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Series: General
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Additional file: 2015-06-21 Fathers - Alan Yeater.pdf


S.R. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-11

Introduction

  1. Tell me about your dad.
    1. Great pain or great joy.
      1. Some are numb and wish to forget.
      2. Some remember fondly
    2. For some, it is not our biological father, but rather, a grandfather or other man who cared about, nurtured and mentored us.
  2. The Bible has a bit to share about Fathers.

Outline

  1. Childless Fathers
    1. Longing for children – Abraham
      1. And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." (cf. Genesis 15:3)
      2. God said about Abraham, "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him" (Genesis 18:19, NIV, emphasis added).
    2. Paul had many children, yet none naturally.
      1. Timothy, “my son.”
        1. a. (1 Timothy 1:18) “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction …so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience.”
        2. b. (2 Timothy 2:1) “
      2. (Titus 1:4) “...my true child...”
      3. Onesimus “my son, my child – NASB”
        1. (Philemon 10) “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.” (NIV)
    3. Many a child is positively influenced for good and for God:
      1. By men who have no children
      2. Or whose children have not chosen to love God.
    4. Other types of Childless Father
      1. Father’s grieve miscarriages also.
      2. Brian Fisher, co-founder of Online for Life, and the author of a book titled “Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women,” allows men to tell their stories.
      3. As one father put it, “Hardly a day goes by that I don’t shudder and almost weep again for the murder I helped bring about . . . My actions, despite my confession and repentance before [God], continue to rob much of the joy from my life.”
      4. Another man—who tried to talk his wife out of her abortion--wrote: “My heart was crushed; this was pain I had never felt. Our family was broken and torn apart by this abortion.”
      5. According to the research, Brian writes, “Men often experience . . . harmful effects from abortion, whether they wanted the abortion or not.”
      6. “The way of the transgressor is hard.” (Proverbs 13:15) “Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard.” (NASB)
  2.  Fatherless Children
    1. Daddy is absent
      1. OGDEN — Two stints in prison, rehab and a probation officer failed to inspire Mike DeBoer to give up the drugs.
        1. Dirty diapers, peanut butter sandwiches, playing "tickle monster" with a giggly redhead who smiles his daddy's smile — that's what did it.
      2. "My dad wasn't there for me," said DeBoer, 30, pausing to coo at his now 17-month-old son.
        1. "There's nothing in the world that's gonna keep me from being there for my little man."
    2. One-third of American children are growing up, as DeBoer did, without their biological father, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the past 50 years, the percentage of children who live with two married parents has dropped 22 points. During that same time, the number of babies born to unwed mothers jumped from 5 percent to 40 percent. (2011 statistics) Read more at: http://national.deseretnews.com/article/836/Fatherless-America-A-third-of-children-now-live-without-their-dad.html#cx22v47H0Eg6rAtk.99
    3. Dating your daughters:
      1. Young lady waits for her date to come around and open the car door. She sits down at the table as her date gently pushes in her chair. He takes her hand from across the table and asks, "What flavor would you like tonight, Sugar?" Katie smiles and says, "I'll have chocolate, Daddy."
      2. More and more fathers are becoming aware of their influence and regularly dating their daughters.
      3. "The research clearly says that daddies make all the difference in the world," says Kevin Leman, author of What a Difference Daddy Makes.
  3. Roles of Fathers (Reflections from 1 Thessalonians)
    1. Fathers are not mothers
      1. 1. A Nurse – “nursing mother” Children have always and will always need a father and a mother.
        1. a. No judge or court will ever remove that need.
      2. (1 Thessalonians 2:7) “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.”
        1. “a nourisher, i.e. nurse:--nurse.”
        2. Fathers provide a different type of nurturing.
      3. Fathers can show fond affection.
        1. (1 Thessalonians 2:8) “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”
        2. Give them the truth, Give them the good news and Give them your heart.
    2. Father’s roles:
      1. Work
        1. (1 Thessalonians 2:9) “For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”
        2. (1 Timothy 5:8) “provide for his own”
      2. Conduct
        1. “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.” (NIV, 1 Thessalonians 2:10
        2. “Daddy, what you are doing is speaking so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying.”
      3. Teach
        1. (1 Thessalonians 2:11) “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,
        2. (1 Thessalonians 2:12) "encouraging, comforting and urging (imploring) you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
        3. Original word implied “take to record, testify.” Logical truth.
      4. Faith (Thessalonians 3:1-5) “1So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. 4In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”
    3. Leadership is Influence on Purpose – What is your purpose as a Father?
      1. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12) “11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
      2. Our purpose is to Provide, Protect and Preserve Faith in Generations to Come.
    4. A Father’s wish for his children:
      1. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-13) “9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 12But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”
  4. Conclusion
    1. What Fathers want their children to believe – trust in-and anticipate more than anything else.
      1. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18) “14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
    2. Paul’s children at Thessalonica. (Background Acts 17:1-4)
      1. What they had become and why (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10) “6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”