Jun. 20, 2009
Father's Day 2009
Introduction: The History of Father's Day
See pic at http://mosefranco.com/myPictures/Happy+fathers+day.gif
Father's Day is a day on which the people of many countries express gratitude and appreciation for their fathers by giving them gifts or greeting cards. In the United States and Canada, Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June.
Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., got the idea to set aside a special day to honor fathers in 1909, after listening to a sermon on Mother's Day. She wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. Smart's wife died in 1898, and he raised their six children on his own. Through Sonora Dodd's efforts, Spokane celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Father's Day into law.
Text: Psalm 127:3, 5
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. . . Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” (NKJV)
I. Biblical Fathering
A. Took place in a Hebrew culture with a Hebrew mindset.
B. Hebrew language gives insights. Hebrew letters have meaning in themselves.
1. First letter of alphabet -- alef
See Hebrew alphabet at http://www.torahtots.com/alefbet/nekudot/allabouthebrew.htm
a. The ancient pictograph of alef reveals its meaning to be:
1. Strength
2. Leader
3. That which is first
See pics at http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/ancient-aleph.gif
b. In today’s Judaism, alef symbolizes the one and only, omnipotent God.
c. Alef is the first letter in three important words: God, father, and love, and these words are all related.
1. The word for God is el (lamed, alef).
The word picture for el tells us that God is the first or the strong authority.
2. The word for father is av (vet, alef).
The word picture for av tells us that a father is the leader or the strength of the family.
3. The word for love is ahav (vet, hey, alef).
The word picture for ahav tells us that love is the Father’s heart revealed since ahav is made up of the word for father with the letter hey in the middle. Hey is the Hebrew letter of divinity and revelation with the underlying idea of “behold.” This gives us a better understanding of I John 3:1. “Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
2. From the Hebrew root, we see the biblical idea of a father
a. the leader of the household
b. the strength of the family
c. loving his family
d. He was responsible for teaching his sons a trade. The ancient rabbis taught that a man who did not teach his son a trade taught his son to be a thief. Providing the opportunity for an education was/is equivalent to teaching him a trade.
e. He was to provide for his wife and children. I Timothy 5:8
“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he. . . is worse than an unbeliever.” (NKJV)
f. He should be a hard-worker.
Ecclesiastes 10:18
“Because of laziness the building decays, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.” (NKJV)
g. He is the one responsible for the family’s spiritual health and development.
Deut. 6:5, 7
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
1. This is describing the use of teachable moments, talking about spiritual things as you go about your daily life, whether on the road, or at home, or getting ready for bed, or in the morning preparing for the day.
h. The biblical father corrects his children when they do wrong, with all love and wisdom.
Proverbs 3:12
“For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Ephesians 6:4
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
C. Prodigal son
1. “The Prodigal” monologue, Special Worship Resources p. 56.
2. Here is a short synopsis of the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-32.
The father had two sons. One stayed and was an obedient son. The other son asked for his part of his father's fortune. Then he went and squandered it all. He spent all the money and had nothing left. He was feeding the pigs and living in squalor. So he decided that he would be better off going back home and being a servant in his fathers home. His father saw him coming back home from afar. Instead of giving his son a lecture about what a terrible thing he had done and maybe even disowning him . . . . the father opened up his arms and forgave his son. Without one word of criticism!!! This was not all the father did. He did even more than just forgiving him. He told the servants to "bring forth the BEST.” They were going to celebrate the sons return.
See pic at http://www.firstreformeducc.org/images/pics/A8-Prodigal-Son.jpg
3. This father shows the ideal loving father who welcomes home a wayward child with open arms and a lavish celebration.
D. Blessing the children is of great importance. What is spoken from the father’s and mother’s mouths have an effect upon the children. A parent can, essentially, bless or curse his own children.
1. Curses -- difficult for a child to overcome. By cursing, I don’t mean using bad language, but
a. making a negative pronouncement over the child and his future. Examples:
1. You’ll never amount to anything.
2. You never do anything right.
b. You can also curse your children by your own sin, whether done in public or private.
Exodus 20:5-6
5* Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6* And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (KJV)
1. Not only are physical conditions, such as heart trouble hereditary, so are spiritual weaknesses. Families commonly have patterns of disease or infirmity or characteristics, such as alcoholism, or abuse, or violence. These are curses.
