Family Mechanics #3- Super Chic (Mother’s Day)
Ex. 2:1-10 - May 11, 2008
Rev. Cecil Whitton- LifePointe Fellowship
Happy Mothers Day!!! I am so excited about Mother’s day…
Mother’s Day is a very special day in which we get to honor mothers.
At this time, we have some guys coming forward with some gifts for our mothers.
So I would like for all of the Mothers and expecting mothers to stand and let us acknowledge you this morning. Let’s give them a hand. When you receive your gift you may be seated.
Seriously, this gift is a little token of appreciation for putting up with the LITTLE BOYS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD… As well, as putting up with your children also.
We thought about doing the competition style Mother’s day giveaways… But decided against it. You know what I am talking about.
When I was young our church would have a gift for EVERY Category of Mothers under the sun.
The Youngest Mother, The Oldest Mother, The Mother with the Most Kid’s, The Mother wearing silver earnings, The mother with curly hair, The mother whose kid had lost a tooth…
At least it seemed like that…
TRUE STORY- When I was a kid my family had this unspoken rivalry when it came to Mother’s Day. My mother had SIX children and there was this other lady in the church that had like FIVE. And every mothers day we would all start coming in from Sunday School and you could tell the lady with FIVE kids was counting and Secretly HOPING one or more of us children where out sick so that she could win the Mother’s Day Finger Nail File with a Scripture on it. But every year we would win…
So for the sake of UNITY we decided against the competitive route, and instead we are giving gifts to each mother and expecting mother.
Can I tell you the REAL reason we are not going to do the Category Competition… Because my Mother In Law attends this church and I still have to see her on a regular basis, and did not want any problems when we got to the OLDEST MOTHER CATEGORY…
Today is the day we get to honor mom. We get to recognize you for all that you DO and all that you ARE.
Let’s face it guys, Mothers have a tough job don’t they.
Perhaps you heard about the young father who was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us?”
Seriously, you ladies amaze me with all that you do.
And Men, you know as well as I do that any functionality or success that you experience at home is not because of you but because of your wife…
~ It is like the CEO of a major company who was driving with his wife to visit her parents in her home town. They pulled over to a gas station to get gas a few miles from the parents house. And the gas station attendant came up to the window and recognized the wife and said- “Wow, Sarah it has been a long time how have you been…” and they struck up a conversation never bothering to introduce the husband.
~ after filling up with gas the couple left the station… The husband was visibly shaken as he asked her, do you mind telling me who that was…
~ she told him, oh that was Johny an old boyfriend from school…
~ Trying to regain some ground the husband said, “What a loser… Just think honey you could have been married to a gas station attendant instead of a Handsome CEO.”
~ To which the wife said, “Honey, If I would have married him you would be the gas station attendant and he would have been a CEO…
Ladies, today we HONOR YOU…
This week we are continuing our series entitled “Family Mechanics”.
TODAY I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU A MESSAGE ENTITLED “SUPER CHIC”
You see, I believe this world is in need of some SUPER HEROS. But not the kind that we see in the movie theaters, but the kind that we see in our OWN HOMES…
So I want to challenge the Ladies of LifePointe to be “SUPER CHICS”.
There are many women who have made Significant contributions to the world as we know it today. Women of Fame and Fortune of Power and Prestige. Everywhere you look you see the hand print of Women…
This morning, I have a little pop quiz for you. In just a moment, I am going to have Dave place on the screen 4 names of ladies and I will not put you on the spot and have you raise your hands but I want you to pick out the name you think that has had the biggest influence of the good of humanity…
A) Oprah Winfery
B) Mother Teresa
C) Jochebed
D) Leah Whitton
Now, some of you may say that the safest one to answer is letter D- my wife… But if you were being honest- some of you might say A. But my feeling is that the majority would have said B (mother Teresa)
But if you were being honest very few of you would even know who letter C- Jochebed was.
But, I submit to you this morning that she was ONE SUPER CHIC! And I want us to look at the contribution she made.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 2:1-10
As you are turning there, let me give you a little bit of the background of this passage.
• The children of Israel are living in the land of Egypt
• Joseph has passed from the scene???
