LESSON 20: READ AND RESPOND
THEME: The Father’s Love
VOCABULARY: depression, siblings, quit, bills, delivers, unwanted, define, value, determine, worthy
STORY: There is a young man. His name is Juan. He is 17 years old and he struggles with depression. He has two younger siblings, a brother who is 10 and a sister who is 13. When he was little his father left and never returned. Now he lives with his siblings and his mother. His mother works a lot and makes very little money. Juan had to quit school and get a job in order to help with the bills. Juan really wants his two younger siblings to stay in school and not have to quit. He works hard for little pay. Juan delivers food during the day and helps at a store during the evenings. Juan struggles with feeling unwanted. Ever since his father left, Juan has felt like he is not good enough. He feels that if he were ‘better,’ his father would have stayed at home. His mother always reminds him that it was not his fault that his father left, and that it had nothing to do with him. But Juan can’t help but feel that if he had been different, maybe his father would have stayed. This is a lie that Juan has been believing for many years. The truth is that there is nothing Juan could have done to get his father to stay. The fact that his father left had everything to do with his father, and nothing to do with Juan. Juan has to realize that even without an earthly father, he has a Father in Heaven who would do anything for Juan, even die for him. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Juan has to break the lie that he has been living with. People do not define our value or determine whether we are worthy of being loved. The love that matters most is the love we give and receive from the Lord.
ACTIVITIES
- Review the Vocabulary Words .
- Listen to Audio 1 as you read the story.
- Listen to Audio 2 – Story with Questions as you read the story and answer the questions.
- Think about the Lord’s unconditional love.
- Listen to the song, “God so Love” by Hillsong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7i6c54KEfc
- How do you feel hearing the song. What can we learn about the Lord’s love for us?
- End the class in prayer.