Sunday, May 10, 2020, (Mother’s Day Service)
[Music]
[Music]
so
[Music]
[Music]
so
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
well hello happy mother’s day
well this is a day that the lord has
made and we are
glad we are extremely glad
because it’s an opportunity to not only
worship god
but to celebrate his creation in
creating
mothers mothers for every one of you out
there watching we want you to know
that we thank god for you and you bring
so much value
to everything we do and listen
while we are celebrating you if there’s
a mother that you would like to
celebrate
you can just share the link with them or
maybe you want to
share the link with a family member a
friend
a co-worker just take a minute and go on
and share that link and we can all
worship and praise god together
and now we have a special guest who’s
going to lead us in praise and worship
leon timbo
good morning first baptist church of
glenard
listen i am grateful to be here with you
this morning
we have the privilege of hosting the
presence of god in our homes
i’m in my home and i know you’re in
yours so let’s just worship the lord
with
all of our heart yes lord
yes lord
from the bottom of my heart
to the depths of my soul
yes lord
[Music]
and it says i love you i love you
i love you
from the bottom of my heart
to the depths of my soul
i love you
i really do
my soul said yes
my soul says yes
my hope is built on nothing less
than jesus blood
and righteousness
[Music]
i dare not trust the sweetest friends
holy trust in jesus name
christ alone
[Music]
cornerstone
we
[Music]
through the stall
he is lord
[Music]
when darkness sings when
darkness seems to hide
[Music]
i rest on his unchanging grace
[Music]
my anchor holds
[Applause]
[Music]
though the storm keeps on raging
in my life
[Music]
and sometimes it’s hard to tell
the night from day
still that hope that lies within
is reassured
i just keep my eyes upon
the distant shore i know
he’ll bring me safely to
that perfect place he has prepared
[Music]
but if the storm does
just in case the wind keeps on blowing
in my life
my soul has been
ain’t got
[Music]
[Music]
and he’ll be found in him be found
dressed in his righteousness
before the throne
all before the throne singing of christ
[Music]
he is
[Music]
he’s never gonna leave you
nor forsake you because he’s a lot of
fun
he’s never gonna leave us or
forsake us cause he’s lord of
all he’s never gonna leave
us nor forsake us cause he’s lord of
all
thank you leon i so appreciate the
gifting in you
you really blessed us especially me
i love you so much well ladies
and gentlemen today again we are
celebrating
mothers and all of us who are mothers
know
that it takes a village you need a
community
of support mothers we do so much
and it’s wonderful that there is a day
that we just celebrate
us and i have some mothers here in my
village with me this morning and i want
to introduce them to you
as we share from a mother’s point of
[Music]
view
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
there’s nothing like a mother’s dog
[Music]
like a mother’s love
who do we have here hi um
dignity vah haley here first baptist and
i have four daughters
um from the ages of 39 to 14
four girls so pray my strength i also
have three grandchildren and a great
grandson
and a great grandson mother for sure
yes ma’am over there on the end my name
is india leonard i’m the senior project
manager here at first baptist
and i have a 13 year old son and a
seven-year-old daughter
who keep me very busy they keep you very
busy
and and and yvette you work here too
right
right i’m one of the counselors here in
the spiritual cares department i am a
licensed clinical professional counselor
and i love being here working at first
baptist and happy mother’s day ladies
yes happy happy mother’s day what are
you going to do to celebrate today are
you all doing something
i don’t know but i hope someone is
cooking for me and i don’t have to cook
today how about that i just want to
match
if i can get a snack just the greatest
gift to me today
as mothers we are always so tired and
sometimes you know you can just be so
exhausted but
if you think about a scripture or or
something to anchor you for that moment
what would you have a scripture you can
share with us
actually this is one of my favorite
passages of scripture it’s proverbs 31
verses 26 through 27.
