Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.
You know, since today is Mother's Day, fathers,
don't forget to do the dishes for your wives.
But if you don't get to them today, they'll get
to them tomorrow. But Mother's Day is the third
most attended church service. And according to
an article in... 2021, Mother's Day, was the
busiest day for restaurants. According to another
article, mothers in America are influencing 73
.1 million children. It's just such a blessing.
You know, as Pastor Nathan said, we wouldn't
be here without you mothers. 100 % of us in this
room today are here because of mothers. And we
just... Thank you guys. Thank you guys for being
faithful. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. That wasn't
a mother, by the way, but it was somebody who
said that. But since it is Mother's Day, I would
like to encourage all the mothers who are expecting
their first child or a mother who already has
a child, young or old. I believe the Lord put
on my heart to give a few steps as to how to
walk with your children. How to gladly walk with
your children in truth and in love. You know,
I also heard that a mother once said, if being
a mother was easy, then fathers would do it.
And unfortunately, some fathers have taken on
that challenge and said, I could do that. Anyway,
we won't go into that. There's one, no, I'm not
going to say it. But this morning, we're going
to be looking at those few steps, how to gladly
walk in truth and love with your children. We're
also going to talk about how to fight against
the evils of the world and how to prepare your
children for the brokenness and the sinful world.
You know, unfortunately in America, divorce rates
have been skyrocketing. More and more homes are
being divided. by divorce, abortions, even different
beliefs within mothers and fathers. But it's
not just our homes, it's our schools, you know,
and our workplaces, and unfortunately, some churches.
You know, some hearts of mothers and fathers
are being hardened with one another, between
one another. Their relationships are beginning
to grow indifferent. Their hearts are growing
cold for one another, so much so that they begin
to stop loving one another. And unfortunately,
this results into divorce. Children today are
seeing this. They're seeing this in their homes.
They're seeing this in their schools. They're
seeing all the division in churches outside,
you know, just in the world. The enemy has been
attacking many households. causing the division,
causing doubt, causing oppression, and causing
depression. And our children are the ones who
are feeling the worst of this. They're getting
the worst end of it all. Because false ideologies
are being taught in our schools. Public schools
are teaching LGBTQ, and children are being indoctrinated
with all these false things. You know, in schools
they're telling you just do what you want. Whatever
makes you feel okay, just do that. You know,
they tell 8 to 10 year olds that if you want
to be a girl today and a boy tomorrow, it's fine.
It's okay, do that. The worst part is the enemy
is having a field day with this. The enemy is
loving this. So, we must fight against this as
parents. I'm not a parent, but parents, you know,
fight against this. Unfortunately, too, its abortion
rates are increasing by 5 % each year in America.
This is affecting women from ages 20 to 29. This
accounts for the biggest portion of abortions
that are going on. You know, the reasons for
these abortions are, you know, they differ from
financial constraints. You know, not being able
to afford the medical bills or even being able
to afford to take care of their child. Some abortions
are related to unplanned pregnancies. And, you
know, mothers just feel unprepared. So they just
think the only way to do that is just to have
an abortion. They fear being a parent. And unfortunately,
mothers... get abortions because of the difficulties
in their relationships with their husbands, with
their spouse, and they just abort their babies
because the fathers don't even want to have the
baby. Now, I'm not condemning anybody who may
have had an abortion or who has thought about
it. I'm not condemning them at all. I just bring
this up because we have an adversary out there
who wants to cause this division within our homes.
wants to cause this division between mothers
and fathers and mothers and children and fathers
and children, without God's truth and without
walking in love and without walking in that truth,
we have nothing. We have nothing. But walking
with God in love, we have everything. So how
can we fight against these things? We'll go ahead
and talk about that. If you guys want to open
your Bibles to 2 John. Here in our text this
morning, in 2 John, John is writing to the churches
about the false teachers that have been going
around infiltrating the churches, teaching false
doctrines, teaching false beliefs. These false
teachers were going around attacking the truth
of the gospel, Gnostics began to grow in number.
Now, the Gnostics were a group of false teachers
who had beliefs that were blended with Eastern
mysticism and Greek dualism. They claimed that
the spirit is completely good, but matter or
flesh is completely evil. They concluded that
if God was truly good, how could... or he could
not have created the material universe. Therefore,
some lesser God must have created the universe.
