Why I Love Dad!

Sermon: Why I love Dad?

Introduction: The Story of Father’s Day: from Father’s Day on the net

Father’s Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a "father’s day" was first proposed there were no Father’s Day cards!

Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father’s day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd’s mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

The first Father’s Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a "father’s day." In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

Father’s Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all be honored on Father’s Day.

Today we celebrate Father’s Day and in doing so we fulfill one of the ten Commandments: Deut. 5:16

16“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

Thesis: I love Dad because he has taught us what to do and what not to do.

We all have been impacted by what dad’s do and don’t do. One area we have all been impacted with is their words: Dad’s Favorite Sayings!

• Go ask your mother!

• Just wait until I get you home!

• I love you, son!

• I love you, princess!

• When I was your age....

• My father used to tell me...

• I used to walk to school in the snow!

• Be home early.

• That’s not a tear, I have something in my eye

God has uniquely designed us dad’s to be different from mom’s. We know that both male and female have been created in God’s image and it takes the two of us to have the qualities that are all a part of God. God choose the sacred institution of marriage to create and environment for kids to grow up in that would have the balance of a mom and a dad. Different yes, but both are essential to the family unit.

When God Created Fathers by Erma Bombeck

When the good Lord was creating fathers, He started with a tall frame. And a female angel nearby said, "What kind of father is that? If you’re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won’t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping."

And God smiled and said, "Yes, but if I make him child size, who would children have to look up to?"

And when God made a father’s hands, they were large and sinewy.

And the angel shook her head sadly and said, "Do You know what You’re doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can’t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats."

God smiled and said, "I know, but they’re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day…yet small enough to cup a child’s face."

Then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders.

The angel nearly had a heart attack. "Boy, this is the end of the week, all right," she clucked. "Do You realize You just made a father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?"

God smiled and said, "A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus."

God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. "That’s not fair. Do You honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?"