Today is Father’s Day. Some students may not have fathers in their lives. Adapt the lesson as necessary to fit with your particular group dynamic.
- What does the word praise mean? (Allow students to speculate and accept all reasonable answers. The dictionary defines praise as: worship; celebrate; to show approval; to say or write good things about someone; to express thanks, love, and respect to God, etc.)
- Who do you give praise to? (Answers may include: My dad when he helps me with my homework; my teacher when she does a fun lesson; I praise God when I’m singing in the car, etc.)
With today being Father’s Day, we should all understand what it means to show our dads, uncles, grandfathers or mentors how much we care about them. We want them to know how thankful we are for them. We want to praise them for all of the wonderful things they’ve done for us.
A group of students who are surprised by the return of their favorite teacher from his deployment can give us a good idea of how to praise someone. Let’s watch how they respond to their beloved teacher.
Play the following clip [1:52]:
St. Louis teacher surprises students with return from deployment
- How did the students celebrate their teacher and his return? (Answers: they hugged him, cheered, cried, etc.)
- Why do you think these students responded to their teacher in such a way? (Answers may include: He’s a really good teacher, he kept in touch with them while he was deployed, he really cares about his students, etc.)
- How do you think the teacher felt about his students’ reactions to seeing him? (Answers will vary but might include: They made him feel loved and appreciated and so happy he’s back home, etc.)
Undoubtedly, this teacher knew how much he was loved after he left the classroom that day. Showing someone how much they mean to you matters. It can change someone’s day, lift someone’s spirits, or remind someone how amazing they really are.
Today we’re going to see how the Israelites were so excited that they chose to celebrate their heavenly Father by stopping everything else and praising Him for two whole weeks. Let’s find out what would cause them to have such a huge celebration.