Purposeful Faith Series

“Purposeful Faith”

May 8, 2005

Mother’s Day

Intro:

Peter Marshall, the Scottish pastor and the Chaplin of the U.S. Senate, told the story of a town situated along a beautiful stream. The stream rose from the ground and produced the most beautiful brook with the freshest, most clear water imaginable.

There was a man in town whose sole job was to look after the purity of the brook. He was paid by the town to care for it and keep it nourished so that no impurities would creep in. And so, he faithfully cared for the little brook so that the town would have beautiful and refreshing water.

As little town’s so often do, this one grew and grew until it no longer was just a beautiful little town. As businesses built up and developed, you could hardly even seem the beautiful little brook. As the town leaders looked over the finances of the town, they realized that they were paying the man $300 a month to care for the brook. Deciding to save the money, they relieved the man of his job.

Before long, the brook became dirty. People got sick from drinking the water. The brook was no longer crystal clear, but was brown and dirty. And the smell that rose form the shore no longer was a refreshing breeze but an offensive odor.

You see, without someone to keep the impurities out, and nurture the spring to maintain its health, it became polluted by the impurities poured into it by the community.

You may think this a rather odd way to start a talk on Mother’s Day, but the same principle is true for kids as is for little streams of water. Without someone to pour into their life and to protect them from the pollution around them, they will eventually become polluted by the effects of this world.

Mom, this is part of the job that God has entrusted to you as you perform the most difficult of tasks. Mom, you are valuable in the economy of God, and you are valuable in the care and the formation of our society.

If you think being a Mom is not valuable and important, think again.

MSN reported a survey done by Salary.com that asked 5.4 million stay at home mom to list their job titles and then they came up with what a mom should make.

Based on a 40 hour work week, for all they do, moms should make $43, 461.00. However, for the extra 60 hours of overtime they put in every week, moms would receive an additional $88, 009 a year.

The grand total for moms would be $134,371.00. Worth every penny!!!

Today, there are three areas that I want us to look at to hopefully encourage the moms who are here and to challenge all of us to realize the importance of the influence others have on our lives.

I. Moms, thanks for passing on your faith.

For most of us, our moms are the ones who begin to instill in us values and beliefs. It is no coincidence that Godly moms have such a great influence on the beliefs of their children.

The values of a child are set extremely early in life. By most experts accounts, by the time a child is four years old, their values and worldview have already been firmly set. Moms, you play a tremendous role in shaping those values. Without you passing on your faith, our world would be a much darker place.

One of the primary roles of Godly mothers is to instill Godly character into your child.

Paul writes to Timothy, his young disciple, and reminds him of his strong heritage in faith.

“I know that you sincerely trust the Lord, for you have the faith of your mother Eunice and your grandmother, Lois.” 2 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)

Paul reminds Timothy of the foundation of his belief. It was the tradition of the Jewish culture that the father would play a very foundational role in the teaching of the Jewish law to a child. However, Timothy’s father was Greek, not Jewish. So his mother and grandmother trained him in the beginnings of the faith.

Timothy took his heritage, and when it met with the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it took deep root and led him to passionate ministry in the early church.

We are in a society where it has never been more vital for parents to teach their kids the foundation of faith.

Recent studies show a decline over the generations of people who had a biblical saving faith.

45% of the Builder Generation has a biblical faith.

35% of the Boomer Generation has a biblical faith.

15% of the Buster Generation has a biblical faith.

It is estimated that between 4 and 6% of the Millennial Generation will have a biblical faith.