Fathering The Future

I'm going to invite you to join with me, book

of Judges chapter 13, verse 8. The word that

Judges 13:8

God has placed in my heart today that I believe

is going to, amen, encourage, celebrate the fathers

here today. Give you some words of wisdom. And

also encourage and strengthen the families who

love them and who want to support spiritual fatherhood

in the church. And so this is for everyone. There

are some things that we can. take away the word

of god says this way in judges chapter 13 and

Judges 13 · chapter mention

verse 8 then manoa prayed to the lord and said

oh my lord please let the man of god whom you

sent to us to come to us again and teach us what

we shall do for the child who will be born and

god listened to the voice of manoa and the angel

of god came to the woman again as she was sitting

in the field but manoa her husband was not with

her then the woman ran in haste and told her

husband and said to him look the man who came

to me the other day has just now appeared to

me now skipping to verse 24 it reads so the woman

bore a son and called his name samson and the

child grew and the lord blessed him let's pray

right now father we love you today we thank you

for your presence that we feel quite literally

and tangibly here today and we've come to worship

you primarily god to offer up a sacrifice of

praise and worship that is do your name but also

to receive word instruction encouragement for

our life and i pray god that you would anoint

the hearing of all that are here today and those

that are watching or those that will watch god

so that this word would fall on good ground anoint

my lips of clay put your word on my mouth god

that i can speak in a way that will glorify you

in jesus name everyone say amen i'm going to

preach today you may be seated on the thought

fathering the future fathering the future I want

to tell you just a brief story. Before Tiger

Woods, a name that all of us have heard or familiar

with, became one of the greatest golfers in history,

there was a man who, behind the scenes, was helping

to shape his future. His father, Earl Woods.

Long before Tiger ever won a championship or

signed an endorsement deal, Earl was training

Tiger in their home garage. Started teaching

Tiger how to swing a golf club when he was only

two years old. In fact, he even had some special

golf clubs custom made for his son so that his

little hands could wrap around those clubs and

begin to swing. And his dad, Earl, was invested.

He saw something in his son that his son was

too young to see in himself. So he invested all

that time and energy and money, doing everything

he could to instill this love for the game of

golf in his life. He carefully built up his son's

physical skills, his mental strength, and he

coached him. He was his personal coach. He gave

him structure, gave him rules. They both admittedly

said that he was a little hard on him sometimes,

but he also gave him room to love the game, gave

him room to make mistakes, and gave him room

to grow into his passion and his love for playing

the game of golf. So Earl saw something in Tiger

before the whole world saw it. Before the world

could watch and witness greatness on display,

whatever course he was playing in, Earl saw that

greatness and began to prepare him to carry that

greatness one day. And when his son, Tiger, won

his first Masters at Augusta, he was right there

to celebrate with him. In the side. Waiting to

embrace him and share this heartwarming moment

with his son as he achieves something that very,

very few people ever achieve, professional athletes

in their lifetime, which is to win the Masters.

