A Few Good Men

A FEW GOOD MEN

A Father’s Day Sermon

I Chronicles 11:10-23

June 2009

Pastor Brian Matherlee

One time a little boy was asked to define Father’s Day and he said, “It’s just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the present.”

It’s tough being dad. (wingclips.com, “The Pancakes”)

1. They stand up for the leadership (10)

a. How easy it is to tear people down

b. A godly dad will instill in his children and family a supportive attitude and positive words about those who God has placed in positions of authority.

c. There are too many “armchair quarterbacks”. It’s easy to criticize from the sidelines.

d. Theodore Roosevelt said, “It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

e. A leader is better off with fewer who are committed than many who are opposed or apathetic (12:18)

2. They stand in tough times (12-14)

a. I think these are exceptionally tough times

b. Dr. Carle Zimmerman wrote Family and Civilization. In it he identifies 11 problems of final decay evident in the Greek and Roman dynasties that collapsed:

i. No-fault divorce

ii. Increased disrespect for parenthood and parents

iii. Meaningless marriage rites/ceremonies

iv. Defamation of past national heroes

v. Acceptance of alternative marriage forms

vi. Widespread attitudes of feminism, narcissism, hedonism

vii. Propagation of antifamily sentiment

viii. Acceptance of most forms of adultery

ix. Rebellious children

x. Increased juvenile delinquency

xi. Common acceptance of all forms of perversion

c. We need men who will stand up as leaders in the middle of hostile territory

i. Social issues

ii. Spiritual attacks against our homes through media, relationships of our kids, bombardment by our culture upon biblical values

3. They are regular guys who live by extraordinary principles

a. They seek God (as opposed to Saul who lost his kingdom and his life for consulting a medium)

b. Throughout these several chapters telling of David and his mighty men we see how David and these leaders sought and followed the Lord. Success came because they started right.

i. Recent research is shining light on the importance of male spiritual leadership in the home. Among their findings is the reality that 68 million of our nation’s 94 million men don’t attend any church. This, in spite of the fact, that 86% of them grew up with some sort of church background.

ii. Research has revealed that if a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5 percent probability that everyone else in the household will become Christians. Not very high at all. If the mother is the first to accept Christ, the percent goes up and 17 percent of the homes will see the remainder of its members trust Christ. But if the father is first, there is a 93 percent probability that everyone else in the household will follow.

iii. When father goes first spiritually, good things happen at home. Let’s all pray together that God will call even more men to spiritual revival and renewal. Never has there been a generation in our nation, where is has been more important than now. (sermoncentral.com)

c. They will risk themselves for others (15-19)

d. They will risk for the right cause (22-23)

e. They trust God and not the odds

4. They are regular guys who show up for duty…big or small

Couldn’t we all decide to emulate these qualities and lead, by example, the family, friends and world around us?