Honoring Motherhood

Notes
Transcript
As we approach a day like Mother’s Day some question whether the church should recognize secular holidays in their sermons and times of worship as our focus should be upon God and His Word.
I agree with this, however when it comes to a day where we honor the role of mother or father… this is far from a secular idea.
God, when He established His people and established them as a nation… emphasized in His very law the importance of “honoring your father and your mother” even so much as to command it!
A day like Mother’s Day also brings with it a variety of emotions:
Grief… over mothers no longer with us
Pain… over hurts unresolved or memories
Sorrow… from those who longed to be mothers but were not able or those who lost a child
Longing… for mothers far away and distant, or a wayward child
Joy… over becoming a new mom, or thinking about your children
Love… as you cherish raising children, or think of your mother who selflessly loved and cared for you
Today however I will not be addressing those emotions, rather I will be looking at a passage of scripture in Second Timothy...
We will consider biblically our Mandate as a church and as parents
We will look at this man Timothy… who had two letters written to him in the New Testament (next couple weeks)
And along with Paul we will honor two mothers in scripture as we consider honoring the role of mothers this day
Paul begins his second letter to Timothy with some very personal words and he looks back both on his own ancestry or heritage and that also of Timothy’s … 2 Timothy 1:1-7
2 Timothy 1:1–7 NASB95
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

A Godly Mandate

Barna has done numerous surveys on moms and motherhood. A recent statistic revealed that: “only 19% of mothers say they feel they are able to meaningfully contribute to the world on a regular basis. When women in the church were questioned the number was slightly higher at 21%.
When we look at scripture there are many passages speaking to this mandate we have to honor our parents, train our children, and be faithful in teaching them the scriptures, God’s very words… the Bible!
What a contribution!!! How many are here this morning, have a relationship with Christ in great part due to the CONTRIBUTIONS of your mother…
With all the influences we have out there in the world… TV, Social Media, Video Games, News Outlets, Education, Coaches, Friends… THE #1 INFLUENCE in children’s lives is their parents! (Moms, that’s YOU!)
You shape their morals, personalities, beliefs, values
And typically… MOMS SPEND A GREATER PORTION OF TIME… with their children!
Mom’s today I want 100% of you leaving here understanding the very MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION you have IN THIS WORLD!!!

Our first mandate is to HONOR

The mandate to HONOR is vital for us to know and understand… (HONOR: respect, a place of high status in mind and heart)
In Deuteronomy 5:16 was a direct COMMAND
Deuteronomy 5:16 NASB95
‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
To reiterate the importance Paul in Ephesians 6:1-3 states it again!
Ephesians 6:1–3 NASB95
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
We are called to HONOR the role and responsibility of parents…NOW as ones in this role we are to...

TRAIN our children...

There is the mandate to TRAIN… Proverbs 22:6 speaks of this
Proverbs 22:6 NASB95
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 NLT
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
There is a real impact and contribution that we see when invested at a young age…
William Ross Wallace (Son of a Presbyterian Preacher) would praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world. His poem was first published in 1865 under the title "What Rules the World"
Blessings on the hand of women! Angels guard its strength and grace, In the palace, cottage, hovel, Oh, no matter where the place; Would that never storms assailed it, Rainbows ever gently curled; For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world. Woman, how divine your mission Here upon our natal sod! Keep, oh, keep the young heart open Always to the breath of God! All true trophies of the ages Are from mother-love impearled; For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.
As a parent directs the path, “the way they should go” we must always remember to do this according to the Word… or as the poem so eloquently stated towards “the breath of God”. Psalm 119:105
Psalm 119:105 NASB95
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

The mandate to TEACH… Teach our children God’s Words

In Deuteronomy 6:5-9 this mandate is never clearer!!!
Deuteronomy 6:5–9 NASB95
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The man we are briefly looking at today is a product of one who was trained as a child the right path… he was one who was TAUGHT the scriptures… his name is Timothy

A Godly Man

Did you notice Paul’s warm greeting to this young man? … “my beloved son!
TIMOTHY… we learn of him in Acts 16:1-3
Acts 16:1–3 NASB95
Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
From the town of Lystra (modern day Turkey)
A crucial location along the trade routes and part of Galatia province
His father from the accounts of scripture we see is speculated to not be a believer
His mother however is Jewish and a follower of Christ!
Paul’s original trip to Lystra was not a long one. They preached, people believed, Jews stirred crowds against Paul and stoned him leaving him for dead… Paul got up spoke the gospel other places and returned to preach and encourage the disciples there and left.
Under these conditions and circumstances this young man decides to follow Paul in ministry!
It is this man Paul would eventually leave to PASTOR the church in Ephesus! (Crucial church in the outreach to the Gentiles)
Timothy TRAVELED with Paul, he was MENTORED by Paul, and was being prepared to TAKE THE BATON as Paul would be facing execution for his faith
Paul when he left Ephesus to go to Rome he told the Elders they would not see him again. Acts 20 states that the men after Paul gave them a powerful charge as elders that the men wept… these would be the tears Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy.
NOTICE what we see about this man in 2 Timothy …
He is loved dearly by this apostle Paul “beloved son” (Paul has become a father figure to Timothy)
Timothy brings Paul joy, Timothy has remained faithful (strong attribute)
This man Timothy has a strong genuine sincere FAITH (nothing fake about this man’s walk with God)
He has a heart for the Lord, a minister, “gift” as a pastor or the one to follow in Paul’s mission
Timothy has a pastor’s heart, a shepherd, an elder among God’s people
BUT HE IS TIMID… possibly due to not having a strong father in the faith
Even on mother’s day we cannot negate the value of BOTH PARENTS
God designed marriage as man and wife
God designed raising a child as Father and Mother
God is able to fill voids though… God gives us (ADOPTION, HEIRS, PEACE)
Timidity is NOT from the Lord… !!!
Quite contrary… God gives: POWER, LOVE, DISCIPLINE… sound judgement/thinking
Timothy is being both built up and challenged in these opening verses. To help in this challenge he points Timothy back to two amazing women… Lois & Eunice!

Godly Moms!!!

Paul as he challenges this young man to charge forward is asking him to look back… 2 Timothy 1:5
2 Timothy 1:5 NASB95
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
This faith was entrenched in his grandmother… who taught her daughter
His mother, alone often I am sure taught Timothy this same faith, lived it in front of him day in day out
Later in this same letter Paul would commend these women on their teaching of the scriptures to 2 Timothy 3:14-17
2 Timothy 3:14–17 NASB95
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
These moms understood the importance of the scriptures
These moms were faithful even in difficulties
I wonder how many times Eunice would sit there teaching her son Timothy the scriptures, with his father mocking or just aloof to the whole thing, REMEMBERING her mother’s faithfulness as Lois would sit and teach her the scriptures.
With the example of her mother’s faith she continued to teach her young son
I wonder if these two women asked if they were really having an impact on the world…
If what they were doing was of any contribution???
God, in His divine design, had for all eternity, these women mentioned in scripture. These moms were written into the pages of God’s Word for their faithfulness to teach the scriptures to their daughter, to their son… to their children!!!
God says in His word in Isaiah 55:10-11
Isaiah 55:10–11 NASB95
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Moms… as a parent of your child you are their #1 Influence! You want to make a difference, contribute to the world…
Train your child on the path laid out in God’s Word
Teach them the scriptures, the very words of God
These young ones who know Christ are part of our church today… BUT MOMS, you are investing in the church’s leaders of tomorrow!!!
For all of us here today, God instituted the roles of parents, let’s take time and EFFORT today to HONOR this valuable, precious role called motherhood.
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