Sunday Re-Cap 18th June 2006

The Christian Father

Text:
Deut 6:6-7

The role of the Christian Father is extremely important in nurturing their children. It is said in a statistic that ~80% of all criminals in one western nation had problematic relationship with their natural fathers. This however should not be an excuse for those of us who did not have good fathers. We now have the greatest Heavenly Father!

The 3 Key Biblical Roles of The Christian Father towards his family in the home which are found in our TEXT today are:

1. Teach The Word

• The role of teaching the WORD should not be only the responsibility of the mother. Fathers must take up this primary role except in the event of the father not being physically present or is an unbeliever.

2. Talk To Them

• Fathers must overcome their previous mindsets and talk to their children. We must learn to say words like “I’m Sorry”, “I Love You” to them. It’s not wrong for a Christian Father to hug his children.


• The importance of Family Altars and partaking of the Holy Communion together.


• Affirm our children by encouraging and positive words. Col 3.21


• If we don’t talk to our children, someone else will. MTV, Movies, wrong friends, etc.


• Watching TV, Movies together is not considered spending quality time.


• We should not substitute spending quality time by buying expensive gifts for our children as this communicates a very wrong message to them.


• The way our children relate to their fathers is how they are going to relate to their heavenly Father. Are we approachable or do our children fear us?


• To our children LOVE is spelt as T.I.M.E.

3. When we sit in the house, walk by the way, lie down and rise up.

• these speak of the most intimate times we have with our families.


• Do they see the same person or are we one thing in church and in the public and then another thing at home.


• What do they hear us speaking at home and in the bedrooms?


• Children learn more through examples then through all that we can say to them.


• Help them to thank God for all that He has done before they sleep and show them by example that God has great things in store for them when they wake up in the morning. Help them to plan their day by planning your day.

Let us be the kind of fathers that God wants us to be through the strength that the Holy Spirit provides us. We’ve only got ourselves to blame if our children are not turning to the LORD. It’s still not too late even if our children are teenagers and have grown up. Anything is possible through prayer and the AGAPE love that we can show to our children.

By Ps Samuel Hari