Message
Mothers, A Blessing from God
II Timothy 1:1-8
Good Morning to all of God’s People and a Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers from the Voices Of Hope Evangelistic Team! It’s such a blessing to be able to worship with you today wherever you are! I thank God for the opportunity to serve Him and to share His message with the world through today’s technology!
Our Message today is titled “Mothers, A Blessing from God.” Our scripture comes from the New Testament Book of II Timothy, Chapter 1, verses 1 through 8 and you can be turning there in your Bibles.
Today is the day set aside on our calendars to honor Mothers and their sacrificial nature of love for their families, which reflects the sacrificial love God has for the world.
In my studies, I found some cute answers that were given by second graders to questions about Moms.
Why did God make Moms?
1. She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.
What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.
2. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.
Let’s pray:
Father, Thank You that You fill a mother’s heart with love, that You have instilled in her very being the need to protect her children, if at all possible. Thank You for giving her the gift of nurturing her children, of teaching them, of comforting them, for feeding them and making a safe place for them. Thank You for guiding them to be all that You have created them to be. Fill every mother with love, wisdom and endurance, with strength and patience and joy. Give them the ability to forgive again and again.
Enable them to rely on You and to call upon You, because You will give them all they need.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen
I feel sure you have heard many sermons and tributes to Mothers using today’s scriptures. However, my Message today will be somewhat personalized as I use a portion of this time to honor my awesome Mother, Jeanette Carpenter, who went to be with Jesus two years ago on May 5, 2023. She was one of the team members of Voices of Hope Evangelistic Team and at age 93, actively participated in our ministry. During a 21-day revival in which we led congregational singing, Mom was there every night!
Now reading first from II Timothy, Chapter 1 verses 1 through 8:
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace. 3 Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again. 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. 8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;”
Verse five tells us: OUR MOTHERS GIVE US A LEARNED FAITH.
When I read this verse describing the faith of Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and how she and Lois taught Timothy, I could easily personalize the verse with Jeanette and Ruth (my grandmother).
Timothy acquired this faith because he had seen it modeled during his life. It had dwelt, lived, taken up residence in his mother and grandmother. He saw it every time he saw them. It affected everything they did and was evident in every move they made. That is the kind of faith that is contagious.
I was blessed to grow up with the same example in my Mother. Mom told me that before I could talk, I was humming the tune of “What A Friend We Have in Jesus,” not your typical children’s song! I attribute that as the beginning of my knowledge of God and my love of music! What a blessing to grow up in a household where the love of God and the love of musical talents were encouraged and supported. While our family wasn’t poor, we also weren’t the Rockefellers or Trumps! Yet, money was found to buy a piano and pay for piano lessons for Trish and me as well as purchase an electric guitar and amplifier for Jerry.
As far back as I can remember, Mom read to me. She shared her love of books and when I became old enough to read, there were trips to the public library in addition to the Bible available for us at home. Sunday School, church, revivals and nightly devotions were a part of my life growing up. I didn’t have to wonder what the term “servant’s heart” meant as I saw that daily through Mom’s actions at home, at church, at our schools and in the community. And I believe Mom’s prayers for her three children have been instrumental in seeing our salvation.
As Proverbs 22:6 instructs, Mom did her best to train me up in the way I should go not just spiritually but in practical homemaking skills. Not only did she sew clothes for my dolls, she taught me to do the same thing; then she showed me how those skills could be used to make my own clothes, which I did for many years.
She also gave me many lessons in cooking…alas, although her teaching was excellent, I did not achieve the excellent skills she had in making so many delicious meals!
I never struggled with understanding about God’s unconditional love because Mom demonstrated that every day of her life to Dad and her children. She not only taught us the Golden Rule, she lived it. All who knew Mom will agree with me when I say she always was a true example of a Christian wife, mother, aunt, cousin, neighbor and friend, freely giving of her time, talents and resources. Most of my friends as well as church folks called her Mom…not because she was the oldest lady, but because she shared her motherly traits with all she met.
The fifth Commandment says: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
So today, I honor Mom for the great job she did in raising my brother, sister and me.
Now continuing with verses six and seven:
OUR MOTHERS GIVE US A LIVING, SINCERE FAITH.
