Good morning.
How are we doing on this Great Father's Day?
Outstanding.
Alright, it is a great privilege to be here this morning and to be able to share with you.
First of all, I want to thank Nathan and Chris for teeing the ball up way high for me,
putting the biggest driver they could find in my hand,
and standing me in front of the straightest fairway there ever was
by asking me to preach on this particular day.
Because as he said, for the last five months or so,
I've been working diligently with the guy in the back of the room
in creating a website especially for dads.
And it's actually called DadsTheKey.com.
DadsTheKey.com.
And for the past 26 years, I've been working many times with the Lord's help
at being a parent, being a dad.
And it's been quite a challenge, but quite an awesome privilege as well.
Alright, dads.
They made it easy for you to leave you away because the kids came out to you.
I'm asking you to come down here to the front and stand to start off here this morning.
All fathers, get on down here.
Get on down here and stand.
And stand down here until I tell you otherwise.
Now, just make your way across here.
My goodness.
It's awesome.
Stand right here.
That's good.
You can look out at the crowd.
That's fine.
Now, just to get an idea of who all I have to actually preach to this morning,
I want to also ask a few other people to stand.
That is, would the wives of all these men up here please stand and remain standing?
Okay.
Excellent.
Wives of all those.
And next, I would like to ask if we have any single young men
who have the slightest inkling of desire to be a husband and perhaps father one day,
would you please stand?
Alright, we've got some bold men here this morning.
And last, but certainly by no means least,
if we have any single young women with the slightest inkling of desire
to be married to a great husband and father one day to their children,
would you please stand?
Alright, great.
Congratulations for being bold this morning and standing.
Alright, thank you for standing.
That looks like I've got a great audience to preach to this morning
because what I have to share applies to each and every one of you.
Okay?
Everyone but the dads can be seated.
Alright?
And, um, now dads, it is a known fact, okay,
that our day will never equal, much less exceed,
the glitter, the glamour, and the attention of our counterpart's special day.
Right?
Okay?
We just, we just have to accept that fact.
Okay?
As they are indeed the glue that holds the family together.
Alright?
But even that great philosopher and spokesman for the family himself,
Jim Carrey, said that behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.
Okay?
Yes, we can look to Jim Carrey for a lot of great wisdom.
But, men, I do want you to know that I come bearing gifts.
You've already received some gifts this morning,
but I have another special gift for you.
And that is, my favorite daily devotional.
It's called The Word for You Today.
And it's put together by Bob Gass Ministries.
Bob Gass and his ministry is located in Alpharetta, Georgia.
So I want you to have a complimentary copy.
And you can order those if you want to continue to get those.
You can, I've been using this with my family for the last few years
and have thoroughly loved it.
It's a great in-the-car, on-the-way daily devotional
that Grant and I are using on a regular basis.
But I love this and I want to give that to you as well.
And in case, you know, you still would like to have another gift,
I've got one more gift for you at the end of the service.
As you go out, look for Joel Whetstone.
He's going to be handed out to you as we go.
It's going to kind of be a summary of the message.
Okay?
Let's give them a round of applause here.
Thank you, dads.
Thank you.
All right.
We're working with a clicker that hopefully is going to work for us.
And if not, as it's not right now, my trustee, John.
Okay.
Charles Steinmetz.
I'm sure you're all familiar with Charles Steinmetz.
Charles Steinmetz was an electrical engineer with an enormous intellect.
Okay?
At the time of his death, he held over 200 patents.
I don't know about y'all, but I'm still working on my first,
and I'm not doing very well at it.
Okay?
Okay.
After retiring, Steinmetz was asked by a major appliance manufacturer to locate a malfunction
in their electrical equipment, something that none of their experts had been able to do.
So Steinmetz agreed to do that, and he spent some time walking around and testing the various parts of the machine complex.
And finally, after a period of time, he took a piece of chalk out of his pocket,
and he marked an X on a specific part of one machine.
The manufacturer's people disassembled the machine, and to their utter amazement,
found that the defect lay precisely where Steinmetz had placed the X.
Several days later, the company received a bill for $10,000.
Now, mind you, this was back in the early 1900s.
Okay?
So that had to be probably equivalent to about $100,000 or more today.
Okay?
Received a bill for $10,000.
