SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Life Family Church Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time listening, you can check us out on our website at lifefamily.church or on Facebook at LFT.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get right to the message.
SPEAKER_01: Are you glad we serve a powerful God?
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: The God that loves fiercely has a fierce love for you.
SPEAKER_01: Loves you so much.
SPEAKER_01: You always are on his mind, and his affection is for you.
SPEAKER_01: My God loves me.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody point to your chest and say, God loves me.
SPEAKER_01: And he's not mad at me, he's madly in love with me.
SPEAKER_01: We serve a God who's jealous.
SPEAKER_01: He's jealous for you.
SPEAKER_01: He's angry when anything else takes his time.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to spend all the time he can with you.
SPEAKER_01: He set it up so that you can go to eternity with him and spend forever with him.
SPEAKER_01: He loves you that much that he wants to spend forever with you.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: There's one thing to love somebody, but it's a good time sometimes to get a break from them, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's like, I love you, man, but you know what?
SPEAKER_01: You're crowding me a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's take a little break here every once in a while, hang out, do something else.
SPEAKER_01: But God, He always wants to be with you.
SPEAKER_01: He's always wanting to be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Throughout eternity, he made a way so you could always be with Him.
SPEAKER_01: So we serve an awesome God who's madly in love with you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You could be seated this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God.
SPEAKER_01: It's so good to be in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_01: Happy Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I ditto what uh Jimmy was saying.
SPEAKER_01: I have an amazing wife who is an amazing mother who loves her children fiercely and don't mess with her babies.
SPEAKER_01: Because she will turn fleshly real fast.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: It's funny how mothers are, you know, you don't mess with their children.
SPEAKER_01: Their children could be doing some of the most ungodly things, but you talk about their children.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-uh.
SPEAKER_01: I could talk about them, but you can't talk about my babies, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um, before we get started, I would like to thank everyone who came out Friday evening uh to uh just throw a housewarming uh party for us.
SPEAKER_01: Allie, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: She did so much.
SPEAKER_01: Where are you at, girl?
SPEAKER_01: Huh?
SPEAKER_01: She's walking out.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: Her and Heather and you guys and Morgan did such an amazing job of hosting this for us, and it was a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And for you all of all of you guys who brought out gifts and things, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it means so much to us to know that we're loved.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to say to you, I love you guys.
SPEAKER_01: I love everyone in this place, and I'm so thankful to be here.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a blessing that our house is still under contract.
SPEAKER_01: The inspections have taken place, they've signed the paperwork, everybody's doing very well, and things are moving along very well.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, on the 26th of this month, there's gonna be a Holy Ghost party at my house because we're gonna be free from Oklahoma and we're no longer gonna be Okies, we're gonna be Alan Eyes, amen.
SPEAKER_01: So get ready.
SPEAKER_01: I'm still trying to make a decision.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm still trying to make a decision what professional baseball team to be a part of and what professional football team to be a part of.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I don't want to split the church, so I'll just keep that to myself.
SPEAKER_01: I think I think the the greatest amen that I got was when I said something about the Chicago Bears beating the Green Bay Packers this year.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, well, I think I just hit a nerve.
SPEAKER_01: So, and I'm gonna leave the baseball thing alone because I think uh most of everyone in here is uh St.
SPEAKER_01: Louis Cardinals fans, am I right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, maybe not is there's some Cubs fans in here?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right, we see some Cubs.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: Get out of the flesh, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Let's get back in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is about mothers, not about baseball.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: So uh so glad to have you here.
SPEAKER_01: It is Mother's Day, and we are so thankful for all the mothers and what they do and what they've provided for us to be here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, guys, uh, you you mamas, you are awesome and you are blessed.
SPEAKER_01: And we thank you so much for all you do, and for those who have mothers who have passed on, we honor them as well.
SPEAKER_01: And we're so grateful for the path they laid for us to be able to step into what God has for each and every one of our lives.
SPEAKER_01: So not only do we celebrate those who are with us today, but we also celebrate those who have gone on to glory.
SPEAKER_01: And I think they're in the grandstands right now.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about a great cloud of witness.
SPEAKER_01: I believe those witnesses are those mamas who have been uh who has gone on before us.
SPEAKER_01: I believe they're still praying for you.
SPEAKER_01: They're still rooting for you, they're still celebrating for you, and they're still saying, Go get them, go do it.
SPEAKER_01: You can do this.
