Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Mothers Day 2026

Transcript

Mothers Day 2026 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  I left it back there. That's the first time I ever did
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  that. Thank you.
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  I have nothing to say without this.
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  Right? Aren't you glad?
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  How many pastors come up front without a Bible nowadays?
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  Probably quite a few of them talk about everything but the
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  Bible. Anyway.
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  What a special day. Mom's Mother's Day, I was
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  planning on being in Second Corinthians this morning,
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  chapter 2 and I was struggling yesterday as I was putting
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  everything together. We just wasn't coming together
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  and I said, Lord, what's what's up?
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  I was at the point I didn't even feel like preaching that
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  chapter. I'm thinking, well, why was
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  because the Lord had something else he wanted me to focus upon
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  and that was mothers and I like all the mothers.
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  This is stand for a minute if you could so we can honor you
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  before the Lord and thank God for your lives and the impact
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  that you've made on all of us as families.
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  Thank you so much. You may be seated so mothers,
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  you got a tough job. I don't have to tell you that I
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  I'll tell you some stories near the end about my, my journey as
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  a son to a mother who I broke her heart numerous times, not
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  intentionally, but out of stupidity.
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  But what's so awesome about life?
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  If you live long enough, you get a chance to make things right.
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  They don't have to stay dysfunctional or toxic the whole
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  time. You can actually begin to become
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  a child of God first of all, and then you can become a real child
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  to your your parents, someone who honors the Lord and honors
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  them. But moms, you know the struggle
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  you have of raising your children up in the nurture and
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  admonition of the Lord. Many of you are Christians and
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  you endeavor to do that. You do it well, but you don't do
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  it perfectly. And as much as you try to raise
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  your kids up in the way that they should go, kids have a mind
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  of their own too, don't they? And they make their own
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  decisions so often that aren't really wise.
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  But you can't do anything about it.
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  All you can do is pray Now when they're young, you can
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  discipline them. You can ground them.
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  You can do all kinds of things to say things got to change.
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  But then they become adults and and then it's different, right?
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  They're going to, they're going to live their lives the way they
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  feel they they want to live them.
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  And God gives us that capacity to live our lives the way we
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  want to live, even though the times are not the white the
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  right path and the right way to live.
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  But we have to figure that out ourselves too.
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  Because until God gets a hold of us and breaks us and humbles us
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  and shows us the impact that sin can make in our lives alone, our
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  parents lives or everyone that loves us, we just don't get it.
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  So the first thing that all of us need to understand, if you're
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  a mom and you're not born again, you need to get saved.
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  You need to be born again in order to know how to parent
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  properly. Without Jesus, you're just going
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  to fail. And your parenting skills, it's,
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  it's, it's impossible. And, and then as children,
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  whether you're here or next door right now, in order to be a
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  godly child and to be able to grow up making the right
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  decisions and living for the the presence and the glory of God,
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  you have to get saved. You have to get born again too,
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  because you can't be a good kid, let alone a good young adult
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  without Jesus. It's impossible.
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  Try it, it won't work. And then sometimes even as
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  Christians, parents, moms, dads, young people, kids, we can be
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  believers, but we can still do stupid things.
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  We can still make stupid decisions and mistakes, which we
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  all do because we're still in process.
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  We're slowly, all of us being conformed to the image of
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  Christ. It doesn't happen overnight.
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  It happens through day in and day out learning.
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  And for parents that pray for their kids and kids that pray
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  for their parents. And so that's sort of the
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  foundation of what I wanted to speak about this morning.
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  And I wanted to read Proverbs chapter 31 of this chapter of
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  Virtuous Wife exemplifies the model of a a woman who's really
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  amazing but not perfect, but she's endeavoring to do what
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  pleases God and blesses her family.
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  So it says who can find a virtuous wife in verse 10 for
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  her worth is far above rubies the heart of her husband safely
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  trust her so he will have no lack of gain.
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  She does him good and not evil. All the days of her life.
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  She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands.
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  She's like the merchant ship. She brings her food from afar.
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  She rises while it's yet night and provides food for her
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  household, a portion for her maidservant.
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  She considers a field and buys it from her profits.
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  She plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength
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  and strengthens her arm. She perceives that her
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  merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out by night.
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  She stretches out her hands to the staff.
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  Her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hand to the
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  poor. Yes, she reaches out her hands
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  to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for
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  her household, for all her household is clothed with
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  scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself.
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  Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
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  Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the
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  elders of the land. She makes linen garments, sells
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  them, supplies sashes for the merchants.
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  Strength and honor are her clothing.
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  She shall rejoice in a time to come.
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  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of
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  kindness. She watches over the ways of her
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  household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
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  Her children rise up and call her blessed.
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  Her husband also, and he praises her.
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  Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.
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  Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears
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  the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her
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  hands and let her own works praise her in the gates.
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  Father, we read this and it humbles us, especially Lord,
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  those of us who have moms that live this way, all they did was
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  for us. All they cared about was us.
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  All they sacrifice was for us and all they live for was for
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  us. And yet, Lord, at times we
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  didn't see that. We didn't understand it, we
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  didn't appreciate it, we didn't value it.
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  But Lord, as you work in our hearts, we begin to see the
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  treasure you've given us and the moms that you've provided for
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  us, especially the moms that knew you, that told us about you
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  throughout our whole life, always reminded us that you were
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  the way, the truth, the life that you would never leave us or
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  forsake us. That You were always there to
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  help us. No matter what we went through
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  in our lives, You would be there for us.
