LESSONS FROM THE JOURNEY (MOTHER’S DAY): THINGS DON’T ALWAYS END UP THE WAY THEY STARTED
JOSHUA 2: 1-21
SUNDAY MAY 8, 2005 MOTHER’S DAY
INTRODUCTION: Mothers!
Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you’ve had a baby... Somebody doesn’t know that once you’re a mother, "Normal," is history.
Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct... Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
Somebody said being a mother is boring... Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver’s permit.
Somebody said if you’re a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good."
Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.
Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices... Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor’s kitchen window.
Somebody said you don’t need an education to be a mother. Somebody never helped a fourth grader with her math.
Somebody said you can’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first. Somebody doesn’t have five children.
Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books… Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.
Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery... Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten, or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."
Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back... Somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.
Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married... Somebody doesn’t know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.
Somebody said a mother’s job is done when her last child leaves home... Somebody never had grandchildren!!
Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don’t need to tell her... Somebody isn’t a mother.
TRANSITION THOUGHT: DOES ANYONE HERE NO A SOMEBODY?? Why is it “Somebody” always has an opinion and they just need to share it?? Well, today is Mother’s Day and I was just amazed at the thought that Motherhood is a massive part of the journey and we are here to learn from the Journey! First things first, I am not standing before you today as anyone else other than a son of a mother and as a husband to the mother of my children. I am not foolish enough to say I know anything about motherhood. I am here, however, to share God’s word, and hopefully to offer some real encouragement from the Lord to all of our Mothers and to those who have loved and cared for us like mothers.
As you heard Tony read the text today, you may have gotten a little nervous. When I told Aretha what I was preaching on Mother’s Day, she laughed hysterically! But when I explained it all, as I am about to do, it made some sense. SO, what can we learn from Rahab about Motherhood as we celebrate Mother’s Day??
THESIS SENTENCE: NO MATTER HOW A LIFE STARTS, GOD CAN TRANSFORM IT FOR HIS GLORY AND THE BUILDING OF HIS KINGDOM!
THE JOURNEY OF A MOTHER STARTS WITH A LABEL VV. 1 AND 2
LIFE THOUGHT: LADIES, HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE YOU GOT STARTED OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SO FOCUSED ON THE PAST AND THE MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE THAT YOU HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO KNOW YOU HAVE A FUTURE? DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR GOD DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THE LABEL ON YOUR LIFE, HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT HE CAN DO WITH YOU!
SCRIPTURE THOUGHTS: ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!
OUR TEXT: VV. 1-2
OUR TEXT TELLS US ABOUT A WOMAN KNOWN AS A PROSTITUTE! MEN HAD COME TO HER AT NIGHT, SPIES FROM ISRAEL! PEOPLE/ OFFICIALS KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING AND WHO CAME TO HER DOOR! RAHAB WAS LABEL AND SHE WAS KNOWN!
THE JOURNEY OF A MOTHER CHANGES AT ANY MOMENT VV. 3-7
LIFE THOUGHT: HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO ANYONE WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE ONCE THEY HAVE A CHILD?? HOW ABOUT WHEN THEY GET MARRIED? YOU JUST CAN’T EXPLAIN HOW DRASTICALLY LIFE CHANGES AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT, BUT FOR MOTHERS, LIFE DRASTICALLY CHANGES WHEN THEIR FIRST CHILD IS BORN! FOR ALL OF US, ON OUR JOURNEY, LIFE CAN CHANGE AT ANY MOMENT. GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHEN LIFE CHANGES, HE STANDS WITH US!
SCRIPTURE THOUGHT: GO BACK TO THE CHRISTMAS STORY! HOW DID JOSEPH’S AND MARY’S LIVES CHANGE? WERE THEY PREPARED FOR WHAT THE LIVING GOD WAS ABOUT TO DO? THINK ABOUT ABRAHAM, MOSES, JOSHUA, AND ON AND ON IT GOES. OH, DID I NOT MENTION THE WOMEN? THINK ABOUT SARAH, RUTH, DEBORAH, ELIZEBETH, MARY, AND ON AND ON IT GOES! THE LIVING GOD WILL CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND IT IS OKAY! HE IS GOD! DID I MENTION KIM?