They also taught that Jesus did not have a physical
body, the Gnostics. This teaching that they had
is called Docetism, which they say that Jesus
only appeared to be a human, or to have a human
body, and never actually suffered pain. And never
suffered the death on the cross, as we know he
did. But in 1, 2, and 3 John, John disproves
all of these false teachings. He goes and says,
no, it's not true. But in 2 John here, John talks
about truth, truth in love, and walking in truth.
In just 13 verses here, John mentions truth five
times. And it is believed this John is the one
who wrote the gospel according to John. And when
we read 1, 2, and 3 John in the gospel according
to John, we see that John talks about truth.
He mentions truth over 25 times. So truth was
extremely important to him. But in verses 4 to
6, John says this. Follow along as I read, if
you will. I was very glad to find some of your
children walking in truth. and keeping with a
command we have received from the Father. So
now I ask you, dear lady, not as if I were writing
a new command, but one we had from the beginning,
that we love one another. This is love, that
we walk according to his command. This is the
command, as you have heard from the beginning,
that you walk in love. Now, this is not only...
A heart that a pastor has or a pastor prays for
or even rejoices in. But mothers also rejoice
in this. When you see your child walking in truth
and love, rejoice. Rejoice as this lady did.
But pastors are blessed when they see us in the
congregation just walking in truth. I believe
it comforts pastors when they see this. Because
not only are we walking in truth and walking
in love, but we're following the commands of
Christ. We're showing the Christ. We're showing
how Christ lived to the world when we walk this
way. So John saw that these children were walking
in the way of love, of Jesus Christ. Now, mothers,
please never compromise truth. Children will
see that little white lie we give. Children will
see the fact that we take either candy, which
I used to take when I was a kid, but I no longer
do anymore. But if you take that candy or if
you take that device or something, when the child
sees that, what happens is there's a seed that
gets planted in their hearts. And that seed that's
planted in their hearts will take root and will
cause them to turn away from God and to turn
away from truth. That will just continue to grow
and they will just want to just walk away. God
calls all believers to love truth since God himself
is truth and his spirit abides in us and his
spirit is truth. Truth is indispensable. God's
truth is indispensable. A mother's joy should
be to say, my children walk in the Lord. They
serve the Lord and they worship the Lord. Now
walking in truth is an essential part of our
Christian walk. This is how we conduct our lives.
Psalm 3311 says, the counsel of the Lord stands
forever. The plans of his heart from generation
to generation. That's our command. The plans
of God's heart stands forever. The plans of God's
truth stand forever. We as Christians prove that
we are walking in truth and love by loving one
another. That's the greatest command that we
could do. Showing love to one another. Now John
knew that this truth To walk in truth included
accepting the truth of the gospel message and
obeying the gospel message. What is the gospel
message? Well, Jesus is the only way to God,
God the Father. He is the divine and human mediator
between God and man. And since we are sinners,
deserving of death, our Lord and Savior took
on that sin. And he died on the cross for that
sin. All of the sins. And he rose three days
later. He didn't stay in the grave. He rose.
Defeating death. When we accept that truth of
the gospel, then we will begin to walk in truth.
And when we understand the fact that We cannot
gain salvation. There's nothing we can do to
gain salvation. Nothing we can work for. But
it's only by the free gift of Jesus Christ that
we obtain salvation. Not any works that we do.
But if we love God, we will obey his commands.
We'll obey his commandments. John 14, 15, Jesus
says, if you love me, you will keep my commands.
Keeping the commands of Jesus does not speak
to our personal morality. It emphasizes Jesus'
love that he has for us and the love he has for
others as well. And this demonstration, it shows
us obedience, something that we should do. We
should walk in obedience and his commandments.
Now, our Christian walk... It starts when we
accept Christ, Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Now, if you have not yet received Christ into
your heart, you have not started your Christian
walk, you have not started your spiritual walk
yet. You are not yet tuned in with God and what
he's doing. If you have not accepted Christ into
your heart yet, you have not yet accepted the
fact that God is truth. Now, mothers, show your
children this, how Jesus lived and what Jesus
did. Show them that our Lord and Savior is so
good. He is forgiving. And show your children
what Jesus has done for us, has done for you.
Not only that, but teach them. Teach them this
truth. Teach them in truth and in love. What
does it mean to walk in love? Walk in love as
Christ also loved us and gave himself for us.