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  And that legacy of a faithful mom who trusted you and lived by
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  faith and was an example in the good and bad times of looking to
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  Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
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  So Lord, today we want to honor our moms.
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  Some of us have moms that are no longer here.
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  We remember them fondly and just if they're with you today, Lord,
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  this send up our love to them and our respect and appreciation
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  for them for moms, Lord, are on the planet still that still
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  don't know you who have maybe messed up their lives because of
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  their own stupid mistakes or fractures.
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  Lord, if we know you, help us to help our moms get back with you,
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  Lord, or get to be with you for the first time as we pray for
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  them, as we hold them up, Lord And Lord, help us to think on
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  the things that are pure and lovely and just in a good
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  report, not the not the bad times, Lord, but to be thankful
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  for all the good times we've had because of the moms you've given
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  us. And we pray, Lord, this message
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  today would bless them and honor you.
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  And we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.
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  I don't know all you moms here, but I, I know some of you much
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  more deeply. So when I look at the legacy of
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  a mom, they're usually people that I played with their kids or
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  knew their kids and I would be at their house and I would see
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  their mom and how they treated their own kids or how they got
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  them to church on Sundays, even if the dad was sleeping in or
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  whatever. The moms many times are the
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  spiritual backbone of the family and they were the ones that
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  really would speak out about what the family needed to be
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  doing spiritually. So obviously I I watched my mom,
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  Sheila Laufer, I watched Cindy's mom, Alice Alexander.
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  I saw them up close and personal.
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  I, I saw and I watched my daughter Jessica de Checca raise
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  her family and Melanie Harhai raise their family.
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  And I look at the legacy of my mom and Cindy's mom as a
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  matriarchs and how the kids and the grandkids and the great
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  grandkids watch them at this age of life, still trusting God,
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  still depending on the Lord, still praying for us, still
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  pushing us toward living for Jesus.
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  And now they're much older our moms and I think of the the the
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  verse there charm is deceitful and beauty is passing.
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  I I look at the pictures of Alice when she was younger,
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  beautiful woman and my wife picked up on her beauty is she's
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  a beautiful woman and my mom, she was a beautiful and still
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  is, but she's older and and that that beauty is is passing.
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  She was a professional fashion model and it was funny.
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  When I was in high school, I wondered why all my friends
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  always wanted to come over to my house.
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  I wanted to see my mother. They didn't want to see me.
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  It was funny, but I also knew Jenny Eichelberger, Steve's mom
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  because his mom and my mom are best friends.
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  They served the Lord and the church in the Presbyterian
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  Church in Irwin and they, they taught the Bible and they were
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  telling people they needed to be saved and be born again when the
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  pastor wasn't even doing that right.
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  And they would do puppet shows and the pastor say, well, you
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  got 5 minutes. But boy, those two women would
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  make sure they got the gospel in and those 5 minutes of the
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  people in the church would hear the Bible for a change.
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  So, and I, so I watched these moms and how they, how they are
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  and how they were. And, and I, I watch Cindy and
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  Melanie and Jessica because they've been impacted by Sheila
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  and Alice and how they are and how they flow as moms.
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  And, and I, I know Rene well and I, I watch her because I know
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  that Jenny had an impact and still does impact her.
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  But the whole clan follows Jesus.
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  It's just amazing and and I've watched all these women go
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  through like really challenging times of heartache and
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  heartbreak and didn't matter what they were going through,
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  they never turned their back on the Lord.
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  They were always examples of God is able, God is faithful and God
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  will help us get through this no matter what.
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  So how, how awesome is that? So I also remember growing up
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  and not wanting to hear what my mother had to tell me.
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  Any of you guys ever experienced that pride, right.
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  Your mom would tell you something, you know, it's true,
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  but you don't want to deal with it because you're not ready to
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  live the way they're telling you you need to live.
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  So my mom would, with a light touch, sort of say a couple
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  things and she knew like I didn't want to hear it, but she
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  would tell me anyway and I'd have to listen, right?
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  And, and it's interesting in, in my wayward years, even even as a
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  Christian at times, she was always, she was a chief
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  intercessor for my life. I mean, the, the fact that I'm a
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  pastor today and my brother's a pastor is not because there was
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  anything great about us. It was because she prayed us
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  through hell and back and never gave up on us, even when we were
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  living stupid. And that's the legacy of what a
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  mom does, you know, and the, and the perfect mother, if we had
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  any mother that we could say it was close to perfection, was a
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  mother of Jesus, right? And what she went through, he
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  never broke her heart because of sin, but he broke her heart
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  because of his calling to die on a cross for our sins.
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  And the one picture I remember of the story in the Bible was
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  when all his closest followers ran from him and his disciples
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  decided, you know, to, to not stand there with him except for
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  John and Mary. She stood there and she watched
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  him suffer and take that horrific abuse and death for all
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  of us. And it said that her heart would
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  be cut open in the Scriptures because of what she had
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  experienced watching her son have to die that agonizing
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  death. The wonder that she had, that
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  was three days later, she got to see him raised up from the dead,
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  right? How awesome is that?
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  But I remember also when he was a young boy, he was out sharing
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  the the word in the temple with the elders.
