[Worship] HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

[Daniel L Black <sonsoffire@juno.com>]

On This Day, on Father's Day
Our Father God, who art in Heaven
We remember you this day on Father’s Day
Are you not our Father of all fathers?
You who gave us life and breath and purpose
You who gave us the willingness to continue on this quest of life
You gave us hope and peace and joy in the gifts you had given us:
Our children, our homes, our security, our love,

Our realization that you are 
The most important thing in our hearts 
and in our spirits
You are more important and pleasing you is more important,
And loving you is more important
And spending time with you is more important
And yet, you allow us so much space to freely express ourselves
And you allow us so much time to figure out who we really are
And you allow us the opportunity, yes to worship you and to serve you
And you even let us just be – 
Be the human beings that you created us to be
Even like Adam and Eve of so long ago
To live our lives in peace and freedom

God, our hearts go out to those this day
Who are struggling and in pain
To those who are fighting for our freedom
So many of our young lads are gone from their families
Protecting the home front and fighting on foreign soil
May you give them our hugs and our love

Oh Father God,
You know what the future does hold
You know what tomorrow may bring
You know what in Heaven has been decreed to happen
And to take place upon the earth in our lifetime
We trust in your judgment
And we trust in your good justice
For your all seeing eye 
Does see deep inside and into the hearts of men

And you know our hearts, God
Our hearts cry out to you
We corporately cry today in one accord
Bring the hearts of the fathers back unto the hearts of the sons, 
And their wives and their homes and their children
Bring the hearts of the fathers back once again unto the churches 
And the houses of worship
That they may worship you in spirit and in truth
Bring the hearts of the fathers back, 
Bring them back, bring them back
For their hearts have been stolen away by the cares of this world 
- its snares and its devices
- as even ours have at times

Oh, Lord,
It is so hard to live this spirit filled life at times
Because of our humanity and our frailness
Yet in a moment,
In the blink of an eye your presence can come in 
And fill the room where we are sitting
And we can feel the tears well up within our eyes
Why is it that we always cry with joy when you are here?
Oh, Father God,
It is the love we feel for you, so much

Forgive us of our sins, which indeed are many
Oh, God, so many sins, so many shortcomings, 
So many things we should have done
So many people we could have touched
So many smiles we should have given or so many nods
Helps us, Lord, to remember to love 
And to show your kindness to those we meet in the street
Or across the pew, or the seat on the plane

The family of God is no longer just inside the borders of Israel
But God, your family reaches out far and wide
Into all the corners of the earth, now
And Lord, I believe
That your church is crying out for your Son’s returning 
As we do cry for peace, 
Are we not crying for our Prince of Peace to come?

One day soon, 
Your temple will come to earth
And our God will walk with man again
We so look forward to that day,
Whether it be in our lifetime, 
Or in our children’s or in our posterity
But our Lord will come, and our Father will come, 
And the Spirit will come in his glory with all the angels 
As Heaven does come down and touch the earth

But until that day, our Father 
Let us say with one heart and mind 
That we love you
That indeed, in the single thread, 
Which holds us all together
Though we may disagree on words and philosophies 
And documents and leadership, 
And, oh God so many things
But do not we all, who call ourselves Christians – 
Followers of the one true God –
Hold this one truth close to our hearts:
Our deep love and commitment to the Holy Father in Heaven!

We love you, we worship you, we serve you, we believe in you
This truth is what holds us together this day, even on Father’s Day
Though we do not share the same bloodline relationships
To an earthly father or son
We do share deeply the bonds that tie us ever so closely together –
Our love for the Heavenly Father and his Son

Oh, Father God
Draw your church, your daughters and sons,
Ever so closely together in your arms
Are not your arms - the arms of the Father –
Large enough to cradle all the world?
We are but your footstool
So pick up this baby that you have birthed on the earth
And sing to her again
May your angels hum the anthems of love
As sung down through the ages
Of a heavenly God who does love the world so much 
That he gave his only begotten Son to die for her 
And to redeem her and to save her 
Oh, your awesome love!

Thank you so much for loving us first, 
For reaching out to us
Before the creation of the world
For sending Christ, our Deliverer, 
To be born of the Virgin Mary
With the purpose of dying for our sins 
That we, too, might be redeemed 
And be able to live with you for eternity in glory
Such love, such wondrous love
That God would send his Son to die!

We thank you this day, on Father’s day,
For giving us the ultimate gift –
The gift of love
For giving us your Son,
And for giving us your Spirit, and the angels above

What can we give you, our Lord, our Father of lights?
What can we possibly have that you would desire? 
What could possible please you?

May we give what you gave, 
May we give our love
May we give our undying love to you
May we give our undying love unto the families you’ve given us – 
To show them the love of the Father, by example
May we show your mercy and love, mercy and love, mercy and love
Teach us evermore how to give the gift of love
For is not love, the greatest of gifts? 

It’s the gift you gave and the gift we received 
May the circle now be complete as we give our love back unto you
May the reflection of your love 
Shinning down through your eyes into our hearts, 
Now so shine out of our hearts unto mankind 
That people would truly know that we are Christians by our love

May Love be our new name, 
Our new flame,
Our new reason for existence
May we know your love,
May your love transform us into creatures anew – 
No longer selfish and harsh and demanding and unrelenting 

Oh Father God,
Come live through us again, 
Come love through us again, 
Come be in us again 
That we may be complete, 
As we are completely in love with you

Love is a place, 
It’s a thought, 
It’s a feeling 
Love, the true love of God, is limitless, 
It truly is as deep as the deepest sea
The love of God

We give you our love, our Father
May we, on this one day especially, 
May your church stop for a moment 
And declare her deepest love and devotion unto You, 
Almighty God 

May love, 
Be what you hear echoing down the halls of Heaven this day
The love of your saints for you, 
And for each other 
As you have made us all one who call upon you, 
Your sons and daughters 

May you sense and feel and see our love, 
This day, on Father’s day 
As we remember you, 
Our Father in Heaven
As we pray

We declare with one voice
With one thought and mind
We love you, our Father
Our Father Divine 

May this be a happy Father’s Day 
In Heaven above
As the fathers who’ve gone on before us
Do hear us declaring our love
To the One, whom they also do so adore
Our one true Father
Our God and our Lord 

~ by Bonnie Franklin, June 15, 2002 ~

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