The Ministry of Motherhood

Come on, let's give it up for the moms. You guys are awesome, we're so thankful. The world would be a much messier place if moms were not in it. What you guys just do such a great job keeping us clean and holding it all together. But we're so thankful for you guys. It's going to be a good morning. I'm excited to worship together. And we have, on my right, Miss Kinley Letford. If you guys were back here back in February, she led for the first time. She just did an incredible job. So she's going to open us up this morning and lead this first song. But let's just lift our hands. Yahweh, we just welcome you in this place. Holy Spirit, we say come and do what you love to do. You're worthy to be praised. We love you. We honor you. Be magnified, King Jesus. In your name, amen. Use my life as a sacrifice. I'll be your sweetness, the sweetest fragrance. Holy is yours, God's great blessing. Only you, just for you. Cause I'll be your temple, a dwelling place for you. Lord, make my heart a pleasing home for you. And oh, I will live on the altar. Oh, you are worth what you ask for. If you're searching for a God that's your reward, then I am yours. I'm yours, Jesus. In your name, amen.

Let's do it. In your house, I will take this one day to see your glory. Cause you alone are worth more than gold. I'll trade the world for a day in your courts. Cause I'll be your temple, a dwelling place for you. Lord, make my heart a pleasing home for you. And oh, I will live on the altar. Oh, you are worth what you ask for. Oh, I will live on the altar. Oh, you are worth what you ask for. If you're searching for a God that's your reward. If you're searching for a God that's your reward. If you're searching for a God that's your reward. I am yours I'm yours, I am yours Between us I wanna be the only one I wanna be the sacrifice I wanna be a little lover For my life I wanna be the only one I wanna be the sacrifice I wanna be a little lover For my life I wanna be the only one I wanna be the sacrifice I wanna be a little lover For my life I wanna be the only one I wanna be the sacrifice

I wanna be a little lover For my life When I grow up I will live only your time Oh oh oh You are worth what you ask for Oh oh oh I'll live only your time Oh oh oh You are worth what you ask for If you're searching for the heart As you're the one If you're searching for the heart As you're the one If you're searching for the heart As you're the one Then I am yours I'm yours, Jesus I'm yours, Jesus You can take everything I have All I need is for you Cause I don't want anyone else I don't want anyone else Cause I don't need anyone else Jesus I don't want anyone else I don't need anything else Cause you are my one thing You are my one thing I don't want anyone else

I don't need anything else Cause you are my one thing You are my one thing And I don't want anyone else I don't need anything else Cause you are my one thing You are my one thing And I don't want anyone else I don't need anything else Cause you are my one thing You are my one thing And I don't want anyone else I don't need anything else Cause you are my one thing You are my one thing You are my one thing You are my one thing You are my one thing Oh, you're a light Oh, you're a light Oh, you're a light Oh, you're a light Oh, you're a light You're so good, so beautiful I will live on the altar Oh, you are worth what you ask for ♪ Oh, I will live on the altar ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worth what we ask for ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart as you're reborn ♪ ♪ If you're searching for a heart as you're reborn ♪

♪ If you're searching for a heart as you're reborn ♪ ♪ Then I am yours ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ You make me brave, no fear can hinder now the love that made a way ♪ ♪ Oh, You make me brave, You make me brave ♪ ♪ You call me out beyond the shore into Your grace ♪

♪ You make me brave, You make me brave, no fear can hinder now the love that made a way ♪ ♪ You make me brave, You make me brave, You call me out beyond the shore into Your grace ♪ ♪ You make me brave, You make me brave, no fear can hinder now the love that made a way ♪ ♪ And as Your love in wave after wave crashes over me, crashes over me ♪ ♪ For You are glorious, You are not against us, champion of heaven, You made a way for all to enter ♪ ♪ And as Your love in wave after wave crashes over me, crashes over me ♪ ♪ For You are glorious, You are not against us, champion of heaven, You made a way for all to enter ♪ ♪ And as Your love in wave after wave crashes over me, crashes over me ♪ ♪ For You are glorious, You are not against us, champion of heaven, You made a way for all to enter ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amazing love that welcomes me, the kindness of mercy ♪ ♪ That dawn with the light, wholeheartedly, my soul undeserving ♪ ♪ Oh God, You're so good, God, You're so good, oh my God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ You hold the cross, paid to wait, an hour by hour ♪ ♪ The dead are raised, the sinner saved, the work of Your power ♪ ♪ Oh God, You're so good, God, You're so good, oh my God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ We sing God, You're so good, God, You're so good, oh my God, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ You're so good, God, You're so good ♪ ♪ Yes, God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole ♪ ♪ In the same day, Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power ♪ ♪ For the glory of Jesus' name ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole ♪ ♪ In the same day, Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power ♪ ♪ For the glory of Jesus' name ♪ ♪ And should this life bring suffering and pain ♪ ♪ And should this life bring suffering, Lord, I will remember ♪ ♪ What Calvary has brought for me, both now and forever ♪

