Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 and just a little
bit of verse 28. Genesis chapter 1. Don't have
to turn far in your Bible for that. Right there
at the beginning. Probably on the first page.
Maybe the second. Genesis chapter 1, verse 27
is where we will begin. I'm going to read quite
a few scriptures today. We'll go through them
pretty quickly, so if you don't have time to
find them or jot them down as we go through them,
please ask me afterwards. I'll be glad to tell
you what they were, so you can look them up and
study them yourself. Genesis chapter 1, verse
27, and the first little part of verse 28. We'll
read it, and then we'll pray. So God created
man in his own image. He created him in the image
of God. He created them male and female. God
blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply,
fill the earth, and subdue it. Let's pray. God,
we come to you today and we thank you that we
have the freedom and the privilege to come and
to study your word. I thank you for our mothers
today, dear Lord, and the blessing that it is
to have mothers in our life, the blessing that
it is for a mother to give birth to a child,
dear Lord, and to raise that child. We just thank
you that we can come together and worship you.
I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us
today. I pray that you would help me to preach
and teach in a way that brings glory and honor
to you, that you take away any pride or any fear
that's within me, dear Lord, that you just would...
Grab ahold of us right now that you'd help us
to be free of our worries and distractions and
sorrows and pains that may be with us today,
dear Lord. We know that it's a special day, but
dear Lord, I also know that for some it's a tough
day, that Mother's Day is not always easy, dear
Lord. And so I pray, God, that you would just
help us to just find peace in you. God, whatever's
on our heart today, I pray that you just would
bring joy to our heart before we leave. And I
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We don't
have to turn very far when we open our Bible
to see this beautiful command that God gave to
men and women. That he gave first to Adam and
Eve, but I believe also to you and I. After God
had created the world, He told man and woman
to be fruitful and multiply. That is, have kids
and have a lot of kids. And there were a couple
reasons for that, I think. One is, I think, that
there needed to be humanity. God wanted to fill
the earth. He created this beautiful earth. He
is a God of love. What good is love if you can't
share it with somebody? He creates humanity.
He shares his love with them. He provides for
them. He takes care of them. And he wants that
cycle of love to continue, I believe. Just as
God had created us, God wanted us to bring life
into the world through one man and one woman,
through marriage, through building a family.
That is so important, I believe, in the Word
of God, and I'm sad to say that it's not so important
in our world today. But God said, be fruitful
and multiply. And I don't think that that was
just an old commandment for back then. I don't
think God had in mind that I want people to have
children until there's enough people in the world,
and then y 'all can kind of slack up and do your
own thing. I don't know that that's what God
intended. I think that God probably intended
for us to continue to build families with one
man and one woman coming together freely and
totally committed to one another as companions
for life and joining and starting a new family
and being fruitful and multiplying and bringing
children into the world. And not just bringing
children into the world, but... but raising those
children and teaching those children, helping
them to get ready for the world that is before
them. And this is such a beautiful, beautiful
structure that God has created from the get -go.
He created families. And it's so sad that we
look around today and we see that what God started
at the beginning is under attack. And we need
to look at this scripture and we need to take
it to heart. Because I believe that when fathers
and mothers stay together and are fruitful and
multiply and bring children into the world and
raise those children and love those children,
I believe that that is one of the greatest gifts
that we possibly could have in this world. And
I think having children, being a mother, I think
sometimes gets pushed to the back burner a little
bit in our society. Our world changes, our culture
changes, our culture values certain things, puts
high value on certain things. And I'm not implying
that some of the things that our culture values
are necessarily bad. But sometimes the things
that our culture values keep us from... from
doing what God calls us to do and finding a joy
that's only established by living according to
what God's commands are. Now, we'll tell our
young women today, here's what you need to do.
You need to get established and you need to go
to college and you need to get a career and you
need to be successful before you start thinking
about having a family. And some of you parents
are saying, uh -oh, I don't like what you're
saying. Well, I'm not saying that going to college
and getting a career are a bad thing. What I
am saying is that starting a family and raising
kids is also not a bad thing. And I know that
that's probably not at the forefront of many
of you parents who have kids, and you say, well,
that's easy for you to say what you're saying.
