God’s Man – Father’s Day 2012
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 20-25
Preaching Notes
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 20-25
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
When your son asks you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?”
You shall say to your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. He brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. It will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.”
I. The Need
A. Conversation with a young father seeking mentor
B. Words of a 4 year old boy
C. The world is shaping this child
With it’s self-centered hedonism
D. Will a Christian man step up and shape his life
If not we can see where he is headed
II. Men as Hunters and Gathers
A. The prevailing cultural image
Be strong providers,
Subduing the wild earth
B. A Biblical Mandate – Genesis 1:28-30
God blessed thee man and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.”
C. Reenforced in Psalm 8:5-8
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
D. Men have fulfilled this role
Problem is God has an additional role for men
III. Men as a leader, shaper, and mentor of others
A. The stewardship of earth includes stewards of people
B. The failure of men here is problematic
C. God calls men to be a spiritual mentor for others in 3 areas of life
Husband
Father
Community citizen
D. Task of Husband – Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
E. Task of shaping children – Deuteronomy 6
God calls father’s to
Teach their children about Him
Show them His way
Teach them the meaning of life
Give them wisdom => build their faith
F. Task as community citizen – build faith in others
Matthew 28 – The Great Commission
John 20 – Feed my sheep
IV. Filling our roles as men is in many ways a simple task
A. I like Jed Ruebenfield’s words in NYT June 16
Fathers have a very simple job. All you’ve got to do is this: be all-powerful, so your kids feel safe when they’re little; be all-good, so your kids know the difference between right and wrong; and give your children a sense of the world’s deep magic, mystery and joy, before they’re too old to learn. If you can just do those three little things, you can hang up the spikes.
B. Of course Ruebenfield’s wisdom lacks the faith building component
But that’s part of the job too
C. How do men accomplish this
Imprint comes when others see actions match words
A man’s teaching and mentoring
Is best heard and witnessed
D. Psalm 26 describes God’s Man
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds. O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.
I have walked in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.
E. God’s man does:
Walks in integrity
Trust in God, not himself
Has a heart for God and love the Lord
Does the right thing
Worships God in His house
Trust Gods forgiveness and grace
F. This is intentional living
Do not need to be a super-hero to accomplish
V. The men who have had the greatest impact upon my life
A. Neither one is a super-hero in the eyes of the world
Common everyday men
B. My Father and my father-in-law
Shaped me, my wife, and also my sons
C. Dad and Ed
Providers of home and physical need
Did the right thing
Took us to church – still involved
Challenges – Mom’s hearing, Ed’s 2 jobs
Lived with integrity
Their actions matched their words
Compassion for needy
Provided us with college education
Continuing love and support in life
D. Blessings beyond measure and recognition by the world
Shaped 6 kids
9 grandsons
1 granddaughter
Generations to come
E. God to Abraham – Genesis 12:1-3
His greatness was in building faith in his children
F. Men the same is true for you
Your greatness is in shaping your children
Teaching them about God
Giving them a heart and mind for the Lord
G. This greatness takes courage in a world
In a world which has turned from God’s pleasure
To self-centered hedonism
Bread Crumbs - Devotions for Life 
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