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  And her and her husband were like Joseph, Where's where's,
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  where's Jesus? We don't know.
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  They're trying to find him. And I think he lost him or they
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  left him behind or whatever. And they were exhorting him,
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  saying, you know, you shouldn't have done this, you shouldn't.
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  He said, don't you know, I have to be about my father's
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  business? I mean, it was just amazing.
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  But as a mom and as a human being, she experienced
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  everything. And she had to take that journey
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  to Egypt to get away from the danger of them taking Christ's
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  life before it was time. Everything she went through, she
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  lived a very humble life. She wasn't concerned about
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  prosperity or having the the finest or whatever.
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  She, she just wanted to be a, a maid servant to the Lord and do
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  everything she could in her life to please the Lord as a servant
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  of the Lord, That's what Mary's heart was like.
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  And so I, I'm around my own daughters at times when they
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  raise their kids at different seasons of life and when they're
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  babies, boy, it's crazy. It's, it's, it's 24/7 bottles
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  and nursing and sickness and taking care of them and making
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  sure they don't get hurt. And then you work through all
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  that and then you get a little season of they get a little bit
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  older and so they're playing and it's a little bit more fun.
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  You don't have to be totally hands on all the time.
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  And that's when you're playing sports or running around with
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  them and just having good times. And then they, they move into
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  these years called teenage years, right?
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  Those are like the worst years ever.
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  You, you think like they're exciting, but they're, they're
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  insane because that's when your own kid becomes a devil in your
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  house, becomes the enemy in your family.
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  Like how, how come I, how come this person, this kid I love so
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  much, like where's all this hate coming from?
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  Are there's this rebellion coming from and there.
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  And this is part of the, the growing process, the aging
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  process, the developing process. And thank God it doesn't last
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  forever. Sometimes it lasts a little bit
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  longer than it should, but nonetheless, I believe if you
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  really do what you need to do as a mom, eventually you'll see the
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  fruit of your prayers and your labor and they'll begin to, you
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  know, wake up and and begin to live not for themselves anymore,
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  but they begin to live to care for others.
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  Narcissism big issue in every one of our lives and that's
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  lover of self and the Bible says in the last days men and boys
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  and girls are to be lovers of themselves and boy, it's
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  everywhere. Everything's about you, right?
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  Everything's about me. And even as Christians, it can
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  become so much about us. But as Christ takes over more of
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  our life, more of my life should be about you and more of your
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  life should be about me and and others.
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  And as kids you begin to like how can I bless my mom?
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  How can I appreciate my parents? How can I love my brothers and
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  sisters? How can I realize that they're
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  going to be the ones that are going to be with me forever?
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  As I'm growing older, my friends will eventually fade away that I
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  think are so important right now.
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  Like I have one friend from high school that I'm still in touch
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  with. All the people I ran with
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  whenever I was giving my parents a hard time.
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  They're either dead or they're losers, man.
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  Like, you know, I don't, I don't even want to be around them
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  anymore. But it's funny how as life
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  develops and that you begin to realize that the people that
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  really always had your back are your mom and your dad, right?
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  And I remember many times going in when I was depressed or going
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  through stuff and my mom knew I was struggling and, and she just
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  opened up a conversation and she was very easy to talk with.
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  She listened, as did my dad, more than talk.
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  And they'd let me dump and unload.
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  And then maybe they'd just pray and have a word of wisdom or not
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  say anything and know that I'm in process and that God's at
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  work and changing my my life. So I'm very, very convicted and
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  convinced more than ever that people need Jesus.
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  Families and life will not work out right without Christ.
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  It's impossible. If you want the best life now,
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  it's going to be if you have your relationship with Christ
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  straight and right. And that affects your marriage,
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  that affects your health, that affects your mind, your
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  psychological makeup, your spiritual insights, and your
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  relationships and business and family and life.
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  And everything you do centers around Jesus.
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  Because Jesus said he that hath the Son hath life.
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  If you don't have Jesus, you don't have life.
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  You think you're living life, but you don't have real life.
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  Jesus said I have come that you might have life and that you
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  might have it more abundantly. He wants you to have a good,
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  healthy, joyful life. And what messes that up is our
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  own sin. Now, I wondered, like, when did
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  Mother's Day start? And I'll give you a little
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  history here. Anna Jarvis, She's a woman that
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  started Mother's Day. And she was one of thirteen
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  children. Only four of them lived
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  adulthood. Her older brother was the only
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  one to have children of his own, but many died young from
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  tuberculosis. And the last direct descendant
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  died in the 1980s. She had a campaign for a special
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  day to celebrate mothers. And this is she inherited this
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  vision from her mother. And so she she began this vision
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  here and she spent her life mobilizing mothers to care for
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  their children. That's a good vision.
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  And she wanted mother's work to be recognized.
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  And she hoped and prayed that someone sometime would find the
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  memorial Mother's Day commemorating her for her
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  matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life.
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  She was very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
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  where from 1858 she ran Mother's Day work clubs to combat high
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  infant and child mortality rates, mostly due to diseases
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  that ravaged the community. In Grafton, WV and the work
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  clubs, mothers learned about hygiene and sanitation, such as
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  the vital importance of boiling drinking water.