♪ God, You're so good, God, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ Oh God, You're so good, God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ I want you to keep singing that. ♪ Oh God, You're so good, yes, God, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ You're so good, oh God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ Sing it louder. ♪ God, You're so good, yes, God, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ You're so good, oh God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ One more time. ♪ Oh God, You're so good, God, You're so good, yes, God, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ Yes, God, You're so good, You're so good to me ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole, I am saved in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am blessed, I am blessed, I am healed, I am whole, I am saved in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power for the glory of Your name ♪ ♪ Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power for the glory of Your name ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am blessed, I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole, I am saved in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole, I am saved in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power for the glory of Your name ♪ ♪ I am blessed, I am blessed, I am blessed, I am called, I am healed, I am whole, I am saved in Jesus' name ♪ God you're so good God you're so good God you're so good You're so good to me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I rest my soul on Jesus ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

Sing so high So high upon his shoulders Safely brought this far The helper of The helper of my helpless soul The king of broken hearts And his love His love is like the mighty ocean His love for me will never stop Oh, his arms are strong enough To carry me through it all Alright, come on, let's sing it again His love His love is like the mighty ocean His love for me will never stop Oh, his arms are strong enough To carry me through it all By the grace of God ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ When breath grows still And night draws near I will not be afraid, for I know the plans, I know the plans He has for me, don't finish at my feet. For when I grow still and I'm jolly, I will not be afraid, for I know the plans, I know the plans He has for me, don't finish at my feet. Cause His love is like a mighty ocean, His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all. I will not be afraid, for I know the plans, I know the plans He has for me, don't finish at my feet.

You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. You are the song within my soul, my strength, my hope, my all, it all is You. You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. You are the song within my soul, my strength, my hope, my all, it all is You. You are the song within my soul, my strength, my hope, my all, it all is You. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all. I will not be afraid. Cause His love is like a mighty ocean, His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all. Through it all, by the grace of God. Through it all, by the grace of God. So praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. We lift you up, Lord. Cause you're worthy to be praised. Be enthroned this morning. ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Cause you are the gospel. ♪ ♪ You are the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the song within my soul. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪

♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life. ♪ ♪ You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ You are the song within my soul. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ His life, the mighty oceans. ♪ ♪ His love for me will never stop. ♪ ♪ Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me. ♪ ♪ Through it all, by the grace of God. ♪ ♪ Through it all, by the grace of God. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ ♪ My strength, my hope, my all in all is you. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. ♪ Come on, somebody, let's sing it. ♪ So come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me. ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause you've got a light inside of those walls. ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ So come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me. ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause you've got a light inside of those walls. ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me. ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, cause you've got a light inside of those walls. ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me. ♪ ♪ Lift up your song. ♪

You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. You've got a lot in this cycle, so you've got to make the best of it. Praising God is and must remain our first and highest priority. There is no calling higher than the adoration and the exaltation of the God who gave us life. This is what we were made for and everything else is secondary. Do we? Are we in agreement on that? This has got to be where we find our identity and our footing as a family. Man, what a privilege it is to come into the house of the Lord, to come into the presence of the Lord, and to be able to sing right to Him. To be able to approach the God of the universe and to praise Him for His wonderful, His wondrous deeds in creation, but also to thank Him for His kindness in redeeming us from our sin and our slavery. Lord, we love You. God, we love You today as we say often, because You first loved us. We thank You for Your presence in this place today. We thank You, Lord, for the honor that it is to come into Your presence. Thank You that the blood of the Lamb has taken us from death into life, from guilt into innocence, from bondage into liberty, and from separation into intimacy. God, we thank You that today we can explore that intimacy, come directly to You, to look at Your face, to enjoy Your presence, God. We give You our honor and our attention today. We ask that You would come and

meet us here and transform us in a way that only You can. Bless You today in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, welcome to the altar fellowship. So glad that you're here, and I can't go any further without saying Happy Mother's Day to the moms in the house. In fact, if we can, before we transition into anything else, I want to make sure we got a gift for the mothers in the house. And I have got a, you know, a wife and a mother of my own, and I recognize that there are a few things in this world that make her happier than chocolate. And so if you, if you are a mother here at the altar, would you, could I get you to stand as everybody else takes a seat, if you can? If you're a mom, could I get you to stand? We're going to, I'm gonna pray over our moms, and then when I'm done praying, kids, we'll have you go and deliver chocolates to these moms. Lord, we thank You for these amazing women. We thank You, Lord, for the privilege that it is to receive from them, from their ministry. Lord, for the the countless ways that they pour into not just the the church as it exists today, but the church as it's becoming in the future. God, thank You for their, for the hard work that they do, both seen and unseen. And Lord, we thank You for the privilege that it is for us to be able to to watch them as they work for, for the advancement of Your kingdom through the faithful service of their children. God, would You bless them with energy? Would You bless them with encouragement? Would You bless them with revelation? Would You bless them, God, with new breakthroughs and experiences, encounters with You, Father, that would draw them closer to Your heart, so that as they continue to love and lead and make disciples of their children, Father, I pray that they would do so with Your energy and Your life flowing through them into their families. God, bless them today in the ministry of motherhood, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, let's get these ladies some chocolate. Man, what a an awesome day. Moms, we're so grateful for y'all. Now, kids, you are not allowed to steal this chocolate from your mom. That's, uh, that's against, it's against the rules. Come on.

