fireworks, so you won't want to miss it.
And if you are able to grill, or if you can bring a grill,
please let us know on your communication card that you can help with that.
We also have sign-up sheets in the foyer.
There are sheets that you can sign up to bring a side dish or dessert,
so please make sure you go by there.
Red Hot Preaching Conference is just right around the corner, July 14th through the 17th,
and last year we had 564 in attendance the first night of the Red Hot Preaching Conference,
so we've got a lot to prepare for.
You'll notice in your communication card you have an additional little card there for volunteer opportunities.
I'll go in detail with this tonight, but if you want to take a look at that
and start thinking about areas you can help us with the Red Hot Preaching Conference, that would be great.
No choir practice today due to Father's Day, so practice will continue next Sunday at 5 p.m.
for the choir and the orchestra for Red Hot Preaching Conference.
Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there.
We appreciate your faithfulness. There's other things there for you to look at.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service
so that they're not a distraction to anybody.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of June.
Today is Ezequiel Nitesko's birthday, June 19th,
and tomorrow is Miss Eva Rodari's birthday and also Miss Melody Gonzalez's birthday.
Both are staff wives here at our church. They have the same birthday tomorrow, June 20th,
and Brother Evan Smith's birthday is June 24th.
Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at.
I do have one birth announcement to give this morning,
and of course every birth announcement is special,
but this morning's birth announcement is personally special for me
because 11 years ago when we were just getting started starting Verity Baptist Church,
I knocked on Brother Montel Johnson's door and I got him saved.
It took him a little while to come to church,
but Brother Montel and Miss Lindsey have been faithful church members here for the last six years,
and when Brother Montel and Miss Lindsey started coming to church,
the last child they had was Madison, and when they came, they weren't even married,
and as a result of, of course, getting saved, getting discipled, being part of our church,
they got married, they had more children, they learned that children are a blessing,
and they had Uriah and Jeremiah, and of course Miss Lindsey just recently gave birth to another child,
and this is special for me because they've honored me by giving my middle name to their, as their son's middle name.
My name is Roger Othniel Jimenez, and my middle name, I was named after one of the judges in the Book of Judges,
and so it is my great honor to announce the birth of Onyx Othniel Johnson,
who was born at home on Saturday, June 11th at 703 AM, weighing 8 pounds 7 ounces, 20 inches long,
and baby's doing well, Miss Lindsey's doing well, and he's my namesake,
because they said if it wasn't for our church and this ministry, he wouldn't even be here,
so praise the Lord for that, and we appreciate that, of course.
I think that's it for all of the announcements, so let's go ahead and take our Chorus of the Week,
and we're going to sing His Eye is on the Sparrow as we prepare to receive the offering.
His Eye is on the Sparrow, and we'll go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Why should I be discouraged?
Why should the shadows fall?
Why should my heart be lonely?
And want my heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion,
my constant friend is He.
His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I sing because I'm happy.
I sing because I'm free.
For His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Good, let's sing it out on the second.
Whenever I am tempted,
whenever clouds arise,
when songs give ways to sigh,
when hope within me dies,
I draw the poster to Him.
From here He sets me free.
His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I sing because I'm happy.
I sing because I'm free.
For His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Amen. All right, at this time, the children's choir,
the kids that are going to be singing for us,
can go ahead and get up and start making your way
to the place where you need to be,
and we'll have the ushers come up,
and they will help us with the offering at this time.
And I'm probably going to just call the baby off now,
if that's okay.
Brother Montel brought the baby into my office this morning
so I could see him, and when he walked in,
the baby began to coo and got excited,
so he leapt in the car seat when he came in,
so praise the Lord for that.
Let's bow our heads and have a little prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank You
for allowing us to gather together today.
Lord, thank You for all of the children in this church
and the blessing that they are.
Lord, we pray that You bless the children's choirs
they sing for us today.
We pray that You bless the offering.
Lord, we thank You for all the fathers that are here
representing their families
and leading them in the way of the Lord.
I pray that You bless each and every one of them.
We ask that You meet with us
as we open up Your Word and study the Bible together.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Now we're going to have our children's choir sing for us.
Amen.
Turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 24.
Joshua chapter 24.
If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand
and an usher will bring you one.
Joshua chapter 24.
We will read the entire chapter as is our custom.
Joshua 24.
Keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible.
Joshua 24, the Bible reads,
And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to shechem
and called for the elders of Israel
and for their heads
and for their judges
and for their officers
and they presented themselves before God.
And Joshua said unto all the people,
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood
in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham
and the father of Nachor,
and they served other gods.
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood
and led him throughout all the land of Canaan
and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.
And I gave unto Isaac, Jacob, and Esau,
and I gave unto Esau, Mount Seir to possess it,
but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
I sent Moses also and Aaron
and I plagued Egypt
according to that which I did among them.
And afterward I brought you out
and I brought your fathers out of Egypt
and he came unto the sea
and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers
with the chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea.
And when they cried unto the Lord,
he put darkness between you and the Egyptians
and brought the sea upon them and covered them
and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt
and he dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites
which dwelt on the other side of Jordan
and they fought with you
and I gave them into your hand
that you might possess their land
and I destroyed them from before you.
Then Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab
arose and warred against Israel
and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
But I would not hearken unto Balaam
therefore he blessed you still
so I delivered you out of his hand.
And you went over Jordan
and came unto Jericho
and the men of Jericho fought against you.
The Amorites and the Perizzites
and the Canaanites and the Hittites
and the Girgashites and Hivites
and the Jebusites
and I delivered them into your hand
and I set the hornet before you
which draped them out from before you
even the two kings of the Amorites
but not with thy sword nor with thy bow.
