Good morning! I’m glad to welcome you to worship today at Hillcrest Baptist Church.

I recently read the following quote regarding fatherhood: “There is a father absence crisis in America. According to the U.S. census bureau, 24 million children, 1 out of 3, live without their biological father in the home. Consequently, there is a father factor in nearly all social ills facing America today.” The article went on to say, “that children and teens without a healthy father influence are more likely to drop out of school, have sever behavioral problems, abuse alcohol and drugs, go to prison, and commit a violent crime.”

It is not a mistake that we bring up these facts today, since it is Father’s Day. A day to celebrate and encourage the art of fatherhood. Christians and Non-Christians alike agree that the positive influence of a parent, particularly a father, is critical for the mental, emotional, and social development of a child. Even the U.S. government has declared a WAR on fatherhood in America and as a result appropriated more than 10 million dollars this year to develop promotional ads that “promote the importance of fatherhood for the sake of preventing a social breakdown in our society.”

Today, we look at some fatherly advice Paul the Apostle gives to Timothy. Paul reminds us that the best TOOL or resource we can use as fathers is God’s Word because it is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, in order that the person of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Let’s put some tools in our Spiritual tool box this morning and attack not only the absence of fatherhood, but the just as important the absence of God’s Word in the home.