“For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
Paul puts some definition to the sincere faith that Timothy and his family exhibited. A sincere faith is an active faith which should be working in the body of Christ the way Paul’s ministry was continuing through Timothy’s.
A sincere faith is a fearless faith; God has not given a spirit of timidity. Fearless means willing to step out in obedience when circumstances might be intimidating. Real Christianity can be quite scary. Ministry can be frightening. Tithing might scare us. Witnessing, standing alone when the world around us is caving in to immorality; the Stephen Kings couldn’t write such a scene of horror.
A sincere faith demonstrates power, love and discipline as life is lived.
Verse 8: OUR MOTHERS GIVE US A LASTING FAITH.
“Therefore, do not be ashamed or the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”
Paul sees in Timothy’s life the requirements to answer the call to follow in the same sacrificial path that he and the Lord have both taken. A person who does not have a lasting faith is not really a candidate to be used very much by God.
Mothers demonstrate more than any other group on earth what it means to give up their own rights for the life of another.
In his book, “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten,” Robert Fulghum shares the following.
"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Take a nap every afternoon. Be aware of wonder.
Think what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap… And it is still true, no matter how old you are -- when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."
This is a touching piece because it is so true. We all know that the early years of a child are so important. Our attitudes, our personalities, our habits – are shaped powerfully by what happens to us in the first years of early childhood.
While Mother’s Day can be a very happy, joyous day, it can also be a very sad day, a day of pain and grief.
• Maybe you, like me, have lost your mother and you are experiencing the pain of your loss.
• Maybe you have lost a child and your heart grieves on Mother’s Day.
• Maybe you are having difficulties with your Mother; maybe your Mother wasn’t the ideal Mother and you have bad memories of your Mother.
• Maybe you have some guilty feelings about your motherhood and you have children problems or marriage problems.
• Maybe you were never able to have children and Mother’s Day isn’t a joyous occasion for you.
• Maybe you never had a real mother and were raised in a foster home, or by relatives.
• Maybe you are a single Mom and are struggling with being a good Mother to your children.
This morning, I pray that we all have people in our lives who exemplify the true character of a mother from whom we can learn, honor, encourage and praise on this Mother’s Day.
Let’s find ways to honor those people as well as mothers, grandmothers and mothers-in-law every day. Let’s recognize their special contributions to our lives every day. Let’s make a commitment to honor them every day of the year because one day is not enough!
And let’s not forget to make our first priority in life to love and reverence God. But maybe you have never had a life changing, life altering relationship with God’s Son, Jesus. You can begin one today.
John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus invites us to fellowship with Him because He's a loving, forgiving Savior, full of grace. We can bring our broken dreams, hurts and failures to Him today. He says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). Will you accept His invitation?
Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection three days later, He makes victory possible for everyone. But some have been unwilling to take the steps that are necessary in order for that victory to be a reality in their life. They have never accepted the gift of salvation that Jesus offers to all. They have never surrendered their will to His so that they can live in constant obedience to Him. Today could be their victory day. Today could be the day of their celebration.
In Romans 10:9, we are told that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, invite Him into your life right now. Accept His free gift of salvation today.
Or maybe you have known God but walked away from His call on your life to do your own thing or have been wounded and are now angry with Him or feel like you can’t come back to Him because of the depth of your sin. When we turn back to Jesus in repentance, when we ask for forgiveness, intending to live a godly life again, God’s mercy reaches out to us with a message of love. God is a God of mercy, of redemption, of restoration and of renewal. Just come by faith to the throne of grace to receive it. He is waiting for you with open arms. Repent all over again and get back to fulfilling God’s plan in and through your life.
As I close this Message, I want to share the lyrics of a song that we learned in grammar school and that we sung to our Mother for many years.
M is for the Many things she gave me.
O means only that she’s growing Old.
T is for the Tears she shed to save me.
H is for her Heart as pure as gold.
E is for her Eyes with lovelight shining.
R means Right and right she’ll always be.
Put them all together they spell MOTHER,
A word that means the world to me.
During the coming week may we all take time to draw closer to Jesus, may we spend time studying God’s Word and may we spend time in prayer with God. May we use the gifts God has given us to serve and honor Him and find ways to share Jesus with our brothers and sisters through our words and deeds.
May God bless you abundantly beyond your expectations. In Jesus’ name, Amen