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  The organizers provided medicine and supplies to sick families
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  and when necessary, quarantine entire household to prevent
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  epidemics. We think being a mum's tough
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  now. Can you imagine being a mum back
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  then? She herself lost nine children,
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  including five during the American Civil War.
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  When she died in 19 O 5, she was surrounded by her four surviving
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  children and Anna. The daughter promised to fulfill
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  her mother's dream. She wanted to celebrate the work
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  done by mothers to improve the lives of others.
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  Her Anna's perspective was that of a devoted daughter.
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  Her motto for Mother's Day was for the best mother.
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  Whoever lived your mother and that's what we can say.
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  Who's the best mother that ever lived your mother.
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  She envisioned the holidays, a homecoming day to honor your
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  mother, the one woman who dedicated her life to you.
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  Now, before we take the communion in a little bit, I
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  want you guys to take a minute and think about your mom and
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  sacrifices they've made for you and continually make for you.
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  They put themselves behind so that you could be pushed ahead.
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  Whether it was financial goals, it was always like, what could I
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  do for my kids before? What could I do for myself?
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  What it was educational goals they they sacrificed to help you
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  get the best education, whether it was you needed money for a
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  down payment for a car or a house.
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  Parents user involved in some degree of helping kids with
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  that. And I'm shocked today how many
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  people I know that the kids don't even talk to the parents
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  anymore. That's messed up, isn't it,
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  where there's no phone call on Mother's Day to a mom who gave
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  their whole life for the sake of their daughter.
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  It doesn't make sense or a son that he wouldn't call his mother
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  or honor her. I don't I don't understand that.
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  But without Christ, that's how you behave.
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  It's all about you and never about them and and what can you
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  do to make it up to your mom? It's never too late to, if she's
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  still on the earth to make amends or be reconciled.
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  And tell them how much you value them, how much you love them,
• 23:42
  and that you want to honor them. In the UK, the 4th Sunday in
• 23:48
  Lent has long been celebrated as Mothering Sunday, originally a
• 23:52
  day when people who had left home returned to their mother
• 23:55
  church and were reunited with their parents.
• 23:59
  My kids are watching online today.
• 24:01
  Thank the Lord for that and the honor of their own mother that
• 24:05
  we'll catch up with later today. A movement to revive Mothering
• 24:10
  Sunday traditions was launched in 1920 by a Nottinghamshire
• 24:14
  woman and out of concern that the secular US Mother's Day
• 24:19
  would displace the Christian Mothering Sunday.
• 24:22
  So when you think about Mother's Day in light of the Bible in
• 24:25
  Proverbs 31, I just read. And worshipping God together as
• 24:29
  a family where moms bring their kids to church today or
• 24:34
  hopefully every Sunday, as many Sundays as they can, is much
• 24:39
  more important than the typical Russell Stover candy box or the
• 24:45
  flowers from from whatever flowers and candy are are nice,
• 24:49
  but the most important way to honor your mom is to honor her
• 24:54
  and the Lord. So this is a message that people
• 24:58
  could really get behind. And so this this developed down
• 25:02
  through the years. And it was meant to be an
• 25:07
  important day, which to this day, it is still a very
• 25:11
  important day. And, and the author of the
• 25:13
  article said that every day should be Mother's Day, right?
• 25:18
  I remember you, Karen, and how you and, and Debbie took care of
• 25:21
  your mom in the last days. I had a privilege of getting to
• 25:24
  know her and praying with her and, and you do, you do whatever
• 25:28
  you had to before you put her in a facility.
• 25:31
  You had her in your home. And I'm sure that wasn't easy
• 25:35
  for Mark, right, Mark? But Mark was gracious and he
• 25:38
  supported that. And eventually she had to be
• 25:41
  somewhere because they couldn't help her anymore.
• 25:45
  But I have these examples even in the church here of so many of
• 25:49
  you that or, or that kind of mother.
• 25:53
  I was thinking of Terry and Janelle and and the women at
• 25:56
  work with the kids next door. They have mother, their mothers
• 26:00
  and their families of their own, but they're spiritual mothers to
• 26:03
  all those kids, right? They're pouring into your sons
• 26:08
  and daughters, moms and dads, Jesus so that they would know
• 26:12
  him and begin to walk with him. And then all of a sudden you're
• 26:15
  at home and you say, like my kids different, they're acting
• 26:18
  nicer, they're more obedient. Well, that doesn't that doesn't
• 26:23
  magic. It's the word of God working in
• 26:25
  our hearts and the Holy Spirit beginning to give them a
• 26:28
  relationship with Jesus where they begin to think about other
• 26:31
  people instead of themselves. So this one woman, she was
• 26:36
  paralyzed by fear of having to be a mom.
• 26:39
  She was overwhelmed. So she chose to crowd the God in
• 26:42
  prayer and one of her prayers in this season was God help me to
• 26:46
  become a really good mom. And she heard the Holy Spirit
• 26:49
  speak to her heart say I am the best Co parent you could ever
• 26:54
  have. You can't be a good mom without
• 26:56
  Jesus. Jesus is always with you and
• 27:00
  always for you and always praying for you, and God meets
• 27:05
  you where you are. The idea of motherhood can feel
• 27:10
  intimidating. Being responsible for a little
• 27:12
  life is a big deal. From the inconsistent sleep,
• 27:16
  late nights and early mornings of the newborn phase of the
• 27:19
  terrible twos, the intro into the tweens to the teens and
• 27:22
  beyond, being a mom is in a walk in the park.
