SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, Lake Church. And happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers, grandmothers, motherly figures. We are so thankful for you. We honor you. We celebrate you today. But most of most importantly, we're here to celebrate Jesus. Amen. And we are thankful to have everyone with us this morning. Good to see everybody join us today for worship. I want to take our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter number two, and we're going to look at verse number 41. And I'm going to dive into the message this morning by asking you a straightforward question. And I want an honest answer. All right. Can we do that this morning? Let's be honest. I'm going to ask not just mothers, but parents have you ever left or lost one of your kids? Raise your hand. Come on, don't lie. You left them or you lost them somewhere. Alright? We've all, probably most of us have done that. I'm glad to say there's so many people that's lost their kids. Makes me feel better. Because uh, you know, that's comforting. Because I've lost and left our kids before in different places. And I'm not gonna mention too many stories or I'm not gonna mention too many names, but it's usually my son that we're losing, or that that we're we're leaving somewhere. In fact, it happened here a few uh about a year ago, right? When we were starting up, before y'all knew who I was, y'all like trying to get to know who this pastor is, and he leaves a son at church. And but this is what happened. I was uh me and Britney and Olivia, just like today, and most days we all rode separately uh because we got different things going on, and and I was leaving church, and Britney had left church, and Olivia was about to leave church, and Britney calls me, it's like, Did you get Nathan? And I said, No, I thought you had him. And she said, No, I thought you had him. And we're like, Well, maybe maybe my mom's got him. And and so all of a sudden Britney uh got a call. It was Olivia. Olivia was pulling out that driveway, driving, going to eat somewhere, and she saw Nathan wandering around the parking lot. And she's like, she called Britney, she's like, Do y'all want me to pick Nathan up? You know, he's kind of he's kind of wandering, everybody left. And so, like the big, the good big sister she was, she didn't leave him stranded in the parking lot. So that was good. Someday she might would have left him stranded in the parking lot, but it happens, right? Uh, and if you've left one of your kids somewhere, you're in pretty good company, okay? Because we see here this story that we're gonna look at where Mary and Joseph, by the way, this is the only account we see of Jesus when he was a child. Jesus is 12 years old here, and and the only story we have when Jesus is a child, and in this only story we have, Mary and Joseph leave him at the temple. And I can relate to that. That's you know, it happens, all right? And and and they left him at the temple and they went a day's journey, and they didn't come, they didn't get him until three days later. Can you imagine? Three days later. Like it was like maybe 30 minutes that we didn't have Nathan, and you know, but three days they left him, they couldn't find him, and then they went back to the temple and he was there. And you know, this is surprising, this is a surprising story because of who it happened to. This happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus. So uh someone that we would think would have it all together, right? I mean, she was chosen by God to raise the Son of God. And if any mother we think would have it all together, it would be Mary, right? But she forgot Jesus at the temple. Let's look at verse number 41. We'll read it and then we'll get into it. Verse number 41 in Luke chapter 2 says, His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. Now, this is a pilgrimage feast, feast, one of three that the Jewish people would return to Jerusalem to celebrate. So they all, the family and and many, most of the town, were going to Jerusalem to commemorate the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, uh, when finished the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother did not know it. Notice how, uh depending on your translation, it says Joseph and his mother. It didn't say his father and his mother, right? I felt I believe that's significant, because God is his father. Joseph and his mother did not know it, but supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. Now it was so that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers. Doesn't look like Jesus was too worried about it, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. Look what Jesus said. And he said to them, Why did you seek me? And look here, did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Isn't that important? She said, Your father and I have sought you. And he said, Hold on a second. Let me remind you who my father is. I'm about my father's business, my heavenly father. But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them, but his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. So I want you to imagine this scene. Mary and Joseph, they go to this pilgrimage feast in Jerusalem. They're heading back a day's journey. It took them a day to realize, hold up a second, where's Jesus? Mary looked at Joseph, said, Where's Jesus? And Joseph said, kind of like me and Brittany, I thought he was with you. Mary said, No, I