Sermon: Why God Created Mothers Summary: By God's wisdom that created a beautiful, orderly world with a delicate balance and symmetry, God also created women because man was incomplete without a woman and would not be able to fulfill God's plan of being fruitful and multiplying to fill the earth. Along with manhood, womanhood is a reflection of the character of God. Know: Motherhood is part of God's integral design for humans to carry out God's purposes in the world Feel: Esteem for motherhood Do: Identify reasons God created women. Also identify God's first commands given to mankind and how motherhood fits into those commands. Discuss qualities of godly motherhood and why they are important to God's plan. List ways to honor the biblical ideal of motherhood and encourage it. Text: Gen 1-2 Various Scripture Reading: Prov 31:28-21 Intro: 1. Today is Mother's Day a. Motherhood is a unique and special experience b. See if you can relate to this... - Recipe for baking a cake (with your child's help) - Maybe you have a teen, listen to Kids are Dogs, Teens are Cats c. Motherhood can be most demanding and yet most rewarding role d. Motherhood can bring with it the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows - First step, word, day of school, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc - special - When they go on to graduate, get married, have children, etc. - If child dies, Mother's Day become more about child than mother - Today we are reminded that motherhood is a blessing 2. In honor of mothers, will explore question - "Why did God make Mothers?" a. Many have offered answers, some cute, funny or sentimental - Moms are the only ones who can find lost things = Like the kids who can't find clothes in morning = Flustered, Mom says, "Sit on the bed, I'll get your laundry" = Dad also says, "Where are my clothes?" She tells him to sit on the bed too = Children look up at Daddy, "Mommy is dressing all of us" - Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them - Dad is such a goofball, have to have Mothers - List goes on b. Does Bible give any indication why God made mothers? - Maybe not directly, but we do have some indications - Will look at those this morning 3. God made mothers to complete his creation. How? Several things... I. To complete Man A. Does this suggest man is incomplete without woman? B. Look at the text: Gen 2 1. Gen 1 - God created light, dark, trees, sky, sun, etc. it was good 2. (Gen 2:18) - Not good for man to be alone a. In all of the marvelous beauty, something was missing b. (v.19-20) - Adam named all the animals, but no suitable helper was found for him - I wonder if Adam contemplated male and female species of the various animals? - I wonder if Adam actively looked for his own counterpart? c. Man didn't have a partner, God said this was not good 3. What did God do? a. v.18 - Said, "I will make a helper suitable for him" b. (v.21) - God took from his "side" and fashioned woman - Translational note: ul*x@ nearly always means "side" - Used of side rooms in a building, side of the ark. . . - God took from his "side" c. What does "side" communicate? - Not take from feet, that he would walk all over her - Not take from head that he would lord it over her - Took from the side, to be companion, friend, partner - This a complementarian relationship - One completes the other d. (v.22-24) God brought her to the man, became one flesh C. ILL: How many times you referred to spouse as your "other half?" 1. This is a very biblical phrase is it not? 2. Guys, sometimes refer to her as your "better half" - also biblical a. How is that biblical? b. Think about it, you made of mud, she is made of you D. God's final completing act of creation is marriage 1. The two become one 2. When you destroy it, you destroy the crowing act of creation a. You become half a person, part of you ripped away b. Those scars remain with you and may affect you deeply - Can affect future relationships - Can affect friendships - Can even affect your children and grandchildren c. No wonder Jesus said - What God has joined together, let not man separate 3. Got to have husband and wife - Become one by God's design 4. **This is only way man can fulfill God's first direct commands... II. To complete Family A. Shortly, the wife also becomes a mother B. This was not optional for the Man and Woman 1. What is first commands to humans in scripture? (Gen 1:26-28) a. Be fruitful, multiply b. Fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it 2. Cannot have dominion over the earth without multiplying a. One man and woman cannot do it all by themselves b. The command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth is repeated several times in Genesis c. They are made in God's image, and were to fill the earth with the reign of God - Fill earth with goodness of God 3. So, the wife who becomes mother has important role a. Help fill the earth with glory of God through their children b. Fill family with glory, community, town, country, world c. Mother's help to shape the future 4. Look at the important roles mothers played in scripture a. May think of Moses' Mother, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary b. Many other mothers - In the books of Kings - (2 Kng 12:1) - Typical citation also lists mothers - Mothers are not inconsequential C. ILL: Mothers can have a profound impact on the world 1. 1865 William Ross Wallace wrote poem - What Rules the World a. Most probably never heard of him, or have heard poem b. Probably heard one line from his poem - c. "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." d. Expresses the truth that mothers have profound impact on the world 2. You might be thinking of some of those well-known mothers... a. Abraham Lincoln's mother - He said, "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." b. George Washington's Mother - He said, " All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."