As we are finishing that up, I want to just share a story with you. When I, I think most of you are familiar with my story. When I was really young, when I was only eight years old, my father passed away of cancer. And so I was raised, my sister and I, we were raised in a home with a single mother and my mom was not only dealing with, you know, two young kids, one of whom was me, which is like 10 young kids. And but she, she also was dealing with the grief of having lost her husband. But somehow my mom showed up day after day, month after month, year after year, she kept showing up. And, you know, and now in, in leadership, I meet young families often who, you know, they're overwhelmed or they're scared, you know, maybe parents or a young couple is getting ready to have their, you know, the first child or they're, they're just getting into parenthood and they're worried about if they're going to be able to do a good enough job. And I want to encourage you parents, mothers in particular, but parents in general, to know this, that if you will just care and show up, God can do a lot with that. You don't have to be an expert in child psychology. You know, you don't have to be an expert in, uh, in, uh, I mean, it helps maybe to be an expert in, you know, hostage negotiation at times. But the truth is if you will just show up and care, God can do a lot in the life of your children with just that. And my mom's ministry to my life was, uh, is, is compelling evidence of that truth. You know, I, uh, I remember after my father died, I was sort of mad at the whole world and, uh, and I wasn't a particularly well-behaved kid before my father died. But after my dad died, I had a reason to go to war with my teachers and my peers and my mom and myself and God himself, it feels like, and, uh, and I, uh, the, the temptation, I listen, I am a soccer player. The temptation is too much for me. Um, we, uh, and so I, uh, I, I struggled for years with serious anger and rage and, and my mom, she did something I think really wise. She went to our church and she went to, uh, the, you know, the pastors and the leaders

of our church and, uh, went in fact, first to the, uh, the youth pastor when I was at my worst and said, Hey, would you mind spending time with Maddie? He's struggling with his faith. He's struggling emotionally. He's struggling in school. He just needs a man in his life to pour into him. And, uh, and our youth pastor said, bless his heart, uh, he said, I, the truth is Maddie's got too many character flaws for me to be able to do anything with. And so I need to spend my time with kids that, you know, are going to be a better investment of my limited time and resources. And uh, and here's the beautiful thing. I'm so glad that God disagreed, right? His resources were limited, but God's resources are not. And, uh, and God's grace was sufficient even for an angry, hateful kid like me. And uh, and I'm so thankful for that. My mom continued to go to men in our church. She continued to go to our community and to say, we need help. Like our family needs help. And I'm so grateful for my mom's tenacity to keep showing up week after week after week to take disappointment, to take, uh, you know, setbacks, to take even rejection on the chin and to keep showing up and to say, this is where God has called me to be when it hurts, when I'm embarrassed, when I'm disappointed, when I'm frustrated, my kids need to be in the house of the Lord. And so no matter how far I ran away from the will of God for my life, I couldn't escape the fact that his word had been written on my heart at a very young age. And I had been trained up in the way that I should go. And listen, I tried to depart from it, but I could not get away. And I say this to say, guys, my life is all of the, the evidence I could ever need of how profound the impact the local church can have. I'm telling you, there were some men who, who tried to spend time with me and I made

it hell on them, seriously. But I'm so grateful that, that I, you know, I look back on, uh, there's a man named Kyle Lilly, another man named Keith beam, who spent time with me when I. I was at my worst. Another man named Doug Howard, who spent time with me when I was at my absolute worst and those men and they, I'm sure that they felt in the moment like we're not getting through to this kid. He's not hearing anything. But it was years later that God began to soften my heart and I looked back on the example that they set for me and it, and it became, that became my standard or the foundation for what I understood a man of God to be. And I, I share this story with you, not just because this is important for my life. I share this story with you because this is important for our community as a church to understand that what we do, the next generation is watching. And especially today on Mother's Day, it's critically important for us to remember that when we honor God, we set a standard that the next generation will strive to reach. When we compromise our faith and the call of God in our life, we set a standard that the next generation will strive to reach. And so my encouragement to you today, families, to understand that what we do here, what you do here, not just what the pastor preaches or what the worship team sings, but what each of us do here is a, is a part of the foundation upon which the next generation will stand. And I think Mother's Day calls me back to, to remembering just the, just how profound an impact a parent can have on the life of a child. And so my hope is that we as a family can take very seriously the responsibility that God has put on us to set the stage for the next generation's success in the things that matter most. Amen.