You don't have kids. But all I'm saying is that
there's something beautiful about bringing a
child into the world. There's a joy. I believe
that comes from that. And you ladies, you can
come up to me and you can correct me afterwards
and you can say, brother, you got it all wrong.
So I'll not say these things again. But I believe
that there is a joy that probably comes from
being a mother. And I'm going to guess that it's
probably the greatest joy that there ever has
been in this world. I can't imagine that any
of you ladies would come to me after church.
golly, I hope I'm wrong, and say to me, yeah,
I love my kids, but my career, do you know how
successful I was? I just hope and pray that none
of you will do that after church, and I don't
think that you will. There are so many women
in this world that went the way of the world
and said, I want to go to school, and I want
to get an education, and I want to get a career,
and I'm not saying that's bad, and I'm not trying
to talk any ladies out of that, but there's a
lot of ladies that followed that worldly path.
And then one day they had a child and they said,
holy smokes, I don't want a career. I want to
have kids. And I think that that's the way that
God intended it to be. I think that's where a
real joy comes from. I think it's in a mother.
I think it's in a woman. I think being a mother
is in us. I think that there's some desire in
women to be mothers. And I think there's that
same desire to be fathers. I think that God has
created us that way. I think it's clear from
the beginning that God created us that way. And
we get caught up in the ways of the world and
we kind of forget the real joy and the real blessing
that God established from the get -go. Hey, have
a family. Raise up those kids. Teach those kids.
Maybe a better career than going to the office
every day is teaching your kids every day instead
of sending them off to daycare. Now, who in the
world is going to teach your kids and take care
of them better than you are, mothers? I don't
suspect anybody is. Because you care about them
more than you care about anyone else in the world.
And so you love them and you pour into them everything.
And I believe that that's the way that God has
intended it to be for us as human beings, for
men, and for women. I think a lot of the problems
in our world would change in just a short time
if mothers would be mothers and fathers would
be fathers and families would be families. I
think it would solve a lot of our problems because
this is the way that God intended for it to be.
Being a mother, I believe, occurs instantly.
As soon as that husband and wife, come together
in that moment through that miracle that God
performs. Ever how that works in our bodies?
I don't know how it all works out, but in that
moment, God begins to form a child in the womb
of that mother. We see that in Psalm 139, verse
13 and 14. For it was you who created my inward
parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb.
What a beautiful and simple passage that David
acknowledged that even in his mother's womb that
God had begun to create life. And that's important
for us to remember. Man, that's under attack
today. It's amazing that as a culture we are
so far in the wrong way that we can't even acknowledge
what life is. That the moment of conception that
a child is formed in the womb, by God himself,
that God begins to knit us together. What a beautiful,
beautiful picture that is for us to consider.
That in that moment of conception that a mother
becomes a mother. I don't believe it's at the
moment of birth. I believe it's at the moment
of conception that a mother begins to feel that
joy. Some of you mothers get that. You grandmothers
get that and grandfathers get that and fathers
get that. When you get that call and they say,
I'm pregnant. And what a joy begins to come into
your mind and your heart and then a fear saying,
oh no, what am I going to do? I've got to be
a parent now. But nevertheless, the joy is so
beautiful and so powerful. And we see that in
Scripture. Psalm 113 verse 9 says, He gave the
childish woman a household, making her the joyful.
Mother of children. Scripture says joy comes
from being a mother. This is a gift of God. That
there is a joyfulness that a woman finds out
that she is pregnant with a child. That she will
soon give birth. And from that moment that joy
begins to build and build. And I can only imagine
a moment that that child comes into the world.
That moment that that child begins to cry. That
moment that you hold that child in your arms.
I would imagine, I'm inexperienced here, but
I would imagine that that's probably a life -changing
moment. I feel like it probably changes a man
and changes a woman. In a moment, you realize
that you are not the most important thing anymore.
