Sermons

Summary: Today is Mother's Day, & this used to be such an easy Sunday for preachers because we could preach sermons filled with warm, happy illustrations. And everybody wore flowers.

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER

RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(This is a shorter & newer [2020] version of a previous message.)

TEXT: Proverbs 23:25; Ephesians 4:15 & 32

ILL. A man came home from work one afternoon & found his three small children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. Some of their toys were scattered across the lawn & on the driveway. The door of his wife's car was wide open, & so was the front door of their house.

Surprised at this, he rushed inside & was confronted with evidence of complete disarray. A lamp had been knocked over. The TV was loudly blaring on a cartoon channel, & the family room was littered with toys & children’s clothing.

He went into the kitchen. The sink was filled with dirty dishes, breakfast food had been spilled on the counter, the refrigerator door was open, & dog food was scattered all over the floor.

Very concerned now, & fearing the worst, he frantically looked for his wife, heading up the stairs, stepping over toys & more piles of clothing as he went.

Rushing into their bedroom, he saw her. Still in her pajamas, she lay there curled up on their bed, reading a novel. She looked up, smiled at him, & asked him how his day had been.

Completely bewildered, he looked at her & asked, “What happened here today?” Again she smiled & then answered, “You know, every day when you come home from work you ask me what in the world I do all day long?” “Yes,” he said. She answered, “Well, today I didn't do it.” (Adapted from Sermon Central)

I want to call your attention today to Proverbs 23:25. “May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!"

Today is Mother's Day, & this used to be such an easy Sunday for preachers because we could preach sermons filled with warm, happy illustrations. And everybody wore flowers - red if mother was still alive, & white if she had died.

Almost every church had special programs. And everybody went home feeling good about themselves & about the celebration of Mother's Day.

I. MOTHER'S DAY IS NOT A HAPPY DAY FOR EVERYONE

A. Well maybe not everybody, because for some it is more of a bittersweet celebration. You see, Mother’s Day is not necessarily a happy day for everyone.

ILL. One woman wrote, "Mother's Day is such a wonderful day for so many women. But it will be a sad day for some of us who have tried so very hard to become a mother, but without success.

"To us, having a baby is a dream just out of our reach, & Mother's Day is a day of tears instead of joy."

B. Or maybe your Mother's Day is tinged with sadness because you're a long ways away from your mother, or from your children. And you'll be unable to see each other face to face on this special day.

C. O maybe you're sad because your mother is getting old. You've noticed how fast she is aging. Her eyesight is not as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes she stumbles & falls & you worry about her hurting herself. Her hearing has deteriorated, too.

Many of us have experienced that & the hardest decision came when we realized that we could no longer provide ade¬quate care for our mother or father ourselves, & that we would have to commit their care to someone else.

D. Or maybe Mother's Day is unhappy for you because of broken relationships. You have children & you don't know where they are or what is happen¬ing in their lives, & you say, "I thought we had a good family, but now we're alienated from each other, & I don't know what to do."

ILL. I heard of someone whose parents went into business for themselves when he was a young boy. His grandfather loaned them a substantial sum of money to start the business. Then his grandfather thought that he should have a strong say in how the business was run, but his father didn't feel that way at all.

So they argued, & for many years there was a strained relationship in the family. They didn't go to grandfather's house for Christmas anymore. His father & grandfather wouldn't even speak when they saw each other on the street or in a store.

SUM. You see, over the years we have gone through periods of great stress. And many homes have become battlefields where no one knows what the rules & standards really are because they have been changed so often.

As a result, some are not even sure it is possible to find any real solutions to the problems in our families & homes today.

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