Proverbs 31:1-7, 2 Timthy 1:1-7

Proverbs 31:10-32

2 Timothy 1:1-7

“Thank God For Godly Women”

May 13, 2012  (Mother’s Day)

            Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.

There’s an old saying that:

 ”God couldn’t be everywhere at once, so he made moms.”

That statement may not be theologically accurate, but it does convey a great attitude towards motherhood – our moms fill a place in our lives that no one else can fill.

Every mom is aware that her job involves much more than cooking and cleaning and carpooling. It involves nurture, it involves guidance, it involves building character. And, as I have learned with my own mom, the job doesn’t end when a child moves out of the house.  

So — on Mother’s day preachers stand in pulpits and extol the virtues of motherhood. You, perhaps, came to Church today expecting to hear a typical Mother’s Day sermon – but maybe this will be more than typical.

You see – as much as I appreciate and have been blessed by my Mom – and as much as all of us have been blessed by and nurtured by our mothers – I want to expand the typical “thanks Mom” of Mother’s Day to say: “Thanks!” “Bless you!” “Thanks for all you do!” to all of the women of the Church who play such a vital role in shaping the lives of the children, youth, and indeed all of us in the Church.

“Thanks!” “Bless you!” “Thanks for all you do!” to all the women of the Church who do so much to help us accomplish what we accomplish as a Church.

The sign out front today – and indeed the sermon title in the bulletin for today – says:

Thank God For Godly Women

Yes – thank God for Godly mothers – but – more than that –

 Thank God For Godly Women

I am so thankful for the Godly mothers of Edgewood — but – I am really thankful for all the Godly women of Edgewood – whether they are mothers or not – married or single – who play such a vital role in our Church.  The Godly women who play such a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – who play such a vital role in all aspects of our Church – who serve in the kitchen as well as on the Session – who busy themselves with the crafts as well as with the leadership – who work behind the scenes and in the spotlight – wherever you look at Edgewood, you will find a Godly woman – whether they are mothers or not – blessing us all by their commitment to being the women God has called them to be and leading us as a Church to be the Church God is calling us to be.

So – yes – I say thank God for Godly mothers – but more than that I say: Thank God for Godly women.

In our New Testament lesson from 2 Timothy for today, Paul is giving praise to God for the faith of Timothy – a faith his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois passed on to him. 

Passing on the faith.

Making sure that others know about God.

That’s the work of Godly mothers – but more than that – that’s the work of Godly women.

When Paul wrote 2 Timothy he was in prison.  He had been arrested for preaching the Gospel of Christ in disobedience to Caesar’s orders. Paul sent Timothy, the young man he led to the Lord, to Ephesus to tend to the Church there in his absence. Paul established the Ephesian Church when he returned from his second missionary journey. Ephesus was an 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 in Ephesus, it would spread outward from there like spokes on a wagon wheel. The Church was just beginning in an area famous for it’s idolatry and sexual infidelity.  Before Roman rule people in Ephesus had engaged in child sacrifice and the worship of idols. When Roman rule established order child sacrifice was forbidden, yet people still worshipped at these pagan  temples. Ephesus was a battleground between Christianity and paganism. Into this battleground Paul sent one young man to be a leader while he could not be there himself.  Many people would think this was foolish — what could one young man do? Yet Paul sent Timothy in large part because of the work that his mother and grandmother had begun in him when he was a child – and the faith that had been planted in him.

Paul knew that Timothy grew up in a Godly home. The NIV says Timothy had a sincere faith.  This faith began in his grandmother, was passed down to his mother, who in turn passed it down to him. Though neither directly led Timothy to salvation, Paul did – but  it was his grandmother’s and mother’s actions that planted a seed that would one day blossom into the flower of Christian faith. 

All this is to say that Lois and Eunice were Godly women in a time when godliness was not fashionable. Thank God for women who are willing to be Godly – even when it may not be fashionable or popular or easy.   Godly women – women who are willing to step up to the plate and give of themselves – their time – their very souls to serve God and others in the Church and the community – are a blessing.

Just as Godly women were desperately needed in New Testament times, Godly women are desperately needed today!

