A Mothers Love

Happy Mother's Day. Citizen are typical Mother's Day celebration and hopefully everyone is doing their part to go the extra mile to celebrate especially if you can't see her mom face-to-face make sure we let the mothers know how much they're appreciated today. Glad to have you back worshiping with us again this week seems like we're going to be doing this for a few more weeks the bishop announced this week and extended cabinet for the United Methodist Church that they would like us to postpone starting or delay starting until June 14th and after our board meeting the other night. We decided to err on the side of caution to go along with that recommendation. So our first Sunday back. Will be June 14th, which is a great day because that is truly a nice wedding anniversary. So June 14th will be our first Sunday back unless something changes in siletz be praying hard that will be able to come back June 14th and be able to celebrate being able to finally gather again together for worship. I'll be sending out a letter this next week that will describe exactly how we're going to come back and some of the stuff that will have in place when we come back. So please be looking for that and I also post some of that information online when it gets closer to that time, but be looking for that information about when we will come back. Until then continue to use the online resources that we have. the Church website The Faith Life Community remember if you want to be a part of that. Make sure we have your email we can send you an invite for that. There's the Faith Life app. And of course on our faith life Instagram, you can find us there too. So be continuing to check those things out. Our Joys and concerns. Once again, just a reminder. If you have things that are going on that you want us to be praying about you want on the Joyce concerns. Please contact us and let us know it's harder for us to know what's going on with everybody during this time and we're apart so please keep communicating that and

Especially be praying today and this week is today is Mother's Day and like I said. Some people won't be able to see their mothers face to face due to what's going on you praying for those people and I've been especially makes me think of those in our care facilities. Pray for them as people are not allowed to go visit them and see them especially on Mother's Day. And that is just tough to be praying for that. I pray for continued healing for Ron sticky as he continues to seek treatment what they're going to do with what's going on with him Jim Schuler as he recovers from his Procedure and I hear he's already back at farming that have got to keep him safe on Meyers is back home. Continue to pray for her and her healing and then others on our list their pray for them Carolyn did say that Vinny is coming home. So that's a great thing. I pray for that and just all brother service members that the Lord will continue to keep them safe. And of course get the family was those who might have coronavirus and just give them peace and care for their loved ones during this time, but also I want to remember our Healthcare workers who are on the front lines in to be lifting them up and praying continually for them during this time.

a mother's love your mother's are teachers mother's artist planarian mothers are cleaning ladies in some mothers are even gardeners and mowers of Lawns and most mothers understand. That baking cookies is far more important than washing windows. mothers are nurses doctors psychologist counselors taxi drivers and coaches mothers are developers of personalities Motors of vocabularies and Shapers of attitudes mothers are soft voices saying, I love you.

And mothers are linked to God a child's first impression of God's love. Mothers are all these things and much much more.

Erma Bombeck that tells of God in the act of creating mothers She says that one day God created mothers. He had already worked a lot of overtime trying to get this model. Perfect. An angel said to Lord You're sure spending a lot of time on this one. The Lord turns the angel and said he read the specs on this model. She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is have a hundred eighty moving Parts all of them replaceable. She has to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is being able to function on black coffee and leftovers alone. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands. 6 pairs of hands that the Angel that's impossible Stop the six pairs of hands. That bothers me. The Lord said it's the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors. So that whenever she says what are you kids doing in there? She already knows what you're doing in there. She's have another pair in the back of her head to see all the things that she's not supposed to see but must see as a good mother and that she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that is just messed up and communicate love and understanding without saying a word. That's simply too much. The angel said you can't put that much into one model. Why don't you rest for a while and resume your creating tomorrow? No, I can't the Lord said I'm close to creating someone very much like myself. I've already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick who can feed a family of 6 with one pound of hamburger and who can persuade a nine-year-old to take a shower.

Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and said she's too soft. Oh, but she is tough. The Lord said you'd be surprised but this mother can do.

Can she think I see Angel early? Can she thinks or the Lord but she can reason and compromise and persuade like no other. Then the angel reached over and touched her cheek. This one has a leaky said I told you that you couldn't put that much into one model. That's not a leak. The Lord said that's a tear. What's a tier 4 ask the angel? Let's for Joy. It's for sadness for sorrow for disappointment and for pride.