Yeah. All right. Well, we are about to receive the, uh, the offering here. Um, as you know, there are a few ways that you can, uh, that you can do that. If you are giving today by cash check or card, you can use the envelope in the seat in front of you, or you can take your phone out and scan that QR code or use the, uh, the mobile app. Before we receive the offering, would you stand with me? I'm just going to pray over this moment. Lord, you deserve infinitely, infinitely more than any one of us could ever give. God, we thank you that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We thank you, Lord, that you came to seek and to save that, which was lost. And God, as we give to you this morning, we do so recognizing that it's a meager response to your amazing grace. But God, we give joyfully and gratefully saying, Lord, you've given infinitely more to us. God, you are good and your mercy endures forever. Lord, we thank you for your provision and your favor on this house. We pray, Lord, that you'd continue to open the windows of heaven and pour out on each family represented in this room. Blessing that there is not room enough to receive. Continue, Lord, to overflow, uh, there, uh, to, to make the oil on their lives overflow in such a way that we can all feel the, the blessing of what you've done in their lives. God, we commit to you our giving today, just as we committed our singing to you, God, just as we commit our time to you, father, you are faithful and you are good. And it's our joy to give into your hands today. Use this offering to advance your kingdom in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. All right. Whenever you are ready, we'll be receiving it here at the front. Thanks.

Hey, good morning. You can be seated. Uh, yeah. Good morning. Did you guys hear the good news? Jesus is on the throne. Yeah. He, uh, he is in control. And, uh, and, and if, if we are in him, we have nothing to fear. I, uh, I want to talk about Gavin Orland coming. He's coming now, this coming Sunday, the Sunday after that. And just to give you some, some insight, he is, um, a phenomenal, uh, speaker and, and apologist, church historian, just, uh, uh, an incredibly accomplished, uh, Christian scholar. And I'm really looking forward to his ministry here. He's going to come and speak specifically about sort of the foundations of what we might call Protestant Christianity. But I think what history would bear out and scripture would bear out is just Christianity. Um, and, uh, and, and he's, he's going to come to both services. So he'll be here in first service teaching. And then what we're going to do is after first service, anybody that has a question based on something he talked about or something, maybe he didn't talk about, uh, he's going to address those questions during the. second service. He and I are gonna have a Q&A session during second service. And so if you are interested in finding out about the history of our faith, if you want to grow in your, you know, understanding of our identity as, you know, what we might call Protestant Christians, this is an amazing opportunity for you to do that. And not just to hear him speak at first service, but also to then bounce questions off of him, to hear him help to maybe fill in some of the gaps in maybe your understanding or experience in that area. And so I would encourage you, if this is something you're interested in

at all, clear your schedule, show up to first service, and then stay for second service for the Q&A. Go grab some food in between or something like that. So does that sound good? Is that something anybody is excited about? I hope that you will stir your faith. It's important that we find a common doctrinal ground to stand on if we are ever going to have unity in the body. This unity in the body is of vital importance, and I could make a whole, you know, biblical argument or biblical case for that statement, that unity in the body is of vital importance. And the way that we find unity is we stand on common truth, right? And so it's really important that we have these sorts of conversations, and I'm really looking forward to Dr. Ortlund being here with us in a couple weeks. So I hope that you will make it a priority to be here May 24th at first service, and then to strongly consider staying for second service as well. It will bless you, all right? Okay, today is Mother's Day, and I've got to tell you, there have been some mothers that have blessed my life tremendously. I have to honor my wife and her faithful love and service and support of our three wild, amazing boys. I have been really grateful to get to watch her work these last 14 years now, and to see this girl I married turn into this woman that loves and leads my children has been one of the great honors of my life, and I'm just really blessed by you, hun. I'm really blessed to have her ministry in the example that she sets in my life. Years ago, I met a woman named Sarah McGraw. I'll tell you about Sarah. She was this incredible, brilliant, wonderful woman of God who found out that she had a brain tumor when her little girl was only like five years old. She had a son and a daughter, and she wrote, Sarah wrote in her prayer journal, a prayer asking that God would let her survive long enough to see her little girl grow up and get married. And for 15 years, this woman lived with a brain tumor that could have killed her the night she discovered that she had it. For 15 years, God kept and sustained her, and I actually got to be there when Sarah saw her daughter walk down the aisle. I got to be there because Sarah saw her daughter walk down the aisle to marry me. And it was at our