And I have given you a land
for which ye did not labor
and cities which ye built not
and you dwell in them
of the vineyards and olive yards
which ye planted not do you eat.
Now therefore fear the Lord
and serve him in sincerity and in truth
and put away the gods which your father served
on the other side of the flood
and in Egypt
and serve ye the Lord
and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord
choose you this day whom you will serve
and whom your father served that were on the other side of the flood
were the gods of the Amorites
in whose land ye dwell
but as for me and my house
we will serve the Lord
and the people answered and said
God forbid that we should forsake the Lord
to serve other gods
for the Lord our God
he it is that brought us up and our fathers
out of the land of Egypt
from the house of bondage
and which did those great signs in our sight
and preserved us in all way wherein we went
and the Lord drove out from before us all the people
even the Amorites which dwelt in the land
therefore
will we also serve the Lord
for he is our God
and Joshua said unto the people
he cannot serve the Lord
for he is an holy God
he is a jealous God
he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins
if ye forsake the Lord
and serve strange gods
then he will turn and do you hurt
and consume you
and the people said unto Joshua
nay but we will serve the Lord
and Joshua said unto the people
ye are witnesses against yourselves
that you have chosen you the Lord
to serve him and they said
we are witnesses
now therefore put away said he
the strange gods which are among you
and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel
and the people said unto Joshua
the Lord our God we will serve
and his voice will we obey
so Joshua made a covenant with the people that day
and set them a statue
and an ordinance in Shechem
and Joshua wrote these words in a book of the law of God
and took a great stone
and set it up there under an oak
that was by the sanctuary of the Lord
and Joshua said unto all the people
behold this stone
shall be a witness unto us
for it hath heard all the words of the Lord
which he spake unto us
it shall be therefore a witness unto you
lest ye deny your God
so Joshua let the people depart
every man unto his inheritance
and it came to pass after these things
that Joshua the son of Nun
the servant of the Lord died
being a hundred and ten years old
and they buried him in the border of his inheritance
in Timat Serah
which is in Mount Ephraim
on the north side of the isle of Gaius
and Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua
and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua
and which had known all the works of the Lord
that he had done for Israel
and the bones of Joseph
which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt
buried they in Shechem
in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Amor
the father of Shechem
for a hundred pieces of silver
and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph
and Eleazar the son of Aaron died
and they buried him in a hill
that pertained to Phinehas his son
which was given him in Mount Ephraim
lets pray
Father God Almighty thank you for this day
thank you for this opportunity to come together
please bless pastor
bless the message
let it bring glory and honor to you
in the name of Jesus Christ I pray
Amen
Alright well of course today is Father's Day
and I'm going to be
speaking on the subject of Father's
and Father's Day
and we're celebrating Father's Day
and you're there in Joshua chapter 24
in Joshua 24
we see
this man Joshua
and he is giving a speech
to the children of Israel
and it's really his farewell address
he's getting ready
to die
and in verse 15 we find this very famous
passage of scripture
Joshua 24 and verse 15 the Bible says
and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord
choose you this day whom
ye will serve
whether the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the flood
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land
you are well
but as for me and my house
we will serve the Lord
and of course this is a great
passage for fathers
to be aware of
and just by way of introduction
I'd like to begin by
stating the fact that
fathers are extremely important
within the family unit
they're extremely important for society
and the word of God says that
studies proven
and just by way of introduction
I'd like to read to you some statistics
that have came out
in regards to fathers
one of them says this
according to the US Department of Health and Human Services
71% of teenage pregnancies
resulted from homes with
no father present
adolescent girls who have
a close relationship with their fathers
are more likely to delay a physical
relationship with a member of the opposite sex
and adolescent girls whose fathers
were present during their childhood
are less likely to become
pregnant according to the
US Department of Health and Human Services
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless
homes 90% of all
homeless and runaway children are
from fatherless homes
71% of high school dropouts
come from fatherless homes
according to the US Department of Justice
70% of youth in state
operated institutions come from
fatherless homes 85% of all
youth in prison come from fatherless
homes 75% of
adolescent patients in chemical abuse
centers come from fatherless
homes fatherless boys
and girls are twice as likely
to drop out of high school twice as
likely to end up in jail and
four times more likely to need help
for emotional and behavioral
problems and all that to
say this fathers are important
and families need
fathers and unfortunately
many fathers are missing
in action and today
I'd like to preach to you on the subject
of what every father must
do and we of course been going through a
series for the last several
couple months
on the subject of the family and
this will be included in that series
what every father must do
because too many fathers
are AWOL they're missing
in action here's another stat
for you there is an estimated 64.3
million fathers across
the nation and only 26.5
million of those
fathers are married to the mother of
their children and living with their own
children here's a quote
it says a generation ago an American
child could reasonably expect to grow
up with his or her father
today an American child can
reasonably expect not
to and unfortunately fathers
are
in many ways as a society
dropping the ball
and they are not doing what
they're supposed to be doing the Bible talks a
lot about the subject of family
about mothers and about fathers
I'd like to just show you from the Bible this
morning what it is that every father
must do and of course being father's
day we'll focus in on the fathers
today if you're taking notes I would
encourage you to take notes especially if you're a father
on the back of your course of the week there's a place
for you to write down some things
and I'd like to give you four statements
four things that every father must
do if you're going to succeed as a father what are the
things that you must do
as a father number
one and if you're taking notes you can write
this down fathers must
of course first take the lead
fathers must take the lead
and fathers must
begin by taking personal
responsibility they must take responsibility
for their spiritual
for their personal spiritual
well-being I want you to notice here
again in Joshua 24
and verse 15 notice what Joshua says
he says and if it seem evil unto you
to serve the Lord the context is
about serving God he says choose
you this day whom ye will serve whether the
gods on the other which the
your father served that were on the
other side of the flood or the gods of the
Amorites in whose land
ye dwell notice what he says
is a famous statement this
is this statement is hung
in many
Christian homes and
often times Christians
will buy different
decorations for their home and this
is a portion of scripture that will be
hung on there he says
but as for me and my house
we will serve
the Lord this is a statement of a
of a husband this is a
statement of a father this is the
statement of a leader he's the leader
of a nation but he's a leader of his family
and he says you know in regards
to me and my family we're going to serve the Lord
but I want you to notice that he begins by saying
but as for me see a
leader and a father
must take responsibility for
their personal
spiritual well being
keep your place right there in Joshua if you would
Joshua 24 and flip over
with me to the book of Genesis the very first book
in the Bible should be fairly easy to find
Genesis chapter 18 keep your finger in
