Sunday Sermon
PASSING ON THE LEGACY
Motherhood: One of the most important jobs
Date: May 13, 2007
Speaker: Ptr. Gerry Gregoire
Scriptural Reference: 2 Timothy 1:1-5; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Timothy 2:9-10; 2 Timothy 1:1-5; Galatians 6:7-8
Listen to Audio Sermon

2 Timothy 1:1-5 (Amplified Bible)

2 Timothy 1
1PAUL, An apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2To Timothy, [my] beloved child: Grace (favor and spiritual blessing), mercy, and [heart] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!
3I thank God Whom I worship with a pure conscience, [a]in the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers,
4And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
5I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the [b]leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also.

Some people ridicule Mother's Day as a lot of sentimental drivel. They say that it is nothing more than the creation of the greeting card companies and the florists. And, to be perfectly candid, there are many ministers who shun this day because, they say, it is not a religious holiday. Furthermore, they preach from the lectionary, which has an assigned scriptural reading each week, and therefore mother's day is left out.

Well, of course, we must admit that there is sentiment to this day, but what is wrong with that? Seems to me that a little bit of sentiment is healthy. True enough, there are some women in the Bible, such as Jezebel and the vindictive Herodias, who had John the Baptist beheaded, who tarnish the institution of motherhood. There are women today who abandon, abuse, and corrupt their children and who create a poor model, but I like to think that these are the exceptions. Most mothers do the right thing and deserve recognition. So this afternoon I would like to join Paul and salute all of the mothers who are with us.

1. First, mother's should be saluted for their tenacious love.
2. Secondly, mothers should be saluted for the tremendous impact they have.

I BELIEVE AN AUTHOR NAMED ROBERT FULGHUM WROTE A BOOK ENTITLED.' I LEARNED ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW IN KINDERGARTEN'

ALWAYS BE FRIENDLY TO YOUR CLASSMATES, COLD MILK AND WARM COOKIES ARE GOOD FOR YOU, ALWAYS SAY YOUR SORRY WHEN YOU HURT SOMEONE, HOLD HANDS WHEN WALKING TOGETHER, SHARE YOUR FOOD IF YOUR FRIENDS DON'T HAVE ANY, FLUSH, DON'T HIT PEOPLE, TAKE A NAP IN THE PM, WASH

HANDS BEFORE EATING, PUT THINGS BACK WHERE YOU GOT THEM.

THINK WHAT A BETTER WORLD IT WOULD BE IF WE ALL ATE WARM COOKIES AND COLD MILK AND TOOK A NAP EVERYDAY AT 3:00PM. OR IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD A BASIC POLICY TO ALWAYS PUT THINGS BACK WHERE THEY GOT THEM AND TO CLEAN UP THEIR OWN MESS. AND NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE, WHEN YOU GO OUT INTO THE WORLD ITS BEST TO ALL HOLD HANDS AND STICK TOGETHER.

JESUS SPOKE ABOUT ALWAYS BUILDING A HOUSE ON A SOLID FOUNDATION SO IT WON'T BE BLOWN AWAY WHEN THE STORMS COME. I BELIEVE HE WAS TALKING ABOUT OUR LIVES. THAT WE SHOULD BUILD OUR LIVES ON HIS WORD FOR A SURE FOUNDATION. AND WHAT BETTER PLACE TO LAY THAT FOUNDATION THAN IN THE HOME WITH THE MOTHER SETTING THE EXAMPLES.

LETS LOOK AT THE SCRIPTURE WE ALL LOVE EPHESIANS 5:22-24 '

Ephesians 5:22-24 (Amplified Bible)

22Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.
23For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body.
24As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands

