A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Sermon Illustrations: Fathers and Fatherhood

Whatever your gifting is, if it isn't mixed with the spirit of fatherhood, then your ministry is likely to be a baseball bat. Bill Hilbig

Have you read the story in the first couple of chapters of Job? It's a glimpse into what happens in heaven. It tells us that all of God's sons presented themselves before Him - including Satan. God: "Hey Satan, have you seen My kid Job? There's nobody like him. He's a good man." In other words: "Hey loser, you haven't had a lot of success with him have you?" You know the story. God allows Satan to take all of Job's children and his livestock. Next time Satan came with the sons of God: "Hey Satan, still haven't had any success, have you?" Don't you think God does the same with us? I can imagine God watching and saying, "Hey Satan, look at this man / woman. You've given them a lousy week, made the boss unreasonable, given them unexpected bills, made them feel really bad. But look they're still praising Me." And I can imagine the enemy slinking away in the corner and muttering.

A teacher teaches, and then the kids go home. At the end of the year, he gets a new batch of kids. But a good father carries the care and concern of his children all the time. He longs to see his children succeed and achieve great things. He even wants to see his children do better things than he does.

10 things dad will never say: 1. Well, how about that? I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions. 2. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car … Go crazy! 3. I noticed that all your friends have certain "get nicked" attitudes. I like that. 4. No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring. Now quit your whinging and let's go hang at the shops. 5. What do you want to get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend. 6. I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies that make it run or something. Just get it towed to the mechanic and pay whatever he wants. 7. You know pumpkin, now that you are thirteen, you'll be ready for unchaperoned dates soon. Won't that be fun? 8. What do you mean you want to play football? Isn't figure skating good enough? 9. Your mum and I are going away for the weekend. You might want to consider throwing a party. 10. Father's Day, aahh, don't worry about it. It's no big deal. North Lakes Messenger

For years I poked and prodded Gordon, my oldest son, to get higher grades. I was always a little disappointed in him because he never quite measured up to my standard of excellence. One day when Gordon was a senior in High School we were invited to an awards assembly. Clearly he was going to be awarded for something, but I couldn't imagine what. Had they invited us to fill seats? I thought we would have to sit here and see every student marching up the aisle, getting applause, while my son sat at the back of the room. Why didn't he try harder? My attitude grew steadily worse. Then the principal came to the microphone and announced: "For the first time, I am presenting a special award to a young man who's been so exceptional that we couldn't overlook his accomplishments!" He called Gordon to the front, then spent several minutes describing my son's fine character, kindness towards others, trustworthiness, and quiet leadership. "We've never had a student like Gordon in our school," he said, "and there may never be another. We're giving you, Gordon, the first and possibly last Principal's Cup Award for integrity, diligence and decency. Thank you for what you've brought to our school. No one who has really gotten to know you will ever be the same again." In that moment I realised he was talking to me. I had never really gotten to know my son, much less appreciate him for who he was. And I knew that once I did, I - his father - would never be the same again. (The Word for Today)

A nun had a ministry in prison. A prisoner asked her if she could get him a Mothers' Day card. She went out and got him one. Soon the word spread and a lot of prisoners asked her to get them Mothers' Day cards. She got on the phone to Hallmark. They sent her 500 cards, and she gave all of them out. Later in the year, she noticed that Fathers' Day was coming up soon. She got on the phone to Hallmark and they said, "Sure, Sister", and they sent her 500 Fathers' Day cards. Fathers' Day came and went and not a single prisoner asked for a card. To this day, she still has all of them. Focus On The Family 12-11-08

Tie a boy to a good man, and he almost never goes wrong.

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We are not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We are raising boys." Harmon Killebrew

Three boys were boasting about how fast their fathers were. The first one said, "My Dad's so fast he can shoot an arrow and run and catch it before it hits the target." The second one said, "Well, my Dad works on high-rise buildings. He's so fast he can drop a brick of the veranda of the tenth storey, and run down and catch it before it hits the ground." "So what!" said the third boy. "My Dad works for the City Council. He's so fast that he finishes work at 4pm but gets home by 2:30pm."