Father’s Day – Pass It On



FAMILY SERVICE – PASS IT ON

OVERVIEW

This is a meeting plan we used at Johnsonville Corps to celebrate Father’s Day just during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It could be used for Father’s Day this year or for a family service during this year’s world cup.

Our goal was to have a fun day that involved all ages, while giving parents (and particularly Dads) a strong message that they are primarily responsible for passing on a faith in God to their children.

The content should apply in any setting, but if a relaxed service won’t work in your setting, adapt accordingly.

To create the atmosphere, we made a small set of rugby goal posts out of plastic drain pipes and had them on the stage on top of some green Astroturf. We also had pictures on the wall and world cup videos playing in the background pre-service. We even had black balloons for people to hit around, like beach balls at a stadium. Again, this may not work in all settings.

As the meeting started, we sung the National Anthem and watched an All Black haka.

To keep all ages engaged, the meeting was kept to one hour and split into four main teach segments. Each segment had an activity and a picture to reinforce the message.

For example, segment one was about choosing what is the most important thing to pass on to children. For an All Black fan, we would trade any Bledisloe Cup or Rugby Championship trophy for the World Cup. For parents, you should want to trade anything in your children - a good career, sports ability, making money, etc. for one thing – a strong relationship with God. To reinforce this, we held up a picture of the rugby world cup. Each time I held this up, people were asked to connect the dots – Rugby World Cup – most important thing – must pass on God.

This pack includes what we did. If you want to know more – contact Alastair Kendrew. If you choose to do something like this, please feel encouraged to adapt it to your unique setting.

MEETING PLAN

|Activity |Description |Preparation |

|Pre-match entertainment |Black balloons to be hit around auditorium |Black balloons |

| |Atmosphere – background video clips playing (e.g. great All Black tries) |Video clips |

|National Anthem |First verse only in Māori and then English |Music and words |

|Haka |Video clip of All Blacks performing |Video of haka |

|Introduction |Welcome, introduce theme |Script provided |

| |Celebration but acknowledge may be a difficult day for some | |

| |Introduce graduation list | |

|Interviews |3-4 brief (30 sec) adult interviews asking what is one thing their father |Pre-arrange 3-4 people to be interviewed. |

| |passed on to them. |Keep brief |

|Ball passing |Balls at end of lines – passed through the entire congregation. The idea was |Lots of rugby balls. |

| |to get everyone involved. We had races to see which row of the congregation | |

| |could get their ball to the far side and back quickest. | |

|Bible reading |Deuteronomy 6: 4-12 | |

|Talk One |Background to Bible reading. Lots of things important to pass on – one thing | |

| |is most important – God. | |

|Song/Offering |Take up offering. |e.g In Christ Alone |

| |Perhaps sing song at same time | |

|Remembrance |Take time to remember Dads who are not with us today. |Background Music |

| | |Any props you choose – e.g. memorial stones.|

|Line outs |Lineout practice. Get two adults to lift a (10 yrs) kid high in the air and |Ball plus family. Someone to throw. |

| |see if they can catch the ball like a lineout. Then interview to see if they | |

| |were scared being up so high. | |

|Talk Two |It’s about the heart / trust. |Script provided |

|Talk Three (a) |Introduce our exercise (e.g. have the pre-schoolers lead an action song) | |

|Pre-school song |Everyone involved as our exercise. (or choose another activity that ties into| |

| |exercise) | |

|Talk Three (b) |No spiritual flabbiness |Script provided |

|Talk Four |Family rhythm |Script provided |

|Prizes |Hand out spot prizes plus awards |Spot prizes |

|Reflection |What are you passing on? Invite people to respond. |Script provided |

|Reflection song |We had a child sing Pass it On (It only takes a spark, to get a fire going …)|Soloist. |

| |(Possible response) |Could sing as a congregation |

|Announcements | | |

|Final song | | |

|Finish |Benediction |Script provided |

|Post-service | |Video clips playing again |

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to [Corps name]. I’m [name] and I’ll be your coach for this our Father’s Day service.

Father’s Day is a great day to celebrate Dads so that’s what we’re going to do. But it’s also about worshipping and learning about God together as a big family, so while having a focus on Dads, we’ve tried hard to keep things relevant to all ages.

Right up front, I want to acknowledge that today may be a difficult day for some. Your Dad may have passed away, or you may not have enjoyed the relationship with your Dad you wanted. We hope you’ll still enjoy your time with us today and there’ll be a special remembrance slot later.

