WEBVTT 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.880 Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 and just a little 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.900 bit of verse 28. Genesis chapter 1. Don't have 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.000 to turn far in your Bible for that. Right there 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.739 at the beginning. Probably on the first page. 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:24.879 Maybe the second. Genesis chapter 1, verse 27 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:33.420 is where we will begin. I'm going to read quite 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:35.829 a few scriptures today. We'll go through them 00:00:35.829 --> 00:00:37.770 pretty quickly, so if you don't have time to 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:40.350 find them or jot them down as we go through them, 00:00:40.409 --> 00:00:43.409 please ask me afterwards. I'll be glad to tell 00:00:43.409 --> 00:00:45.229 you what they were, so you can look them up and 00:00:45.229 --> 00:00:52.469 study them yourself. Genesis chapter 1, verse 00:00:52.469 --> 00:00:57.670 27, and the first little part of verse 28. We'll 00:00:57.670 --> 00:01:04.409 read it, and then we'll pray. So God created 00:01:04.409 --> 00:01:08.469 man in his own image. He created him in the image 00:01:08.469 --> 00:01:13.469 of God. He created them male and female. God 00:01:13.469 --> 00:01:18.230 blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, 00:01:18.790 --> 00:01:25.129 fill the earth, and subdue it. Let's pray. God, 00:01:25.209 --> 00:01:27.109 we come to you today and we thank you that we 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:30.170 have the freedom and the privilege to come and 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.900 to study your word. I thank you for our mothers 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:36.159 today, dear Lord, and the blessing that it is 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.640 to have mothers in our life, the blessing that 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.219 it is for a mother to give birth to a child, 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:46.120 dear Lord, and to raise that child. We just thank 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:48.060 you that we can come together and worship you. 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:50.439 I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.079 today. I pray that you would help me to preach 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.560 and teach in a way that brings glory and honor 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.980 to you, that you take away any pride or any fear 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:01.200 that's within me, dear Lord, that you just would... 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:03.980 Grab ahold of us right now that you'd help us 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:07.120 to be free of our worries and distractions and 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:11.000 sorrows and pains that may be with us today, 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:15.419 dear Lord. We know that it's a special day, but 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:17.659 dear Lord, I also know that for some it's a tough 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:21.000 day, that Mother's Day is not always easy, dear 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.259 Lord. And so I pray, God, that you would just 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:28.979 help us to just find peace in you. God, whatever's 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:31.520 on our heart today, I pray that you just would 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.740 bring joy to our heart before we leave. And I 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:41.319 ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We don't 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.699 have to turn very far when we open our Bible 00:02:44.699 --> 00:02:49.680 to see this beautiful command that God gave to 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.620 men and women. That he gave first to Adam and 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:55.800 Eve, but I believe also to you and I. After God 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.740 had created the world, He told man and woman 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:03.620 to be fruitful and multiply. That is, have kids 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:07.840 and have a lot of kids. And there were a couple 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.560 reasons for that, I think. One is, I think, that 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.419 there needed to be humanity. God wanted to fill 00:03:13.419 --> 00:03:15.620 the earth. He created this beautiful earth. He 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:18.759 is a God of love. What good is love if you can't 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:21.000 share it with somebody? He creates humanity. 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:24.439 He shares his love with them. He provides for 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:27.080 them. He takes care of them. And he wants that 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:30.080 cycle of love to continue, I believe. Just as 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.139 God had created us, God wanted us to bring life 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:36.219 into the world through one man and one woman, 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:38.960 through marriage, through building a family. 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:42.180 That is so important, I believe, in the Word 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:45.900 of God, and I'm sad to say that it's not so important 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.259 in our world today. But God said, be fruitful 00:03:49.259 --> 00:03:52.360 and multiply. And I don't think that that was 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.379 just an old commandment for back then. I don't 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:57.740 think God had in mind that I want people to have 00:03:57.740 --> 00:03:59.680 children until there's enough people in the world, 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:01.379 and then y 'all can kind of slack up and do your 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:04.379 own thing. I don't know that that's what God 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.020 intended. I think that God probably intended 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:13.199 for us to continue to build families with one 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:16.279 man and one woman coming together freely and 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:18.500 totally committed to one another as companions 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:25.019 for life and joining and starting a new family 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:30.240 and being fruitful and multiplying and bringing 