In the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Columbie High School in Colorado in 1999, I had someone ask me if what happened was according to the will of God, and if so, why. I explained to them that – while this horror was not God’s will – tragic things of this type never, ever are – it might show us that we need to do a better job at training our young people – and adults alike – to love and follow God. I can remember that — when I saw the faces of the young gunmen — I did not see two children who looked like they could be capable of such a thing. They did not look like monsters who could enter a schoolhouse and, after killing all they could, turned the guns on themselves. They looked more like two boys who were hurting and confused and needed someone to tell them about God’s love. Somehow the message of God’s love and care for them didn’t get to them – as it did to Timothy when his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois raised him and taught him about God.  These were Godly women in a time when being Godly was not easy or popular – but they were Godly nonetheless. Yes – we need more Godly women!

Recent studies show that the average child will spend 6 minutes a day talking to their parents, while spending hours of unsupervised time watching television or on the internet. There is a battle going on around every person in today’s world. Everyone can choose and live their own lives either in evil ways or God’s ways. If we can be persuaded to ignore God while maintaining what is called a “politically correct” lifestyle, then the world and it’s powers have won that battle — but if we follow God’s will for us, then we can win the battle for Godliness in our homes – our Church – our communities – and our world. To do that, we need to teach our young people God’s ways, and to do that, we need more Godly adults – men and women who are willing to be Godly when being Godly is not easy or popular.

I hope you men haven’t tuned me out already – because this goes for you also – and on your day in June I’ll talk more about that – but today let’s look at Godly women. 

I thank God for you, Godly women – you who are willing to  step up to the plate and give of yourselves – your time – your very soul to serve God and others in the Church and the community. You are a blessing.  What you do makes a difference! We need more of you!

So – what does it take to be a Godly woman – a woman who is willing to step up to the plate and make a difference – who is willing to give of yourself  — your time –to serve God?

First, it takes accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. You can’t be a Godly woman until you do that. You have to choose the way of God over the way of the world.

In Romans 12:2 Paul urges Christians:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The world offers many things that look beautiful, yet turn out to be just trash. My niece lived in England for some time and has told me about a tradition there of opening a “popper” at the Christmas meal. A “popper” is  a colorfully wrapped tube filled with cheap prizes. When you pull on it, it “pops” like a cap gun, tears in half, and the prizes come out.  A “popper” is very pretty, but the greatest part of opening it is the loud bang.  That’s because each “popper” is filled, not with wonderful prizes, but with trashy gifts that are even below the quality of a Cracker Jack prize. Outwardly the “poppers” are beautiful, but what is in them is useless.

A lot of times, the things the world wants you to follow are like “poppers” — outwardly beautiful yet inwardly full of uselessness.

We need women who are committed to the lasting things of Christ instead of the worthless things the world tempts us with.  You may outwardly be  the most  beautiful woman in this Church today, but if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior then that beauty is indeed only skin deep. You need to be beautiful – in Christ – you need t be a Godly woman – who loves God and is willing to step up and help tell others about Christ.

 Accepting Christ is the first step to being Godly woman. 

The second step is – be more concerned with internal godliness than on external vanity. Paul wrote top Timothy is 1 Timothy 2:9-10

⁹I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, ¹⁰but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Paul is not saying that women should not groom themselves. What Paul is saying is to not let your outward appearance take the place of your inward godliness. The “good deeds” Paul is referring to here are deeds that reflect a Christ centered heart, deeds that reflect godliness. You should be as well groomed on the inside as you are on the outside. Don’t spend all of your time grooming yourself and your household while neglecting prayer and time in the Word of God. You must see to your inner person. You must be concerned about your spiritual growth.

So – accepting Christ is the first step to being a Godly woman and seeking internal godliness is the second.

The third is – be willing to spend time with and train your children if you are a mother – or any child who needs it – in the Church or not – whether you are a mother of not. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14-15:

⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I imagine Timothy, as he was growing up, made all the same mistakes that our own children (and we ourselves) made. He probably went through his rebellious stage, he probably spent time experimenting in the things of world, he might have  went out “with the boys” and he ,ay have done all the wrong things. Yet his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice planted the seeds of the Gospel in his heart by teaching him about God from the time he was a child. They shared with him a love of the Scriptures. Later on in his life when Paul led him to Christ, this foundation laid by his godly mother and grandmother came into play. That’s the influence of a Godly woman!

