"WATCH ME!"

Sermon Notes, June 19, 2016

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s Father’s Day sermon was titled “Watch Me,” and was based on Philippians 3:15-21.  Our children want their parents to watch what they’re doing all the time, from rolling down a hill to the perfect dive off the diving board.  Shortly after the plea to “Watch me, Dad!” becomes “Did you see?  Did you see me do that?”  They want to know we’re proud of them and blessed by them.  We can learn from our children’s example: if we want them to develop godly habits we need to imitate them by saying “Watch me.”  This is something the apostle Paul instructed several times in his writings.  In 1 Corinthians 4 he tells the church that he became their father through the gospel; therefore he urges them to imitate him.  In chapter 11 he told them to “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”  As parents, grandparents, as Christ-followers, we have an obligation to follow Paul’s example with not only our own children, but to everyone in our sphere of influence.  Here are three things we need to model for our children: We need to be “watch-worthy,” let them see us in action, and love their mothers.

Be “watch-worthy.”  Every day we’re all becoming either more like Jesus, or less like Jesus.  We need to be careful of what direction we’re heading in, because our children and the rest of the world are watching us.  Paul was watch-worthy because he committed himself to follow Christ’s example.  We too need to commit ourselves to godly habits: prayer, daily reading the scripture, acts of service and hospitality, teaching the Good News, character and spiritual formation, growing deeper in wisdom, and we need to trust God with everything.  We need to be willing to set aside the necessary time and energy to develop godly habits.  And we need to surround ourselves with mature Christians that we can imitate.  To be watch-worthy dads for our children, we need to follow the example of our heavenly father and find watch-worthy people we can follow.

Let them see you in action.  One of the greatest things we can teach the next generation is how we love God and how we love others around us.  (Matthew 22:34-40)  We love God by keeping His commandments.  We worship Him alone.  We rid ourselves of anything that separates us from God.  We love God by staying in His Word.  Do your children see you pray or read scripture?  Do they know you pray during the week, more than at the dinner table or at church on Sundays?  The next generation needs to see us reading God’s Word and praying to Him on a regular basis.  Welcome their interruptions: they are opportunities to explain to our children what we are learning about God and why it’s important to us. 

We love those around us by keeping the other part of God’s commands.  We honor and respect our parents. We eradicate all hatred from our hearts and minds—we don’t murder with weapons or words.   We earn everything we have instead of taking it.  We appreciate and are satisfied with what we have even if our neighbor has all the latest gadgets and gizmos.  We love and adore our spouse. 

Love their mothers. We live in a broken world.  This means that far too many people live in broken homes.  In his song “Father of Mine,” singer/songwriter Art Alexakis paints a picture of this brokenness, ending with “My dad gave me a name, and then he walked away.”  This is the norm for too many people.  In fact we are now seeing generations of men who are being walk away dads, because this is the example they were given, and it’s the example the world has given them as well.  For those who are blessed to be married to the mother of their children, we need to show our children what it means to be a godly husband.  This is an example that every child needs to see, whether they are your own children, your wife’s children from another relationship, foster children, adopted children, or just children at church. 

In Ephesians 5:25-26, Paul tells husbands to love their wives, just as Christ loved the church.  Christ loved the church so much that He sacrificed himself for her sake.  A godly husband sacrifices for his wife.  He stops what he’s doing to help her in every way possible.  He sees all the things she does and goes out of his way to lighten the load that she carries.  A godly husband leads his wife in Kingdom living; in holiness living.  A godly husband should forgive, pray for, and speak words of encouragement to his wife.  The reality is that the most important relationship our children will ever observe is the relationship that unfolds before them every day with our wives.  The way we respond to one another in our marriage is something that the world so desperately needs to witness.  Allowing our children, and the rest of the world, to see how we have a Christ-like love for our wives is a powerful example of how they, too, should love others.

Let’s face it.  Every day we are all becoming either more like Jesus or less like Jesus.  The question we must ask ourselves is “Which direction are we headed in today?”  Because our children and the rest of the world are watching us, we are leading them in the same direction we are going.