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.560 children into the world. And not just bringing 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:36.670 children into the world, but... but raising those 00:04:36.670 --> 00:04:40.509 children and teaching those children, helping 00:04:40.509 --> 00:04:42.529 them to get ready for the world that is before 00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:47.089 them. And this is such a beautiful, beautiful 00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:50.389 structure that God has created from the get -go. 00:04:50.430 --> 00:04:55.310 He created families. And it's so sad that we 00:04:55.310 --> 00:04:59.370 look around today and we see that what God started 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:04.720 at the beginning is under attack. And we need 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:06.339 to look at this scripture and we need to take 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:11.720 it to heart. Because I believe that when fathers 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.300 and mothers stay together and are fruitful and 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:17.560 multiply and bring children into the world and 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:19.500 raise those children and love those children, 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:23.220 I believe that that is one of the greatest gifts 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:28.980 that we possibly could have in this world. And 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:33.240 I think having children, being a mother, I think 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.259 sometimes gets pushed to the back burner a little 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:40.420 bit in our society. Our world changes, our culture 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:44.300 changes, our culture values certain things, puts 00:05:44.300 --> 00:05:48.839 high value on certain things. And I'm not implying 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:50.779 that some of the things that our culture values 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:56.019 are necessarily bad. But sometimes the things 00:05:56.019 --> 00:06:00.449 that our culture values keep us from... from 00:06:00.449 --> 00:06:03.689 doing what God calls us to do and finding a joy 00:06:03.689 --> 00:06:08.629 that's only established by living according to 00:06:08.629 --> 00:06:12.850 what God's commands are. Now, we'll tell our 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.870 young women today, here's what you need to do. 00:06:15.949 --> 00:06:18.310 You need to get established and you need to go 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:20.490 to college and you need to get a career and you 00:06:20.490 --> 00:06:24.310 need to be successful before you start thinking 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:26.329 about having a family. And some of you parents 00:06:26.329 --> 00:06:28.750 are saying, uh -oh, I don't like what you're 00:06:28.750 --> 00:06:31.509 saying. Well, I'm not saying that going to college 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:36.089 and getting a career are a bad thing. What I 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.250 am saying is that starting a family and raising 00:06:39.250 --> 00:06:43.189 kids is also not a bad thing. And I know that 00:06:43.189 --> 00:06:45.269 that's probably not at the forefront of many 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:47.329 of you parents who have kids, and you say, well, 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:48.750 that's easy for you to say what you're saying. 00:06:48.790 --> 00:06:52.149 You don't have kids. But all I'm saying is that 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:54.990 there's something beautiful about bringing a 00:06:54.990 --> 00:06:59.509 child into the world. There's a joy. I believe 00:06:59.509 --> 00:07:01.670 that comes from that. And you ladies, you can 00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:03.470 come up to me and you can correct me afterwards 00:07:03.470 --> 00:07:05.410 and you can say, brother, you got it all wrong. 00:07:05.750 --> 00:07:09.269 So I'll not say these things again. But I believe 00:07:09.269 --> 00:07:12.750 that there is a joy that probably comes from 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:16.649 being a mother. And I'm going to guess that it's 00:07:16.649 --> 00:07:19.689 probably the greatest joy that there ever has 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:24.269 been in this world. I can't imagine that any 00:07:24.269 --> 00:07:26.550 of you ladies would come to me after church. 00:07:27.129 --> 00:07:29.970 golly, I hope I'm wrong, and say to me, yeah, 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:32.329 I love my kids, but my career, do you know how 00:07:32.329 --> 00:07:34.970 successful I was? I just hope and pray that none 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:37.870 of you will do that after church, and I don't 00:07:37.870 --> 00:07:40.990 think that you will. There are so many women 00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:43.910 in this world that went the way of the world 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:45.569 and said, I want to go to school, and I want 00:07:45.569 --> 00:07:47.410 to get an education, and I want to get a career, 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:50.370 and I'm not saying that's bad, and I'm not trying 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:52.829 to talk any ladies out of that, but there's a 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:55.050 lot of ladies that followed that worldly path. 00:07:55.709 --> 00:07:57.569 And then one day they had a child and they said, 00:07:57.610 --> 00:07:59.550 holy smokes, I don't want a career. I want to 00:07:59.550 --> 00:08:03.050 have kids. And I think that that's the way that 00:08:03.050 --> 00:08:06.470 God intended it to be. I think that's where a 00:08:06.470 --> 00:08:09.389 real joy comes from. I think it's in a mother. 00:08:09.649 --> 00:08:12.829 I think it's in a woman. I think being a mother 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:15.509 is in us. I think that there's some desire in 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:17.910 women to be mothers. And I think there's that 00:08:17.910 --> 00:08:20.689 same desire to be fathers. I think that God has 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:24.329 created us that way. I think it's clear from 00:08:24.329 --> 00:08:28.470 the beginning that God created us that way. And 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:30.709 we get caught up in the ways of the world and 00:08:30.709 --> 00:08:34.389 we kind of forget the real joy and the real blessing 00:08:34.389 --> 00:08:38.029 that God established from the get -go. Hey, have 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:41.889 a family. Raise up those kids. Teach those kids. 00:08:43.990 --> 00:08:46.649 Maybe a better career than going to the office 00:08:46.649 --> 00:08:50.190 every day is teaching your kids every day instead 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:52.899 of sending them off to daycare. Now, who in the 00:08:52.899 --> 00:08:55.659 world is going to teach your kids and take care 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.740 of them better than you are, mothers? I don't 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:02.480 suspect anybody is. Because you care about them 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.360 more than you care about anyone else in the world. 