Thank God For Mothers Series

I. Introduction

· Last Sunday we talked about the fact that families are under attack. However, we can narrow that down to something even more shocking today…

· Never before has Satan leveled such outrageous attacks against motherhood, as what we find today!

· Every day there are an average of 5,680 abortions in America!

· Even when babies are born, we discover that we live in a world where children have children!

· The courts are replete today with gay and lesbian couples who fight for the rights to rear children!

· Meanwhile the mothers who try to remain faithful to marriage and family in a traditional way fight every obstacle under the sun.

· These things happen because Satan hates mothers! And there is only one reason that Satan hates mothers so much… God Almighty loves and blesses the special nature and character of every precious mother. And He endows her with a faith that is unknown in practically any other walk in life!

· Motherhood is one of the highest and noblest expressions of faith known to man.

· What are the characteristics of a mother’s faith? Mothers have a…

o Sincere Faith

o Stable Faith

o Stirring Faith

1. A Sincere Faith (II Timothy 1:5)

· The Bible speaks of how Paul and Barnabus visited southern Galatia on their first missionary journey.

· In one of those cities, a city by the name of Lystra, Paul pronounced a crippled man to be healed in the name of Christ, and they nearly made sacrifices to him as a god, but then later on they drug him out and stoned him, leaving him for dead! But God raised him back up and helped him recover.

· Despite all that, Paul left a thriving church in that city, and he made acquaintance with an older woman and her daughter… Lois and Eunice. He was impressed with the profound faith of these 2 noble women.

· In his second journey, Paul and Silas went back through Lystra and collected Eunice’s son Timothy, and Timothy became one of the greatest men of God who ever carried the gospel.

· Paul claimed that this was possible because of the “unfeigned faith” of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. “Unfeigned” means “genuine” or “sincere”.

· A mother is equipped with a “sincere faith”. They have this amazing ability to rise up in the night and look after their young.

· They have this tremendous ability to never run out of patience to look after their children.

· And a mother never loses faith that God will watch over her household! Thank God for the faith of mothers!

2. A Stable Faith (II Timothy 1:5)

· But there is a higher level of faith that we find in this passage..

· After a sincere faith, we find a “stable faith” in mothers.

· Notice that even though Lois was a woman of great faith, she was able to pass it to her daughter Eunice.

· If Lois’s faith had been that of a woman who was wishy-washy or flighty of mind or heart, she could never have brought up her daughter in faith.

· But Lois’ faith was stable! It didn’t wane and flow with the tide. It stayed strong and faithful through the years! Long enough to impart it to posterity!

· Thank God for the faith of mothers that will last for generations!

3. A Stirring Faith (II Timothy 1:6)

· Finally, the faith of Lois and Eunice was spawned in young Timothy.

· Not every godly mother’s son becomes a preacher or a missionary. However, every godly mother’s son will rise up and say… “The faith of my mother stirs my soul!” “Nobody can pray like my mother can!” “Nobody can stir the heart of God like my mother can.”

· Such a son or daughter is stirred into faith and action by his or her mother.

· Paul told Timothy that he was sure that Timothy’s inherited faith would allow him to “fan into flames” the gift God had given him.

· That stirring is predicated by the stirring faith of faithful mothers!

Conclusion – Preacher, you’re right. I thank God for my mother, and the mothers in my family. What can I do for them?

· Model the faith of your mother – God will make the faith of a mother available to anyone. Mothers, take advantage of the faith God gives you, and pray with all the power you can muster.

· Pray for strength for your mother – Just because God blesses mothers doesn’t mean Satan doesn’t attack. On the contrary, sometimes a mother’s difficulties are great. Pray for her that God will measurably increase His grace toward her.

· “But Preacher I am a mother, and I have struggles!” Hold on to the promise of God! – Never lose sight of the fact that God makes you to be someone very special. He will never leave you in your hour of need. Take hold of Him and cling to Him. He will never let you down!