Well, they protested the amount and asked him to itemize it.
So Steinmetz sent back an itemized bill, which said,
making one chalk mark, $1.
Knowing where to place that chalk mark, $9,999.
Now, I love that illustration.
Okay?
Almost any time I preach, I'm able to find a way to use it.
Okay?
Absolutely love it.
But it never hurts to be highly skilled at what you do, does it?
Never does.
Steinmetz knew that he knew where to place that X.
And you may think this is rather arrogant for me to say today,
but I declare to you today that I know exactly where the problem
and the solution lies with our country today.
I know exactly where it is.
And so if you have a direct line to the White House and President Obama or to the Congress,
you may want to give them a call and let them know that contrary to all the polls and the sound bites,
pardon the English, it ain't about the economy, stupid.
Okay?
No, but rather the problem and the solution in our country lies with the most important person
within the most vital of the three institutions that God has ordained here on earth,
and that is fathers in the home.
And that's where I want to focus my attention for the next few hours,
I mean minutes, that we have on this special Father's Day.
But I want to talk about what makes a great father.
A father that is honored and revered for being the leader that genuinely loves,
encourages, directs, and fights for each member on his family team.
And I believe the ingredients that make up what a great father is are found in a model that I created
while putting together my website that I call the five core values for dads.
And, you know, I don't know how many of you saw the great movie recently, Act of Valor,
about the Navy SEALs.
How many of you saw that movie?
Fantastic movie.
My son and I, we've only seen it about three or four times now.
All right, but early in that movie, one of the Navy SEALs, he said,
we all need a code, an ethos to live by.
And I couldn't agree more.
And the five core values are my code to live by as a man of God,
as a husband, and as a father,
and are what I want to present to the fathers of this country,
beginning with the fathers here at Christ Family Church,
in hopes that in some small or great way,
God might use them to revive and restore the heart of the home.
So let's look first.
The first core value that I want to share with you
is that a great father establishes his life and his family
on the sure and trusted foundation of the Word of God,
the Holy Bible, which will endure forever.
Now, dads, you don't have to take perfect notes on this
because at the end, you're going to have a compilation of these five core values
as a final gift from me here this morning.
But Webster, Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary,
he defined foundation as the basis or groundwork of anything,
that on which anything stands and by which it is supported.
Now, you know, think about this.
Whatever facet of life that we're talking about,
whether we're talking about a physical home,
a tall skyscraper building,
or a sports team, or a church,
or even an individual life,
of all the particular individual parts and pieces that it takes
to put those together,
foundation is the absolute most important thing.
Everything else hangs or falls on it.
Okay?
And we're talking here today about who or what we look to
as our source of authority for life.
And I've got to tell you, folks,
I mean, I could talk the entire rest of the morning on this one point.
I mean, to me, there are so many great truths and rich principles to mine
from just this one point right here about the foundation.
So important.
But for the sake of time, I don't have that time.
But one of the greatest illustrations that Jesus ever gave,
and probably the best He gave,
as far as the importance of the foundation that we build our lives upon,
is in Matthew 7, 24 through 27.
And let's read this together.
I love it.
It is, Jesus said,
and this was at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus said,
Now, I see a cause and effect relationship in that passage right there.
And let's look at that.
Okay?
The first cause is Jesus is talking about the person who hears and does the Word of God.
And He likens that person to a wise man who builds his house upon a rock.
What is the effect of that person's life and decisions?
Well, his house and his life stands firm amidst rough weather and the hard times.
Now, conversely, the person who hears and ignores the Word of God,
they hear it, but then they just go on about their way,
as though there's no relatively little, if any, importance to it.
That man is like a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand.
And the effect of that is that his house and his life falls flat amidst the rough weather and the hard times.
You know, I've walked on sand as early as yesterday.
We came back from a week in Panama City.
And I was walking on sand as early as yesterday.
And two things I know relative to sand that you know as well.
Number one, it's a horrible thing to build a house upon.
Okay?
And in comparison, Jesus is saying the person who builds his house on the sand,
that is, who hears but does not do his Word, is equally as foolish.
And you can't build a life upon that as well, hearing and ignoring the Word of God.
You know, according to Jesus, there are only two foundations in life that we as human beings can build our lives upon.