NOW I AM NOT TRYING TO BROWBEAT WIVES. GOD CREATED THE FAMILY WITH TWO (2) ROLES THE HUSBAND FULFILLS ONE AND THE WIFE FULFILLS THE OTHER. GOD DESIGNED MEN AND WOMEN TO WORK WITHIN THE FAMILY. THE HUSBAND IS DESIGNED TO BE THE LEADER OF THE FAMILY WHILE THE WIFE IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT THAT LEADERSHIP. CHILDREN LEARN GODLINESS AND OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY FROM THEIR PARENTS. THEY SEE MOM LIVING FOR CHRIST WHILE SUPPORTING LEADERSHIP. THEY SEE A STRONG FAMILY IN GOD'S PROPER ORDER THAT THEY WILL IMITATE WHEN THEY GROW UP. BUT IF SHE NAGS AND REBUKES THE FATHER, ASSERTS HER OWN INDEPENDENCE OVER OBEDIENCE TO HER HUSBAND, A WOMAN WHO CRITICIZES WHO BELITTLES THE MAN SHE MARRIED' GUESS WHAT ''' WHEN THEY GROW UP, THEY WILL NOT RESPECT AUTHORITY.

WHO HERE IN THIS CHURCH WOULD STAND UP NOW AND TELL GOD THAT YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF THIS CHURCH. NO! CHRIST IS IN CHARGE OF THIS CHURCH. THAT IS WHAT GOD HAS DECREED AND HAS APPOINTED A PASTOR TO

ADMINISTER THE CHURCH. THAT'S HOW HE CREATED THE CHURCH AND NO ONE WILL USURP HIS AUTHORITY. THE SAME APPLIES IN MARRIAGE, THE HUSBAND HAS A ROLE AND THE WIFE HAS A ROLE. TO ILLUSTRATE THIS POINT LETS SAY THAT A FARMER WOULD NOT GO OUT AND PLOW HIS FIELDS WITH A SPORTS CAR OR PULL OUT TREE STUMPS WITH THAT SAME CAR. THE CAR WAS NOT

BUILT FOR THAT. THAT'S NOT ITS ROLE. IN THE SAME LIGHT HE WOULD NEVER ENTER A CAR RACE WITH A TRACTOR BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHAT A TRACTOR IS FOR.
BY THE SAME VIRTUE IN MARRIAGE, A MOTHER WAS MEANT TO BEAR AND RAISE UP CHILDREN IN THE FEAR AND ADMONITION OF GOD. THAT WAS GOD'S PLAN !! DO YOU UNDERSTAND '

1 TIMOTHY 2:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

9Also [I desire] that women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with [elaborate] hair arrangement or gold or pearls or expensive clothing,
10But by doing good deeds (deeds in themselves good and for the good and advantage of those contacted by them), as befits women who profess reverential fear for and devotion to God.

HE IS NOT SAYING DON'T GROOM YOURSELF. BUT GOOD WORKS OR DEEDS IN THE GREEK IS 'ERGON AGATHON' WORKS THAT REFLECT A CHRIST CENTERED HEART, WORKS THAT REFLECT GODLINESS. THEY MUST BE CONCERNED ABOUT SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THAT IS PARTNERING WITH GOD IN ONE OF THE MOST DEMANDING JOBS ON EARTH, RAISING YOUR CHILDREN AND WORKING WITHIN THE DESIGNS OF MARRIAGE. DON'T FORGET YOUR PARTNER, DON'T FORGET GOD.

PREFACE TO MINISTRY 1

MOTHER'S DAY WAS NOT MADE AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY UNTIL 1914. IT WAS SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON.

HISTORIANS SAY THAT IT STARTED IN THE U.S. BY MOTHERS OF SOLDIERS FROM THE NORTH AND SOUTH CAME TOGETHER TO HONOR THEIR DEAD OR WOUNDED SONS AROUND 1877 IN ALBION, MICHIGAN. MANY OTHER COUNTRIES HAD SET ASIDE DAYS TO HONOR MOTHERS WAY BEFORE THIS.

THE CUSTOM STARTED AFTER THE CIVIL WAR WHEN MOTHERS OF SLAIN SONS WHO WERE CHAMPIONING FOR PEACE FROM NORTH AND SOUTH WOULD GET TOGETHER TO MOURN AND HONOR THEIR SONS. EVENTUALLY IT TURNED TO HONORING THE MOTHERS INSTEAD. THEY FIRST MET IN ALBION, MICHIGAN ON MAY 13, 1877.

JOKE ABOUT RANDY AND JOHNNY ON MOTHERS DAY.