I read of a man who. as a young child, prayed every night a simple prayer his mother taught him.  Maybe you prayed it also – I know I did.  The prayer was:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray, dear Lord, my soul to take.

His mother taught him that prayer when he was a small child, kneeling at the foot of his bed. His mother came in every night to kiss him goodnight, and she’d always ask, “Have you said your prayers?” If he had forgotten, he’d get up from the bed and say his prayers.  As a teenager he, out of rebellion, ran away from home –got in trouble and ended up in a Juvenile Hall. As he would lay in his bunk every night – scared – would remember and pray the same prayer his mother had taught him as a child. After his release from Juvenile Hall, he continued to not live the right way or make wise choices in what he did. One night he was knocked unconscious and left for dead by one of his “friends” while out partying – and when he woke up in the hospital the next day he prayed the same prayer his mother had taught him as a child. Finally, he accepted Christ as his savior and – with tears in his eyes – prayed that same child’s prayer.   After coming to faith in Christ, he said that the prayer meant something to him as a child, but it meant so much more now.  That simple prayer his godly mother taught him finally brought him to Christ. That’s the influence of a Godly woman!

We need you — the Godly women we have at Edgewood – and we need more of you! We need more women who — whether they are mothers or not – married or single – are willing to play a vital role in our Church.  We need more Godly women who are willing to play a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – who are willing to  play a vital role in all aspects of our Church – who are willing to serve in the kitchen as well as on the Session – who are willing to busy themselves with crafts as well as with leadership – who are willing to work behind the scenes and in the spotlight – who are willing to work wherever and do whatever is needed – and bless us all by their commitment to being the women God has called them to be and their commitment  to leading us as to be the Church God has called us to be.

We need women who know Jesus as their savior – who are seeking internal Godliness – and who are committed to taking the time to train our young people in God’s ways – or do whatever they can – to make Edgewood  the Church God would have us be!

The new, larger print, more readable Pew Bibles the women took on as a project and that we dedicated today are one more example of the commitment the women here at Edgewood   have to the Church and to God’s Word – and are a true blessing!

I – and I believe all of us – want to say today and every day — “Thanks” “Bless you!” “Thanks for all you do!” to our Godly women here at Edgewood! We certainly thank God for you!  Amen.

2 Timothy 1:1-7

2 Timothy 1:1-7

Where Would We Be Without Godly Women?

May 9, 2010

Easter 6

Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!

Today is an important day as we stop and say “thanks” to our mothers for all they have done for us.

You know – I read the other day one man’s remembrance of all his mother taught him. He said:

His mother taught him religion – she told him numerous times

“You better pray that will come of the carpet.”
His mother taught him logic – every time he asked her why he had to do something she would respond:

“Because I said so, that’s why.”
His mother taught him contortionism – telling him things like

“Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck!”
His mother taught him stamina – with orders like:

“You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”

Well, these are some of the things he said his mother taught him — but when you think about it, there is so much more, isn’t there? Our mothers give us birth – teach us about life – raise us – feed us – many of them have full time jobs outside the home as well as the full time job of being a wife and mother – and many make many  sacrifices to make sure their children have the very best lives they can.  And then there are the Godly mothers who make sure their children – and other children – learn about God.  That’s probably the greatest thing a mother can do for a child – teach them how to love and serve God.

So Happy Mothers Day — especially to you, Mom!

You know — preaching on Mother’s Day with your Mom and both of your sisters in the congregation is no easy task. But – then again – Mom and both of my sisters have “preached to me” on occasions – so maybe turnabout is fair play!

Looking back on it I am sure I deserved each of the “sermons” I got from Mom – and maybe some of them I got from my sisters.

Mom has a picture of me hanging in her bedroom that was made when I must have been 6 or 7 years old.  In the picture I am dressed in a yellow bow tie and striped jacket – my hair closely cropped in a crew cut – and have a grin on my face.  One day several years ago a friend of Mom’s who did not know me saw the picture and asked who it was a picture of.  When Mom said: “That’s my son” her friend responded: “Well – he certainly looks like he was a mischievous boy.”

And – her friend was right!

We don’t have time today for her to share stories of how mischievous I was – and if Olivia or Alexa – my sisters – were given the opportunity to relate how mischievous I was we would be here for a long time! And – if you notice that I hustle the family out the door after Church I’m not really trying to be rude – it’s just that I don’t want some of you to share with them how mischievous I still am!

