THE service on Sunday, June 21 was led by Caroline Coline and her theme was The Fatherhood of God “Our Father’’.

The congregation had been asked to bring a photograph or thoughts of their own fathers. Caroline said when you hear the word father, it immediately acknowledges the range of experiences.

Every photo tells a different story. Different generations, different faces, different personalities. Some may bring a smile, some may bring a tear. Behind every picture is a lifetime of memories, experiences and stories.

No two fathers are alike. They are individual and unique. Yet for each person holding a photograph, that image represents someone who has shaped their life in some way. Today, we give thanks for fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers and father-figures who have loved, encouraged, sacrificed and cared for us.

Caroline said we recognise that Father’s Day can bring mixed emotions – some miss fathers no longer with us. Some have difficult relationships. Some have stepped into the role without sharing the title Father, while others longed to be fathers but never had the opportunity.

What is wonderful about the Christian faith is it meets every one of these stories with hope. Because today we are not just thinking about our earthly fathers. We are thinking about the One Jesus taught His disciples to call ‘Our Father’ – He began with a relationship. It points us to the One who is the perfect Father.

That is exactly where Jesus began when He taught His disciples to pray – Not with rules. Not with religion. Not with performance, But with relationship – ‘Our Father’ – those two words changed everything.

Throughout the Old Testament God is occasionally described as a Father – for example in Isaiah 64 ‘Yet you Lord are our Father. We are clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand’.

When Jesus came, He spoke of God as Father more than 150 times in the Gospels Jesus. He wasn’t introducing a distant ruler to be feared – He was revealing a loving Father to be known. And then comes the astonishing invitation. Jesus doesn’t say ‘Pray to my Father’ He says ‘pray Our Father’ – through Christ we are welcomed into His family. God as Father.

Romans 8 tells us ‘The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again, rather the spirit brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry ‘Abba Father’.

‘Abba’ is a deeply personal word – something like ‘dad’ or daddy’. It speaks of closeness, trust and security. The Creator of the universe invites us into that kind of relationship. Father’s Day reminds us of what good fathers try to do – A good father provides, protects, encourages, forgives and delights in his children. Every one of those qualities points beyond itself to God. Every good father reflects, however imperfectly, something of our heavenly Father.

James 1 – ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights’

When we see generosity, when we experience forgiveness, when we receive encouragement, we catch a glimpse of the Father’s heart.

One of the clearest pictures Jesus gives us is the story we often call the Prodigal Son. But perhaps it should really be called the Loving Father? The son rebels and wastes his inheritance and reaches rock bottom – yet when he returns home, rehearsing his apology, the father doesn’t wait on the doorstep with folded arms. He runs!

In that culture, dignified men did not run. But love outran dignity. The father embraced him before the son could prove himself. That is the Father’s heart – not reluctant love, not conditional love, but extravagant love, love that runs towards us.

Perhaps that is why Jesus began the Lord’s Prayer with ‘Our Father’. Because everything else flows from knowing who God is. If He is our Father, we can trust Him.

When we pray ‘Give us today our daily bread’ we believe He provides

When we pray ‘Forgive us our sins’ we believe He is merciful

When we pray ‘Lead us not into temptation’ we believe He guides us

When we pray ‘deliver us from evil’ we believe He protects us. Everything begins with ‘Our Father’.

On Father’s Day we give thanks for the fathers who have reflected God’s love. We pray for fathers carrying heavy burdens. We encourage men who are raising children, mentoring young people, serving as grandfathers, uncles, father figures.

For anyone whose experience of fatherhood has been painful, we remember that God is not simply a larger version of our earthly fathers. He is the perfect Father. He heals what has been broken, He restores what has been lost. He loves without fail.

Psalm103 reminds us ‘As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him’.

So what is today’s deep truth that we can take away with us? Simply this – the greatest gift of the Lord’s Prayer is not just that it teaches us how to pray. It reminds us to whom we are praying. Not a distant God. Not an angry judge, But a loving Father.

Whatever this week holds, whatever burdens we carry, whatever failures or fears we bring, we never come to God as a stranger – We come as a beloved child. Because Jesus invites every one of us to begin with those beautiful words ‘Our Father’.

Bronwyn Nott

Crediton Methodist Church