Posts belonging to Category Mothers



Sunday Morning SoundBytes – 5/19/2019

Sunday was a message about dealing with the pain of infertility looking at the story of Rachel in the Bible. In the message we talked about issues such as infertility, IVF, surrogacy, foster-parenting and adoption. This was the next message in the Famous Mothers in the Bible series. The message was called Rachel – The Desperate Mother, taken from Genesis 30:1-24 and Genesis 35:16-20. Here is a brief outline of the message:

Dealing with the pain of infertility:

I. Be careful not to blame each other (Genesis 30:1-2)
   A. Anger and blame will only harm your relationship
      – Genesis 3:12; Psalm 37:8
   B. Bring your deepest hurts and desires to God
      – Psalm 62:8; Proverbs 30:15-16

II. Be careful with your options (Genesis 30:3-13)
   A. Be cautious with modern technologies (IVF, surrogacy, etc.)
      – Psalm 139:13-14
   B. Be open to fostering or adoption
      – Psalm 68:5-6; Ephesians 1:5; James 1:27

III. Be careful not to compromise (Genesis 30:14-21)
   A. God takes the sexual relationship very seriously
      – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6
   B. Know there can be long-term consequences to your actions
      – Galatians 6:7-8

IV. Trust God’s timing and plan (Genesis 30:22-24, 35:16-20)
   A. Trust God to provide for your family in his way and in his time
      – Philippians 4:19
   B. Every child is a precious gift from God
      – Matthew 18:10

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.
 

Sunday Morning SoundBytes – 5/12/2019

Sunday’s message was a Mother’s Day sermon from the Famous Mothers in the Bible series. The message was called Leah – The Unloved Mother, taken from Genesis 24:19-35. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. Don’t put all your emphasis on physical appearance (Genesis 29:14-20)
   A. Godly character is more important than physical beauty
      – Proverbs 31:30; 1 Peter 3:3-4
   B. Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart
      – 1 Samuel 16:7

II. Don’t let anything interfere with the marital bond (Genesis 29:21-30)
   A. Husband and wife share a one-flesh relationship
      – Genesis 2:24
   B. The husband should love his wife as he loves his own body
      – Ephesians 5:28

III. Don’t base your identity on your children (Genesis 29:31-35)
   A. Children are a gift from the Lord, not a means to an end
      – Psalm 127:3
   B. Find your identity in Christ alone
      – Philippians 1:21
   C. Trust God’s sovereignty and praise his name
      – Genesis 29:35; Job 1:21

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.
 

Sunday Morning SoundBytes – 5/13/2018

Sunday’s message was a Mother’s Day sermon from the Famous Mothers in the Bible series. The message was called Rebekah – The Conniving Mother, taken from Genesis 25 and 27. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. Favoritism leads to rivalries (Genesis 25:21-34)
   A. Be careful to preserve marital unity
      – Genesis 25:21-28
   B. Be careful not to provoke sibling rivalry
      – Genesis 25:29-34, 37:3-4; Ephesians 6:4

II. Manipulation disrespects relationships (Genesis 27:1-17)
      – Ephesians 5:33
   A. Don’t try to manipulate people or situations around you
      – 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:3-5
   B. Trust God to fulfill his plans in his way and in his time
      – Proverbs 3:5-6

III. Dishonesty prevents people from working out best solutions together (Genesis 27:41-46; Proverbs 15:22)
   A. Deception is just as bad as lying
      – Proverbs 12:22; Acts 5:1-4
   B. Commit to speaking the truth at all times
      – Ephesians 4:25; Galatians 6:7

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.
 

“Had I Been Joseph’s Mother”

Here is a poem by Ruth Bell Graham for Mother’s Day. Read out loud to catch the rhyming scheme which keeps shifting from stanza to stanza. Enjoy!

“Had I Been Joseph’s Mother” by Ruth Bell Graham

Had I been Joseph’s mother
I’d have prayed
protection from his brothers:
“God keep him safe;
he is so young,
so different from
the others.”
Mercifully she never knew
there would be slavery
and prison, too.

Had I been Moses’ mother
I’d have wept
to keep my little son;
praying she might forget
the babe drawn from the water
of the Nile,
had I not kept
him for her
nursing him the while?
Was he not mine
and she
but Pharaoh’s daughter?

Had I been Daniel’s mother
I should have pled
“Give victory!
This Babylonian horde –
godless and cruel –
don’t let them take him captive
– better dead,
Almighty Lord!”

Had I been Mary –
Oh, had I been she,
I would have cried
as never a mother cried,
“…Anything, O God,
anything …
but crucified!”

