Families
Week 95
The importance of fathers to the family
The complete family unit is found only among human beings. Very few animals have strong parent/child or male/female relationships, but none have the complete family unit for life that man has. Some animals have strong social relationships, mostly based on instincts and hierarchy.
Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” The family unit with father, mother, and children was instituted by God. Since this thought is under severe attack in our society, we felt we must address the truth of families with the youngest among us. This will instill the simple truth into them so that as they grow, they can remain firm in this truth.
Note to the serving ones: While we faithfully present God’s view of a family, we recognize that some of our children’s families may not relate to what is being presented in these topics due to different types of situations. (For example, there may be children whose parents have passed away, children whose parents are not involved in the family/church life, children who are adopted, children who were raised by step-parents/grandparents, etc.) The serving ones need to be careful/sensitive in how they address these matters so that the children don’t come away from the story feeling bad because they may not have a mom and a dad to do the things that we are presenting. We don’t want them to feel like their families aren’t “real” families, but rather, we want to give them an appreciation for the complete family unit from God’s view. In your time with the children, please be sensitive to their personal circumstances. Be careful that no child feels that his or her family is wrong or worse than the others.
Point to emphasize
All that a father is and does is important to the family.
Verse
Train up a child according to the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
Sample content and conversation with children:
- Today we are talking about how important fathers are in families. [Show pictures or a collage of father’s faces that the children know.] Who are these people in a family? [Let them answer.] FATHERS! Why are fathers important in family life? [Ask 2 or 3 this question. Lead them to talk about the things fathers do related to God, such as reading the Bible to them, singing songs about God with them, etc.]
- [Show a Bible.] In the Bible we find out about the first family. [As you speak about Adam and Eve, draw a picture like shown in picture #2]. The Bible says that Adam was the father in this family. This is a big “A” for Adam. The big “E” is for Eve, who was his wife. They were married for many years, and they had a big family [Add the stick children as in picture #2].
- [Draw a picture like shown in picture #3.] Before they got married, Adam and Eve spent a lot of time with God. They spent time with God every day. They loved God. They learned what made God happy. [Show your picture #2] And as they started their family, Adam spent time telling his children how wonderful God was and all that God had done for them. He wanted his family to know and love God as he did.
- [Show picture #1.] And just like fathers today, Adam had to work so that his family had [show picture #4] food to eat and [show pictures #5] a place to live. [Show pictures #6-7.] And fathers help us to pray and give thanks to God.
- You know [show picture #8], male grizzly bears are not involved at all in caring for their young. They live by themselves and spend their time alone in a forest. They leave all the responsibility of raising bear cubs to the female grizzly bears.
- Our families are very special, and we are different from all the animals. In our families, fathers care for us, guide us towards what is right and wrong, and teach us to know God. I’m so happy God put us in families!
Suggested songs
Never forget that it’s God who created you
May be big, may be small, but a family is best of all
Pictures
#1: Collage of fathers’ faces (we recommend that you gather pictures of fathers that the preschoolers would know/recognize)
#2: A E stick figure children
#3: God A E
#4: Fruits and vegetables, food
#5: Collage of houses and apartments
#6: Family praying before a meal
#7: Family reading the Bible
#8: Grizzly bear