it says she opens her mouth with wisdom
and on her tongue is the law of kindness
she watches over the ways of her
household and does not eat the bread of
idleness
something i’m certainly working on but
it’s one of those anchor scriptures i
use
that you use yeah yeah and you do open
your mouth with wisdom and the more time
you spend with god
more wisdom comes out and i’m so glad
that’s why i’m glad you’re all in my
village cause y’all help me with my
mother’s point of view
yvette could you pray for us this
morning i’d be glad to thank you
oh gracious father lord we love you so
much we give you thanks and praise and
honor and glory
god just for this beautiful day the lord
that you have made
we thank you for the gift of motherhood
lord in all facets
that that is lord god from mothers
grandmothers
aunties special aunties single mothers
lord god we just say thank you lord for
all that you have done and how you
watched over us
lord we pray that you’ll just dwell with
us today give us your wisdom
from on high bless every mom and
everyone that is operating in that
capacity
in jesus name amen amen now
today we’re going to just dive right
into a
conversation from a mother’s point of
view
we asked women mothers to send us
questions that they had
about motherhood one of the questions we
actually got a few questions about this
if you were watching last week pastor
jenkins talked about
a developmental stage that stage between
8 and 11
that’s so important when you’re raising
children
and they wanted to know why and if you
could explain
if we you know a little more about that
there are
several um developmental psychologists
that have different varying views on
that from psja to ericsson
to kohlberg but i just look at it from a
cumulative standpoint
and from that standpoint in that age
range that young children are developing
who they are
a sense of who they are a sense of what
they like and don’t like
i remember being an agent and i remember
i love chocolate
i still like chocolate to this day right
but if you’re not
encouraged to explore what you like
right and then
children can get stuck and they don’t
know and they start just trying to
follow their peers but it’s not even
something that they really like to do
and so in that developmental age psja
calls it a concrete operational stage
and in that stage of development what is
happening our children are
learning right and wrong and really
understanding right and wrong
learning about trust and trustworthiness
and they want to be trusted they want
people to believe in them
and in that stage they’re just really
coming to a place of
their own you know we told them you know
don’t touch the stove because it’s hot
it’ll burn your hand off well they’re
learning in that stage that it doesn’t
really burn your hand off like it’s not
all the way off
but but they do know that it burns and
so then they’re learning how to trust us
more and how to come into some concrete
thinking on their own
so it’s like that concrete thinking
they’re learning
right and wrong and we’re sort of it’s
important that we’re there to guide them
through that yes
every last single aspect of that because
things that happen in that
time frame really cement who they are i
mean i mentioned chocolate and that was
a small thing
but i mean i still do love chocolate
today and nobody can sway me from liking
that right
uh well if there’s something traumatic
that has happened during that time it
can kind of anchor you
as well and so children develop this um
there’s a um in erickson he says
industry versus inferiority so if they
don’t they’re not doing as well as their
peers and classes and stuff like that
then they can start feeling like i’m
inferior all together versus okay i
don’t do so well in this class
but i may be great over here so for
parents we have to help
them to explore more in that state
that’s good
that’s good and that’s right where you
are in your
developmental stages with your children
because you have a
grade school and right after that period
and
a right after that period so how do you
keep them motivated
how do you help yeah i think
i’m in like two different seasons of
parenting all at one time but i think
um for a my preteen or actually he’s not
a pre-teens a teenager
i think one of the questions was how do
we keep them engaged and family
and for me i’ve learned to just be
interested in what they’re interested in
and i think that’s key i think a lot of
times we’re trying to lay out a set
of a path for our kids like hey if you
follow these steps
i’ll be satisfied as a parent but it’s
like learning to take interest in what
they are interested in like my son is
super interested in basketball
i really could care less about watching
basketball
but i engage and i sit and i watch the
games with him and i found that he
it builds some level of trust because he
knows that i’m not just trying to steer
him on the path i want for him
but i’m interested in what he’s
interested in and then another thing for
me is like
my kids are strong-willed and a lot of
us are raising strong-willed kids and so
learning the value and trying to bend
his will and not break it
absolutely and so i find that when he
sees that i’m lovingly correcting him we
have
uh there’s rules in my house it’s not a
free-for-all
but i think when he sees that i’m
invested in who he is
and the individuality that he brings to
our family
i think he wants to engage with me and
he shares more of his world with me so
yeah that’s good
so you get enter into their world
absolutely that’s great so
see moms just because your kids are
going into the teenage years there’s
hope
get interested in what they get
interested in that will help you
y’all here’s another question we got and
and this is
i i just this resonates with me it’s a
from a lady
whose name is christina but look just
what she says does anyone ever feel like
they aren’t
enough as a mother she says i do so much
with my girls
but i still struggle in feeling
that i’m not enough have you all you
ever
felt like that right right you know what
i mean
like like am i enough am i making the
right decisions for them am i helping
am i doing enough well i have a good
girlfriend
out there in chicago let’s see what she
has to say about this
hi this is jamelle mix from chicago
illinois
i’m the first lady of the salem baptist
church of chicago where my husband james
t
meeks is the pastor hi to all of you
ladies and i’m so excited to be here
with you
thank you to my girlfriend hey miss
trina jenkins love you darling
and i’m here to answer a question the
question is
i do a lot with my daughters but
sometimes i feel like it’s not enough
boy do i remember feeling that
i think every mother feels that at some
point
during her life and raising her children
one thing that i learned that helped me
so much
early on was that the children really
want you to be present
more than they want you to be perfect we
want to be perfect
but they just want us to be present so
be in your daughter’s lives continue to
give them the love and the attention
you’re giving them
make sure you keep them rooted and
grounded in christ keep your hand in
god’s hand
and everything will work out fine god
bless you happy mother’s day to all the
mothers
and i pray that everyone is having a
great day today
thanks jamil y’all that’s why she’s in
my village
she’s amazing i love her so much thank
you again jamil
okay this is for those of us with
older children still living in our house
y’all listen to this question
how do you maintain healthy relationship
and boundaries with adult children who
live in
your house i don’t know anything about
you just tell them to leave you say real
work my house
my room your house your rules yeah
i bet you meredith shepard could tell us
something about that
hey meredith let’s call on her
hi my name is meredith shepherd and i’m