We can build our lives upon man and his foolish reason,
or we can build it upon God and his infinite wisdom.
Now, think about it with me.
Where do we see or where can we see these two foundations lived out today?
And the effect and the result of those.
You know, occasionally we hear about people who are basing their lives and living their lives on the Word of God.
And we rejoice in that.
We get excited about that.
But more frequently, we hear and read every day of people who built their lives upon the sand of man's foolish reason.
Of what I call the four Ps, the things of the world.
So, popularity, pleasure, possessions, and power and position.
Okay?
And, you know, we are hearing and ignoring the Word of God.
And you know what?
The result of those that we see are either their lives collapse, as we saw in the last couple of months.
One, a former pro bowler in the NFL, Junior Seau, that probably you guys in particular remember.
He committed suicide.
You know, as early as a couple of months ago.
His lives collapsed before the public.
But for those whose lives don't just collapse, you know, they end up, they're revealed to just be more or less empty.
Okay?
And, you know, there's one comparison here, you know, today in this day and age in which we live,
that's being played out, no pun intended, on the football field.
And that is between Tim Tebow and Tom Brady.
Last year they met together shaking hands for the very first time at, you know, at the 50-yard line.
Okay?
Many of you guys in here, you know, I know are football fans.
And we all know about Tim Tebow's life, or at least all that we know about it.
Tim Tebow is a shining example of a young man who has based his entire life, thanks to his parents and others around him,
who based his life on hearing and doing the Word of God.
Okay?
His life is built upon the rock.
But Tom Brady, okay, as much as I love Tom Brady, okay, and he is one of my favorites,
Tom Brady, let me tell you a little bit about Tom Brady.
All before the age of 30, he had three Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVP trophies,
named to the Pro Bowl several times, even a bulleted summary list of his accomplishments can go on for pages.
He's married to a supermodel, has a contract in the millions.
And the things that you would expect from a man that many are saying may be the greatest in NFL history.
Okay?
Tom Brady embodies the lifestyle of what I call the four Ps.
Okay?
Pleasure, popularity, possession, power, and position.
Tom Brady has it all, guys.
He has it all.
And yet, what I want you to hear and see is, in a 60 Minutes interview back in December of 2007,
Tom Brady expressed the following.
He said, why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me?
I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, hey man, this is what it is.
I reached my goal, my dream, my life.
I think, God, it's got to be more than this.
Can you believe this?
I mean, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.
I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team.
But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find.
And the narrator asked him at the end, what is the answer?
And Tom Brady says, I wish I knew.
I wish I knew.
You know, I just, I read that and I just, I just say a big wow.
Is that not amazing?
Guys, we have right before us and in an interview five years ago from a man's own lips who has everything the world could ever give him.
And always will probably.
And that's what he expressed.
There's quite a difference between the foundation that Tim Tebow has built his life upon, wouldn't you say?
Dads, there is nothing more important than making the Word of God the foundation of your life.
Okay?
And as my good friend, Robert Andrews, and I'm going to refer to him several times here through his book, The Family.
Okay?
Great book that I've had the privilege of reading through and learning a lot from him.
He says there is a big difference between saying that you believe the Bible and actually living it out and putting it into practice.
And I want to show you one other thing here, guys.
And this to me is what it means to make the Word of God the foundation of your life.
Every thought, fathers, every thought, plan, and decision about yourself, your marriage, your family, your finances, your vocation, your recreation is run through the filter of the Word of God.
And it comes out that you have a commitment that you're going to do exactly what the Word of God says and exactly how it says to do it.
And you're going to avoid exactly what the Word of God says to avoid.
That to me is what it means to make the Word of God the foundation of your life.
Not just saying it, but actually living it out.
And one last thing I would say on this point is keep in mind, fathers, it is not just your life and eternity at stake.
It's the lives and eternities of multiple generations that will be following in your footsteps.
Okay?
Very important.
Now, now that we've laid the proper foundation for you dads, we need to put the framing and the walls in place.
Okay?
And that's the second core value.
And that second core value is that a great father embraces his God-ordained role as head of the home.
And the delegated authority God has given him to carry out that responsibility with firm and compassionate leadership.
You know, there are many things that husbands and wives can base their view of family and their roles in it on.
And Robert Andrews mentions in his book several.
Our original family upbringing, which is the number one influence.