This means to display the same exact kind of
self -giving love Christ gave us and shows us.
It's walking that example as Christ did. Now
how can we do that? How can we show truth in
love? That brings me to the first step that I
believe the Lord put on my heart to show you
mothers. The first one is walk alongside your
children in truth and love. Read the scriptures
with your children. Study the scriptures with
your children. Don't just, oh, well, I need to
get this day off, or I just need to read this
real quick. No, understand what that scripture
says and tell your children. 2 Timothy 3 .14
.15, Paul says this, Now Paul is talking to a
young Timothy here. Timothy was from Lystra.
And Paul called Timothy to walk with him. to
go on his second and third missionary journey,
to go around giving the gospel, preaching the
truth to the world, or to those nations anyway,
Paul saw that Timothy was walking the Christian
life. Because when he gave the gospel, Timothy
had already known the scriptures. So when Paul
was talking to Timothy and preaching to Lystra,
He just connected the scriptures with Jesus Christ.
And so that's what we see Timothy did. Timothy
was spoken highly of by Paul. And we see that
in all the letters that he wrote to Timothy.
Paul wrote to Timothy. Not only that, but Timothy
was also spoken highly of by the brothers and
sisters in Lystra when Paul gave the gospel there
in Acts 16. It says that he was well witnessed.
To those in Lystra. People did not have to question
if Timothy was a Christian or if he even understood
the scriptures. He displayed, I believe, he displayed
all of that in public, at home, and wherever
he went. Because he was well witnessed. Now,
Timothy was taught the scriptures from infancy,
as a baby. Not only by his grandmother, but by
his mother, and I think that's extremely important.
In 2 Timothy 1 .5, Paul says to Timothy, I recall
your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother
Lois and in your mother Eunice, and now I am
convinced is in you also. They were his godly
example. They raised Timothy in the word, in
the scriptures. Timothy was known for his strong
faith and his trust in the Lord. His faithfulness.
And I believe that he learned this because his
grandmother and his mother taught him when he
was just a baby. Now, mothers, are we engaging
our children this way as Timothy did? Are we
reading the scriptures to our children? Are we
teaching them what the Scriptures say? Are we
teaching them who Jesus Christ is, what God has
done for us? Regardless of their age, you know,
5 to 10, 15 to 18, 18 to 50, however old your
children are, are you teaching them what the
Scriptures say? Are you teaching them what you've
learned? Are you teaching them what Christ has
done for you? I think Timothy's mother and grandmother
did that. That's only speculation, but I believe
that. Mothers, are we dialoguing with our children?
Now, dialogue is a back and forth conversation
with two or three people. Or are we monologuing
with our children? Just talking. No, just listen
to me. Now, yes, there's a time and place for
both, but I believe that when we initiate in
a meaningful discussion, In a dialoguing conversation
with our children, that will begin to want them
to listen. Rather than being talked at, they
want to be talked to. And I think that's important.
There's more chances when we dialogue with our
children, they'll have more questions. They will
be more engaging. And they will listen more,
I believe. You know, there's a song. It's an
older song. Harry Nilsson sang it. Everybody's
talking at me. I don't hear a word they're saying.
That is very true. I mean, as a child, when my
parents did that to me, I didn't listen because
I just felt, you know, but again, not every child's
the same. I understand that. But if you make
somebody feel completely less than and just,
nope, you listen to me and this and that. And
again, there is a time and place for that. But
they are humans. They are people. You know, in
sales, they always said, the best way to engage
a customer is to ask open -ended questions. You
know, like, what brings you in today? Or, you
know, what can I help you find? Stuff like that.
We should do that with our children. We should
ask them open -ended questions. Instead of saying,
did you enjoy Children's Church today? Yes? No?
We should ask them, hey, what did you learn in
Children's Church? And then... Whatever they
say, you just go springboard off of that. Oh,
we learned about David and Goliath. Oh, really?
And then you just talk about David and Goliath.
That's the best way to do it. Engage with them.
Ask them open -ended questions. Intentionally
engage them, though. Intentionally. Not because
you feel like you have to. Wanting to know about
their day and listening to them. That's the best
way to do it. We should be having these discussions
about Scripture and about different things that
happen in life. But we shouldn't just talk at
them or preach at them. We should be talking
with them and talking to them. We should have
discussions on who Christ is. You know, Proverbs
22, 6 says, Start a youth out in his way. Even
when he grows old, he will not depart from it.