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:10.000 And so you love them and you pour into them everything. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:13.200 And I believe that that's the way that God has 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.899 intended it to be for us as human beings, for 00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:22.509 men, and for women. I think a lot of the problems 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:26.830 in our world would change in just a short time 00:09:26.830 --> 00:09:30.149 if mothers would be mothers and fathers would 00:09:30.149 --> 00:09:34.570 be fathers and families would be families. I 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:37.690 think it would solve a lot of our problems because 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:41.529 this is the way that God intended for it to be. 00:09:43.490 --> 00:09:46.570 Being a mother, I believe, occurs instantly. 00:09:47.210 --> 00:09:51.600 As soon as that husband and wife, come together 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:55.360 in that moment through that miracle that God 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.259 performs. Ever how that works in our bodies? 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:00.340 I don't know how it all works out, but in that 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:03.600 moment, God begins to form a child in the womb 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.659 of that mother. We see that in Psalm 139, verse 00:10:07.659 --> 00:10:11.940 13 and 14. For it was you who created my inward 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:16.059 parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb. 00:10:17.389 --> 00:10:20.070 What a beautiful and simple passage that David 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:23.350 acknowledged that even in his mother's womb that 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:27.750 God had begun to create life. And that's important 00:10:27.750 --> 00:10:30.470 for us to remember. Man, that's under attack 00:10:30.470 --> 00:10:33.730 today. It's amazing that as a culture we are 00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:40.149 so far in the wrong way that we can't even acknowledge 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:44.450 what life is. That the moment of conception that 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.840 a child is formed in the womb, by God himself, 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:52.940 that God begins to knit us together. What a beautiful, 00:10:53.139 --> 00:10:55.820 beautiful picture that is for us to consider. 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:59.120 That in that moment of conception that a mother 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.980 becomes a mother. I don't believe it's at the 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:04.139 moment of birth. I believe it's at the moment 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:07.320 of conception that a mother begins to feel that 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:11.879 joy. Some of you mothers get that. You grandmothers 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:14.019 get that and grandfathers get that and fathers 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:18.120 get that. When you get that call and they say, 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:22.659 I'm pregnant. And what a joy begins to come into 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:24.659 your mind and your heart and then a fear saying, 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.379 oh no, what am I going to do? I've got to be 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:30.759 a parent now. But nevertheless, the joy is so 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.279 beautiful and so powerful. And we see that in 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:39.440 Scripture. Psalm 113 verse 9 says, He gave the 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.720 childish woman a household, making her the joyful. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.899 Mother of children. Scripture says joy comes 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:52.179 from being a mother. This is a gift of God. That 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:54.700 there is a joyfulness that a woman finds out 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:57.659 that she is pregnant with a child. That she will 00:11:57.659 --> 00:12:00.899 soon give birth. And from that moment that joy 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:04.440 begins to build and build. And I can only imagine 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:07.960 a moment that that child comes into the world. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:14.610 That moment that that child begins to cry. That 00:12:14.610 --> 00:12:18.730 moment that you hold that child in your arms. 00:12:19.649 --> 00:12:22.570 I would imagine, I'm inexperienced here, but 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:25.809 I would imagine that that's probably a life -changing 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:29.830 moment. I feel like it probably changes a man 00:12:29.830 --> 00:12:34.370 and changes a woman. In a moment, you realize 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:37.429 that you are not the most important thing anymore. 00:12:38.370 --> 00:12:42.149 In a moment, you realize, mothers, that this 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:46.370 child, is dependent on you. It's been dependent 00:12:46.370 --> 00:12:49.009 on you for nine months, and now it's going to 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:51.210 be dependent on you for a lifetime, and that's 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:54.309 such a big responsibility and such a beautiful 00:12:54.309 --> 00:12:59.769 responsibility. And there's great joy, the Scripture 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:04.169 says, that comes with being a mother. In John 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:08.830 chapter 16, verse 21, Jesus uses this example. 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:11.409 He's not talking about motherhood here necessarily, 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.120 But nevertheless, he uses this example of motherhood. 