Mother's Day

Sunday School

Have sheets of paper for kids to write on.

Write down some memories that you have about your Mom.

Exodus 20:12 NIV

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Play a game with a bean bag or a pair of socks. Play some music and when it stops the person with the sock says the verse.

Younger kids verse:

Proverbs 31:28 NIV

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Scripture Reading and Discussion

Since today is Mother’s Day, we’ll be looking at different moms in the Bible. It’s important for us to honor moms every chance we get. Our government thought it was important enough to give moms their own holiday. Should Mother’s Day the only day that we that we thank moms though? Why or why not? Let’s look at some moms in the Bible and see how they treated their children.

Exodus 1:15–2:10 (NIV)

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman,

and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.

But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.

She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Questions:

Why did Pharaoh order the male babies killed?

Did the Midwives obey him? Why not?

How did Moses mother show her love for him?

What do you think would have happened if she had been caught?

How did God honor Moses mother for loving him so much?

Read:

1 Kings 3:16–28 NIV

Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.” The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’ ” Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.” When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

Questions:

What happened in this story?

Why do you think the other mother took the live baby? Do you think she loved him as much as her own child?

What did King Solomon decide to do?

How did the baby’s mother show her love for him?

Why did the other mother not care if the baby was split in half?

Read:

Luke 1:26–38 NIV

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Questions:

1.What did the angel Gabriel come to tell Mary?

2. How did she feel when he first showed up?

3. How do you think Mary felt about what the angel told her?

4. How did Mary show her love for Jesus even before He was born?

5. How would a woman who became pregnant before she was married have been treated in Mary’s time?

6. What other sacrifices did Mary have to make as Jesus’ mother?

Class Exercise (15 min)

Mother’s Day Flower (craft)

or Word search (10 min)

Application: (2 Min)

Take some time today and think of all the happy times you have had with your mom. Be thankful that she gave you life, a home, encouragement, and love. Today and every day let your mom know that she’s a very special person.

Closing prayer