A MOM’S GREATEST WORK - 2 Timothy 1:5-8
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering according to the power of God,
Man sent his wife a mother’s day greeting,
M is for the mink coat you want, dear.
O is for the opal ring you crave.
T is for the tiny car you’d love, my sweet.
H is for the hat that makes you rave.
E is for the earrings you’d admire and love
R is for the rug on which you’d tread
Put then all together and they spell ’bankrupt’
So I settled for this card instead
Take time this morning to honor a special group of individuals who sit amongst us today. The evidence of their efforts is hopefully seen in our lives. They have taken on a tough job with very little rewards other than the end result which is seen in our lives.
Someone has said, ’The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth…the hard part is showing up each day’.
Woman asked, ’If you had it to do all over again would you have children? Yes…but not the same ones.
Going to look this morning at the spiritual legacy that a mom leaves in the life of a child. The faith that continues by passing through her life and into ours.
OUR MOTHER’S GIVE US A LEARNED FAITH (5) For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
1. Paul recognized a family trait in Timothy’s life: Not in physical traits but in spiritual maturity. A sincere faith was in his life that was also in his mother and grandmother.
a. Sincere Lit. Without wax Faith that could be tested and proven genuine. More than just words.
b. Timothy aquired this faith because he had seen it modeled during his life. It had dwelt, lived, taken up residence in his mother and grandmother. He saw it everytime he saw them. It effected everything they did and was evident in every move they made.
1) That is the kind of faith that is contagious.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM: Rebel With A Cause Sent to boarding school as a your man
’Whatever was expected of the student body, I wanted to do the opposite. I got a kick out of staying one step ahead of the law’.
If Billy Graham was the ultimate preacher then Franklin made a run at being the ultimate ’Preacher’s kid’. Fighting, high speed car chases, firearms, rock music, hard liquor.
’I didn’t want to identify with Christianity…I prayed and attended church but I found the things of world pleasurable and fun, and I didn’t like being around Christian people’.
Life became empty, something missing, emptiness could not explain, no joy or fulfillment. Decided you could not live in the middle ground, had to either follow Christ or reject him. MOTEL ROOM read Romans 8:1 ’There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’
’I put my cigarette out and got down on my knees beside my bed and settled the matter for eternity’.
Franklin’s major influence was not his father who was most always off on a crusade but the difference was made because of a spiritually strong mother named Ruth Graham who learned her faith from her parent who were missionaries in China.
OUR MOTHER’S GIVE US A LIVING FAITH (6) For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (7) For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
1. Paul puts some definition to the sincere faith that Timothy and his family exhibited:
a. A sincere faith is an active faith: kindle afresh the gift of God
1) Is your gift working in the body of Christ? A ministry which is an extension of the impact of others’ in your life? Paul’s ministry continuing through Timothy’s.
b. A sincere faith is a fearless faith: God has not given a spirit of timidity
A mom was tucking her small boy into bed one night while a violent thunderstorm raged outside. ’Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?’ ’No honey I need to sleep in the other room with daddy tonight’. ’THE BIG SISSY’.
1) Fearless means willing to step out in obedience when circumstances might be intimidating. Real Christianity is quite scary. Ministry can be frightening. Tithing might scare you to death. Witnessing? Standing alone when the world around you is caving in to immorality. Stephen Kings couldn’t write such a scene of horror.
c. A sincere faith demonstrates itself as life is lived: of power and love and discipline.
1) Three descriptions of life choices we face in ever day. God’s power or our weakness? Sacrificial love or self-centered lifestyles? Spiritually lazy lives, floating downstream like dead fish with the world or making the tough choices to do the will of God. POWER - LOVE - DISCIPLINE. Evidences of a sincere faith. A LIVING FAITH.
OUR MOTHER’S GIVE US A LASTING FAITH (8) Therefore do not be ashamed or the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.
1. Paul sees in Timothy’s life the requirements to answer the call to follow in the same path that he and the Lord have both taken. A person who does not have a sincere faith is not really a candidate to be used very much by God. Join with me in suffering for the gospel.
2. Mother’s demonstrate more than any other group on earth what is means to give up your own rights for the life of another.
SOLOMON ROSENBERG was placed in a Nazi concentration camp with his wife, their 2 sons, his mother and his father. It was a labor came and rules were simple, ’As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you are exterminated’.
He watched his mother and father both march off to their deaths and he knew that the next one would be his youngest son David who had always been a frail child.
Every evening when he returned to the barracks he search for the faces of his wife and children, especially David and would thank God for another day of life.
One day he returned and didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son who was huddled in a corner, weeping. ’Josh, tell me it’s not true’. ’It is true Poppa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work so they came for him’.
’Where is your mother?’ ’When they came for David, he was afraid and cried…..Momma said, ’there is nothing to be afraid of David, and she took his hand and went with him’. TRUE STORY lived out in many different ways in many different families all around us by people just like those who sit with us today and to whom we honor on this day.