the first lady
of destiny christian fellowship in
fremont california
my husband paul shepherd is the pastor
there and we
are the very proud parents of two adult
children
and we will be grandparents in just
about two weeks or so
i was given the question how do you
maintain a healthy relationship
and boundaries with adult children
under your roof that is a great question
first of all i’d like to say that we
have lived with our kids
saying you cannot accuse someone of
trespassing
if you have failed to point out your
boundaries
it’s very important that we clearly
communicate with one another
what the boundaries are and that way
people have an idea
of what’s expected of them and what they
want from you
so we’ve tried to live that way with our
kids probably since they were pre-teens
making sure that they knew what the
boundaries are
um secondly i am quick to apologize
parents i think that’s so important that
your kids can see you humble yourselves
admit
when you’re wrong apologize when
necessary
so that’s a big one because as far
as the pointing out your boundaries and
not accusing one another of trespassing
sometimes we will trespass someone’s
boundary and when you do
apologize own it ask for forgiveness
so i think that’s also important then i
was taught
as a young mother make sure that your
kids feel like they have space within
your space you don’t want to live it’s
my way or the highway
my rules if you don’t like it get out
hit the road
you may feel that way but things aren’t
going to go good
if that’s really not an option or you’re
trying to get along together
so it’s very important that they have a
sense
of having space sacred space
within your space that it’s not just
your house that you’re going to respect
their their room
their property whatever you want to live
with very
good manners and lastly i grew up in a
house where there was a plaque that says
christ is the head of this house the
unseen guest
at every meal and the silent listener
to every conversation living
with a very real active awareness
of christ being the head of the house
keeps you from that place of
now look this is my house you can get
out
no we want to live realizing this is the
lord’s house i want to be a very good
steward over how i live in this house
and how i live with others in this house
so if we make sure we are honoring
and cultivating a healthy relationship
with the lord
and that we are living to please
him chances are you are going to have
a better relationship with your adult
children
and that you’re going to have healthy
boundaries because you’re living
with a very real awareness that this is
the lord’s house
and we’re seeking to get along in
christian love
and unity and we want to please god with
all that we do
i hope this has helped you and i pray
that these words will be a blessing as
you put them into practice
now back to you lady trina love you
great answer of course it’s coming from
meredith shepherd what did we expect
thank you meredith we love you so much
and appreciate you
thank you thank you all right let’s
wrap it up with this question how do you
remain relentless
in christ as a mom especially during
this time it’s all this craziness
how do you maintain
being relentless and i think when we
think about relentless it really is
about how to maintain
how to uh stay focused how to keep on
keeping on even when it’s difficult
how to not give up how to not give up no
matter what
sticking in there by any means necessary
i think it just starts with the decision
i don’t know about you absolutely you
know absolutely a decision
a decision you have to make a decision
that you are going to stand firm
in christ you’re going to believe his
word is true
you’re going to have what we call
patient trust and that means
even though it doesn’t look the way you
want it to look you are going to
patiently wait you’re going to persevere
and trust that god’s going to make a way
that
god’s gonna work it out in your favor
absolutely you feel that i think it’s
also important to have boundaries you
know for me
i don’t tune into cnn all day long and i
don’t want people calling me
did you hear you know more people have
died i think for me to be able to stay
rooted and anchored in christ i gotta
have some boundaries around
around what i allowed myself to be
exposed to
and so also my time i have to have my
quiet time
because my kids are in the house 24
hours a day
seven days a week i need protected time
with christ
so that i can be filled up and just a
couple other things like i choose joy
and i choose peace in this season it’s
like i’m not going to be running and
chasing around the marble bush with all
the facts and fiction around the season
it’s like i need my anchor firmly
planted so that i can be a good mother
to my kids in this season
that’s right that’s relentless what’s
your reason i say be cautiously
optimistic
good and this time in this season we
have to be cautious cautiously
optimistic
they’re starting to do so many things
opening back up so many things and
places
i don’t know if i’m ready for all that
to be opened back up
and i told the kids no we’re still
wearing the mask we’re still wearing the
gloves you won’t come in this door
without it
so yes i’m optimistic but i’m being
cautious and being planted and rooted
i’m not moving until god says
good good good there you have it a
woman’s point of view
i just want to thank the ladies that
have joined me this morning
on a mother’s point of view and their
special guest first lady meeks first
lady shepard
we are the better because of what you
poured into us
because it does take a village well
in just a moment you’ll hear from
another mother you’ll hear
her perspective of being a mother and i
know you’re really going to be blessed
but before we hear from her let’s hear
from our
fbcg news my mama says just because she
gives me the best clothes and she would
give up her life just to save mine
when i am scared of something she’s
right by my side to face it when i want
to try something new she encouraged me
to try she never gives up on me
when i am mad or sad she always cheers
me up
but even when i try to push her away she
always comes back
my mom is always on my side even when i
get into trouble
my mom has a purist heart and we have a
bond that no one can break
god has a path for us all and i am so
thankful that he made her mine
my mother is special because she takes
good care of me my mom who makes my
dinner wash my clothes my mommy keeps me
safe from the coronavirus
and my mommy comes home after work
dinner
and then takes me to karate
my mommy does fun stuff with me
she teaches me to read the bible
and pray my mother does all the cooking
and cleaning in this house
my mom is also very sweet and kind but
she could get upset when we do my mom
comforts me when i have bad dreams
nightmares or something she would do
anything just to make me happy also she
keeps my brother and i
my mom is an extraordinary person she’s
the person that likes to laugh
and that’s why i love her happy mother’s
day
happy mother’s day mommy i love you this
much
happy mother’s day everybody
this is fbcg news for the week of may
10th your source for the latest news and
information at first baptist church of
glen harden
where we’re developing dynamic disciples
young adults checkpoint bible study is
this monday may 11th
at 7 pm join us on the fbcg website
or on facebook as we learn how to
conquer addiction
join us for tuesday night bible study as
we live stream on our website and social
media platforms
tuesdays at 7 pm
the beyond conference is going virtual
beyond is an annual conference hosted by
the first baptist church of glen harden
pastors leaders ministers and small
business owners across the country
connect to learn best practices from
church and business leaders
this year’s theme is sharpening the
vision beyond 2020.