Joshua 24 because we're going to come right back to it
Genesis chapter 18
see dad you need to
take the lead fathers must take
the lead but what that means is that
you as a father must first
the leader means that you go first
it means that you are the one
in front when it comes to
spiritual matters you need to be able
to say like Joshua
but as for me see he made the statement
but as for me and my house we will serve
the Lord but he could also make the
statement but as for me I will
serve the Lord and dads need to
step up in their spiritual
walk and take personal
responsibility for their
spiritual well being
if you're there in Genesis chapter 18
I want you to notice verse 17 here we
have God the Lord speaking
to Abraham Genesis 18 and
verse 17 the Bible says and
the Lord said shall I
hide from Abraham that thing
which I do and I want you to notice
this is God speaking about
Abraham and I want you to notice what he says
in verse 18 seeing that
Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation and all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed of him notice the
first part of verse 19 he says
for I know
him this is God
speaking about Abraham and he
says I know him that he will command
his children and his household after him and they
shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice
and judgment that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which he has spoken
this is an amazing statement in my
opinion to read God
looking down at a man named
Abraham and he says here's what I know about
Abraham that he will command his
children and his household after them
and they shall keep the way of the Lord
and here's the question
I have for every father in
the room this morning every husband
in the room this morning every
leader of a family in the room
this morning can God say of you
I know him
I know that he will lead his children
I know that he will lead his household
I know that they will keep the way of the Lord
I know that they will do justice and judgment
and that he's going to follow in the
ways of God see fathers
must begin by taking responsibility
for their
personal spiritual
well-being dads must
take the lead and what
that means is when we're going
to lead others it means that we
must go first
we must have a walk with God we must
love the Lord we must be serious
about our spiritual walk
so fathers must take responsibility
for their personal spiritual well-being
but of course fathers must also
take responsibility for their
families spiritual
well-being notice again
there in verse 19 he says for I know him
that he will
what is it that God knew about Abraham
here's what God knew about Abraham that he will
command his children
and his household after him
and they shall keep
the way of the Lord I love
these statements see with
with Abraham God knew that with
Abraham it was not up for debate in
Abraham's house whether we were going to serve
the Lord or not it's the same thing
that we saw there with Joshua
if you go back to Joshua 24 in
verse 15 where he says
but if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord
choose you this day whom ye will serve
whether the gods which your fathers
serve that were on the other side of the flood
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell
notice again the last part of verse 15
but as for me and my house we will
serve the Lord
and say what do we need in America
today being Father's Day
thinking about fathers and speaking to fathers
what do we need in the United States of America
what do we need at Verity Baptist
Church and I will tell you this what we need
in America what we need
in this city what we need in this
country what we need in this church
is men that have children
that have wives
that are leaders in their home we need
men to stand up and decide
that they're going to take the lead
spiritually in their home and that
they're not just going to make it something they hang up
on their wall somewhere and look we've got that
verse hung up on our wall at
my house as well but they need
to make it a goal
in their life but as for me and my house
we will serve the Lord
we're going to take the
lead we're going to serve
God and it's not up for
debate he will command
his children and his household after him
and they shall keep the way of the Lord
to do justice and judgment
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which
he has spoken of him
you say what is it the fathers need to do the fathers
must take the lead they
need to take personal responsibility for their spiritual
well-being and they need to take
responsibility for their families
well-being
they need to be interested
in their
wives spiritual development
their children's spiritual development
their own spiritual development
listen to me dads you
need to be the one
that is setting the temperature
spiritually in your house
it shouldn't be your
kids deciding whether we're going to go to church or not
I mean it shouldn't
be your wife deciding you say
well you know my wife doesn't want to go to church
my kids don't want to go to church
hey you're the leader you're the boss
you be like Abraham and command your
children your household after you and say no
we're going to serve God together
as for me and my house
we will serve the Lord
develop the influence that you need to develop
develop the respect that you need to
gain from those that
follow you and decide I will
take the lead
fathers must number one this morning
take the lead
I'd like you to notice secondly this morning you're there
in Joshua if you just flip over to the book of Judges
Judges chapter 7
not only must
fathers take the lead
but secondly fathers must
set the example
and all of these things are
intertwined
fathers must take the lead
fathers must set the example
and by the way let me just say this
this is not just for fathers
in any position of leadership
one of the most powerful and probably the most
important thing that anybody can do in any position of leadership
whether you're a husband a father
a pastor whether you're
just the boss at a secular
job you're the business owner you're the manager
the greatest thing you could do
as a leader
and every leader must be able to
set an example
I love in Judges chapter 7 in verse
17 we have the story of
Gideon and I love what he says
in verse 17 as he was leading
his 300 soldiers into
battle Judges 7 in verse 17
the Bible says
and he referring to Gideon
said unto them his followers
his soldiers notice what he says I love this
I mean this is just kind of
leadership if you want to know what leadership
is you can find it in just a couple of
phrases in this verse he says
Judges 7 17 and he said unto them
notice what he says he says look
on me and do likewise
every
leader should be able to say look on
me and do likewise
every leader
needs to take the lead
but they need to along
with that and in order to do that
they need to set the example
and every great leader should be able to say
look on me and do likewise
Hey Dad you ought to be able to look at
your sons and say sons
look on me and do likewise
you ought to be able to look at your wife
and look at your daughters and look at anyone else that might be looking at you for leadership
and say, look on me and do likewise. Gideon said, look on me and do likewise and behold
when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that. Notice what he says,
I love it. He says, as I do, so shall ye do. That's what leadership is. Leadership
is setting the example. Leadership is saying, just do what I'm doing. Just do
what I've done. Just look on me and do likewise. As I do, so shall ye do. Paul
said it this way. He said, follow me as I follow Christ. In Acts 1, in verse 1, you
don't have to turn there. I'll just read this for you. In fact, if you would, I'd
like you to turn to Proverbs, Proverbs 23. In Acts 1, here's what the Bible
says about the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke, the author of the book of Acts under
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, said these words. He wrote the former treaties
referring to the Gospel of Luke. He says, have I made O Theophilus? And here's what
he said. He said, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The Bible
says that everything Jesus taught, he did. I love how it says, all that Jesus
began both to do and teach. See, first Jesus set the example. He did what he
taught others to do. That's what a great leader does. A great leader is
able to look at those that are following him and say, look on me and do
likewise. Every father should be able to look at his children. Every husband
should be able to look at his wife and say, as I do, so shall ye do.
Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23. Look at verse 26. Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 26.
And again, this is for all leaders in all leadership positions. We're
focusing in and applying it to fathers this morning. But notice what Solomon
wrote down in the book of Proverbs. He says, my son. He says, my son. By the way,
the book of Proverbs was primarily written by Solomon and it was primarily,
we understand that it's scripture and it's given by the Holy Spirit of God, but it
was primarily written by Solomon, a father, writing some things down to his
son, giving some instructions to his son. He says, my son, give me thine heart. But
notice what he says. He says, and let thine eyes observe my ways. What was
Solomon saying to his son when he said, let thine eyes observe my ways.
Here's what he was saying. He was saying, look on me and do likewise. He
was saying, as I do, so shall ye do. He was saying, I'm
taking the lead. I'm setting the example. Hey dad, you need to be the example of a
Christian man that your children can look up to, that you can look behind and
say, look on me and do likewise. See, it is the example of a godly father that
will bless your children. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 7. Proverbs chapter 20 and
verse 7. Notice what the Bible says. Proverbs 20 and verse 7. The Bible
says, the just man walketh in his integrity. The just man walketh in his
integrity. He takes the lead. He does what's right. He's honest. He has
character. He has integrity. He doesn't lie. He tells the truth. He walks with
with God. He walks righteously. Notice, the just man walketh in his integrity.
And then notice what the Bible says. You see a colon there. His children are
blessed after him. You say, what does one have to do with the other? Well, here's
what you need to understand. A just man walketh in his integrity and as a
result of his integrity, his children are blessed after him.
Fathers should be able to look at their children and say, as I do, so shall ye do.
By the way, if you set the right example, you won't even have to say those
words. See, your walk talks. Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk
talks louder than your talk talks. So you can sit there and tell your children,
do this and do this and do that, but while you're doing something different,
that's called being a hypocrite. Your children see that. They understand. They
know whether you actually love the Lord. They know whether you actually walk
with God. They know whether your Christianity is just a facade. It's just
fake. It's just something you do on Sunday mornings just to put on a show
and check off a list somewhere. Hey, they're not dumb. They know.
Fathers must take the lead. Fathers must set the example. They must walk in
their integrity. Go back to Genesis if you would. Genesis chapter 34.
I'm blessed, of course, to have my father and my mother as members of my church, our
church, Verity Baptist Church. I'm thankful for that. Thankful for the
godly heritage that I was given. I'm thankful for the fact that I was raised
in a Christian home, and you've heard me tell this story before, but when
we grew up, when I was growing up, we grew up in the Bay Area, and we were
poor. You know, everybody says they're poor, but we were actually poor. You say,
how do you know the difference? Well, here's how I knew the difference. At the time,
I didn't know we were poor, but looking back on it as an adult, I'm like,
wow, we were poor. You say, what do you mean by poor? I mean like my brother
and I slept on couches in the living room till we were, I don't know, 12 or
13 years old, you know, because we didn't have a house that had rooms to fit us,
you know, and I bring that up to say this, as a result of sleeping on a couch
in the living room for my childhood, I don't know how many memories I have,
I have many memories, hundreds of memories, I'm sure, of being woken up at
5 in the morning, 5.30 in the morning, by a light in the kitchen, which was right
next to where we were sleeping, and looking in and seeing my father at 5 in
the morning with his Bible open, reading the Word of God before he goes, before
he went to work, and I'm just here to tell you that there's something
about the example that a father sets for his children, even without
words, even just by your walk and your integrity. See, the Bible says that a
just man walketh in his integrity and his children are blessed after him,
and that, I've just got to ask you the question, what are your children
learning by watching you? What are your sons learning about how to treat their
future wife based on how they see you treat your wife? What are your
daughters learning about how they should be treated by their future
husband based on how they see you treat their mother? What are your
children learning about how to treat their future fellow church members
based on how they see you treat and talk about your fellow church members?