In a moment, you realize, mothers, that this
child, is dependent on you. It's been dependent
on you for nine months, and now it's going to
be dependent on you for a lifetime, and that's
such a big responsibility and such a beautiful
responsibility. And there's great joy, the Scripture
says, that comes with being a mother. In John
chapter 16, verse 21, Jesus uses this example.
He's not talking about motherhood here necessarily,
But nevertheless, he uses this example of motherhood.
He says, when a woman is in labor, she has pain
because her time has come. But when she has given
birth to a child, she no longer remembers the
suffering because of the joy that a person has
been born in the world. Jesus acknowledges the
truth that you mothers here today know. That
there is so much joy. in that child, that pregnancy
is so difficult and painful and for nine months
it's a struggle and up until the very moment
the child is handed to you there's pain and in
that moment, Jesus says, the joy far surpasses
the pain. And so we see from the get -go that
God has established what he desires for children
to be born. And I believe God still desires that
today. I believe He still desires for men and
women to marry and to come together and to give
birth to a children and for mothers to be able
to raise up and care for their children as only
they can. You want to read about a good mother?
If you're a mother and you're wondering what
it means to be a good mother or if you think
you're going to be a mother one day and wondering
what it means to be a good mother, then you can
read Proverbs 31. If you're a man and you're
looking for a good wife and you're a man and
you're married to a woman who's the mother of
your child and you want to see what it looks
like for a man to be appreciative of his wife,
then read Proverbs 31. If you're a child and
you want to see what it looks like to have a
good mom that gives everything and provides for
you, then read Proverbs 31, starting verse 10.
And a beautiful proverb that talks about What
a blessing it is to have a wife who is capable
and who is strong and who is smart and who is
hardworking and who takes care of her husband
and who provides all of her needs for her children.
And that's what a mother does. That's what a
mother does. And that's a beautiful, beautiful
passage. I encourage you to read it today before
the day is over. And so Mother's Day is a good
day in a lot of ways. Mother's Day is a day that
we realize the beauty of what it means to give
birth. We celebrate the joy that mothers have
as they bring a child into the world. For those
of us whose mothers are with us, we celebrate
our mothers today. We cook them a feast. We take
them out to dinner. We buy them a nice gift and
praise the Lord. It's good that we can... honor
our mothers today and that's what Mother's Day
is, is a day that we honor and celebrate and
for some of us it's remembering our mothers.
For some, our mothers have gone on before us
and in that sense, for some it's a sad day. And
so even though Mother's Day is certainly a day
of rejoicing and a day of celebration, there's
also another side of Mother's Day that is...
filled with pain and sorrow for those of us who
have lost a mother or for mothers who have lost
a child. I don't suppose that there's any greater
joy than giving birth to a child, and I don't
suppose that there's any greater pain than losing
a child. We see lots of examples in Scripture
of what it means to be a mother, and we see examples
of mothers and children, Just look at a few of
these examples today because maybe they'll be
helpful for us this morning. In 2 Kings 4, verse
1, we see a widow lady who has children. Her
husband has died, and she's in trouble. In 2
Kings 4, verse 1, it says, One of the wives of
the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha.
Your servant, your husband, has died. You know
that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor
is coming to take my children as his slaves.
Now here's an example of a mother that maybe
some of you can relate to today. Some of you
here or some of you online. Here's a single mother
who's trying to raise her children and she's
in big trouble because she has no way to provide
for them. And she's fearful that she's going
to lose her children because she doesn't have
the means to take care of them. But God provided.
I encourage you to go and read 2 Kings chapter
4. She approached Elijah and said, Look, I don't
know what I'm doing. I'm a single mother. I'm
struggling. I don't know how I'm going to get
by. And Elijah... He tells her to do something
cool. He says, look, what you got? She said,
I got some oil. He says, look, get your sons
to gather up all the jugs they can. You keep
pouring into that what you got from your jug
of oil into these other jugs, these empty jugs,
and whatever you have, sell it. She keeps pouring
and pouring and pouring in her little jug of
oil. It just keeps pouring and pouring and pouring
until they had filled up every empty container
they could find. And Elijah says, go sell it.
