Happy Mother's Day 5-14-06

Happy Mother’s Day

The Story is told by a young minister,

I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, with no family or friends, who had died while traveling through the area. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there. As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost; and being a typical man did not stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew, who was eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them long, but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch! I poured out my heart and soul.

As I preached the workers began to say "Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory," I preached, and I preached, like I'd never preached before: from Genesis all the way to Revelations. I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car. I felt I had done my duty for the homeless man and that the crew would leave with a renewed sense of purpose and dedication, in spite of my tardiness As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like this before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Sometimes preachers miss the mark. I hope of all days on this Mother’s day we don’t miss the mark but speak to the hearts of all the moms and parents here today.

Psa 78:1 A maskil of Asaph. O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old--

Psa 78:3 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.

Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psa 78:5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,

Psa 78:6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Psa 78:7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Psa 78:8 They would not be like their forefathers-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.

1. We must teach our children about God’s Greatness

The Psalmist begins by saying, “Oh my people” - there is a tone of affection there.
It is not you people but “my” there is a personal connection and a personal concern for the well being of those who are listening.
Listen – don’t change the channel – don’t turn me off – what I have to say is important.
There are a lot of distractions today.
I always feel as a church we are not competing against other Bible believing churches
We are competing against – golf, amusement parks, the shore, camping, sports teams, sleep, overtime any number of things.
There are a lot of things to take our minds off of God and His church.
The Psalmist understood distractions and so he calls the people to listen to his words
How important it is for us as parents to get and keep the attention of our children as it relates to the things of God.
The first thing the author says we can teach our children is about the Greatness of God.

Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old--
Psa 78:3 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.

How wonderful it is to celebrate our Anniversary this month
To be able to tell our children about our past
How God has been faithful to us

Some churches are afraid of the past – we are not – while I don’t want to go back we don’t want to forget either

The stories of salvation – Brother Marino – 1st convert – family still in the church
The stories of deliverance
The stories of revival

Sam Ciapanna saved at a revival meeting in 1950

The stories of baptism

Spatafore’s creek – hecklers came to make fun of those being baptized – fell out of a tree

Your own family has stories of God’s power, grace and greatness

Even if you didn’t grow up in church
You are hear now – there is a story somewhere
Somewhere in your family you can look back and see the hand of God

We must teach our children the greatness of God

2. We must teach our children the Word of God

Psa 78:5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,

Psa 78:6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

“In the maze of moral confusion, God’s Word serves to guide us.”
Notice the multi-generational aspect of these verses, forefathers, their children, the children yet to be born and their children
Do you know that in our church we have four generations
Grandparents – your spiritual assignment is not over
Your are to influence your grandchildren and I know many of you are – taking the time and effort to bring them to church
Back to teaching our children the word of God – How do we do it?

Take the time – we have time for what is important
Tell stories of how God has helped you
Read the Word of God together
Let your children see you reading the Bible
Live the Word of God yourself
Bring them to church as a supplement but not a replacement
Talk to them about what they learned in Sunday School, Rangers, Boys Night Out, Missionettes, youth

If you believe the Word of God is important – teach your children

3. We must teach our children to Trust God

Psa 78:7a Then they would put their trust in God

Your single most important job of being a parent is to give your children every opportunity to accept Christ as Savior and Lord
Nice house, nice clothes, well-rounded education, time together, memories – none of these things will last forever.
The only thing that will last forever is the soul.
What are we doing for their souls?
Teach them to trust God

How?
By trusting God ourselves

By simple faith believing that God’s promises are true
He will meet our needs – he will provide

By Being generous

This is only antidote to affluenza

Having so much more than we need and still wanting more

Giving involves trusting God now and for the future

By sacrificing

Some our wants and desires

To accomplish the work of God in this world

This passage talks about how the Israelites forgot about God’s work
How is that possible when God had done so many miracles

Parting of the Red Sea
Water from the Rock
Manna from heaven

Because the children were not taught about what God had done when they trusted in Him.

4. We must teach our children to Obey God

Psa 78:7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Psa 78:8 They would not be like their forefathers-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.

Forgetting what God has done leads to disobedience
Remembering what God has done leads to obedience
We must be obedient to God ourselves

Children know when we lie, cheat or steal
They know when we are living inconsistent lives
They are God’s blessing to us to keep us on track
They have the gift of seeing through baloney

Obedience is mandatory

John 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
Mat 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Our most important disciples are our children

If we gain the whole world and loose our children – what have we gained.

What a powerful passage we have seen today.

What important lessons we have learned.

We must teach our children:

God’s Greatness * God’s Word
To Trust in God
To Obey God

Diana Allen poem “I quit”

There will be days when I’ll still hunt through the yellow pages for the number for the Mother’s Resignation Hotline… or my heart will feel like it has been shattered into a thousand pieces. One thing is sure, however: I have to hang on, to stand firm, to fight the good fight. The souls of my children and the quality of the lives they live here on earth is at stake-and so is their eternity. My children are too precious for me to do anything but persevere.”

I left out the last phrase from the last verse I read until now…

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

This is God’s promise to all moms and dads and grandparents.

He is with you.