All kidding aside, it is indeed great to have Mom – Olivia and Bob – and Alexa and Tom with us today – as it is good to have everyone here today!

Indeed, Happy Mother’s Day!

You know – there are very few blessings greater than the blessing of a Godly mother – a mother who takes the time to teach her children God’s ways – how to love God – how to worship God and serve God and others.  This takes a great amount of faith – and it takes a great amount of patience.

In our scripture passage for today we read of Timothy’s mother Eunice and grand mother Lois and how they passed on their faith to Timothy – and molded his life.  They were Godly mothers who passed on their faith and taught their children and grandchildren how to live.

I have a Godly mother and can say that it is indeed a blessing.

Many of you can say the same as you think of your mothers.

But – I want us to expand our focus a bit today.

While our Godly mothers play an important role in our lives – and we truly need to celebrate all that our mothers do for us – I want us to celebrate today what all Godly women do for us and what all Godly women mean to us.  All of us can think of Godly women – whether mothers, grandmothers, aunts – or women who were not related to us at all – who have played an important role in our lives and in shaping our faith.  In fact, when you stop and think about it – you might wonder – as I do:

Where would we be without Godly women?

Where would we be without Godly women?

Godly women have a powerful influence on the lives of children and young people.  The Bible tells many stories that are filled with deep insights into what Godly women are capable of and willing to do for their children.
Moses’ mother hid her baby from Pharaoh’s death squads as long as she could and then placed him in a basket and placed it in the bulrushes near where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed, and finally arranged to become her son’s teacher and guardian even when he was taken into Pharaoh’s court.  What an influence this Godly woman had on his life!
You might remember the story of the two women who argued over a child in front of King Solomon. One mother said the child was hers, the other insisted it was hers. When Solomon ordered that the baby be cut in two – and half given to each women, the woman who was not the mother agreed — but the real mother was willing to give her child to the other woman rather than have it killed.  This was indeed a Godly woman – willing to do anything – even risk separation from her child – if it meant that her child would be safe.
Of course, Mary the mother of Jesus was a Godly woman – willing to accept God’s will for her to bear His son into the world and willing to accept ridicule and even death to give birth to Jesus.  Her loving face was probably the first face Jesus saw at his birth. Her patient teaching is what helped form Him into the adult that He was – and her Godly willingness for God’s will to be done let Him go about His ministry and even watch Him die on the cross.  That must have been terribly painful for her – but – because she was a Godly woman – she accepted God’s will and helped Jesus accept it also.

Again and again Godly women are shown in scripture as being driven to protect and raise children in God’s ways – and it still is the case today. These are women who want to teach children to do more than just survive, but to succeed – and not only succeed in the worldly sense but succeed in God’s eyes – learn about God – learn about salvation and how to follow Jesus – learn about God’s love and how to share that with others.

Yea – Godly women are committed to teaching children God’s ways.

Where would we be without them?

Women have often been the driving force in the success of children. I really believe that this is because God has placed within women the powerful desire to protect and promote children and make them do well in life – not only in the world’s view but in God’s view also. Mothers will often sacrifice just about everything to make sure that their children succeed in school or sports or finding a good career
or in making sure they marry the right kind of person when they grow up. Often times other women will do the same for children they can influence. Godly women – whether they be mothers or not — are often the most important individuals when it comes to molding and shaping children’s character and future.
Paul recognized this when he told Timothy that he had

“been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

In other words, Timothy was the kind of man that he was because of the kind of women who had a Godly influence in his life. Their faith and love for God shaped Timothy into being a powerful worker for God.
Indeed, Godly women have an amazing potential to affect the lives of children. This is an awesome responsibility. And it is a responsibility that should not taken  lightly.
In 1995, Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s wrote in his book Well Done!:

“When I was 11 years old, my adoptive grandmother took me to Michigan’s Gull Lake to be baptized by immersion. I really felt that I was accepted by God when I was baptized. But what I remember most about my baptism was that my Grandma Minnie made it happen. For her, Christianity meant more than doctrine you talked about on Sundays…. It meant teaching her grandson about faith.”

A Godly woman can make it happen for children — but they can only make it happen if they make God the central focus of their lives and make Him their main priority in shaping the lives of children.
I recently read the story about a mother and son who stopped their car on a busy highway and watched as a mother duck led her ducklings safely across to the other side of the road. But, then the story went on: it said that “as the mother duck confidently continued up the street, she approached a gutter that led down to a sewer. The mother duck, seeing no problem with the gutter, walked right over its grated cover with her large, webbed feet. She failed to realize her little ones were much smaller. Yet, the babies faithfully followed their mother, and one-by-one they fell in-between the cracks of the sewer grate. Plop … plop … plop. Everyone in the  car’s heart sank as they watched the mother duck boldly lead on thinking her babies were safely following in stride.
It’s possible for us – men and women — to strive and strain and struggle to lead children in life, and ultimately fail to accomplish our goal because we have not made God the top priority in our life and the top priority of what we are teaching our children. It’s possible for us to make sure children are successful in school, sports, or careers and still, fail to give them the most important direction they can have in life. To paraphrase Mark 8:36 — (which says “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and then lose his soul”)
“What shall it profit us if our children shall gain the whole world, and then lose their souls?”
Godly women are those who make sure that children are prepared to have the best the world can offer – and also the best God can offer.
The true tragedy would be for our children to have bookcases loaded with awards and trophies or walls lined with diplomas and certificates of achievement but have hearts practically empty of God and empty of faith.

Timothy didn’t have that problem. Timothy had Godly women around him who had their priorities straight. He had women around him who handed down a sincere faith. They gave Timothy something that was precious in God’s sight by teaching him to have a heart for God. As a result, they gave this young man an inheritance that would last for eternity. An inheritance that would still be his long after all of this world’s awards and honors have turned to dust. They gave him faith.
Where would he have been without their influence in his life?

Where would we be without Godly women?
There are prints of two baby feet set in the cement of the sidewalk near a Church in Kansas. The toes are pointing toward the Church. It’s said that 20 years ago, when the sidewalk was being laid, a mother asked for permission to stand her baby boy on the wet cement. The tracks are still seen plainly today. That Mother had wanted her little boy to start in the right path.
That’s the kind of parent – the kind of adults – the kind of Godly women — we need.
Of course, cultivating a spiritual foundation in our children goes beyond setting our kids’ feet in wet cement outside the church building. But that’s the kind of motivation that drove the Godly women in Timothy’s life – and can drive ours.
That’s the kind of mindset that inspired them to make sure Timothy had a “sincere faith”

Now – how did they do that?

How did Lois and Eunice hand down their faith to Timothy?
I don’t know how they did it. But I do know how Mom did it for me.
She read Bible stories to me until I knew the names of the Bible characters almost as well as she did.

She prayed with me – teaching me how to pray.

She prayed for me – and still does.
She made sure that Church was important in my life – and made sure I took

advantage of all the opportunities the Church offered.

She was active in the Church herself – and set an example for me to follow.

Maybe these were some of the same things Eunice and Lois did.

These are definitely some of the things women – and men – can do today to teach children about God and how to live in His ways.

We have Godly women here at Hopewell – women that are doing these things and are making an impact in the lives of the children here. From those who keep the nursery to those who teach to those who lead the youth groups to those who work behind the scenes to get things done to those who serve on the Session to those who do anything asked of them, Godly women are making a difference here at Hopewell and we all are the better because of what they are doing.

So – Happy Mother’s Day!

I give praise to God for being blessed with a Godly mother!

Let’s all give praise to God for the Godly women who make such a difference in the Church and the lives of our young people – and indeed in all of our lives.

Yea – where would we be without Godly women?   Amen

2 Timothy 1:1-7

2 Timothy 1:1-7

“Thank God For Godly Women”

May 10, 2009 (Mother’s Day)

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.

It is a tradition to honor Mothers on this day, and we want to extend special honor to you today, though I hope we don’t make the same mistakes some pastors I know have made.

For example, I heard of a pastor who ordered roses to hand out to all the Moms in the congregation. He asked the church secretary to pick them up on Friday and bring them to church on Sunday. Well, apparently her husband did not send her flowers very often — because she didn’t put them in water or place them in the refrigerator when she picked them up on Friday — she just left them on her kitchen counter. She dutifully brought them to church on Sunday morning — all wrapped in their paper — and placed them on the altar. As the Pastor began passing out the roses he unwrapped them — and there were the pitiful looking, lifeless roses. As he handed each mother a wilted flower he could not help but wonder about the message that was being conveyed to the mothers by giving them dead roses on their special day!