This funny little Story by Erma Bombeck reminds us of all the things that mothers are all the things that mother should strive to be. As we look at our passage of scripture for today. I think that maybe with all this in mind we can better understand mrs. Zebedee the mother of James and John. as we linking our passage in Matthew chapter 20 verses 22 23

in the mother of zebedee's sons came to Jesus with their sons and kneeling down asked a favor of him.

What is it you want he asked she said grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.

You don't know what you're asking. Jesus said to them. Can you drink the cup that I'm going to drink we can dancer? Jesus said to them you will indeed drink from my cup but to sit at my right or left is not for me to Grant these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my father.

Alyssa Zebedee was aware of the teachings of Jesus about his kingdom. She was also very aware of the fact that her sons James and John were close to him. They were two thirds of the Inner Circle that was made up of Peter James and John. So she was certain that when the large forms his kingdom that they would have positions of responsibility and Authority. For the first part of this same chapter. Jesus tells a story that might have Disturbed for a little bit and that might have been what prompted her question here. Is found in Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16.

It's a story about a landowner who went out to find laborers early in the morning. They agreed upon a fair day's wage and started working then at noon. He went out and found some more and they started working then towards the evening. He went out and found some more and they started working yet when he paid them at the end of the day, they all receive the same wage.

This Parable must have caused mrs. Ebony to wonder. Will my son's really have positions of authority in the Lord's New Kingdom. So when the opportunity presented itself, she came to the Lord. Matthew says that she bow before him and made this request. When you establish your kingdom. I would request seats on your right and left hand for my two sons.

Are we might very well criticize mrs. Zebedee for making such a request. But since the day is Mother's Day. Maybe we ought to think for a few moments concerning some positive things. I'm out about mrs. Ebony and I think if we look at some of it with a mother's heart we might see what motivated her to make this request.

Now what are some good things about mrs. Ebony? Well, first of all, she came to the Lord praying that her son's might be a part of his kingdom.

I can think of no more important task of motherhood than that. To seek to ensure that your children are a part of the kingdom of God. I know that many Mother Pray mother's pray. Sometimes they pray out of necessity they pray because motherhood is not easy, but extremely difficult. James Dobson tells about a time. He came home. When his son. Ryan was a small, baby. It been a terrible day for his wife Ryan had been sick and have been crying all day long. Then once when she was changing his diapers to telephone ring that she reached over to answer the phone before fasting up his dire diaper. Well, just then Ryan had an attack of diarrhea. She passed her phone call then cleaned up the mess and put him and clean sweet smelling clothes. Then she took him into the living room and fed him when she was breaking burping him. He threw up all over himself and her and the couch too. Dobson writes that when I came home I could smell the aroma of motherhood everywhere. It's life surely cried out to him was all of this in my contract.

We all know the truth is that sometimes mothers pray just out of the frustration of it all. And sometimes in the frustration of trying to teach our children, we realize the difficulties of communication.

Yeah, I once heard the story of a father who gave his two-year-old son Steve his very first responsibility. He told Steve to watch Susan his baby sister while he's stepped out of the room. He's only been gone a few moments when he heard a thump and then Susan started crying he rushed back in the room to find Susan and falling from the couch in the stretched out on the floor mean while Steve just sat there looking so innocent. Father said to Steve I told you to watch her Steve answered I did. He watched her fall and he washed your cry. He did exactly what he was told to do. I can laugh at stories like this because those of us who are parents know that being a parent is not easy. Sometime is it filled with joy and sometimes it is filled with sadness. Sometimes your shoulder make you so proud that you are just bursting with joy and at other times. You can't find enough Kleenex to dry your tears.

What good is it if our children are successful and making money and having a good job and driving a nice car, but they don't know God. What does it matter if they gain the whole world but lose their souls?