• 27:27
  I've been with my daughters and they got great kids.
• 27:31
  But when the kids break their hearts, they're breaking our
• 27:34
  hearts, right? Because your kid is always your
• 27:36
  kid, no matter how old they are. And there's nothing better than
• 27:40
  hugging your kid no matter how old they are, letting him cry on
• 27:43
  your shoulders because they understand you in ways that no
• 27:47
  one else can. A mom and a dad.
• 27:50
  Being a mom isn't a job that you apply for an interview for and
• 27:56
  accept. Being a mom is a God-given idea
• 27:59
  and identity that starting the Garden of Eden.
• 28:02
  And I was thinking of this simple truth.
• 28:05
  There's no way you and I would be here today, any of us,
• 28:07
  without a mom and a dad. You know why?
• 28:10
  Because you're the only ones that can procreate together.
• 28:13
  A guy and a guy and a woman and a woman can't do that.
• 28:18
  That's not normal. God set it up and it would be a
• 28:22
  man and a woman. And if it wasn't that way, none
• 28:26
  of us would be here today. The Bible speaks plenty of about
• 28:31
  mothers, their goodness, kindness, and intention for
• 28:34
  life. The Bible honors mums by
• 28:37
  highlighting their nurturing and caregiving nature.
• 28:40
  God honors women so much that he decided to make it a concrete
• 28:43
  command in the 10 commandments. Our first Bible verses for Mum
• 28:48
  comes from the book of Exodus. Honor your father and mother so
• 28:52
  that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving
• 28:56
  you. Exodus 2012.
• 28:58
  That's a promise. You want to have a long and good
• 29:02
  life. Start with honoring your father
• 29:05
  and your mother. Proverbs 31, as I read it, says
• 29:09
  she's clothed with strength and dignity.
• 29:12
  She can laugh at the days to come.
• 29:14
  Her children arise and call her blessed.
• 29:16
  Her husband also, and he praises her.
• 29:21
  The Bible verses for moms highlight the strength and
• 29:23
  dignity that women carry from God and into that their children
• 29:28
  and family will praise moms because of their strength,
• 29:32
  dignity, and joy that they carry.
• 29:36
  The word praise in the Bible verse means this.
• 29:39
  It's used to commend, to boast about, or to shine God's favor
• 29:44
  and light onto something. Every Mother's Day, take time to
• 29:48
  intentionally boast about your mom, which I'm going to boast
• 29:51
  about mine in a couple minutes here.
• 29:54
  I'm reminded Paul said in Second Timothy, 1/5 of your sincere
• 29:59
  faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and
• 30:04
  your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well.
• 30:07
  He's speaking this to Timothy and the impact that his mom and
• 30:10
  grandmother had upon his ministry.
• 30:15
  It's a profound reminder of how much God honors women.
• 30:19
  Biblical motherhood not only has a generational impact, it has an
• 30:23
  eternal impact. Proverbs, 4011.
• 30:27
  He tends his flock like a shepherd.
• 30:30
  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his
• 30:33
  heart. He gently leads those that have
• 30:36
  the young. The picture of our Heavenly
• 30:40
  Father and nurturing us as his kids is what a mum does
• 30:45
  naturally. This Bible verse from others
• 30:48
  highlights that God gently leads those who have young.
• 30:51
  The Lord is accessible to parent you while you are parenting your
• 30:56
  own children. I love that God will parent you
• 31:00
  as you parent your own children. God is intentional in bringing
• 31:04
  the right children into your life at the right time and
• 31:07
  equipping you to love them, care for them, and show them the
• 31:10
  goodness of the Lord. As a mother comforts her child,
• 31:15
  Isaiah 6613, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted
• 31:21
  over Jerusalem. This scripture for moms comes
• 31:25
  from the book of Isaiah. God gives the Israelites a
• 31:28
  picture of His love for them by reminding them of the comfort a
• 31:31
  mother brings to her kids. God could have chosen any other
• 31:34
  metaphor picture to showcase His love, but He chose to use the
• 31:38
  picture of a mom. Think about the times when you
• 31:41
  were little, you were sick and throwing up.
• 31:43
  Nothing worse than that, right? Who's there beside you with the
• 31:46
  bucket in the towel? Not dad, usually.
• 31:48
  It's usually mom. And when you got the dry heaves,
• 31:51
  it's really bad, right? You think it's all done and
• 31:54
  there's poor mom coming in with new, new, new towels, clean
• 31:57
  towels, whatever, ginger ale, whatever you need to help you
• 32:01
  get back on your feet again. Psalm 2127 versus 3 to five
• 32:07
  children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from
• 32:11
  him like eras in the hands of a warrior or children born of 1's
• 32:15
  youth. Blessed is a man who has a
• 32:17
  quiver full of them. That's seven.
• 32:20
  Anybody have seven kids in this place?
• 32:23
  OK, you guys stand up once. Stand up.
• 32:27
  All right, we're jealous. And I got 2, but I'll tell you,
• 32:35
  like, I got Gray hair for 2, so I don't know what you're going
• 32:37
  to look like in a few years with Sabbath.
• 32:39
  You already got some Ruby. Yeah.
• 32:41
  It looks good on you. They don't worry about it.