00:13:16.779 --> 00:13:19.980 He says, when a woman is in labor, she has pain 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:23.460 because her time has come. But when she has given 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:26.240 birth to a child, she no longer remembers the 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.460 suffering because of the joy that a person has 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:35.419 been born in the world. Jesus acknowledges the 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.899 truth that you mothers here today know. That 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:42.440 there is so much joy. in that child, that pregnancy 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:45.600 is so difficult and painful and for nine months 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.059 it's a struggle and up until the very moment 00:13:49.059 --> 00:13:52.679 the child is handed to you there's pain and in 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:57.559 that moment, Jesus says, the joy far surpasses 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:02.159 the pain. And so we see from the get -go that 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:07.500 God has established what he desires for children 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:11.120 to be born. And I believe God still desires that 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.799 today. I believe He still desires for men and 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.600 women to marry and to come together and to give 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.039 birth to a children and for mothers to be able 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:23.519 to raise up and care for their children as only 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.419 they can. You want to read about a good mother? 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:29.779 If you're a mother and you're wondering what 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:31.860 it means to be a good mother or if you think 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:33.559 you're going to be a mother one day and wondering 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.259 what it means to be a good mother, then you can 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:40.580 read Proverbs 31. If you're a man and you're 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:42.480 looking for a good wife and you're a man and 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.860 you're married to a woman who's the mother of 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:46.720 your child and you want to see what it looks 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.419 like for a man to be appreciative of his wife, 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:54.299 then read Proverbs 31. If you're a child and 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:56.159 you want to see what it looks like to have a 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.740 good mom that gives everything and provides for 00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:03.000 you, then read Proverbs 31, starting verse 10. 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:08.669 And a beautiful proverb that talks about What 00:15:08.669 --> 00:15:12.789 a blessing it is to have a wife who is capable 00:15:12.789 --> 00:15:15.610 and who is strong and who is smart and who is 00:15:15.610 --> 00:15:19.529 hardworking and who takes care of her husband 00:15:19.529 --> 00:15:23.950 and who provides all of her needs for her children. 00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:28.289 And that's what a mother does. That's what a 00:15:28.289 --> 00:15:31.230 mother does. And that's a beautiful, beautiful 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:35.289 passage. I encourage you to read it today before 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:40.080 the day is over. And so Mother's Day is a good 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.659 day in a lot of ways. Mother's Day is a day that 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:48.200 we realize the beauty of what it means to give 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:52.000 birth. We celebrate the joy that mothers have 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:57.299 as they bring a child into the world. For those 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.559 of us whose mothers are with us, we celebrate 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.639 our mothers today. We cook them a feast. We take 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.559 them out to dinner. We buy them a nice gift and 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.070 praise the Lord. It's good that we can... honor 00:16:08.070 --> 00:16:10.929 our mothers today and that's what Mother's Day 00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:13.370 is, is a day that we honor and celebrate and 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:15.590 for some of us it's remembering our mothers. 00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.610 For some, our mothers have gone on before us 00:16:19.610 --> 00:16:25.490 and in that sense, for some it's a sad day. And 00:16:25.490 --> 00:16:27.750 so even though Mother's Day is certainly a day 00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:33.009 of rejoicing and a day of celebration, there's 00:16:33.009 --> 00:16:35.330 also another side of Mother's Day that is... 00:16:36.169 --> 00:16:40.490 filled with pain and sorrow for those of us who 00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:44.710 have lost a mother or for mothers who have lost 00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:48.690 a child. I don't suppose that there's any greater 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:52.450 joy than giving birth to a child, and I don't 00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:56.289 suppose that there's any greater pain than losing 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:59.990 a child. We see lots of examples in Scripture 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:03.289 of what it means to be a mother, and we see examples 00:17:03.289 --> 00:17:07.000 of mothers and children, Just look at a few of 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.380 these examples today because maybe they'll be 00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:17.339 helpful for us this morning. In 2 Kings 4, verse 00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:22.940 1, we see a widow lady who has children. Her 00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:27.680 husband has died, and she's in trouble. In 2 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.339 Kings 4, verse 1, it says, One of the wives of 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:33.880 the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha. 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.539 Your servant, your husband, has died. You know 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:40.700 that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:44.839 is coming to take my children as his slaves. 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:49.359 Now here's an example of a mother that maybe 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:51.740 some of you can relate to today. Some of you 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:55.720 here or some of you online. Here's a single mother 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.900 who's trying to raise her children and she's 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:01.859 in big trouble because she has no way to provide 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:04.609 for them. And she's fearful that she's going 00:18:04.609 --> 00:18:07.490 to lose her children because she doesn't have 00:18:07.490 --> 00:18:14.170 the means to take care of them. But God provided. 