OUR TEXT: VV. 3-7
PEOPLE/ OFFICIALS KNEW RAHAB AND WHAT SHE WAS UP TO AND WHO HAD KNOCKED UPON HER DOOR! HER LIFE WOULD BE FOREVER CHANGED BY ONE NIGHTS VISIT BY TWO YOUNG ISRAELITE MEN!
THE JOURNEY OF A MOTHER TRANSFORMS THE WHOLE FAMILY VV. 8-16
LIFE THOUGHT: LADIES, MAY I TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW? YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM YOUR WHOLE FAMILY! DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY DECISION YOU HAVE MADE AND WILL MAKE WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT, NOT ONLY ON YOU, BUT UPON YOUR WHOLE FAMILY! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE IMPACT BRITIANY SPEARS HAS HAD UPON HER FAMILY? CELEBRITY AFFECTS AN ENTIRE FAMILY! INFAMY (THE MAKING OF A NAME FOR ONESELF THROUGH NEGETIVE ACTIONS) AFFECTS A WHOLE FAMILY? CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PRIDE OF THE FAMILY OF DR. CONDALEESA RICE?
SCRIPTURE THOUGHT: MARY’S WILLING SPIRIT TRANSFORMED ETERNITY! AND WHAT ABOUT RUTH WHO BLESSED NAOMI AND CONTINUED ONE OF ISRAEL’S LINEAGE? AND WHAT OF MARY MAGDALENE WHO ANNOINTED JESUS FEET WITH HER PERFUME, DID NOT JESUS SAY THAT SHE WAS TO BE REMEMBER?
OUR TEXT: VV. 8-16
DID YOU NOTICE HOW RAHAB RESPONDED TO THE SPIES. SHE TELLS THEM THAT ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF SHITTIM AND JERICHO ARE OVERWHELMED BY FEAR (V. 9), BUT DID SHE ACTED AFRAID? I BELIEVED SHE SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY! I BELIEVE SHE WAS AN INTELLIGENT WOMAN WHOSE EYES WERE WIDE OPEN TO THE REALITY OF HER SITUATION AND OF THAT OF HER FAMILY! I BELIEVE SHE KNEW SHE COULD BLESS OR CURSE HER OWN FAMILY BY THE ACTIONS SHE TOOK! AND GOD BLESSED HER TREATMENT OF HIS SPIES!
THE JOURNEY OF A MOTHER RESTS WITH AN AGREEMENT VV. 17-21/ 6: 16-17; 22-24
LIFE THOUGHT: OFTEN IN LIFE WE TALK THE TALK, BUT STRUGGLE TO WALK THE WALK. LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN, I AM NOT HER TO THROW STONES! BUT, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A PERSON, MAYBE NOT A MOTHER, WHO SAID THE RIGHT WORDS, BUT WHOSE WALK DID NOT BLESS THEIR FAMILIES? HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A FAMILY RUINED BY THE ACTIONS OF ONE PERSON? THE REALITY IS THAT WE HAVE TO LEARN TO AGREE WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THIS STUGGLE OF LIFE! WE MUST AGREE TO WORK TOGETHER, TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER, TO HOLD ONE ANOTHER UP!
