Men of Promise
Pastor Glenn Newton 6-17-01 Father’s Day
1CO 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were
wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and
the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that
no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who
has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
This morning I want to tell you how important it is to be Men of Promise, and
really, for everyone, we need People of Promise. What do I mean by that? Let me read
you a quote I found, I couldn’t find who said it, but it was good,
Nothing binds us one to another like a Promise kept and nothing divides us like
a promise broken.
I think you would agree with me that we have found that statement to be true in real life.
Did any of you have a tough week this week, just everytime you turned around, something
was breaking down, or something was missing? I had one of those weeks.
My truck battery went dead, I had to replace it. I was coming home from the
Alexanders and had a flat tire, no problem, except my spare was almost as flat. Replaced
all four tires. My whole office is in boxes at my house. The printer that prints out your
bulletin every week, went home to printer heaven, had to buy another one. Other than
that, everything went pretty smooth.
ILL. This man was having a real hard time. His business was falling apart, his wife was
leaving him because of the financial problems. He couldn’t meet the mortgage payments
on his home.
One day he is driving into work, and he has an accident. Soon, a policeman is
writing out a ticket and an ambulance is coming because the guy in the other car has been
hurt. The businessman doesn’t know if his insurance is up to date and he’s had about
enough.
He looks up and says, “God, Why me?” And a big voice comes booming out of
the sky and says, “Well, Sam, the truth is, there’s something about you that just ticks me
off.”
Ouch! Now that’s a tough week. Now aren’t you glad no matter how rough your week
has been, no matter all the things that have seemingly went against you, you can know that
God is not out to get you. God is not fickle, He is not out to get us. Sometimes life just
gets tough.
One of the most impressive characteristics about God is that He is a God who
makes covenants, or promises, and He keeps them. Aren’t you glad God keeps His
promises to us?
Remember Abraham? God said, “Pick up all your office equipment, all you stuff, all your
family and go to another country that I will show you, and if you obey, I will bless you
beyond your wildest dreams.” Abraham became the Father of Nations because of his
willingness to trust in God. God kept his Promise.
You remember Moses? Remember the burning bush? Moses was a man who didn’t feel
very good about himself, he stuttered, he didn’t see himself as a leader, and he had a
sorted past, he had killed a man. Yet, God promised to use him to deliver the Israelites if
he would be obedient. God delivered on His promise.
I believe our passage this morning, this message is what God has put on my heart to share
with you, the men of this church, the dads, the husbands, the granddads, the future dads,
for some of you. Let’s look at verses 26-29
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were
wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and
the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that
no one may boast before him. Vs. 26-29
I believe that God is looking for Men of Promise today, I believe God is raising Men of
Promise in our Country, because it’s going to take strong Christian Men of conviction and
of courage to turn our country back to God. Every man can be a man of Promise. The
question is, “Are you going to be one of those Men?”
Ladies, will you be a Lady of Promise? It’s going to take our families coming
together, it’s going to take our church coming together, with a purpose of unity and a
focus on keeping the faith for us to make a difference in our community.
The apostle Paul asks His Christian brothers to remember, to “think of what you
were when you were called.” In essence he says, Remember, think of what you were
without Christ.” Remember what you life was like before Jesus saved you, before He set
you free from the bondage of sin.... Do you remember you life before Christ?
I was lost......... I was empty........ I was self-absorbed...... I only kept promises if it
benefited me.......
I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy looking at what my life was like before
Christ, do you? It wasn’t pretty at all.
Thank God that Christ took my weakness, my messups, my sin and transformed it
into His likeness, His Holiness, His righteousness, He transformed my life and He
empowered my through the Holy Spirit to live a Christian life, a Holy Life.
Can I tell you something, You have been chosen. You have been picked.