wedding that Sarah said to her best friend, I know that Maddie's going to take care of Candace, and so I'm ready to go whenever the Lord will take me. Six months later, I got to do my first funeral in honor of Sarah in the example that she set. For 15 years, she swept up kitty litter, and she shuffled around the house and took care of her home, and she was there at the house every time her little girl needed her to be. And I look back at Sarah's story, like what an audacious prayer to find a tumor in your brain and then to be bold enough to say, God, let me see my little child grow up into adulthood. Let me live for 15 more years with this tumor. That's a bold prayer to pray, but I saw through Sarah's life, God honor her in amazing ways. He honored her prayer that was, I'm sure, shaky and in many ways uncertain, and certainly it was secret, but I have seen God honor in amazing ways the shaky and secret and uncertain prayers of faithful mothers. And today, I want to bless the mothers in this community with maybe the courage to believe that God actually sees you, that like Sarah, God actually hears you and God has promised to go with you as you navigate the great adventure of motherhood. Now for the many people in the room that aren't mothers, I want you to know that you wouldn't be in the room if it weren't for your mother. And so this may not be a message for you, but it is a message for you. We are all here today because some mother put her security, her comfort, her safety, her, you know, her ease on the line for our sake. And what an amazing miracle that is. And so today I want us as a family to take the time to explore this sacred ministry of motherhood and to recognize the ways, at least some of the ways, that it communicates to us or that it transmits to us revelation about the heart and the nature of God. We can see who God is in some, in many ways, through the ministry of motherhood. And I want to make sure today that we don't miss that. Is that alright? Alright, so I want to look at Luke chapter 1. We're gonna look at Mary. And I'm gonna go to Luke chapter 1. I'll start in verse 26. It says, now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. This virgin's name was Mary. And

having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. When she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. I want to stop there and maybe unpack a couple things. In verse 26, there's this greeting. The angel appears to Mary. Gabriel appears to Mary. And he says to Mary, who was a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David, the angel says, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Now, this I think is important to notice. We can read this and come to some wacky conclusions that Mary was somehow unique in her purity or unique in her sanctity. You know, there's approximately 1.4 billion people that are a part of an institution that teaches that Mary was born without original sin and that she lived her entire life sinless before God. And yet here's the issue is that to call someone favored or blessed is not to call them divine. It's not to communicate some mystical or some magical identity. Mary is blessed, not sinless or divine. She's blessed. Mary actually testifies to us today in a way that I think we have to make sure to pay attention to. She testifies to the church today of God's willingness to use human instruments for divine purposes. That's why it's not something we can just sort of shrug our shoulders at and say, well, some people see it differently than I do. It's like, no, no, no. It's actually really important to our right hermeneutic. That's our ability to interpret and apply scripture faithfully. It's crucial to our ability to understand what the Bible is saying, that we hear the message that God uses flawed people. He uses human people who are human in every way, positive and negative, to do his divine will. Why is that important? Because if Mary was sinless, then God could never use me the way that he used her. If Peter is somehow,

you know, glorified and perfected and incapable of error or infallible, then God can never use me in the way that he used Peter. There is this amazing testimony that Mary has in her normalness. And that is that God uses normal people like us to do incredible and amazing things. So Mary testifies to the church today of God's willingness to use human instruments to accomplish divine purposes. Her story is not a... about her accomplishments, it's about God's gracious willingness to partner with mortal men. Isn't it often, if you're anything like me, I should say, I would bet that it's frequent that you look at what needs to be done in the world, the amazing, miraculous revival that needs to come, the hearts that need to change, the minds that need to be illuminated by the Spirit of God, and you think to yourself, where do I even start? How could I ever have an impact? How could I ever make a difference? And what we see in the life of Mary is that God can use a regular person to make an incredible difference, to reshape the course of human history forever, not because she was anything different or more special than us, but because when God called, she answered. Man, what a testimony that is. And so the angel says to her, rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying. Understandable. And she considered what manner of greeting this was. And then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. The name Jesus, or in Hebrew, yeshua, means salvation. You should call his name salvation. In the book of Matthew, it records that the angel actually explained why he should be named Jesus. He said, I want you to call him salvation because he will save his people from their sins. And so he communicates this. You're gonna bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. Now, this is a direct reference to 2 Samuel chapter seven, where God made a covenant with David that one day from his offspring, a king would be born who would establish a kingdom and would take a throne that would never pass away and would last forever and ever. And so the angel is saying, this is the fulfillment of my messianic promise to David that was made back in 2 Samuel chapter seven.

