MOTHER’S DAY 2005
“MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS”
Rev. Bruce A. Shields – First Baptist Church Tawas City Michigan
www.TawasBaptist.org
We would like to welcome you to the First Baptist Church of Tawas City, we are very glad you are here today.
If you are visiting, please fill out a Visitor Card located in the back of the pew’s, and leave them on the pews as you leave, and someone will come by after the service and pick them up.
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold
“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[c] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."
38"I am the Lord’s servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.”
PRAYER
Today we are going to talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Looking at her story, we will see a picture in the scriptures that has been drawn for us, a picture of a model mother.
Thinking about motherhood, I remembered before I had children.
I had many theories on how to raise children. Now I have many children and no more theories.
Mother’s are an interesting breed.
Not only do they seem to be superhuman at times, but they all seem to speak the same language.
I remember being at my friend’s house when I was about 14, and his mother was yelling at him about something, and she was saying some of the same things my mother would say.
Yet, they had never met?
Things like;
“Don’t be smart with me.”
“Just wait until your father gets home.”
“You ARE going to have fun.”
“Where’s my change?”
“That’s the last time I’m going to tell you.”
They don’t just speak the same language, but they share many of the same qualities, tenderness, compassion, mother’s intuition, sympathy.
Sympathy from a mother is different than from a father.
Few things in this world are more powerful than the tears and prayers of a mother.
Here’s a fact, out of the 69 kings of France only 3 were really loved by their subjects and these 3 were the only ones raised by their mothers, instead of the rest who were raised by tutors of guardians.
Napoleon once said, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
If you were looking for the perfect mother to leave your one and only child with, who would she be?
Would she be wealthy?
Would she live in a nice place?
Would she be famous, well educated? Mature? Experienced?
What would be her characteristics?
You know, I learned the value of a mother about 8 years ago.
Trenton’s mother left when he was only 1 year old.
I raised him the best I could for a father.
But there are things a mother has that a father can NEVER accomplish.
The role of mother was created by God to be filled by a woman.
Although I did OK, a man can NEVER replace a woman when it comes to being a mother.
Men lack some of the essentials that God has created in women to fill that role.
That does work both ways. A woman could never fill the roll of Father.
My father left when I was 11, and my mother was not equipped to handle me and my brother, although she tried.
If anyone tries to tell you that a woman can take the place of a man, they are wrong.
If anyone tries to tell you that a man can take the place of a woman, they are just as wrong.
God has created us different.
The scriptures tell us so.
This society has done a wonderful job over the past 50 years or so of telling men they can be women, and women they can be men.
Tearing down the very fabric of what God has created us to be.
Speaking from experience, no father can take the place of mother.
We need to stop listening to society telling us what is right and wrong, and start listening to what God has told us in scripture about what our roles are.
He should know, He created us to fill those roles.
God was looking for a woman to raise His Son.
He chose a town with a bad reputation, Nazareth.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” In this case, yes.
He went to a humble cottage and tapped a girl on the shoulder, who according to custom was 14 or 15 years old, and chose her to be the mother of Jesus.
Two times in our text Gabriel told Mary that she was highly favored by God.
What was it about Mary that caught God’s attention?
Were not told the answer to this question directly, but the answer is there in the scriptures, hidden in the very few and very brief accounts of Mary recorded by the inspired writers.
I believe that God chose Mary for two reasons.
Because of what Mary already had, and because of who God knew Mary would become.
What did Mary have?
Mary had the right perspective.
Can you imagine an angel appearing and giving you this message?
It had to be troubling.
After all, she was engaged at the time to Joseph, and engagements in that day were more serious than they are today.
An engaged woman was considered married already.
A child born during an engagement would have been considered illegitimate.
Mary faced rejection by Joseph, the possibility of raising her child alone in a culture hostile to women, in addition jeopardizing her reputation and her life if she was accused of unfaithfulness to Joseph.
Not to mention Mary probably felt insecure, unworthy and insufficient for the great task of being the mother of God the Son, the savior of the world.
I’m sure we have felt the same way when God has asked any of us to do something for Him.
Others in the scriptures did.
Remember Moses when he was given a message and task by God Himself at the burning bush?
“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
That would be like one of us going to Saddam Hussein while he was still in power in Iraq and telling him to stop all that terrorism stuff and leave everyone alone.
Moses said, “What if they don’t believe or listen to me?”
“O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
How many times have we felt unsure of God’s calling?
How many times have we asked Him to pick someone else?
Mary could have said, “Lord, I’m just a girl. I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m not wealthy, I’m not educated, I’m not worthy of this. Maybe it would be better if you got someone else?”
But that’s not what she said. She had the right perspective!
Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be as you have said…”
In Luke 2, Mary’s song is recorded, and in it she tells how she rejoices and is blessed by what God was going to do in her life.
Mary saw motherhood as an honor and a gift.
Mother’s today like Mary, need to have the proper perspective.
They too are servants of God, in all things and especially in raising God’s children.
Each life is knit in the womb by the hand of the Almighty.
Mother’s all share in this responsibility to raise the children given to them by God.
Psalm 127:3 (Amplified)
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
God looked upon Mary with favor because she had the right perspective.
He also looked upon her with favor because she had a solid foundation.
And in God’s eyes there is only one solid foundation…Him and His word. Jesus spoke on this in;
Luke 6:46-49
“"Why do you call me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
There is no other foundation.
So how do we know that Mary had this foundation?
In Luke 2, in Mary’s song it is quite evident that Mary knew the scriptures as there are at least 30 phrases or words that echo truths from the Old Testament.
Mary knew “the word” and she went beyond that and was one who enthusiastically and unashamedly praised her God.
Mary’s solid foundation is an example to mother’s today.
A mother who praises her God and knows His word is going to make a difference in her child’s life.
A mother like that will be planting seeds that will one day bear fruit.
Psalm 78:3-7
“What we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands. “
We see an example of this in the New Testament.
2 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.”
Do you see how important a mother’s foundation in God’s word is?
Mother’s, how is your foundation?
Do you understand who God is?
Do you have His word hidden in your heart and mind so that it supports & guides you in your life and your motherhood?
Do you know His word well enough to pass it on to your children?
Do you set a good example of one who loves to worship and praise God?
Is your home life built on a solid foundation?
Remember Psalm 127:1 “unless the Lord builds the house, its builder’s labor in vain…”
We could continue with a mother’s unrelenting protection, unwavering love and devotion, and more.
Mother’s may you have Mary’s kind of love and devotion for your child.
ALTAR CALL
Today during the altar call, if you have a need, or prayer request and want the Elders to pray for you, come forward.
If you would like to accept the Lord Jesus as your savior or rededicate your life to Him, come forward.
If you are a mother who wants prayer and the Elders to lay hands on you for Strength, guidance, endurance, understanding, compassion, all the attributes that were becoming of Mary and should fill every mother, come forward.