How many of you liked it at recess when two people would pick up teams, and we would
all line up on the wall, one by one, the players were picked. Now if you were one of the
first ones picked, you didn’t have a problem with this process. But, if you were one of the
last picks, it was kind of humiliating, because what would happen is that instead of the
team picking you, the other team would say, “We don’t want him, you take him.” You
weren’t picked as much as you were assigned.
If there’s one thing we should pick up on in verses 26-29 it’s the fact that God
picked up, He choose us. He didn’t choose us with a clause that if things didn’t work out
he could trade us in. He didn’t take us because the other team didn’t want us, He choose
us because He wanted us on His team.
You have been chosen.
Father’s on this special day let me remind you that you not only do your very best for
God, but you also are representing your family, your family is looking up to you for true
leadership, for Spiritual guidance.
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I feel like I’m failing miserably at being
a Dad. Those days when the kids are going crazy, those days when my wife would rather
talk to the dog than to see me or talk to me. Those days when I wonder if I will ever
understand how to deal with three females in the house. It’s not easy.
When I read our passage this morning though I feel like I have Hope. Because part of
God’s plan is to take the weak things of this world, you and me, with all our
shortcomings, with all our hangups, God wants to take us and mold us into Men who will
be overcomers of this world and it’s strongholds. Look at verse 27-29
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and
the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that
no one may boast before him.
God hasn’t chosen you to be a Man of Promise so you can say, “Look at Me,” but he has
called you to be a Man of Promise so your family, so your church, so your community will
have a good picture, a good reflection of God the Father, we are His ambassorders to our
families, to our church family, to our friends and neighbors in our community. If they
don’t see God living in us, where are they going to see it?
God has called us, the Word says he has “chosen” you to make a difference, to be men of
Promise, how are we doing? How are you doing?
Let me read to you some responses to a radio survey that Dawson McAllister did
on his radio show for New Man Magazine. New Man magazine asked him to solicit
comments from his listeners about their relationships with their Fathers. There responses
were both touching and heart breaking. Listen, Father’s Listen to what kids just like yours
are saying, and ask yourself, what would my kids say about there relationship with me.
Read - Magazine page. “Dear Dad, Listen up......”
The message is right on for us, Men we need to spend time with our kids if there at Home,
we need to Listen to them, show them that what they have to say is important to you.
This is important for Dad’s of all ages. I still talk to my Dad on the phone a couple of
times a month, and it’s important that He listens to what’s going on in my life, it means a
lot to me.
We must reach our children, If your kids are grown and gone, they still need you. Reach
out to them, Love them unconditionally. Aren’t you glad Our Father in Heaven Loves us
Unconditionally?
Men, the same is true with our wives, Listen, take time to spend with them. Don’t allow
the business of life take the life out of your relationship. Part of our job as Father’s and
Husbands is to nuture the relationships in our family. We need to give it attention, which
means time must be invested.
We will invest time at work because we know we have to be able to pay the bills.
We will invest time in our hobbies, whether it’s the garden, or the golf coarse, because we
enjoy those things. We invest into a retirement plan, because we want to have something
for the future. We will invest into church ministry because we know it brings eternal
value.
My question is simple, We invest in allot of areas that are important to us, But
How Much are we investing into our Families? Men, How many minutes did you set aside
to talk to your wife, one on one? How much time did you set aside to play with your kids
this week?
You have 24 hours every day. I’m preaching to myself this morning as much as
anyone here. Of that 24 hours everyday, your family deserves a part of that time, apart of
the time that you have. If you neglect your family, you will lose them, one way or
another. Take the time. Invest in what’s really important. Be a Man of Promise.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate Man of Promise. You may be thinking, I don’t know
how to be a Man of Promise, well, the easiest way to know is to get close to the one who
can teach you, Jesus.
I challenge you this morning to get serious about being a Man of Promise, know that you
have been chosen.
To be a Man of God, there’s some easy steps that will help you. Be a Man of the Word.
Be a Man of Prayer. Be a Man who Honors His family, and protects his time with His
family.
Close with prayer
