Priceless Legacy: The Hope Of Faithful Moms

Introduction:

Recognize moms in the service and possibly the oldest and newest mom (perhaps distribute a special gift of some kind).

Opening: I have heard it said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world! I am sure many of us here have had mothers who had a profound effect on us. There is tangible proof that moms strengthen legacies!

Pastor Billy Graham is quoted as saying, “Only God Himself fully appreci¬ates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.” Now listen to these other quotes you may find of particular interest:

“All I am I owe to my mother, I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” George Washington

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Abraham Lincoln

“I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn word of my good mother.” Charles Spurgeon

“For 25 years, she put her life on hold for me and my siblings. She invested in our lives—we were her number one priority, and nothing else really mattered.” Tim Tebow.

Only loving relationships provide lasting legacy and hope.

Today we will celebrate and encourage moms in their contributions to legacy…to being that character forming mother! Plus, we will remind each of us—parents, children, teens, and young adults, of the importance of pursuing God’s plan for relationships.

Questions for Moms and Dads

What hope do we have that our children will stand by their faith and live by their values? What or who do you trust to impact their lives? What are you hoping will produce relationally healthy followers? Who had a profound effect on Jesus? (Proverbs 22:6).

What legacy are we leaving?

We certainly can’t hope for perfect children because our children are just like us—imperfect people. But where they go for guidance does matter. Do they go to God’s Word? Do they seek guidance from attentive parents?

Parents must continuously pursue relationship with their children so they will “earn the right” in their child’s eyes to speak into their lives as they begin to make their own choices.

Could you join with me and every mom here today in this hope?

“Behold children are gifts from the Lord” Psalm 127:3

Let’s hope that…

• Our children are more influenced and shaped by their parents and their faith than by the world.

• Our teens and young adults remain open to our input and continue to be open about the details of their physical, emotional and spiritual life.

• Our adult children want to be around us, and we regularly enjoy being around them!

Some of us may also champion the simple, but profound, hope that our current family could be a little healthier or a little more functional than our own childhood family.

Today we celebrate Moms who pay the price for making a difference in us!

Engaging Fellowship

“Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15a)

Let’s stand and celebrate together: Reflect for a moment on an important woman in your life—maybe it’s your mom, grandmother or sister. Husbands, maybe it’s your wife. Now let’s take turns sharing and celebrating together:

I’m very grateful for __________________ who is very special to me because_________________________________________________

A question we must ask teens and single adults.

If we were to ask, the vast majority of you would say that you hope for fulfilling, God-honoring relationships, but many of you may settle for much less. The rise of co-habitation, frequency of divorce, children conceived outside of marriage, and “hooking up” are all signs that the hope for God-honoring legacy often gets terribly lost in our world today. For the vast majority of us—with a few sad exceptions—our moms passed along a legacy of valuing relationships. Let’s celebrate that! For many of us, we enjoyed a legacy of faith from our moms. Let’s celebrate that!

Is your hope of fulfillment being found in fun activities, peer pleasure and the latest video game?

Lessons from the Psalmist give us wisdom about where to ground our hopes in confidence for the future. Successful moms have followed this wisdom, and each of us can benefit from it.

Let’s read what many refer to as the “Home-building” Psalm (127:1-3).

The Lord offers hope for a lasting legacy.

“Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

The Lord is in the home-building business. He builds heavenly homes (John 14:1-3), church homes (Matthew 16:16-18) and earthly homes!

Colossians 3:16 Preparation:

“Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you.”

Pastor, take time now to allow the Lord to remind you of a “wake-up” call you received from the Lord—a time when you realized your home priorities were out of balance.