Another translation says, train up a child in
the way he should go. And when he is old, he
will not depart from it. You know, the idea here
is your primary goal for raising your child,
whether it be, oh, I want them to be successful.
I want them to be a football player. I want them
to be this and that. Our primary goal should
be to teach them to trust in the Lord and to
rely on the Lord. That should be our primary
goal. They will know God when you show them that
you know God. They will want to follow God when
they see that you are following God. So walk
alongside your children. Teach them who God is,
what God has done in your life. Show them those
real examples. Teach them the scriptures as Timothy
was taught. You know, in Deuteronomy 6, 4 to
7, It says this, listen Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your strength. These words that I am
giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat
them to your children. Talk about them when you
sit in your house and when you walk alongside
the road and when you lie down and when you get
up. You know, we may be too busy sometimes. We
may be too busy at work, too many appointments,
but never be too busy to read Scripture to your
children. We should be repeating, we love the
Lord our God with all of our soul, with all of
our hearts, and with all of our minds, and with
all of our strength. We should be talking to
our children about this when we're at home, when
we're driving. At all costs, wherever we are,
we should be engaging them with the word. Before
we wake up, or once we wake up, that's the first
thing we see. Before we go to bed, it's the last
thing we see, scripture. If you're a mother today,
and you recently accepted Christ, and you're
still learning about Christ and his love, i would
encourage you to read the bible with your children
to walk alongside them and learn with them even
if that means getting an action bible like the
ones we have in children's church if it means
to to do that then do that get that action bible
read with them and learn the scriptures with
them you know they teach the gospel in those
action bibles otherwise we wouldn't have them
here but They teach the gospel there. So walk
alongside them, learning with them. You know,
when children see their parents, their eagerness
to learn, and parents are telling their children
what they are learning, you'll be surprised that
their eagerness will be to want to listen and
to want to know more about God. So be eager about
that. I encourage you guys, be eager. You know,
Jesus walked with his disciples. He taught them
the things of God's heart. Jesus spent time with
his disciples. He lived with them. He taught
them how to live by faith. Jesus taught them
how to serve. And Jesus taught them humility.
He taught them love. And he taught them how to
bear fruit. Jesus not only walked with his disciples,
but he knew his disciples. And he understood
his disciples. Yes, Jesus being God in flesh,
he knew their hearts. But I believe Jesus still
learned about his disciples. I believe he gave
an opportunity for his disciples to tell the
truth and to listen. I truly believe he learned
from them. Because he asked them questions and
he engaged them and talked to them. Even though
he knew their hearts, he says, who do you say
that I am? He still asks those questions. So,
walk alongside your children, mothers. I encourage
you to walk alongside them and teach them the
truth and teach them the scriptures. This brings
me to the second point, the second step. Walk
with your children in truth and be thou an example.
Be the godly example for them. You know, in 1
Corinthians 11, 1, Paul says, imitate me as I
also imitate Christ. How many of us can confidently
say, I say that to people, imitate me as I imitate
Christ. How many of us can say that? Well, John,
I go to church. At church, you know, I'm good.
You know, I say, hey, brother, sister, you know.
But what about when you're driving? I see some
of you guys driving after church. You guys peel
out and almost hit everybody. Are you guys showing
that love? Are you guys being that example? What
about in traffic? Who loves traffic? I love traffic.
No, I don't. That was a lie. But can we say that
when we're going through something hard? When
we're having a tough day, can we say, hey, son,
daughter, imitate me as I imitate Christ? What
about at home? That's the most important place.
That's the most important place to say, imitate
me as I imitate Christ. We don't want to be different.
At home compared to church. Now, unfortunately,
far too many of us today are like, we say, well,
don't look at me as an example. Look at Christ.
Yes, that is very true. Christ is the ultimate
example. But we do have the Holy Spirit speaking
through Paul to say, imitate me as I imitate
Christ. And it's important. It's important to
To show that, because yes, we are sinners. Yes,
Paul was a sinner. Paul sinned. Paul says, I
do the things I shouldn't do and I don't do the
things I should do. But he still said, imitate
me as I imitate Christ. We should be encouraged
with that. Christ is our ultimate example, but
we should be that example to our children as
well. You know, it's inevitable that our children
will be like us one day. It's funny because my
mom used to tell my sister, Because my sister
was, she was rough growing up. She always used
to beat me up. She's 10 years older than me.