ministry as we know it has been
disrupted yet the mission remains the
same
our goal is to empower leaders like you
to think strategically in hearing
captivating and implementing your
god-given vision in order to remain
relevant and sustainable now
and in the years to come you’ll learn
tips and tools in the area of women in
men’s ministry
discipleship music and arts church
operations
christian education communications
community engagement and much more
they’ll also be a special session
especially designed for
senior pastors you don’t want to miss it
this year’s conference is saturday june
20th for more information and to
register
visit thebeyondconference.com
[Music]
first lady’s 60th birthday is coming up
and we’re giving her a virtual
celebration we’re so blessed with an
anointed woman of god who epitomizes
holiness
and faithful service to god tune in
friday may 15th at 7 pm on the fvcg
website and facebook live
for a celebratory experience with
special guests and stories
on first lady’s impact
[Music]
you can still easily give your times and
offerings online at fbcglennarden.org
give or by mail at 3600 bright seat road
land over maryland
thanks to your giving we are able to
continue to spread the gospel across the
world
and assist those in need around the
community
that’s the news for this week you can
find more details about these and other
events
at fbclinarden.org
[Music]
as we prepare for the word we have a
special guest today
priscilla shire is a wife and mom first
put a bible in her hand and a message in
her heart and you’ll see why
thousands flock to her conferences and
dive into her bible study series and
books each year
her ministry going beyond ministries
hosts awaken
an outreach event in her hometown
designed to encourage and mobilize women
locally
she is the author of several books and
has starred in various faith-based films
priscilla has been married to jerry for
20 years
between studying and writing she spends
most of her time with her three growing
boys
let’s open our hearts and get ready to
receive a word from priscilla shire
hey there it is incredible to have an
opportunity to be a part of your virtual
online service first baptist church of
glenard you know we consider you to be
family you are our family and i got to
tell you it feels incredibly special to
be able to share
this day with you during your church
services because this is
as many of you know this is our first
mother’s day my first mother’s day
without my mom she just passed away on
december 30th
so we’re still recovering emotionally
from that but
being able to do that on mother’s day to
be in ministry
on the day that honors our moms feels
incredibly special and it feels like a
blessing to me to be able to do it with
you
feels especially like a blessing so i
want to thank pastor john
and sister trina for inviting us to be a
part of your services today
we love you all very very much and i’m
thrilled to see what it is that god’s
word is gonna say to us
um as we dive into a what i think is a
very simple portion of scripture
at your bible teaching church and with
the pastor you have i know that it’s a
passage of scripture
that you have heard before that you’ve
dived into before
but what i’m going to ask god to do is
that that he would use this time
in this portion of scripture to
encourage you a fresh and anew
all of us whether you’re male or female
whether you’re a teenager or you’re
well into your upper stages of life no
matter where you
are in your life but especially mothers
i’m gonna ask that god would use this
portion of scripture to really encourage
you
and really um give you a little bit of
fuel and fire
in your tank for this next season of
your journey
so from all of us here in dallas before
i pray let me just say
happy happy mother’s day when my mom was
in her last weeks of life one of the
things that she said to us
was ministry cannot stop
she said what the enemy would like for
all of this through all of this
is to so discourage your father and the
four
of you her children that you will no
longer minister or that you’ll be so
discouraged that it will quiet
or quell your voice um so i know
that if my mom weren’t here today she
would be so thrilled
to know that ministry goes on and it
goes on
with you let’s pray together lord jesus
i thank you for this privilege and this
opportunity
to be in your word together lord i thank
you that what this
scattered church has done for us has
allowed us the opportunity
to be together in ways that we might not
otherwise have the opportunity
i thank you that your spirit is not
contained by brick and mortar
but that we ourselves are the house of
god and that you through your spirit
can help us to hear your voice clearly
so i am praying father that through this
little simple passage of scripture and
these few simple principles
you would do what only you can take this
message
and divide it up however many thousands
of ways you need to
and take it straight to the other side
of this camera
screen lord to the person that is
listening to it so that they will know
beyond the shadow of a doubt on this
mother’s day
that they heard the voice of god speak
lord
we’re your servants and we’re listening
in jesus mighty name i pray amen
if you have your bible with you which
i’m sure you do go ahead and get it
ready
in the gospel of john chapter two if you
use your iphone or ipad or any manner of
eye nests feel free to use that as well
but just go ahead and make your way to
john chapter two as you do
i will tell you that my husband and
children and i we have three sons
we used to live in a fairly rural part
of the dallas fort worth area
and we lived there on purpose we liked
it that way it was close enough to the
city where we could get there
fairly quickly and fairly easily like
you know the starbucks was around the
corner because you know i
had to get to starbucks and and super
target was around the corner and the
barns and no well those sorts of things
so i could get there quickly and easily
like between seven to ten minutes but
once i hit that little two-lane road
that sort of took me back in the back
woods behind
all of that stuff then we found this
little street
lazy sleepy road and we moved there
lived there for about 10 years actually
the 10 most
formative years probably of our son’s
lives when they were just coming up
through those elementary stages
and the reason why we wanted to live out
there is really kind of plain and simple
it’s because
there was a huge yard house was pretty
small
but the yard was huge there were things
there that boys
