Example of a good mother

TEXT Exodus 2:1-10

INTRODUCTION: The story of Moses is one of the most beautiful and fascinating in all the world. It takes a hold on us and never for an instant does it loose its interest; for it is so graphically told that once heard, it is never forgotten

A.       Anxiety with which child was born

1.      Death hanging over his head

2.      Pharoah had decreed that the male child should die

3.      The mother defied even the command of the king

B.       The mother

1.      She was a slave (work in the brick yards )

2.      God was on her side

I.           THE PROTECTIVE MOTHER

A.       Protection from danger

1.      Before going to work she had to chose a hiding place

2.      Three months she kept him hidden

3.      The child was growing larger and harder to hide

B.       Plan formulated from heaven

1.      Possibly whispered plan while she was in prayer

2.      Careful selection of material for ark

3.      In the weaving of the ark the mother's heart, soul, prayers, tears were interwoven

4.      God has a plan for your children

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

a)      What you teach your children while they are young

b)      The Example you live will have an impact

C.       Mothers should exercise such care today

1.      Company of children

2.      Books they read

3.      Places they go

4.      Clothes they wear

II.         THE PRAYING MOTHER

A.       Thanksgiving

1.      For son, God had given her

2.      Cargo in ark was more precious than crown jewels of Egypt

B.       Prayer of safety

1.      Spent last night with child while everyone slept

2.      Praying for God's watchful care

3.      Ask God to bless work she had done

4.      At dawn she kissed him and placed him in the ark

5.      With tear dimmed eyes, she turned: back to the fields of labour

C.       She did her prayerful best

1.      When you do what you can bank on God that He will not fail

2.      The unexpected answer God gave to her prayer

a)      Not one hair on that baby's head would be touched

b)      Pharoah's daughter while bathing saw the ark

c)      Requested it brought to her

d)      Curiosity looks in to see that baby kicking its heals and sucking its thumb

e)      The baby looks up and cries and those tears blotted out all that was against it

f)       The tears of that baby were the jewels with which Israel was ransomed

(i)      The Princess had a woman's heart

(ii)    Perhaps she had a baby to die and the sight of Moses tore open the wound and made it afresh

g)       The mother called

(i)      Miriam runs to get her

(ii)    Princess pays her

(iii)  Mother again thankful

D.       We need praying mothers today

1.      Pray for will of God in child's life

2.      Pray for their salvation

3.      Pray for their safety

III.       THE PATIENT MOTHER

A.       She had fortitude

1.      Strength to bear misfortune with calmness and patience

2.      Everything was against her but she would not give up

3.      She made as brave a fight as any man

4.      Mothers are always brave when the safety of their children are concerned

5.      Men give up, go to boozing, but the mother will stand by the home and keep the little band together

B.       She has greatness

1.      The greatest work in the world is in the home

2.      Mother's task in molding hearts and lives and shaping character

C.       She is trusted

1.      When Christ wanted to give His disciples an impressive object lesson, he called a little child and said "Except ye become as one of these, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of Heaven"

2.      The work is so important that He will not trust anyone but a mother with it

3.      The launching of a boy or girl to live for Christ is a greater work than to launch a battleship or spaceship

4.      There wasn't a college professor God would trust with that baby, so he put it back into its' mother's arms

5.      When God sends us great men, he wants them to get the right kind of start, so He sees to it that they have a good mother

IV.     THE PATTERN MOTHER

A.       Example in deed

1.      Praying

2.      Reading

3.      Working

4.      If every by and girl had a good mother, places of sin would close down

5.      Young man saved by example of mother

a)      Preacher asked him, AWhat was it I said that induced you to become a Christian?@ The young man said, ANothing that I have ever heard you say, but it is the way my mother lived.@

6.      Example in teaching

a)      Teaching what is right or wrong

b)      Not teaching popularity

B.       Example in love

1.      God shows His love through mothers

a)      First memory from mother

2.      Mother's love is powerful

a)      Forgive regardless of what children do

b)      Shows God’s love and forgiveness for us

CONCLUSION: "Take this child and nurse it for me" That's all the business you have with it. That is a jewel that belongs to God and He gives it to you to polish for Him, so He can set it in a crown. A responsibility so great that I don't see how any woman can fail to be a Christian and serve God

"I will pay you wages" God pays in joy that is fireproof, famine proof and devil proof. He will pay you don't worry. Get your name on God's payroll.

Story in Cincinnati, about Mother with baby at a zoo. Baby falls into bear pit 1 year 3 months old at Zoological Gardens

Will you promise and covenant with God, and with me and with one another that from now on you will try, with God's help, to do better that you ever have done to raise your children for God?