THE QUESTION: In what way is God like our Father?
WE BELIEVE: God, in many ways, is a Father Who loves and cares for us.

A STORY: Not long ago, a father and son had a terrible fight. The son ran away, and the father tried to find him. The father searched for months without success. Finally, as a last try, the father put an ad in the Los Angeles Times newspaper. The ad read: "Dear Ken, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father." On that day, 605 Kens showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

ANSWER THIS: When you think about God, have you ever thought about God being like your father?



GOD SPEAKS: In many religions, their god is very distant from the people who worship Him. That is not true in Christianity, where the Lord has chosen to be called by the name of "Father." He wishes to have that title for a number of reasons:

He is the Father of the entire universe, because He created it in 6 days. (Genesis 1:1)
He is our Father because He made humanity. Although we have made divisions between races and cultures, God looks upon all people as being equal in their need for His love. God has never looked upon any nation or race as being better than another.(Malachi 2:10)
God is our Father because He gives us all that we need to support our body and life. By His will the world produces food enough to feed everyone (the fact that there are people starving is NOT God's will, but humankind's greed). (Psalm 145:15,16)
God is our Father because He loves His children enough to have them come and talk to Him about anything that bothers them. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

It is true that we, like the boy in our opening story, have not always done what our Father wishes. All you need do is look at the evil, hatred, poverty and pain in this world to realize that humanity has and continues to argue with our Father, Who only wants what is best for us. (Romans 8:7)
But it is also true, that our heavenly Father, like the father in our story, wants us back. Knowing that we could not find our way back to Him, God started to search for us. In spite of our sin, God gave us a way to come back to Him. (John 3:16) True, God hates the things we have done wrong, but, like a father, He keeps loving us.

THIS PART OF OUR LESSON ASKS:
How do you picture God? Is He angry or loving? Does He care about you?



God has been searching for you. Do you wish to be found? Why?



If you are uncomfortable thinking about God as a Father, please let us know why at the end of the lesson. If you are like most of humanity, you are curious to see how our Father came up with a plan to bring us back.