2. Isaiah 53:12 says that Jesus bore our sins. The Bible makes a distinction between the terms sin, iniquity, and transgression. Not only did Jesus bear our sins on Calvary, but He also bore our transgressions and iniquities:
Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
a. Sin = to miss the mark. When you sin, you miss the mark or fall below the mark of what God has called you to do. We all have been guilty of missing the mark at some time.
b. Transgress = means to trespass or overstep preestablished boundaries. We can trespass against man and God. If I entered your property without permission, I would be trespassing, transgressing against you.
c. Iniquity = to bend or to distort (the heart). It implies a weakness or tendency toward a certain sin, a bent toward sin. People are born with iniquity, with a bent toward sin.
If you commit a certain sin repeatedly, it becomes an iniquity, a habit, i.e. something you do without thinking.
II Thess. 2:7
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:. . .”
This “mystery of iniquity” is the unseen and mysterious connection between a father’s (or mother’s) sins and the path of the children. For example, if the father is a liar and a thief, the children will likely behave the same, regardless of other influences.
What is the answer? Entire sanctification. Jesus was bruised for our iniquities, our bent toward sinning.
Galatians 3:13
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:”
Jesus paid the price!
Exodus 20:6
“And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
To be effective, the blood of Jesus must be applied to your situation. Positive thinking, psychological counseling, or doing “religious” things, are good, but don’t solve the problem. Only the blood of Jesus can turn a curse into a blessing.
2. Blessings -- Spoken blessings stick fast to the child just like a spoken curse!
a. Praise for a job well done.
b. Complimenting talents.
c. Encouragement.
3. Sabbath blessings for the children
a. Psychologists recognize something that observers of the Jewish Sabbath have known for generations: blessing your children is a key to their spiritual and mental health. Traditionally, the parent lays hands on the child's head and blesses him.
b. For sons:
1. May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
2. Because they received Joseph’s double portion. Jacob’s eldest son should have received the double portion, not a younger son.
c. For daughters:
1. May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.
2. The matriarchs of the faith.
d. For both:
1. “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
See pic at http://www.brismilah.com/child_blessing.gif
II. A Fatherless Generation
A. Before 1940 in the U.S., almost every child had a father, a family, and a future. Today, to have all three of these is becoming rare. Many people, when entering adulthood, have endured countless experiences of “cursing,” and to cope, they build a wall to try to protect themselves from further hurts. It doesn’t work, though. The walls keep out love better than they keep out more hurts.
B. What is the answer? A personal revelation of God as Father. Jesus reveals the Father, Abba, to us.
1. Matthew 11:27 “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
2. “Abba” is a personal Hebrew word for father.
a. “Av” = father
b. “Abba” = daddy
c. In recent years, I have begun to call Him “Abba,” but have been too shy to do so in public.
III. The Nature of Abba’s Love
A. Unconditional: He loves us just as we are, “as is,” but paid the price for us. (Romans 5:8)
B. Merciful: His mercies are new every morning. (Psalm 103:13)
C. Ever-present: His love for us began while in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:3-17)
D. Forgiving: He forgives all sins, big and small. (Isaiah 1:18)
E. Giving: He gave us Jesus to save us. (John 3:6)
F. Jealous: He loves us passionately. (Song of Songs 7:10)
G. Protective: Nothing can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:38-39)
H. Corrects: He corrects us for our benefit. (Hebrews 12:6-11)
I. Blesses: He blessed us at creation, and blesses each of us with our own blessing. (Genesis 49:28)
J. Forgive and be blessed!
1. No earthly father is perfect. Some are workaholics, some passive, some punish harshly, and some are pretty good! But all have failings, and therefore, have not given their children an accurate picture of God as Father. Forgive him. Forgiveness is a choice. Then receive the love from God that your earthly father could not give.
Conclusion
Invite people to altar for prayer.
1. Iniquities, i.e. spiritual weaknesses (curses) which need the blood of Jesus.
2. Anyone who needs to forgive others
Closing song
Benediction -- Blessing
For men:
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
For women:
May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.
For all:
May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
“Abba, please reveal Yourself as Father to everyone in this congregation, so they may know the peace, the joy, the love, the security and the sense of belonging and destiny that comes with knowing You as Abba, Daddy. Amen.”