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:17.490 I encourage you to go and read 2 Kings chapter 00:18:17.490 --> 00:18:20.609 4. She approached Elijah and said, Look, I don't 00:18:20.609 --> 00:18:22.130 know what I'm doing. I'm a single mother. I'm 00:18:22.130 --> 00:18:24.150 struggling. I don't know how I'm going to get 00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:28.069 by. And Elijah... He tells her to do something 00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:30.329 cool. He says, look, what you got? She said, 00:18:30.369 --> 00:18:32.230 I got some oil. He says, look, get your sons 00:18:32.230 --> 00:18:34.609 to gather up all the jugs they can. You keep 00:18:34.609 --> 00:18:36.910 pouring into that what you got from your jug 00:18:36.910 --> 00:18:39.589 of oil into these other jugs, these empty jugs, 00:18:39.589 --> 00:18:43.549 and whatever you have, sell it. She keeps pouring 00:18:43.549 --> 00:18:45.190 and pouring and pouring in her little jug of 00:18:45.190 --> 00:18:47.009 oil. It just keeps pouring and pouring and pouring 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:49.289 until they had filled up every empty container 00:18:49.289 --> 00:18:51.549 they could find. And Elijah says, go sell it. 00:18:51.589 --> 00:18:55.759 Pay off the creditor. and use the rest for you 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:00.279 and your sons. It's a beautiful story of God 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:04.460 taking care of a mother and her children. God 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:07.619 hasn't changed. God will still take care of mothers 00:19:07.619 --> 00:19:10.619 and children today. There may be some of you 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:12.480 who are struggling today, but I want you to know 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.339 that God cares about you and He still will be 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:17.940 there to take care of you if you would just call 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:21.859 out to Him this morning. The book of Esther, 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:24.519 one of my favorite books. And all of scripture. 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.720 It tells us about a young Jewish girl. Through 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.819 some crazy circumstances. Ended up being king. 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:38.740 We see in Esther chapter 2 verse 7. It says Mordecai 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:41.720 was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah. 00:19:41.779 --> 00:19:45.079 That is Esther. Because she didn't have a father 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:48.460 or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.279 And was extremely good looking. When her father 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:57.160 and mother died. adopted her as his own daughter. 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:02.539 Here's a story of a young lady whose parents 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:06.279 weren't there, whose father had passed and whose 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:10.680 mother had passed. And perhaps for some today, 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:16.119 that is your story. And it's tough on days like 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:18.480 today. We come and we celebrate and we rejoice 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.529 in our mothers, But we have to remember that 00:20:21.529 --> 00:20:25.269 it's not a day of rejoicing for everyone. That 00:20:25.269 --> 00:20:28.710 some are no different than Queen Esther. That 00:20:28.710 --> 00:20:31.130 they've lost a parent, that they've lost a mother. 00:20:32.109 --> 00:20:35.450 And you know the pain of that. But again, in 00:20:35.450 --> 00:20:37.750 the story of Queen Esther, for any children who 00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:42.009 are in that situation today, the story of Queen 00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:45.750 Esther is another beautiful example of how God 00:20:45.750 --> 00:20:49.769 works. Of how God takes someone in a... in a 00:20:49.769 --> 00:20:53.029 rough situation, in a tough situation, in a painful 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:57.390 situation, and he uses them in a powerful way 00:20:57.390 --> 00:21:02.450 to do his work and to do his will. Another story 00:21:02.450 --> 00:21:05.730 is found in Exodus chapter 2. It's the story 00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:10.650 of a guy named Moses. In Exodus chapter 2, verse 00:21:10.650 --> 00:21:14.269 1, it says, Now a man from the family of Levi 00:21:14.269 --> 00:21:17.380 married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:20.759 and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.279 was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.240 When she could no longer hide him, she got a 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:29.440 papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.779 and pitch. She placed the child in it and set 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:38.039 it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. This 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:41.900 is a wild story. All of the... All of the male 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.519 babies were to be killed. And here Moses' mother 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.880 gave birth to him, and she couldn't bear to see 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.119 that her son was going to be killed. And she 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.500 placed him in a basket and throws him in the 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:54.359 river. He's found by the daughter of Pharaoh. 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:58.099 Pharaoh's daughter sees him and decides to adopt 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:02.059 him. And here Moses, a Hebrew child, is raised 00:22:02.059 --> 00:22:07.619 in the palace of Pharaoh. Man, what a complicated 00:22:07.619 --> 00:22:10.180 family situation. Didn't know who his mother 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:13.180 was, his real mother was, and yet his real mother 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:16.299 was taking care of him all along. It's like a 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:21.480 soap opera. It's just a crazy story. It's complicated. 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:26.299 And maybe that's the story for some of us today, 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:29.599 for some of the mothers or some of the children 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.019 that are here today or listening online today. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.559 Man, you read Moses' story and you say, I can 00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:40.700 relate. My life is complicated. Family is sometimes 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:44.480 messy. It's not good. It's not what God desires. 