Mother, May I? Series

INTRO.-

God took the fragrance of a flower...

The majesty of a tree...

The gentleness of morning dew...

The calm of a quiet sea...

The beauty of the twilight hour...

The soul of a starry night...

The laughter of a rippling brook...

The grace of a bird in flight...

Then God fashioned from these things

A creation like no other,

And when his masterpiece was through

He called it simply - Mother.

- Herbert Farnham

“Mother, may I” was a children’s game from long ago. There may be various forms of this game but here is one I read.

Kids request to take a certain number and type of steps (baby, normal, giant, etc.) towards the “mother”. Kids must remember to as “Mother May I?” The first to touch the whoever plays mother wins and becomes the new mother. If nothing else, the game helped to teach kids good manners. MOTHER, MAY I?

And good manners are needed today. When we were small we were taught to say such things: “May I,” “Please,” “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” Today, we often wonder, “Where have all the manners gone?”

And if we adults don’t show proper manners how can we expect our children and grandchildren to show them?

Did you ever play the game? I did but it’s been a very long time ago. Here’s a better thing to do, although it’s not a game. I call it: Mother, may I be like you?

PROP.- Based on what our mothers did for us, I feel we need to ask of mother, may I...

1- Mother, may I have a faith like yours

2- Mother, may I have a heart like yours

3- Mother, may I have hands like yours

I. MOTHER, MAY I HAVE A FAITH LIKE YOURS

II Timothy 1:5 “I have been 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.”

Proverbs 30:31“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” A woman/wife/mother who fears the Lord also respects the Lord and walks by faith.

John 2:4-5 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Do you remember this text? It was when Jesus attended a wedding in Cana of Galiliee and turned the water into win.

ILL.- Don DeWelt was one of my college professors at Ozark Christian College. Don preached a sermon entitled, “The only commandment the virgin Mary ever gave.” What was that commandment? DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU.

God bless all mothers who have said to her children, “Do whatever Jesus said” or “Do what the Bible teaches.” And what made this command better was when Mother set a good example in following the words of Jesus.

ILL.- A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world!"

Many mothers have been a light in this world in the sense of living by faith in the Lord. There is no better example that a mother could give to her children than living by faith in the Lord.

ILL.- One young preacher who just lost his mother in death, wrote: “I can remember that nearly every night mother had a family time. She would read a Bible story, and get us all on our knees afterward and pray for each of us by name. She also loved to read and mark up her Bible.”

ILL.- Alexander Campbell of the early 1800’s, said of his mother, “Having a particularly ready and retentive memory, she treasured up the Scriptures early in life, and could quote and apply them with great fluency and pertinency from childhood to old age.”

ILL.- When Preacher John Wesley was a student at Oxford University he was shocked by the amount of drinking done by the students. After writing to his mother, Susanna Wesley, for her counsel, he received the following words: "My dear son: remember that anything which increases the authority of the body over the mind is an evil thing."

Mother, may I have a faith like yours!

II. MOTHER, MAY I HAVE A HEART LIKE YOURS

Luke 2:15-19 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.