MOTHERS WILL ALWAYS BE MOTHERS. A FEW QUICK STORIES TO ILLUSTRATE THIS POINT:

POLICE CHIEF IN KNOXVILLE TN DURING A TELEVISED MEETING SHE CALLS HIS BEEPER AND HE CALLS HER AND SHE SAYS, ARE YOU CHEWING GUM' HE SAYS YES. SHE SAYS IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD ON TV, SPIT IT OUT NOW.

SHEQUILLE O'NEILL , SWIMMING IN MONEY, FAME AND GIRLS AT A NEWS CONFERENCE AND HIS MOM IS FIXING HIS TIE IN FRONT OF MILLIONS OF VIEWERS.
CONFEDERATE MAJOR IN A YANKEE PRISON AND HAD CONTACTED SEVERE TB. MOTHER VISITS HIM AND FINDS OUT AND GOES TO WASHINGTON TO SEE THE PRESIDENT AND TELLS HIM ABOUT HER SON AND THAT HE WILL SURELY DIE IF NOT PROPERLY TREATED.
THE PRESIDENT MOVED BY HER LOVE FOR HER SON, WRITES A LETTER TO THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE PRISON, SAYING, 'LET THE BOY GO HOME WITH HIS MOTHER.' SIGNED ABE LINCOLN.
LONG STORY SHORT, HE GETS BETTER WITH HIS MOTHERS CARE BECOMES ONE OF THE FINEST LAWYERS IN THE U.S. AND

PREFACE TO MINISTRY 2

LATER BECAME THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT. BECAUSE OF HIS MOTHER'S LOVE.

GOLD CIGARETTE LIGHTER FOR MY MOTHER AT AGE 8. IN HER 80'S SHE STILL REMEMBERED THE STORY.

NOW, LETS GET TO THE OPENING SCRIPTURE AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO OUR MESSAGE TODAY.

2 Timothy 1:1-5 (Amplified Bible)

2 Timothy 1
1PAUL, AN apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2To Timothy, [my] beloved child: Grace (favor and spiritual blessing), mercy, and [heart] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!
3I thank God Whom I worship with a pure conscience, [a]in the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers,
4And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
5I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the [b]leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also.

LET'S ZONE IN ON VERSE 5. SOMETHING WAS GOING ON IN TIMOTHY'S FAMILY. THE TWO WORDS WE CAN LOOK AT WILL BE GRANDMOTHER AND MOTHER. THERE SEEMS TO BE A PASSING ON OF LEGACY OF FAITH IN GOD WHICH TIMOTHY WAS THE RECIPIENT.

WHEN PAUL WROTE 2 TIMOTHY HE WAS IN PRISON, BEING HELD FOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN DISOBEDIENCE TO CAESAR'S ORDER. PAUL SENT TIMOTHY, THIS YOUNG MAN HE LED TO THE LORD, TO EPHESUS TO TEND TO THE CHURCH THERE IN HIS ABSENCE. PAUL HAD ESTABLISHED THIS CHURCH WHEN HE HAD RETURNED FROM HIS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. EPHESUS WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PLACE TO ESTABLISH A CHURCH, AS IT WAS THE CAPITAL CITY OF 230 INDEPENDENT COMMUNITIES IN THE ROMAN PROVINCE OF ASIA. IF THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED THERE, IT WOULD SPREAD OUTWARD FROM THERE LIKE SPOKES ON A WAGON WHEEL.

THIS CHURCH WAS JUST BEGINNING IN A LAND FAMOUS FOR IT'S IDOLATRY AND SEXUAL INFIDELITY. IN THE PAST, BEFORE ROMAN RULE, EPHESUS HAD ENGAGED IN CHILD SACRIFICE WHILE WORSHIPING THE FALSE GODS OF IT'S DAY. UNDER ROMAN RULE, SUCH SACRIFICES WERE FORBIDDEN, YET PEOPLE STILL WORSHIPED AT THESE TEMPLES OF EVIL. EPHESUS WOULD BE A

BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHENISM, BETWEEN GODLINESS AND SATANISM. NOW INTO THIS BATTLEGROUND PAUL SENT ONE YOUNG MAN TO BE A GENERAL IN HIS ABSENCE: WHAT COULD ONE YOUNG MAN DO' THIS MAY HAVE SEEMED FOOLISH TO MANY, YET PAUL SENT TIMOTHY IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF HIS MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER HAD WROUGHT IN HIM WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.