You know, if you have any, if you got a heart,

I should say, if you have, if there's a tender

spot in you, you can't look at a picture like

this and not feel something, not feel some warmth

and something good when you see father and son

embracing each other the way that they did. And

I can imagine that as that Earl was hugging his

son in that moment, maybe he was thinking about

all those moments, the years, the... childhood

of his son, all the time that he spent training

him, preparing him, equipping him, coaching him

for that day. And so even though Earl wasn't

the one who putted in the final putt there on

the green, I think he was living through his

son and sharing that moment with him. Say, it

may not be me in there, but a part of me feels

like I was there because I was a part of that

journey with him. What a special moment. What

a special moment. And to every father here today,

these are the moments I think we live for. To

not only the fathering, the training, the upbringing,

the raising, but also the celebration and the

reward of seeing what God does in the life of

your children. And like Earl, there is a similar

kind of vision and effort we see in the lesser

known story of a man named Manoah. He was the

father. Now, Samson, of course, is remembered

and celebrated for his strength and the great

feats and exploits that he did with the supernatural

strength that God gave him to overcome and to

help deliver Israel time and again. And so all

the highlights and all of the recognition tends

to go to Samson, right, because he was victorious

in battle. much like Tiger Woods, right? He was

a champion on the field. But I want you to know

that there would have never been a Samson had

there not been a Manoah, had there not been a

father who was discerning and open and receptive

to God's instruction upon his life and the role

that he was going to play in shaping and fathering

the future of his son. And so fathers today,

or for those who, maybe a father one day, or

if you love your father, then this is God's word

for us today about fathering the future. I want

to highlight a man who stands in the background,

in the corner of the ring, coaching in the shadows,

but yet also participating and experiencing the

victory together with his children. And as we'll

discover today, Manoah was a man who feared the

Lord. Manoah was a man who recognized God's voice

in his life. He was a man of prayer, a man of

worship, and of great faith. So I want us today

for just a few moments, because I know I'm the

only thing standing between you and that great

meal you're about to have. So just let me borrow

a few moments of your time and look at this man

and the types of things that he did. And I want

to, before we get into the particulars, understand

the climate, lest we think that Manoah was given,

a silver platter lest we think that well he's

in the bible so he probably had it all figured

out probably the landscape the table was prepared

but the bible gives us a very very stark and

a dark picture of the times it opens up in judges

Judges 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13 with a familiar line that says and

the children of israel did evil again in the

sight of the lord so it was their pattern the

children of israel at this time to receive God's

blessing, and then to forget about God and to

fall into idolatry and sin, and then God would

deliver them into the hands of the enemies, then

they would be persecuted, cry out to the Lord,

God would deliver them, and rinse, recycle, and

repeat. This process would happen over and over

again. And this is one of those times. It was

a dark period, a period of moral decline, of

spiritual confusion and moral ambiguity and oppression.

And yet in the midst of that mess, in the midst

of this dark time, God gave Manoah and his wife

a prophetic word that their son, who would be

Samson, would help deliver Israel. And so what

this meant is that Manoah and his family would

be different. The word that God gave them was

that you're not going to be able to raise your

son any way you want. You're not going to be

able to raise your family in... And run your

home the way that everyone else does, Manoah,

because your child is destined for greatness.

Somebody say amen. Your child is destined to

change the world. So, Manoah, whatever life you

were living, whatever plan you had, whatever

thoughts about your future you had and your way

of doing things, is all about to change because

I have given you this precious, privileged responsibility

to raise up this boy in my way so that he can

be a deliverer for God's people. But it's important

for us to see that the climate at that time did

not negate or did not dismiss Manoah from his

calling and his life. Let me pause and say this,

that there's no such thing as an ideal time to

live for God. There's no such thing as an ideal

time to raise your family. There's no such thing

as an ideal time to raise kids. There's no such

thing as a perfect time or as an opportune time

to do these things. The way the world is today,

much like it was in the time of Noah, of... Confusion

and moral decline and oppression and all of the

forces that were working against the people of

God exist today. So we're living in very similar

times and perilous times, yet we should not be

afraid of that. Because God... has called us

in the same way that he called Manoah, that despite

what's going on around you, despite the world

and its problems and the confusion that is there,

despite all of those things, Manoah, I have still

called you, and I'm going to give you everything

you need to be successful in order to raise your

family in the fear of God and to see a great

victory in your life. Don't let anybody tell

you, well, times are different and times have

changed. they have, and things are getting worse,

but don't let anybody convince you or cause you

to think that because of the climate and because

of how bad things are that we ought to just,

you know, move a few inches this way or bend

a little that way or give in here or give in

there. No, I have come to thank God that in this

house today there are men of God, and there's

women of God today too, that are willing to stand

up for the Lord, that are willing to stand upon

the Word of God and say in such a time as this,

We can be faithful unto the Lord. Amen. Somebody

give God some praise today. No matter what's

going on on the outside, that's not an excuse.

We have a calling from the Lord, and God has

chosen us and given us this responsibility, and

we don't take it lightly. So I celebrate you,

you men and you fathers here today. If you're

here today, you're a good father. Hallelujah.

You came to the right place. You're in the right

place with the right God, and I celebrate you,

and we honor you. And why don't we all right

now just clap one more time for our fathers.

Amen. We don't always get it right, you know.

We don't always get it right. Our fathers are

human. Amen. Can the father say amen, huh? We're

human. We're going to make mistakes. But you

know what? As long as when we fall, we fall forward.