And then there’s the story of the young associate pastor who was called upon to read the Scripture on Mother’s Day. He was to read from 2 Timothy 1:5 — the passage we are looking at today —  which says:

I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and, I am now persuaded, lives in you also.

It’s a lovely homage to Christian motherhood and quite appropriate for Mothers’ Day. But the young associate was nervous, and when he stepped into the pulpit he read from  1 Timothy 1:6  instead of 2 Timothy 1:5.  – and to make matters worse, he began by saying:

“I would like to dedicate today’s reading to all of the wonderful Mothers in our congregation.”

He then began reading began reading1 Timothy 1:6  instead of 2 Timothy 1:5.

1 Timothy 1:6 says:

Some of you have wandered from the faith and have turned to meaningless talk. You want to be teachers of the law, but you do not know what you’re talking about…The law is not made for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, for those who kill their fathers and mothers…

Not surprisingly, shortly thereafter, that young associate pastor felt a call to another avenue of ministry.

So. today, when we honor the Mothers in our congregation, we hope to do it right!

There’s an old saying that:

“God couldn’t be everywhere at once, so he made moms.”

That statement may not be theologically accurate, but it does convey the right attitude towards motherhood — moms fill a place in our lives that no one else can fill.

I remember seeing a cartoon once in which a little boy was talking on the phone, saying something to the effect of, “That’s right, Grandma. Mom’s out of town, so me and Dad and Tommy and Sarah and Fido are here all alone.”

Maybe that’s the way it feels in your house when “Mom” is away.

I don’t think we do it on purpose … but we tend to place different expectations on moms than we do on dads … especially at meal time. For example, maybe this has happened in your house:

The husband says, “What’s for dinner?”

The wife says, “I’ll need to run to the store first…we don’t have any food in the house.”

The husband replies:  “Can’t you just ‘whip something up’?”

Sound familiar?

Why is it that we think our wives can go in the kitchen and create a meal out of nothing?

That scene may play out differently if mom isn’t around.

The kids might come in and say, “What’s for dinner?”

Dad might look  in the freezer, and if there’s nothing microwavable, he might say: “Who wants to go out for Pizza?”

No one ever says to Dad, “Can’t you just go in the kitchen and whip something up?”

Now, I’m not trying to perpetuate sexist stereotypes, and I’m certainly not saying that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. But – I am saying that in our society women are bombarded with many dual roles and mixed messages. It is typically expected of them to work outside the home, to consistently “whip something up” for meals on a limited budget, to get the kids off to school with matching socks and shoes on the correct feet, to maintain the family’s social calendar, and on and on. It’s not an easy job—which is why we need today – and every day – to say “Thank you!”

Every mom here is aware that her job involves much more than cooking and cleaning and carpooling. It involves nurture, it involves guidance, it involves building character. And, as I have learned with my own mom, the job doesn’t end when a child moves out of the house.

So — on Mother’s day preachers stand in pulpits and extol the virtues of motherhood. You, perhaps, came to Church today expecting to hear a typical Mother’s Day sermon – but maybe this will be more than typical.

You see – as much as I appreciate and have been blessed by my Mom – and as much as all of u s have been blessed by and nurtured by our mothers – I want to expand the typical “thanks Mom” of Mother’s Day to say:

“Thanks”

“Bless you!”

“Thanks for all you do!”

To all of the women of the Church who play such a vital role in shaping the lives of the children, youth, and indeed all of us in the Church.

“Thanks”

“Bless you!”

“Thanks for all you do!”

To all the women of the Church who do so much to help us accomplish what we accomplish as a Church.

The sign out front today – and indeed the sermon title in the bulletin for today – says:

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

Yes – thank God for Godly mothers – but – more than that –

Thank God For Godly Women

I am so thankful for the Godly mothers of Hopewell.