thought he was with you. Then they go start asking some family and friends and acquaintances. Do you know where Jesus is? And as Mary was seeking for Jesus and not finding him, mothers, can you imagine that feeling of fear and panic and worry that started rising up in her chest? Can you imagine what she was experiencing? What she was suffering from that day, the emotional turmoil that was going on in her heart. And the thing is, is I believe probably many of you mothers here can relate to that because she was suffering from something that most mothers suffer with. And that is guilt. Guilt. You know, studies say that up to 94% of moms deal with a condition we call, you know, it's not a not a medical condition, but something we call mom guilt. Mom guilt. And I imagine that this is kind of what Mary was dealing with. How can you lose not just your son, but God's son? And the enemy was probably beating her up in her mind, saying, you had one job to do, watch my son, and you lost him. You know, she God wasn't telling her that, but I believe she was probably battling this guilt within herself. And that is a very common thing that we all, especially mothers, suffer with is guilt. Where you feel like you're not good enough. You feel like you're not put together enough, you feel like you're not spiritual enough or organized enough or you know, you're not patient enough or present enough or doing enough. And I believe mom guilt is something that it's always been a thing, but y'all look, in this crazy fast-paced, social media-driven TikTok influencer world we live in, it's a breeding ground for comparison and competition. Where everybody is trying to say, you need to do it this way, or you need to do it that way, or you need to do it my way, or this is the right way. Listen, listen, let me just look now, spoiler alert, I'm not a woman and I'm not a mom, but I think I can speak on behalf of women when I say, and mothers, when I say, mothers need to stop telling other mothers how to mother. Because none of us, not us, none of y'all, none of us have anything figured out, really. We're all just trying the best we can. But you know what guilt does? You know what it, you know what it sounds like? It sounds like this. This is this is probably one of the most common. If you focus on your career, guilt says you're not present enough. And if you're a stay-at-home mom, guilt says you're not contributing enough. If you homeschool your kids, guilt says you're not socializing them enough, or if you send them to the danger of public school, you're not protecting them enough. And everybody says, you need to do it my way. You need that's the wrong way. Maybe you're a mom and you fix three course meals three times a day, or maybe you're the one that's throwing chicken nuggets in the backseat on the way to ball practice. Listen, none of us have it figured out. We're all doing the best we can. You're saying, bless the nuggets, Lord, help me to at least I remember to feed my kids. You you got it going on. And I want to say something else on behalf of mothers and two mothers. If you're doing the best you can for your family, you're doing a great job. Amen. Y'all give them a hand. If you are showing up day in and day out and you are trying and you're doing the best, you you're gonna fail and you're gonna fall short. But if you're showing up and you're doing what you can with what you've been given, with the circumstances of life that you're in, we we you're killing it, and we applaud you, and we are thankful for you, and you are doing a great job. Don't let the enemy beat you over the head with guilt. Don't let cultural society and pressure beat you over the head with unrealistic expectations that nobody's able to meet. People expect mothers to be perfect and have it all together when everybody here is imperfect and just trying to do the best we can. Y'all are on the same team. Social media has replaced community with competition. It's like, well, you you gotta do it this way. We gotta cheer each other on, support each other. Who is the great accuser, by the way? Satan. Don't play for his team. Don't accuse and don't put down. We don't want to play on his team. You are doing a great job. And and if you walked in here with the burden of mom guilt, you feel like you're never enough, you feel like you're never doing enough, you feel like you're never there enough, you feel like you're you're not helping enough, you feel like you're not I want you to know that guilt, listen, does not come from God. That guilt is the enemy lying to you to beat you down and make you discouraged and keep you from the godly mother that he's called you to be. And you are doing a great job. Listen, I want to preach this morning this freedom from mom guilt. Freedom from mom guilt. Mary suffered with it probably here in this scene. The majority of women suffer with it. If you are dealing with mom guilt, I want you to listen to me. I'm gonna give you three truths this morning to cling to. Listen, you probably know all this, but you need to be reminded. You need to be reminded. Number one, being chosen does not mean being perfect. Being chosen does not mean being perfect. Listen, Mary was chosen, and some of y'all may get mad at me right here, but I'm gonna say it anyway, but Mary wasn't perfect. Thank you, Brother Zach. Mary, Mary had her own problems. Mary was flawed. Look, Mary was highly favored, but she was still flawed. She she was a godly woman, she