Hi boys and girls! My name is Pastor Don. You don’t know me very well right now, but I surely want to get to know you in the days to come. I’m glad that you can join us for worship today.
From my desk upstairs, I brought some paper clips. Do you know what a paper clip is for? It holds two or more pieces of paper together. I use them to hold the papers I use when I speak up there. I couldn’t do without them.
In my desk, I have hundreds of them. Not all of them are of the same shape and size. Some are big, some are small. And I have some odd-looking ones, like this one with a straight top and crossed wire legs. Then there is another kind, which looks like a box turned in on itself. My favorite kind is the ones with different colors.
Even though I’ve used paper clips for years, I must confess that I often take them for granted. That means, even though they continue to do their job, I don’t give them very much thought.
When I think of a paper clip, I’m reminded of our families. Each of us has a family. A family may have two parents or maybe just one; it may have brothers and sisters or, maybe, grandparents.
You know, our families help us to hold our lives together. They provide us with food, clothing, and shelter, along with companionship, help, comfort, and love. It’s easy to take those nearest to us for granted, and not give them much thought or appreciation. We all need to look again at what our families mean to us and be thankful.
The church also holds us together. It helps us to learn more about God and Jesus and how to be more loving. If it didn’t teach us this, think about how empty our lives would be. Yes, it’s easy to take the church for granted and not see or appreciate all the good it does for us. Let’s remember how it holds us together for good and be thankful.
And finally, when I think about a paper clip, I’m thinking about God. God made this world for us. Whether we realize it or not, whether we take God for granted or not, God holds the world together. For this we need to give thanks.
Well, we’ve come a long way from these little paper clips. But they have helped us to think about what holds us together. Today, we are celebrating Father’s Day. All the fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and big brothers in our lives also do their best to hold our lives together.
So, I want to give you one of these very special paper clips as a reminder of what we’ve talked about this morning. They are real cool. Clip it on your collar and when you go home today, tell you dad and mom what paper clips mean—like God, they hold things together. And that’s good!
Let’s pray.
Dear God, for paper clips and for so very much more, we are thankful. Amen.