She's pretty scary to me still. And I'm like
a foot taller than her. But my sister was, she
was tough. But my mom would always say, you know,
when you have kids, your kids are going to be
just like you, if not worse. And so they terrorized
her. And my mom's like, see, I told you so. Other
than that, my sister has always been a good example.
You know, every time I go to my sister's house,
my sister's always like, hey, you want this?
You want this? Want this? Pulling stuff out of
the fridge, out of the cupboards, whatever it
is. And by the end of it, I'm holding a box full
of things because my sister just wants to show
that love to me. And it's just, it's a great
example. And her kids see that. My nephews and
nieces, they've seen that. I've seen them a few
weeks ago, and they too were the same way. They
were also like, hey, what can I give you? And
I'm just like, hey, you got $100? No. You know,
it's stuff like that. Being that example. And
I believe my sister did a great example with
that. She did such a great example. My sister
is a hypochondriac. And by being that example,
her kids are too. So that also works that way
too. But some people say, you know, some families
would be like, or some people would be like,
oh, I've seen my family do drugs, and I've seen
them drink, and that's why I never did that.
Well, unfortunately for me, personally, I was
stupid. I had to learn the hard way. I'm like,
oh, when people were doing drugs and drinking,
it's going to affect me differently, but it never
did. But it took me to go through that, to see
those examples and want to try them. And we should
be reminded that when we do these things, our
children are watching. You know, our children,
their minds are like sponges. But mothers, if
you want your children to be men and women of
prayer, then you pray. If you want your children
to be men and women of integrity, walk in honesty.
If you want your children... To be men and women
who love and worship Jesus. That you love and
worship Jesus. Be that example. If we're serious
and we are obedient to Jesus, so will our children.
When they see how serious we are. When our children
see us praising Jesus and walking in truth. They
will more than likely follow along with us. Now,
I get it. There are going to be some of those
who don't follow right away. There'll be some
of them who fall away and some of them who lag
behind and take a few years. But we shouldn't
just be like, well, since they fell away, I could
be differently. No, we still got to be that godly
example. Show them that true love that Christ
has for us. You may have a child who fell away
from God and who doesn't want to listen to you.
Who doesn't want to hear scripture? Who doesn't
want to go to church ever again because they
may have had such a horrible experience, whatever
it is? I ask you this, have you surrendered your
child to God? Old or young? Have you allowed
God to take control of that situation? Have you
allowed to step out of that situation and allowed
God to be in control of it? Isaiah 55, 9 says,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts. God is a God who transforms
lives and transforms hearts. God's ways are higher
than our ways. We may never understand why God
does the things that he does, the way that he
does. You know, sometimes we think, hey, God,
this is a perfect example. God, this is the perfect
time to go and do this. And God's like, nope,
and waits like two years. It's because his ways
are higher. He is higher than all of us and knows
all things, and he knows every single outcome.
What we think may be a great time may not be
that great time. God knows that. God knows that
that's not going to be the outcome. But we must
trust God and pray in all situations and submit
our children to God. God will accomplish his
will and his purpose. We must show that those
who have walked away, that we're not going to
treat them any differently than we do a brother
and sister in Christ. We will show that we will
teach them, I love you as Christ loves me. Remember
what Hannah said when she made a vow to God saying,
Lord of armies, if you will take notice of your
servant's affliction, remember and not forget
me. And give your servant a son. I will give
him to the Lord. Do what Hananiah did. Dedicate
your child to the Lord. God will do great things
when we submit all to God. And that also includes
our children, giving up our children, submitting
them to God. But in Timothy 1, chapter 4, verse
12, Paul says to Timothy, set an example for
the believers in speech, in conduct, in love,
in faith, and in purity. This isn't for the leaders
in the church only. This isn't for the pastors
or just for the evangelists or whatever. No,
this applies to parents as well. Be the example
in speech. That means not cursing at somebody
who makes you mad and then turning around and
saying, well, I don't know where my child got
this. cursing from, you know? But be that example.
Walk in conduct. Are you reading the scriptures
intentionally? That's that example. Are we praising
the Lord? Be an example in love. Show the love
of Christ to all. Now, like I said, children's
brains are like sponges. You know, they absorb
everything. I unfortunately absorbed all the
wrong things, so I had to learn the right things
later on, but that's just how it is sometimes.