See pic at http://mosefranco.com/myPictures/Happy+fathers+day.gif
Father's Day is a day on which the people of many countries express gratitude and appreciation for their fathers by giving them gifts or greeting cards. In the United States and Canada, Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June.
Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., got the idea to set aside a special day to honor fathers in 1909, after listening to a sermon on Mother's Day. She wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. Smart's wife died in 1898, and he raised their six children on his own. Through Sonora Dodd's efforts, Spokane celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Father's Day into law.
Text: Psalm 127:3, 5
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. . . Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” (NKJV)
I. Biblical Fathering
A. Took place in a Hebrew culture with a Hebrew mindset.
B. Hebrew language gives insights. Hebrew letters have meaning in themselves.
1. First letter of alphabet -- alef
See Hebrew alphabet at http://www.torahtots.com/alefbet/nekudot/allabouthebrew.htm
a. The ancient pictograph of alef reveals its meaning to be:
1. Strength
2. Leader
3. That which is first
See pics at http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/ancient-aleph.gif
b. In today’s Judaism, alef symbolizes the one and only, omnipotent God.
c. Alef is the first letter in three important words: God, father, and love, and these words are all related.
1. The word for God is el (lamed, alef).
The word picture for el tells us that God is the first or the strong authority.
2. The word for father is av (vet, alef).
The word picture for av tells us that a father is the leader or the strength of the family.
3. The word for love is ahav (vet, hey, alef).
The word picture for ahav tells us that love is the Father’s heart revealed since ahav is made up of the word for father with the letter hey in the middle. Hey is the Hebrew letter of divinity and revelation with the underlying idea of “behold.” This gives us a better understanding of I John 3:1. “Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
2. From the Hebrew root, we see the biblical idea of a father
a. the leader of the household
b. the strength of the family
c. loving his family
d. He was responsible for teaching his sons a trade. The ancient rabbis taught that a man who did not teach his son a trade taught his son to be a thief. Providing the opportunity for an education was/is equivalent to teaching him a trade.
e. He was to provide for his wife and children. I Timothy 5:8
“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he. . . is worse than an unbeliever.” (NKJV)
f. He should be a hard-worker.
Ecclesiastes 10:18
“Because of laziness the building decays, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.” (NKJV)
g. He is the one responsible for the family’s spiritual health and development.
Deut. 6:5, 7
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
1. This is describing the use of teachable moments, talking about spiritual things as you go about your daily life, whether on the road, or at home, or getting ready for bed, or in the morning preparing for the day.
h. The biblical father corrects his children when they do wrong, with all love and wisdom.
Proverbs 3:12
“For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Ephesians 6:4
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
C. Prodigal son
1. “The Prodigal” monologue, Special Worship Resources p. 56.
2. Here is a short synopsis of the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-32.
The father had two sons. One stayed and was an obedient son. The other son asked for his part of his father's fortune. Then he went and squandered it all. He spent all the money and had nothing left. He was feeding the pigs and living in squalor. So he decided that he would be better off going back home and being a servant in his fathers home. His father saw him coming back home from afar. Instead of giving his son a lecture about what a terrible thing he had done and maybe even disowning him . . . . the father opened up his arms and forgave his son. Without one word of criticism!!! This was not all the father did. He did even more than just forgiving him. He told the servants to "bring forth the BEST.” They were going to celebrate the sons return.
See pic at http://www.firstreformeducc.org/images/pics/A8-Prodigal-Son.jpg
3. This father shows the ideal loving father who welcomes home a wayward child with open arms and a lavish celebration.
D. Blessing the children is of great importance. What is spoken from the father’s and mother’s mouths have an effect upon the children. A parent can, essentially, bless or curse his own children.
1. Curses -- difficult for a child to overcome. By cursing, I don’t mean using bad language, but
a. making a negative pronouncement over the child and his future. Examples:
1. You’ll never amount to anything.
2. You never do anything right.
b. You can also curse your children by your own sin, whether done in public or private.
Exodus 20:5-6
5* Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6* And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (KJV)
1. Not only are physical conditions, such as heart trouble hereditary, so are spiritual weaknesses. Families commonly have patterns of disease or infirmity or characteristics, such as alcoholism, or abuse, or violence. These are curses.