• 32:44
  The Bible verses from mums. A beautiful encouragement to the
• 32:47
  mums who feel like they're in the trenches.
• 32:49
  You feel like you're in the trenches sometimes you feel like
• 32:52
  you're pulling your hair out trying to raise your kids.
• 32:54
  Hey, that's part of the job description, right?
• 32:57
  The scripture from mom even goes to say that children are a
• 33:00
  reward from him. Whether you're a new mom and
• 33:03
  adopt A mom and expect a mom or waiting to become a mom, God
• 33:07
  loves your family and loves you as a mother. 2nd Proverbs 22 six
• 33:12
  train up a child in the way he should go and when he's old he
• 33:15
  will not depart from it. Some people say, well why is
• 33:19
  that not happening for me? I did that and my kids are still
• 33:22
  out there right? He didn't tell you the time
• 33:24
  period. He just said, this is the way
• 33:26
  it's going to be. Cindy said to me this morning.
• 33:29
  No matter where you are and what you're doing, God's giving you a
• 33:31
  conscience. You lay your head down the
• 33:33
  pillow as a kid, a rebellious kid.
• 33:36
  God's telling you you're living in the wrong way.
• 33:39
  You're acting like an idiot, and you need to have your life
• 33:42
  changed and get right with God. Now.
• 33:44
  You will hear that, but you might not respond to that for a
• 33:47
  while. But eventually it sinks in and
• 33:49
  you say, you know, I really need to change or I need to get some
• 33:53
  kind of counseling to find out why I'm behaving the way I am as
• 33:57
  such a self-centered individual. These Bible verses are from moms
• 34:01
  are sprinkled all throughout the book of Proverbs and encourages
• 34:04
  moms to train up their kids in the way they should go.
• 34:07
  So I'm at the Presbyterian Church as a kid.
• 34:10
  My mom's teaching these high school kids from primarily
• 34:14
  Norwin at the time with Janney Eichelberger and they're being
• 34:17
  used by the Lord. Kids are getting saved in this
• 34:20
  Bible class they have. Meanwhile, she drops me and my
• 34:23
  brother off. My brother goes to his class.
• 34:26
  I have my quarter for the offering.
• 34:28
  I look around, no one sees me. I walk up the guys, which is a
• 34:32
  little store convenience store. I could get a hamburger, a
• 34:36
  milkshake and play pinball for about an hour with a quarter.
• 34:40
  That's what I did. Yeah, that's the password.
• 34:43
  Not too cool, is it? That's the way I was.
• 34:48
  And anyway, you know she didn't even know about that until I
• 34:53
  told her about it because she was too busy working with the
• 34:55
  kids, right? So the Bible says that you're
• 35:00
  created your inmost being knit together in your mother's womb.
• 35:07
  Psalmist says I praise you because I'm fearfully and
• 35:09
  wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful.
• 35:12
  I know that full well. Have you ever stopped to wonder
• 35:16
  why God decided to come into the world through the womb of a
• 35:19
  woman? Jesus chose to come into the
• 35:22
  world through her mom. God could have chosen any other
• 35:25
  Ave. to come to the earth. He could have snapped his
• 35:27
  fingers or spontaneously appeared.
• 35:30
  Jesus decided to be nurtured through her mother's love even
• 35:33
  though He was perfect and divine.
• 35:35
  The Bible verse from mom shows the humility of Jesus and just
• 35:40
  how much He honors Mother's. It tells us in Proverbs 18 and
• 35:45
  9. Listen, my son, to your Father's
• 35:47
  instruction. Do not forsake your mother's
• 35:50
  teaching. They are Garland to grace your
• 35:53
  head and a chain adorn your neck.
• 35:57
  If any of you are here today and you're not listening to godly
• 36:00
  wisdom from your parents, you're a fool and you'll suffer the
• 36:03
  consequences for that. Believe me.
• 36:06
  I know because I went through some very heartbreaking times on
• 36:10
  my own life because I thought I was smarter than my mom and my
• 36:13
  dad. These Bible scriptures are for
• 36:16
  moms full of reminders about the goodness of a mom's teaching.
• 36:21
  The Bible verse for mom even relates to teaching of a mom to
• 36:25
  a beautiful necklace. Whether it's a big pieces of
• 36:27
  wisdom or simple instructions like don't touch the hot stove,
• 36:31
  show your gratitude to your mom this Mother's Day.
• 36:37
  Words of encouragement for your mom's.
• 36:39
  You're not alone. It can be easy to feel alone,
• 36:43
  however, the Holy Spirit is always with you.
• 36:46
  You are not alone. Finding community like your
• 36:48
  local church where moms can get together and pray for each other
• 36:52
  and encourage each other is also a wonderful blessing.
• 36:57
  Your Mama is someone that you need to cherish while you still
• 37:03
  have them and take advantage of the fact that they're still
• 37:07
  here. My mom's 92 now and Cindy's
• 37:12
  mom's 95, and so I got to get a chair here.
• 37:23
  Sorry, Jean, I'm throwing your stuff on the floor here.
• 37:28
  I'll put it back. I got to sit down here so I
• 37:32
  don't feel weak. Mostly overwhelmed here.
• 37:36
  But this is like for you, Mom, Sheila, watching my memories of
• 37:48
  my mom, Cindy's mom, I'm as I said, my mom is a beautiful mom,
• 37:54
  a fashion model, and she always really took care of herself.
