Things Don't Always End Up The Way They Started

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?