Pay off the creditor. and use the rest for you
and your sons. It's a beautiful story of God
taking care of a mother and her children. God
hasn't changed. God will still take care of mothers
and children today. There may be some of you
who are struggling today, but I want you to know
that God cares about you and He still will be
there to take care of you if you would just call
out to Him this morning. The book of Esther,
one of my favorite books. And all of scripture.
It tells us about a young Jewish girl. Through
some crazy circumstances. Ended up being king.
We see in Esther chapter 2 verse 7. It says Mordecai
was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah.
That is Esther. Because she didn't have a father
or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure.
And was extremely good looking. When her father
and mother died. adopted her as his own daughter.
Here's a story of a young lady whose parents
weren't there, whose father had passed and whose
mother had passed. And perhaps for some today,
that is your story. And it's tough on days like
today. We come and we celebrate and we rejoice
in our mothers, But we have to remember that
it's not a day of rejoicing for everyone. That
some are no different than Queen Esther. That
they've lost a parent, that they've lost a mother.
And you know the pain of that. But again, in
the story of Queen Esther, for any children who
are in that situation today, the story of Queen
Esther is another beautiful example of how God
works. Of how God takes someone in a... in a
rough situation, in a tough situation, in a painful
situation, and he uses them in a powerful way
to do his work and to do his will. Another story
is found in Exodus chapter 2. It's the story
of a guy named Moses. In Exodus chapter 2, verse
1, it says, Now a man from the family of Levi
married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant
and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he
was beautiful, she hid him for three months.
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. This
is a wild story. All of the... All of the male
babies were to be killed. And here Moses' mother
gave birth to him, and she couldn't bear to see
that her son was going to be killed. And she
placed him in a basket and throws him in the
river. He's found by the daughter of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh's daughter sees him and decides to adopt
him. And here Moses, a Hebrew child, is raised
in the palace of Pharaoh. Man, what a complicated
family situation. Didn't know who his mother
was, his real mother was, and yet his real mother
was taking care of him all along. It's like a
soap opera. It's just a crazy story. It's complicated.
And maybe that's the story for some of us today,
for some of the mothers or some of the children
that are here today or listening online today.
Man, you read Moses' story and you say, I can
relate. My life is complicated. Family is sometimes
messy. It's not good. It's not what God desires.
But the fact of the matter is that sometimes
families are messy. And sometimes children are
raised by other folks. And sometimes in crazy
situations. And sometimes there's some relationship
with the mom or not a good relationship with
the mom. Some of our situations are complicated.
Moses' situation was complicated, but God was
good. God is able to take complicated situations,
as tough and as painful as they may be, and God
allowed Moses to be there for a purpose because
a few years later, as Moses grew into an adult,
It was Moses that God was going to use, and if
it hadn't been for all that complicated family
junk that was going on, Moses would have never
been able to have been used by God. And yet through
it all, as messy as it was at the beginning,
God was able to use Moses in a mighty way. And
so it is for us. Maybe some of you today are
not so unlike Moses' mother. Maybe you had a
tough decision to make for a child in the past.
It's hard to live with those decisions. Maybe
some of you today are like Moses as a child and
living with someone else and things are tough.
But in every one of these stories, in every one
of these examples, we see God at work. We see
God through the brokenness. We see God through
the pain. We see God taking care of the mothers.
We see God taking care of the children. And he
is still faithful to do so today. We see in 1
Samuel 1, verses 27 and 28, a beautiful story
of a woman named Hannah. And she desperately
wanted a child. And she prayed earnestly that
God would give her a child. And God heard her
prayer and God granted her request. And after
she received her child, she says in 1 Samuel
127, I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord
gave me what I asked him for, I now give the
boy to the Lord, for as long as he lives, he
is given to the Lord. Now here's a beautiful
example of a mother who received something that
was the most precious thing and the most joyful
thing that she had ever desired. And then she
released him to the service of the Lord. Said,
God, he's yours. God, I'm giving him to you.