• 37:58
  And to this day she does. I'll see her sometime Sunday
• 38:01
  after church. I said, you look great, mom.
• 38:03
  She said. I got dressed up for church.
• 38:05
  Even though she's not in church, she's in the presence of the
• 38:08
  Lord, right. She was a kind of woman that she
• 38:15
  came to know the Lord in a deep way.
• 38:17
  When my brother and I got saved and and she caught fire.
• 38:22
  She started having these Bible studies in our home for over 50
• 38:25
  years, community Bible study of women from different churches or
• 38:28
  no churches would come and hear her teach the Bible and many of
• 38:33
  these women became Christians. The resolve that Bible study and
• 38:37
  I remember sort of a history thing here.
• 38:40
  RC Sprole was a personal friend of our family of Janian and
• 38:44
  Sheila. And they would go up the
• 38:47
  Ligonier before he was a big deal and go to his Bible study
• 38:51
  and he wrote this book, The Holiness of God, the Holiness of
• 38:54
  God series that he chose to use. My mom's home is a place where
• 38:58
  women would come and watch and, and watch season and make
• 39:01
  comments, right? And they filmed it and they took
• 39:04
  videos, they did interviews. There was close to 4050 women
• 39:07
  crammed into the house at times, some of these studies.
• 39:10
  And RC was an interesting guy. He he was a character.
• 39:15
  He said a lot of things, a lot of different ways.
• 39:17
  It had to get your attention. But biblically, but I never
• 39:21
  forget, I went to the conference of Reformed theology in
• 39:23
  Philadelphia. My mom liked to Reformed
• 39:25
  theology and I do too. And so I, I went and we went to
• 39:29
  Jim Boyce's church in Philadelphia.
• 39:31
  Tenth Presbyterian or C Everett Coupe would go, He was the
• 39:35
  surgeon general at the time. He'd be in the front row with
• 39:38
  his little bow tie on and, and just an amazing church.
• 39:42
  But anyway, we were there. They had like all these famous
• 39:46
  guys teaching in the conference. And so we went back and RC was
• 39:51
  having coffee with his wife, Festa, and he caught up with my
• 39:55
  mom, gave her a hug and all that.
• 39:56
  And they were talking. And so walking away, he says,
• 39:59
  you know, Sheila, you still have great legs.
• 40:01
  And his wife hit him at best. You know this the way our our C
• 40:05
  was, you know, I'll never forget that.
• 40:10
  She knew how to budget. She taught my daughter's how to
• 40:13
  budget money and stretch a dollar.
• 40:16
  Her home is always open in times of crisis.
• 40:19
  Where? Our daughters needed to be when
• 40:22
  they couldn't maybe be with us at a time of season.
• 40:27
  The doors are always open to my brother's family, our kids,
• 40:30
  anybody. She did life with us all the
• 40:35
  time. We play games.
• 40:36
  We were always doing fun stuff. She would be there to do the
• 40:41
  science project in the middle of the night when I told her
• 40:44
  earlier, hey mom, I got a project to do what I got to do a
• 40:48
  science project. When's it do?
• 40:50
  I said tomorrow morning. So she'd be up all night doing
• 40:53
  these salt maps and making something look good where I at
• 40:55
  least get AB. You know, she always at her
• 40:59
  games, baseball games, basketball games, just like our
• 41:02
  kids are always at their kids games, play tons of tennis
• 41:07
  together. Remember that.
• 41:09
  And she'd always tell me, play with someone who's better than
• 41:13
  you because then you'll get better.
• 41:16
  So eventually I started beating her and we didn't play anymore.
• 41:19
  And I played with other people and I but she always knew when I
• 41:25
  was in rebellion and she knew when I was broken that she
• 41:31
  always would pray and trust God for us.
• 41:36
  You always convinced me that that the Lord would always help
• 41:42
  me no matter what, whether it was in my marriage or raising my
• 41:45
  own kids. She always was just this
• 41:52
  available to to us and to this day she still is.
• 42:02
  Write my notes here. Here at the last one.
• 42:08
  She modeled to our wives and daughters and sons and son in
• 42:14
  laws what it means to be a great mom.
• 42:18
  She was lots of fun, still is. I remember the beach walks in
• 42:22
  Stone Harbor. You wonder why I love Stone
• 42:24
  Harbor so much and so full of memories with my mom and my dad
• 42:32
  and my brother when we were young.
• 42:35
  And now our kids and grandkids. We all enjoy that place and to
• 42:39
  this day, she says, I can close my eyes and still feel like I'm
• 42:41
  walking on the beach. She's at this stage now.
• 42:45
  It's hard for her to get around anywhere.
• 42:50
  Holiday gatherings were always perfect decorations.
• 42:54
  Christmas, this. She always did everything to
• 42:56
  make everybody else happy. Her amazing chocolate cake with
• 43:01
  seafoam icing. I miss that.
• 43:04
  Whenever she would come to Calvary and we'd have the agape
• 43:06
  lunch, she always made that and I made a mistake of mentioning
• 43:10
  how good it was and I get over there and it was be gone.
• 43:14
  All you guys would grab it before I got there.
• 43:18
  To this day, whenever we visit her, her face lights up.
• 43:24
  Ruby's made a big impact as as as as the whole clan of the Echo
• 43:30
  Burgers. He'd care for my mom.
