Friday First: The Biblical Foundation for Manhood

This month at Cornerstone we are talking about God’s plan for the home. One of the most critical areas in the home is the role of the husband/father. For the family to function as God designed, it is essential that the man understand the purpose for which he was created and the role he is to play inside the family. With Sunday being Father’s day, this lesson seems to fit very well into our series as we consider the need to resist societal norms and rise above it all, embracing God’s standard.

Because Americans have largely abandoned moral and creational norms … men especially have lost their purpose. What are men for? Why have they been created? What is your mission in life as a man? Secularism has no answers for these questions. Having taken away the Biblically based worldview and standard of morality, secularism has led to a dangerous concoction of a dearth of purpose and low expectations. This is leading many men down a path that leads to self-destruction … and the destruction of others that intersect with their life, usually women and children. We have to do better. How do we defy the status quo?

First we need to Biblically define manhood. 1 Corinthians 16.13-14 is probably one of the best passages that describes God’s purpose for a man. A man is not weak, not vacillating, not fearful, and not unloving. Instead, he is a man with fortitude in an environment of love.

On Sunday we will talk about three ways today’s man can resist the status quo:

• Be Courageous
• Don’t Compromise Your Convictions
• Resist the Temptation to Tolerate Sin Around You

As you prepare for worship, please think about these questions.

1. As you observe culture, how do you think men have lost their purpose?
2. What is “fortitude”?
3. What is the balance to the courage and strength of 1 Corinthians 16.13?
4. What does it mean to compromise?
5. What are some things you can do to hold the standard high?

OPENING / WELCOME
Kody Pritt

SONG LEADER
Jason Schofield

PRAYER OF PRAISE
Rich Jacobs

LEAD LORD'S SUPPER
Chris Terrian
 
SCRIPTURE READING
Kevin Shanesy
2 Corinthians 16.13-14

PREACHING
Matthew Allen

CLOSING PRAYER
Roger Robins

CLOSING COMMENTS
Rich Walker

WELCOME CENTER
Pam Grushon / Pat Reeder

USHERS
David Williams

CLOSING THE BUILDING
Nathan Armstrong