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:46.579 But the fact of the matter is that sometimes 00:22:46.579 --> 00:22:51.119 families are messy. And sometimes children are 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.180 raised by other folks. And sometimes in crazy 00:22:54.180 --> 00:22:57.019 situations. And sometimes there's some relationship 00:22:57.019 --> 00:22:59.259 with the mom or not a good relationship with 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:02.430 the mom. Some of our situations are complicated. 00:23:04.869 --> 00:23:08.490 Moses' situation was complicated, but God was 00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:12.769 good. God is able to take complicated situations, 00:23:12.890 --> 00:23:18.029 as tough and as painful as they may be, and God 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:20.569 allowed Moses to be there for a purpose because 00:23:20.569 --> 00:23:23.890 a few years later, as Moses grew into an adult, 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.799 It was Moses that God was going to use, and if 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:28.980 it hadn't been for all that complicated family 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.920 junk that was going on, Moses would have never 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:35.619 been able to have been used by God. And yet through 00:23:35.619 --> 00:23:37.740 it all, as messy as it was at the beginning, 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:44.180 God was able to use Moses in a mighty way. And 00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:48.519 so it is for us. Maybe some of you today are 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:53.799 not so unlike Moses' mother. Maybe you had a 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:56.200 tough decision to make for a child in the past. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.380 It's hard to live with those decisions. Maybe 00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:04.039 some of you today are like Moses as a child and 00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:07.599 living with someone else and things are tough. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.220 But in every one of these stories, in every one 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:14.619 of these examples, we see God at work. We see 00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:16.839 God through the brokenness. We see God through 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:19.579 the pain. We see God taking care of the mothers. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:22.829 We see God taking care of the children. And he 00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:28.410 is still faithful to do so today. We see in 1 00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:34.089 Samuel 1, verses 27 and 28, a beautiful story 00:24:34.089 --> 00:24:37.549 of a woman named Hannah. And she desperately 00:24:37.549 --> 00:24:42.210 wanted a child. And she prayed earnestly that 00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:45.470 God would give her a child. And God heard her 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:50.130 prayer and God granted her request. And after 00:24:50.130 --> 00:24:52.650 she received her child, she says in 1 Samuel 00:24:52.650 --> 00:24:56.890 127, I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord 00:24:56.890 --> 00:25:01.869 gave me what I asked him for, I now give the 00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:06.089 boy to the Lord, for as long as he lives, he 00:25:06.089 --> 00:25:09.990 is given to the Lord. Now here's a beautiful 00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:12.890 example of a mother who received something that 00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.269 was the most precious thing and the most joyful 00:25:15.269 --> 00:25:20.819 thing that she had ever desired. And then she 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:25.539 released him to the service of the Lord. Said, 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:30.819 God, he's yours. God, I'm giving him to you. 00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:35.119 And maybe there are some mothers who struggle 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:37.980 with a similar thing today. Maybe not in the 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:42.220 same way that Hannah did. But nevertheless, for 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:45.839 mothers, there comes a time that we have to release 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:48.950 our children. that we have to say, okay, God 00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:52.009 has given me this precious gift, and I've had 00:25:52.009 --> 00:25:53.869 them this time, and I've enjoyed them, and I 00:25:53.869 --> 00:25:57.769 thank God for them, but there comes a time where 00:25:57.769 --> 00:26:00.670 you have to let them go, where you have to say, 00:26:00.809 --> 00:26:04.589 all right, God's given me this gift, and God, 00:26:04.630 --> 00:26:06.730 I entrust them to you, and God, I pray that you 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:09.569 use them for your service in some way, and I 00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:12.529 pray that you bless them to go out into the world, 00:26:12.549 --> 00:26:17.349 and God, I gotta let them go. I don't know if 00:26:17.349 --> 00:26:19.809 any of you have ever read the book Kisses from 00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:21.950 Katie. I would encourage you to read that book 00:26:21.950 --> 00:26:24.430 if you're a parent, especially a parent of young 00:26:24.430 --> 00:26:26.890 ladies. It's a great book. I know I've referenced 00:26:26.890 --> 00:26:31.029 it in the past, but it's really phenomenal. Katie 00:26:31.029 --> 00:26:34.390 was a young lady who, as a teenager, about 16, 00:26:34.710 --> 00:26:39.529 really began to have a desire for overseas missions. 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:44.279 really begin to pursue that and think about that 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.079 and drop hints to her parents about that, that 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.680 she was going to go overseas and work. And, of 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:51.400 course, they said, no, you're not going to go 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:54.460 overseas and work. We'll send you to any college 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:55.900 you want. You're going to go, and you're going 00:26:55.900 --> 00:26:57.660 to have a career, and you're going to be successful, 00:26:57.799 --> 00:26:59.240 and then you can figure out what you want to 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:01.599 do, but you've got to get established, and you're 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:05.539 not going overseas. And she was persistent. She 00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:08.650 was so persistent. that God had put it on her 00:27:08.650 --> 00:27:10.829 heart that she needed to go. And so finally, 00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:13.569 her senior year of high school, she had convinced 00:27:13.569 --> 00:27:16.789 her parents that, could I just go for a few weeks? 