Also, movies and TV, i.e. Hollywood, pop psychology, peers around us, trial and error.
And lastly, the church.
But don't be deceived because the church can be very unhelpful and confusing here.
Okay?
But did you know that God has clearly laid out a divine authority structure for the family?
He has.
He has laid out a divine authority structure and is found in 1 Corinthians 11.3.
And that passage says, Paul says,
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ,
and the head of the woman is the man,
and the head of Christ is God.
It's all in there.
It's amazing.
And there's the divine authority structure.
We have God the Father, Jesus Christ, man.
I changed woman to wife because, men, you know,
God obviously doesn't intend that we be the head of every woman,
nor can we be, right?
I mean, it's a big enough job to be the head of one, right?
And I added children because of the obvious passages in the New Testament
about children being under the rule and the authority of their parents.
But there is our divine authority structure.
And I do want to say, like in the divine family,
the authority structure in the earthly family,
it relates to function and not to value or worth,
not to the value or the worth of the individual.
And how wonderful that is, but the world doesn't seem to get that, do they?
Whenever we start talking about the men being the heads
and the authorities in the home,
what do the women and others in the world start saying?
They start crying out, you know, suppression,
and that sort of thing, okay?
It's a misunderstanding of God's ideal
in this whole authority structure that we have.
But there can be some challenges, dads,
to fulfilling this divine authority structure.
First of all, there could be a lack of leadership on your part.
There is a syndrome that I refer to as strong at work, weak at home.
Okay?
That jumps on a lot of men.
I mean, man, they can go to work
and they can have the mentality, it's get her done.
And then once they pull up to the house and walk in,
it's let her do it.
A big difference.
Big difference.
Get her done at work, let her do it at home.
Alright?
And that can easily lead to a second challenge,
and that is a strong-willed wife
who has natural take-charge abilities
that maybe has had to take that responsibility in the past,
and guess what?
They don't want to give up power in the home.
Okay?
Something very serious to think about.
And the other one is just within our entire society and culture
is the whole feminist movement
which hates God's divine authority structure for the family.
they're all about destroying it
and doing away with it.
But you know what?
Whatever it is, whatever it takes, dads,
we must assume our role of leadership and authority in the home.
And to not do so
simply means that we are outside the will of God
in that area of our lives.
And we need to repent,
and that we need to sit down,
and we need to have a powwow with our wife,
maybe even our kids,
because guys, we can give over power to our kids in the home as well.
We may have to sit down and have a meeting about that.
But dads, where do we get our example of leadership from?
You know, if we're the head of the home,
where do we get our example of leadership from?
Who's up above us?
Jesus Christ.
The supreme example of love and servanthood.
Just as Jesus completely yielded to the will of His Father
in the divine family,
we are to yield our will to our head,
which is Jesus Christ.
How awesome.
And just imagine that.
If that were being played out,
you know, in every home,
even in every home of professing believers
throughout this country,
what a difference that would make.
There's no one between us and Jesus Christ.
There's no church.
There's no elder.
No pastor.
No one or no thing that's in between us.
And if we're getting our lead from Him,
our lead and our inspiration from Jesus Christ,
I believe there's going to be
much fewer problems and headaches
for us to have to deal with in that regard.
So, dads, if you want your home
to be a place of harmony and great vision,
we need to follow God's blueprint,
which is His divine authority structure.
Now, next, we move on to relationships
in the kitchen and in the master bedroom
to continue with the home analogy.
Okay?
And that is, thirdly, what makes a great father
is that he cherishes his wife
by treating her in words, actions, and attitudes
with the highest of respect, value, and honor
following the example of Christ.
Now, you know what?
In my work, I'm in insurance
and I work with people on Medicare.
So, day in and day out for the last six years,
I've been visiting in the homes
of many 65-year-old and up individuals and couples.
And I can tell you this,
I've been in several homes
that the tension between husband and wife,
you can cut with a knife.
Now, that's not just a problem
for 65-year-olds and up, okay?
It can jump on even young couples, okay?
Very soon after that wonderful honeymoon,
if you're not careful.
And after six years of being in that line of work
and almost 30 years of being married,
I can tell you this for sure,
cherishing our wives, man,
does not come naturally.
Wives, can I get an amen on that?
A soft one.
