Mamma Told Me Series

That’s the kind of parent - we should all strive to be like.

We realize, of course, that cultivating a spiritual foundation in our kids goes beyond setting our kids’ feet in wet cement outside the church building. But that’s the kind of motivation that drove Timothy’s mother and grandmother

That’s the kind of mindset that inspired them to make sure Timothy had a “sincere faith”

IV. Well… how did that do that?

How did Lois and Eunice hand down their faith to Timothy?

I don’t know how they did it. But I do know how my mom did it for me.

· My mother read to me

Every night, she’d read Bible stories to me, til I knew the names of the Bible characters almost as well as she did.

· My mom prayed for me

Frankly, she still prays for me… and for my brother and sister.

She prays for our families.

She prays about our relationship to God

And I know she prays for this church

· She involved me in ministry.

Her ministry for God was to sing in the choir, and she made sure that each of her kids joined her in that ministry. Every Sunday morning, we would sit in the choir loft and hear the sermon and look out over the crowd gathered in worship.

· And my mother modeled her faith for me

I always knew of her faith in Christ and her love for His church

Now, Dad was a godly man… but it was Mom who communicated her faith to me in ways men have a hard time doing.

AND I believe that a mother who makes this a priority in their lives can do more to place their sincere faith into the hearts of their children than even the best of men can do.

I believe this potential is why mothers have such a treasured place in the hearts of so many of their children as they grow up.

ILLUS: There is a story about 4 preachers discussing the merits of various translations of the Bible.

One liked the King James Version best because of its simple, beautiful English.

Another liked the New American Version best because it was closer to the original Hebrew and Greek.

Still another liked a contemporary version because of its up-to-date vocabulary.

The fourth minister was silent for a moment, then said, "I like my mother’s translation best." Surprised, the other three men said they didn’t know his mother had translated the Bible.

"Yes," he replied. "She translated it into life, and it was the most convincing translation I’ve ever seen."

CLOSE - Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents our country has ever known.

And he himself believed that his mother’s faith had a strong role in developing the kind of man he became.

Even tho’ his mother died when he was young, he always remembered how he’d

seen God in her life,

how he’d heard her read to him stories from the Bible,

and how he listened to her as she taught him how to live a godly life

When she died, these were her parting words:

"I am going away from you, Abraham, and I shall not return. I know you will be a good boy... I want you to live as I have taught you, to love your Heavenly Father and keep His commandments."

And til his death, Lincoln remembered these words…

… and he remembered that he solemnly promised that he would do just that.