Sunday, September 02, 2007
preaching on fathers day
I am not sure about my sermon from today. It is Fathers Day here in New Zealand and we are in the midst of a 3 week series on Bible families, looking at the family system around King David. (We did a similar type of series last year, looking at the family system around Abraham).
So I preached on David and son, particularly in relation to Absalom. Here is the sermon (download file)and here are the post-sermon questions I am continuing to ponder:
1. Is this too tough to preach on Fathers Day? Don’t men get enough of a hard time about parenting?
2. Am I being unfair to David, and simply reading him as a nice 21st century male? In other words, is this a Biblical sermon, or simply the product of a 21st century mind?
3. This is pretty tough stuff – sexual abuse and dysfunctional families. Is the sermon the best way to talk about this stuff in church? If not, where and when?
4. What do visitors think of this type of sermon? Is this being hospitable to them?
I know how you feel Steve. We had a Fathers day and Baby Dedication service this monring. I spoke on the prodigal son and spoke about how the son had nothing to give but that didn’t matter because the son was all the father wanted – We often talk about Childen needing their Dads but Dads also need their kids!!! I used “Sometimes you can’t make it on your own” as an example of a son living apart from their Dad relationally. It was a great service and my first fathers day. At the end of teh service we gave all the Dads a bag of nuts with the parable of the The recklessly extravagant Father
I like your questions. I find myself asking very similar ones. At the moment we are travelling through the Abraham narrative – Last week was Sodom and Gomorrah. It was tough and I felt as though I trotted out a donkey! I can understand why many Christians don’t like the OT.
Comment by mark — September 4, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Phew, what a message! I have to admit, the content is hard-hitting…but unfortunately this is a harsh reality for most families. There are cases of absentee Dads (and Mums), and also absentee kids too.
It may seem too tough to give something of this content from the pulpit, but let’s face it – if we as church leaders and members don’t face up to the reality of what is going on out there and speak into these situations, who will? Who will be the agents of reconciliation, even if it means having to give a hard truth?
Comment by Ryan — September 5, 2007 @ 1:36 pm