Mother’s Day

Did you hear about the new TV Reality show coming this Fall? Here is the plot.

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 4 kids each for 6 weeks. Each kid plays 2 sports and either takes music or dance lessons. There is no access to fast food. Each man must take care of his four kids. He has to do that before during and after working either a full time of a part time job. He also mus keep his assigned house clean. He has to correct homework, complete science projects, cook do laundry and much more.

These men have access to 1 TV and they can only watch that after the kids are asleep. There is no remote, so he has to get up to change anything. The men must shave their legs. They must put on make up either while eating breakfast or driving the kids to school. They have to make lunches for the kids and exercise to keep their spouse pleased. The kids will vote them off the island but the winner gets to play the game over and over for the next 18-25 years until they earn the right to be called MOTHER.

Mom’s certainly deserve a day… actually, Moms deserve a month.

When you think about it, pretty much everything we have learned in life we learned from our moms.

It was from our mothers that we learned about anticipation when she would say to us, “You just wait until your father gets home.”

It was from our mothers that we learned about logic when she would say to us, “Because I said so, that’s why.”

Our mothers also taught us about foresight when they would tell us, “Make sure you wear clean underwear today in case you are in an accident.”

Our mothers taught us how to become adults when they said, “If you don’t eat your vegetables you will never grow up.”

They taught us about genetics. “You are just like your father.”

They taught us about irony. “Keep laughing and I will give you something to cry about.”

They taught us about stamina when they said, “You will sit there until all of that spinach is finished.”

They taught us about weather. “It looks like a tornado swept through your room.”

They taught us about the circle of life. “I brought into this world and I can take you out.”

It was our mothers who first taught us about prayer. “You had better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

Of course it was our mothers who taught us about justice when they said, “One day you will have kids and I hope they turn out just like you. Then you will see what it is like.

Mother’s are important. It was Theodore Roosevelt who said this about moms.

“When all is said, it is the mother and the mother only who is a better citizen than even the soldier who fights for his country.

The successful mother, the mother who does her part in rearing and training the boys and girls who are to be the men and women of the next generation is of greater use to the community and occupies if she would realize it a more honorable as well as important position than any man in it.

The mother is the one supreme asset of the national life. She is more important by far than the successful statesman, businessman, artist or scientist.”

It’s mothers who form the spiritual foundation in their children.

Now, we live in a time when a lot of mother’s are abandoning their duties as a mom. They are neglecting and even abandoning their kids. In our culture today, some just want someone to love them while they do their own thing and try to find themselves. So some are not fulfilling the very special role God has for them.

I don’t think that we have any mother’s here like that nor did most of us have a mom like that. When you have a woman who will use the awesome influence she has to lay a godly foundation, you have a special combination. That’s why Pro 31:28 says

Proverbs 31:28 NLT

28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:

Proverbs 31:29 “29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”” Proverbs 31:30 “30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”

That’s why Paul wrote to Timothy about the impact that his grandmother and mother had on his life. Paul says in 2 Tim 1:5-7

2 Timothy 1:5–7 NLT

5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

It’s interesting if you think about it. Timothy apparently came to faith… not because of Paul, or Peter or any of the disciples. Timothy came to faith because of the influence of his grandmother and mother. His grandmother passed it on to his mother who then passed it on to Timothy.

Mother’s even when you children may have wandered off for a while. It does not mean that they will stay away forever. Prov 22:6

Proverbs 22:6 LBP

6 Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.

You mothers who have made the sacrifices to impact your children and grand children… don’t quit. Keep going!

Today, we see Franklin Graham preaching like Billy Graham used to preach the Gospel. If you hear him preach, you will think that he sounds and looks like Billy. And although Billy Graham influenced him, Franklin would tell you that the most significant influence on him spiritually was his mother Ruth.

While Billy was preaching all over the world, Ruth Graham was at home nurturing and loving him and his siblings. As she was taught, she taught her kids. Franklin and his siblings have passed it down to their kids.

That’s the same situation Timothy was in. And we have the same situation today. Moms, you are impacting your kids whether you mean to or not… you are.

Let’s instill a love for Jesus and a desire to follow Him in them.

Moms, grand mothers, spiritual moms, Aunts… keep doing what you are doing.

One way you know Mother’s day is close is all the advertising, and of course we do our Mother’s Day Picnic. But we all need reminders from time to time because it seems we forget a lot of stuff. Our minds are actually better than any computer. No one has come close to maxing out their memory space.

You may have forgotten something, but things like a smell or a sight or sound will take you back to a memory. We accumulate a lot of memories and as we get older, you spend more time reminiscing. You make statements like, Do you remember… and your kids go… here we go again.

Sometimes we remember things a little differently that they really happened. I heard about a sure fire way to improve your memory. Loan someone some money… you will always remember who they are.

So there are things we have learned, but are lying dormant in our minds somewhere and we often need something to job our memory. Often these are spiritual lessons we have learned. That’s why Peter said in 2 Pet 1:12

2 Peter 1:12 NLT

12 Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.

Peter is saying that there are lessons that we have learned that we need to relearn or to be reminded of. God talks about these as well.

