Thursday, May 15, 2008

Mother's Day Fears

I preached this past Sunday's Mother's Day message and I have to admit that I approached it with some fear and trepidation. Let me explain....

Think about the more common Mother's Day messages that you might have heard in the past. The message usually seems to be something like this: "Mom's, you're great! You do so many great things. Way to go, moms!" Many times the mother's day messages - at least in my recollection - target the mom's at the expense of magnifying God's glory primarily. So, this Sunday, I preached a message that was different. Not that I didn't encourage mom's and lift them up as integral and valuable in Christ's Kingdom, but I preached from a different point of view - the point of view that all messages must be preached from - Christ being central and God's glory being the aim.

It was interesting how I had moms talk before this past Sunday about how mother's day messages are usually so trivial, and how they wanted more. That encouraged me, but I still was concerned. I felt like I was going to convict them too much (or unnecessarily). But, God is gracious. I preached the message from Titus 2 and I believe God was glorified. Here's one response that I received from a mom:

I just wanted to encourage you and tell you how much I appreciated the message you gave out of Titus.... I was encouraged greatly as a mom and challenged, too. You didn't say anything so fluffy and nice for mothers, but taught from God's Word and focused on God being the One to get the glory. I appreciate that so much. Thank you.

The encouragement to all of you: always preach with Christ-centeredness and for God's glory! In the end, everyone who hears with faith will be truly satisfied! This one response was only that - one response. I had many more even from men. The fact of the matter is that we need not be afraid to speak the truth. We need to be bold in the proclamation of truth for the glory of God - even, and especially, when it relates to mom's, dad's, husband's, wives and children.

So, keep proclaiming Christ ensuring that God's glory is the aim of preaching by the power of the Spirit!

"Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to me in granting me clarity of speech and passion for you. Without you, I wouldn't have gone the direction I did. But, thank you, Jesus! And, thank you that you will continue to teach me and other pastors about the value of your Word and it proclaimed accurately to the people around us."