183 Mother's Day 2018

Happy Mother’s Day. As I say that, I realize the idea of “mom” can look very different - birth moms, adoptive moms, foster moms, grand-moms, Lisa reference. Moms of all kinds make our lives richer. For each of you, we thank God.

Mother’s Day is fantastic but it can be be one of the most difficult days of the year as well. I think our own road has made me especially sensitive to this fact.

The difficulty of Mothers Day:

Infertility

Loss of mother

Mother’s who are beat and considering throwing in the towel.

The loss of a child

Strained relationships with children

Rebellion by children

Those with a spiritually absent spouse

Those whose lives have been marked by abortion

Frankly, some didn’t have a good mom

I’ve been praying for each of you this week. And I’m thankful that Jesus is the source of:

Hope and future

Healing

Restoration and reconciliation

Compassion

Grace and strength

Christ is sufficient! And he loves you.

The ways we have inadvertently made Mother’s Day more difficult.

The different

And to complicate matters more, families often don’t look the way we planned.

All that to say, Mother’s Day is the scariest sermon of the year!

We believe that every good gift comes from God. Moms sure fit that bill. Today I would like to encourage moms and those who invest spiritually in the next generation. I want to encourage and challenge those who are laboring to leave a legacy of love and faith.

Transition

In the text Sheryl read, Paul is writing to a young man who has been placed in the difficult position of parenting a young church. Like all churches and families, there are difficulties. While the text isn’t specifically about moms or Mother’s Day, there are important truths that Jesus wants us to hear.

Text

2 Timothy 1:3–5 NIV

3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

Discipleship and investing in the next generation simply drips from this text. We need to understand that there is a universal call to discipleship investment. I’m not sure there is a biblical model ever for a Christian not investing in someone else. In these verses there are four people that we need to meet.

Timothy

He’s young, he’s inexperienced, he feels ill-equipped, and yet he’s called to be a spiritual parent to the young church in Ephesus.

Paul remember his tears. Tears that flow from conflict—tears that probably flow from taking one step forward and sixteen backward—tears that flow from feeling inadequate to the task. Ever feel that way?

Paul

Paul (this is his last letter)

Acted as a spiritual parent to Timothy. He is working to leave a legacy of faith and love. He is not his biological parent but he has become Timothy’s spiritual parent. He even calls Tim his, true son in the faith.

God has designed a system where....home and church

Moms, you aren’t alone.

Church

Holy Spirit - the source of everything you need. Strength, patience, wisdom, persistence...

This leads us to our next group.

Timothy

Lois (grandma) and Eunice (Mom). We don’t know much about them, except that they poured their faith into Timothy. They left a legacy of love and faith.

Mothers, and spiritual mothers, have the unique ability to mold the next generation in a special way.

As God’s chosen agent:

Your response functions as the response of God

Your hands function as the touch of God

Your face offers the smile of God

I cannot emphasis enough

Study after study demonstrate the great influence a parent has on a child.

Two points of caution:

First, your kids need a savior and you’re not it.

Its easy

Young people in our lives will go through trials, doubt, failure, and moms can short-circuit Jesus’ work by protecting kids from any and every pain. Sometimes you fall down so you can learn to stand up.

But they also don’t need us to be their practical savior either

You’re identity isn’t bound up in your kids.

Young people will struggle because they need a Savior - In order to come to faith in Christ, we must come face to face with our depravity, as painful as that can be. If that drives our kids to Christ, we must let them go thru it. Our kids need Jesus because we need Jesus.

Second, when your kids act out in sin, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

You all work so hard to…let yourself off the hook.

(gently) When your identity and joy is bound up in someone else’s behavior or success; you place them and yourself in a dangerous position.

2 Timothy 1:6–7 NIV

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:

Fan into flame the gift of God. So often we go through life with just a flicker of faith when God desires for us to have a bonfire.

Paul reminds Timothy of the gifts provided by the Holy Spirit. For Tim it was:

Power - not timidity (cowardice) but power to exercise the authority God has provided.

Love - Agape - difficult!

Self-discipline - sound judgment

Paul isn’t providing a comprehensive list of what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit. He’s telling Tim that the Holy Spirit will give him what he is not. Tim is weak and timid, the word is translated literally as coward.

Paul says, “God didn’t call you to be a coward! He called you to be full of power, love, and sound judgment.” In other words; your weakness isn’t a problem. Lean into God, fan the fame of your faith, he’ll make you what you aren’t. Strength, wisdom, and perseverance aren’t a problem for him.

I wonder how many moms or those who invest in the next generation that feel overwhelmed or ill-equipped for the task?

I know this seems trite but, God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called. Consider his words to Paul:

2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Whatever you lack, he can provide.

Mom’s - we are SO thankful for you and your work. God has called you to the noblest and sometimes most difficult of tasks. The best encouragement that I can give you to fan into flame the gift of God.

The world may say you need this or that but I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best thing you can do for those you are pouring into, and your own sanity, is to build your faith.

You may feel that you need to do this or that for your kids and your needs will have to come second. Hear me on this: I’m convinced that the best thing you can do for a young person is to build your own faith.

Why? As we grow our trust and faith, or as Paul put it, “fan into flame the gift of God,” we are changed. We grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

He’ll replace your weakness with his strength. He has everything you need to be everything he’s called you to be. He’ll make you look more like him - and that’s the best possible thing you can do for the ones you love.

If your desire is to leave a legacy of love and faith, fan into flame the gift of God.