We know what scripture has to say about that. We know that being a parent is not easy. It is difficult. But misses Zebedee gives us a Bible example for she prayed earnestly that her sons would be apart of God's Kingdom. We need to have that same concern for our children. I hope that in the heart of every mother and father listening this morning, there is a burden to pray for your children. Pray that they will be saved saved for eternal life and save from the values of this world. That's always a good place to begin. Not only did mrs. Ebony pray that her children will be a part of this Kingdom, but she prayed that they would be actively involved in the work of his kingdom.

Maybe it's not enough just to be saved. Churches are full of people content to just fill up you on Sunday mornings. There are plenty of people willing to sit back and receive the blessings but seldom do they get involved in doing any of the real work of the church?

Ask your mothers and fathers. Where does the spirit of service begin? Now to the service begins with what they see at home, it begins with moms and dads setting the example. It begins with moms and dads praying that their sons and daughters might be involved in the work of the Kingdom. Mrs. Ebony pray that her children would be actively involved in the work of his kingdom. This is good advice that we as parents and a church need to be sure to follow. You know mrs. Zebedee had some big expectations. I have to admit I like that. You know, I have no problem setting high expectations for kids in sports or academics. What about what they will accomplish for the kingdom of God? Then just pray that her children would be doorkeepers. She wanted them to have positions of Honor.

know when you're working in a kingdom there no higher positions than those on the right and the left of the king himself and that's what she wanted for her son's

you know, we may consider mrs. Ebony foolish for having such big dreams, but I admire her boldness. I admire her desire to see her son's do great things for the kingdom of God. too often we have settled for mediocrity and The church for too long. We have been content with just barely making it through the door for too long. We have been content to sit back and just let things happen as they happen.

It's time for us to start living Our Lives to the Salt and Light that Christ has called us to molding and fashioning the Outreach of the church mobilizing to make sure that the message of Christ goes into all the world. It's time for us to strive for excellence to reach for the very best that there is Lord calls us to be his disciples and to be effective laborers in his kingdom.

Do you remember that story that I opened up with? Erma Bombeck had God saying as he created a mother. I'm close to creating something very much, like myself.

I suppose that is why today is very special because we recognize that. A Mother's Love is probably the closest is damper. We have to God's love. It is love that goes through the valley of the shadow of death to bring life into being it is a love that sacrifices itself over and over again and would even dare to lay down its life to protect its children.

That is motherhood. A mother's this is your day and may God bless you in it. And I pray that as we celebrate Mother's today that we will all be thankful for the mother that God blessed us with. And that we will all be challenge to live up to the example that they have said and to push towards greatness. Maybe ask for some of the things in prayer like mrs. Ebony did. It's not just be content with the fact of our children MIT. Just making it through the door of the church.

But to strive to see them do great things for the kingdom of God.

I pray that God will spur us on all on towards that and guide us as we seek that let's pray.

Heavenly father as we come to you today Lord. We thank you so much for the mothers that you have blessed us with

Lord I pray that as mothers listen to this today Lord that you will fill each of them with an extra measure of your grace. Gourd that they will know that they are truly appreciated. Birds that we will help them to know that they are truly a blessing to us. and Lord, I pray that you will just

Be with them and guide them today. and Lord help us all as parents to have that same desire to crush our children's towards excellence in their service to your kingdom.

The Lord maybe start that by setting the example ourselves.

But I thank you for the many blessings. You've given us and I pray that you will just continue to be with the same guy. That's always in your name. We pray. Amen.

Are benediction 1st Peter 5:7? In fitting throughout this whole time as a pandemic, but I think it's even fitting as we think about mothers today as sometime in being a parent it can cause a bit of anxiety.

Process of 1st Peter 5:7 cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Don't forget that as you face trials as a parent this next week, as you face trials related to just the whole current situation in our world. know that any anxiety you feel you can put that on God and trust him to carry you through it. And we can do that with boldness because as it separates and Hebrews 10:39, but we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed but to those who have faith in her saved. It is our faith in Jesus Christ that can bring us comfort and that can push us forward and help us know that we can face any situation. And be victorious over.

They get into that more next week as we get into looking at some of the different qualities of Jesus said bring us comfort and I pray that he will comfort you all this next week. Have a blessed week. Amen.