• A new king of Egypt comes on the scene
• Begins to fear the Israelites because there was so many…
• Began to Enslave the Israelites and treat them cruelly
• But the more they oppressed them ch 1 v 12 says the more they Multiplied
o Let me pause there…
ENEMY- you may oppress me but I will multiply
May not see a way out, but I will multiply
You may beat me down, but I will multiply
YOU CAN’T STOP ME… I AM GETTING MY BLESSING… I will Multiply.
• So the King orders the “Midwives” who delivered the babies to kill all Male children
• But they fear the Lord and do not kill the babies
• So the king brings in the midwives to give an account as to why not.
o AND I LOVE WHAT THEY SAID.
o READ V. 19 “The midwives answered Pharaoh, Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women” they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
Did you catch it? Hebrew Women are not like Egyptian Women…
• OH THAT OUR SOCIETY COULD SAY THAT ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN LADIES OF LIFEPOINTE.
o There is something different.
o They don’t do what the World does.
o They carry themselves differently.
o When they arrive on the scene the Atmosphere Changes…
o The are some SUPER CHICS
• So Pharaoh orders that all baby boys be thrown in the NILE…
That is where we pick up our TEXT… AND WE GET INTRODUCED TO THIS SUPERCHIC
1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" 8 "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."
PRAY- Honor our moms, and help them be Super- chics
Transition: Today, I want to help you ladies with some practical advice on how to be a Super CHIC… Through being Women of Courage, Humble Surrender , Impartation, A Continued Legacy…
Here is a lady whose first mention in the Bible does not even record her Name. It is not until chapter 6 that we get to know her name- Jochebed. And yet she was a Super Chic.
She was a Woman of:
1. A Woman Courage 2:1-2 A Mother who defied a King.
a. I wonder how Jochebed felt when she discovered she was pregnant. Surely it wasn’t’ a planned pregnancy, who would have a child at a time like that. I imagine she must have prayed that God would let it be a little girl. Can you imagine the sleepless nights she must have had as her time drew near.
But when the baby came it was a little boy. A perfect little boy, scripture tells us that she looked upon him and saw that he was beautiful. Is that why she saved him? Because he was beautiful? Scripture tells us more than that, it tells us that she had faith. Faith that this baby was special, a child set apart for a special purpose by God. In those moments after the birth she made a CORAGEOUS decision: she would not let the baby be taken, she would hide the baby. According to the bible she did this because she feared God more than she feared the Pharaoh of Egypt.
b. You see there was ALL KINDS OF ENEMIES after this little baby…
i. Societal Enemies- There was a risk from society. At any moment someone could have ratted her out. All around Society was a Danger.
1. How many of you know, that our little ones face a lot of SOCITAL Dangers today.
a. Peer pressure
b. Television, MTV
c. Internet
d. Drugs, and alcohol
e. It requires some Super Chics that STAND CORAGEOUS…
ii. Governmental Pressure
1. The governing authorities were demanding the life of the child.
a. When are we going to quit turning our kids over to the Governmental Pressure of our Day and STAND IN COURAGE.
2. They may not be throwing them in the Nile but they certainly do not have the Answers that are only FOUND in Jesus.
a. We need some Super Chics to:
i. stand up with courage and tell their kids- They were not a Mistake or Happenstance, BUT THEY ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE.
ii. Say you will not be the one to teach my kid about morality…
iii. You are not going to lead my kid down the road of alternative lifestyles
iv. WOMEN OF COURAGE…
2. A Woman of Humble Surrender 2:3
a. “When she could hide him no longer hide him…”
i. Ladies, there is coming a time when you can hide them no longer.
ii. You will have to release them in to a world with dangers all around.
iii. That is when YOU HAVE TO HUMBLY SURRENDER to God. And Trust
iv. She fashions a basket and places the basket in the Nile.
1. She did all she could do…
v. At this point I can hear her PRAYER…
1. Yahweh, I have done all I can- I put him in your hands now- I can no longer hide him.
2. THEN SHE PLACES HIM IN THE DANGEROUS WATERS…
vi. There are Ladies in this room who need to HUMBLY SURRENDER.
vii. God, there are many Dangers, but I put them in your hands…
1. That questionable relationship
2. That addictive behavior
3. That difficult decision.
4. Those peer relationships.
viii. Not Give Up, but chose to TRUST
A Woman of Courage, Humble Surrender
3. A Woman Of Impartation 2:7-10
a. You know the next part of the story, Baby Moses’ sister Miriam follows along and observes Pharos’s daughter who discovers Baby Moses and decides to keep him as her own.