was humble, she was blessed, but she was still broken, just like every single one of us. God honored her, God chose her, but she was still a flawed person. Jesus is the only one that the Bible describes that is without sin. Nobody else that has ever lived on the face of this earth has ever been born without sin except Jesus. He was born of a virgin, the he was born of Mary. But even Mary said this. She said in Luke chapter 1, you can turn back a chapter and read it if you want in her Mary's magnificat. She said, My soul rejoiced in God, my what? Even Mary recognized and realized that she needed a savior. Even Mary, I hate to burst some of your bubbles, but even Mary fell under Romans 3.23, where all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It wasn't that Jesus and Mary were the only perfect people, it was Jesus who was the only perfect person that ever lived in this world because Jesus is God, the Son of God. Mary had weaknesses. Mary was flawed. Mary was a great woman, but that did not mean she was perfect. She was chosen, but she was not perfect. And many, many of you need to hear this this morning because secretly you're you're saying to yourself, and you're letting the enemy tell you, if you would just be better, you wouldn't struggle. If you could just reach that mark, then you wouldn't struggle. And you set up this unrealistic expectation. Sorry, I spit right there. Y'all saying that? Something just came out. I'm sorry, y'all. I'll get back here in case it happens again. All right. Spitting on Wendy on Mother's Day. How about that? I'm gonna come over here on y'all. Look. Let me swallow a couple times. Uh what was I saying? I forgot. I'm saying if you set, am I am I red? All right. I'm saying if you set up the unrealistic expectations of perfection, you're always gonna feel guilty when you don't meet it. You're not perfect. I'm sorry to hurt your feelings, but you're not perfect. None of us are. But when we set up this expectation of perfection, we will always be disappointed. But look, look, your imperfections do not disqualify you from being a good mother. Mary was chosen by God, she was used by God, but she was still imperfect. Let me do this. Any perfect moms in here? Raise your hand. All right, good. We're all we're all on the same page. I can move on to my next point. Nobody, look, there has never been a perfect mother ever to live in this world. There's only been one perfect man. There's only been there's never been one perfect mother, and you're not gonna be the first. But God has still called you and chosen you for the purpose of raising those kids and being their mother. And let's just stop for a second and think about how great of a calling that is. Right? And we need to stop as people that have mothers and be thankful for the mother and the motherly influences in our life that God has placed in our life. Because look, we need to remember that they're not perfect either. And we're all just imperfect people that become imperfect parents that raise imperfect kids, and then they become imperfect and the cycle goes on and on. That's why we have a perfect savior. Amen. Amen. So before you start looking down on somebody for the imperfections, maybe you need to look at yourself. That ain't what you're supposed to say on Mother's Day. Hold on. All right, so she was chosen, but she was not perfect. Let me tell y'all something. Your imperfections, listen, can actually help your kids more than you being perfect. You say, well, if I was just better, if I didn't lose my temper, if I was perfect, then my kids will turn out right. But look, your imperfections point them to their need for Jesus. You're not perfect. God didn't create you to be perfect. Look, you're gonna lose your temper, you're gonna lose your patience. Those kids are gonna make you lose your mind. And sometimes we're gonna lose our kids, right? But look, your imperfections point them and reveal to them a person that daily, desperately needs the grace of God. Because if they grow up and they're like have this image of perfection from their parents and they grow up and be like, man, this life is hard, you know, they're they're gonna say they're not gonna know where to turn. But you know what a powerful thing is? Kids don't need a perfect mom. They need a real mom. They don't need you to be perfect, they need you to be real. And a real person, a real mom is one that apologizes sometimes and repents and prays and relies on the grace of God every day of their life. And what you're showing them through your imperfections is that I'm not perfect, but I can point to you to one who is perfect. I love how Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. I think he said, he says, Your strength or my strength has been made what? Perfect in your what? Weaknesses. Ain't that something? Your my strength, he says, is made perfect in your weaknesses. He didn't say my strength is made perfect in your perfections. He said, My strength is made perfect in your weaknesses. So when you back up and say, I don't have it all together, I screw up, I mess up, I'm not the best parent. And I need you're showing your kids that every single day you need his grace, and that relieves the pressure of trying to be good enough because he's good enough for us. Being chosen does not mean being perfect. I want y'all to repeat after me, all the mothers. I am not perfect. Some of y'all say it like you're proud of it. Let's say it again. I am not perfect.