I heard of someone recently who developed what he called his ‘Graduation list’ – the things he wanted to do or teach his kids before they left home. He included things like be able to swim competently, play various card games, cook themselves basic meals, etc. He even included he wanted them to be able to dance competently in public.

Dads (and Mums), have you thought about what you would like to teach or do with your kids before they leave home? What do you want them to know? What do you want them to be able to do? What do you want them to have experienced?

If you’re a kid, what do you want to learn from your parents?

If your kids have left home, are there still things you can pass on?

That’s our topic for today. What is it that we need to pass on from one generation to another, and of the many things that are important, is there anything that is most important?

[Roving mic interviews - I’ve arranged to ask a few people what they’ve had passed on from their Dads.]

SECTION ONE: ONE THING IS MOST IMPORTANT - GOD

Moses was a great leader of the Israelite people. 3500 years ago, they were slaves to the Egyptians, living in cruel conditions, but through a series of plagues, God rescued them and they headed off towards their promised land. However, as they travelled, the people moaned and so God said none of the adults would get there. And so they wandered in the desert for the next 40 years waiting for the moaners to all die off.

In our Bible reading, Moses is giving his final instructions to the people. You’ll see from the last few verses that he is worried that when they move into their promised land, they will start to enjoy a good life there, and slowly their faith and heritage will erode. So he is giving them some life principles to ensure that things go well for them for generations to come.

What does Moses say? Verse 4 - ‘The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God’. Basically what he’s saying is - it's all about God.

I really like the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). As a blind beggar, if you heard a man walking down the street, you’d be asking for money or food. But not Bartimaeus. When he heard Jesus ask him what he wanted, he did something incredible. He realised that Jesus was the Son of God, so said I don’t want money or food, I want to see!

If we lose the Bledisloe Cup or Rugby Championship, but win the World Cup, will any of us care? The Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship are important, but there’s one thing any passionate NZ rugby follower would trade all rugby accolades for – to win the World Cup.

So, if you could ask God for only one thing for your kids, what would it be? Good friends; a good career; good character; health, safety? What if they had all of that but no relationship with God? Or if they had none of that but a strong faith in God? Which would you choose?

In other words, there's lots of things that are important to pass on, but one thing is most important – God.

As a coach, it’s important for me to be very clear with the messages I give you, so today, I want you to remember four things (and there’ll be a prize for the first kid who can tell me all four things at the end).

Point one (hold up picture of World Cup) - one thing is most important – God (say it with me).

Take up offering.

During the offering, we had magnets that showed the games we were going to be showing at church and asked visitors to instead of putting something in, to take something out of the offering].

SECTION TWO: IT'S ABOUT THE HEART

[Line-outs] Interview: what did it feel like to be lifted so high? Did you ever think your Dad might drop you? It took a lot of trust.

So far, we’ve learned Moses was worried the people might get focused on good things and enjoying their good life, but forget the most important thing – it’s all about God!

In the verses before our reading, Moses has taken the people on a history lesson – reminding them that God has looked after them and kept all his promises and will continue to do so.

At this time, the people only knew God as someone to be feared and whose rules you had to follow (or else!). So the next thing Moses says is quite radical. In verse 5, he asks them to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.’

He’s saying – it’s not about what you do, it’s not about rituals, or practices, or rules - it’s about your heart.

What does it mean to love God with all your heart? Basically to trust Him and choose to do things his way because you want to and believe his ways are better, not because you feel you must.

I don’t know about you, but as a parent, I spend a lot of time talking to my children about how I want to be able to trust them. In preparing for today, I was reminded that actually, what’s more important is that I focus on ensuring my children see that I trust God and that they can trust me. When they see that, they’ll be open to also trusting my God.

So what do we need to pass on? That following God is not about rules or stuff we do, it’s about our heart. It’s choosing to trust God and to follow him because we want to. If we truly believe God can be trusted, it will show up in our life and will be watched and copied by the next generation.

What do I want you to remember?

1. (World Cup) – one thing is most important – God.

2. (Line outs) – trust – let people see our trust in God.

SECTION THREE: NO SPIRITUAL FLABBINESS

In the next verse, Moses tells us to put the commandments in your hearts. Other translations use words like ‘memorise’, or commit yourself to them wholeheartedly.

When the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, he writes:

“You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus … Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart.” (1 Timothy 4:6-10 MSG)

So it’s time for us to do our gym workout. We don’t want any spiritual flabbiness here, so our pre-schoolers are going to teach us a song to get us working out.

SECTION THREE (B): NO SPIRITUAL FLABBINESS

Why would Moses be asking us to follow his instructions wholeheartedly, or Paul warn us about spiritual flabbiness?