• 43:32
  Great. Thank you for your love for her
• 43:37
  and help in the garden. Amy, everybody Anyway, you when
• 43:44
  her face lights up, so good to see you.
• 43:50
  Her flower gardens, all the work that she did in the dirt, she
• 43:54
  can't do any more. She directs other people to do
• 43:57
  it, but she loves looking at the flowers and still being able to
• 44:00
  be at home and look out the window, taking something
• 44:04
  beautiful out of a seed and see created into this incredible
• 44:08
  garden. Melinda who attends here, she's
• 44:11
  one of the caregivers and as is Susan, they send 4 hours a day
• 44:16
  with her and she text me. She says mom wants a red
• 44:20
  umbrella for Mother's Day for her back porch and our gardenia.
• 44:24
  So Cindy ordered the umbrella on Amazon or arrived today and I
• 44:28
  went everywhere. I was out the other morning at
• 44:30
  Lowe's and home. You guys say you have gardenias.
• 44:33
  I'm freezing my butt off it's cold.
• 44:35
  It's like no, where do you get these?
• 44:36
  Finally someone said you got to go up to Lake Trobe and that
• 44:39
  garden place up in the left head and toward Ligonier.
• 44:42
  So I went there and got her this beautiful gardenia and it has a
• 44:45
  couple blooms on it and boy, they smell like nothing like you
• 44:49
  could ever smell. They're so awesome.
• 44:51
  So I took that down to her the other day and she was so excited
• 44:54
  to get that this white shirts like the gardenia color for her
• 44:57
  today. So that's it mom.
• 45:01
  I could probably have three more sundaes to tell everybody how
• 45:05
  awesome you are, Alice, to have moms and how much we love you
• 45:09
  and appreciate you. But for you guys as a worship
• 45:13
  team comes forward. Remember your mom's today and if
• 45:17
  they're still here, reach out to them and love no matter how
• 45:20
  fractured the relationship might be, you think it can still be
• 45:24
  healed and and the Lord can take care of it.
• 45:27
  OK. And if they're gone, as we take
• 45:31
  a couple minutes to prepare for the Lord's Supper, just thank
• 45:34
  the Lord privately for them and what he's taught you through
• 45:39
  them and how you can be more like them as, as the moms that
• 45:45
  God has given you. And if there's any fracture in
• 45:48
  your homes right now and any kind of relationship with your
• 45:52
  kids and moms or whatever, make it right.
• 45:54
  Life's too short, right? You don't want something to
• 45:57
  happen and then all of a sudden you can't make amends because of
• 46:01
  some accident or crisis or tragedy.
• 46:04
  As as Paul said, the day is a day of salvation.
• 46:08
  If you hear his voice, don't harden your heart as they did in
• 46:11
  the wilderness, but say Lord Jesus, I can't do this life
• 46:15
  without you. I need you to come into my life
• 46:19
  and save me for my sin and forgive me.
• 46:23
  I want to be like you. I want to be a parent like you
• 46:27
  are to me Jesus, and I want to be used by you to be a blessing
• 46:34
  to other people. Lord, help us to get our lives
• 46:37
  on track with you. Help us to live for the sake of
• 46:41
  others and not ourselves. Forgive us of our self
• 46:44
  centeredness. We're all self-centered.
• 46:47
  Help us Lord to love as you tell us in First Corinthians 13.
• 46:52
  Love suffers long. Love doesn't keep a record of
• 46:56
  wrongs. Love isn't easily offended.
• 47:00
  Love thinks no evil. Love never fails.
• 47:06
  And we thank you, Lord, may your love encompass every family,
• 47:09
  every individual, everybody you've brought here today,
• 47:12
  whether it's online or in the building.
• 47:15
  And Lord, thank you for my mom, Sheila today, my brother and my
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  mom's our mom, Sheila. Thank you for her life.
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  Thank you for Cindy's mom, Alice, today as well, and
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  everybody else's mom. We we praise you and we give you
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  glory for all that you've done and are doing in all of our
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  families. Strengthen moms, strengthen
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  kids, strengthen husbands, strengthen families, and we pray
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  all these things in Jesus name, Amen.
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  Let's take the supper together and just take a minute to talk
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  to the Lord about where you are with your mom today.
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  Lord, thank you for your forgiveness, thank you for your
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  patience, your kindness, teaching us through the Word how
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  to be parents, how to be children, how to be healthy
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  human beings because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
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  For him taking our sin and forgiving us and cleansing us
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  and giving us a new life, giving us a new start.
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  Whoever needs a new start today, I pray, O Lord, you'd work in
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  their hearts and make all things new again.
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  For those who have never put their faith into today, might
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  they say, Jesus saved me from my sin.
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  And for moms who are struggling today, may you encourage them,
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  comfort their hearts, deepen their faith, to trust you for
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  their children, no matter what they see with their eyes, may
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  they believe what your word says, Father.
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  And the night that Jesus is betrayed, he took the bread in
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  his hands and he broke it, and he gave thanks and he said,
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  take, eat. This is my body which is given
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  for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.
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  The same manner he took the cup. He said this cup is a new
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  covenant in my blood which was shed for the forgiveness, the
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  sins of many. Drink this in remembrance of me.
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  For as often as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we
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  show forth the Lord's death, we comes again, Amen.
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  Happy Mother's Day, God bless you guys.