- 3. Want to mention Mother you never heard of - Susannah Wesley a. 19 children, 9 survived. b. She set aside time for each child alone every night. Monday reserved for one child, Tuesday the next, etc. c. Son John asked her what sin was. Listen to her answer: "Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." -- Susanna Wesley (June 8, 1725) d. Two of her sons, John and Charles, led a Revival in England and forever changed the culture of England, effect felt around the world 4. Truly, mothers have a profound impact D. No wonder God created the woman 1. Man could not fulfill the command to fill the earth alone 2. Godly mothers help to fill the earth with the glory of God III. To Complete His Image A. Question - Is only man in image of God, or both man and woman? B. (Gen 1:27) - "Man" includes "male and female" 1. Both male and female are made in the image of God 2. Scripture most often uses fatherly imagery for God 3. Sometimes scripture uses motherly imagery for God, Is 66:10f 4. Both Father and Mother reflect parts of the character of God C. ILL: What does "Mother" conjure up for you? 1. Pie story - Tutor teaching Math a. Q: Suppose your mother baked a pie & there were seven of you, 2 parents 5 children, what part of pie you get? b. Child answered - 1/6 of the pie c. Tutor said, I'm afraid you don't know fractions well, there are seven of you d. Child said, And you don't know my mother well, she would say she didn't want any pie 2. Mothers serve selves last, eat cold meals, get less sleep than everyone else 3. Magnet story - Teacher teaching a lesson about magnets a. Demonstrated an actual magnet, what it can do b. Next day, had a quiz question: "My name has six letters, the first letter is M, and I pick up things. What am I?" c. Over half of the class wrote, "Mother" 4. May have many memories of mother or mother figure in your life a. Whether hours spent teaching Algebra b. Snacks after a long day of school c. Ice Cream after an injury or hurt D. This nurturing kindness reflects character of God 1. Children don't just learn about God from Fathers 2. Children also learn about God from Mothers Concl: 1. Why did God make mothers? To complete his creation - Man, Family, Character 2. God's love is like a mother's love - relentless (inv) ================== Baking a Cake with your Child's Help 1. Preheat oven. 2. Check to be certain that there are no rubber balls or plastic soldiers on the oven shelves. 3. Remove blocks and toy autos from table. 4. Grease pan. 5. Crack nuts. 6. Measure 2 cups flour; remove Johnny's hands from flour; wash flour off him. 7. Re-measure flour. 8. Crack more nuts to replace those Johnny ate. 9. Put flour, baking powder and salt in sifter. Get dustpan and brush up pieces of bowl Johnny knocked on floor. 10. Get another bowl. 11. Answer doorbell. 12. Return to kitchen. 13. Remove Johnny's hands from bowl. Wash Johnny. Answer telephone. Return. 14. Remove 1/4 inch salt from greased pan. 15. Look for Johnny. Grease another pan. Answer telephone. 16. Return to kitchen and find Johnny. 17. Remove his hands from bowl. 18. Take up greased pan and remove layer of nut shells in it. 19. Head for Johnny, who runs, knocking bowl off table. 20. Wash kitchen floor, table, walls, dishes. 21. Call bakery, place order. Take two aspirin. Lie down =================Kids are Dogs, Teens are Cats Author Unknown
I just realized that while children are dogs ... loyal and affectionate ... teenagers are cats.
It's so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it, train it, boss it around. It puts its head on your knee and gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors with enthusiasm when you call it.
Then around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering who died and made you emperor. Instead of dogging your doorstep, it disappears. You won't see it again until it gets hungry ... then it pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up at whatever you're serving. When you reach out to ruffle its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it twists away from you then gives you a blank stare, as if trying to remember where it has seen you before.
You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something must be desperately wrong with it. It seems so antisocial, so distant, sort of depressed. It won't go on family outings. Since you're the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay and sit on command, you assume that you did something wrong. Flooded with guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your pet behave.
Only now you're dealing with a cat, so everything that worked before now produces the opposite of the desired result. Call it and it runs away. Tell it to sit and it jumps on the counter. The more you go toward it, wringing your hands, the more it moves away.
Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you can learn to behave like a cat owner. Put a dish of food near the door and let it come to you. But remember that a cat needs your help and your affection too.
Sit still and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.
One day your grown-up child will walk into the kitchen, give you a big kiss and say, "You've been on your feet all day. Let me get those dishes for you." Then you'll realize your cat is a dog again.
================= Small Group Notes: Why God Created Mothers Summary: By God's wisdom that created a beautiful, orderly world with a delicate balance and symmetry, God also created women because man was incomplete without a woman and would not be able to fulfill God's plan of being fruitful and multiplying to fill the earth. Along with manhood, womanhood is a reflection of the character of God. Open: - What color describes your mother (or you as a mother, if applicable)? Explore: (Gen 1:26-28; 2:18-25) 1. Discuss the reasons God created the woman according to this passage. 2. How does motherhood fit into the first commands that God gave to man in these passages? 3. What strengths do women generally have? How do these contribute to the roles of mother and wife? 4. In what ways do people distort the biblical ideal of motherhood? 5. What are some ways motherhood is a reflection of God? Apply: 6. What are some ways to strengthen a biblical view of motherhood? 7. What are some ways to honor your mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, or motherhood in general? 8. How has this lesson encouraged you? Challenged you? Prayer: