ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HUNTINGDON

May 10, 2020: Mother’s Day/Christian Family Sunday

 

VIDEO: Chuck Knows Church - Things We Can Do #12 (Random Acts of Yard Work)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X3eQPvK-ng

 

Opening Prayer:

God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and drew the whole human family to himself: strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bring together and to heal; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

 

Mother’s Day Musical Selection:  Call Her Blessed (Stacey Noll)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgnqy8ha5Og

 

Mother’s Day Story: God’s Helper

The author, Erma Bombeck, described the complex task God had in creating mothers.

 

After all, He had to create a creature who would "run on black coffee and leftovers; have a lap that disappears when she stands up; a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair; six pair of hands and three pairs of eyes."

 

It went some think like this: An angel pleaded with God not to work so hard. "Lord," said the angel gently, "Come to bed." "I can't," said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to Myself." The angel circled the model of a mother slowly and said with a sigh, "It is too soft." "But tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "You can't imagine what this mother can do or endure."

 

Finally bending over and running her finger across the cheek, the angel pronounced: "There's a leak. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model." "It is not a leak," Said the Lord, "It is a tear." "What is it for?" asked the angel. The Lord answered, "It is for joy, sadness, loneliness, pain, disappointment and pride." "You are a Genius," the angel replied. The Lord looked somber, "But I didn't put it there."

 

Mother’s Day Musical Selection: A Mother's Love (Gena Hill)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V4PM1oL7Xs&list=PLLFqiOKQ6KCH-97v1wahTrdOgGEyK2rAF&index=3

 

Responsive Prayer: Prayers of the People

Gentle, Patient God Today we thank God for the gift of mothers and mothering across the world. Isaiah wrote that God is a mother to us, comforting and carrying us in her arms. As one whom a mother comforts, so I will comfort you. (Isaiah 66:13)

 

Gentle, patient God – thank you for your tender care.

 

Isaiah also wrote that God will never forget us and that he knows each one of us just as a mother knows her own children. Can a woman forget her baby at her breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you. (Isaiah 49:15)

 

Gentle, patient God – thank you for your tender care. David wrote that in God’s presence, he was quiet and at peace, trusting his God like a child safe in its mother’s arms. No I hold myself in quiet and silence, like a child in its mothers’ arms. (Psalm 131:2)

 

Gentle, patient God – thank you for your tender care.

 

Jesus spoke of himself as a mother, longing to wrap his arms around us like a mother-hen gathering her chicks under her wings. How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. (Matthew 23:37)

 

Gentle, patient God – thank you for your tender care.

 

Mother’s Day Musical Selection: She Put the Music in Me (David Ross)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkaT6V9RFnM&list=PLLFqiOKQ6KCH-97v1wahTrdOgGEyK2rAF&index=4

 

A Litany for Mothers

Eve our first mother – thank you for stepping out and being the first to understand the complexities of life.

 

Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth – thank you for your patience and courage in waiting for a miracle. May all people longing for children be strengthened by your stories and comforted in their pain.

Hagar – thank you for your resolve in the face of exile. May all mothers who are forced to flee or are forgotten be given hope in you.

 

Rebecca – thank you for your flexibility. Let us remember all mothers who have to raise their children in a different country or far from their relatives and who feel isolated.

 

Rachel – you carried the burden of grief and wept for your children. Hold the hands of all those mothers who weep for their children – children who have gone missing, who have died or are lost to them in other ways.

 

Jochebed – you used wisdom and insight to protect your children. Give to all mothers this wisdom and insight in the bringing up of their children, especially in vulnerable times.

 

Naomi and Ruth – you showed that love can conquer all trials. Help all mothers to love constantly when life seems impossible and despair weighs hard upon their souls.

 

Mary – the new Eve whose ‘yes’ to God changed our world forever. Thank you for sheltering the Holy One all those years ago, for your faithful love and tender care of God’s most precious Son. May we never forget that in your giving is our greatest receiving – of the gift of life wrapped in a manger and in a tomb. May we know the true cost of relationship by holding our faith in Christ deep within our hearts as you once held him deep within your womb. Amen

 

Musical Selection: Find Your Wings (Mark Harris)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPQ9WvSZnF0&list=PLLFqiOKQ6KCH-97v1wahTrdOgGEyK2rAF&index=6

 

Prayer for Understanding:

God our Father, Your Son Jesus Christ lived in a family in Nazareth:

Grant that in our families on earth we may so learn to love and to live together

That we may rejoice as one family in your heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9

Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Mother’s Day Musical Selection: You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj8wHfBKoRU

 

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6: 1-4; 10-20

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

 

Hymn: When Mothers of Salem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6tZBVVcVcA

 

Reading: Four Extraordinary Women of Faith of the Bible

1. Eve – in the book of Genesis (2:4b and 3:1-24)

God created Adam and found him wanting. Enter Eve, formed from Adam’s rib, made of the same raw materials as he, and given the power to choose between good and evil. In the creation story we find a strong, interdependent Eve, fully engaged with the world around her. She is portrayed as a worthy and equal partner to Adam. She explored the Garden, dialogued with a serpent, decided on the forbidden fruit, and liked it enough to share the experience with Adam.