Jeremiah 13:25 NLT

25 This is your allotment, the portion I have assigned to you,” says the Lord, “for you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods.

Ezekiel 22:12 NIV84

12 In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Forgetting about God is a BIG mistake.

Sometimes we forget him because we get busy or are preoccupied. We should never forget about God or about how He is working in our lives. Why? Because there is never a moment when God forgets us.

Psalm 139:17–18 NLT

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Remember when you were a little kid. You would say, Mommy watch… Mommy look at me.” We loved it when our parents would watch us do certain things. We would ride our bikes… or play ball… or perform a concert… We found joy in the fact that our parents would watch us.

Our Heavenly Father is always watching us

We need to be reminded of the fact that our Heavenly Father is always watching us. Charles Surgeon once said,

“It will become a cause of great joy to reflect that our best friend is never away from us. Our protector’s hand is never removed. And the great observant eye of divine love is never closed.”

Knowing god is always watching, listening and thinking about us shows us where we are in our relationship with God. How does the fact that God is always watching you grab you? How does it make you think, fell and act to know that God is watching you 24/7? Does it cause fear and dread to rise up in you?

I think that if you are a real believer, following God the best you can, that when you hear that God is watching, listening and thinking about you it will bring great comfort and joy to you. On the other hand, if you are a person who is not following God as you ought to be when you hear that God is watching, listening and thinking about you 24/7, it’s probably a source of fear and dread.

The Bible clearly teaches that God always is thinking about you.

Isaiah 49:16 NLT

16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

Psalm 40:17 GNB

17 I am weak and poor, O Lord, but you have not forgotten me. You are my saviour and my God— hurry to my aid!

Jesus later reminded us that the Father knows what we need before we even ask Him.

I think this is important for us to remember. People will sometimes forget about us. Moms know something about this. You love your children. You nurture them. You raise them. They get older and they move out of the house and maybe have families of their own. Then you don’t hear from them very often. You wish they would call more. You feel neglected.

Listen to me. Even if your children have disappointed you at times, even if your husband has not met all of your expectations, even if others don’t affirm you as often as you like, know that …

God is always thinking about you.

He is always concerned with your welfare. There is never a moment where God forgets about you.

Now here is something to think about… something wonderful to think about.

Although God remembers you, He has forgotten your sins.

Hebrews 8:12 NLT

12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

This doesn’t mean that God is losing his memory like we do. Rather it is saying that God chooses to forget certain things. And one of the things He chooses to forget is yours and my sin when you confessed it to Him.

Here is the problem.

We often remember our sins and forget about God when we ought to be forgetting our sins and remembering God.

That’s the reason we partake of communion every month. Look at what Paul says in 1 CO 11:23-25

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 NLT

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”

Do this in remembrance of me… This is a command from Jesus himself that we come to the communion table so that we can reflect and remember the sacrifice that He made for us. He has provided the communion table as a reminder … to jog our memories.

We wear wedding rings. It’s a reminder to everyone that we are married. It reminds me and let’s others know I am married.

How many of you have seen the movie, Passion of the Christ? After you see that, you will never read the Gospels the same. When you see that movie, you see in a visual way what Jesus did for us… what it looked like. We get a small picture of what it must have been like for Jesus. The movie was graphic, brutal and violent. It was hard to watch as it reminded us of what it took to forgive our sins.

We can’t talk about what Jesus did often enough. Jesus wants to remind us of what He did on the cross for you and for me. He wants you to know that he went through all that torture and pain because He loves you.

When He said do this in remembrance of me. It actually means to recapture the reality and significance of the event. To reflect on what He did for you and me. We were not there when Jesus was on the cross, but we can read the Gospels and get a sense of it and if you saw the Passion movie, you can visualize it.

This word also has a sense of affection with it in the original language. So he is saying that when we think about what he did, we should have an affectionate remembrance of him. We need to affectionately remember what Jesus did for us. But there is a joy in it as well. Remember what Heb 12:2

Hebrews 12:2 NLT

2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Now there is another part of what Paul said in 1 Co 11:27

1 Corinthians 11:27 NLT

27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

What does he mean when he says unworthily? He is not talking about your personal worthiness. He is not talking about what you did or didn’t do yesterday, today or tomorrow. If you think you have to be perfect to take communion or come this Christ, you need to rethink it.

To come in an unworthy manner means that you do not know the one communion represents. It would be unworthy if you took communion but did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. You cannot remember someone that you have never known. In the same way we are told to remember him, we are also called to know Him.

Maybe you are here and you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. There has not been a time in your life where you invited Jesus to come into your life. You may feel far away from Him and are uncertain if He lives inside of you.

You need to know that He loves you so much that 2024 years ago, He died on the Cross for your sins so that you would not have to die. Now he is alive and ready to come into your heart… into your life and forgive you of every sin you have ever committed.

Maybe you have come to church carrying around the shame of sins you have committed. Maybe it’s time for you to get right with God. Maybe you have forgotten how important God should be in your life and today your memory has been jogged. You need to make a recommitment… this is the perfect time… today.

If you have never asked Jesus to come into your heart, you can do it right now. pray