SPEAKER_01: Don't give up, don't quit.
SPEAKER_01: You know, those mamas never quit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So let's just be thankful for that.
SPEAKER_01: And for those of you who desire to be mamas one day, praise God for you.
SPEAKER_01: It is a blessing to be a mother and to do the things that God has called each and every one of us to do.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: Today I'm gonna talk uh fairly shortly because I know everyone in here has a few things you're gonna do after service to celebrate Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to keep you too long, but I want to keep you long enough to give you an opportunity to experience what it's like to be loved by the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And today, if you want to uh turn your Bibles to John chapter uh 19.
SPEAKER_01: Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, we thank you so much for this day.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you so much for your word.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you so much for everyone who chose to be here today to celebrate Mother's Day, but most importantly, to celebrate you, because without you, none of this is possible.
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord, today we give you all the glory and the honor and the praise, and we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_01: And as your word is spoken today, I pray that it would penetrate the heart and it would cause us to realize how much you love us and how special you see us, and how much we should honor our mothers in the Lord in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So, today, if you have your Bibles and you're at John chapter 19, verse 26, let me get there.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read it out of the New King James Bible.
SPEAKER_01: So, John 19.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 26.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus therefore saw his mother and his disciples, whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother.
SPEAKER_01: And from that hour that disciple took her into his own home.
SPEAKER_01: And after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said this, I thirst.
SPEAKER_01: Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to his lips.
SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.
SPEAKER_01: And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to be talking just a moment about honoring your mother.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most powerful moments in Scripture happened during the darkest moment of Jesus' earthly ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Where Jesus was hanging on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, standing in the gap for all of humanity, becoming the sacrifice, the spotless Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world, one that had not ever sinned was standing there in our place, taking what we deserved, hanging on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: He had been beaten, he had been scourged, he had been whipped, he had been stripped completely nude.
SPEAKER_01: Shame was put on him, rejection people spit on him.
SPEAKER_01: He's on the cross, he's hanging there, the nails are pierced through his wrist, and he looks through the crowd and he notices his mother standing there, and he said, John, your mother.
SPEAKER_01: Mother, your son.
SPEAKER_01: When I was reading that this week, it just jumped off the pages.
SPEAKER_01: What happened?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was concerned about his mother's welfare even in the time where he was suffering the most.
SPEAKER_01: That tells me a lot about the character of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus wasn't concerned about his pain.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't concerned about his embarrassing situation where he was completely nude before hundreds of people.
SPEAKER_01: He was being mocked, ridiculed, spit upon, made fun of.
SPEAKER_01: They were laughing, they were taking his clothes and they were gambling for his clothes, just laughing, having a good time, rejecting the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus wasn't concerned about what they were doing to him, he was concerned about us.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when we get our mind off the pain and we get our mind off the shame and we get our mind off of rejection and we start to think about other people, we can walk in joy even in the midst of pain.
SPEAKER_01: When you're suffering the most, that is not the time to start looking inward.
SPEAKER_01: That's the time to start looking outward and start thinking about someone else.
SPEAKER_01: Because someone else needs what you have.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was concerned about his mother.
SPEAKER_01: John was one of the youngest disciples.
SPEAKER_01: He was the youngest disciple.
SPEAKER_01: Some scholars believe that John was in his young teens to maybe possibly 20 years old.
SPEAKER_01: John was the disciple that in the Last Supper he was laying on the chest of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And he described himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't imagine being another disciple.
SPEAKER_01: You're standing there, and this guy's like, oh yes, I'm the disciple whom Jesus loved.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would be like, no, I'm the disciple whom Jesus loves.
SPEAKER_01: And there would be a fight going on because I'm going to be that guy.
SPEAKER_01: But John ended up winning the place of that guy.
SPEAKER_01: He was the one that declared to himself, I am the person who Jesus loves.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I believe so wholeheartedly that we need to take on that same mentality.
SPEAKER_01: Every one of us needs to wake up in the morning, get your Bible out, put it on your lap, and say, Hi, Father, I am the disciple who you love.
SPEAKER_01: You need to declare yourself the disciple whom Jesus loved.
SPEAKER_01: Because the disciple whom Jesus loved, the disciple who was full of confidence, because he knew how much he was loved by the Father, that's the very one that Jesus picked to be the one to take care of his mother.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because he knew love.
SPEAKER_01: And if you know love, you know how to give love.