need in their lives like you know bugs
and
mud and there was a dry creek back there
and you know all the things
and those of you that have heard me talk
about my children before then
you know that i’m a believer in them
boys going outside to play
anytime they have ever still to this day
if they ever come to me and say mom i’m
bored i said boy no you’re not
you see that tree out the backyard go
out there and play with the tree i don’t
care what you do with the tree you can
play tag with the tree
you can eat the tree i don’t care what
you do just go enjoy yourself outside
and living out there sort of in the
woods in the country it gave us an
opportunity to really capitalize on them
enjoying being outside hopefully that
sort of what their appetite for that
well i remember that people used to come
visit me when i was out there or
friends that were being dropped off to
play with the boys and i remember that
when i was giving directions for how
folks could get
back there in the woods to the back
country where we were so that they could
visit us
it was fairly simple to do when it was
daytime but the problem was that if
somebody was going to come visit me at
night
because you know country dark is
different than regular dark
and so i knew that if they were coming
to visit me at night i was really going
to have to give them some
extra details because you know sometimes
street signs out in the country
might be covered up by some overgrown
brush there might be some
reason why they’re not able to see the
little details so i would give them some
signs some landmarks along the way
i would tell them that when they made a
certain curve there was a big
sort of reddish brown boulder that was
on the side of the road that happened to
be there
and that when they saw that landmark
they should take that as their sign that
they’re headed in the right direction
then i would tell them they would pass
an entire neighborhood
that they would see a huge bricked wall
in front of the neighborhood
and that when they saw that brick walled
off neighborhood they would know
that that was another sign they were
still headed in the right
direction because they would begin to
doubt it trust me
after they had gone on for about six or
seven minutes
down this long winding road that was
becoming more
and more narrow they would begin to
doubt they were going in the right
direction
so i kept giving them signs and of all
the signs that i gave them
the first one that i told them about was
the most important
the reason why is because the first sign
was the one that would actually
mark for them they were in the right
neck of the woods
it would make them feel assured that
they were in the right place and that
they should keep on going
that’s what i think of when i think of
our passion passage of scripture that
we’re going to dive into today
and the reason why i think of it is
because the book of john is
filled with signs john the author under
the inspiration of the holy spirit
says explicitly that the reason why he
is writing
the way he writes and why he’s including
the kinds of
encounters that jesus had that he
decides to include in this text
is because he wants them to be clear
obvious
signs that that assure us we are headed
in the right direction when our eyes
are focused on jesus now you don’t have
to turn there but let me just read to
you
what he writes at the end of the book so
you and i are going to focus on the
beginning of the book john chapter 2
but i’ve got to read for you what he
writes at the end of the book in john
chapter 20
verse 30 and 31 listen to this he says
many other signs
jesus also performed in the presence of
the disciples
but those are written in this here book
but
these the ones i have included they’re
the ones that i have written
because these are the signs that are
designed to make you believe that jesus
is the christ the son of god and that by
believing
you may have life in his name did you
hear that john was clear
he says when he gets to the end of the
book i’m telling you there are so many
other things i could have included
there are so many other encounters jesus
had
so many other miracles i saw him do so
many other messages i heard him give
out of out of his mouth so many other
conversations i heard him have
with other people john says i could have
included a whole lot of other things
but these are the ones chosen by the
holy spirit’s inspiration these are the
ones chosen for me to include in this
gospel
because these are the ones that i think
are the signs
that are gonna point you straight to
jesus he says these signs are gonna make
a believer out of you
they’re going to make sure that you
believe jesus is who he says he is
and that he can accomplish exactly what
he says he has come to accomplish
so i’m thinking about this that john has
been so specific
and intentional and deliberate about the
signs that he chose for his book
and it made me think about those signs
that i point out to folks that are
trying to find me in the dark
remember how i told you that the first
sign
is always the most important it’s
supposed to be the most
memorable one that seals in their minds
they are even in the right vicinity
so i thought to myself i wonder what
john’s
first sign was the one that he deemed
was most
critical the one that he thought was
most important
the one that he thought above all of the
others would be the ones that would most
clearly point us to jesus now before we
read the first sign
i want you to remember that signs are
always designed to point us to someone
or something
signs are not supposed to be so
impressive that you stop
and look at the sign and study the sign
and appreciate the sign
and celebrate the sign and have a party
around the sign if the sign
doesn’t point attention away from itself
diverting attention away from itself at
some point
the sign might be cute but the sign
hasn’t done its job
so john has chosen signs not to be
impressive in and of themselves what a
waste that would be
the signs are designed to point us to
jesus
and this first sign is kind of like the
first
chapters of a book you might read like a
juicy novel
or the first bars of a musical rendition
that a pianist plays
the design of those initial inaugural
experiences
are supposed to what your appetite so
severely
they’re supposed to heighten you such a
sense of anticipation
that you can’t help but lean in and want
to take in
everything that comes after it because
the beginning
has been so phenomenal john says
here’s the first sign that i want to
include
john chapter 2 verse 1 through 11.
