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November 19, 2021 2:00 am
Someone once said, "Live so that your son, when people tell him that he reminds them of you, will stick out his chest, not his tongue." In the message "The Legacy of a Godly Dad," Skip shares how you can make an eternal impact on the kids in your life.
This teaching is from the series Now Streaming.
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This is the greatest priority for any person, and certainly for any father love your God personally. This is the first essential to successful fathering and it's basically this every earthly dad should be connected to heavenly influence is critical of others influence our lives the power to influence others connect with skip.
I took today as he shares how you can make a positive impact on those around including your children before we begin a Bible study trip to Israel is a life changer. Bible study will never be the same Skip has lived in Israel, and lead tours. Many many times he refused to invite you on his next you know there's always something new to see and experience in Israel and I'm so excited to let you know that I'm another tour group to Israel next spring. In 2022 urine for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north seen places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the temple mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the amount of all and much more.
This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. Now I've been to Israel a number of times over the years that I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed. It just never gets old. I can't wait to see you in his start planning and saving out to Israel with Skip Heitzig information, inspiration, cruises.com/C8Q that's inspiration cruises.com/see ABQ B in Deuteronomy chapter 6 for today study so let's join Skip Heitzigs when we had Mother's Day. I told you how it was founded was discovered by or thought up by a woman on the East Coast in Virginia.
Same with Father's Day was invented by a woman on the West Coast of Washington state in 1910. Her name was Sonora.
God, she wanted to especially honor her father. She felt like he deserved to be honored because her father raised six children as a single parent in those days I was just monumental in any day. That's monumental, so he raised six children and she wanted to honor him and I caught on, it became Father's Day so were grateful to her. Now I can remember back in the 1960s when there was a series on television the actors name is Robert Young and he played some is picking up on this. He played the role of father knows best what a title right you would never have that title that a father knows best and what is interesting about it.
I didn't think of it, then as a kid, but I think back to it now and the reason it was so odd different is that Robert Young that dad was always pictured with sport coat or a suit, white shirt and a tie at home so he sitting in his chair at home dressed like that.
He is at the dinner table with a tie he is like in the garage with his tools got the tie on that's that's the father that was there trying to portray the ideal father. His wife was always nicely dressed. She was making cakes and cookies and the house was spotless all the time.
This just such not reality right and whenever there was an issue or problem Robert Young that dad would say, or sees me. The mother would say because the dads at work. I don't worry your data be home soon he'll fix it right, he'll he has the solution and he always did have the solution. He always did fix the problem. He applied such wisdom and so imagine having a weekly show that everybody tuned into called father knows best. That is not the TV way.
Dads are portrayed today. That was the way they were pretrade in the 50s and 60s dads were pictured as heroes leaders guides.
They were admired these days the TV dad is clueless, irresponsible, and more like an additional child is made fun of a lot is not the brightest bulb in the pack enemies as dad. He just does these things. I think it's safe to say that the family is under attack today. I know that's a phrase that you have heard me say in fact, all tell you the truth I said that sentence for 40 years and every year it's been true and today it's truer than ever before. It is worse than ever before and that is because the family has been redefined in our culture you don't believe me ask your kids if they go to public school there to be told us about a family, as it may consist of a father or mother and children, or it may consist of two men and children or two women, and children, all of those are perfectly normal, healthy families add to that the reinforcement that comes from the media and it's hard for kids to survive because the media you can find a movie that doesn't portray a homosexual in it, or a a same-sex relationship that is exonerated or a traditional family that is gets in that movie scene is outdated in dysfunctional made fun of. So a kid growing up these days with that exposure sees the family defines the family and very nebulous terms, not the concrete. Father knows best, not the concrete Bible. One man one woman etc. that is may or may not happen, but that's so passé now we can just blame the media, we can just blame the school system.
There's plenty of bad examples of dads out there to reinforce it no matter where you looking. My mind goes to a very famous example, one by the name of Bill Cosby who was nicknamed America's favorite dad is America's favorite dad and that he even wrote a book called fatherhood and it happened to be an excellent book that I read a few times and quoted from a few times because it was so good. The problem, of course, as you know is that Bill Cosby is in a state penitentiaries in in in in Pennsylvania in a in a prison because he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman and so is serving prison time for that, since he was convicted and put in prison. 50 women 50 women have come forward and said he did exactly the same thing to them now. Those may just be accusations and it could just be that one but that's the example of America's favorite dad.