2. Isaiah 53:12 says that Jesus bore our sins. The Bible makes a distinction between the terms sin, iniquity, and transgression. Not only did Jesus bear our sins on Calvary, but He also bore our transgressions and iniquities:
Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
a. Sin = to miss the mark. When you sin, you miss the mark or fall below the mark of what God has called you to do. We all have been guilty of missing the mark at some time.
b. Transgress = means to trespass or overstep preestablished boundaries. We can trespass against man and God. If I entered your property without permission, I would be trespassing, transgressing against you.
c. Iniquity = to bend or to distort (the heart). It implies a weakness or tendency toward a certain sin, a bent toward sin. People are born with iniquity, with a bent toward sin.
If you commit a certain sin repeatedly, it becomes an iniquity, a habit, i.e. something you do without thinking.
II Thess. 2:7
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:. . .”
This “mystery of iniquity” is the unseen and mysterious connection between a father’s (or mother’s) sins and the path of the children. For example, if the father is a liar and a thief, the children will likely behave the same, regardless of other influences.
What is the answer? Entire sanctification. Jesus was bruised for our iniquities, our bent toward sinning.
Galatians 3:13
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:”
Jesus paid the price!
Exodus 20:6
“And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
To be effective, the blood of Jesus must be applied to your situation. Positive thinking, psychological counseling, or doing “religious” things, are good, but don’t solve the problem. Only the blood of Jesus can turn a curse into a blessing.
2. Blessings -- Spoken blessings stick fast to the child just like a spoken curse!
a. Praise for a job well done.
b. Complimenting talents.
c. Encouragement.
3. Sabbath blessings for the children
a. Psychologists recognize something that observers of the Jewish Sabbath have known for generations: blessing your children is a key to their spiritual and mental health. Traditionally, the parent lays hands on the child's head and blesses him.
b. For sons:
1. May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
2. Because they received Joseph’s double portion. Jacob’s eldest son should have received the double portion, not a younger son.
c. For daughters:
1. May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.
2. The matriarchs of the faith.
d. For both:
1. “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
See pic at http://www.brismilah.com/child_blessing.gif
II. A Fatherless Generation
A. Before 1940 in the U.S., almost every child had a father, a family, and a future. Today, to have all three of these is becoming rare. Many people, when entering adulthood, have endured countless experiences of “cursing,” and to cope, they build a wall to try to protect themselves from further hurts. It doesn’t work, though. The walls keep out love better than they keep out more hurts.
B. What is the answer? A personal revelation of God as Father. Jesus reveals the Father, Abba, to us.
1. Matthew 11:27 “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
2. “Abba” is a personal Hebrew word for father.
a. “Av” = father
b. “Abba” = daddy
c. In recent years, I have begun to call Him “Abba,” but have been too shy to do so in public.
III. The Nature of Abba’s Love
A. Unconditional: He loves us just as we are, “as is,” but paid the price for us. (Romans 5:8)
B. Merciful: His mercies are new every morning. (Psalm 103:13)
C. Ever-present: His love for us began while in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:3-17)
D. Forgiving: He forgives all sins, big and small. (Isaiah 1:18)
E. Giving: He gave us Jesus to save us. (John 3:6)
F. Jealous: He loves us passionately. (Song of Songs 7:10)
G. Protective: Nothing can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:38-39)
H. Corrects: He corrects us for our benefit. (Hebrews 12:6-11)
I. Blesses: He blessed us at creation, and blesses each of us with our own blessing. (Genesis 49:28)
J. Forgive and be blessed!
1. No earthly father is perfect. Some are workaholics, some passive, some punish harshly, and some are pretty good! But all have failings, and therefore, have not given their children an accurate picture of God as Father. Forgive him. Forgiveness is a choice. Then receive the love from God that your earthly father could not give.
Conclusion
Invite people to altar for prayer.
1. Iniquities, i.e. spiritual weaknesses (curses) which need the blood of Jesus.
2. Anyone who needs to forgive others
Closing song
Benediction -- Blessing
For men:
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
For women:
May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.
For all:
May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
“Abba, please reveal Yourself as Father to everyone in this congregation, so they may know the peace, the joy, the love, the security and the sense of belonging and destiny that comes with knowing You as Abba, Daddy. Amen.”