And maybe there are some mothers who struggle
with a similar thing today. Maybe not in the
same way that Hannah did. But nevertheless, for
mothers, there comes a time that we have to release
our children. that we have to say, okay, God
has given me this precious gift, and I've had
them this time, and I've enjoyed them, and I
thank God for them, but there comes a time where
you have to let them go, where you have to say,
all right, God's given me this gift, and God,
I entrust them to you, and God, I pray that you
use them for your service in some way, and I
pray that you bless them to go out into the world,
and God, I gotta let them go. I don't know if
any of you have ever read the book Kisses from
Katie. I would encourage you to read that book
if you're a parent, especially a parent of young
ladies. It's a great book. I know I've referenced
it in the past, but it's really phenomenal. Katie
was a young lady who, as a teenager, about 16,
really began to have a desire for overseas missions.
really begin to pursue that and think about that
and drop hints to her parents about that, that
she was going to go overseas and work. And, of
course, they said, no, you're not going to go
overseas and work. We'll send you to any college
you want. You're going to go, and you're going
to have a career, and you're going to be successful,
and then you can figure out what you want to
do, but you've got to get established, and you're
not going overseas. And she was persistent. She
was so persistent. that God had put it on her
heart that she needed to go. And so finally,
her senior year of high school, she had convinced
her parents that, could I just go for a few weeks?
Could I go to Africa for just a few weeks on
a mission trip? And they said, if you can find
somebody to go, you can go. And she, of course,
couldn't find anybody to go, which they probably
knew who could take off for a month and go to
Africa. But she was so persistent and she begged
and she pleaded. And finally, one of her parents
went with her on the trip. And they thought that
would scratch the itch. She'd get it out of her
system. But it only ignited that flame that much
more. And she had such a heart for children in
Africa and the conditions there and the situation
there. And so many of these children that just
needed to be loved. And the time came that she
graduated from high school and she told her parents,
I'm going to Africa. And they did not like that
a bit. And you mothers and fathers can relate
to that. Because if your daughter told you today,
I'm going to Africa, this is what God has called
me to do, you would have the same reaction as
her parents. She would say, no, you're not. But
she said, this is what God has called me to do.
This is where God has called me to go. And so
reluctantly, against everything within them,
they had to release their daughter to go do the
work. of the Lord. And Katie's story is phenomenal.
She went to Africa and she did just what she
set out to do. As far as I know, she's still
there today. She began to go and she began to
bring children from these villages that had no
families, that had nobody to take care of them.
She began to adopt them as her own. She became
a mother in ways that she never imagined. All
because she followed the will of God. And all
because she had a mother who said, golly, as
much as I want to hang on to you, as much as
I want you to do what I want you to do, I want
you to do what God wants you to do more. And
that's exactly what Hannah had to do. She had
to say, okay, son, okay, daughter, I'm letting
you go. As much as I love you, I have to let
you go. There's a lot of mothers that's had to
do that. And some more of you that is getting
close. And I suspect that that's not easy. But
if God's calling your child to something, don't
hinder them. Release them to the Lord. There's
another beautiful story in 2 Kings chapter 4.
Right after the first story we read where there's
a lady who knows Elijah. She had been blessed
with a son later in her age, and one day the
son was out with the father, and he started complaining,
my head, my head. And so naturally, the father
did what most men do, take him to his mama. And
so they took him to his mother and placed the
child on the mother's lap, and there the child
died in his mother's arms. But his mother was
a woman of faith. And she said, I'm going to
go see Elijah, get the donkey ready, send a servant
with me. And the husband's like, what are you
doing? Why are you going to do this? And she
says, in 2 Kings 4, verse 23, she says, everything
is all right. Now, this woman had just lost her
child. And she said, everything is all right.