Show your child how to be Christ -like, and they
will follow. Walk alongside your children and
be an example to your children. And now the third
step. Prepare your children to walk out into
the world. Prepare your children for pain and
persecution. When we prepare our children for
pain and persecution, it helps them to understand
that we live in a fallen world. That this life
is not perfect. When we prepare them for pain
and persecution, they will not have false expectations
when they get to school, when they get to work.
Or even out in the world. They won't have those
false expectations. Because we're telling them,
this world is full of pain. And we will endure
pain one day. And we will endure persecution.
But be of good cheer. Christ overcame the world.
Now we can assure them with four things. There's
these four last things. Is when we prepare our
children. The object of our pain and persecution.
will produce great joy eventually. And for some
right away. What do I mean? Even though there
will be struggles in school, at work, struggles
and pain in relationships, much anguish, Jesus
being crucified on the cross and dying for our
sins, when we remember that, That will cause
much great joy because there's nothing we have
to do to defeat the world. There's nothing we
have to do to try to overturn the world because
Christ already overcame the world. If we teach
our children all of this, that when they go through
pain, when they go through a breakup with a boyfriend
or girlfriend, or the persecution of being a
Christian, The Lord may not take them out of
the situation, but the Lord will show them something
in that situation. The Lord will speak to them.
We must prepare them for that. Because in that
situation, the Lord will always bring joy. What
do I mean? Joseph, the son of Jacob, in Genesis,
was thrown into a pit by his brothers. Later
on, he was sold into slavery by his brothers,
and he ended up in Egypt. Now, when he was in
Egypt, he was a slave to Potiphar and his wife.
And in that, he was sexually accused by Potiphar's
wife. And day after day, after all of these pains
and persecutions and going through all the sufferings,
Finally, some years later, the Lord finally delivered
him. Joseph was released from prison, and what?
He became second in command after Pharaoh. Even
in all of that pain, that persecution, that suffering,
the accusations, the Lord brought him to the
point of being above all that, being away from
all of that. Joseph said this in Genesis 50,
verse 20. You planned evil against me. God planned
it for good to bring about the present result,
the survival of many people. Those pains and
persecutions that Joseph went through, they all
turned into joy. God turned and transformed those
into joy later on. We should tell our children
this as well. We should tell our children that
all the pains and persecutions are just for a
little while. Christ overcame them. Number two,
when we prepare our children to go out into the
world, we should teach them to pray. Teach your
children to have a prayer life. Teach them what
prayer means. An effective prayer life is important.
James says in James 5 .16, the prayer of a righteous
person is very powerful in its effect. Effective
prayer is powerful because when we look at 1
Kings 17, Elijah comes on the scene and he speaks
boldly to King Ahab. And he tells him, there
will be no dew or rain during these years except
by command, or by my command. Why was he able
to speak so boldly to King Ahab? James 5 tells
us. It says that Elijah prayed earnestly. Elijah
was praying constantly and with that he was submitted
to God and he was listening to God and he was
declaring God's word in truth and in love. Now
prayer doesn't have to be You know, long or fancy,
use big words. You know, that's the way of the
prophets of Baal. That's what they did. They
had lengthy prayers. So did the Pharisees when
they stood on the street corners and they would
pray. They had the lengthy prayers. But it meant
nothing because it wasn't for God. It was for
themselves to look good. But Elijah here submitted
himself to God. He understood that God is truth.
Elijah knew to submit to God's word. Elijah prayed
according to God's word. So for us, we should
teach our children to pray effectively. In that
way, we combine prayer and the reading of God's
word. Fervent prayer is also powerful. To pray
fervently. Elijah prayed fervently. When he called
down fire from heaven to the prophets of Baal,
he prayed fervently. Elijah kept praying and
praying and praying and praying against the prophet
of Baal and the prophets of Baal. He never gave
up. He kept going because he believed what God
told him. He believed that God was going to deliver
him from these things. And after all those prayers,
God answered. You know, the 12 disciples observed
Jesus raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding
the multitudes, preaching the word, walking on
water, casting out demons, and so on. But did
you know that Jesus' disciples asked him how
to do one thing? That was how to pray. In Luke
11, 1, it says, he was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to
him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also
taught his disciples. They understood the power
of prayer. They understood that they needed to
pray. Otherwise, they never would have asked.