And then he continues on. He said, he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there will be no end. This is a direct quote from Isaiah nine, verse seven. And so what we have here is the angel Gabriel communicating to Mary that they're, you're not just gonna have a child, you're gonna have the child. The one that creation has been eagerly awaiting for centuries. The one that the prophets have been seeing dimly through time and space. The ones that they wrote about, the one that they dreamed about, the one that they hoped would arrive quickly. He is going to come into the earth and Mary, he's going to come into the earth through you. And so the angel communicates that he will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there will be no end. And then Mary asked an important question. She said to the angel, how can this be? Since I do not know a man, since I'm still a virgin. And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also the Holy one who is to be born

will be called the son of God. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also the Holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God. Now this evokes for me imagery of Genesis chapter one. If you remember in Genesis one verse two, it says the earth was without form and void and darkness was on the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And so in Genesis chapter one, you have this sort of a pre creation state where the spirit of God is hovering over these formless and undefined depths. And then the angel comes to Mary and says, there's a plan and the plan is that the same spirit that brought creation into being is going to overshadow you. That Spirit is going to hover over your waters, Mary, and God's going to initiate the creation of a thing, the establishment of a thing, the revelation, the manifestation of a thing that is going to be just like all creation was in the beginning, good. And so the angel highlights his plan. How can this be? Since I do not know a man. The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now this is a scandalous statement. The position of Islam is that God has no son and yet here we see in Luke 135 that this one is the, what John calls, the only begotten Son of God. It's easy for us who, those of us who grew up in the Christian context, to overlook how scandalous this idea really is. This is an offense that,

I don't know, a couple billion people in the world would not be able to overcome or tolerate. It's this sort of beautiful statement of God's extravagant humility. I remember just last year sitting with a young man who is from Egypt. He's a Muslim and he had lots of questions about the Christian faith and this is where we got stuck. As he said, God doesn't have sons. How could God die? How could God become a man who like walked around and talked with people? And I said, God is infinitely more humble than you've ever imagined. Consider the humility of the great and almighty God, the one who created everything to lower himself into humanity, to be someone that sleeps and eats, that dies even, to experience need and dependency. That's so, that's so a counter to our understanding of the the exalted state of divinity that we many of us in our generation simply rejected. That there's no way God would become a man and yet he did. And the one who is to be born, as the angel said, will be called the Son of God. But the implications here, and I feel like I can't talk about Mary without putting my finger on this, the implications here for Mary must have been staggering. Listen, you know, everybody says they want to be called by God to something great until, until it looks like this, right? If someone would have come to Mary like, you want to be a part of God's plan for the world? Certainly should have been like, sure, you know, fine. But I think often we fail to consider that the sacrifice, the loss, the suffering, the misunderstanding, that obedience to the call or submission to the call can often produce for us. The implications to Mary must have been staggering. She was being invited in that moment into God's divine redemptive plan, but I think it surely would have been safe for her to assume, based on what the angel was telling her, that this plan was going to cost her her future marriage to Joseph. It was going to cost her her place in society, it was going to cost her her family, her physique, her future. You know, I remember years ago my, my wife, I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this, sharing, you know, with me her, her, I'm getting the look already, it's not that bad, sharing with me her, her, her insecurities about how her body had changed after three kids. And, and I said, babe, our kids are alive today because of

what your body did. What a miracle. I said, listen, I said, imagine like this, if someone had come into our home to try to murder our children with a knife and I fought that guy off and I had a big scar on my face, do you have any idea how proud I'd be of that scar? I beat that guy to death and I got a scar on my face to show for it. I would, I would prefer to have a scar on my face. Like I would want there to be some. physical changes so that everyone would know my kids are alive today because of the sacrifice I made for them, because I fought and prevailed for them. Right, that would be, I'd be so stoked about that. And I think sometimes, you know, we look at, like we feel like we ought to be able to get through the call of God unscathed. But man, what a privilege it is, moms, to be able to carry around on your body the marks of the victory that God gave you for the sake of your children. Man, I hope you look at yourself in the mirror differently from now on and go like, you know what? I'm tough, this is not bad. And you should know, your husband loves it. He's fine with it. Like, he thinks it's fine just the way it is. He'll take it. And so Mary, you know, the cost to her is not just her physique, it's her future. The plans that she had. Maybe she was gonna have a big wedding feast. Well, that's gonna be off for sure. I don't know if my parents will ever talk to me again

after this. I don't know that I'll have a place in society anymore. Joseph, who I love, who I'm planning to marry, who's probably gonna leave me because of this. God has a plan for my life and it's gonna cost me everything. I mean, how often do we consider the cost of the things God has asked us to do? How often do we really stop to tally up what it's going to demand from us if we actually follow the plan of God the way that we know we've been called to? It's rare. And we sort of just say, well, I wanna be used by God. But I think the story of Mary confronts us in our flippant disposition toward those kinds of statements. And it ought to, I think, if we look at it rightly, make us begin to stop and consider what the call of God might actually look like. God calls Mary to, I should say the angel invites Mary to be a part of this plan. You'll conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He'll be great. He'll be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob

forever and ever. And Mary, well, how can this be? How is this gonna happen? And the angel says, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God. Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, he says, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. Now, I want to point out to you that not only did Mary have to wrestle in this moment with, I think, the safe assumption that this might cost her her marriage to Joseph, her place in society, her family, her future and her physique. But I want you to hear this, God not only called her to this, he also preemptively established support for her to be able to walk through it. And this, I think, is what is so profound about the brilliant wisdom of God. He had already built into his plan the support that Mary would need to be able to walk the path he'd called her to. Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month. God is saying, Mary, six months ago,

