Pastor Cere started off his sermon with Proverbs 17:6... 'Your children's children are a crown to you in your old age. The Glory of these children are their Fathers.'
Pastor Cere also made the statement to all fathers that if we were the child of a 'fathering failure' that we did not automatically have to be a fathering failure also... Then he gave us three things to do to be successful father.
Love My Wife
- Having a good marriage is the #1 influencer on children.
- It gives them assurance and shows the correct model for success.
Know The Kids
- Study that each child is different. (Don't be so quick to compare different children to each other or to your own childhood.)
- Speak their love language. (If we really want to communicate with our kids we must figure out how to get through to them...)
- Sense Your presence in them. (Kids are more observant than we think and we need to watch and be careful that we always model the behavior that we want from them...)
- Stretch your skills. (Be ready to change a parenting strategy.)
Live The Life
- Kids Need Instruction and Discipline.
- They will duplicate modeling so we must teach through example.
Things we must teach our Kids about:
- Consequences of Bad Relationships
- Consequences of Bad Decisions
- Elevated Thinking
- Diligent Work Habits and Integrity
- Love for God, church, and the unsaved
- Trust based submission to God.
We teach these things by hanging both our successes and failures on the wall together for display.
Pastor Cere stressed to us that our children are gifts from God and that we are the Stewards....
He wrapped up his sermon by explaining that as members of the body of Christ we were also called to become 'corporate fathers' and minister to the unsaved in the world. He stated that we should frame our approach to ministering to the world in broader sense much the same way we minister to our own family.
It was a good sermon and I'm glad I went to church yesterday... Praise God...!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Lord I thank You for a nice Father's Day yesterday. Thank You for allowing me to be a Father in the first place. I recognize that Fatherhood is a blessing. It is an honor and a privilege. It is a responsibility and one that I do not take lightly.
I lift up my boys: Connor and Elijah. Thank You for them. Thank You for their blessings. I pray special blessings upon Connor as he leaves today to go on his first mission trip. I pray that this be an experience unlike any he's ever encountered before and that he is transformed and molded more in Your image through his interaction with others this week.
Lord I lift up my wife. Bless her. Thank You for her presence in my life. She is a huge blessing and inspiration to me.
Lord just thank You for being my Heavenly Father. You are an awesome God and I love You my King. I give all my burdens to You, Lord. I trust in You. I rest in You. You are my God.
Father God I pray these things in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
1 comment:
Sam, your words are an imspiration to fathers everywhere. You are a wonderful example to your sons, even when you think they pay no notice...they do. Especially, teenaged boys. They take note of the example you give and, although they may not aknowledge it now, they will remember it when they become fathers.
Love,
Grandma Judy
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