Mothers

Sunday Worship

8:45 AM SERVICE 10:00 AM Sunday School & Adult EdUCATION 11:00 AM SERVICE

by: Pastor Malinak

05/11/2023

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Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you.


This Sunday we will be celebrating Mother's Day. I want us to take a moment to, first of all, thank the Lord not only for the women who gave us birth, but also thank the Lord for all of the women who have been influential in our lives. We give thanks for the women who passed on the faith to us… the women who have taught us, and cared for us… grandmothers, teachers, sisters, friend’s moms… all of the women in our lives who have helped to shape us into who we are today. The Lord has brought amazing women into our lives, and we do give him thanks for that.


There's a very specific mother I want us to think about today… Mary, the mother of Jesus.   As a Christian people we are not called to pray to anyone other than God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  So we do not pray to Mary, since she is a fellows saint. Right now she is in the presence of Christ in paradise. And she's not hearing anyone’s prayers.  We are promised that God alone hears our prayers. It is not scriptural to pray to Mary.

 

But we do respect and honor Mary for how she fit into God’s plan in history.  God chose her to be the God-bearer. God chose his servant Mary through whom the second person of the Trinity would enter into humanity.  Martin Luther writes….  

“She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man's understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child.... Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God.”


When the angel told Mary that she was going to be the God-Bearer, she didn't know how it could be possible, and yet she humbly accepted the blessing that it was. I love the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke chapter 2.  Mary gave birth to the infant Christ. The angel announced the glorious birth to the shepherds. They came to see and worship the Christ-child, telling everyone of their encounter with the angels.


Luke 2:18-19

18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.


I imagine this young, new mother… having just given birth and holding her infant child, knowing who this child is to be… knowing who he is, and yet hearing all that the shepherds were saying, she must have been overwhelmed with emotions. 


Then, eight days later Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple to be named. They come across a man named Simeon. Simeon had been promised by God that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. And so he comes to Joseph and Mary.

Luke 2:34-35

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”


Mary experienced giving birth to the second person of the Trinity. And Mary was also there at the foot of the cross, as her son took his last breath. The mother who bore the Christ-child… the mother who encouraged him toward the first of his miracles at the wedding at Cana… the mother who knew who her son was… and the mother who watched her son die such agony.  This mom pondering all of this in her heart.


Although we don't pray to Mary, she still has a place in history unlike any other woman or man. Mary is the God-bearer. She is the woman through whom Christ himself chose to enter this world, fully human and fully divine.  He has a mama. We cannot escape the full humanity or the full divinity of Christ. And to consider Mary as the God-Bearer, is just one more way that we can thank Jesus for being exactly who he is. 


We thank the Lord for bringing women into our lives, that we would know of the Son that Mary bore.


Let’s pray.  Lord, we thank you so much for moms, aunts, grandmas, sisters, and for all the women you have put in our lives.  Bless all the women who have nurtured us, cared for us, taught us, and influenced us. May your word of love, your word of forgiveness, and your promise of life eternal continue to be upon their lips… that they may continue to share the faith with the generations that are to come. Lord, we thank you for Mary… for choosing her as your humble servant through whom you would enter into humanity. We thank you for the fullness of your humanity.  We thank you for the fullness of your divinity. And we thank you that in your fullness we are promised eternal life now and forever. Lord, we thank you and we praise you in the glorious name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.


Have an amazing rest of your week, and I look forward to worshiping our Lord and Savior with you this Sunday. 


God bless!


Pastor Malinak

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Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you.


This Sunday we will be celebrating Mother's Day. I want us to take a moment to, first of all, thank the Lord not only for the women who gave us birth, but also thank the Lord for all of the women who have been influential in our lives. We give thanks for the women who passed on the faith to us… the women who have taught us, and cared for us… grandmothers, teachers, sisters, friend’s moms… all of the women in our lives who have helped to shape us into who we are today. The Lord has brought amazing women into our lives, and we do give him thanks for that.


There's a very specific mother I want us to think about today… Mary, the mother of Jesus.   As a Christian people we are not called to pray to anyone other than God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  So we do not pray to Mary, since she is a fellows saint. Right now she is in the presence of Christ in paradise. And she's not hearing anyone’s prayers.  We are promised that God alone hears our prayers. It is not scriptural to pray to Mary.

 

But we do respect and honor Mary for how she fit into God’s plan in history.  God chose her to be the God-bearer. God chose his servant Mary through whom the second person of the Trinity would enter into humanity.  Martin Luther writes….  

“She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man's understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child.... Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God.”


When the angel told Mary that she was going to be the God-Bearer, she didn't know how it could be possible, and yet she humbly accepted the blessing that it was. I love the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke chapter 2.  Mary gave birth to the infant Christ. The angel announced the glorious birth to the shepherds. They came to see and worship the Christ-child, telling everyone of their encounter with the angels.


Luke 2:18-19

18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.


I imagine this young, new mother… having just given birth and holding her infant child, knowing who this child is to be… knowing who he is, and yet hearing all that the shepherds were saying, she must have been overwhelmed with emotions. 


Then, eight days later Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple to be named. They come across a man named Simeon. Simeon had been promised by God that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. And so he comes to Joseph and Mary.

Luke 2:34-35

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”


Mary experienced giving birth to the second person of the Trinity. And Mary was also there at the foot of the cross, as her son took his last breath. The mother who bore the Christ-child… the mother who encouraged him toward the first of his miracles at the wedding at Cana… the mother who knew who her son was… and the mother who watched her son die such agony.  This mom pondering all of this in her heart.


Although we don't pray to Mary, she still has a place in history unlike any other woman or man. Mary is the God-bearer. She is the woman through whom Christ himself chose to enter this world, fully human and fully divine.  He has a mama. We cannot escape the full humanity or the full divinity of Christ. And to consider Mary as the God-Bearer, is just one more way that we can thank Jesus for being exactly who he is. 


We thank the Lord for bringing women into our lives, that we would know of the Son that Mary bore.


Let’s pray.  Lord, we thank you so much for moms, aunts, grandmas, sisters, and for all the women you have put in our lives.  Bless all the women who have nurtured us, cared for us, taught us, and influenced us. May your word of love, your word of forgiveness, and your promise of life eternal continue to be upon their lips… that they may continue to share the faith with the generations that are to come. Lord, we thank you for Mary… for choosing her as your humble servant through whom you would enter into humanity. We thank you for the fullness of your humanity.  We thank you for the fullness of your divinity. And we thank you that in your fullness we are promised eternal life now and forever. Lord, we thank you and we praise you in the glorious name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.


Have an amazing rest of your week, and I look forward to worshiping our Lord and Savior with you this Sunday. 


God bless!


Pastor Malinak

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