Mexborough Baptist Church Sunday 14th March 2021
Fourth Sunday in Lent - Mothers Day
We welcome everyone to our service wherever you are in the world. We are all special to God and our first song tells us that 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands' click on the link
In the UK today, it's Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday, traditionally (at least from the early 20th century) a special day to spoil our Mums with flowers and chocolates or even a nice meal, to thank them for being the wonderful people they are and for all the things they do for us.
This week our children received activity bags to help them spoil their Mums for Mother's Day....
Here's Arla making a sandwich for (with) Mummy click on the link
Noah and Seth have been busy as well....
Cheryl and Angela lead us in our prayers....
Loving God, thank you for mothers and families, and for the joy of family life. We also thank you for the ones who aren’t birth mothers but take on the role of caring and nurturing. Especially at this time we pray that you will be with those who are grieving the loss of a mother. Be close to those who are sad because they have to be apart from those whom they love. We pray that your love will be present in every home. Help your church to have eyes to see and ears to hear the needs of all they meet. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen
Good and gentle God, we pray in thanks for our mothers and for all who are joined in you in the wonder of bringing new life into our families. You who became human through Mary your mother, grant to all mothers the courage they need to face the uncertain future that bringing up children always brings. Give them the strength to live and love and be loved in return. Give them the faithful support of family and friends as they care for the physical and spiritual growth of their children and give them joy and delight in their children too, to sustain them through the problems that arise in motherhood. But most of all give them the wisdom to turn to you for help when they need it most. In Jesus' lovely name, Amen.
Where would we be without our mothers, Lord? Bless them with your wisdom to teach and to guide their children in ways that will help them to follow you and to become men and women who will be pleasing to you. Give all mothers patience in the challenges of their role and, most of all, give them a special blessing as they care so lovingly for the children that you have allowed them the honour of raising. Amen.
We have given thanks to God for all mothers everywhere, let us pause in a moment of silence to pray for mothers who will be heartbroken today, especially the mother of Sarah Everard. God promises to comfort all who mourn and his love holds us close at the most difficult and traumatic times of our lives. Click on the link
The Bible is full of stories about mothers. How well do you know them? Here is a quiz to test you - Bible Moms Trivia Game For Kids click on the link
Did you get them all right? Give yourselves a
Lisa shares with us her thoughts for Mothers Day. Please have your Bible handy to read the references for yourselves....
Eunice & Timothy
Ever since I was a child myself, I have held a very strong conviction that my reason for being here on this earth is to be a mother; to raise my children as disciples for the glory and kingdom of God. I’ve been planning and preparing for my “one-day children” for as long as I can remember, even so far as choosing my degree so that I could better understand their development, and praying for them before they were ever conceived. I even named them and made them an email address, years before they were conceived so that I could start sharing my hopes and prayers for them, stories and photos from my pregnancy and their early years.
There are many examples of wonderful women and mothers in the Bible, but one who seems to share my passionate convictions about the responsibility of motherhood is Eunice. You would be forgiven for needing a reminder of who Eunice is. She, along with her own mother, Lois, was only named once in the whole Bible; the mother of Timothy in the New Testament. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” - 2 Timothy 1:5
Another parallel I am able to draw between myself and Eunice is that we are both believing mothers with an unbelieving husband, “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1). Just like my own three children, Timothy is the product of a believing mother and an unbelieving father. Just as my own children receive their biblical instruction from me, so Timothy is said to have learned scriptures from his mother: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” - 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
In his New Testament Notes, Albert Barnes said about Eunice that she, “The mother of Timothy was a pious Hebrewess, and regarded it as one of the duties of her religion to train her son in the careful knowledge of the word of God.” (From "The Second Epistle of Paul To Timothy” - Chapter 3 - Verse 15). She was obviously well versed in the Jewish scriptures and took to heart the instructions found in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 and Proverbs 22:6, instilling the ways of the Lord in the heart and mind of her young child, that he might know and walk in them all the days of his life. This is a wise instruction for parents of any era, and something I try to remember in the upbringing of my children, with the hope that they too will go on to walk in the Lord’s will even as they grow into adulthood and, the Lord willing, become parents themselves.
Eunice’s hard work seems to have paid off; Timothy went on to lead the church and make his mark on history as the first Christian bishop in Ephesus. This leads us to consider not only the effects that our obedience to these scriptures can have on our own offspring, but also the greater effects as they cascade throughout the future generations, the so-called “ripple effect”. Sometimes I worry that my meagre teaching isn’t enough. I humbly offer Bible stories and praise songs to my children in the hope that they will be interested and that a seed might plant itself in their hearts. I so desperately want them to choose the narrow path, but it is a daunting task alone.
I often wonder if Eunice’s unbelieving husband was supportive of her faith, perhaps he just didn’t accept it at the time but later came to salvation through observing the effects on his family (1 Corinthians 7:12-16 is my prayer!) I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for her if she had to contend with and battle him on every decision. We know that Timothy was uncircumcised, which is strange considering that the tradition was for children to be brought up in their mother’s faith, so I wonder how that discussion must have gone. I am grateful that my own husband supports, even if he does not share, my beliefs, but with that said, I do find myself envying those families who have both a believing mother and father; who can share the burden of responsibility and spend time enjoying the word of God together, but then I am reminded of Eunice, and I think that if the Lord blessed her with the task of raising up one of the most prominent men in early church history, even in spite of her circumstances, then with the Lord as my strength and my song (Exodus 15:2), I can walk this path, too!
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As Christians we know that our best hope of being the parents and spiritual guides we want to be for our children is to surrender ourselves to God, to worship him and let Him guide us. We sing together 'As the Deer Pants for the Water' click on the link
We sing together our resounding closing hymn of praise 'Now thank we all our God' click on the link
Benediction
May the Lord, who brought us to birth by his Spirit, strengthen us for the Christian life.
May the Lord, who provides for all our needs, sustain us day by day.
May the Lord, whose steadfast love is constant as a mother's care, send us out to live and work for others.
And the blessing of God Almighty - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - be with us and remain with us always. Amen.
(from The Mothers Union)
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