Sermon Notes for Men’s Retreat at Pineview Church in Alabama

Posted on Apr 17, 2010 at 6:14 am under Sermon Notes.

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Luke 1:13-17 (NKJV)
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John 1:6-8 (NKJV)
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John 5:35 (NKJV) 35 “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.

The Mandate, Mission and Mindset for Male Leadership in the Local Church.

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.  Winston Churchill

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill

[I am learning] We need to be reminded as much as we need to be taught.

* The Mandate for Male Leadership in the Local Church

Today’s man does not know who he is.

He will simply define himself by:

1. What he does
2. What he knows
3. What he owns

A compilation of several surveys that has been gathered from men’s ministry resources
around this country has given us many specific facts that outline our mandate:

1. There are approximately 94 million males, age 18 or older.

2. On a typical weekend, about 26 million men attend church services, meaning 68 million
men do not. (In 1992, 42% of all men were churched. Five years later in 1997, 28 % of
men were churched).

3. During a typical week, roughly 27 million men read the Bible, meaning 67 million do not.

4. One in three men embraces Christ as Savior. Approximately 60 million men rely on
other means for salvation.

5. Eighty-five percent of all un-churched men were previously churched.

6. Since 1991, all church activities have decreased among men, while the proportion of
born-again men has remained unchanged.

7. Forty-four percent of Christian men would like to change the way the feel about
themselves.

8. Forty-three percent of Christian men feel a deep sense of failure when they think about
their past.

9. Twenty-five percent of Christian men indicate satisfaction with themselves as “father.”

10. Sixty-two percent of Christian men are satisfied with their relationship with their wives.
11. Eighty-one percent of Christian men describe their jobs as “highly stressful.”

12. Sixty-three percent of Christian men are concerned about the future health of their career.

13. Fifty-three percent of Christian men admit to fantasizing about sex with other women.

14. Fifty-four percent of Christian men feel ashamed about their past sexual experiences.

15. Seventy-five percent of Christian men have feelings they do not share with anyone.

16. Thirty-five percent of Christian men have others to hold them accountable for their
sexual thoughts and behaviors.

In the context of fathering, Evangelist Steve Hale shared these statistics from The National Center of Fathering. They are, since 1960:

1. The divorce rate has gone up two times

2. Teenage suicides have gone up three times

3. Violent crimes, four times

4. Prison population, five times

5. Babies born out of wedlock, six times

6. Cohabitation, seven times

7. Clinical depression treatments, ten times

• Six and a half million are incarcerated in the nation’s correctional system. That is one
out of every thirty-two adults

• One child out of every five children lives in poverty in this country.

• Four in ten children go to sleep without a father in the home.

• If that child is a teenager, half of our children go to sleep without “daddy” in the house.

• If that daddy is not in the house, 25% of those children see dad once a week.
• Thirty-five percent of those children never see their dad at all.

• Sixty percent of all children born in the 1990’s grew up in a single-parent home.

• Three thousand children every day see their parents get divorced.

• Seventy percent of America’s adolescent murders and long-term prisoners come from
fatherless homes.

A study was given credence in that it identified that when the first person in the family
came to know the Lord, how many of those families followed that person in baptism and church
attendance.

If the child was the first one to come to know the Lord, it was found that 3% of those families would follow that child in believer’s baptism. If mom was the first one to come to know the lord, 17% of those families would follow her in believer’s baptism.

But if dad comes to know the Lord first in a family, 93% of those of those families would follow the Lord Jesus in believer’s baptism. Some challenge the integrity of those statistics, but I submit to you that it happened in the first century.

In Cornelius’ house, his whole household came to know the Lord.  Acts 11:14

* The Mission for Male Leadership in the Local Church

Is there a model? I would submit to you that there is. The Lord Jesus, Himself, said that there was one amongst us who was the greatest man; one born of woman who was greater than the rest.

Jesus pointed straight to the herald whom God had placed on Earth before Him, John the Baptist. In Bible, there are five specific points about John the Baptist that explained clearly his mission.

They are:

1. He was a God-appointed messenger to announce the arrival of Jesus.
2. He was a preacher whose theme was repentance.
3. He was a fearless confronter.
4. He was well known for his remarkable lifestyle.
5. He was uncompromising.

Generally when I read these to a group of men, I go back and ask the question after all five of
those: “Are you?”

If John the Baptist had those criteria and qualities in his life, and Jesus Christ said that this was the greatest man, may it be true that those five characteristics—those five marks—of John the Baptist are reality in my life. Someone once preached about John the Baptist and they said that he knew:

1. Who he was
2. Where he came from
3. What he was doing
4. Where he was going

The same question follows. Can I answer those simple questions about myself? I read a message on John the Baptist once, and the preacher said that John the Baptist was:

1. Unimpressed with who he was
2. Unshaken by what he saw
3. Unmoved by why he came

In our mission, Sid Woodruff writes, breaking our text down into four component parts. Sid says the man of God:

1. Receives a divine call
2. Accepts a daily assignment
3. Follows a determined mission
4. Chooses to deflect the glory

Most men who are not fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ really do not see themselves as
divinely-called and sent from God into the culture that they live; not at their work, not in
their home, not even in their church.

They don’t see themselves as receiving an assignment from God to bear witness to the light—to witness of the glory of God—and they certainly don’t see themselves finishing faithful to the task that all men might believe in this Christ.

WE HAVE A TENDENCY: To believe so much in their abilities and their experiences that they choose to accept the glory for themselves rather than deflect the glory to God.

There is a mandate for male leadership in the local church, and there is a mission for every man, imposing on the church to raise up men who are fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

* The Mindset for Male Leadership in the Local Church

Matthew 28:19-20:

19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…
20 “…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

You might ask why.

Ephesians 4:12: “To prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up.”

Not unlike John the Baptist, our marching orders are very clear; they are crystal clear.

Therefore, the mindset—the changing of the mind—that needs to happen in every church,
in every local church ministry is simply stated: Everything must pass the test of discipleship.

The “meet, greet, and eat” mentality has got to disappear.

The challenge for us is to live in such a way that we resemble John the Baptist at some level. I have to understand that everywhere I go and in everything I do, there is opportunity to GROW.

I would submit to all of us that we need to be like John the Baptist: there came a man, sent from God.

His name is ME, and I will be HIM.

The journey of a godly man is one that requires a ticket he cannot afford, going to a destination he does not deserve. 

Sources:

The Word
Danny Singleton
Sid Woodruff
Steve Hale
FBCW Men’s Ministry Resources