MODERN FAMILY GOD’S WAY 3 – REAL MEN OF FAITH
Text: Luke 1:8-17
Introduction:
1. A major advertising company came up with a very successful humorous campaign dubbed, “Real Men of Genius.”
2. One example was the add dubbed “Mr. Buffet Inventor.”
Real Men of Genius
Today we salute you, Mr. All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Inventor.
You've given us the real American dream: a tray, fifteen feet of food, and a little sign that says, "Go nuts buddy!"
(Pinch me, I'm dreamin'!)
Pushing side-dish innovation to its limits, you offer creamed-everything, and 400 flavors of gelatin.
(Feedin' frenzy!)
If there's beef, you'll chip it. If there's chicken, you'll fry it. And if there's gravy, well then everything's going to be o.k.
You know the way to a man's heart.and a few hundred tasty ways to challenge it.
(Mr. All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Inventor)
3. There are real men of genius in the world. But I believe that what the world needs is not more men of geniuses
4. Men of Genius started:
1) The Civil War.
2) World War I
3) World War II
5. Stalin was a man of Genius who killed and enslaved in the frozen labor camps of Siberia tens of millions of his own citizens.
6. Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot and many more epitomized the term, “evil genius.”
7. No! The world does not need more, real men of genius.
8. What the world needs now and has always needed is, Real Men of Faith.
Discussion:
I. The world has always needed Real Men of faith.
A. Not long after the creation of mankind people became incredibly corrupt
B. It began with the men.
Genesis 6:1-3 1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
Genesis 6:5-7 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:8 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
C. Man had messed it up and God called for a man to step up and fix it: to lead his family to deliverance and save the world.
D. But why did Noah find favor in the eyes of the lord?
E. Was it because he was a man of great strength and courage: able to wield an axe, manage a mallet and a chisel to build a giant boat?
F. NO! Noah found grace because he was a real man of faith
Hebrews 11:7 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
G. How do we know he was a real man of faith?
H. Because he trusted God enough to do what he said?
II. Other real men of faith
A. Abraham
Hebrews 11:8-9 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
B. Joshua
1.
Joshua 24:14-15 14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
C. This was a real man of faith who stood up and assumed the spiritual leadership of his home.
D. If God were to seek someone to build an ark today, he would probably have to find a Mrs. Noah because today the men are sitting at home reading the paper, watching TV, fishing or golfing, while momma takes the children to church, and it’s not working.
E. Men have surrendered the spiritual leadership of the home and it it is not working.
F. Illustration:
Researchers from Switzerland examined whether parents’ religious habits were transmitted to their offspring. They studied different variables, but one critical factor towered above the rest: the practices of the father determine whether children grow up attending church. And surprisingly, Mom’s religiosity has almost no influence over their kids’ future devotion. Consider these findings:
• When Mom is a regular churchgoer but Dad attends infrequently (or never), just 2 to 3 percent of their kids go on to become regular churchgoers.
• When both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 33 percent of kids grow up as regular attendees.
• Here’s the shocker: when Dad is faithful but Mom never attends, 44 percent of the kids end up as regular churchgoers.
This is the highest outcome of any scenario. This study seems to indicate that in spiritual matters, kids take their cues from Dad—at least in Switzerland.
But does the pattern hold in the US? LifeWay Research surveyed more than one thousand adults ages eighteen to thirty who had attended a Protestant church in high school. The study found that 70 percent of these “raised in church” kids stopped attending for at least a year between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. Researchers studied what caused them to drop out and what factors kept them faithful. And what do you know: those kids whose fathers attended church regularly were much less likely to drop out as young adults. The researchers wrote, “While more mothers attend church, the father’s attendance makes a bigger impact on [a young person’s] decision to stay in church.”
G. Father, are you showing your children the way to Hell or standing up as a real man of faith and leading yourself and your family to heaven?
H. God expects it of you
I. The closing words of the Old testament about the coming of the Messiah were
Malachi 4:5-6 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
J. Jesus said,
Mark 9:42 42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
K. Fathers are you causing your children to stumble by an example of unfaithfulness?
L. Paul wrote
Ephesians 6:4 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
M. Fathers you need to set the example for your spouse and your family.
1. Heart the Gospel
Romans 10:17 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
2. Believe the Gospel
John 8:24 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
3. Repent of your rebellion against God
Acts 17:30 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
4. Submit to baptism for the remission of your sins
Acts 2:38 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 22:16 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
5. Rise to walk a new life in Christ
Romans 6:4 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Colossians 2:12 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
6. Remain faithful until death
7.
N. You cannot:
1. Lead your family to study God’s word if they do not see you studying God’s word.
2. Lead your family to pray to a God they do not see you praying.
3. Lead your family to faithfully worship a God that you are not faithfully worshipping.
4. Lead your family in service in the kingdom if you are not faithful serving in the kingdom
5. Lead your family in facing eternity knowing they have eternal life if you do not have it.
Revelation 2:10 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
O. If you have not done so already, you need to sand up and become a real man of faith.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
P. Men don’t think church is manly
Do men really associate church with femininity? One Saturday, I polled men outside a sportsmen’s show in Anchorage, Alaska. Ninety-five guys responded to this query: “I’m going to read a list of twelve places where people gather. Please tell me whether these places have a more feminine feel or a more masculine feel.”
Conclusion:
9. Studies show that the majority of all families that have been on long term public assistance have never had a full time father in the home.
10. The most reliable indicator of whether a child will grow up in poverty is the absence of a father in the home.
11. Children that grow up without a father are more likely to end up using drugs, pregnant, the fathers of children born out of wedlock, or in jail or prison.
12. Your child is more likely to live an ungodly life if you do not set the example and become the spiritual leader of your house.
13. Increasing numbers of children are growing up without the spiritual, financial and emotional stability created by the presence of a strong and loving father figure in the home.
14. With these thoughts in might, I want us to ask yourself, “Am I a real man of faith?
15. If your honest answer is not then man up, step out this morning and become a Christian,
16. If you are already a Christian but you are not the spiritual leader of your family step forward and commit to being the leader of your home.
17. Make that commitment now, before your family, the family of God and God himself.