But – I am really thankful for all the Godly women of Hopewell – whether they are mothers or not – married or single – who play such a vital role in our Church.  The Godly women who play such a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – who play such a vital role in all aspects of our Church – serving in the kitchen as well as on the Session – busying themselves with the crafts as well as with the leadership – working behind the scenes and in the spotlight – wherever you look at Hopewell, you will find a Godly woman – whether they are mothers or not – blessing us all by their commitment to being the people God has called them to be and leading us as a Church to be the Church God is calling us to be.

So – yes – I say thank God for Godly mothers – but more than that I say:

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

In our lesson from 2 Timothy for today, Paul is giving praise to God for the faith of Timothy – a faith his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois passed on to him.

Passing on the faith.

Making sure that others know about God.

That’s the work of Godly mothers – but more than that – that’s the work of Godly women.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

When Paul wrote 2 Timothy he was in prison.  He had been arrested for preaching the Gospel of Christ in disobedience to Caesar’s order. Paul sent Timothy, the young man he led to the Lord, to Ephesus to tend to the Church there in his absence. Paul established the Ephesian Church when he returned from his second missionary journey. Ephesus was an 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 in Ephesus, it would spread outward from there like spokes on a wagon wheel. The Church was just beginning in a land famous for it’s idolatry and sexual infidelity.  Before Roman rule people in Ephesus had engaged in child sacrifice while worshipping idols. When Roman rule established order such sacrifices were forbidden, yet people still worshipped at these pagan  temples. Ephesus was a battleground between Christianity and paganism, between Godliness and Satanism. Into this battleground Paul sent one young man to be a leader while he could not be there himself.  Many people would think this was foolish — what could one young man do? Yet Paul sent Timothy in large part because of the work that his mother and grandmother had begun in him when he was a child – and the faith that had been planted in him.

Paul knew that Timothy grew up in a Godly home. The NIV says Timothy had a sincere faith.  This faith began in his grandmother, was passed down to his mother, who in turn passed it down to him. Though neither directly led Timothy to salvation, Paul did – but  it was his grandmother’s and mother’s actions that planted a seed that would one day blossom into the flower of Christian faith.

All this is to say that Lois and Eunice were Godly women in a time when godliness was unfashionable.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

Thank God for women who are willing to be Godly – even when it may not be fashionable or popular or easy.   Godly women – women who are willing to step up to the plate and give of themselves – their time – their very souls to serve God and others in the Church and the community – are a blessing.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

In the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, I had someone ask me what I thought had happened to the yojng men who committed the crime that they could do such a cold – blooded thing.

I explained that — when I saw the faces of the young gunmen — I did not see two children who looked like they could be capable of such a thing. They did not look like monsters who could enter a schoolhouse and, after killing all they could, turned the guns on themselves. They looked more like two boys who were hurting and confused – and needed someone to tell them about God’s love. Somehow the message of God’s love and care for them didn’t get to them – as it did to Timothy when his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois raised him and taught him about God.  These were Godly women in a time when being Godly was not easy or popular – but they were Godly nonetheless.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

Recent studies show that the average child will spend 6 minutes a day talking to their parents, while spending hours of unsupervised time watching television or on the internet.

There is a battle going on around every person in today’s world. Everyone can choose and live their own lives either in evil ways or God’s ways. If the devil  can get us to ignore God while maintaining what is called a “politically correct” lifestyle, then the devil has won that battle- But if we follow God’s will for us, them we can win the battle for the Godliness in our homes – our Church – our communities – and our world.

To do that, we need to teach our young people God’s ways.

And to do that, we need more Godly adults – men and women who are willing to be Godly when being Godly is not easy or popular.

I hope you men haven’t tuned me out already – because this goes for you also – and on your day in June I’ll talk more about that – but today let’s look at Godly women.

I thank God for Godly women – the women of Hopewell willing to  step up to the plate and give of themselves – their time – their very souls to serve God and others in the Church and the community – are a blessing.  What you do makes a difference!

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

So – what does it take to be a Godly woman – a woman who is willing to step up to the plate and make a difference – who is willing to give of yourself  — your time – your very self to serve God?

First, it takes accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. You can’t be a Godly woman until you do that. You have to choose the way of God over the way of the world.

In Romans 12:2 Paul urges Christians:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The world offers many trinkets that look beautiful, yet turn out to be just trash.