Not too loud.
Don't rub it in.
Don't make it too hard.
But you know,
our human nature works to the contrary.
The longer we are together,
it tends to be that the less we cherish one another
and the more we tend to argue and fight
and bicker with one another, right?
That's the way human nature tends to be.
And why is that?
Well, it's because anyone that you live with
for any length of time,
particularly for years, you know, years on end,
you come to see them for who they really are.
Their imperfections, their weaknesses,
their anxieties,
and that causes you to tend to be more critical
than, you know,
and less cherishing towards them.
But praise the Lord,
it's not at all about relying on our human nature,
is it, Dad?
Instead, this is about cooperating
with the divine nature that resides within us.
Cooperating with the Spirit of God.
And that's what we have to do, men.
I mean, this is a spiritual issue.
And it's all about us
allowing the Spirit of God
who lives within us
to control us by faith
in our very words, actions, and attitudes.
You know, God's really convicted me of that
even going back several months
as I started putting together the website
of just the way that I treat Gail.
And he's doing the work on it.
Now, he's still working on me, okay?
And he'll continue to be working on me
for the rest of my life.
But thank the Lord,
I've got a very patient wife.
But anyway,
the bottom line is here,
you know,
if you're not doing too well at this, Dad's,
you're either trying too hard yourself
or you're not trying at all.
Okay?
The bottom line,
it's about that we cannot do this.
We cannot accomplish this in our own strength.
Now,
one of the verses I really love about this
is 1 Peter 3.7.
And Peter says in there,
you husbands likewise,
live with your wives
in an understanding way
as with a weaker vessel
since she is a woman
and grant her honor
as a fellow heir of the grace of life
so that your prayers
may not be hindered.
I'm going over here
to grab something this morning
that I all but had to fight
my wife
to get it out of the house this morning.
And I will quote her.
She said,
honey,
that is $150 right there.
You cannot
take that out of the house.
But here it is this morning.
Okay?
If I drop it,
guys,
please come protect me
because I'm dead mean.
Okay?
You know what?
Very fragile,
fine piece of china glassware here.
Okay?
Moving these,
this set last year,
we wrapped them
in four to five times
the normal paper.
Okay?
Why did we do that?
Because they were made
with TLC,
tender loving care,
that's exactly
how we have to treat them
or else they'll break.
Okay?
You know,
a hundred pieces of your board.
And I'll come
swiftly behind you
as far as being broken.
But you know what?
That is exactly
what Peter is,
I believe,
is getting across here.
That is exactly
the same way
that he's saying,
man,
that we need
to treat our lives.
We need to treat them
like they are
a prized possession.
We don't use
these glasses every day.
We only use them
on special occasions
like you do
in your home.
Treat them
like they're
a prized possession
like this glass.
Okay?
Treat them
with tender,
loving care.
yeah,
that's why
I brought that this morning.
I think I better
put it right back
over here.
Okay.
But anyway,
let me share with you
a couple of practical ways
to apply this.
First of all,
guys,
I encourage you
to thank God
every day
for your wife's
unique qualities
and abilities.
And I want you to,
and a great thing
to do is to treat her
like you did
when you first met her
and you started
dating her
and you were trying
to win her over.
You were in that
conquering phase.
Okay?
There's a guy
sitting on the back
row back there
in a black shirt
by the name
of John Overton.
John has recently
just completed
that conquering phase.
Okay?
So we can have
John come up
and give us
a great dissertation
on that conquering phase.
He's just gone
through that.
He has won
that girl back there,
that wonderful girl
Mallory,
and they're soon
to be married.
But that's one thing,
guys,
I want to encourage you
to do.
Treat her like you did
when you were trying
to win her over.
And the second thing
is whether you've
been married six weeks,
six months,
six years,
or 16 years,
is guys,
pick out a pen
and paper
and write down
and make a list
of all the things
that you loved
about your wife
when you were dating her
that made you
want to marry her.
Okay?
I think that's one
of the most important
and significant things
to do for any
young guy
engaged,
recently married,
or whatever.
Write those things
down because,
trust me,
you will tend
to forget them
over time.
Okay?
The busyness of life,
the challenges of life
will cause you
to easily forget
those things
and you can begin
to look at her
as an adversary
if you're not careful.
Okay?
