A Mother's Sacrifice (May 8th, 2011)
When I think of my Mother and Mother's in general one word comes to mind that best describes them. That word is: "Sacrifice".
There are various definitions for this word but the definition that applies here is: surrender of something for the sake of something else, something given up or lost.
A Mother surrenders and gives up her wants and desires for her children. The things of interest to her take 2nd place to her children. Many a Mother gives up her career ambitions to raise her kids. Her career becomes raising her kids. Nothing is more important than her own kids. Today I want to take a look at the sacrifices our Mother's made for each one of us.
Initially she sacrificed her own body for us during pregnancy and then in child birth. In most cases a Mother's body reflects the scars of childbirth for the rest of her life, but a Mother is proud to bear those scars because they remind her every day of the birth of each of her precious children.
Then the sacrifice continued. You don't even remember this, but there were countless times you woke up crying in the middle of the night. On each occasion, she jumped out of bed, ran into your room, gently picked you up and calmed you down. She held you in her arms and walked the floor for hours until you fell back asleep.
She had no qualms about changing your dirty diapers many times throughout the day so you would always be comfortable and feel fresh and clean. When it came to feeding you, satisfying your hunger was always more important than feeding herself.
All day long, every day she would pour her heart out to you by holding you, kissing you, telling you how much she loved you. All that caring and those words of love are reflected in the person you are today.
Then your Mother's sacrifice continued as she encouraged you to begin crawling, and then the day came where she held your little hands and you took your first step on this earth. Then she patiently helped you form your very first words, and she was thrilled when you first said mama and dada.
Then you might remember how every night she would tuck you in and read to you and with the sound of her gentle voice you would slip off into never-never land.
Your Mother didn't want to miss a single moment of you growing up. She was always right there with you to enjoy each of your little accomplishments like learning to read and write, riding a bicycle, sporting events, school plays, recitals, academic achievements, etc.
Her life became your life. It was all about you and not about her.
All those years growing up we didn't even realize all she did for us.
It takes a day like to today for us to stop in our tracks and reflect on how much our Mother's have sacrificed for us. Without them we wouldn't even be here today. What a beautiful day today is. It is the day we thank God for our mothers.
Listen to these famous quotes of people praising their mothers.
1. A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
2. A mother understands what a child does not say.
Jewish Proverb
3. A Mother's Love
Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly.
Sarah Malin
4. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President
5. You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be -
I had a mother who read to me.
Strickland Gillilan
6. Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. William Makepeace Thackeray
7. Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother.
Ann Taylor
8. A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.
Washington Irving (1783-1859)
9. Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
Marion C. Garretty
10. A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
Unknown
11. All I am or can be I owe to my angel Mother.
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President
12. My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. 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.
George Washington, U.S. President
13. There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness... The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.
Andrew Jackson, U.S. President
14. To the world you might just be one person,
but to one person you might just be the world.
Author Unknown
15. There is no velvet so soft as a mother's lap, no rose as lovely as her smile, no path so flowery as that imprinted with her footsteps.
Archibald Thompson
16. The Miracle of Life nurtured by a woman who gave us love and sacrifice...MOTHER.
Joel Barquez
17. Mothers can look through a child's eyes and see tomorrow.
Mothers deserve the credit for raising value based leaders who accept responsibility; who possess physical, mental, and spiritual strength; who possess courage and confidence; and look with optimism to the future. Great mothers help their children to recognize that they can achieve the impossible. Great mothers bring the arms of comfort to an insecure child in a world of uncertainty.
Reed Markham, American Educator
When I think about all the sacrifices our mother's have made for us it makes me think of the following verse...
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Here Jesus is explaining the ultimate act of love. Our Mother's have given us a glimpse into that type of love by sacrificing and laying down their lives for us, but Jesus took the ultimate step and laid down His physical life for us so that we could have life eternal.
The Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and it goes on to say the wages of our sin is death and eternal separation from God. So we are all by default doomed for judgment, but guess what God did for us? First, the Bible says Jesus the one that was without sin became sin for us so that we could be made righteous.
2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
What an incredible act of love taking our sins upon Himself. He paid for something He didn't even do. Jesus was nailed to the cross on our behalf and took the punishment that we deserve upon Himself. It says in....
1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
So there is hope for all of us here today. The hope is found in the sacrifice that Christ made for us. All we have to do is respond by putting our faith and trust in Christ. We must repent, turn from their sins and make Him Lord of their life.
This morning not only are we here to commemorate the incredible sacrifices our Mother's made for us, we are also here to commemorate the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf. We are going to do so by partaking in communion.
1 Corinthians 11:23-30: The Lord's Supper
23For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 27Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
It's very important to understand what he is saying at the end of this text. Taking communion in an unworthy manner is when someone partakes with a wrong an attitude. If you are going to partake you should understand communion should be viewed in a very sacred light. A person should only partake if he or she is in right standing with God and comes in an attitude of repentance. Jesus Christ should be the Lord and Savior of your life. With that being said, everyone here should be able to partake as
long as Christ is your Lord and Savior and you come in an attitude of repentance. The only exception would be the little ones who are too young to understand.
We are going to pray and give everyone who hasn't made a commitment to Christ a chance to do so right now.
Pray this prayer with me...
Father in heaven, thank you for your incredible love for me, and for sending Jesus Christ your only begotten son to die on the cross on my behalf. Thank you for sacrificing your body and shedding your blood for me on the cross. Today I want to respond to what you've done for me and give you my life. I come to you with my whole heart. I repent of all the sins I've committed in my life and turn away from them. I ask you to be my Lord and my Savior. Lord, come into my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. From this day forward I relinquish control of my life to you. I will seek your kingdom and your will first in my life rather than mine. Right now I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart you raised Him from the dead, and I am saved. Amen
Now we will move forward in partaking the Lord's Supper....
The ultimate sacrifice
Meeting at:
Legacy Park Community Center
901 NE Bluestem Drive
Lee's Summit, MO 64086
816-969-1550
