Father's Day

Pastor’s Pen…

I’m asking our Lord to continue providing health and safety for each of you who are a part of our First Christian Wylie family.  I know we are all looking forward to when we will all feel comfortable attending our ‘safety-oriented’ services. 

 

We continue to hold our Sunday services with all safety protocols and pre-service sanitizing in place. No Sunday school yet, and the nursery will not be available.  We will continue following the protocols as outlined by GA-18 guidance.  Face masks, social distancing, no physical contact. We are using bulletins printed untouched by human hands, with songs, etc. printed therein, and pre-packaged communion elements. Offering plates are located at the rear, or giving can be done online at www.fccwylie.org.

 

If you still feel uncomfortable attending, you can join the live-stream on Facebook (at 10:45 am) which includes communion and the worship hymns, or the message, posted on the website on Sunday afternoon.  We are blessed to have the technology available that allow us to still worship, and those in our church family who have the expertise to post the service online.

 

*******

 

This Sunday is Father's Day, and in these uncertain times we need the leadership of godly fathers. With so much instability around us, we need stability and tranquility in our homes. That's why my topic today is “To Insure Domestic Tranquility.”

My father was one of the greatest influences in my life. Dad trusted Christ when I was seven, and he and I were baptized at the same service.

After serving in the U S Marines during World War II (The Black Sheep Squadron in the Pacific Theater), dad spent 42 years working for the (Norfolk) Southern railroad. He began as a fireman, shoveling coal on steam engines, then was promoted to engineer. Dad was a hard worker, and put a lot of effort into his job. My brothers, my sisters and I all became hard workers, due in a great measure to dad's influence.

However, dad did take time for family. Soon after he became a believer, he instituted "family altar," a time when we would gather as a family, often after a meal. He would read a passage of Scripture and we would pray. He and mother were both committed to that special family time.

One of dad's favorite passages of Scripture was Ephesians 6:4. "And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture (training) and admonition of the Lord."

While family Bible and prayer times and church attendance spoke to the "nurture" or Biblical training, dad's Marine Corps belt spoke to the second value--admonition. Dad was never abusive, and rarely raised his voice--thus he didn't "provoke us to wrath"-- but he never hesitated to exercise discipline when it was called for, and I'm extremely thankful that he did. I don't think he ever gave me a spanking I didn't need.

Dad's leadership and mothers loving support led to domestic tranquility in our home. As you may recall, the preamble to the United States Constitution set out several objectives in the founding of our country, one of which was “to ensure domestic tranquility.” Sadly, to a great degree this is not happening in our country today. 

This week I want to examine a passage that provides a foundation for domestic tranquility, Psalm 127, as well as two key New Testament passages that can lead us to the experience of domestic tranquility.

 


I.               Problems that hinder domestic tranquility (Psalm 127)

a.    Trying to build a home apart from Christ

b.    Trusting anything other than God for protection

c.     Taking a workaholic approach to life

II.             Priorities essential for domestic tranquility (Colossians 3:18-21)

a.    For the wives: Willing submission

b.    For the husbands: Loving leadership

c.     For the children: Attentive obedience

d.    For the parents: (especially dads!) Non-abusive nurturing and discipline

III.            The Product of building on this foundation (1 Peter 3:7)

a.    Communication and mutual understanding

b.    Compassion, concern and respect

c.     Enjoyment and shared fun

d.    An effective spiritual climate

May God grant us the grace to apply the priorities and address the problems so we can enjoy the product: domestic tranquility, from God's perspective.

 

RADIO THIS EVENING: This weekend on Encouragement Live we’ll focus on the Role of Fathers in Uncertain Times. Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley of Focus on the Family join me to address the challenges and opportunities fathers face in these uncertain times.  

Encouragement Live can be heard at 7:05 PM central time on American Family Radio (www.afr.net) and on theworshipchannel.org. 

Don Hawkins, D. Min.                                                                                                                     Interim Pastor

 


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