Now,
guys,
if there's only one thing
you remember today,
I want you to remember
this next slide,
this next quote.
And it is,
when you're tempted
to criticize
your wife's faults,
remember,
that it was those
very faults
that kept her
from getting
a better husband.
Okay?
Wives,
there's another amen
right there.
Okay?
Let's read that
one more time.
When you're tempted
to criticize
your wife's faults,
remember,
it was those
very faults
that kept her
from getting
a better husband.
Okay.
Now,
on to the other
bedrooms in your home.
The fourth core value,
the fourth thing
that makes a great father
is that he covenants
along with his wife
to be faithful stewards
that love their children
by training
and equipping them
with Christ-like
character and purpose
in the limited time
that they are
entrusted with Him.
You know,
the way the world
views children
and the way God
views them
is totally different.
Okay?
The world says
we have to endure them.
God wants us
to enjoy them.
The world says
they're largely a burden.
God wants them
to be a blessing.
Amen?
Okay?
But it's totally different
the way the world
views them
and the way God does.
But if you buy
into a core value
number one
and number two
that we've already
looked at,
then seeing children
as God sees them
will not be an issue
for you.
Okay?
One of my favorite passages
in all the Bible
on children
is Psalm 127
verses 3-5.
There is an incredible
word picture
in this passage here.
Let's read it.
Behold,
children are a gift
of the Lord.
The fruit of the womb
is a reward.
It doesn't sound like
a burden
or an endurance
test right there
to me,
the words,
does it you?
Get this.
Here's the word picture.
Like arrows
in the hand
of a warrior,
so are the children
of one Jew.
Think about that.
Think about that warrior
pulling back
that bow.
Pulling it back
all he can.
How blessed
is the man
whose quiver
is full of them.
They shall not
be ashamed
when they speak
with their enemies
in the gate.
Guys,
as heads
of our homes,
we have an incredible
privilege
and responsibility
to make a mark
on our children.
And it's not a question
of whether we'll
make a mark.
It's just a question
of what kind of mark
we'll make
and how deep
that mark,
how impactful
that mark will be.
You know,
the world can be
going loony around us
and I think we'd all
agree that it is,
but our homes
and everything
that comes in contact
with our homes
can be a place
of peace
and can be a place
of great vision
of being imparted.
Just a matter
of what we choose
to do.
You know what?
There are few areas
where I believe
the church
has missed the mark
more than in the area
of equipping parents
for their vital ministry
of multiplication
in the home.
And here's a quote
I want to share with you.
I believe that
the number one
equipping ministry
of the church
should be that
of equipping parents
to train their children
in Christ-like character
and purpose
and to extend
His kingdom
to the next generations.
You know,
why is it that
much of the modern church
and particularly
youth ministry
today
sees their role
as being entertainers?
Okay?
Wouldn't you agree
that?
That's primarily
what a lot of churches
and youth ministry
see their role
as today
is being entertainers.
Why in the world
would you feel like
your job needed
to be relegated
to entertaining
when you understand,
if we can go back,
when you understand
that you've got
the great vision
of imparting
to your children
just like the arrows
in the hand
of a warrior
that you're shooting out,
you're aiming
to shoot out
straight and sharp arrows
into the next generation.
And you have
that priceless opportunity
and privilege
in the children
that God entrusts to you.
And it's a very limited time
as we've said.
But you know what?
I think the greatest tragedy
for a man and a father
is not that he fails
to achieve a six-figure
or even a seven-figure income
in his work.
No way.
I believe the greatest tragedy
for a man
is to fail
to see himself
and his role
in a family.
To only have a vision
that he is a provider
that puts food
on the table,
that puts a roof
over his family's head,
and maybe provides
a college education.
But that's about it.
And then once that job
is done,
then he can get back
to more pertinent
and important things
like his golf
or tennis game
or trading stocks
or traveling the world.
Folks,
that is to me
the greatest tragedy
for a man and a father.
Because I want to share
with you,
I don't know if you
and your lifetime dads
have arrived
at your life quote,
but I want to share
with you mine.
And you can imagine
it's out of Robert Andrews'
book,
The Family.
And that is,
nothing is more satisfying,
more fulfilling
to a man
than to have those
in his family
over whom he has ruled
reflect in their thoughts,
words,
and deeds
what he has given
his very life
to build into them.