I initiated something that you are gonna need as you walk this path. This is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible. The angel says to Mary, listen, I know that you're being asked to do something that feels impossible for you, but you are not alone in this impossible thing. God will be with you and Elizabeth will be, too. And I know mothers, let me just speak to the mothers in the room and say, I know that at times it feels like you, too, have been asked to do something that feels impossible for you been asked to do an impossible thing. but you are not alone in this impossible thing. To keep your family together, to keep your marriage together, God will be with you and Elizabeth will be, too. to keep your home together, to raise and lead your children well, and to protect them somehow from a world that feels like it's designed entirely to snuff the faith out of your children's hearts and lives. To somehow guard them and protect them and keep them from the kid down the street and the stuff on the phone or the internet. It feels like an impossible task and I can certainly understand where you're coming from, but I want you to know what the scriptures say even in this story.

With God, nothing will be impossible. With God, nothing will be impossible. Luke 1, 37 declares this without equivocation. And so Mary asks the question, how can this be? And the angel gives her two answers. The first part is God's gonna do it. The spirit is going to overshadow you and that's how you'll become pregnant. The second part of the angel's answer is also Elizabeth is gonna be there with you. You're not gonna be alone in this. God will accomplish it and Elizabeth will walk with you through it. Now, I think there is a message for us in this that God understands that fellowship is a vital component to our ability to walk the path he's called us to walk. No one can walk out their Christian faith alone. This is why the gathering of the saints is so vitally important. This is why you hear me talk all the time about the assembly of the brethren and why we as a family have to get together and we have to view our togetherness, not just as a mode or a method of the dissemination of information. It's like it would be way easier if you would just stay home and listen to podcasts. If the only reason you came here was to get information, there's tons of information out there. You can buy books on Amazon

that will deliver them to your door and you can read them in your pajamas. Like you don't have to get dressed and get in your car and drive across town to come over here to get information, but here's what you can't get from Amazon, fellowship. Here's what you can't get from a podcast, fellowship. It is togetherness that strengthens the saints in our soul and gives us the grace to be able to walk the path that God has called us to walk. God in infinite wisdom and absolute sovereignty knows that. And so with Moses, when Moses says, who am I that I would lead your people, the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt? God says, I'm gonna send you Aaron. And then when Mary says, how on earth am I gonna give birth to the Holy One of Israel? God says, I'm gonna send you Elizabeth. I want you to know that in this room are sitting the people God has ordained and anointed to lift your spirits when you are discouraged, to challenge you when you are prone to compromise, to strengthen you when you are weak and to cover you when you stumble, to carry you if you fall. God calls us together because together we can accomplish what no one of us could alone. In the times of greatest challenge, we often find the grace for greatest connection. I want you to hear this. In the times of greatest challenge,

we often find the grace for greatest connection. What does that mean? I want to exhort you as your pastor. If you are going through a crisis, do not think the way you interact with the church is to hide that crisis so that it doesn't become anyone else's burden. Often people do this. You feel like we're struggling in our marriage and I don't wanna tell anybody at the church we're struggling in our marriage because then I'll be embarrassed. It's like, no, no, that's what the church is for. It is to bear each other's burdens. That's why God called us together is so that you can be strong if I'm weak and I can be strong if you're weak so that we can hold each other up. We can sharpen one another. Like that's what the church is designed to do. to be. It's a beautiful thing to have seen through the years the way the church broadly, but this church specifically, has gone to bat for one another. As people have struggled, as people have dealt with discouragement, with frustration, with loss, with sadness, with, you know, financial emergencies, relational emergencies, with unimaginable crises and human sorrow, the way that the body of Christ has come around them to lift them up and carry them through has been nothing short of supernatural. And so I would tell you guys in your times of greatest challenge, understand that those are the moments in which you may find the grace for the greatest connection. And so don't be so prideful. You know, imagine Mary saying, I don't need Elizabeth. I'll handle this alone. Like, no, no, no. God puts people in your life because he knows that what he's called you to carry is too big for you to carry alone.

