It’s Complicated - A Faith That Changes the Room - Philemon 1:1–7

Hi and welcome to South Sub Church. We're so glad you're here. Whether in person or online, you're a part of our family. We're one church with two expressions of worship, but one mission to bring people closer to Jesus Christ and become passionate followers of him. If you would like to give to the ministries of South Sub Church, it's easy to do so. You can give online or you can do it in person. Your generosity helps us share Jesus with the community and beyond. If you're new, take a moment to fill out a connect card. We'd love to pray for you, get to know you, and help you get connected. And if you're watching online, drop us a hello in the chat and let us know where you're watching from. We're so glad you're here. Thanks again for worshiping with us this morning.

Well, good morning again. Listen, as we were dismissing everybody and you were shaking hands, I think Daniel forgot to say if you're kids, we've got kids ministry downstairs. So, I'm looking around and all of you are a little bit too old for that. So, I think they re recognize it. Go ahead and go downstairs today. But, you know, one of the things I love about our church is that our kids get to come in and worship with us. And so, there's a time that we all get to get to be together, but there's a time that they get to then go downstairs. And some people think we babysit. We don't ever babysit. They are learning God's word just like we are in here. So that always excites me about every Sunday morning when we gather like this. Listen, as you came in, you received your bulletin and there was a card in there that looks like this, a blue card. And at the very top it says believers baptism. And um I want you to mark on your calendar Memorial Day weekend. That Sunday we're going to have a special service. And part of that service is we will have just a focus of believers baptism. We've already got five or six people lined up to be baptized that day. Maybe you're someone that's made a public profession of faith just in your life that you believe in Jesus as your as your savior, but you've never been baptized. That's a great day to step forward and make that public confession through baptism. Or maybe you're like somebody that I spoke with a few weeks ago and they said, "You know what, Keith? I've gone to church my whole life and I've been following Jesus for a long time in my life, but I was baptized as a baby. And while I still value that and that was a very important part of my life, my family's life, they said, I've realized I've never made it public myself. That was something my parents did with me. And so this individual is going, I want to be baptized on that day um on May 24th. So anyway, if you're interested in it, make sure you fill this card out. You can drop in one of the boxes or in the guest reception area when you leave here. Or maybe you're going, I still have some questions about it. There's a place on that card that you can just say, "Have a pastor call me so I can talk about it more." Um, but believers baptism is a great way to stand before the congregation, the church, and just say, "I trust Jesus as my savior." So, I hope and I pray that you'll consider that. Listen, I was thinking this past week when it comes to life, I mean, you know, you can't do life without relationships, right? And but have you ever thought how just complicated relationships are? I mean, honestly, you came in and you're sitting next to somebody next to somebody right now and you may be thinking, "This is not who I would choose to sit next to if I had my choice right now." That maybe you had kind of a little squabble on the way to church today or maybe it's been one of those long weekends. And so, even the relationships you're sitting next to can be a little complicated or it may go way deeper than that. Um, as as you think about family relationships, relationships with parents, relationships with your own kids, sometimes they can be a little broken. They can be a little skewed. And it's just really like to be on the same page with that person. Or maybe the relationships that you're thinking about in your life are just those at work, those people that you have to spend more time with them at work, but you can't even stand to be in the same room with them. And so, relationships can be really, really complicated. So, what if I said to you that God wants more out of the relationships in your life right now than maybe what you're experiencing? And when I say more, I I don't mean more like you need to do more because sometimes that's what makes relationships so complicated. We feel like we need to do more. We need to measure up. We're not being all that that person needs us to be or wants us to be. So, it's not about doing more. But what if God when he designed you and he designed the people around you had something greater in store for you to experience a more fullness, a greater joy out of those relationships? So what if what if God's whole purpose in this world is first and foremost to give us eternal salvation so we can have a relationship with him and spend eternity in heaven. But what if as our savior, he wants to spend this earthly life in just deep relationship with the people around us? We're beginning a brand new series today called It's Complicated. And in this series, it's a four-week series. And in this series, we're going to be looking at the book in the New Testament called Phileiman. And you may like, I've never heard of