His influence
for the kingdom
is extended
into the next generation
and will indeed
live on through the ages
as his children
perpetuate the change.
Now,
can the four Ps,
the four Ps,
popularity,
pleasure,
possessions,
power and position,
we've already seen folks,
we've seen it
from Tom Brady's
own lips.
Those can't come near
to achieving
that kind of vision.
And the younger
you come to realize this,
young men,
the better,
because it will spare you,
it will prevent
a lot of wasted years.
Don't be out there
thinking that,
you know,
your greatest accomplishment
is out in the workforce.
No,
that's not it.
Your greatest achievement
is in your home,
right where your family
and your children are.
If you want to see
your children's children
walking in God's ways
and having a major impact
for the kingdom
generations to come,
then dads,
you and your wives
need to commit
as a team
to making that
a significant investment.
And as far as resources,
I have plenty on my website
that I would share with you,
dadsthekey.com.
Now,
if this is all true
about children,
then the last part
about what makes
a great father
has to do with that time
in a dad's life
when he's reaching
or soon to be at
the empty nest,
okay,
which we're not too far away from.
We've got about three more years
before Grant, man,
is out of the house
and we have achieved
that empty nest status.
The last point
of what it takes
to be a great father
is he enlarges
his vision and calling
by investing these values
in as many men
as possible,
young,
middle,
and older age
through foster parenting,
adoption,
and or discipling
relationships.
You know,
obviously,
the very first
spiritual battle
that we must win,
dads,
is in our own domains,
in our own homes.
But when we reach
that point
where the nest
is empty
or soon to be empty,
the temptation
for us
is to kick back
and kind of,
you know,
attain a mentality
of just enjoying life.
Okay?
But I want to ask you,
at any point
in our lives,
do you think God
wants us to focus
on ourselves
and our own
individual wants
and needs
or on others
and their needs?
I think you know
the answer to that question.
And the last passage
that I want to share
with you
is one of my favorites
from 2 Timothy 2.2
where Paul said
gave Timothy the charge,
and the things
which you have heard
from me
in the presence
of many witnesses,
these entrust
to faithful men
who will be able
to teach others also.
You know,
there's four generations,
there's four spiritual
generations
in that one verse
right there.
Four spiritual generations.
Now,
I want to just share
with you two ways
that God has been
working that out
in my life
and in mine
and Gail's life
recently.
First is,
is that as God
led me to start
creating the website,
a lot of it
was based on
the book that I've
shared with you,
The Family,
and I have
recently started
a second group
with young men,
many of whom
are in this church,
to go through
this book
right here
to walk them
through the principles
of biblical
family life.
And it has been
a blast.
I'm excited.
We're just kind of
getting started
with the second
group of guys,
about five or six guys,
and I'm loving it.
The other thing
where God is working
this out
is in mine
and Gail's life
is where we've
opened ourselves up
to becoming
foster parents.
After about
10,000 pages
of applications
and thousands
of questions,
we're just about
ready to be
foster parents.
That was a
little sarcastic
note right there.
There's a lot
of work that you
go through
to be foster parents
and if you are one,
you know what
I'm talking about.
You know even more.
Do you know what?
Truly,
the sky is the limit
if and when
we just open
ourselves up to God
and let Him
lead us
to other people
around us
that need
spiritual guidance,
direction,
and courage.
The sky is the limit.
And I want to
conclude with
one of my
favorite stories
and it's from
a guy named
Russ Crossan
who's a family
friend of ours
who's written a book.
I know at least
a couple of guys
personally
who are authors.
Russ is another one
and he wrote a
great book
several years ago
called A Life
Well Spent.
And in his book
on the chapter
entitled
Posterity,
Russ talks about
flying out
to another state
one weekend
where he was
going to spend
with two men
and their names
were Paul
and Jim
Montague.
Paul was the
dad in his
early 70s
and they'd
started a small
manufacturing business
several years ago
and the son,
Jim,
was working with him
in it now
and Russ was
going out to
Russ had been
working with them
on implementing
biblical financial
principles in
their business
and since they
were gathering
their family
together for a
reunion,
they thought it
would be a
great idea
for Russ to
come out
that particular
weekend.