And we fall into the arms of God. I tell you

what, if I fail, I'd rather fail in church than

fail in the world. Because then there is grace

and there's mercy and there's a word that God

has. I can get back up again. Hallelujah. A righteous

man can fall seven times and get back up again.

Hallelujah. But we're not perfect. And neither

was this man, Manoah. He wasn't perfect. And

the first step that he takes is one that is hard

sometimes for everybody, but maybe more so men

and fathers, which is to admit. Now, we don't

have all the answers. And point number one is

to seek the right guidance. What I love about

Manoah is upon hearing the word of the Lord,

the promise of God to raise up this deliverer,

this man of strength, he doesn't take that word

and start to think of himself higher than he

ought. He doesn't say, wow, I must be like something

real special that, you know, like. man, I must

be better than everybody else. He doesn't take

the wrong approach. In fact, the first thing

he does is recognize through humility that I

don't have all the answers. And I think it takes

a lot of humility, swallowing of our pride, to

say like Manoah did in verse 8, when he prays

to the Lord and says, oh, my Lord. Watch these

words, church. He says, oh, my Lord. He says,

please, let the man of God you said to me come

again and teach us. He says, teach us what we

shall do for the child. You see, the only thing

that can stop us from seeking or receiving help

is not Satan. It's not the world. The only thing

that can stop us from receiving help or seeking

help is our own egos. It's our own pride. That's

it. That's the only thing that can stop us from

receiving the help that we need. And so what

I love about Manoah is from the get -go, from

the onset, he says, whoa, this is big. God, I

don't know what I did to earn or to qualify.

He probably didn't feel qualified to do it, to

raise up this world changer, but this is big.

So rather than just assume that I know what to

do and just march out there, I need to pause

here and tell you, Lord, I don't have it all

figured out. I need your help. And so Manoah,

he checks his ego out the door, and he admits

to the Lord. He said, I don't know how to do

this. I want to do it. I'm happy to receive this.

calling on my life to raise this child away.

But, God, I've got to admit to you, I don't have

it all figured out. I don't have it all figured

out, and so I don't want to be wise in my own

eyes. And so, Lord, teach me. Teach me, God,

so that I can be prepared to train my son for

his future. Let me tell you the two most powerful

words you could ever pray. The two most powerful

words you can pray are, Teach me. Someone say,

teach me. Oh, I'm here to help somebody today.

The two most powerful words is not bless me.

I know some of you think that's what it is. It's

not bless. It's not even use me. It's not prosper

me. It's not elevate me. It's not promote me.

It's not give me. The two most powerful words

that will unlock every window and every other

blessing in your life is Lord. Teach me. Because

if I am teachable as a man of God, as a woman

of God, if I'm teachable, then I am reachable.

The people who are not reachable are those who

are not teachable. It doesn't matter where you

are. The word can't reach you if the word can't

teach you. And if you ever get to a place where

you can't be taught anymore, can't be taught

by the pastor, can't be taught by a man or a

woman of God or a mentor, I'm no longer teachable.

You are now shortening your possibility. You

are now dwarfing the potential and limiting what

God can do in your life. But Manoah said, this

assignment is so big, Lord, I need you to teach

me so that I can do it the right way, God. Teach

me. And I love this because Manoah was teachable.

And we cannot demand of our families, of our

children, what we ourselves are not willing to

do. I want to have teachable children. And so

if I want teachable children, then I need to

be teachable myself. Amen. And so Manoah, he's

teachable. He had the right attitude. And so

I encourage and I thank all. I celebrate the

men here today, the fathers that are here, the

fathers that are watching or those that maybe

couldn't make it. I celebrate them because something

tells me you're teachable. You're saying, I'm

not above instruction. I'm not above correction.

I'm not above teaching. I'm not above the word

of God. I'm not above authority. I can let God

teach me, Lord. And if we can be teachable, then

we are reachable. And this is what God wants

to do in all of our lives. Amen. And so there's

more I can say. He listened to the rights. He

had the right attitude. He was willing to listen

to some very important voices in his life. Can

I tell you one of the first important voices

that Manoah was listening to that is the key

for all of us men here today? He listened to

his wife. Hallelujah. He listened to his wife.