Phileiman. If you're skimming through the New Testament, it's about two pages long. So you might have skimmed right past it. In fact, it's actually one chapter. And Phileiman is actually a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to this guy named Phileiman. And here's how why he wrote that letter. Because Phileiman was involved in some complicated relationships. And so Paul writes this letter to Phileiman and his purpose in writing it is going, let's take a different perspective. Let's take a different look at the relationships in your life and see if maybe quite possibly God has more for you to experience within these relationships. And so if you're here for the first time today, we're so glad you're here. It's a great day. Not only are we celebrating mothers, but we're starting this new series. So would you read with me up here on the screen the first few vase verses of Phileiman chapter 1 verse 1-3. And here's what it says. It says, "This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the good news about Christ Jesus. and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to Phileiman, our beloved c-orker, and to our sister Aia, and to our fellow soldier Archipus, and to the church that meets in your house. May God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Let me tell you a little bit more about this Phileiman character. He was an individual that was a follower of Jesus. In fact, that few verses there lets us know that he was hosting a church within his house. So he was probably more than just kind of a nominal attender in this thing called faith, this thing called church. He was hosting, he was bringing people. His whole purpose was to live out faith so people could see who Jesus was in his life. And so f Paul is writing him this letter because Phileiman, as many wealthy people were in those days, he had a few slaves. And one of his slaves, a guy by the name of Anismus that we're going to meet later in the letter, Anismus, one of his slaves decided to run away from him. He was tired of being a slave. He was tired of being controlled by somebody else. And so Onismus runs away from his owner, Phileiman. While Onismus is run away and he's trying to hide and live out his own life, Anismas meets the Apostle Paul and they form a really interesting relationship. And in their relationship, Anismas comes to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And so as Jesus is changing his life, for whatever reason, he decided he needed to return back to Phileiman. But there was a problem returning back to Phileiman might cost him several things in his life because the Roman law back in those days said a slave who was to run away from their master, if they were ever returned, they could face maybe being beaten by their master. They could face being imprisoned. they maybe could even face being executed by their owner. So, here's this Onismus, this slave, and he's trying to think, I want to do the right thing. I'm trying to follow God. I should go back to my master because that's the right thing to do. And he goes to Paul and says, Paul, what should I do? So Paul says, "Let me do this. I actually know your master Phileiman and let me write him a letter and appeal to him not his right that he has in your life as a slave. Let me appeal to him through the grace and the peace of Jesus who lives in him. In fact, I want you to look that verse three with me one more time. And here's what it says. Paul said, "Praise be to God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing that he is giving him this this blessing that he has there and this grace and this peace." And so Paul writes, this whole letter is about Paul writing Phileiman and going, "Hey, you need to receive Paul not as a former slave or your piece of of of ownership. You need to receive him as a brother in Christ. And you don't need to focus on your rights as his owner. You need to focus on the grace and the peace because he's your brother in Christ. Now, you may be saying, "Well, what does this letter have to do with us?" Okay, first of all, we don't believe in slavery. Thank goodness we put that aside in our country many, many years ago. So, we're dare not advocating that. That was just a dark season, dark period in our country. So what does this letter about a slave owner and a slave have to do with relationships in our life? And here's what it is. Because one of the reasons we have so much complication in our relationships, whether they are family, whether they are friends, whether they are work associates, it doesn't matter who it is, the reason we have so much complicated relationships is because we focus on our rights and not the grace and peace of Jesus. And so we're going to dive into this series focusing on what if instead of our rights, we place grace and peace of Jesus as the foundation of our relationships. As we dig into this letter a little bit more today, I've invited Angela Miller to come help me teach this morning. Couple of things on Mother's Day. It's always nice to have a mother's perspective. If you know Angela that she and her husband Harry have been a part of this church for over 20 years. Angela's actually led our women's ministry for like the last 18 19 years. She is 20 years. Okay, there you go. Um 20 years she's led the ministry. And so she's going to take us on a walk that we can understand better from Faliman Falim perspective, but also from another important person and that's Mary, the mother of Jesus. So would you lead us? I will.