SPEAKER_01: If you have never received the love of God, you don't know how to give it.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not a born-again believer, you don't know what the love of God is.
SPEAKER_01: You've never had it in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's got to get down on the inside of you so that you can begin to spread that love.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we're not here to condemn people.
SPEAKER_01: We're not here to judge people, we're not here to waste our time looking down on others.
SPEAKER_01: We're here to love people, encourage people, build each other up.
SPEAKER_01: When people come to church, when they leave, they should leave lifted, knowing that they have been around a lot of people full of love.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you hang around God long enough, you get full of his love.
SPEAKER_01: Because God is love.
SPEAKER_01: And John recognized that love and he took that love and he put it on the inside of him, and Jesus recognized it and he said, You're gonna be the one who takes care of my mom because she needs that kind of love.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus loved his mother, and he honored his mother even until he took his last breath.
SPEAKER_01: You might be in the middle of suffering.
SPEAKER_01: But for a moment, take your mind off the suffering and look into Jesus and acknowledge his example of how he loved in the middle of the pain.
SPEAKER_01: He paused in his pain to make sure Mary would be cared for.
SPEAKER_01: That shows us something powerful.
SPEAKER_01: Even in agony, Jesus just demonstrated honor, compassion, responsibility, and love for his mother.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says when Jesus saw his mother, that's something we need to recognize.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus wasn't looking at himself, but he was looking to her.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about when Jesus was on the cross, he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing.
SPEAKER_01: And it goes on to talk later on, I believe in it was in Hebrews or James, where it talks about for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: That tells me that Jesus, when he was suffering, the joy that was set before him, that's what he was looking at.
SPEAKER_01: And do you know what that joy was?
SPEAKER_01: That was you, that was you, that was you, that was you.
SPEAKER_01: He was looking at someone else, and he knew that he was doing what he was doing because he was going to get a great reward for it.
SPEAKER_01: You are that reward, and he loves you that much.
SPEAKER_01: The same mother who held him as a baby was now watching him die.
SPEAKER_01: That's hard.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you mothers have gone through great pain.
SPEAKER_01: You've experienced things that I don't believe anyone should have to ever experience.
SPEAKER_01: I've talked to a lot of you who've experienced things like that.
SPEAKER_01: But know this.
SPEAKER_01: They are in a place and they're waiting for you.
SPEAKER_01: And in a twinkling of an eye, it's gonna be just like that.
SPEAKER_01: We're all gonna be together celebrating with those loved ones.
SPEAKER_01: And they're not hurting, they're not in pain, but they are rejoicing every moment because they are in the very presence of Almighty God, and He's taking good care of.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: He's taken good care of, and He loves them.
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, it's hard, but they would want you because they know God, they would want you to keep on pushing forward, keep on moving forward, don't give up, don't quit, don't stop.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's painful, but don't give up because God loves you and there's joy ahead of you, amen.
SPEAKER_01: And He has a plan for your life.
SPEAKER_01: So don't stop in the pain, don't stop in the suffering, but keep on moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: Keep on moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: One thing I noticed, it said that Jesus saw his mother.
SPEAKER_01: That's one thing that we need to do.
SPEAKER_01: Every day we get, every time we get an opportunity, we need to acknowledge them.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus saw her, it was in his darkest hour.
SPEAKER_01: One of the greatest gifts we can give our mother today is to just simply see them.
SPEAKER_01: Just simply acknowledge them.
SPEAKER_01: Just simply say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Every chance you get, say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate what you do.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you guys, but I gave my mom a hard time.
SPEAKER_01: And she deserves a lot of credit because I was a knucklehead growing up.
SPEAKER_01: I was always tearing things apart to try to put them back together.
SPEAKER_01: And um always in always in a mess, always getting in fights, always having her have to come down to the school to get me out of trouble.
SPEAKER_01: Always here, you're you're a good boy, you represent our family, you don't act like that, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I thank God for my mother because if it wasn't for my mother, I wouldn't be here today doing what I'm doing right now.
SPEAKER_01: She prayed for me, and I had a grandmother that prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: I had a great-grandmother that prayed for me, and I'm sure before that more that prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people have prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Because I can still be a knucklehead, is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: But we need to acknowledge our mothers every chance we get, if they're with you, and make sure you acknowledge them and say thank you to them.