What are your children learning about how to treat and feel about their
future employer based on how they hear you talk about your employer? What are
your children learning about how to serve God based on how they see you serve
God or not serve God? What are your children learning about being faithful
to church as they watch your faithfulness or lack of faithfulness
to church? What are your children learning about how to treat their
future pastor and their pastor's wife as they see you talk about your
pastor and your pastor's wife? I'm just asking, what are your
children learning? Because I'm afraid that a lot of children are learning a
lot about hunting and sports and all sorts of manly things that men are into,
but dad, are you setting a spiritual example for your children? Are you
showing your children what a man looks like who walks in integrity, who lives
an honest life, who doesn't steal, who doesn't cheat, who tells the truth even
when it hurts him, who does right? Are you walking in integrity
because the Bible says that a just man walketh in his integrity and his
children are blessed after him. Fathers must take the lead and fathers must set
the example. Every leader should be able to say look on me and do likewise.
What to God that every dad in this room could look at his children
and say hey when it comes to Bible reading look on me and do likewise.
When it comes to church attendance look on me and do likewise. When it comes
to soul wedding look on me and do likewise. When it comes to prayer time
look on me and do likewise. When it comes to being a hard worker look
on me and do likewise. What to God that every dad would be able to look
at his wife and look at his children and look at anyone that's looking up to
him in leadership and say as I do so shall ye do. But as for me and my
house we will serve the Lord. I said number one this morning that fathers
must take the lead. Said number two that fathers must set the example. Thirdly
this morning I'd like you to write this down. Fathers must provide and protect.
Fathers must provide and protect. I'd like you to go to Genesis 34 if you're
not there. While you go there let me just read to you from 1st Timothy 5
8. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this. The Bible says in 1st Timothy 5 8
but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house
he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. You know fathers you
have been given the God-given responsibility of providing for your
children physically for their physical needs. Years ago we had a group of guys
in our church that got wrapped up in this there's this movement called men
going their own way. MGTOW. It's all these men and if you really look into
it what you find it's all these guys that can't get a date and they're just
bitter at women and angry at women and they make statements like well we're
never going to marry a woman because she'll just divorce you and you'll have to pay child support.
They're big things. They're against women you know asking for child support.
You know and people would come to me ask me about this and these
guys would ask me about it and my thing is this look you're not going to
get any sympathy from me on paying child support because you know what
that's your job and and and the fact that she has to take you to court to
make you do your job says something about you and your lack of character
and your laziness because God said that you're supposed to provide for your own
and especially for those of your own household and when you don't you're
worse than a heathen you're worse than an infidel. So fathers should
provide and it should not be forced it should not be court ordered. It should be
something you do out of character and integrity because God gave you those
children to provide. So you should provide but you know what not only
should you provide you should protect. Your job that is to protect. Now if you're
there in Genesis 34 I'd like you to notice the story. The story kind of
highlights this idea of protection and there's lots of stories we could look
at in the Bible I won't take the time to do it but Genesis 34 verse 1 the
Bible says in Dinah the daughter of Leah which she bear unto Jacob this is
Jacob's we all know that Jacob had 12 sons but he also had one daughter her
name was Dinah. Bible says in Dinah the daughter of Leah which she bear unto
Jacob went out to see the daughters of the land. These are worldly friends
she's going out to see the daughters of the land not God's people and when
Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite prince of the country saw her saw Dinah
he took her and lay with her and defiled her and I'll skip some of this
he wants to marry her after this act of fornication verse 5 and Jacob heard
that he had defiled Dinah his daughter now his sons were with his cattle in
the field why don't you notice this and Jacob held his peace until they were
come Jacob heard that his daughter had been defiled and the Bible tells us
that Jacob held his peace what did he do he first of all failed to protect
her and then once she'd been defiled he failed to stand up for her do
anything for her he Bible just tells us he held his peace he didn't say
anything he didn't do anything he didn't protect her listen to me dad your job
is to protect your children and it's interesting to me because and again I
won't take the time to go through this whole thing but the Bible says if
you look down to verse number seven it says that the sons of Jacob came out
of the field when they heard it and the men were grieved and they were very
raw I think about this Jacob hears that his daughter has been defiled and
he held his peace the brothers hear that their sister has been defiled and
the men were grieved and they were very rough because he had wrought folly
in Israel in line with Jacob's daughter which thing ought not to be done I
mean the the brothers are upset no reaction from dad now the brothers
Simeon and Levi they devise a plan and I won't go into the whole story they
end up killing Shechem and all the men of his city and that's that's not right
I'm not saying that was right I just want you to notice when Jacob calls
them out for this in verse 31 the Bible says and they said their response
to Jacob was should he deal with our sister as with in harlot I want you to
understand something dad the fastest way to get your children to turn on you
and to be bitter towards you is for you to fail to protect them and when
you if you fail to protect them to not even acknowledge it to just keep quiet
about it to just hold your peace by the way this is the exact same thing
that happened to David remember David when he heard that Amnon had raped
his half-sister Tamar his daughter David's daughter the Bible says that
he was very rough but he did nothing about it and as a result if you remember
Absalom Tamar's brother after two full years took matters into his own hands
killed Amnon and then as a result of growing bitter towards his father
David he started a civil war in an attempt to take his father's kingdom
why because David failed to protect his daughter his children Jacob failed
to protect but I'm just here to tell you that your job is to protect those
kids my family and I were recently in a subway we're eating lunch and there
was two young teenage girls working at the counter and one teenage girl on
a break having a lunch break we sat down to eat and some ghetto loudmouth
guy walks in and I mean he's just loud and ghetto you can tell he had no money
and he starts he you know he thinks he's a mack daddy or something I don't know
what he thought and he starts talking to this girl and he's being real loud
and and I'm facing behind him but I'm listening to this thing I look up at
my son so they're both looking at him and I'm thinking myself you know and he
starts getting really loud and obnoxious and and and you start kind of
thinking like is this gonna become a bad thing and I I have a CCW but I
wasn't caring at the time and I thought to myself if this guy starts
going crazy you know I don't I don't have a weapon on me but you know I was