VERSE 5 SAYS ' WHEN I CALL TO REMEMBRANCE THE UNFEIGNED FAITH THAT IS IN THEE, WHICH FIRST DWEALT IN THY GRANDMOTHER LOIS, AND THY MOTHER EUNICE; I AM PERSUADED THAT IN THEE ALSO.

PAUL'S MENTORING I'M SURE HAD SOME EFFECT IN HIM, BUT TIMOTHY GREW UP IN A GODLY HOME. TIMOTHY HAD UNFEIGNED FAITH, AN UNHYPOCRITICAL BELIEF IN HIS SAVIOR. THIS FAITH BEGAN IN HIS GRANDMOTHER, WAS PASSED DOWN TO HIS MOTHER EUNICE, WHO IN TURN PASSED IT DOWN TO HIM. THESE TWO WOMEN WERE GODLY WOMEN IN A DAY WHEN GODLINESS WAS NOT POPULAR. THEY CONTINUED TO PLANT THE SEED THAT WOULD ONE DAY BLOSSOM INTO THE FLOWER OF ETERNAL LIFE.

I WOULD ASK MOTHERS TODAY, ARE YOU A GODLY WOMEN OR ARE YOU FASHIONABLE TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TRENDS , ALWAYS TRYING TO AMUSE YOURSELF. WHAT ARE YOU SOWING IN YOUR KIDS TODAY'

IN THE AFTERMATH OF COLUMBINE AND VIRGINIA TECH, DID THESE THINGS HAPPEN ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL' WHY DIDN'T HE STOP THEM ' REMEMBER GOD HAS GIVEN MAN FREE WILL AND HE WILL NOT VIOLATE THAT, BUT HE HAS ALSO GIVEN US MANY EXAMPLES OF HOW THINGS SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN FAMILIES. LOOK WHAT GALATIANS 6:7-8 '

Galatians 6:7-8 (Amplified Bible)

7Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked [a]by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and [b]that only is what he will reap.
8For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

MY QUESTION THEN MOMS AND DADS, WHAT ARE YOU SOWING AND WHAT WILL YOU REAP'

WHEN I LOOKED ON THE FACES OF THE YOUNG MEN INVOLVED IN THESE TRAGEDIES, GOD'S PLAN FOR THE FAMILY CAME TO MIND. WHAT HAD BEEN PLANTED IN THE MINDS OF THESE KIDS'
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW !!

IN 1973 THE SUPREME COURT SAID IT WAS FINE FOR MOTHERS TO ABORT THEIR UNBORN CHILDREN. SINCE THAT TIME THE NUMBER OF ABORTED CHILDREN HAS GROWN TO OVER 4000 EVERY MONTH.

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW!

STATISTICS TELL US THAT PARENTS SPEAK TO THEIR CHILDREN ABOUT 6 MINUTE A DAY AND YET MOST KIDS WATCH TV 4 TO 6 HOURS A DAY. THEY TALK MORE TO THEIR FRIENDS THAN THEY DO TO YOU.

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW !

WOMEN, MOTHERS, WIVES, WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT OF YOU'

1ST ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR. CHOOSE SALVATION OVER THE WAYS OF THE WORLD..
2ND WORK FOR GOD WITHIN YOU FAMILY DESIGN JUST AS GOD DECREED IT TO BE.
YOU ARE TO BE THE EXAMPLE TO YOUR KIDS. AS THE TWIG IS BENT, SO SHALL THE TREE GROW. CHECK IT OUT MANY HOMES TODAY, EVEN IN CHRIST PROFESSING HOMES, GOD'S PLAN IS NOT BEING CARRIED OUT FOR THE FAMILY.

WE HAVE GOTTEN SO FAR OFF COURSE, IT CAN MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO BE THE CHURCH. LET US PRAY !