Eve’s story reminds us that people can be both creative and destructive. She teaches us to weigh our choices carefully, tempering our desires with wisdom.

 

2. Ruth – from the Book of Ruth

Their names say it all. Ruth, believed to be a short version of “retut,” or lovely friend, was the widowed daughter-in-law of Naomi. Naomi, also a widow, was exiled from Moab because of a famine and had returned to Bethlehem after the death of her sons. She told old friends, “Call me Mara, for the Lord has made it very bitter for me.” What Naomi missed is the sweetness of a special gift: Ruth. Naomi had released her grieving daughters-in-law to return to their people, but Ruth declared, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

Fortunately for Ruth, Boaz, a close friend of Naomi’s husband’s family, noticed her charms and blessed her. That got Naomi’s attention, which goes to show you: a lovely friend can turn the heart of a bitter women. Naomi hatched a successful plan to bring her kinsman, Boaz, and Ruth together. The couple later had a son, Obed, the grandfather of David. Ruth disappeared from the story, only to be remembered later as one of four women named in Matthew’s lineage of Jesus.

Ruth’s lesson to us? Steadfast love and loyalty may just lead you into a glorious destiny.

 

3. Esther – in the Book of Esther

Esther was a simple orphan, raised by her cousin Mordecai, until she decided she was destined to be royalty. Hiding her Jewish identity, she became a harem contestant, and after a year of spa treatments, emerged a stunner. The king may not have been bright, but he knew how to pick a beauty queen. Smitten, he rewarded Esther with a crown. It was good to be Esther until a tip from Mordecai forced her into action. The king, who led more by whim than wisdom, was convinced by his evil minister Haman to kill all Jews. Mordecai begged Esther to intervene, even though an unsummoned appearance before the king could be deadly, even for queens. But Esther knew she had to act on behalf of her people. “If I perish, I perish,” she said. In the end her wisdom prevailed, and her bravery saved her kinsmen.

Esther reminds us to be imaginative, as well as courageous. We don’t always have to fight to get what we want; sometimes we just have to outwit our adversary.

 

4. Mary, the Mother of Jesus

Much has been said about accepting Jesus as the personal savior, but no one accepted him in a more personal way than Mary, his mother. She literally “fleshed out” the unthinkable: Immanuel, God with us. The Scriptures tell us that the young virgin, betrothed to a carpenter, Joseph, was granted a very special favor. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David… and of his kingdom there will be no end.” What is most notable is not the miraculous visitation, it’s that she said an unprecedented “Yes."

Mary was the first disciple of Christ. She had to believe in him before anyone else. Her faith in Jesus was not a product of her extraordinary actions. It was a gift. Her lesson to us is that we must let go of the notion that we create faith based on our works. God gifts us with faith, which makes our good works possible.

 

Prayer of Thanksgiving:

As a mother protects her children, watching over them day by day, alert to danger, and ready if necessary to sacrifice herself for their sakes, so you Lord protect, your arms constantly encircling us, your hands delivering us from harm.

 

For the intensity of your love, Lord Jesus we thank you. Loving God, we thank you for mothers – for all they mean or have meant, for the love they have shown and the care they have given.

 

We thank you for the qualities of mothers – their patience, their kindness, concern and understanding. We thank you for the part they play in our lives, and we thank you for this day of saying ‘thank you’ this opportunity to say what we so often mean to say but so rarely do.

 

For mothers and motherhood, for children and families we bring you this day our grateful praise.

 

We ask these things in the name of the Risen Lord who taught us to pray…

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth,

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

Forever and ever.

Amen.

 

Mother’s Day Musical Selection: A Mother’s Prayer (Celine Dion)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYGnB28fdDo&list=PLLFqiOKQ6KCH-97v1wahTrdOgGEyK2rAF&index=5

 

Benediction:

May the Lord who brought us to birth by his Spirit, strengthen us for the Christian life.

May the Lord who provides for all our needs sustain us day by day.

May the Lord whose steadfast love is constant as a mother's care, send us out to live and work for others.

And the blessing of God Almighty. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you always. Amen.

 

Exit Song: The Blessing (Kari Jobe)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMijhOUOqk&list=PLcHqC9YNzSaB621igMmxfeMUvroQqYr3L&index=2