The 12 disciples knew that effective prayer is
powerful. And when we pray fervently, And consistently,
it is also powerful. Mothers, teach your children
just as Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Number
three, when we prepare our children to go out
into the world, remind them this, that Jesus
has conquered the world. Teach them that Jesus
overcame the world. John 16, 33. Jesus says,
I have told you these things so that in me you
may have peace. You will have suffering in this
world. Be courageous. I have conquered the world.
When we see our children stumble, when we see
them fail or going through pain and persecution,
tell them to be courageous. Jesus overcame the
world. And that's a great reminder for us as
well. Jesus lived the sinless life. Satan could
not conquer Jesus. Although he tried, sin never
once tainted Jesus. Jesus conquered the world
by defeating death on the cross. When we show
our children that, they will respect what Jesus
has done for us, and they will understand that
what Jesus did for us on the cross wasn't just
for nothing. It was for all of us, for all the
world. Jesus took on our sins and our failures,
and as believers, as one who has accepted Christ
into our hearts, and believing that Jesus Christ
is Lord, we can also enjoy that victory with
Christ that he won. I like what one pastor said.
He said, the Christian race is the only race
in the world that begins at the finish line.
We don't fight for victory. we fight from victory.
The battle's already won. Jesus has already overcome.
Those are great words to hear. And when we teach
our children this, when they're going through
their pain, persecution, and they remember what
Christ did for us, they will remember that, and
they will rejoice. We should prepare our children
for this type of thing. We should prepare our
children to have that faith, that Christ taught
his disciples. That Christ taught his disciples
that there was going to be trials and pains and
tribulations. So when our children go through
pains, trials and tribulations, they're not taken
by surprise. My mom taught me this in scripture.
I've seen this before. It's in scripture. I know
how to handle this. And then the last one is,
which I was reminded in first service, was forgiveness
and repentance. Teach our children forgiveness
and repentance. Talk about forgiveness. You know,
teach your children to forgive and to be forgiving.
You know, Christ forgave us so we should also
forgive others. When our children are acting
up and they're going through a phase of just,
you know, We shouldn't hate them. We should forgive
them. Why? Because Christ forgave us. Show them
what forgiveness is because when they're in trouble
and they see that you're angry, when we show
them how to be forgiving and loving, they will
want to come to us after and ask for forgiveness.
They will not be afraid of us. And they won't
be afraid to ask for forgiveness. Teach them
forgiveness and repentance. But mothers, I thank
you. I thank you for just being mothers and being
obedient to Christ and listening to God. You
know, there's a few godly women in my life, godly
mothers, I would say, is, you know, my sister.
And I would say my stepmom. She's been such a
godly example. My mother -in -law. And there's
another one I just wanted to thank. And that
is Christiana Bromley. Yeah. When my wife and
I started coming to Hosanna, she had this love
that she was just so loving. and caring. She
showed that. And I was just like, yeah, I know
she's a mother because she has that mother's
love. And without even knowing me, she, for some
reason, accepted my wife and I. She didn't have
to, but she showed that godly love. And I will
never forget it. So when you see her, tell her
thank you. Oh, she's here. Stand up. I'm just
kidding. Don't stand up. But this morning, today
and every day, I just thank you mothers. And
I just pray that you guys just continue to be
faithful. Listen to the Lord. Teach your children.
Walk alongside your children. Be that example.
And teach them about pain, persecution, and suffering.
And teach them about forgiveness as well. Let's
pray. Father God, we're just so thankful. We're
so thankful that you have blessed each and every
one of us with a mother, Lord. Lord, we're just
in awe that our mothers can handle so much. We
know that they go through a lot, Lord. They could
take on so much. They deal with children, young
and old, and even... They're husbands who also
act like children. But Lord, we just thank you.
We thank you for showing the love to the mothers,
and then the mothers show the love to us. And
therefore, we can show love to one another, not
only because of our mothers, but because of you.
Jesus, we just thank you. Thank you for dying
on the cross for our sins. Thank you for just
paving the way. And just the blood that you shed
for us, we just thank you so much. Lord, we're
overcome. We're just thankful that you overcame
the world. There's nothing that we had to do.
Thank you, Father, for everything. It's in Jesus'
precious name we pray. Amen. Lord bless you guys.