June 16th, 2013 Father's Day: Men of Strength

It takes a great deal of strength to be a great Father. So in this special Father’s Day message we look at what it means to be a true Man of Strength and where the source of that strength comes from.

If you want a study tool to go along with the podcast, see Lift Notes here:

Father’s Day 2013:  Men of Strength

June  16, 2013  by Kasey Crawford

Today’s Passages: Genesis 32:22-29; John 13:21-25,34; Matt 26:37-8

 

To be a great dad takes an incredible about of ____________.

How can we become men of strength?

[Jacob] took [his family] and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Genesis 32:22-29

 

Every young man asks themselves the questions: “who am I as a man?” and “what does it ________ to be a man?”

 

______ answers that question for you is very important.

 

Jacob had been told his whole life a message about who he was.  His name was Jacob, which means “heel grasper”, inferring a ____________ character.

 

But God took him out into the wilderness, and said its time to dig out that __________.

After wrestling for a while God says to him, “what is your name?”. That is a question about identity. And the man responds, Jacob, or “deceitful one.”  And God (paraphrased) says “no, no that is not who I made you to be. That is not the name I have for you.  My identity for you is ‘Israel’”, which means “__________ _____ ________” , meaning one who goes deep with God, or who strives to know God.

 

How did he find his true identity?

He made a priority to be alone with God and __________ until the old lies are gone and his ________ identity in God is embraced.

 

God comes down to call us out to join him on a journey in which he will destroy old _______, get our priorities __________, and give you your _______ identity.

 

There are lots of cultural myths out there about what it means to be a man…..The hard guy, the tough guy, the party guy, the suave guy, the successful guy….etc. Jesus models otherwise. Jesus models that:

 

Men of strength say: “I _________ you.”  John 13:34

Men of strength share ____________ and ask for _________ . Matt 26:37-38

Men of strength show tender _______________. John 13:21-25

 

In a variety of ways, all of these cultural personas mask deep down _____________.

 

Our kids need more than anything else from us, Fathers who know who they are ____ _______; men who have found their true identity as a man of God and who let their lives be shaped by God’s _____________ and live out of his strength and therefore have the incredible strength that it takes to be a great dad.

Kasey Crawford