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<div><span style="font-size: 12pt">Sermons for Mother’s Day:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt"> Romans 16:13 - Mother’s Day</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt"> John 15:9-17 - Whistling Jesus – by Leonard Sweet </span></div>
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</font></font>Romans 16<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon titled "Mother’s Day" by Brett Blair</div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">I
must candidly confess that when I was in seminary the 16th chapter of
Paul's letter to the Romans didn’t do much for me. It struck me as being
boring nothing more than a long presentation of people’s names, most of
whom I could not pronounce; I usually skimmed over that part so I could
get to what I considered to be the real Gospel. Over the years I have
greatly changed my attitude about this particular chapter and I have
discovered that there is much more to it than I had first imagined. For
example, it is interesting to note that of the twenty-six people who
Paul singles out for his personal greeting, six were women. Now that
strikes me as being rather interesting, since Paul has frequently gotten
a bum rap for being a male chauvinist. I think it also shows us the
tremendous influence that women had in the early church. In the male
oriented first century Palestine, it is tellin
g that
Paul could not describe the church without mentioning the significant
role of women.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Verse
13 of chapter 16 is particularly interesting and it is one that
scholars have struggled with over the centuries. Paul writes: "Give my
greetings to Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine." Now
this statement could be taken two ways. It could mean that Paul had two
distinct women in mind--the mother of Rufus and his own personal mother.
Or, he could be saying: "I salute Rufus and his mother, who is like a
mother to me." If that is what he meant, and most Biblical scholars
agree that that is indeed what he meant, then it raises some interesting
speculation. When and where did Paul meet Rufus’ mother? Did she nurse
him through some serious illness? </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Did
she receive him into her home for an extended stay during his
missionary journeys? How did this woman and Paul form such a close bond
that he refers to her fondly as being like his mother? Mark tells us
that Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus cross, had two sons:
Alexander and Rufus. Was this the same Rufus to whom Paul was speaking?
If that is true, his mother would be Simon of Syrene’s wife. No one
knows for sure who this remarkable woman was who served as a mother
figure for the great Paul. But it really makes no difference, because
what he writes makes an excellent springboard for a Mother’s Day sermon.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Some
people ridicule Mother’s Day as a lot of sentimental drivel. They say
that it is nothing more than the creation of the greeting card companies
and the florists. And, to be perfectly candid, there are many ministers
who shun this day because, they say, it is not a religious holiday.
Furthermore, they preach from the lectionary, which has an assigned
scriptural reading each week, and therefore mother’s day is left out.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Well,
of course, we must admit that there is sentiment to this day, but what
is wrong with that? Seems to me that a little bit of sentiment is
healthy. True enough, there are some women in the Bible, such as Jezebel
and the vindictive Herodias, who had John the Baptist beheaded, who
tarnish the institution of motherhood. There are women today who
abandon, abuse, and corrupt their children and who create a poor model,
but I like to think that these are the exceptions. Most mothers do the
right thing and deserve recognition. So this morning I would like to
join Paul and salute all of the mothers who are with us.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">1. First, mothers should be saluted for their tenacious love.<br>
2. Secondly, mothers should be saluted for the tremendous impact they have.<br>
3. Third, mothers should be saluted because where they are, that is where home is.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The rest of the sermon can be found by joining Sermons.com. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt">John 15<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon titled "Whistling Jesus" </span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">No
one casts a longer shadow throughout the course of one’s life than a
mother. Will all our mothers stand? We honor and celebrate you for the
sheltering shade of those shadows. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Back
in the mid‑1950’s Theodor Geisel railed and revolted against the
boringly banal primers forced on first time readers. His books, penned
under the now famous name of “Dr. Seuss,” transformed reading to our
little ones from dull and dreary tales of “Dick and Jane” to the lyrical
fun of “The Cat in the Hat.”</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Adding
to this new literary library was a protégé of the Dr. Seuss style, the
books of P.D. Eastman. His “classics” in this new children’s literature
include “Go, Dog, Go,” “One Fish, Two fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” and
especially, my favorite, “Are You My Mother?” </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Just
in case you did not get the chance to read “Are You My Mother?” aloud
six hundred times over the course of your children’s childhood, it is
the simple story of a baby bird who hatches out of his egg while his
mother is off the nest. The little bird falls out and promptly sets off
looking to find his missing mom. Having no clue what his mother may look
like, the fledgling approaches dogs and cats, trucks and boats, and
finally a huge steam shovel (who deftly dumps him safely back into his
nest), earnestly asking each one, “Are you my mother?”</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">We
all crave a mother’s presence and pine for a mother’s love. This
Sunday, the second Sunday in May, has been officially designated as
“Mother’s Day” since May 9, 1914. But in England as far back as the
1600’s there has been a tradition of a “Mothering Sunday.” Originally
born out of the Catholic celebrations of Mary, the Mother of Christ, the
English “Mothering Sunday” allowed poor women who worked and lived as
servants in wealthy households a day off to return home and be with
their own families. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">It
is fitting that “Mother’s Day” is designated as a Sunday celebration.
