(Read Malachi 4:5-6)
¡§Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.¡¨
Intro:
As children we all had our heroes.
Child hood heroes:
„X Admired- daydreamed about
„X Wanted to be like them
„X Some fictional, others tangible
„X Looked for them (in the sky)
„X Then as we grew, one by one our heroes died
o It¡¦s not that they ceased to exist but rather a death of disappointment. Our heroes fled.
„X All the time waiting¡Kbut the heroes where gone
This nation is in need of Heroes again. We must resurrect the dream within our children but perhaps not of Superman or Spiderman¡Kthe hero of Fathers¡K
Hero:
A legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability (when we where kids)
He is a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities showing that shows great courage
He is the principal male character in a in an event, period, or movement.
- It would appear heroes are those who take responsibility for their surroundings.
How does a Man become a Hero?
„X In most story books it wasn¡¦t something they trained for
o Studying patterns of crime and justice
o Learning the In s¡¦ and Out s¡¦ of Hero-ship
o You didn¡¦t see them reading ¡§Heroes for Dummies¡¨
„X Superman was shipped off to earth by his parents
„X Spiderman was bit by a special spider
„X Batman was struck with tragedy
„X 299,000 men become 1st time fathers every day
The Heartbeats of a Hero Father: (not in order)
„X Be Stable
o Heroes are someone to lean on so be sure footed
o Galatians 5:1-¡§Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.¡¨
o Watch your steps - don¡¦t test your strength by tempting your weakness
„X Sampson lost his strength why? Started by standing in the wrong place
„X Jonah ended up captive to a fish why? Wrong place
o If you children traced your footsteps on any given day, where would they lead them?
„X Be a Warrior
o Hundreds of years ago, almost every people group recognized a class of people known as Warriors.
o Father¡¦s, you have an authority to fight in the spirit for your family, church, and community.
o Ephesians 6:10-18
¡§Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[1] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints¡¨
„X Be a Giver
o Proverbs 11:25
¡§The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself¡¨
o It¡¦s been said that ¡§Greedy fathers have thieves for children¡¨
„X Be an Enthusiastic (full of God)
o Exercise Faith, hope in hopeless situations
o A poet wrote:
¡§two men gazed from prison bars; one saw mud¡K the other stars.¡¨ ¡V keep your head up!
o Children learn to smile and to frown from their parents
„X Know & Love Yourself
o Understand that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (PSALM 139:14)
o The way you view yourself tells you children how to see themselves
„X Become a student of your children
o A wise father knows his own children ¡V study them
o Know their strengths and weaknesses
„X Practice Humility
o Vance Hanver said:
¡§Many saints prefer to be flashy comets instead of faithful stars. They go up like a rocket but come down like a rock.¡¨
o Pride comes before a fall¡K(if you fall)
o Ask yourself or even your children to describe you as a father
„X If you are too afraid to ask your children what kind of father you are then you had better fear what kind of men & women they will become
„X The greatest heroes in the world don¡¦t just have room for improvement, they make room for it
„X Be Resilient
o a: capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture b : tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
o All men fall down at some point, a zero stays down, hero get back up
o One of the biggest lies of the enemy is that once you get saved life is simple, easy, and a smooth ride.
„X 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
¡¨8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed¡X¡§
o With resilience comes both strength and flexibility
„X Ancient Japanese Swords (3 in one)
„X Be a Gentlemen
o Eph. 5:25 ¡§Husbands love your wives as ¡K¡¨
o One of the greatest gifts a father can give his children is to love their mother
o From this your Sons learn how to treat women, daughters learn how to be treated ¡KEven if divorced
„X Be a Mentor
o Paul said imitate me¡K(pray, study, tell)
o Children are more likely to follow your example then your advice
o One said ¡§my father was often angry when I was most like him
„X Provisionary
o pro = ahead vision = look provision = look ahead
o Think ahead ¡VHow will this affect my children tomorrow?
o Invest your Today in their Tomorrow
„X Be Available ¡V Heroes always ¡§Take the Time¡¨
o Don¡¦t wear a do not disturb sign around your neck
o Stop just praying for God to send ¡§someone¡¨ to your children and be like ISAIAH in chapter 6:8
¡¨Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.¡¨
o Fathers, second to Jesus you are tied with mothers for the greatest gift God ever gave your children.
(¡Kto the children)
Differences between Superman and Super-Dad:
„X Superman is bulletproof, Super-Dad isn¡¦t
o Watch your words and deeds
„X Superman has X-Ray vision, your dad doesn¡¦t ¡V he has the Holy Spirit so¡K
o Don¡¦t try to hide things from him
„X Superman is faster then a speeding bullet
o Dad isn¡¦t so¡Ktake it easy on him in basketball
Letters:
¡§My Hero isn¡¦t not famous, he’s doesn’t have a cape to fly like Superman. He’s never really invented anything that’s made tons of money! He’s just a regular human being. My Dad! A usual everyday Dad!¡¨
¡§My dad is a special one-of-a-kind hero which maybe a lot of heroes are, but he always goes for what he believes in. That is what I think is one of his best heroic characteristics. He doesn’t have to get people’s attention. He does it from his heart. He does ’cause he wants to! That is why I chose to write this essay on my one and only DAD!¡¨
Ask for all fathers to stand:
„X I salute you fathers and challenge you today:
o To be heroes in your households by simply being the Husbands, the Fathers, and the Men God has called you to be.
o To invest in the next generation so your grandchildren will have a hero for a father and a heroine for a mother.
o To be blessed with God¡¦s favor and Grace
„X Success to the Kingdom and Success to yo