unknown 19:38

I am not perfect.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

And y'all say this, and that's perfectly okay. Amen. Because we are pointing to the one who is perfect. Number two, a bad moment does not make you a bad mother. This is not probably on Mary's Mount Rushmore of great mother moments in her life. Where she left Jesus in the temple for three days. You know, she probably likes to for, wouldn't, you know, she'd probably like to forget that. This this moment is not the brightest for Mary. And you know, we can imagine what was going through her mind. In verse number 48, it said that she, uh, your father and I have sought you anxiously. You know, that word anxiously could be translated into anguish. In fact, that word, if you study that word, it's the same word that in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, it's the same word the rich man used when he was in hell, asking Lazarus to dip his finger in some water to cool his tongue. Because I am in anguish in these flames. The rich man said. So we could say, in a sense, Mary was going through hell for three days. Emotional suffering. Or she had lost Jesus. And how many mothers, how many mothers here when stuff when something happens, your mind always goes to the worst possible scenario. Somebody done kidnap my kid. Some of y'all were saying, please kidnap my kid. Somebody, he's probably hurt. He might have fallen off a cliff. Whatever. But Mary was in anguish of soul. This was not one of her brightest moments for three days. And the enemy was telling her, How could you lose your son? How could you lose not only your son, but God's son? And he was beating her up over this with guilt. Mary was probably a mess, frantic, full of worry, full of fear. But this one moment does not define Mary as a mother, and neither does your one moment. And everybody here has a one moment. One moment, one day, one season. Of life where you're not proud of. Or you're full of shame and regret, and you wish it would have never happened. You wish you would have never said that. You wish you would have never done that. You wish you would have never, you know, reacted that way. But listen, if if guilt is beating you up, listen, you are not defined by your worst moment. You're not defined by what you've done. You're defined by Christ and your identity in Christ. And he says you're loved and you're chosen and you're highly favored. And he died for you. He gave his life for you. This one moment does not define your identity as a mother or as a person. If any mother could relate to this guilt of being defined by one moment, I think of Bathsheba. Y'all remember what happened to Bathsheba? David's uh the the the woman that David committed adultery with. And it was a big scandal. I mean, it was the biggest news, the biggest headline in uh the town where David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then he had her husband killed, and then her son that she was having with David died. I mean, think about Bathsheba. She made this one act, she did this one thing, this one mistake, and she lost her husband and her son. Can you imagine the guilt? And we focus on David a lot, but can you imagine the guilt that Bathsheba was dealing with? And maybe someone in here is dealing with guilt from a decision that you made. But but the thing about Bathsheba, I love this, is that that wasn't going back to our thought of Peter, that wasn't the end of her story. She had another chapter. And she walked, she she she took another day, she walked into another day, and then another day, and another, and another, and another, and she experienced the grace and the healing and the forgiveness and the cleansing of God's grace. And God rewrote her story. She was not defined by this dark moment in her life. And if you read the history, she was placed in the lineage of Jesus Christ. And you know, some scholars believe that she actually wrote Proverbs chapter 31. Solomon's mother, Bathsheba. To go from here to this woman that had such an understanding of character and godliness, she was not defined by that one moment and that one bad thing. And you're not either. You're not either. Before I want to say this before we move to our last point, I'm gonna be quick so y'all can go have a Mother's Day lunch, alright? I want to say this, listen. Before you were ever a mother, you were a daughter of the king. And you were beloved by the father. And the father, your father does not shame you. He doesn't guilt to you, he doesn't embarrass you. He's always there for you. He shows up and he loves you with a perfect unconditional love. And I'll give you one more thought this morning. Going from guilt to freedom takes one main thing, and that's grace. God's grace is greater than your guilt. Can we say amen right there? God's grace is greater than your guilt. You know what the answer for guilt is? Grace. Grace wipes away guilt. Grace cleanses us from guilt. Not not trying harder, not comparing yourself with others, not pretending