My niece lived in England for some time and has told me about a tradition there of opening  a “popper” at the Christmas meal. A “popper”  is  a colorfully wrapped tube filled with prizes. When you pulled on it, it “popped” like a cap gun, tore in half, and the prizes came out.  A “popper” was very pretty, but the greatest part of opening them was the loud bang.  That’s because each “popper” was filled, not with wonderful prizes, but with trashy gifts that were even below the quality of a Cracker Jack prize. Outwardly the “poppers” were beautiful, but what was in them was useless.

A lot of times, the things the world wants you to follow are like these “poppers” — outwardly beautiful yet inwardly full of uselessness.

Mothers, your family needs you to be in Christ. You may be the most outwardly beautiful woman in this Church today, but if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior then that beauty is indeed only skin deep.

Women – the same holds true for you – you need to be beautiful – in Christ – a Godly woman – who loves God and is willing to step up and help tell others about Christ.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

So – accepting Christ is the first step to being a godly woman.

The second step is — seek internal godliness rather than dwell on external vanity. Paul wrote top Timothy is 1 Timothy 2:9-10

⁹I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, ¹⁰but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Now — Paul was not saying that women should not groom themselves. What Paul is saying is to not let let your outward grooming take the place of your inward godliness. The “good deeds” Paul is referring to here are deeds that reflect a Christ centered heart, deeds  that reflect godliness. You should be as well groomed on the inside as you are on the outside. Don’t spend all of your time grooming yourself and your household while neglecting prayer and time in the Word of God. You must see to your inner person. You must be concerned about your spiritual growth.

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

So – accepting Christ is the first step to being a godly woman.

Seeking internal godliness is the second.

The third is – be willing to spend time with and train your children if you are a mother – or any child who needs it – in the Church or not – whether you are a mother of not. Yes, we are a fallen people, and we produce fallen offspring. Yes, even children from good homes can rebel. Yet Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14-15:

⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I imagine Timothy, as he was growing up, made all the same mistakes that our own children (and we ourselves) made. I believe that he went through his rebellious stage, that he spent time experimenting in the world, that he perhaps went out “with the boys” and did all the wrong things.

Yet his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice planted the seeds of the Gospel in his heart by teaching him from the time he was a child. They shared with him a love of the Scriptures. Later on in his life when Paul led him to Christ, this foundation laid by his godly mother and grandmother came into play.

That’s the influence of a Godly woman!

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

I read of a man who. as a young child, prayer a simple prayer his mother taught him.  Maybe you prayed it also – I know I did.  The prayer was:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray, dear Lord, my soul to take.

He prayed this prayer as a small child, kneeling at the foot of his bed. His mother came in every night to kiss me goodnight, and she’d always ask, “Have you brushed your teeth and said your prayers?”. If he had forgotten, he’d get up from the bed and say his prayers.  As a teenager he, out of rebellion, ran away from home – but he prayed the same prayer he lay in his bunk – scared —  Juvenile Hall in California. Some time after that, he was knocked unconscious and left for dead by one of his “friends” while out partying late one night – and when he woke up in the hospital the next day he prayed the same prayer. Finally, he accepted Christ as his savior and – with tears in his eyes – prayed that same child’s prayer.   He says now that the prayer meant something to him as a child, but it meant so much more now.  That simple prayer his godly mother taught him finally brought him to Christ.

That’s the influence of a Godly woman!

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!

We need the godly women we have at Hopewell – and we need more of them! We need more women who — whether they are mothers or not – married or single – are willing to play a vital role in our Church.  We need more Godly women are willing to play a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – whoa re willing to  play a vital role in all aspects of our Church – willing to serve in the kitchen as well as on the Session – willing to busy themselves with crafts as well as with leadership – willing to work behind the scenes and in the spotlight – willing to work wherever and do whatever is needed – and bless us all by their commitment to being the people God has called them to be and leading us as a Church to be the Church God is calling us to be.

We need women who know Jesus as their savior – who are seeking internal Godliness – and who are committed to taking the time to train our young people in God’s ways – or do whatever they can – to make Hopewell the Church God would have us be! –

Certainly we need men with the same commitment – but today I want us to celebrate what the Godly women are doing – and call on others to do the same. We’ll focus on the men next month. But – for now – I – and I believe all of us – want to say:

“Thanks”

“Bless you!”

“Thanks for all you do!”

Yea –

Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women

We need more of you!   Amen.