So he flew out,
they picked him
up,
he got there
and he says
in his book
when he got
there and he
saw all the
four or five
generations there
all together,
he says he had
little idea
of what he was
in store for.
And he said
when he reached
the entire,
and I'm just
going to read
this as we
finish up here,
when they
realized the
entire Montague
family was
going to be
together,
they decided
to be beneficial
to bring him
in.
At least 100
people representing
four generations
were at this
family reunion.
As I mingled
through the
happy throng
meeting many
of the family
members,
I noticed a
unity and harmony
that is rare
in many families
today.
I was especially
impressed with
the relationships
between the
generations.
The children
and adults
interacted in a
very mature
and respectful
manner,
seeming to
genuinely enjoy
each other.
The jet skis
on the small
lake next to
the house
were in
constant use
with the
older kids
and adults
helping the
younger kids.
The food
spread on
tables under
the shade
trees provided
a setting
for wide
ranging
conversation
as the
family members
ate together.
But what I
wondered was
behind the
interactions I
was observing,
why and how
did this
family get
along so well?
I decided to
ask Paul,
the patriarch of
the group.
After all,
I was just
beginning to
my own
family and
I welcomed
his advice.
Paul explained
to me that
in six
generations of
Montagues,
there had
been 11
ministers,
four lay
ministers,
15 music
ministers,
20 Sunday
school teachers,
seven missionaries,
seven professors,
17 school teachers,
and 12 Christian
college students.
What a heritage
I thought.
What was the
secret to
ensuring that
generation after
generation would
pass on to the
next,
the essentials for
leading lives
that counted
for eternity?
When I asked
Paul this
question,
he motioned for
me to follow
him into the
house where he
pulled an old
book from a
shelf in his
library and he
dusted off its
cover.
He flipped a few
pages and stopped,
then he handed
it to me and
said,
Russ,
this is the key
to what you see
out here today.
On the page
were words spoken
by his grandfather
Daniel Montague
more than a
hundred years
ago on August
the 2nd,
1882.
At the age of
77, he had
addressed a
similar family
reunion, telling
his loved ones
this,
Now if you wish
those principles
established and
carried out by
your descendants,
inculcate into
the minds and
hearts of your
children the
principles of
religious instruction.
everything almost
that is evil,
everything almost
to subvert the
religion of Jesus
Christ is at
work and it is
absolutely necessary
to train the
rising generation
in the principles
of Christ.
It is the great
work of the
country.
For Christian
institutions,
friends, we have
reason this day to
thank God.
And what I ask
of you who are
now on the stage
of action is that
you should be true
to the principles
of Christ and
humanity to the
name and
characteristics of
the Montagues
that have gone
before you.
Russ finishes up
saying there was
the key, the
rising generations,
the children.
And he says,
What I observed
at this family
reunion was a
family's godly
posterity.
Their unity and
harmony was the
result of a
focused plan to
pass on Christ's
principles from
one generation to
the next.
And the only way
that these principles
could have gotten
from Daniel
Montague in
1882 to the
young children that
were playing before
him that Sunday
afternoon was for
succeeding generations
to do their part
while they were on
their stage of
action.
You know, the
last part of my
core value,
number five,
is that we're to
train our children
in the limited time
that we're entrusted
with them.
and it truly is
limited, guys.
It flies by faster
than we know it.
If you've got younger
children right now,
I just encourage you,
make the most under
God's help and
guidance.
Make the most of
each and every
moment and every
day that you can
because it flies by
so fast.
And to have a
lasting legacy,
Dad, we must base
our lives on God's
core values and be
genuinely committed
to living by them.
And that's my charge
to you this morning.
And remember as you
go out, your last
gift is a compilation
of the five core
values that I put
together and framed
for you this morning
to take with you.
And let's pray.
Join me in prayer.
Father God, I thank
you that you know
all about family.
And you know how it
was made to work
because you put it
together.
And I thank you for
this incredible
institution of the
family and the
individual relationships
with it, beginning
with fathers and their
role as the head
of the home.
I just pray for each
father in this room
right now that you
would take the things
that have been
shared this morning
and you would just
drive them deep into
each of our hearts
and our minds and
make us fathers that
are our wives and
our children won't
emulate and see that
passed on for
generations to come.
Pray this now in
Christ's precious name.
Amen.