A Quiver of Arrows

June 16, 2013 Father’s Day Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Psalm 127:3-5 “Quivers of Arrows” Year C For me, Psalm 127 serves a very important message, it is especially for fathers. Unless the lord build the house, the builders labor in vain. Fathers are the foundation of our household. It goes on to say that children are a heritage from the lord. They are a gift from God. The last verses say blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. It was believed that not only were your children, a gift from God, but in many ways the children were an important blessing from God. Your children were the ones who took care of you when you could no longer take care of yourself. Your children were the ones who carried on the family name, and who represented your legacy once your were gone. That is why the psalmist says –“Blessed is the man whose quiver was full of them. The more children that you had, the better off your inheritance.” Without the children there would be no fathers. Today we honor the fathers in our life, for how they treat their children. For that they are to their children. What are the qualities that make a good father? Faith, adversity, teaching, helper, encouragement and reputation. How do we spell father? F-A-T-H-E-R. Faith, adversity, teaching, helping, encouragement and reputation. I want to go through each letter that spells out for us what a father should be to his family and his church. The first letter F stand for faith, the foundation of any good father. Studies show that families where the father has a faith, are 80% more likely to go to church and to demonstrate the faith of the father. The letter A stands for adversity. It is in the fires of adversity that our characters are shaped. When we learn to overcome obstacles we become a stronger person. Story of the farmer…. Many years ago, a farmer and his family, after a hard year of typical farm work, were rewarded with an unusually fine crop of grain. There were happy days ahead. Just a few days before harvest, there came a terrible wind and hailstorm. The entire crop was destroyed! After the storm was over, the farmer, with his wife and little boy at his side, went out to the back porch to view the field and the damage. The little boy looked at what was formerly a beautiful field of wheat, and tearfully looked up at his dad expecting to hear words of despair. All at once his father started to sing softly, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee...." Years later, the little boy now grown said, "That was the greatest sermon I have ever heard." The farmer had lost a grain crop, but because of his faith, manifested in great trial, he had gained forever for the Lord the soul of his son. The son saw the faith of a godly man in practice! The letter t stands for teacher – the scripture for today says to study the bible and to learn the commandments. But it goes on to say that what you learn and understand about God you should teach to your children. “Talk about the commandments when you sit at home and when you talk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” The father is a child’s greatest teacher. Their learning begins at home. They can only go far in school if they are nurtured at home. H stands for helper 1. A father helps with the homework, he helps with school projects, he attends the little league and soccer games, he takes time to be involved--he's always there with an arm to lean on. ILLUS: Ken Canfield, in his book, The Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers, said, "Effective Fathers are: Committed to their children. Know their children. Are consistent in their attitudes and behavior. Protect and Provide for their children. Love their children's mother. Are active listeners to their children. Spiritually equip their children. E stands for encouragement. We have to encourage our children in everything that they do. In order to encourage them, we have to be present to them. MY DADDY IS HERE! David Elkind, a psychologist, tells the story of visiting his middle son's nursery school class, at the request of his teacher. She wanted him to observe a "problem child" in the class. While he was there, he caught a conversation between his son and some other boys. There conversation went like this. Child A: "My daddy is a doctor and he makes lots of money and we have a swimming pool." Child B: "My daddy is a lawyer and he flies to Washington and talks to the president." Child C: "My daddy owns a company and we have our own airplane." Then David Elkind's boy said, "My daddy is here!" And he proudly looked in his father's direction. (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.197) Dads, your presence means more than anything else to your children - more than your money, more than your position at work, more than the toys you buy them. Your time means more to them than anything else, because it says, "I care." (From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Loving Leadership, 6/17/2010) The final ingredient to being a father is reputation. Proverbs 22:1 says a good name is rather to be chosen then great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Our good name comes from who we are in the eyes of God. Who is it more important to impress? Other people or God. How do you spell father? Faith, adversity, teacher, helper, encouragement and reputation. A father is a father in the way in which they treat their children. And in the way they are able to honor the ways of God in their lives. One of the ten commandments tells us that we should honor our mother and father. We honor them for giving us life. Some can see these characteristics very clearly in the men in their life, some are striving to – but have work to do. Some men attempt to be father’s without the guidance of God. But we honor them today – because they are the father God gave us. Just as children are a blessing to a father’s soul, they are a gift from god. The fathers we were given by God are also a blessing. We honor them because we love them. But we also honor because God reminds us that honoring our fathers is the beginning of our faith journey. September 2007 in Hampshire Rosemary Edwards left home without leaving any word or taking her things and has been missing all week. It was as a result of a her losing her job and her dads word which came to her explaining she would no longer be able to continue horse riding as a result the girl has run away from home – the Father since that day as been seeking his daughter on national radio and TV with an emotional appeal for the safe return of his daughter. We can be like Rosemary with God – God may say something, do something, expect something and we don’t like it we want things how they are (comfort zones) and so we run. But like the love of the father who is pursuing his daughter. God will pursue you, as he pursued Jonah because when it comes to the will of God in our lives we can run and spend our whole lives running but we cannot hide from God. By Aubrey Vaughan Jonah chapter1:Hide and seek. sermon c