Mother's Day Sermon 5.8.22

Intro/Welcome

Happy Mother’s Day

Started new series last week: This I Believe

Today, felt LED to do a sermon on Motherhood

In a culture that is honoring mother’s less and less

important that we honor the God given calling of Motherhood

in particular 2 Tim 1:5

2 Timothy 1:5

5 I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

Paul writing to his protege Timothy

Such was the influence of both Timothy’s Mother and grandmother that Paul deliberately mentions them.

isn’t that amazing!

He doesn’t mention Timothy’s father here, but his mother.

Mother’s can have such an impact on their kids.

The Reason

the Bible tells us to

the Bible honors moms

Exodus 20:12 (CSB)

12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Yet with so much confusion in our day, it’s hard to remember what motherhood actually means,

that is what is the essence of motherhood

or the calling of motherhood.

The Plan

So today,

see what the Bible says about motherhood

look at some mothers in the Bible and make a few comments

I want to invite up a few of the One Hope Mothers in various stages

and rather than hear from me on motherhood

I want to hear from them.

My Hope / Aim

My hope is to honor motherhood

and motherhood even for those who may never have children of their own

2. To honor our mothers

3. call them today and remind them of how special they are.

let me pray

Pray

Isaiah 61:1–3 (NLT)

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

The Calling of Motherhood

Let’s begin our journey looking at the mother of all.

Genesis 3:20 (CSB)

20 The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

Eve’s name means: “Life giver”

And here is the very essence of motherhood

She is a life giver, a giver of life.

She is the mother of us all.

1. The first thing that defines motherhood is the ability to give life.

This is true physically, but also emotionally, mentally

The power of a mother’s words have the power to shape her children all through their life

I still call my mother at times of need and encouragment

she can speak life into me in a way that only a mother can.

Designed with Purpose

When we look at the way God created mothers I think we learn a couple things.

Not only is a woman’s body designed to literally give life

There are two characteristics I want to look at in regards to how she gives life:

Nourishment & Nurture

This may not be all that defines motherhood, but I think we get near the essence of mother hood here.

Nourishment

Not only is a woman’s body designed to create, sustain and give life

but it is designed to nourish.

We see this in the womb through the umbilical cord

and as a newborn baby

the mother literally feeds her baby from her own body.

Here is a spiritual reality:

Mothers not only physically feed their children from their own body

they emotionally, psychologically and spiritually feed their children.

Mother’s nourish their children.

with physical Nutrition

My wife and nutrition

with emotional nutrition and support

kind, loving, caring

with relational nutrition

bringing into existence relationships

inviting others to connect with her

with spiritual nutrition

from the Word of God and her own life.

So the essence of motherhood is to give life

and she does that through nourishment and secondly nurture.

Nurture

by Nurture i mean: to care for, comfort, and encourage.

Mothers nurture their babies in their womb

they nurture them through contact and loving in the first few years

but continue throughout their lives.

There is something more invitational about mothers

there is a kindness, a warmness, a gentleness

Women’s bodies tend have a smaller frame = less intimidating

tend to be more graceful

have softer faces

a more gentle embrace.

My kids go to mommy for comfort and care.

when they get hurt, the don’t first come to me

It was the same for me growing up.

There is something about the very nature of motherhood that is invitational to nurture.

The Image of God

Isaiah 66:13 (CSB)

13 As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

Matthew 23:37 (CSB)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

1 Thessalonians 2:7 (CSB)

7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children.

Spiritual Motherhood

But what if I never have children?

Some may never marry

others may struggle with infertility

Here’s the truth:

whether or not you ever have physical children of your own, the essence of motherhood is part of who you are

To be a life-giver

To nourish and nurture those around you.

Some Historical Examples:

Amy Carmichael, Florence Nightingale, Hannah Moore, Susan B. Anthony, Corrie Ten Boom, Mother Teresa to a name just a couple

Amy Carmichael - became the mother to hundreds if not thousands in her ministry in India.

Be encouraged, you can still live out the calling of motherhood even if you never have children of your own.

Let’s take a brief survey of some of the mother’s mentioned in scripture and make a few comments.

Mother’s hard to Honor

secondly maybe you have a strained relationship with your mother

how do I honor my parents when there is hurt and brokenness?

honoring is grieving

honoring is forgiving

honoring is not speaking evil of

honoring is praying for

Transition

weve talked about the calling of motherhood

Now let’s look at a few the mothers in the Bible

Mother’s in the Bible:

The Mother(s) of Moses

Exodus 2:1–4 (CSB)

1 Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman.

2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

4 Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

She risked her own life to spare his.

CHOOSING LIFE: She courageously went against the culture and gave birth to Moses

Exodus 2:5–10 (CSB)

5 Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it, 6 opened it, and saw him, the child—and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman who is nursing to nurse the boy for you?” 8 “Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.

10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.

She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

The daughter of pharoah had compassion and took this child into her home to give life to him, to nurture and nourish him into manhood.

ADOPTION: We don’t know if Pharaoh’s daughter had her own children, but here we see her adopting a child

These were women of courage and compassion.