SCRIPTURE THOUGHT: JOSHUA 24: 15 “AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE…”
OUR TEXT: VV. 17-21/ CHAPTER 6: 16-17; 22-24
THE REAL STORY OF OUR TEXT IS OF RAHAB AGREEING TO HELP THE SPIES OF ISRAEL. SOME MIGHT HAVE CONCIDERED THIS TREASON. SOME MIGHT THINK THAT RAHAB WAS WEAK AND UNWILLING TO STAND HER GROUND, FOR HER FAMILY AND FOR HER NATION! BUT, TODAY, WE KNOW SHE WAS IN THE CENTER OF GOD’S WILL! WE KNOW THAT HER DECISION TO HELP THE SPIES, LIE TO HER OWN PEOPLE, TO KEEP HER FAMILY IN HER HOUSE AS THE BATTLE BEGAN, AND TO TIE THE SCARLET CORD IN THE WIDOW, WAS AN AGREEMENT WITH GOD TO DO GOD’S WILL! RAHAB AGREED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF ISREAL AND ULTIMATELY IN HER LIFE AND IN THE LIFE OF HER FAMILY! HEAR NOW THE END OF THE STORY: 6:16-17; 22-24
THE JOURNEY OF A MOTHER ENDS WITH A LABLE
LIFE THOUGHT: WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE, HOW YOU START OR HOW YOU FINISH? YES, HOW YOU START DOES MATTER!! BUT, DOES IT MATTER MORE THAN HOW YOU FINISH? I THINK SOME HOW IN OUR CULTURE WE ARE MORE CONSUMED WITH HOW WE LOOK THAN WE WHO WE ARE? WOULD WE RATHER SAVE OUR MONEY AND LIVE ACCORDING TO OUR MEANS OR WOULD WE RATHER BE IN DEBT OVER OUR HEADS SO WE LOOK LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?? JUST A THOUGHT? WHAT WILL BE SAID OF YOU BY YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN? WHAT WILL BE SAID OF YOU BY THOSE THAT WENT TO CHURCH WITH YOU, WORKED WITH YOU, AND LIVED IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WITH YOU?
SCRIPTURE THOUGHT: HEAR WHAT SCRIPTURE HAD TO SAY ABOUT RAHAB PROSTITUTE: HEBREWS 11: 31 AND JAMES 2: 25! AND OH, YEAH, WHY ON EARTH DID I USE RAHAB AS AN EXAMPLE OF MOTHERHOOD AND ON MOTHER’S DAY: MATTHEW 1: 5 JUST SAYS A WHOLE LOT TO ME! WHAT SCRIPTURE TELLS US IS THAT THE LABEL RAHAB STARTED WITH IS NOT THE ONE SHE ENDED WITH! RAHAB STARTED OUT WITH A BAD REPUTATION, BUT ENDED WITH
CONCLUSION: IF RAHAB IS GOOD ENOUGH TO BE THE GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF KING DAVID, AND A DISTANT RELATIVE OF JESUS, THEN SHE PROBABLY IS GOOD ENOUGH TO BE HELD UP ON MOTHERS DAY AS A TRANSFOMED LIFE FOR THE LIVING GOD AND AN EXAMPLE, NOT ONLY TO OUR MOMS, BUT TO US ALL. TODAY IS MOTHER’S DAY AND WE CELEBRATE WITH YOU ALL. IF IT WEREN’T FOR OUR MOM’S, NONE OF US WOULD BE HERE! GOD’S GRACE SUSTAINS US AND GOD’S GRACE TRANSFORMS US FROM WHO WE WERE TO WHO WE CAN BECOME BY HIS GRACE AND POWER ALONE! ARE YOU ALL THE MOM YOU WANT TO BE? DOES ANYONE HERE NEED MORE OF GOD’S GRACE AND POWER? DO YOU KNOW JESUS AS YOUR FORGIVER AND GUIDE?
BENEDICTION: JUDE 24-25
What Moms Really Want for Mother’s Day
10. To be able to eat a whole candy bar (alone) and drink a Coke without any "floaters."
9. To have a 14-year-old answer a question without rolling her eyes in that "Why is this person my mother?" way.
8. Five pounds of chocolate that won’t add twenty.
7. A shower without a child peeking through the curtain with a "Hi ya, Mom!" just as I put razor to my ankle.
6. A full-time cleaning person who looks like Brad Pitt.
5. For a teenager to announce, "Hey, Mom! I got a full scholarship and a job all in the same day!"
4. A grocery store that doesn’t have candy, gum, and cheap toys displayed at the checkout line.
3. To have a family meal without a discussion about bodily secretions.
2. To be able to step on a plane with toddlers and not have some pencil-neck-yuppie-geek moan, "Oh, no! Why me?"
1. Four words: Fisher Price Play Prison
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