just looking around like well I can stab him with this spork you know and
and I'm you know I'm just listening to this whole thing and and and he
ended up just I don't know said a few things and then he just left but but I
thought you know my wife and I were talking about this and we're talking
you have these three teenage girls at the subway and they're literally just
vulnerable to any guy any jerk just walking in and trying to talk to them
and being obnoxious and trying to hit on them and and there's literally
nothing they can do about these the girl doesn't sit there and kind of talk
to my hoping you'll go away because if she says something rude to me might
blow up and and they're literally unprotected you said well if he blows
up they can call the cops so they can show up 35 minutes later I'm just here
to tell you dad and by the way every man it's your duty as a man to
protect those around you not a matter if it's your daughter or not you're
find yourself in a restaurant some guys getting out of control it's your
job to step in and help fathers must provide and they must protect it's our
job men to protect not to hurt not to injure not to take advantage of the
ladies and the children around us it's our job to protect them you find
yourself on a ship and it's going down it's women and children first if need be
men go down with the ship that's how it's supposed to be men stand up and
men are strong men have courage and men protect their families so what is
it that every father must do number one fathers must take the lead the two
fathers must set the example number three fathers must provide and
protect lastly this morning I'm going to give you the last one go to Ephesians if you
would Ephesians chapter number six in the New Testament you have Matthew
Mark Luke John Acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians
Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians
Ephesians Ephesians chapter number six
fathers must take the lead they must set the example they must provide and
protect lastly this morning fathers must bring them up bring them up you
said bring them up what bring them up how bring them up to what for the
Lord Ephesians chapter six verse four this may be the most famous verse in
the Bible regarding fathers the Bible says any fathers provoke not your
children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord see the Bible tells us dad see it's not your it's not just that your
job is to go out and and make money and provide for the physical needs of
your family although that is your job it is not just that your job is to
make sure you have a gun or have a bat or have whatever or have muscles or
whatever to be able to protect physically protect your family that's
part of your job too it's me you know you better make sure you're ready to
take a bullet for your wife and take a bullet for your children and protect
them but your your job is also to help raise those children it's not your
wife's job alone to raise those kids no no the Bible says that you are to
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord you say well
what does that mean exactly and I'd like to break those two words down
nurture and admonition because those really are the two key words when it
comes to a father's way of raising his children how does a father bring
them up to bring children up for the Lord let me begin with this word he
must admonish them admonish if you would go back to Proverbs I'm not sure
if you kept your place in Proverbs I meant to tell you keep your place
there if not if you open up your Bible just right in the center you're more
unlikely fall in the book of Psalms right after Psalms you have Proverbs
Proverbs chapter 4 see the Bible says that we as fathers are supposed to
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord two words are
given to us nurture and admonition you say what does that mean admonish or
admonition is defined as to warn to reprimand to give counsel or to give
advice see that your job is to admonish your children what does that mean that
sometimes you have to give them advice sometimes you have to give them counsel
sometimes you have to give them warning some but sometimes you have to
reprimand them I mean it admonish falls on all of that it's positive and
negative it's reprove rebuke exhort it it sometimes it's hey I don't think
you should do that I don't think you should be making that decision let
me give you a warning about that young man let me give you a warning about
that young lady sometimes it's reprimanding them and rebuking them it's
admonished you say what does that mean it means that that your job is to open
your mouth and communicate with your children you say well why does God feel
the need to tell us because God kind of highlights this a lot throughout the
Bible this idea of fathers communicating fathers communicating with their
children go to Proverbs 4 look at verse 1 notice what the Proverbs say
Proverbs 4 1 here notice the idea of communication here ye children notice
the instruction of a father fathers should be instructing children should be
listening and attend to no understanding notice what a dad says he
says for I give you good doctrine that are you teaching your children
doctrine are you teaching them the Word of God are you teaching them that
that what we believe that salvation is by grace through faith are you
teaching them about eternal security that once you have it you're you're
secure in Christ and you cannot lose it are you teaching them about the King
James Bible are you teaching them about soul winning are you teaching
them about the standards and separation are you are you teaching them what we
believe see kids don't need to just be told what to do they also need to
be told why we do it why we believe the things we believe why we educate
the way we educate why we dress the way we dress why we act the way we act
why we don't go to certain places and do go to certain places why the King
James versus the NIV hey why so winning they need to be taught these
things and that it's your job you say faster no that's your job hey I will
help you but I've got them for three hours a week you've got them all week
long he says I give you good doctrine forsake ye not my law notice verse
three he says for I was my father's son tender and only beloved in the
side of my mother he noticed he taught me also and said unto me let thine heart
retain my words keep my commandments and live I wonder how many dads could
say to their children let thine heart retain my words say why does God
emphasize this idea of communication I believe the reason that God emphasizes
because unfortunately the average man stinks at communication and if you
don't believe it ask your wife the average guy just really does not
communicate well at all I mean I get text messages from a lot of guys and
I'm just thinking myself like good night I can see why your wife hates
you I kind of hate you and I'm not even married to you just the way you
talk and the things you say he taught me also and said unto me let thine
heart retain my words keep my commandments and live go to Psalm 78 if
you would if you go backwards from Proverbs to Psalm Psalm 78 that are you
admonishing your children you're warning them reprimanding them but also
giving them counsel giving them advice Psalm 78 I love Psalm 78 when it comes
to a passage of Scripture in regards to fathers I think Psalm 78 is probably
my favorite Psalm 78 verse 1 says give ear O my people to my law
incline your ears to the words of my mouth this is God speaking to his
people he says give ear the great Heavenly Father telling his children
give ear O my people to my law incline your ears to the words of my mouth I
will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old but I
love verse 3 when it says which we have heard and known so God says hey
listen to what I have to say God says but then we're told in verse 3
what God has to say we've heard and known I love this phrase and our
fathers have told us that when you're gone what will your children say that
you told them my dad talked a lot about sports you grew into football
