Fathers Forever Treasured....

Last week I was going through a bunch of old Sunday School lesson ideas that I had used for 33 years of teaching to mostly Middle School kiddoes and I came across a lesson that I used often and one that would 'go over really well with the kids' in helping them understand the differences and yet similarities of our earthly Daddy's and Heavenly Father. However for the last 10 years of my teaching kids in prison, age 10-20...I had to alter the wording because incarcerated kids most often have NEVER had the same image of a 'DADDY' as a regular church Sunday School class kiddo. I'm sure you understand that sad situation and fact.

In the past, I've had others to asked me to give them outline copies of the lesson idea, so when I found it in my 'pack-rat' cleaning excursion....I thought possibly someone reading the blog might like the idea and build up on it and add YOUR own even better words, to help others see our REAL DAD.

"ABBA, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER..."

Earthly DADDY'S often don't even realize it but THEY are actually so much Like our Heavenly Father...God... Abba (His name--explain).

There are FOUR different ways or things that Daddy's down here on earth have in common with OUR Father God in Heaven.

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#1....Daddy's LOVE to hear their kids say, 'I LOVE YOU, DADDY'.

All Daddys love it when their kids come up to them....CRAWL up into their laps...and slowly/shyly say "Daddy, I love You."

Yes, Daddy ALREADY knows...(and says to himself).....'well, what's he up to''...what's he want...what's he done? ha ha

BUT HE STILL LOVES IT.

Likewise....GOD ...our Heavenly FATHER...is the SAME WAY....'He LOVES IT when we come to Him and pray about our troubles...our WANTS...our needs' He encourages us through the Bible to 'tell it all to Him, lean on Him, nothing is too big or too small...HE LOVES to have us 'crawl upon His knees and tell Him, "I Love You Daddy....I love You Father, I love you Lord"....even when HE ALREADY KNOWS WHAT WE ARE UP TO.....and what kind of trouble that we are in. He wants us to 'tell Him and He loves to hear "I love you!" regardless.

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#2....Daddy's down here on earth really like to have their kids to say "Daddy, I need help, can I talk to you" Dad's love for kids to COME AND TALK to them. And no...they may not always have the answer...but they love it when you say, "Dad, I need to tell you what happen today at school with this bunch of kids.'' Dad, do you know the answer to this??? Daddy's like when his kids WANT to ask him questions and when they are RESPECTFUL in how they ACT. Earthly Daddy's love to be PROUD of their kids good manners. (WHEN they are able...earthly Daddy's like to REWARD their kids who do their best.)


The same way with....Our GOD...OUR HEAVENLY FATHER...
He loves for us to "ask Him for HELP" and to talk to him...ASK Him questions. Our Heavenly FATHER loves our RESPECT, honoring & good manners to Him and to OTHER PEOPLE. HE IS PROUD OF OUR GOODNESS.
God is GREATEST REWARDER.....EVER....EVER...EVER. He absolutely LOVES to reward us when we obey and do good.... HE EVEN REWARDS us sometimes...most of the time....when we don't even deserve it.

(explain GRACE...CALVARY....SALVATION plan, HERE.)

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#3...THANK YOU.....all Daddy's appreciate and love to hear their kids say "Thank You, Daddy!" . (you like to hear someone tell you Thank you....so does your Dad. Nothing is too small or too big to always tell your Dad......"Thank You, Daddy...I like that....I love this...whatever. Praise your Dad for what all he does for you...for your family...for what ever he does that is good and when he is trying really hard..and especially if things are 'going wrong'.

Again...GOD...as our HEAVENLY FATHER.... loves to hear us say 'THANK YOU'
In fact, God commands us to praise Him, worship Him and say THANKS...'give thanksgiving' is what the Bible tells us. He created all of us to worship Him, praise Him and to THANK HIM for every good thing on this earth and universe....because He created all ...for US TO ENJOY. SO...IN EVERYTHING give THANKS.
(Explain here on kinds of large and small blessing of life...nature, science, medicines and technology....microscopic to astronomical...--fitting to age level)

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#4....Earthly Dad's like to hear their children tell them..."I MISSED YOU'
Example. If you have been to camp or Grandma's house for a while...and you come home & tell him "I missed seeing you, Daddy."
Or....If he went away somewhere on business, hospital, trip...tell him "I missed you"
Daddy's love to KNOW and HEAR YOU SAY...."I missed you, Daddy"

God is the same way. If we have not PRAYED in a long, long time...(that's when we are away from God) or maybe even 'gotten mad at God for something when things went all wrong....

....then God likes to have us come and TALK to Him in prayer and say to HIM..."Father, God...I MISSED YOU." "I don't even really know WHY that I quit praying but I really did miss talking to you."
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God is like our Daddy's...HE LOVES to hear us say, ''Father, I love you"
He loves to hear us 'talk to Him..to say, Father I need HELP---prayer---tell Him our troubles, needs and wants.
He loves to hear us say, 'THANK YOU, FATHER'...this gift is so neat. I love it.
He loves to hear us say, "I missed being near you, Father'....I like being near you.

(closing)

Sometimes the WORLD....goes to the extreme and talks about us being INDEPENDENT (which means..."leave me alone...I can do this all by my self.) But IN REAL LIFE....there are SOOOO many, many things that WE can't DO by ourselves. We need a miracle... We need God to DO what we have absolutely NO WAY OF DOING! (and yes, you do want to be wise, make right choices and TRY to always do your best...to be smart...that kind of independence is good.... and that's what GOD WANTS us to strive for each day.
---try to make sure they understand the difference in extreme/good independence)

GOD, our Heavenly Father....tells us throughout the Bible that HE dearly LOVES for us to 'COME and talk to HIM about our wants, needs and troubles....He wants us to LEAN on him...to depend on him... be DEPENDENT on Him..... and let HIM HANDLE the junk that we can't do anything about in life everyday.

Down here on earth ....sometimes, our Daddy's may disappoint us....fail us....and some even hurt us. Some people do Not even have a Daddy at home, he may be dead. Some Dad's are gone away all the time on business....some were never there from the time they were born...even some because THEY didn't want to be. It hurts when Daddy's aren't there.

But....GOD, our Heavenly Father IS ALWAYS THERE. He listens when we talk to him AND NEED HIS HELP.

He loves to help us. God is never wrong... He is perfect and He never, ever breaks a promise.

Most important... He loves you, so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to take our place on the Cross for our sin and He says if we believe His story, called the Gospel...the Bible and we try our best to live what it teaches... then he promises us a special place in Heaven to live forever, with no more tears, sorrow, hurts and worry or troubles. Lots and lots of singing, fun and celebratings!!!

So, today and everyday.....remember...if you have a Daddy, TELL him and our Heavenly Father...
I believe in you....I need your help"
"I LOVE YOU, Father, (Daddy)''
"THANK YOU, FATHER (Daddy)''