Healthy Boundaries, Healthy Relationships (8): Fathers
Being a father is not easy. The role proved to be a struggle even for David, the king who was called “a man after God’s own heart.” This week, Rev. Jeremiah Cheung reflects on David’s example and shares three boundaries that fathers are to uphold to raise godly children. See Part 9
Sermon Notes
Do parents really have a direct influence on how their children turn out? Do good parents really produce good children and bad parents bring up bad children?
We can all agree that parents play a significant role in how their children turn out. Rev. Cheung believes that the most important things parents can do are (1) to fulfill their parental roles and (2) entrust their children into the Lord’s hands.
David has been called “a man after God’s own heart,” but he was not “a father after God’s own heart.” In this message, Rev. Cheung uses David as an example because, like many of us, David was not qualified to be a father. May David’s example serve as our warning and reminder.
1. David was an ____________ father
– lacked the boundary line of being __________
2. David was a ____________ father
– lacked the boundary line of __________
3. David was a father who didn’t _______________ his children
– lacked the boundary line of __________________
a. David’s own problem
b. David did not have ___________________________
Lifegroup Discussion Questions
1. What problems can arise from a father often being absent from his family?
2. How can a father, who is often busy at work because he wants to provide well for his family, avoid becoming an absentee father? Can you share some advice and experiences?
3. Modeling is an important boundary line that a father must maintain. If a father realizes that he is lacking in this area, what must he do? If he is totally unrepentant, what should the mother do?
4. “Train up children according to God’s Word,” is the Bible’s instruction to parents. How should a father do this? If a father had not been a good role model and had failed to discipline his children in the past, what should he do now?
Sermon Notes Answers
1. absentee, being present
2. reckless, modeling
3. discipline, disciplining
b. the moral strength