what a waste I hope I hope when I'm gone my children will say about
myself and my wife that we taught them the Word of God that we taught them
to love the Lord that we taught them to serve God he said which we have
heard and known and our fathers have told us we will not hide them from
their children showing to the generation to come the praises of the
Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he had done for he
established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which he
commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children that
the generations to come might know them even the children which should be
born who should arise and declare them to their children we just spent
some days in Washington DC and of course there's a lot of paganism in
Washington DC but one thing that we noticed as we were going around looking
at these monuments is that the Word of God isn't scripted everywhere in that
city we went to the Lincoln Memorial and we're reading my wife read out loud
they have the of course Gettysburg Address and they have the speech that
Lincoln gave at his second inauguration and she read it out loud as we were
there reading it to the children of course listening in and my kids
commented his inauguration is like he's preaching a sermon he's like quoting
the Word of God and making points about God and the Bible and obviously
not every American has been a Christian and I understand that but our
nation was founded on concepts of Christianity in the Bible and the Word
of God did play a role in the beginning stages of this nation but that
is not the country you and I live in today and you said what happened what
happened is Psalm 78 some fathers failed to make them known to their
children some generations to come did not know because a dad did not arise
and declare them to their children that it's your job to admonish to speak to
communicate to warn to reprimand to give counsel to advise your kids
fathers must bring them up you say how do you bring them up you must
admonish but I want you to notice it's not just admonish it's also
nurture keep your finger right there in Psalms we're gonna come back to it go
back to Ephesians chapter 6 see dad your job is not to be some drill
sergeant in your house and just barking orders that's not leadership this is why
God tells us in Ephesians and look men men we're rough and we're whatever you
know and we I think men we struggle with this sometimes we can just be tough
and rough God says in Ephesians 6 4 and you fathers provoke not your
children to wrath provoke not your children to wrath in Colossians you're
there in Ephesians if you flip over to Colossians Philippians Colossians
Colossians chapter 3 Ephesians Philippians Colossians we're almost
done Ephesians Philippians Colossians 3 21 fathers provoke not your
children to anger notice lest they be discouraged fathers provoke not your
children to anger the Bible says lest they be discouraged if you go back to
Ephesians 6 4 it says any fathers provoke not your children to wrath but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord what does that
word nurture mean it means to care for to encourage to to help with the
growth and the development is the same idea from the word nourish to
give nutrients to strengthen see that is not just your job to admonish and
to tell your kids what they're doing wrong and how to do it right but it's
your job to admonish while you nurture both these things have to go hand in
hand you need to admonish which means to give counsel to advise to
reprimand toward yeah it's your job to sit there and communicate with
your children what they're doing wrong and how to do it right and what
the right thing is to do but that has to be coupled with nurture with
care and love and by the way that's true of all leadership whether you're a
husband or a boss or a pastor we don't just sit there and reprimand we
admonish and we nurture that we provoke not our children to wrath that
we provoke not our children to anger lest they be discouraged go to Psalm
103 Psalm 103 dad you got to love your kids you guys spend quality time
with them some 103 in verse 13 some 103 in verse 13 the Bible says like as a
father pity it's that word pity it means to have compassion to have love
as a father pity at his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him
that should be the characteristic of your parenting that is that you admonish
and you nurture that you have compassion you pity your children go
back to Proverbs 29 if you would you're there in Psalm to split back to
Proverbs 29 look at verse 21 here we have a verse that doesn't have to
do with fatherhood necessarily there's an application made to fatherhood but
it's about a servant about an employee Proverbs 29 in verse 21 the Bible
says he that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him
become his son at the lane and here's the key word delicately he said what
is it saying here's what it's saying a man could enter into a relationship
with a young man a child that he's not physically related to it's an
employer relationship he's a master and a servant and yet because of his
gentleness and because of his delicacy the Bible says he that
delicately bring that bringeth up remember your father's provoking out
your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord this man is delicately bringing up his employees in the
nurture and his servant in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and as a
result of his delicate loving the admonition and nurture of this
servant the servant becomes like a son to him he that delicately bringeth
up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the lane
but yet there's many examples like with the one we saw David and Absalom where
sons end up hating their dads they're actual physical related to their dad
and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you the reason for all of those
situations obviously there's lots of reasons that that could happen but I
believe that one reason has to do with this word delicate listen if you're
in leadership you got to learn this word delicate you want your employees to
hate you you know if you're a pastor you want your church members to hate
you want your wife to hate you want your kids to hate you disregard this
group word delicates see delicate you know who were delicate with people we
care about he that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have
him because his son we have will have him become his son at the length go to
Proverbs 23 Proverbs 23 we're gonna look at Proverbs 23 and a verse in
Malachi will be done Proverbs 23 so what is it that every father must do
fathers must number one take the lead they must take responsibility for
their personal spiritual well-being and for the and responsibility for
their family spiritual well-being number two fathers must set the example
every leader must be able to say look on me and do likewise and fathers should
be able to look at their children and say as I do so shall ye do but as for
me in my house we will serve the Lord fathers must provide and protect must
provide for the physical needs of their children and they must protect the
physical needs of their children lastly fathers must bring them up for the
Lord in the nurture and admonition those those are coupled together of the
Lord see that when you do all this when you take the lead when you set
the example when you provide and protect when you bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord here's what you gain with your
children is influence is that you get to influence them that when you speak
they listen they they know it's coming from a position of love and that you're
looking out for them one thing I try to we tell our children I try to
instill this in the hearts of my children I hope it's getting in there
I try to we try to tell my wife and I try to tell our kids look
there's nobody in this world there's nobody in this world that cares more
about your well-being than your father and your mother so sometimes we tell you
things you don't want to hear but we're not telling you that because we're