00:27:16.869 --> 00:27:20.390 Could I go to Africa for just a few weeks on 00:27:20.390 --> 00:27:23.109 a mission trip? And they said, if you can find 00:27:23.109 --> 00:27:25.730 somebody to go, you can go. And she, of course, 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:27.690 couldn't find anybody to go, which they probably 00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:29.430 knew who could take off for a month and go to 00:27:29.430 --> 00:27:32.170 Africa. But she was so persistent and she begged 00:27:32.170 --> 00:27:34.930 and she pleaded. And finally, one of her parents 00:27:34.930 --> 00:27:37.980 went with her on the trip. And they thought that 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:39.539 would scratch the itch. She'd get it out of her 00:27:39.539 --> 00:27:43.500 system. But it only ignited that flame that much 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:47.180 more. And she had such a heart for children in 00:27:47.180 --> 00:27:49.859 Africa and the conditions there and the situation 00:27:49.859 --> 00:27:53.160 there. And so many of these children that just 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:56.519 needed to be loved. And the time came that she 00:27:56.519 --> 00:28:00.279 graduated from high school and she told her parents, 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:05.259 I'm going to Africa. And they did not like that 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:07.730 a bit. And you mothers and fathers can relate 00:28:07.730 --> 00:28:10.569 to that. Because if your daughter told you today, 00:28:10.710 --> 00:28:13.569 I'm going to Africa, this is what God has called 00:28:13.569 --> 00:28:16.390 me to do, you would have the same reaction as 00:28:16.390 --> 00:28:20.470 her parents. She would say, no, you're not. But 00:28:20.470 --> 00:28:22.869 she said, this is what God has called me to do. 00:28:23.569 --> 00:28:27.630 This is where God has called me to go. And so 00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:30.309 reluctantly, against everything within them, 00:28:30.569 --> 00:28:34.970 they had to release their daughter to go do the 00:28:34.970 --> 00:28:39.140 work. of the Lord. And Katie's story is phenomenal. 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:42.420 She went to Africa and she did just what she 00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:45.400 set out to do. As far as I know, she's still 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:49.079 there today. She began to go and she began to 00:28:49.079 --> 00:28:52.240 bring children from these villages that had no 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:55.799 families, that had nobody to take care of them. 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:59.799 She began to adopt them as her own. She became 00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:05.250 a mother in ways that she never imagined. All 00:29:05.250 --> 00:29:09.630 because she followed the will of God. And all 00:29:09.630 --> 00:29:12.930 because she had a mother who said, golly, as 00:29:12.930 --> 00:29:14.849 much as I want to hang on to you, as much as 00:29:14.849 --> 00:29:18.569 I want you to do what I want you to do, I want 00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:22.049 you to do what God wants you to do more. And 00:29:22.049 --> 00:29:24.029 that's exactly what Hannah had to do. She had 00:29:24.029 --> 00:29:29.430 to say, okay, son, okay, daughter, I'm letting 00:29:29.430 --> 00:29:31.650 you go. As much as I love you, I have to let 00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:35.339 you go. There's a lot of mothers that's had to 00:29:35.339 --> 00:29:37.859 do that. And some more of you that is getting 00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:42.200 close. And I suspect that that's not easy. But 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:44.940 if God's calling your child to something, don't 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:50.240 hinder them. Release them to the Lord. There's 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.839 another beautiful story in 2 Kings chapter 4. 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:57.460 Right after the first story we read where there's 00:29:57.460 --> 00:30:01.730 a lady who knows Elijah. She had been blessed 00:30:01.730 --> 00:30:05.589 with a son later in her age, and one day the 00:30:05.589 --> 00:30:08.809 son was out with the father, and he started complaining, 00:30:08.930 --> 00:30:12.650 my head, my head. And so naturally, the father 00:30:12.650 --> 00:30:15.829 did what most men do, take him to his mama. And 00:30:15.829 --> 00:30:18.750 so they took him to his mother and placed the 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:22.809 child on the mother's lap, and there the child 00:30:22.809 --> 00:30:28.349 died in his mother's arms. But his mother was 00:30:28.349 --> 00:30:31.619 a woman of faith. And she said, I'm going to 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:34.359 go see Elijah, get the donkey ready, send a servant 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:36.579 with me. And the husband's like, what are you 00:30:36.579 --> 00:30:39.299 doing? Why are you going to do this? And she 00:30:39.299 --> 00:30:46.119 says, in 2 Kings 4, verse 23, she says, everything 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:48.720 is all right. Now, this woman had just lost her 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:54.380 child. And she said, everything is all right. 00:30:55.619 --> 00:30:59.880 And she had experienced a great pain. But she 00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:03.799 continued to trust in the Lord. And she sins 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:08.819 for Elijah and Elijah comes and the boy is brought 00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:14.119 back to life. He's given life again. And a woman's 00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:18.019 trust and faith in the Lord shown to be true. 00:31:19.059 --> 00:31:24.460 That God did care for the son that she had received. 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:30.680 Now I know for many, Mothers today, it's a hard 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:32.660 day because there are many mothers who have lost 00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:37.299 a child. Now I know in the story of Elisha that 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:39.559 Elisha came through and the child was resurrected. 00:31:39.619 --> 00:31:45.539 And I know that in this world, we don't experience 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.400 those types of miracles. Perhaps sometimes, but 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:54.740 often not. But even still today, for the mothers 00:31:54.740 --> 00:31:58.549 who have lost a child, I want to encourage you 00:31:58.549 --> 00:32:01.410 today, and I want you to hear the words of this 00:32:01.410 --> 00:32:08.450 lady who said everything is all right. Not because 00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:12.349 Elisha has come to our rescue in those hard times, 00:32:12.569 --> 00:32:18.269 but because of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of 00:32:18.269 --> 00:32:24.190 God. And Jesus, too, had a mother. And in John 00:32:24.190 --> 00:32:29.519 chapter 19, verse 25, At the end of Jesus' life 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:34.680 as he is hung on a cross, just a short little 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:38.059 section of scripture there that says, standing 00:32:38.059 --> 00:32:44.019 by the cross was Jesus' mother. A mother who 00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:49.099 knows the loss of a child, but a mother whose 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:56.490 child would give life to us. for those who have 00:32:56.490 --> 00:32:58.809 passed on, for those who have gone before us, 00:32:58.849 --> 00:33:04.289 it is because of Jesus Christ that we can rejoice 00:33:04.289 --> 00:33:07.950 today and that we can say everything is okay. 00:33:09.269 --> 00:33:11.690 That death does not have the final say today. 