Women of Faith - Mothers Day
Frauen des Glaubens
An diesem Tag gedenken wir der Mütter,
die Gott uns geschenkt hat.
Die Kinder haben durch dem Program
Ihre Mütter und Oma’s geehrt
Vielen Dank.
In Sprüche haben wir gerade gelesen,
“Eine Frau, die den Herrn fürchtet,
soll man ehren.”
Die Bibel zeigt uns viele Beispiele von Frauen
nach dem Herzen Gottes;
die eine besondere Rolle gespielt haben
in Gottes Heilsplan.
1. Das Buch Richter erzählt von
der Prophetin Deborah
in der frühen Geschichte Israels.
Gott has sie in mächtiger Weise gebraucht
um sein Volk von den Kanaanitern
zu befreien.
Als eine weise Richterin saß sie
under dem Palmbaum
und hat das Volk gerichtet.
Sie wird oft als “eine Mutter in Israel”
gepriesen.
Deborah richtete den Blick Israels
auf ihre Abhängigkeit von Gott,
und führte das Volk im siegreichen
Kampf gegen die Kanaaniter.
2. Hanna, die Mutter des Propheten Samuel,
war auch eine Gottesfürchtige Frau. Hannas Leben war trostlos und verbittert
weil sie keine Kinder gebären konnte.
Trotzdem sie die meist-geliebte Frau
ihres Mannes Elkanah war,
wurde sie von Penninah,
einer Nebenfrau ihres Mannes
verspottet.
Im Tempel flehte sie zu Gott um einen Sohn,
den sie Gott aus Dankbarkeit weihte.
Gott erhörte das Glaubensgebet Hannas
und sie weihte ihn Gott zum Dienst
als Priester in Israel.
3. Wir denken auch an die Hure Rahab
die im Glauben die hebräischen Spionen
versteckt hatte,
und durch ihren Glauben
nicht nur erlöst wurde
sondern auch ein Teil
des Heilsplannes Gottes wurde.
4. Wir kennen die Geschichte von Ruth,
die zu ihrer Schwiegermutter sagte,
“Wo du hingehst, da will ich auch
hingehen. Dein Volk soll mein Volk sein, und dein Gott soll mein Gott sein.”
Diese Frauen und zahllose andere
zählen zu den Helden unseres Glaubens.
Sie haben uns gezeigt und vorgelebt,
Was Gott mit seinem Volk vorhat.
Sie haben Gehorsam geleistet
Und sind auch uns ein Vorbild
Im Glauben.
Gott segne auch die Galubensfrauen
In unserer Gemeinde.
Let me switch gear for a bit.
There are so many good stories surrounding
Mothers and this special day.
The Children have already given us
a wonderful program.
Story: which reminds me of a story: there was a special program at the church and a little girl was to recite the Scripture which she had memorized for the occasion. When she got in front of the crowd, the sight of hundreds of eyes peering at her, caused her to forget her memory work. Every line that she had so carefully rehearsed faded from her mind and she stood there unable to utter a single word. In the front row, her mother was almost as frantic as the little girl. The mother gestured, moved her lips, trying to form the words for the girl, but it did no good. Finally, the mother whispered the opening phrase of the memorized Scripture: "I am the light of the world." Immediately the child's face lit up and relaxed and a smile appeared on it as she said with supreme confidence: "My mother is the light of the world!" The mother is indeed the light of the child's world.
In the New Testament we have the story
of Lois and Eunice.
These two women of faith
are known for passing on
a Godly Heritage to the next generation.
Their story is a real encouragement to all mothers
who want to raise their children to love God.
Lois and Eunice were a mother/daughter team
and they raised up a man of God,
Timothy, who was the most trusted
companion and disciple of Paul.
In 2 Timothy 1:5 the Apostel Paul writes:
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith,
which first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice and
I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
These women were responsible
for passing their faith on to the next generation
and for raising a great leader
in the early church.
Lois was a devout Jewish woman
who had instructed her daughter and grandson
in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The family lived in Lystra,
among a people who worshipped
the gods of Greece.
Yet she faithfully raised a daughter who loved God
and helped raised a grandson
in the fear of the Lord.
In his letter to Timothy he tells us,
“From a child, you have know the holy Scriptures”.
The story of Timothy tells of the value
of positive Christian training in the home.
Lois and Eunice took the responsibility
to pass on their faith very seriously
and as a result they raised up a young man
to become a servant of Christ.
And then there is Dorcas, who is affectionately called,
The Queen of the Needle.
Acts 9:36f gives us an outline of a story
That was certainly filled with passion
And excitement for Christ’s church.
Listen to her fascinating story…
36 Now in Joppa, there was a disciple
whose name was Tabitha,
which in Greek is Dorcas.
She was devoted to good deeds and charity.
37 At that time she became ill and died.
When they had washed her,
they laid her in a room upstairs.
38Lydda was near Joppa;
so when the disciples heard that Peter
was in Lydda, they sent two men to him
and urged him, "Please come at once!"
39Peter went with them, and when he arrived
he was taken upstairs to the room.
All the widows stood around him,
crying and showing him the robes
and other clothing that Dorcas had made
while she was still with them.
40Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
The name Dorcas to this day represents
the benevolent use of the needle.
Her example has been an inspiration to women
throughout church history.
Her home was in Joppa
Where she was part of a small group of
Christians, most of whom were poor.
Dorcas seems to have been a woman of means,
And she served the church freely
With her riches and her gift of sowing.
Her motivation to do good were the words of Jesus:
“in as much as you have done it
unto the least of these my brothers,
you have done it for me”.
Dorcas was a “doer” of the Word.
She expressed her faith
by making clothes for widows and the needy
in her church and community
with her own loving hands.
Dorcas may well have been the first volunteer
And organizer of an MCC Thrift Store.
Many women throughout history
have been inspired to establish
“Dorcas Societies” that engage in
various relief activities in Christ’s name.
And so, we could go on and on telling the stories
of faithful women who have dedicated
their life to Christ.
Many of them are our mothers and grandmothers
and wives.
Today as we honor them we also want to remember
The mothers who have already
Passed into eternity and are serving
Their God and Savior
At his holy throne.
May we be inspired by these stories of faith
And the countless untold stories in our midst
To live as men and women of faith.
Let us pray
Blessing of Mothers
Father in Heaven, we give you thanks
for the many gifts you have given us;
the gift of life, the gift of those who love us.
We thank you today for the gift of our mothers
and grandmothers.
We give thanks for our Mothers and Grandmothers
who have died
and for the unique way they have revealed
for us your love.
We ask that you Bless them and keep them in your care
until the time comes for us to join them
in your Kingdom.
We ask your Blessing upon
the Mothers and Grandmothers
who are unable to be with us here today.
May they know how much we love and care for them.
We pray for birth mothers
who had to give up their children.
And we pray for adoptive mothers,
Who given them a secure home.
We ask your blessing upon Mothers
who have lost children through stillbirth,
crib death, accident and tragedy,
give them strength and courage.
We ask your blessing upon those who
would very much like to be mothers
but who are having trouble having a child.
We ask your Blessing upon
the Mothers and Grandmothers here today.
And those who are far away.
Give them the strength to live
the faithful and loving lives
you call them to live.
Protect and guide them.
Keep them in your care.
We ask this Blessing in the name of Jesus, our Lord.
Der Herr segne dich und behüte dich,
Der Herr lasse sein Angesicht leuchten
über dir und sei dir gnaedig;
Der Herr hebe sein Angesicht über dich und gebe dir Frieden.
AMEN.