And so it is not only arrogance, it is a guarantee of your failure for you to insist on walking alone the path God has called us to walk together. In times of greatest challenge, we often find the grace for greatest connection. Mary found courage in the knowledge that she would have Elizabeth to walk with through this difficult and uncertain season. And this, as I've said, is why the fellowship of believers, the assembly of the brethren is so vitally important. And so, Mary, here's the plan. The spirit of the Lord will overshadow you and Elizabeth will be there when you need her. And then Mary says this thing that is so profound, you should underline this in your Bible. Mary's response is not, well, let me talk to Joseph. Let me think about it. Her response is not, you know, well, you know, give me a few weeks to get some things in order. This is what she says in verse 38 of Luke chapter one, behold, the maid servant of the Lord, the maid servant of the Lord, that it be to me according to your word. That word that's translated there is maid, is maid servant. It's a Greek word. The word is doulos. It's where we get the word doula, which I think gives a beautiful bit of insight into how Mary saw herself in this moment, not as the mother of God, but as the doula of the Lord, that God is birthing something into the world. And it's my privilege to be able to serve in that moment of transition. That is our place in the story of God as well, to recognize that even today, God is birthing new revelation into the lives of those around us. God is birthing awakening into our nation and our generation. God is birthing transformation in the culture around us. And our privilege is to serve as doulas to the delivery of God's grace and mercy to the world around us that is available through Christ. Behold the doulos of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. In Mary's yes to the Lord, in her full submission and surrender to the impossible task laid before her, Mary stands as the sort of archetypal mother in the Christian worldview. We look at Mary as an example of what a mother should be and how a mother should stand before the Lord. So we see through her the power and potential of a mother's yes to the plan of God. Now, there was nothing mystical or magical about Mary, and that is actually the point. As I said before, God uses normal people to accomplish divine things. What made Mary special in her day is what still makes mothers special today, and that is her resounding yes to the long,

hard, and often uncertain road of motherhood. It is the giving of oneself fully to the destiny of another generation and the unwavering determination to serve the dream of God, even if it costs you everything. Mary knew. that the thing God would do wouldn't be for her, but it would be for the generation that came after her. And so often we are so fixated on our own calling, our own passion, our own, you know, promotion that we neglect the fact that the greatest thing we will ever get to see God do is not in our life, but in our children's lives. It's in the next generation. And whether you are a mother or not, you can learn from Mary's example that what moves God, I should say what honors God most profoundly is when we, like Mary, give him our resounding yes. When we commit to his passion for the next generation, understanding that we may not see the glory that we dreamed of, but if the next generation does, we have done our job. As Winston Churchill once said, it's one of my favorite quotes. If you've been in the church for a while, you have heard me share this before. Winston Churchill once said, one of the signs of a great society is the diligence with which it passes culture from one generation to the next.

And I would say, I know that Winston Churchill is talking about global politics, but I'm not a global politician. And so I will say this as a pastor, one of the signs of a great church is the diligence with which it passes culture from one generation to the next. And mothers carry this exhortation in a way that is unique among all creation as they bear and deliver and raise the generation who will one day stand on our shoulders and reach heights greater than any we could ever imagine. Mothers, I wanna say on behalf of the whole church, thank you for what you do. Your ministry demonstrates the nature of God in ways that no other ministry can. It is critical, it is vital, and it is valuable to us in ways that we will never be able to express. I'll close with this. Mary responds with her full surrender and trust to the will of the Lord. But then later in the chapter, in Luke chapter one, Mary sings this song. And this is Mary's song of praise and trust in the Lord. Before Jesus had been born, before the story had been written, before there was any settling that this was really from God and that God would really do it and that it would really be okay for her,

before she had any idea what she was getting into, she began to praise God for his faithfulness. And this is what she says in the song of Mary, or as others have called it, Mary's Magnificat. I'll read this. This is in Luke chapter one, starting in verse 46. It says, and Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has held his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. Friends, I want you to understand that even before we see how the story ends, we can sing songs of praise and thanksgiving because he who promised, as the scriptures say, is faithful and he will do all that he set out to do.

So parents, I understand it's often uncertain and unclear and you're just hoping it'll work out in the end. I want you to take a page out of Mary's book and learn to sing even before the story's over because God will do all that he said he would. Amen. Lord, we thank you for your word that reminds us over and over and over again of your faithful love. God, thank you for your relentless love. this kindness to us in your willingness to continue to invite us to join with your work in the earth God thank you that you use normal people like Mary and like me we thank you Lord in your wisdom and your sovereign grace that you that you include us into the redemptive story of history God we look forward with Mary to the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Lord we ask you to be with us this week to continue to grace and guide us as we learn to walk in your ways and to serve you with excellence and integrity God we bless you and we honor you and we recommit our lives to you again this morning in Jesus holy amen amen family God bless you have your Mother's Day and we will see you next week thanks so much you you you