00:33:14.069 --> 00:33:16.670 That for some, God has taken their children home, 00:33:16.869 --> 00:33:20.509 but praise the Lord that death does not have 00:33:20.509 --> 00:33:23.690 the final say, that Jesus Christ has the final 00:33:23.690 --> 00:33:27.839 say. That he died on a cross and he said it's 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:29.960 finished, it's all done, it's all accomplished, 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:36.380 everything is taken care of. Because one mother's 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:40.920 son was willing to give everything for you and 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:45.579 I. So the Bible is full of examples of mothers 00:33:45.579 --> 00:33:49.359 and children who are not so unlike us today. 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:53.579 Children who have great mothers and who are blessed. 00:33:53.660 --> 00:33:56.660 Children who have sometimes tough situations 00:33:56.660 --> 00:33:59.900 and mothers who have tough situations and mothers 00:33:59.900 --> 00:34:02.759 who struggle and mothers who have experienced 00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:06.900 loss. And that's all of us today. That's everybody 00:34:06.900 --> 00:34:09.159 in this room. That's everybody listening online. 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:12.579 There's a story we have, but every one of our 00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:15.340 stories involves a mother. Every single one of 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:19.579 us comes from a mother. And so today we rejoice. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:24.460 In the gift of motherhood. In the gift of God 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:27.639 giving us the ability to bring life into this 00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:33.119 world and with it great joy. And may you women 00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:35.800 of this church and you mothers of this church 00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:39.659 continue to have joy in your children and continue 00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:42.400 to bring children into this world and to rejoice 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:47.940 in that great gift. We rejoice today for our 00:34:47.940 --> 00:34:52.099 mothers but we also Lift up a prayer for those 00:34:52.099 --> 00:34:54.400 who may be struggling today for whatever reason. 00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:59.539 For some, it's a tough day. And so for all, we 00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:02.900 ask that God would give peace. We give peace 00:35:02.900 --> 00:35:07.320 and joy to every mother today, to every child 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.679 today. We remember the memories of our mothers 00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:12.820 who have gone before us, that we cherish the 00:35:12.820 --> 00:35:15.440 memories that are still to be made with our mothers 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:19.489 who are still with us. That we don't take our 00:35:19.489 --> 00:35:24.150 mothers for granted, but we rejoice that God 00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:27.550 has given them to us. And we rejoice even more 00:35:27.550 --> 00:35:31.690 that God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to 00:35:31.690 --> 00:35:36.269 be the Savior of the world. Let's pray. God, 00:35:36.409 --> 00:35:38.070 we come to You this morning. We thank You for 00:35:38.070 --> 00:35:41.230 Your good Word. I pray God that you just help 00:35:41.230 --> 00:35:43.730 us to rejoice as we celebrate our great mothers 00:35:43.730 --> 00:35:45.929 today and all the blessings that you have given 00:35:45.929 --> 00:35:47.769 us through our mothers. Help us to remember the 00:35:47.769 --> 00:35:49.849 good times and the good memories of our mothers, 00:35:49.909 --> 00:35:53.730 dear Lord. God, I thank you for each one that's 00:35:53.730 --> 00:35:56.769 come and each one that's listened online. God, 00:35:56.909 --> 00:35:59.590 I pray that you help the ones that may be having 00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:02.849 a tough day today. I pray that you give them 00:36:02.849 --> 00:36:05.409 strength and encouragement through the truth 00:36:05.409 --> 00:36:07.289 of your word, through your love, that you just 00:36:07.289 --> 00:36:11.010 give them grace and mercy today. God, I pray 00:36:11.010 --> 00:36:14.670 for those whose family may be in kind of a tough 00:36:14.670 --> 00:36:16.829 situation right now, dear Lord. We see it. We 00:36:16.829 --> 00:36:19.690 see examples of it in Scripture. But I pray that 00:36:19.690 --> 00:36:22.070 you would help us to always see that you are 00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:24.929 there, God, if we would just seek you, that even 00:36:24.929 --> 00:36:28.349 if our situations aren't always the best and 00:36:28.349 --> 00:36:30.849 sometimes are complicated and sometimes painful, 00:36:31.010 --> 00:36:35.309 dear Lord, that you are so faithful to work things 00:36:35.309 --> 00:36:38.880 out for the good of those who trust in you. And 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:40.880 so I pray that we would today, God, that we would 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:44.239 be a people that would trust in you. I thank 00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:46.380 you for your word. I thank you for the few moments 00:36:46.380 --> 00:36:48.559 we have. And we thank you most of all, dear Lord, 00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:53.139 that you give us Jesus Christ today. That whether 00:36:53.139 --> 00:36:55.500 we come into this day with joy or with sadness, 00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:58.599 that each one of us can have hope and can rejoice 00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:01.119 in Jesus Christ, that he was crucified and that 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:05.789 he was resurrected, dear Lord. And that God, 00:37:05.809 --> 00:37:09.550 as beautiful as family is in this world, I can't 00:37:09.550 --> 00:37:11.730 even imagine how beautiful it's going to be in 00:37:11.730 --> 00:37:15.150 the life to come, dear Lord. So I pray, God, 00:37:15.250 --> 00:37:17.030 that we would just rejoice in that truth and 00:37:17.030 --> 00:37:19.289 that hope we have in Jesus today. And I ask these 00:37:19.289 --> 00:37:21.510 things in Jesus' name. Amen.