"Abba! Father!" Is that like calling our dad "Poppy"?

I passed out Bibles this morning at the start of the children's message. Some of the kids pick up their own before sitting down.

Do you know what an "orphan" is?

"Yes. An orphan doesn't have parents or a home," the kids offer up.

How do orphans become members of a family?

"Adoption," one of the kids (Dada to be specific) says right away.

So I explained, as Christians, we are adopted into God's family and now have a home (with God forever and our church family right now). I had the kids look up Romans 8:15. One of the kids knew the page number, so that helped. I taught the kids that the ones who find the verse first, give their Bible to those who haven't and point the verse out to them and the relocate it again for themselves. That's how you do it at church, I tell them. The older kids helped the younger ones (that's how we do it, too). So much modeling and example happening during these moments.

Then we read the Bible verse out loud together--at least the one's who can read did.

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"or you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'” 

They I asked, "What do we cry out?" "Abba! Father!" Some knew.

So I asked them to cry out. They did. Twice.

"Abba! Father!"  "Abba! Father!"

I told them "Abba" has the idea of "Daddy," a term of interment, to which one of the boys asked, "Is that like 'Poppy'?"

I live for these moments.

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Westminster Shorter Catechism Q & A 34 asks and answers:

What is Adoption?
Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God.