Hannah (1 Sam 1:1-28)

1 Samuel 1:1–18 (CSB)

1 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah.

Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

3 This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests. 4 Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. 5

But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving.

6 Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. 7 Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.

8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

9 On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.

This is exactly what the enemy does.

he accuses and shames and condemns

But the Lord heard

10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

12 While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord. 16 Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

17 Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.” 18 “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.

She cried out to the Lord

1 Samuel 1:19–28 (CSB)

19 The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord.

Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”

21 When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the Lord, 22 Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence and to stay there permanently.”

23 Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your word.”

So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.

25 Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli. 26

“Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for, 28 I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Then he worshiped the Lord there.

A mother gives her child to the Lord and worships Him

Bathsheba (2 Sam 12, 1 Kings 1-2)

2 Samuel 12:15–17 (CSB)

15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

David’s folly results in the death of her firstborn.

She has suffered the loss of a child as some of you have.

2 Samuel 12:24–25 (CSB)

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. The Lord loved him, 25 and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who named him Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

She is the mother of the most prestigious King in Israel’s History

Bathsheba and Solomon

1 Kings 1:11–27 (CSB)

11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it?

12 Now please come and let me advise you. Save your life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go, approach King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your servant: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne? So why has Adonijah become king?’

14 At that moment, while you are still there speaking with the king, I’ll come in after you and confirm your words.”

15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Since the king was very old, Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him.

16 Bathsheba knelt low and paid homage to the king, and he asked, “What do you want?”

17 She replied, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne.’

18 Now look, Adonijah has become king. And, my lord the king, you didn’t know it. 19 He has lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the king’s sons, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army, but he did not invite your servant Solomon.

20 Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be regarded as criminals.”

22 At that moment, while she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan arrived, 23 and it was announced to the king, “The prophet Nathan is here.”

He came into the king’s presence and paid homage to him with his face to the ground. 24 “My lord the king,” Nathan said, “did you say, ‘Adonijah is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne’?

25 For today he went down and lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and the priest Abiathar. And look! They’re eating and drinking in his presence, and they’re saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he did not invite me—me, your servant—or the priest Zadok or Benaiah son of Jehoiada or your servant Solomon.

27 I’m certain my lord the king would not have let this happen without letting your servant know who will sit on my lord the king’s throne after him.”

She risked her life to exalt her son.

Courage

1 Kings 2:18–25 (CSB)

18 “Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king’s mother.

So she sat down at his right hand. 20 Then she said, “I have just one small request of you. Don’t turn me down.” “Go ahead and ask, mother,” the king replied, “for I won’t turn you down.”

21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”

22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

23 Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life.

24 And now, as the Lord lives—the one who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as he promised—I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!”

25 Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

Mary’s the Mother of Jesus

Luke 1:30–38 (CSB)

30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”

35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary is humble, willing to do the will of the Lord.

To endure shame and dishonor of unplanned pregnancy / of pregnancy out of wedlock

Luke 1:46–56 (CSB)

46 And Mary said:

My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy.

50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him.

51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors.

56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

Mary worships the Lord with Praise!

Mary and Jesus

Mary is mentioned repeatedly through the gospel accounts

John 2:1–5 (CSB)

1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well.

3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.” 4 “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants.

She was there for the crucifixion

The Apostle John and Jesus’ Mother

Encouragment

The temptation

may be I’m not living up, i’m not like that, i don’t have what it takes.

maybe you’ve said I’ve made bad choices, I am unforgivable

Don’t you think Mary felt that way at times?

or any of the other mother’s we have looked like.

GOSPEL

First,

Attachment theorist — say you only have to get it right about half the time

Secondly and more importatly.:

The Gospel:

It is finished — your identity is secure

Yet, this is precisely what Jesus came to save us from.

That in our failures he has succeeded

that we are free from the forces of condemnation

Jesus took all of our sins, shortcomings and failures on the cross

He makes up for where we fail and fall short

he is greater than our sins.

even if you have made bad choices

And it is he who died for you, rose and is living inside of you today.

He is with you — even to the end of the age.

That you are exactly the mother your children need

that the greatest attribute of all these women is

they knew and called upon the Lord.

And the Lord is with you, every moment

for he has promised to always be with us.

You can call upon the Lord in your times of need just as they did.

Transition

Now, I wanted to give you all an opportunity to hear from some One Hope Mom’s who are in different stages of life.

rather than just hearing from me, I want them to share with you about motherhood, the ups, the downs and everything in between.

Names:

Cece Wong, Lauren Marksbury, Maria Hagen, Heidi Onken

Questions:

Introduce yourself — what stage of life in motherhood

1. When you think of the calling of Motherhood what does that mean to you?

2. What would you say to those who are struggling Mothers?

(struggling as mothers, or struggling to become a mother, i.e. had miscarriages, or still single, etc.)

3. What would you say to those who struggle with Infertility?

(and or had a miscarriage)

4. What have been some of the blessings of motherhood? / Where has God grown you?

Closing Prayer