So it's safe to say the family is under attack in one of the biggest crises in our country that assaults the family comes from father's and is called fatherless families. It is of epidemic proportions. You think the pandemic was bad that a lot of these statistics according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One fourth of America's children grow up without a father 25%. It is estimated that 33% of children that are born are born outside of the marriage.
Now that's 33%, not including cities.
If you going to big cities. Almost every big city in America 50% of children born are born outside of marriage and if you think that is not a problem. Understand this 85% of those prisoners who are incarcerated, grew up in fatherless families, everybody knows this is problematic.
Everybody knows that this is a crisis. There is a great organization that has served those in prison for your skull, prison Fellowship, we've worked with him I've known leaders in that organization, including the founder and prison Fellowship ministers to prisoners behind bars and to their families to get them of supporting get them adjusted to get them through that and every year they pass out cards to the prisoners to send their parents on Mother's Day and Father's Day, so they hand out a stack of Mother's Day cards for free. Whoever wants and they hand out Father's Day cards for free. Whoever wants them in just one prison in California on Mother's Day. There were a thousand requests for cards to send them on happy Mother's Day mom from prisoners of thousand on Father's Day in the same prison. There were six requests for cards to send to dad on Father's Day. Now, before you get too nervous. This is not about a parading father failure this morning. This is really about joyfully and much unashamedly raising the banner of biblical fatherhood and saying that by God's grace and by his spirit.
We can do this.
I nobody's gonna take away my shot and I get one shot at this life and I'm gonna step up to the plate and by God's grace we can do this. There's an old saying that says it only takes a few minutes to become a father, but it takes a lifetime to be a dad and I want to show you from Deuteronomy chapter 6 how to be a dad, three simple principles not easy but simple what it means to be a good dad. I want to give you three directives.
These are just sort of general directives for this Father's Day meditation and other pretty simple.
Love your God personally learn the truth inwardly and leave your kids diligently. We could do those things.
We'd be further down the road than most in our country. So let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 6 will begin in verse one for that first directive love your God personally. Now this is God speaking through Moses to the children of Israel.
Now this is the commandment. And these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded you or commanded to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing to possess that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you and your son and your grandson so I'm giving this command to you and your son and your grandson. It's generational all the days of your life that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hero Israel.
Be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you. I want the best for you that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Here is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Know this is been called the cornerstone of Judaism. This is so embedded into the psyche of every Jewish person and Orthodox Jews. To this day believe that reciting this, especially verses four and five reciting this twice a day is their sacred duty is called the Shema, the Shema, and that is because the first word in verse four notice is the word here in Hebrew which Shema Shema. He said I had allowed Anaya cocaine new Adonai aside here oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one that so sacred that is recited by an Orthodox Jew twice a day. Not bad, is followed by in verse five, a command is the command you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.
You know that Jesus quoted this as being the greatest commandment of all lawyer came limited was the greatest commandment Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6.
Love the Lord your God, he kinda modified it a little bit with all your mind, heart, mind, soul, strength then he said the second commandment is like it.
Quoting now. Leviticus you shall love your neighbor as your self on this hang all the law and the prophets, so this is the greatest commandment. What that means, then, is this is the greatest priority for any person, and certainly for any father love your God personally. This is the first essential to successful fathering and it's basically this every earthly dad should be connected to his heavenly dad every earthly dad should be connected to his heavenly dad.
The Lord God must first be the Lord your God before he's ever going to be the Lord their God. If you want the Lord to be there God, your kids, your families out to be the Lord your God first. Moreover, this love for God is just a casual yeah God and I we talk every now and then you know were on good terms he hears from me on the weekends. Now this kind of love.
Notice should be an all-encompassing supreme love of your life. Love them with all your heart. Love him with all your soul and with all your strength. If you know my ambition. If it goes apart and give you that the words and the meaning the word heart in Hebrew is the word lab and the heart speaks of the mind. In fact, it's often a synonym for the mind is funny because I hear people know kind of talk about you know can be in your headman, but it's gotta be in your heart as if the mind is competing with the heart and the Bible is the same. The heart is your thoughts at your cognitive abilities should ability to process thoughts at your will.