And she had experienced a great pain. But she
continued to trust in the Lord. And she sins
for Elijah and Elijah comes and the boy is brought
back to life. He's given life again. And a woman's
trust and faith in the Lord shown to be true.
That God did care for the son that she had received.
Now I know for many, Mothers today, it's a hard
day because there are many mothers who have lost
a child. Now I know in the story of Elisha that
Elisha came through and the child was resurrected.
And I know that in this world, we don't experience
those types of miracles. Perhaps sometimes, but
often not. But even still today, for the mothers
who have lost a child, I want to encourage you
today, and I want you to hear the words of this
lady who said everything is all right. Not because
Elisha has come to our rescue in those hard times,
but because of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of
God. And Jesus, too, had a mother. And in John
chapter 19, verse 25, At the end of Jesus' life
as he is hung on a cross, just a short little
section of scripture there that says, standing
by the cross was Jesus' mother. A mother who
knows the loss of a child, but a mother whose
child would give life to us. for those who have
passed on, for those who have gone before us,
it is because of Jesus Christ that we can rejoice
today and that we can say everything is okay.
That death does not have the final say today.
That for some, God has taken their children home,
but praise the Lord that death does not have
the final say, that Jesus Christ has the final
say. That he died on a cross and he said it's
finished, it's all done, it's all accomplished,
everything is taken care of. Because one mother's
son was willing to give everything for you and
I. So the Bible is full of examples of mothers
and children who are not so unlike us today.
Children who have great mothers and who are blessed.
Children who have sometimes tough situations
and mothers who have tough situations and mothers
who struggle and mothers who have experienced
loss. And that's all of us today. That's everybody
in this room. That's everybody listening online.
There's a story we have, but every one of our
stories involves a mother. Every single one of
us comes from a mother. And so today we rejoice.
In the gift of motherhood. In the gift of God
giving us the ability to bring life into this
world and with it great joy. And may you women
of this church and you mothers of this church
continue to have joy in your children and continue
to bring children into this world and to rejoice
in that great gift. We rejoice today for our
mothers but we also Lift up a prayer for those
who may be struggling today for whatever reason.
For some, it's a tough day. And so for all, we
ask that God would give peace. We give peace
and joy to every mother today, to every child
today. We remember the memories of our mothers
who have gone before us, that we cherish the
memories that are still to be made with our mothers
who are still with us. That we don't take our
mothers for granted, but we rejoice that God
has given them to us. And we rejoice even more
that God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to
be the Savior of the world. Let's pray. God,
we come to You this morning. We thank You for
Your good Word. I pray God that you just help
us to rejoice as we celebrate our great mothers
today and all the blessings that you have given
us through our mothers. Help us to remember the
good times and the good memories of our mothers,
dear Lord. God, I thank you for each one that's
come and each one that's listened online. God,
I pray that you help the ones that may be having
a tough day today. I pray that you give them
strength and encouragement through the truth
of your word, through your love, that you just
give them grace and mercy today. God, I pray
for those whose family may be in kind of a tough
situation right now, dear Lord. We see it. We
see examples of it in Scripture. But I pray that
you would help us to always see that you are
there, God, if we would just seek you, that even
if our situations aren't always the best and
sometimes are complicated and sometimes painful,
dear Lord, that you are so faithful to work things
out for the good of those who trust in you. And
so I pray that we would today, God, that we would
be a people that would trust in you. I thank
you for your word. I thank you for the few moments
we have. And we thank you most of all, dear Lord,
that you give us Jesus Christ today. That whether
we come into this day with joy or with sadness,
that each one of us can have hope and can rejoice
in Jesus Christ, that he was crucified and that
he was resurrected, dear Lord. And that God,
as beautiful as family is in this world, I can't
even imagine how beautiful it's going to be in
the life to come, dear Lord. So I pray, God,
that we would just rejoice in that truth and
that hope we have in Jesus today. And I ask these
things in Jesus' name. Amen.