like you have everything together. Grace always removes guilt. I love how he says in Romans 8:1, there's there's therefore no condemnation. No condemnation. The guilty verdict is gone. There's no condemnation to who? Those that are in Christ Jesus. There is no guilt when you have grace through Christ. G-R-A-C-E, God's riches at Christ's expense, right? We have grace through Jesus and only through Jesus. Jesus came to free us from the penalty of sin and remove our guilt. That was the whole purpose he came. To wipe away our guilt. You say, well, that sounds great. You know, I hear what you're saying. But many of us understand we're free, but we don't feel free. Amen. We got anybody can relate to that this morning? You you you you have an understanding and a knowledge that the guilt is gone, but you still feel the nagging of guilt. Where Satan and the world and the pressures and your internal voices in your mind and your heart are beating you up day in and day out, where you feel the feelings of failure constantly in your life. And you say this if I'm free, why don't I feel free? Can I give you one thought this morning as we as we wrap up? You can be, listen, you can be not guilty, but still feel guilty when you are far from the one that offers grace. What happened to Mary? She started becoming distant from Jesus. And then guilt came in like a flood. You can be legally free, but practically in bondage with guilt when you are far from the one who offers grace. When you grow distant, when you drift away from Jesus, guilt becomes loud in your life. And you know what I think about Mary and Joseph? It reminds me of myself a lot. They didn't just all of a sudden purposefully deliberately say, Okay, Jesus, we're leaving you and leave them at the temple. You know what happened? Jesus was here, and they just slowly started walking away. Slowly, unnoticed distance between them and Jesus. I gotta watch before I don't fall off the stage over here. They were slightly, and isn't that how it happens? Where our heart is prone to wonder, right? And we slowly, he didn't leave. He's still in the same place. We slowly get distant from God, unnoticed, we drift away. And mothers, you are some of the most vulnerable at this. We all are, right? But y'all have everything and everyone needing something from you. And you're managing schedules and you're manning the house, managing the household, and you're keeping up with bills, and you're keeping up with lunches, and you're keeping up with schoolwork and homework, and you're keeping up with ball practice and all this stuff. And you know what happens? If you're not very intentional about it, good things can make you slowly but surely become distant from Jesus. And and when you're far from Jesus, guilt becomes loud in your life. The voice of guilt grows louder the farther you get from God. So, what is the answer? I wish I had something deeper for y'all. You know what you do when you realize Jesus is way over there and you left him and you didn't even know it. You know what you do? He didn't leave. He didn't leave you. You know what you do? You turn around and you walk back to him. You run back to him, you seek him with all your heart. And the Bible says, if you seek him with all of your heart, he shall be found of you. You say, you say, well, I just feel like you know, you look around, you say, I don't see Jesus anymore. I don't feel Jesus. I don't experience him. The peace that he offered and the joy that he gives is replaced with guilt and shame and fear. You know what you do? You just turn back and make a beeline to Jesus and go back to him. That's called repenting and turning back to God. And that Jesus is where our peace is. He is our peace. He is our joy. And when we separate or we get far from him, we can't hear his voice. We can't feel his presence and culture and our voices and our head and our mind and society and Satan. Oh, there's so much racket going on. You know what? You know what, mothers, let me say this. You know what your heart needs, what your husband needs, and what your kids need is not you doing everything, but the main thing they need is for you to go seek Jesus and sit in his presence. Spend time letting him transform and conform you into the image of Christ. And when you do that, he replaces you all with peace. We have our worship team come forward. Listen, here's here's the truth. You are not enough. But he is enough for you. He is enough. And that's the heart of the gospel, right? And we're not enough, but he is. I'm gonna close with this. Twenty-one years later, Mary was going back to Jerusalem. Twenty-one years older, Jesus would be 33 if my math is correct. He was going back to, she was going back to Jerusalem, not to the temple, not to go seek him at the temple, but she went back and stood by him at the cross. And as she looked at her son, she looked at God's son. After he'd been beaten, after he had been ridiculed, after he'd been mistreated. I mean, they plucked the beard out of his face, and