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Deuteronomy 6:1-9

God's Calling All Fathers

  • Shawn Dean
  • Sunday Night Messages
  • June 20, 2021

God is calling all fathers – a priceless call on our lives if you are a dad. The most challenging calling on your life if you are single or do not yet have children. And a legacy in the making if you are a grandfather.

  • Sermon Notes
  • Scripture

God’s Calling All Fathers
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
June 20, 2021 (PM)

Happy Father’s Day

Illustration – General Douglas MacArthur….

“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; A son who will know Thee and know himself as the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge; Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, here let him learn compassion for those who fall. Build me a son whose heart will be clear and whose goal will be high, a son who will master him-self before he seeks to master other men; One who will learn to laugh, yet not forget to weep., Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.”

God is calling all fathers – a priceless call on our lives if you are a dad. The most challenging calling on your life if you are single or do not yet have children. And a legacy in the making if you are a grand-father.

Society is increasingly devaluing masculinity and manhood – under attack and being redefined – fathers are often portrayed in poor light.

63% youth suicides from fatherless homes
71% high school dropouts…
75% youth in drug abuse treatment…
85% youth in prison… 90% runaways…

Shocking, but maybe not surprising – our political correctness won’t discuss it. Truth is rarely news or doesn’t fit the narrative.

Moms! You may recall that on Mother’s Day, I cautioned the dads not to fall asleep thinking the message didn’t apply to them – same caution to you la-dies this evening.
A Mother’s role is so very important – not one over the other – God designed the roles to compliment one another to reflect His nature and heart – neither alone can do it all – mom primarily of nurture and care – as a child matures he/she looks to dad for role model processing decisions – if dad is inadequate or absent it’s much harder – spiritual stakes are very high.

• Single moms? What’s that mean for you? Encourage you that God does exceptional things in the life of people who believe in Him!
• Statistics also show where a father regularly attends church; 66% kids will attend. Both parents attend; 75% children regularly at-tend.
• A necessity, not a luxury…Producing a child doesn’t make you a father – Being Married doesn’t make you a mate – Male doesn’t make you a man in God’s eyes.

I. God’s Most Important Command

Dad – the way you lead affects your children, your home, generations to come!

If you are a father today with young children, I encourage you to pay this price now, on the front end of their life because the rewards come later.

Proverbs 22:6; Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.

Teen dads, I urge you to begin paying the price now even if you haven’t up to this point. Never too late to start being that father for your teenagers.
You are a dad of grown kids; maybe you blew it earlier, it’s never too late and I encourage you to seek them out, ask their forgiveness for not doing better and ask them for another chance to speak in-to their lives, encourage them, be there for them.

Single men – or newly married without children – listen to this message, so you know the price to pay before you get there to be a godly father.
I want to give you some anchors on this topic of being available to God’s call in your life as a father so I hope you will study these notes beyond tonight and let God direct or redirect your path.

A. Godly fathers pursue relationship

Our passage contains the most important words God ever said, and within our passage, God is calling all fathers. What does that look like in your life today?

* An effective father cultivates a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ in his own life.

John 15:5; I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

• Without me He says – no father without a relationship with God in his life can deny self, in or-der to be an effective dad.
• No father without Christ is able to have the courage you must have. No father without power of Christ flowing through us will have the wisdom, tenacity and self-control – the right balance of ten-der and tough.

Every one of us when it comes to fathering, every-one of us is in over our heads – and we desperately need God’s power in our lives.
We already know God agrees with us – He says so in Genesis in describing His beautiful creation of woman – our helpmate.
Dad, if you do not know Jesus as your savior, being a great dad or effective dad starts right here – a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ and then al-lowing Him to generate the power in your life you need to be effective.

B. Godly fathers are present

* An effective dad invests significant amounts of time in their kids…

Quote from former Sec. Housing & Urban Dev. –

God designed the family – created man and woman to multiply – to create shade for the children.

No more taboos in society except the bible and biblical morality – abortion and things like pornography are protected – culture offers no solutions – all under the judgement of God.

v5-6; A clear picture of a dad who IS sitting in his house, and IS walking down the road, and IS lying down and IS rising up WITH his children!
The picture is not of a dad who is an occasional visitor in the life of his children, but rather one that is a constant presence in his children’s lives.
It demands quantity time with our children. Time, our greatest asset and often our most wasted re-source.

What about “quality time” you may ask? – –
We all know life is very busy – it’s the American way – nobody has much extra time – so I know if we are going to give our children quantity time – we are going to have to take this time from something else…

Personal Illustration
My life was our church, my family, my job – golf suffered, lawn didn’t always look so good…no wax on my car – many undone projects – but at age 60, I treasure my family and the time we spent together.

Of course, there are fathers who quietly help with homework or baths or laundry or groceries, read to kids, cheer at sports events – The ones holding society together – each one of them is worth a dozen investment bankers or a boardroom full of execs and all the lawmakers you can round up.

* An effective father confronts his children – the Bible makes it clear that a godly father must confront his children –

II. The Bible Speaks to Discipline

Ephesians 6:4; Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord

Hebrews 12:9; Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them;

1 Thessalonians 2:11; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children.  Please notice how the Bible connects the job of admonishing & correcting & disciplining to fathers! Not mothers –

A. An effective father must lead

Bible is full of poor examples, not because fathers didn’t love their kids, but because they chose not to confront them and correct them.

Eli the high priest in 1 Samuel
Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Samson’s parents
David in this regard, was a horrible father – had a son named Adonijah –

1 Kings 1:6; And his father had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?”

No male child in the history of this universe ever born that didn’t need a father asking why are you acting this way or doing this thing –

These biblical examples all crashed and burned – why – because dad was not in their lives correcting them.

Research points out men parent different then women – those differences matter – true in area of confrontational discipline. Correcting and confronting is stressful and exhausting – some find it easier to just give in.

• A Godly father recognizes doing that lets our child down, failing them at the very point they need us the most. Don’t abandon them!
A godly dad is willing the pay the price of time, stress and energy to confront and correct his children – AND a dad should be involved in the counsel of grown children as well – help them see what’s coming – the potential consequences.

God gives us a father’s wisdom to help our children see things they don’t see coming yet – no matter how old they are, you dads will always be older and a godly father is accumulating wisdom to participate in their children’s lives for all of your life!

B. Actively bless your family

* An effective father speaks words of blessing and encouragement to his children.  Never leave your children wondering how you feel about them – a godly father is quick to build them up when they get it right.

Illustration – Rebekah’s Father

Genesis 24:60; And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thou-sands of ten thousands, And may your descend-ants possess the gate of those who hate them.”

C. Extend or begin your legacy

Illustration – My own father

In conclusion as we father’s accept phone calls and presents from our sons and daughters – lets give them the gift so many of them desire from us, but will never request – simple – sincere I’m proud of you!

1. Cultivate a deep personal relationship with Christ in your own life.
2. Invest large amounts of time in your children.
3. Confront when they need it.
4. Speak words of blessing and encouragement and affirmation when they deserve it.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9   NASB

6 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may do them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it, 2 so that you, your son, and your grandson will fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Now Israel, you shall listen and be careful to do them, so that it may go well for you and that you may increase greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has [a]promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 8 You shall also tie them as a [b]sign to your [c]hand, and they shall be as [d]frontlets [e]on your forehead. 9 You shall also write them on the [f]doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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