That's the lab that's the heart, followed by the next word soul different word in Hebrew, Nefesh, and that refers to the emotional part of you the inner self that that where you experience emotions and then the third word strength is the strangest word of all in in the Hebrew text because though it's translated strength here. It's a word that is very rarely used in Hebrew as a noun, it usually uses an adverb and it's the word meant. In Hebrew, which literally means very is a modifier very, so if you want to say very good essay tells metabolic that's literally good, very, but that's how the top or if you want to say please to meet you. It's not.
He met right very pleased. So the word is very metabolic love.
So it's literally love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your very so I'm bringing it out to just show you this, the idea of it used that way is, is this it speaks of the idea of your power or what your life produces. It's the pump in your life torture life produces a kid it could speak of your profession, your influences I could speak of your finances, your possessions that your strength so your heart, your soul, your very your strength, but rather than looking at them individually, I think it's best to view them collectively. I think it's simply a way of saying love God with an all encompassing wholehearted love. In fact, there's one translation of this that I think really captures the thought is called the message translation says love God, your God with your whole heart.
Love him with all that sin you love him with all you. That's the idea.
Love the Lord your God with all you've got. So this is successful parenting one a be connected to the heavenly dad love the Lord your God.
You know something I'd I have noticed over the years I've been around a few years a past few years I talked a lot of different people and I've hurt sometimes I hear people say yeah yeah we just had kids, and that we can sort of figured out we would admit we don't go to church but we just figured out we have kids we should expose them to Sunday school. So were coming to church for the kids.
That's always good to come to church and it's always good to think about your kids, but I have a better approach than waiting for your kids before you go to church.
Do it first do that now be committed in your heart wholeheartedly. Now before you have children be connected to God in a vital relationship now. First, I love how Paul writes to young Timothy in the New Testament. He says the genuine faith which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded is in you also. So we like to dedicate your children.
We do. It's an honor for us, but we also want you to know that we want to make sure your dedicated to the Lord first before we dedicate your children to the Lord.
Listen to the wise words of one of our previous presidents, Abraham Lincoln who said for Amanda train up a child in the way that he should go. He must walk that way himself good wisdom. You can pass on what you don't have. So that's first love your God personally.
The second is learning the truth. Inwardly, love your God personally.
Now learn the truth inwardly build on that grow in that.
Look at verse six and these words which I command you today shall be in your heart stop there. Just that verse look at just the six verse these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. What words he talked about while this is Moses speaking, God is speaking to Moses to the children of Israel.
The book of Deuteronomy book of Deuteronomy is sort of a recap of all the law that was given in the first four books so Moses is an old dude at this time.
He's got the children of Israel in front of him. He's rehashing he's recapping he's going through. You'll see verse 1B take you back there. This is the commandment. These are the statutes and the judgments it encompasses all the truths that God is revealed so far in his word to them so than verse six shows to us what our relationship is to be to the truth so with both of these directives. One follows the other see if you're gonna love the Lord your God then you're gonna love what the Lord your God says makes sense right now to honor ever read that Bible women do love got all I love God really, how can you love the Lord your God if you don't love what the Lord your God has to say to you, so one follows the other. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart see the first is to assimilate the truth inwardly before you disseminate the truth outwardly becomes a part of you the truth, the word your relationship with God is directly proportional to the revelation of God.
They both work together only just let me reinforce that with some different text of Scripture really briefly Psalm 37 describes the righteous man by saying the law of God is in his heart.
Psalm 40 I delight to do your will. All my God in your law is with in my heart.
Some hundred and 19 your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Colossians chapter 3 verse 16.
Paul writes, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, all of those is the truth of verse six.
These words which I command you today shall be in basket plate with the message from the series. Now we want to let you know about a resource that helps you dive deeper into God's truths. Here's what Norm Geisler's tactics, there is no better block to include Christians to think clearly on the need to engage in active spiritual warfare.
You'll never fight God's battles for myself, you'll never contend what really matters. Just cruise and interlacing boiled. You have to decide to get out as part of the house and join the fight become a contender for the treatment. The house message theories that continue to skip. I think these teaching theories on equity in the ring and guard against teaching banks to connect more people to the truth of God's word and means you give $35 and more to gain different text by Gregory couple speak the truth about Christianity with confidence increase, Inc. hundred 19 to report connect with.com did you know there's a great biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your mobile device Skip has several Bible reading plans available version Bible you can dive deeper into several books of the Bible to gain insight just search skip-version Bible and be sure to come back next Skip Heitzigs of shares the village of to inspire those around Skip presentation of connection communications to go changing truth ever-changing time