just trying to be mean to you we actually care about you see fathers we
must endeavor to not lose our children's hearts having influenced the
biblical terminology for that is to have their hearts Proverbs 23 and verse
26 remember what Solomon said he said my son give me thine heart give me thine
heart and let thine eyes observe my ways every goal the goal of every father
in this room should be this to have his children's hearts you say I don't
know how to do it how do I do it here's how you do you take the lead
you set the example you provide and protect and you bring them up in
nurture and admonition don't forget nurture see I don't have my children's
heart you probably failed somewhere in that equation either have not taken the
lead you've not set the example you've not provided you've not
protected or you have failed to admonish or you have failed to nurture that's
it you say I want my children's hearts well here's the thing before
your children will give you their heart and look by the way just know
this when they're little babies and they're born and they're little toddlers
children they you got their hearts it's when they start getting older there's
these pools for people trying to steal their hearts steal the influence
from you malachi view what chapter 4 you say how do I ask my children for
their heart you don't ask them for it it's something that happens you say
how do I get my children's heart here's how it happens that you must
endeavor to not lose your children's heart you say how do I do that by
endeavoring to turn your heart your heart your heart your heart towards
your children first malachi chapter 4 and verse 6 this is speaking about the
work that God will do notice and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse notice before the heart of the children
is turned to their fathers the heart of the fathers is turned to the
children see that here here's the truth can I just be honest with you
your kids know whether your job your career your business your hobbies your
sports are more important to you than they are they know that they may never
say that you may never communicate that but innately they know that they know
when your heart is turned from them towards something else but here's the
good news your wife and your kids and your servants and anyone that calls
you a leader will also internally and innately know when your heart has been
turned towards them and when the heart of a leader when the heart of a
husband when the heart of a father turns towards his wife and towards his
children their hearts turn towards him my son give me thine heart and let
thine eyes observe my ways but here's how you do it you turn your heart
towards your children and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse that's about our heads in our word of prayer
Heavenly Father what do we thank you for fathers and what I thank you that
our church is filled with some amazing fathers great fathers obviously none of
us are perfect and we could all do better be better and Lord I pray you'd
help us to be better I pray that you'd help us to take these lessons
that we've learned today for those of us that are dads to take the lead to
set the example to provide and protect to bring them up and nurture and
admonition what I realized that there are things in people's past that
cannot be changed in those areas we just give the advice that Paul gives
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those
things which are before but I pray for the men in this room that have
kids in their home right now they still have the opportunity to turn
their hearts towards their children to turn their hearts towards God and to
ask for the heart of their wife and their children pray you give them the
courage to do it in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen
we're gonna have brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song we'll
prepare for baptism this morning so we'll sing as we prepare for that
let's turn to song number four hundred and seven
four zero seven
four hundred and seven we're gonna sing it out on the first
we'll sing it out on the first we'll sing it out on the second we'll sing it out on the fourth we'll sing it out on the sixth we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh we'll sing it out on the
seventh we'll sing it out on the seventh
oh
the song 401 401 on the first set my soul
oh
all right well we have several baptisms this morning the first one
is shinu her and of course shinu is the oldest son of brother danny and miss march
and shinu's getting baptized today shinu have you accepted lord jesus christ as your personal
savior all right shinu by your profession of faith i baptize you my brother in the name of
the father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death
raised to walk in newness of life
all right and we have a whole family getting baptized today are we going to start with arthur
arthur come on up
want to hold my hand there we go
come on
all right we have arthur gauge coming for baptism go ahead and have a seat right there
there you go and arthur have you accepted lord jesus christ as your personal savior
all right arthur by your profession of faith i baptize you my brother in the name of the
father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death
raised to walk in newness of life
all right and we have arthur's sister coming also come on up
this is violet come on up
go ahead and have a seat
is that good all right violet have you accepted lord jesus christ as your personal savior
all right violet by your profession of faith i baptize you my sister in the name of the
father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death
raised to walk in newness of life
all right next we have mom coming michelle
go ahead and have a seat
all right no problem let's go ahead and take a picture
all right we have miss michelle gage coming for baptism michelle have you accepted lord
jesus christ as your personal savior all right michelle by your profession of faith
i baptize you my sister in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost
buried in the likeness of his death raised to walk in newness of life
okay and lastly we have the leader of the whole tribe dawn
john john gage come on up
thank you
have a seat
let's get a picture
okay all right we have john coming for baptism it's a beautiful thing to be baptized on the
same day with your whole family and john have you accepted lord jesus christ as your personal
savior yes all right john by for your profession of faith i baptize you my brother in the
name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death
raised to walk in newness of life
all right well thank you very much everybody for being here let me just say again happy father's
day to all the fathers in attendance with us today don't forget to go buy the main foyer
and get a t-shirt ready about the shirts t-shirt we have them for all the men all the boys
they're good quality shirts and we think you'll like them and don't forget also if you'd like
to sign up for the fourth of july picnic to bring a dish a side dish or dessert that's also
in the foyer if you're an usher we need you at the ushers meeting we want to train you
up before red hot preaching conference so please communicate with us let us know if you're
going to be there for the ushers for um also for red hot volunteer opportunities you have
those cards you can fill those out give them to me or whoever at the end of the service if
there's anything we can do for you please let us know want to encourage you to be back
tonight 6 p.m for the evening service and we hope that you have a great father's day
brother matt would you mind dismissing us with a word of prayer
let's pray heavenly father lord we thank you for the sermon that was preached to us
this morning lord i pray that all of us fathers would take these things to heart lord
and apply these things to our lives i pray lord that you would be with the
be with us the rest of this day be with the soul winners that go out
bring us back to church safely this evening do you see me pray amen
so
you