and on the third day there was a wedding
in cana of galilee
and the mother of jesus was there jesus
also was invited verse two says and his
disciples came to the wedding
and when the wine gave out the mother of
jesus said to him
they have no more wine verse five
his mother said to the servants
whatever he says to you do it
now there were six stone water pots set
there for jewish custom of purification
containing 20 or 30 gallons each
so jesus seeing those containers there
said to the servants
fill up all of those containers those
water pots with water
so they filled them up to the brim and
then he said to them now
take some out and take them to the head
waiter so they took it to him
now i don’t know exactly how it happened
but i do know that sometime between
verse eight and nine that water became
something totally different
because by the time they made it to the
headwaiter in verse 9
the headwaiter tasted the water which
had already become wine
he didn’t know where it came from but
the servants who had drawn the water
they knew
and the headwaiter called the bridegroom
over and he said to him
every man serves the good wine first and
when men have drunk freely
then he serves that which is poor i mean
it makes
sense because you know after everybody
has got the good stuff they’re too drunk
to know that the poor stuff is now
flowing
but you the headwaiter says to the
bridegroom
you’ve saved the best stuff for now
verse 11. this was the beginning of
jesus signs
he did it in cana of galilee he
manifested his glory through this first
sign
and look at the last line of verse 11
and
his disciples believed in him
his disciples believed in him
for me that’s completely curious to hear
something like that
because it implies that it is possible
to be a disciple
who does not yet believe it means that
you can have a friendship with jesus
that you can walk with jesus and talk
with jesus and learn from jesus
that you can see jesus do miracles in
the lives of other people you can even
experience them yourself
it means that you can hear jesus
speaking the holy spirit speaking to us
you can be in relationship with jesus
and yet still not be a real true
believer meaning
someone who lives a life in complete
dependence on him
someone who when crisis hits like the
personal crisis that many of us
were already facing well before this
global crisis ever took
shape when crisis hits being a believer
means
we run to the throne of grace in prayer
not as some secondary caveat to our
lives but as a priority because we
realize
where our help comes from sometimes it
is possible that people are disciples
but they’re not really believers
i mean where we no longer lean to our
own understanding
but where in all our ways we acknowledge
him because we know
the only way this path is going to get
made straight is if jesus
himself does it on our behalf i don’t
want to just be a disciple
i want to be a believer i want to live a
surrendered life
that is submitted to jesus and is so
much so dependent on him
that he is the first place that i look
in every
season of my life every day of my life
and through every crisis of my life
the disciples are just becoming
believers
and it happens at the end of a miracle
where someone has given the best they
have to offer
and their best isn’t good enough don’t
miss this
the inaugural sign that john writes down
as the primary way that we’re going to
begin to get pointed
in the direction of a real faith-filled
believing relationship with jesus christ
is a situation where someone has given
the best they have to offer
and they best ain’t good enough and it’s
into that situation of emptiness
that jesus when he’s invited steps in
and fills it up not only to overflowing
but makes it better than it was when
they had
their own resources that were initially
at their disposal
i love this because john basically
communicates to us
two things the bad news is first
that your best will probably never be
good enough
do you feel like that ever do you feel
like you’re constantly in a situation
where you keep giving the best you have
and the best you have ain’t good enough
like the best
emotional investment that you have in
that marriage and it just doesn’t seem
to be good enough
the best emotional investment you have
in your kids mom
and you keep giving your best single
mother you’re doing everything that you
can
to train them to build character to
build integrity
and it seems like there’s no fruit for
what it is that you’re pouring into the
lives
of your kid that you love so much maybe
it’s a financial investment that you’re
making
or maybe it is an investment of your
creative ideas and
your gifts and your talents your
patience you’ve been
investing the best you have to give
and it seems like your best isn’t good
enough the bad news is
we will constantly in life be in
situations where our best
is never good enough but the good news
is that jesus
gives us his best to supplement and even
to overcome our own and his best is
anything than we could ever produce on
our own anyway
he keeps on giving us himself
it’s like the apostle paul that says i
boast in my weakness
i’ve stopped hiding the fact that my
best ain’t good enough i go ahead and
celebrate the fact that my best isn’t
good enough
because i recognize now that every time
my best
is not suited to the knee that is at
hand in front of me
every time that shows up in my life
whether it’s a business endeavor a
ministry endeavor
a family relationship every time i’m in
that situation where i am totally
uncomfortable
because my wine doesn’t run out what i
need to do is
invite jesus to my party and let him
know that i’m totally willing to do
whatever he requires
so that he can turn this little water
i’ve got left into
wine that will blow people’s minds that
will show them
that his best is astounding and do you
know what happens when jesus shows up at
parties like this
do you know what jesus what happens when
jesus shows up at weddings
like this and circumstances in our life
where we’ve given our best
and our best even good enough what
happens is that he makes a believer out
of the people
around you he makes a believer out of
them
not just a disciple he makes them
believers
i got to tell you i’m counting on this
because i am right now in the throes of
mothering
teenage boys three of them
let me tell you something i feel like i
keep on giving my best
and my best really ain’t good enough i
feel like a fish out of water in this
particular stage
of their development as i’m watching
them become
men and the pressures that they are
facing that we didn’t face
you know i i came out of high school in
93 so i came up through the 80s and the
