Seminar 2 Fatherhood by Tony Payne ©2005 Matthias Media What’s Fatherhood for? Seminar 2 Fatherhood by Tony Payne ©2005 Matthias Media This presentation allows the Seminar Leader to provide a simple summary of Part 1 of “Fatherhood: what it is and what it’s for” by Tony Payne. Please feel free to: improve the graphics! add content and examples as you see fit (but keep it short) briefly give some of your own reactions and comments as you go (The notes provided are for your benefit, not for handing out.)

Recap: Fatherhood is … Lifegiver Nurturer Authority Last time, we looked at the biblical model of fatherhood and saw that it had three main planks or themes: that fathers give life to their children; that they have a primary and important place in the generating of the new life of the family b. that corresponding to this, fathers have responsibility for the life they have brought into being; that fathers are nurturers and providers c. that fathers have authority to fulfil their responsibility, and that this authority is expressed in love, in teaching and in discipline.

But that leaves a question … What’s it all for? As Part II of the book opens, it points out an obvious question that we don’t often consider: “What’s it all for?” In the big scheme of things, what’s the point of being a father? As Ecclesiastes should remind us, if life is simply having kids and trying to give them a prosperous life, so that they can have kids and try to give them a prosperous life etc etc etc. then it’s all fairly meaningless. Is there any goal or point to being a father? What should I be trying to achieve? The answer the Bible gives is tied up with the purpose for everything, which is Jesus Christ.

The meaning of everything “The purpose for which God made us—the destiny towards which all of us are heading—is to submit to Jesus Christ, and to be reconciled through him with God our Father.” Now that Jesus has come, and died for the sins of the world and been raised as Lord and Christ, as world ruler, everything has changed. God’s purpose for everything has been revealed. As the book says on p. 113 “The purpose for which God made us—the destiny towards which all of us are heading—is to submit to Jesus Christ, and to be reconciled through him with god our Father.” It continues: “Christ is the one who gives meaning to history, to our individual lives, and to the lives of our kids. Your destiny, and your family’s destiny, is to be found in him, in the man who died and rose and is now the ruler of all things.”

The father’s purpose… Being a disciple of Jesus Christ in every aspect of your daily life And so as a man and as a father, you goal in life, the purpose that encompasses everything you do, is to be a disciple of this Lord Jesus Christ. And the book outlines what this means in practice. Things like: listening to our Lord and Master first of all rather than just doing what our wives or kids want us to; allocating our time according to our Master’s wishes; maintaining our daily walk as Christian disciples in working on our godliness; and putting time aside for prayer, Bible reading and fellowship.

Taking them with you Teaching in life Personal relationship and example Prayer Following on from this, the thing we will want most of all for our kids is that they come with us; that they become disciples of Christ as well. And as with all Christian ministry, the way we help someone become a disciple is through: - teaching in life A mix of formal instruction (reading the bible together) and informal discussion that happens as you go along; - personal relationship and example important that we stay close to our kids; be on good speaking terms; and show them by our example that we are passionate disciples of Jesus - prayer only by God’s work in their hearts do our children finally respond to the gospel; and so we pray for them, that God would have mercy.