SPEAKER_01: See their sacrifice, see their prayers, see their tears, see their faithfulness, see what nobody else notices.
SPEAKER_01: See them.
SPEAKER_01: Many mothers carry burdens silently.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of you mothers are carrying burdens that nobody should have to carry.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in 1 Peter 5 7's uh 5-7, it says, casting all your care on the Lord, for Jesus loves you and he cares for you.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're a mother in here today and you're carrying burdens, I would encourage you, do the very best you can to release those pains and that hardship and everything.
SPEAKER_01: Just release it to God.
SPEAKER_01: Give it to him because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_01: And if he cares for you, that means he's got the solution you need.
SPEAKER_01: He's got everything you'll ever need.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're a mother and you're having a hard time, um, just know that Jesus cares for you and he wants the very best for you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to John, Behold your mother.
SPEAKER_01: In that culture, a widow without family support could be vulnerable and unprotected.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus knew that she needs someone to look over her.
SPEAKER_01: And at that time, Jesus' brothers, um, at that moment, they weren't strong disciples.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I they don't, it doesn't record that they were even born again at that time.
SPEAKER_01: So that shows us another principle that if you're someone and you don't have a mother, you can have a spiritual mother.
SPEAKER_01: Someone that will love you through hard times, even though they might not be your natural mother, there's someone that becomes your spiritual mother.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus saw to it that John had a spiritual mother and that the mother of Jesus would have a son to continue to support her.
SPEAKER_01: It's said that John did exactly what Jesus asked him to do.
SPEAKER_01: He took care of Mary.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, most theologians believe that Mary lived to be somewhere between uh 65, 70 years old, and that John took care of her the entire time, and that John outlived every one of the other disciples.
SPEAKER_01: That John lived to be probably anywhere from the late to middle eighties to well into a hundred years old, that John, probably in his 90s, was only The Isle of Patmos, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he wrote the book of Revelation.
SPEAKER_01: John outlived everyone.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about that, and we'll talk about that in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: It is important to honor your mother and your father.
SPEAKER_01: It's important to do those things.
SPEAKER_01: Even while saving the world, Jesus made arrangements for his mother's care.
SPEAKER_01: He was showing responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: He was showing honor.
SPEAKER_01: He was showing compassion, and he was showing provision.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus fulfilled the commandment of God that was written in Exodus chapter 20, verse 12 honor thy father and thy mother.
SPEAKER_01: Even on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the commandment perfectly.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible declares that if you will do this, if you will honor your mother and your father, that you'll have long life and a life that is satisfying.
SPEAKER_01: So it is a principle that you should honor your mother and your father because when you do that, the Bible says you'll have long life and a satisfying life.
SPEAKER_01: So it's very important to do those things.
SPEAKER_01: Love is not just words.
SPEAKER_01: Love takes responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: Real honor asks, how can I help?
SPEAKER_01: How can I serve?
SPEAKER_01: And how can I care for those who cared for me?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus created a family at the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus told Mary, woman, behold, your son.
SPEAKER_01: Then he told John, behold your mother.
SPEAKER_01: At the cross, Jesus connected people together.
SPEAKER_01: And we're connected to him because of the cross.
SPEAKER_01: The cross does not just save us individually, it creates spiritual family.
SPEAKER_01: So when you are born again, you're not just a part of Life Family Church, although you are, but you are a part of a big family.
SPEAKER_01: The family of God, the kingdom of God, and you're a part of it.
SPEAKER_01: I laugh at people when they're like, oh, I go to a small church, I go to a little country church out in the middle of nowhere.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, but you're a part of a big family.
SPEAKER_01: You might have a smaller church, but buddy, you are a part of a huge family.
SPEAKER_01: Don't ever think you're by yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You're a part of a family who loves you.
SPEAKER_01: This is a picture of the church caring for one another, supporting one another, and loving one another.
SPEAKER_01: Mothers are often the glue that holds the family together.
SPEAKER_01: They pray over their homes, they carry burdens, they keep faith alive in difficult seasons.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most beautiful parts of this story, Mary stayed when others fled.
SPEAKER_01: When all the other disciples were running for their life and hiding and rejecting Jesus because they didn't want to get caught knowing him, Mary stayed at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_01: She didn't leave.
SPEAKER_01: She stayed there to the very end.
SPEAKER_01: That is someone we can honor.
SPEAKER_01: That is someone we can really show credit to because she deserved that kind of credit.
