Christ and Fathers

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.

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?

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?

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?

Okay?

Okay?

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.

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.

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.

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

Psalms 127:3–5

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.