The obvious answer is to make sure we don’t just cruise. All Blacks need to keep training hard or they’ll quickly find they’re no longer All Blacks.

But I think it is also about accepting that no-one is perfect. Kieran Read gets penalised. Beauden Barrett misses shots at goal or takes wrong options. Have you ever noticed that Universities don’t offer degrees in parenting? It’s ‘learn as you go’ and we all make lots of mistakes and will continue to do so.

Perhaps Moses and Paul are reminding us that mistakes are ok. We mustn’t beat ourselves up too much, but rather, to keep trying and keep improving.

How often do we try to hide our mistakes from our kids? I think we need to be real and let our kids see us for who we really are. That way, they can see the difference God is making in our life and see the effort we are putting in to follow Him wholeheartedly.

So, we need to keep improving (no spiritual flabbiness), and let people see the difference God is making in our lives.

What was point one?

1. World Cup – one thing is most important – God.

2. Line outs – trust – let people see our trust in God.

3. No spiritual flabbiness – don’t cruise, we’re not perfect - keep improving, let people see the difference God is making.

We have one point to go.

SECTION FOUR: MAKE IT PART OF YOUR FAMILY RHYTHM

In verses 7-9, Moses says:

7 Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. 8 Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.

Moses is telling us to include God in the rhythm of your family and in particular at four main times.

1. At home

2. When you are walking (travelling)

3. When you go to bed

4. When you get up.

He’s saying make the most of the times you can have together as a family and with your kids.

It’s possible to be with your kids all day but not have any quality time with them. Likewise, if you spend little time with your kids, you can’t make it up to them with one special ‘quality time’. What we’re looking to do is increase the quantity of quality time, by making the most of all the natural times you share.

Meal times are invaluable times for talking and there’s plenty of statistics that suggest kids in families that eat meals together are far less likely to get involved with drugs or end up in prison.

When you’re in the car you have a captive audience. Can you use this time to chat?

Most kids are keen to talk when they’re in bed – it keeps them up a bit longer!

What a great way to start the day, by praying that God will be with your kids as you leave for work or they leave for school.

How do you involve God in all of this? Firstly, I’d encourage you to include God as a natural part of your conversations.

Secondly, there are lots of resources that can help. For us, we use two main things with our kids – the take home sheets from Kids Church and a devotions book.

The All Blacks are professional rugby players. They live and breathe rugby - through practice, fitness, nutrition, rest, learning plays, studying oppositions or psyching themselves up.

The best way to pass on a relationship with God is to live and breath God in your family. To increase the quantity of quality time and make God a natural part of our lives.

What do I want you to remember?

1. (World Cup) – one thing is most important – God.

2. (Line outs) – trust – let people see our trust in God.

4. (No spiritual flabbiness) – don’t cruise, we’re not perfect – keep improving, let people see the difference God is making.

3. (Live it) – make God part of your family rhythm.

REFLECTION

Moses' final instructions are just as relevant today as they were 3500 years ago.

(World cup) There are lots of things that are important to pass on, but only one thing really counts - a vibrant relationship with God. You can't pass this on if you don't have it yourself.

(Line-out) Are you trusting God? Is this evident through your lifestyle?

(Training) Is God making a difference in your life? Are the people around you seeing this difference?

Perhaps you feel like a failure. Perhaps God is telling you that it’s OK to make mistakes. We all do. Do you want to ask Him to forgive you?

(Live it) Do you want to make some changes to your family rhythm?

[Soloist or congregation] is going to sing a song and while (s)he sings, I want you to think about what you want to pass on. If you would like someone to pray with you, please come and either stand or kneel at the front. Allow God to speak to you as [soloist] sings.

AWARDS

1. Newest Dad

2. Dad who has come here for the first time

3. Great Grandad

4. Dad with the most Grandkids

5. [Speeding ticket in the last month – you miss out, don’t want to pass that on]

6. A child who can come up and tell me the four things to remember from today?

We also had a Family Box from Parenting Inc that we gave away to a family who agreed that they would look to use it to develop better family rhythms.

7. Family box

BENEDICTION

Proverbs 3: 1-6 (New Living)

Trusting in the Lord

 1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

      Store my commands in your heart.

 2 If you do this, you will live many years,

      and your life will be satisfying.

 3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

      Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

      Write them deep within your heart.

 4 Then you will find favour with both God and people,

      and you will earn a good reputation.

 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

      do not depend on your own understanding.

 6 Seek his will in all you do,

      and he will show you which path to take.

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