SPEAKER_01: Others denied him, others hid, but his mother stayed at the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Godly mothers, they stay faithful.
SPEAKER_01: They stay through hardships, they stay through disappointments, they stay through seasons of pain.
SPEAKER_01: A praying mother is one of heaven's greatest gifts.
SPEAKER_01: You mothers are a gift from God.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you might be getting a little older and you think, what can I do?
SPEAKER_01: What can I do?
SPEAKER_01: You can continue praying for us.
SPEAKER_01: You can spend time praying for those others who are younger in the Lord so that we can grow strong and continue to serve God and see his kingdom come and his will be done on this earth.
SPEAKER_01: Someone today is serving God because a mother kept standing near the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are here today because a praying mother stood in the gap for you.
SPEAKER_01: And you might have been invited by your mother to come to church today, and you're thinking, I'll just go because mom wants me to, but you're here because God brought you here.
SPEAKER_01: And you might be thinking, oh no, no, I'm just trying to appease my mama and make her happy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just doing this for her.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna tell you right now, you're not just doing it for her.
SPEAKER_01: God has an has ordained you to be here today so that you could hear the word of God and you could come into a relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'll tell you the truth, because the truth is what will make you free, and it's not always easy to hear.
SPEAKER_01: But the truth is if you don't receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your last breath will be the last time you'll ever see your mother.
SPEAKER_01: Because you'll be eternally separated from all of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And you say, Well, why would God do something like that?
SPEAKER_01: God didn't do it.
SPEAKER_01: You chose to reject Jesus, the one who loves you.
SPEAKER_01: The greatest joy you could ever give your mother is to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and give her that peace, knowing that you're a child of God and you'll be with her for eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And I know that's not a popular thing to say in the church today, but I'm not about a popularity contest.
SPEAKER_01: I'm about getting people saved and healed and delivered and set free and brought into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: I want to see God's family continue to grow.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: So we want to see you born again.
SPEAKER_01: How do you get born again?
SPEAKER_01: You ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_01: You say, Lord, forgive me of my sin, cleanse me of all my unrighteousness, I receive you as my Lord and Savior, and you make that confession that Jesus is your Lord, and the Bible says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Is it that easy?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, but it's hard.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's a commitment that you make, that you give up your rights, you give up your old nature, and you say, I want to take on the nature of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I want to become a child of God.
SPEAKER_01: And that is a decision that you have to make before you take your last breath.
SPEAKER_01: It's one opportunity, and those opportunities must be seized within the lifetime of those opportunities when they come up.
SPEAKER_01: You have to take advantage of moments like this where you have an opportunity to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_01: This is a moment for some of you that can change the outcome of your history.
SPEAKER_01: It's a turning point in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Don't take these moments lightly.
SPEAKER_01: Show your mother honor, but most importantly, show your God honor.
SPEAKER_01: That you love him and that you'll serve him for the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_01: That through his suffering, he laid himself out as a lamb without spot or blemish.
SPEAKER_01: The very Son of God became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He took what we deserved so that we could have everything he deserved.
SPEAKER_01: That's love.
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly how mothers are.
SPEAKER_01: They'll lay down their life for their children.
SPEAKER_01: They'll lay down their desires for their children.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you had goals and ambitions and desires, but you had children and you laid all that down.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you loved your babies.
SPEAKER_01: And you said, you know what, my child is more important than my career.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: My child is everything to me.
SPEAKER_01: And you laid that down.
SPEAKER_01: But there's one thing I want to remind you of.
SPEAKER_01: There's someone that loves your babies more than you do, women.
SPEAKER_01: There's somebody that loves that baby more than you do, man.
SPEAKER_01: And that's Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: God loves those babies more than you do.
SPEAKER_01: And He can take care of them and He can protect them.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to learn to just release them to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: It's freeing when you can say, you know, I give them to you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I give them to you.
SPEAKER_01: Because I know you love them and I know you have a plan for their life.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I want to give you a challenge today.
SPEAKER_01: I challenge you to honor your mother.
SPEAKER_01: I challenge you to appreciate her.
SPEAKER_01: I challenge you to speak life over her.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to thank her and care for her.
SPEAKER_01: Because love is revealed not only in great sacrifice, but also in faithful care.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Proverbs 31, verse 28, it says this her children will rise up and call her blessed.