90s of course
we had our own pressures and of course
we had our own difficulties that we had
to face and peer pressure
that we had to stave off all of those
things and i certainly didn’t do that
perfectly
but when i look at what my kids are
traversing right now
the pressure that is around them morally
the consuming of information
that is at their endless disposal in
their hands through their devices or on
the
television screens the things that would
never be allowed
are now common on the in the movies and
the television shows and everything that
they’re watching
it’s inundating them and i sit there
realizing that the best i have to give
in trying to instill
character and trying to instill
integrity and praying towards them and
hoping
that their spiritual fervor is um
cultivated in their life that can only
be a work of the holy spirit
and so i keep on giving my best and it
just feels like every night when i go to
bed that my best just hadn’t been good
enough for that day
did i engage them enough did i
participate enough did i discipline
correctly did i feed them enough that’s
one of the major questions at my house
i don’t know if what i’m giving at this
stage
is the best that will take care of all
of the needs that they have and then i
hear
john through this sign reminding me that
my best will likely in the scenarios
that matter most to me in my life and
in yours our best will probably not be
good enough
but every time that happens we shouldn’t
be disappointed to the
to the extension that we are discouraged
we shouldn’t be disappointed
so much that we can’t continue onward
instead every time we are
outmatched every time we are the
underdog we should actually sit forward
with our chin and our hands and our eyes
peeled because that means jesus is on
the way and
if we’ll let him in he will turn water
into wine i want to encourage all of you
from
every phase of life and every season of
life but particularly on this mother’s
day
if you’re a mom and you feel like you’re
giving your best and through this
toddler stage or teenage
age or with the young adults or
grandmother the
the grandchildren that you’re trying to
help parent through their lives
if you feel like the best you have to
offer doesn’t seem to be enough
john says that’s the primary sign
that’s the main way that god introduces
himself
not just to you but to the people around
you in your sphere of influence
and i want to be introduced to him
meaning
i know about him y’all know i grew up in
a bible
teaching church that is still my church
my daddy is still my pastor
and y’all know he preaches that good
word right where you’re sitting there
salivating because of what he’s sharing
i’ve heard that as long as i can
remember
so i know the stuff i know about how god
made the walls of jericho basically
implode on themselves
i know about how he divided the red sea
i know about how he divided the jordan
and then
told the people to turn around and put
in stones of remembrance
i know about the details not just in the
old testament but i can tell you about
the new testament of how
lazarus was raised from the dead i can
tell you about what is what god has done
because i know it in my head but i don’t
want to just know it anymore
i want to see it for myself i want to
see him
show up and take my little bit and make
it a lot
i want to see him take five loaves and
two fish and so multiply it in such an
astounding way
that i know he has shown up and shown me
himself
experientially his miraculous working
power
john says this is a sign that you’re
headed in the right direction
when you’re in a situation where your
best is not good enough it
points out to you who jesus is
and it makes a believer out of you
but doesn’t just happen for you happens
for the people in your sphere of
influence
and that’s what i’m counting on with my
own sons that’s what mothers
we have to count on that it’s not going
to be because we were perfect
because none of us are it’s not going to
be because we had all our stuff together
it’s not because we never had any lapses
that we were never weak that we never
showed that we
maybe were sorry for some lapses in our
judgment or things we would have done
differently if we could go back and
parent them in a certain stage over it’s
not because we never admit that stuff
because the reality is let me tell you
something i have already told my boys
i’m sorry in advance like for all the
stuff you’re going to need therapy for
when you’re in your 20s and your 30s
just know i’m apologizing right now for
all that stuff
because i already know i’m not doing
everything the way that i probably will
in hindsight when you look back and see
but i’m doing the best that i can with
what i know right now
and so what that means is is that i am
counting on my
transparency i’m counting on the fact
that
i’m being vulnerable and honest with
them sometimes i’ve said to them
on many occasions boys we’ve actually
never parented teenagers before you
gotta give me and your dad a break
we’re doing just the best we can with
what we know
and i’m counting on the fact that in
this stage
when i show them that it is possible
john chapter 2
for someone to give their best and their
best not be good enough
but that’s when jesus steps in and he
actually turns it into something
beautiful
and staggering i am praying that just
like these disciples in verse 11 of
chapter two
just like it made believers out of them
it’ll make believers out of my voice
and i’m telling you it’ll make believers
out of yours your sons your daughters
your nieces and nephews your
grandparents your grandsons and
granddaughters
they’re not going to become to become
believers in jesus they might be
disciples
but they won’t become believers unless
they see a woman
who is dependent herself upon the lord
a woman who herself knows she makes
mistakes and is having to learn
to live in the rhythms of the grace and
the mercy
and the goodness of god it’s not because
we’re perfect
that we’re going to make believers out
of them disciples maybe because we can
teach them how to know the book and
quote the book and memorize the book go
to church because they’re supposed to
but believers that’s a different thing
they’re going to have to see someone who
saw
jesus intervene in their life
i want to be that kind of woman and i
want to encourage you
particularly moms but all of us that if
you find yourself in this situation just
know
that according to john that’s the
primary sign that’s going to point you
and the people you love to an explosive
relationship with jesus christ
i want to tell you one thing in closing
because just
in case you think that john maybe wasn’t