Watch what happened in verse 6. This was the

first source. God was speaking to him through

his wife. Look what he said. So the woman came

and told her husband, saying, a man of God came

to me, and his countenance was like the countenance

of the angel of God. Now, I don't mean to hurt

anybody's feelings here today, but don't you

think it's kind of interesting that the angel

didn't show up to Manoah, but it showed up to

his wife? Sometimes, this is just like free advice

I'm going to hand out to you right now. Amen.

Some of you that are not married yet, you know,

this is like free advice. Amen. God spoke and

showed something to his wife that he himself

had an experience. Amen. But obviously there

was a trust there. There was a maturity there.

So God spoke to his wife. But imagine if Manoah

had dismissed what she said. Like, you know,

you don't know what you're talking about. Or

imagine if he had just, you know, put it on the

back burner. Imagine if he just ignored the word

that his wife had received as she had this encounter.

But God... touched her, and this is, I think,

the key for us today, whether it can be your

wife or someone else in your life. Sometimes

God will show them something, and then we have

to be sensitive enough and humble enough to say,

you know, there have been many times when my

wife is speaking to me, and I'm like, man, that's

the word of the Lord right there. Amen, somebody.

Hallelujah. That's the way I thank God. My wife's

a praying woman. Amen. Because sometimes, you

know, there's some things I don't see and she

points it out to me. Man, thank the Lord. Amen.

Somebody say amen today. So he was open. He wasn't

closed to her feedback. Amen. That's powerful.

There's more I can say on that. He was also open

when the angel of the Lord came back and brought

this message again. The second thing I want to

celebrate and point out today is to stay spiritually

active. Stay spiritually active. Amen. Somebody

say amen. When the angel returned and confirmed

the word, which he did, Manoah didn't just nod

his head and go about business as usual. He didn't

just treat it like another moment. He didn't

just act as if though this was just another day

on the calendar. But he responded. And I want

you just for a few more moments, I won't be much

longer, but just for a few more moments, just

show you and reveal to you the power of Manoah's

response. Because this is the key. This is it.

It's all going to boil down to this right here.

He responded by preparing something meaningful

to the Lord. In verse 19, it records what he

did. He prepared a meaningful offering to the

Lord. So Manoah took the young goat, which was

costly. He didn't get an old goat that was ready

to die, you know, a sick goat, but a young, vibrant

goat. In other words, he brought something in

its early, strong stage with a grain offering

and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. So

Manoah hears the word of God. Upon his life,

a promise. I'm going to raise up a deliverer.

You're raising up a world changer. Your family's

different. This is a holy thing that I'm doing.

And in response to that, Manoah prepares a sufficient

offering, a meaningful, sacrificial gift to God.

And to me, this says a lot about the kind of

man that he was. and the kind of example that

he wanted to leave his children, and also the

heart, the gratitude that he had for what God

was doing in his life, probably feeling unqualified

and undeserving of this moment, of this responsibility,

of this calling, but not overlooking all of that.

He goes a step beyond, and he prepares a meaningful,

sacrificial gift to the Lord. And this, what

we're looking at here today, church, in this

scene, this is all an act of worship. He begins

to worship the Lord. This is what Old Testament

worship looks like. It involves sacrifice. bloodshed

of an animal or a grain offering. Well, he does

both. He's like, I'm not going to cut any corners

here. I'm going to make sure that I have dotted

every I and crossed every T, so I'm going to

offer up both. Maybe just a grain offering would

have been good enough or just an animal side.

But he said, I'm going to put everything up.

I'm just going to just empty myself of everything

I've got and put it before the Lord. And he began

to worship him. Let me tell you what the secret

is today. In order to father the future and to

continue on into the perpetual blessings and

the promises of God is that we might be true

worshipers. Amen, somebody. But worship is not

worship until it costs you something. Manoah

did not offer up a cheap praise. Come on now.

Hallelujah. He did not offer up a cheap worship.

He did not offer up a... Little, you know, religious

little Sunday afternoons, kind of a sanctimonious.

But he offered up something that cost himself.

He was willing to lay something down. Oh, hallelujah.