For though we do not refer to this imagery very much anymore, we are
gathered together this day in our “Mother Church.” St. Cyprian, a third
century African bishop, said it is impossible to have God as our Father
if we do not have the church as our mother. We don’t worship the church,
and we do worship Christ. But as access to God is primarily thru
Christ, and the body of Christ is the church, so the old ship of Zion is
our Mothership…<br>
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</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining <a target="_blank" __removedlink__89585125__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8DAgMBDwVWCEkCBwdKDAtXUVw%3D"><font color="#0000ff">http://www.sermons.com/signup</font></a></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">If They Are Going to Get You…</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Author,
speaker and sports enthusiast Pat Williams, in his book A Lifetime of
Success, give one of the best examples I know of a mother’s love.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">He
tells of attending a very special Atlanta Braves’ baseball home opener
on April 8, 1974. It was a night game against the Dodgers and it was a
complete sellout. Williams looked around to see that, seated immediately
behind him was singer Pearl Bailey. Up at the plate: the immortal Henry
Aaron. On the line: Babe Ruth’s record of 714 career home runs. Aaron
had tied the record and tonight he was aiming to break it.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Understand
that this was nearly 40 years ago. An African‑American player was about
to topple the great Babe Ruth--and a lot of people in the country
didn’t like it. Aaron got a lot of mail that year--more than 930,000
letters in all, far more than any other person in the country. Most were
fan letters--but about 100,000 of them were hate letters, some
containing death threats. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Williams
says he was on the edge of his seat when Dodgers pitcher Al Downing
hurled the ball toward the plate. Aaron swung and connected. The crack
of his bat echoed through the stands. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The ball was gone. Home run. Babe Ruth’s record was shattered. The ballpark went nuts.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">“As
Aaron rounded second base,” says Williams, “a couple of teenagers--both
white--jumped over the retaining wall and ran onto the field, chasing
Aaron. For a moment, no one knew what they had in mind, but then it
became clear: they were celebrating and cheering Aaron on. As Aaron
crossed the plate, the dugout emptied as the Braves streamed onto the
field to surround him, cheering and whooping it up. But amid all those
ballplayers around Aaron was a short, sixty-eight‑year‑old black woman.
She latched onto Aaron and wouldn’t let go of him.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">“Henry Aaron turned and said to her, ‘Mom! What are you doing here?’</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">“‘Baby,’
said the mother of the new home‑run king, ‘if they’re gonna get you,’
(thinking of the death threats Aaron had received) ‘they’ve gotta get me
first!’” </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">That is love only a mother could have for her child. “If they’re gonna get you, they’ve gotta get me first!”</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Pat Williams, A Lifetime of Success, (Grand Rapids. MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2000), pp. 109-110, adapted by King Duncan</span></div>
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