as deliberate and
intentional as i tend to think he was
when i read this text
i want to point out to you just a couple
little clues a couple things he left
hidden within these 11 verses
in fact they’re all tucked within the
very first verse and he tucked them in
there
i think as little intentional clues for
us to make sure that we understood
that he didn’t do this as a mishap it
wasn’t a mistake
it was clearly intentional because he
wanted to point us to jesus
i was thinking about this because my
three-year-old
at the time he’s 15 now but at the time
he was three years old he forgot to give
his
offering in church one sunday and i told
him don’t worry about it there’s a
little box that sits in the foyer and i
told him after church when everything
cleared out
i’d walk him out to the foyer so he
could drop his offering in i loved that
he wanted to give it and the whole way
i was walking out of church with my
three-year-old i was telling him
this is what we give to the lord this is
what we give to the lord
tithe is something we never skip it’s
got to be a habit in your life to give
to the lord
as soon as we walked out into the lobby
our very gregarious worship leader who
my son
saw on the platform every single sunday
leading worship
he just happened to be coming down the
staircase from his offices
into the lobby so my son three years old
walks in to give his offering to the
lord
sees the worship leader who he sees
every sunday on stage and he said
is that the lord and i had to
tell my son jc no he’s not the lord and
in fact no human
is the way that we begin to remember
that
no human deserves the worship that
should only be devoted to our god
is when we are reminded that it is he
and he alone that works miracles like
this
it’s when we’ve run to every single
resource that we know to run to
humanly speaking and they can’t come
through but jesus does we are reminded
that even the people that serve us even
those who are leaders over us and help
us to rightly divide the word of truth
and that teach us we’re grateful for
them
but they are not the lord and so these
kinds of instances in our life what they
do is they
they retrain us they refocus us they
make believers out of us
john says i want to make sure you know
that i was specific about including the
sign
verse one he says did you notice the
clues he says
this happened on the third day clue
number one
he says it happened at a wedding clue
number two
and then he says mary the mother of
jesus was there
mary is only found here and in one other
place in his gospel
and that’s at the cross at the
crucifixion
john wanted to build a sturdy bridge
between the
insufficiency of a human invert in
chapter 2
and the sufficiency of christ at the
crucifixion he wanted to basically
communicate to you that all your
insufficiencies and mine have been
covered
because of the redemption that came to
us at the cross and then he says
on the third day is when this wedding
took place he didn’t just want to point
to a crucifixion
he wanted to point to the third day when
there was a resurrection
he wants to tell you today that the same
power that conquered the grave
is the exact same power that is alive
and at work on the inside of you
to sustain you every single day of your
life
and then he says finally third clue this
was not just old
any regular party this was a wedding
you know there’s another wedding coming
to town
probably sooner than we think because
one day the sky is going to
the trump is going to sound and the
bridegroom is going to appear
and he’s coming for his bride and there
is a wedding that will take place
a union and a marriage that we have been
waiting on as the bride
of christ and in that day he will rescue
us from our weaknesses
taking us with him once and for all into
the heavenly
places and we will have glorified bodies
never to
experience those insufficiencies again
but until then john
says be encouraged and know that he’s
got you from the cross
he will sustain you through your life
and he will take you to heaven
eternity is real heaven is real
our god is on his way brothers and
sisters
be encouraged on this sunday and know
that your god has got
your back happy mother’s day
and god bless you
[Music]
you’re more real than
the wind in my lungs
[Music]
you are you are
[Music]
the crown i’m standing on
your thoughts define me
[Music]
you’re inside of me and
you are
[Music]
cause i don’t walk by what i see
no daddy because you’re walking with me
let’s sing it together to him
[Music]
i belong to you
you had the first word over me you’re
gonna have the last word over me
[Music]
i belong to you
can we sing that part again let’s sing
that you’re more real then sing it out
you’re more real than the wind in my
lungs
wind in my lungs
you’re more real than you you’re more
real
than
[Music]
come on family say you’re more real than
you
and you’re more real than the skin on my
balls
the skin on my bones yeah
doesn’t matter what the doctor said
and you’re more real
you’re more real than the song of my
tongue
the song on my tongue
the next part says your thoughts define
me
you’re inside of me singing with me your
thoughts define
me you’re inside of
me you are my reality you
are my
reality
[Music]
you are my reality
[Music]
i belong to you
[Music]
you know what you’re doing with me
i’ll burn
[Music]
i belong to
[Music]
your word is a lamp until my feet
[Music]
your word is a light unto
[Music]
oh i’m blind without your word oh god
[Music]
you prepare a table for me
in the presence of my enemies
even my inner me god
[Music]
just to show me how much you love me
cause i don’t walk by what i see
[Music]
one more time
[Music]
thank you priscilla for that inspiring
word from god and
thank you leon thank you so much for
just
you all have been incredible and helped
our mother’s day
to be as special as it is and when you
think about a mother you think about
love
and you think about nurturing someone
who really cares for you
and we have a heavenly father who cares
for us
and if you perhaps are tuning in
and you’re listening and you’re thinking
i really
need to connect with god and i want to
grow
closer to god and i want to know him
more in a different way we want to hear
from you
you can just press that button that says
commit
and we have people that are waiting just
to talk to you
to share a way for you to get to know
heavenly father
in a whole different way or you may just
want prayer you can call that number
at the bottom of your screen or email us
we are waiting to hear from you so
again everyone have a wonderful mother’s
day
and please make all the mothers you know
feel special god bless you see you next
[Music]
week
you