You know what he did? He built an altar unto

the Lord. And I want to thank God because there

are men. in this place today. There are fathers

and grandfathers here today that have taken the

time to establish an altar in your family, in

your marriage, in your home. And I thank God

because that altar is where the blessings and

the goodness and the power of God is going to

flow through. But it's got to mean something

to us. It's got to be a true act of worship.

worship. I wonder if somebody today can just

worship the Lord for about a moment today. Hallelujah.

God, I worship you. I thank you today, God. I

worship you. And so he offers this. He offers

this as the musicians prepare themselves. He

offers this sacrifice to the Lord. And it cost

him. It cost him. I don't know if Manoah was

a wealthy man. The Bible doesn't tell us how

wealthy he is. But he had something to give.

You know, God has given us, every one of us,

something to give. And he says, this is all I

got, God, but I'm going to give it to you. And

it was that sacrifice that began to touch the

heart of God. Hallelujah. I feel the presence

of the Lord in this place today. He was thankful

because he felt honored. God, you could have

chose anybody else, but you chose me. You could

have put anybody else in this home, but you put

me. Oh, it's a privilege. Fathers, it's a privilege

to be the fathers of our children. It's a blessing

that God would entrust us and enable us to play

a part in the raising up of his children in our

life. Because at the end of the day, they don't

even belong to us. They belong to the Lord. Hallelujah.

They are a heritage of the Lord. And so he's

held on. And he said, I'm going to give everything.

I have to him because he is worthy. And so every

time we come into the house of the Lord, not

just here, but at home and wherever we're at,

let us demonstrate to our children the sacrifice

of praise and worship. Hallelujah. But even more

so when we come into the house of the Lord, let

us come into his presence with singing. Let us

come into his presence with dancing. Let us come

into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us come

into his presence lifting up our hands. Oh! lifting

up holy hands. You read in the word of God when

the Apostle Paul was instructing Timothy or Peter

was instructing the church about praise and worship

in the house of God. There's certain instruction

he gives to the women and there's others instruction

he gives to the men. But the singular instruction

that he gives to men, which includes fathers,

he says men lifting up holy hands. He doesn't

tell the women to lift up holy hands. That doesn't

mean that you are not to lift up holy hands,

women. women of god's sisters but he instructs

the men particularly to lift up holy hands and

so every time we gather together in the presence

of god god's not just look he's looking for the

men to lift up their head my god hallelujah to

lift up their holy hands don't say well brother

i'm doing it in my heart he didn't say lift up

your heart hands didn't say lift up your spiritual

hands he said lift up holy hands oh and with

that comes the blessing of the Lord Fathers,

I want to encourage you today. Let's be like

Manoa. Let's offer up to the Lord. Some of you

have been sacrificing. God sees it and God is

going to reward you. God is a rewarder of them

that diligently seek him. Oh, hallelujah. God

is going to reward you whether it's in this life

or the next life. God's going to reward you.

But if you are fortunate enough like Manoa, watch

what the Lord did in verse 19. As it continues,

it says he offered up this young goat. He offered

up upon the rock of the law. Macca preach about

that rock right there. And he, the Lord, did

a wondrous thing while Manoa and his wife looked

on. Other translation says he performed wonders,

my God, as they looked on. This is how good God

is, church. God is so good that we will just

simply render unto him that unrestrained worship

and praise, thanksgiving and sacrifice and acknowledge

him in all of our ways. Hallelujah. Walking in

his fear. We will do those things. Oh, we will

be like these this couple here. We will just

stand back. and watch the Lord perform wonders

in our life. Oh, he began to perform wonders.

I don't know if there's somebody here today that

says, I want to see the wonders of God in my

home, in my family, among my children. Why don't

you clap your hands and let's give God some praise

today. We're not just fathering children. We're

fathering the future. I feel today, is a special

day because God has a blessing in store for everyone

today, but especially those fathers who have

been giving of themselves, who have been working

those hours, long hours, been putting in the

work, not only to provide for your family financially,

but also the spiritual protection that you have

over your children, over your wife. That is a

great responsibility. And in a day and age where

masculinity is under assault and fatherhood is

under attack, here in the house of God, we celebrate

it. I said we celebrate it. Don't let their ideas

of toxic, this isn't toxic masculinity. This

is biblical honoring, celebrating that our fathers

are fathers. That in the church, fathers are

still fathers. Men are still men. And we thank

the Lord for that.