they put a crown of thorns on his head, and they beat him within an inch of his life, and they nailed him to a cross, and they hung him up between heaven and earth, and he hung there and died for six hours on a cross. Mary looked and she stood at the foot of the cross in silent strength and suffering. You know what? She was there when it mattered most. Be thankful for your mothers that are there when nobody else is. And look, it's not easy. That is not a picture of an easy motherhood, right? It's not easy. But God's grace was enough for her, just like it's enough for you. Jesus died on the cross. Why? To show us, look, how great our guilt is, but also how much greater his grace is. That's what the cross does. It reveals to us the seriousness of our guilt and sin, but it reveals to us the power of his love and forgiveness. If you've placed your faith in Christ, if you're a believer in Christ, his grace has washed and wiped away all of your guilt. That's why he came and died. You can walk in freedom because of Jesus. You can walk in victory because of Jesus. You can live that life more abundantly because of Jesus. But I want to say this before we close. I've been preaching this whole message telling you that you know guilt is from the enemy and all this stuff. But look, listen, listen. If you're not a believer in Christ, you and you're feeling guilt, you're experiencing valid guilt. You're experiencing the guilt of sinning against a holy God. And that's what's so beautiful about the cross is Jesus took your judgment upon himself and he died in your place so that you don't have to walk in fear and guilt and sin and dead. You know, you can have life, eternal life, you can have victory, you can have you can have heaven. Because of Jesus, you can be forgiven. You're not you're not held captive and identified by your failures, but you're identified by his forgiveness that we have in Christ. You can make that decision today. Let's bow our heads this morning. God's grace can cleanse your sin and wipe away your guilt. I want you to do this. If you are here and you are a believer in Christ, you know that you are a child of God. I want you to raise your hand up high, like you're proud of it. Look, you can put them down. I want to say something to you. If you walked in here with guilt, that guilt is not from God. The enemy is trying to beat you up, he's trying to beat you down, he's trying to shame you, he's trying to embarrass you. You know why? Because he knows what God is about to do in your life, and he knows the purpose that God has for your life, and he knows that he can keep you from being the mother that he has called you to be. If the enemy beats you down and keeps you guilt-ridden. But it's time today, Jesus says, Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy burden, and I will give you rest. You can you can lay your guilt, your shame, your fear, your worries, your anxiety, your burdens down before him today, and you can find freedom and victory through Jesus. That's what he offers: a new life. If you're here and you're not a Christian, if you're not a believer, I want you to know that you do not have to walk out of this church this morning under the guilt of sin, because Jesus died on the cross for you, and he wants to give you eternal life. And we're gonna have an invitation. We're gonna have a few people up here that would love to pray with you. If you're carrying burdens, if you're carrying guilt, if you're carrying shame, we do not have to get in a hurry. I want you to find freedom here this morning through Jesus Christ. We're gonna have an invitation. I want you to come and let someone pray for you. Let someone pray with you, Father. God, I pray that you will move in hearts. God, that you will open the blind eyes. God, the one that's far from you right now. God, I pray that you will draw them back. Maybe they're um they're a believer in you, they're a Christian, but they've just strayed far from you, they've gotten so burdened and busy with life, God, that they've just not invested in their relationship with you. God, I pray that today will be the day where they draw near to you, and your word says you'll draw near to them. God, I pray you would fill them with your spirit, empower them, Lord, to be the person that you have called them to be. God, let them walk in victory. Father, I pray for that one that is not truly a believer. They've been playing the religious game, they've been checking the boxes, they've been dotting the odds and crossing the T's, and they went through the motions of religion, but God, there's never been a transformation in their life. They're still walking with the guilt and conviction of sin. I pray that right now that your love will draw them. Your grace and your mercy would lead them to the cross where Jesus purchased their freedom. In Jesus' powerful and holy name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's stand and worship. If you need prayer, we would love to spend some time in praying with Jesus.