b. Then read with me 7-10
c. Look at the rewards to the Woman who has 1- Courage and 2- Humble Surrender
d. She Gets a Chance at IMPARTATION
e. She gets a chance to Nurse Baby Moses and GETS PAID DOING IT…
i. During this time of Nursing it was a great time of Impartation…
ii. Mother’s -Never underestimate the power you have to IMPART…
iii. Studies conducted recently have suggested that 50% of a child’s attitude is learned in the first 3 years of life. The Soviet’s used to say, ‘Give us a child for the first 4 years and we’ll have him for life.’ Many school teachers will tell you that by the time a child is in kindergarten they have already been trained how to act.
iv. What are you imparting into them.
1. Do they see you pray
2. Do you teach them God’s Word
3. Do they See you live it?
4. Are You Building and ARK of Safety?
A Woman of Courage, Humble Surrender, Impartation
4. A Woman With A Continued Legacy 3:9-10 (the deliverer)
a. Because Jochabed was a Woman of Courage, Humble Surrender, and Impartation- SHE BECAME A WOMAN WITH A CONTINUED LEGACY..
b. To this day she is one of 2 women referenced in Hebrews 11 which is the Faith Chapter.
c. GOD DID NOT DISAPPOINT…
d. The thing that was suppose to kill saved him… (nile) Saved him…
i. That thing they are going THROUGH they will GO THROUGH…
ii. I may be dangerous- But hold on to TRUST…
e. Not only was Moses preserved but also - A Nation…
i. Later in Chapter 3:9-10 we see God calling on Moses to be the DELIEVER of His People.
ii. IT ALL STARTED WITH A LADY WHOM IS SELDOM NAMED IN THE BIBLE…
f. Dr. I.M. Haldemand records an interesting list of contrasts in the life of Moses.
g. Listen at the Legacy she left behind…
h. He was the child of a slave, but the son of a queen.
He was born in a hut, but lived in a palace.
He inherited poverty, but enjoyed unlimited wealth.
Moses is a case of a child who went from rags to riches, but the list changes at this point. In Hebrews 11:24-26 it says: By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
i. Therefore the list continues:
He was the leader of armies, but the keeper of flocks.
He was the mightiest of warriors, but the meekest of men.
He was educated in the court, but dwelt in the desert.
He had the wisdom of Egypt, but the faith of a child.
He was fitted for the city, but wandered in the wilderness.
He was tempted with the pleasures of sin, but endured the hardships of virtue.
He was backward in speech, but talked with God.
He had the rod of a shepherd, but the power of the infinite.
He was a fugitive from Pharaoh, but an ambassador from heaven.
He was the giver of the law, but the forerunner of grace.
He died alone on Mt. Moab, but appeared with Christ in Judea.
No man assisted in his funeral, but God buried him.
j. WHAT A LEGACY.
i. And all we described today was ONE of her children…
ii. Where you aware that Jochabed had TWO other very Powerful figures of scripture who where her children?
1. Aaron and Miriam
2. Look at some of the Legacy she left behind through their lives…
a. Miriam
i. Watches Moses in the ark at the nile.
ii. Leads Worship after destruction of Pharaoh and his army
iii. Was present at the deliverance of the Isralites…
b. Aaron:
i. Mouth piece for Moses
ii. Commissioned with Moses as a deliver of Israel
iii. Enters Priesthood
iv. Supports the hands of Moses with Hur during battle.
iii. EVEN THE CONTENTS IN THE ARK OF THE COVENANT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO JOCHABED’S CHILDREN.
1. “Aaron’s rod that Budded”
2. The Jar of Manna- Placed there by Aaron
3. The Stone tablets of the Ten Commandments Given to Moses on the Mountain.
WHY? BECAUSE OF ONE SUPER CHIC WHO Was A Woman of Courage, Humble Surrender, Impartation and A Continued Legacy
Altar- What kind of Legacy are you leaving. Have you built an ark of Saftey…
ROSES at altar call- Let them represent hope… etc.. you’re a super chic
~ You may say, I have messed up too badly- there is hope.
~ You may be living in fear. He will bring Courage.
~ You may be having a hard time Humbly Surrendering- Trust Him
~ What Are You Imparting…
