Untitled Sermon

The Character of God

Many of you know that I have been working on my ministry credentials for quite some time now and I’m very thankful that Pastor Chad allows me the opportunity to preach. To get better at it I have to do it, and so, if asked, I’m going to do it unless I have a valid reason that I cannot. So, when I was asked to preach today, I gladly said yes. And then, I found myself thinking, “What do preach about on Mother’s Day? I read somewhere that after Christmas and Easter, Mother’s Day is the most attended Sunday. And here’s the thing, sitting here today, we have mothers but we also have women who aren’t mothers, men, and teenagers. I went to the Lord and asked Him to tell me what He wanted us to hear today – mother or not. So, yes, I’m going to reference mothers often, but know that if you are not a mother, the Lord is still speaking to you as well. Let’s pray…

Mother’s Day officially began in the US after a 9 year campaign ran by Anna Jarvis. Anna Jarvis never married or had children of her own but wanted to create a tradition of celebrating how much mothers sacrifice for their children after her mother passed away. Anna Jarvis’ mother was named Ann Reeves Jarvis and she was an activist of sorts. She did things like work to improve infant mortality rates, she coordinated a Mothers’ Friendship Day which brought former enemies of the Civil War together for healing. And died on the 2nd Sunday in May in 1905. Her daughter Anna Jarvis held a small service in honor of her mother on the 2nd Sunday of May in 1907 and it just kind of stuck. West VIrginia made the 2nd Sunday in May an official holiday in 1910. After lots of hard work and letter writing, it became recognized as a public holiday in 1914 whenPresident Woodrow Wilson signed a contract stating that Mothers Day would officially be the second Sunday in May. By 1915, Jarvis began to feel that Mothers’ Day was being exploited with florists, card and candy companies turning big profits. She saw the day as special, reverential and for families and for most of the rest of her life she rallied, fought against those she thought were responsible for the exploitation. By 1940, she was quoted as saying she was sorry she had ever started Mother’s Day. Unfortuneately, by 1944 she was placed in a mental asylum and died 4 years later alone and broke.