SPEAKER_01: All your hard work, all the effort you put in loving those babies, the Bible promises you that your children will rise up and they will call you blessed.
SPEAKER_01: That is exactly what we need to do right now.
SPEAKER_01: Let's all just rise up right now.
SPEAKER_01: One thing I wrote down before I came out here today because I believe the Lord put it on my heart was this some of you mothers have done the very best you possibly could do to raise your children.
SPEAKER_01: You have worked hard, you have prayed, you have cried, you have stood at the altar, you have begged, you've pleaded, you've been broke down, you almost lost your mind over it.
SPEAKER_01: You've done everything in your power to say, come back.
SPEAKER_01: You can do this.
SPEAKER_01: You've done all you could do to help them, and you don't see the fruit of it.
SPEAKER_01: Don't beat yourself up.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what the Lord put on my heart this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you mothers have done the very best to love your child and raise them the right way, but they've strayed away into a life of sin.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to tell you, God experienced the very same thing that you are going through right now.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you can agree that God is the best father?
SPEAKER_01: Is there any greater than our Father God?
SPEAKER_01: Could there be any better than God?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: But do you know the very first kids that God raised walked away from it?
SPEAKER_01: That God loved Adam and Eve, but they chose sin instead of him.
SPEAKER_01: They chose to reject his word and to do it their way.
SPEAKER_01: He was the best father.
SPEAKER_01: There was none greater than the Father God.
SPEAKER_01: But even him, he could not keep them from making a choice that was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: But did he give up?
SPEAKER_01: Did he quit?
SPEAKER_01: Did he get angry at them and just wipe them out right there?
SPEAKER_01: No, he didn't.
SPEAKER_01: He provided a sacrifice and he covered their shame and he loved them because love covers a multitude of sin.
SPEAKER_01: We're not here to put people down when they're in the roughest times.
SPEAKER_01: We're here to build them up, encourage them, strengthen them, help them.
SPEAKER_01: And if they come back at the last moment, praise God they came back.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: But we've got to continue loving these people and praying for them that one day they will rise up and they will call their mother blessed.
SPEAKER_01: So, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for those who have walked away.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for those who have not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_01: We pray, Father, that you would open their eyes so that they can see clearly who you are and how much you love them and how much they mean to you.
SPEAKER_01: And Father, I pray that they would come to the revelation that they need Jesus as their Lord and Savior and that they can't do it on their own any longer, that they need him and they commit all their ways to the Lord and they ask you to forgive them of their sins, their trespasses, and they cling to you and take on the nature of the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I thank you for those people.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, if there's anyone in here today that does not know you as their Lord and their Savior, Lord, I just pray right now in the name of Jesus that they will make that commitment right now, that they won't hold back any longer, that they won't reject you, but they would run to you and make a commitment to you that they're going to receive you as their Lord and their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in here today and you don't know Jesus, you don't know him as your Lord and Savior and you've rejected him throughout your life, I ask you right now, will you make that commitment?
SPEAKER_01: Will you make the commitment to receive Jesus as your Lord and your Savior?
SPEAKER_01: If you're in here today and that's you, would you just make your way here to the front?
SPEAKER_01: I want to meet you up here and pray with you and lead you to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in here and you don't know the Lord, or you've walked away from the Lord, and you want to make a commitment to God right now, if that's you, would you please just step out from where you are and just come up here to the front?
SPEAKER_01: I want to pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: This church will love you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be ashamed of Jesus because he's not ashamed of you.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in here and you want to make that commitment, come to the front.
SPEAKER_01: I want to pray with you.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, everybody, you guys can look up at me.
SPEAKER_01: Mothers, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And we have in the back a gift for you.
SPEAKER_01: And uh once again, thank you, Steve, for giving us this opportunity to bless our mothers.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would encourage you, mothers, when you get home, get a little bit of water and water them.
SPEAKER_01: That would be a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: Because these flowers, they're meant to be used and planted, not just sit on your shelf and die.
SPEAKER_01: So you can plant these things and enjoy them all summer long.
SPEAKER_01: And um, on behalf of my family, to your family, we love you.
SPEAKER_01: And we're so proud to be a part of your family.
SPEAKER_01: And just God bless you.
SPEAKER_01: You all have a wonderful Mother's Day and honor your mother because she truly is a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: God bless you.
SPEAKER_01: You have a wonderful day.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_00: We hope that this message helps you draw closer to God as you walk out your faith.
SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next week.