With such prayers
importunate
my finite wisdom
would assail
Infinite Wisdom;
God, how fortunate
Infinite Wisdom
should prevail!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sunday Morning SoundBytes – 5/14/2017

Sunday’s message was a Mother’s Day sermon from the Famous Mothers in the Bible series. The message was called Hagar – The Crying Mother, taken from Genesis 16 and 21. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. God sees you in your pain (Genesis 16:1-16)
   A. When you feel like you have no control over your life (1-3)
   B. When others mistreat you (4-6)
   C. God sees your pain and intervenes (16:7-16)
      – Psalm 34:15,18

II. God hears you in your distress (Genesis 21:8-21)
   A. When your children cause you distress (8-13)
   B. When your distress brings you to tears (14-16)
   C. God hears your crying and intervenes (17-21)
      – Psalm 116:1-2

III. God loves you and has a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11)
   A. God knows the plans he has for you
      – Proverbs 3:5-6
   B. God will give you hope and a future
      – Romans 8:28

“God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.
 

Happy Mother’s Day from Kevin Durant

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant to his mother in his MVP acceptance speech on May 6, 2014:

We weren’t supposed to be here. You made us believe, you kept us off the street, put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.

Happy Mother’s Day Moms! I agree – you are the real MVPs!

Sunday Morning SoundBytes – 5/13/2013

Yesterday’s message for Mother’s Day was called Eve – The Mother of All the Living, taken from Genesis 3:20. Here is a brief outline of the message:

  I. Eve is the mother of all the physically living (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 3:16)

  II. Eve is the mother of all the spiritually living (Genesis 3:15a)

  III. Eve is the mother of Christ the Savior (Genesis 3:15b)

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.

A Mother’s Work and God

Ann Voskamp offers this thoughtful reflection on a mother’s work and God:

All work is sacred work, worthy of the diligence, the effort. I pick up lost legos, dry the pots, whish the toilets and this serves God. For if I can’t meet God in my work, where do I meet Him? If I don’t serve Him here, where do I serve Him? Are we not called to serve God in the work – not merely in some imagined, mirage place outside of work?

In a model of Christian work, we live one-piece lives, all weaving together into a sacred cloth as unto the Lord with no false seams between God and our days.

And in our work, sacred work because there is no such thing as secular work, we first serve God. I’ll put away the laundry, sweep the crumbs, polish the windows not to serve my family primarily, but to serve God.

If you are a mother, or even if you are not, I encourage you to go to Ann’s site, read the whole article, and enjoy the music and pictures.

Pet Moms

Gorilla Mother and Baby

Click here for more pictures of animal moms and their babies.

A Piece of Plastic Clay (A Poem for Mother’s Day)

This poem is a good reminder of a mother’s influence in her child’s life.

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past;
The bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it still it bore,
But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.

I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon;
That early impress still he wore,
And I could change it never more.

(Author Unknown)

Related post: The Magic Dresser (A Poem for Mother’s Day)

So how’s Mr. Mom doing?

Well, after a full day of cooking, cleaning, driving, shopping, homeschooling, grading and keeping house, one of my sons said to me, “Dad, you look beat!” Then he thought for a minute and added, “You look like Mom usually does around this time of day.” I told Rose, and she loved it.

Click here for more Mr. Mom posts.

Provoking Hannah

We are studying the book of 1 Samuel in church, and I found the following dialogue helpful in bringing Hannah’s situation to life. Hannah was barren and could not have any children. Her husband had a second wife named Peninnah who did have children. The Bible tells us that Peninnah kept provoking Hannah until she wept and would not eat. Dale Davis in his commentary on 1 Samuel imagines the following conversation where Peninnah flaunts her children in front of Hannah. The dialogue begins with Peninnah speaking.

– Now do all you children have your food? Dear me, there are so many of you, it’s hard to keep track.

– Mommy, Miss Hannah doesn’t have any children.

– What did you say, dear?

– I said, Miss Hannah doesn’t have any children.

– Miss Hannah? Oh yes, that’s right – she doesn’t have any children.

– Doesn’t she want children?

– Oh yes, she wants children very, very much! Wouldn’t you say so, Hannah? [In a low aside] Don’t you wish you had children, too?

– Doesn’t Daddy want Miss Hannah to have kids?

– Oh, certainly he does – but Miss Hannah keeps disappointing him; she just can’t have kids.

– Why not?

– Why, because God won’t let her.

– Does God not like Miss Hannah?

– Well, I don’t know – what do you think? Oh, by the way, Hannah, did I tell you that I’m pregnant again?! You think you’ll ever be pregnant, Hannah?

You can just imagine how deeply a conversation like that would have hurt Hannah. And we’re told that this went on year after year. You can read the whole message on this section of Scripture here:  God’s Purpose in Prayer