Good morning.

Blessed is she. Blessed is she. And Mary said this, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." And then the angel left her. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her. You see, faith is not always this grand gesture, this bold declaration. It's more often this unspoken quiet yes down deep in our souls. Maybe we say it without even realizing it. Faith doesn't have to be a grand gesture. It's letting go of what's behind and it's receiving God's fullness right now. Receiving God's fullness right now. And when Mary surrendered herself to God that day and received what I would call the greatest mission ever, she simply said yes. Have you ever thought about Mary's yes? She could have said no. After all, she was a teenage girl. If you raised a teenage girl in here, would you raise your hand? Do they oftentimes say no looking at you? They do. But my oldest always said to me, "You always need to have a healthy fear of your mom." But Mary said with an affirmative, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." And not only did Mary say yes, she made room for God.

Because of Mary's yes, we are given many things. I never really thought about this before, but because she said yes to God at that moment, we have been given every spiritual blessing. In Ephesians chapter 1, we learn that we are given many things. And we don't have time to read through them all this morning, but I would encourage you strongly. I love the book of Ephesians. I have it highlighted and marked everywhere. And I would encourage you to read the first chapter because it speaks of our inheritance because of Mary's yes. Listen to what it says. It should be up on the screen as well. Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and to be blameless in his sight. Holy and blameless in love. He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through the g through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves, Jesus Christ. In him we have redemption through his blood. We have forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Thanks be to God for that. So because of Mary's yes, we've inherited all of those things. I never had put that to those two things together. But you see, there is a difference between believing in God. Many people in this world say they believe in God, but they don't make room for God. They believe in God. They know some things about God, but they don't make room for God. And making room for God, like Mary Mary did, it means letting God interrupt our plans. H as a planner, that's a hard one. Making room for God means letting his love reshape our relationships, even the complicated ones. Making room for God means letting your life become a place where others can encounter and experience God. Think about that. Letting your life become a place where others can encounter him and experience him. You know, God has really been working on my life the last several months to have a better understanding of what it truly means to experience the power and the presence of God. Not just to know about God, not just to believe in him, but to believe God. Do you hear the difference? Believing in God is different than believe God. his desire, his pursuant desire of us is to truly experience his power and his presence. So today we're going to look at two different people who show us what it is like to make room for God. Today being Mother's Day, I wanted to reference the mother of all mothers, Mary. And today we celebrate moms. And whether you gave birth or you were a mom by association or whether you're an auntie or whatever, you were a daughter of the king and you were celebrated with his love. You have loved in a way that only a mother can love. And in Mary's narrative, we see that over and over again all the way to the cross. All the way to the cross, she loved. So weaving the story of Mary with the letter of Phileiman can be powerful because you see they both center on this love expressed through a costly faith through hospitality and through transformed relationships and ultimately that leads to pure joy. They most certainly come from different contexts, but they echo the same gospel heart and they present the same unified story. And they tell us this. Faith is real. Faith is active when it makes room for God and for his people. You see, Mary's yes made room for God. And we see Mary as a normal teenage girl living in a small village with normal expectations. She was probably around the age of 14. And then suddenly God steps in through the angel Gabriel and he meets her. And I like to say he stoops in because see God stoops into our life whether we're in the mount the mountain or the valley or somewhere in between. God meets us where we're at and he met Mary that day. He's a God who stoops to wherever we are. We don't have to have it all together.

The angel, he brings her this brief message. We read it every Christmas. It's kind of matterof fact, but have you really truly read it? Because it says this. The angel says, "Mary, you have been chosen to carry the son of God, the savior of the world." She's 14. I was a 14-year-old girl one time, many years ago. She's 14 years old. You're going to carry the savior of the world. Wow. It could have cost her everything because back in that day, if you were pregnant before you were married, you were probably stoned. Certainly could have cost her her reputation. It could have cost her her engagement to Joseph. It could have just put a damper on her family completely. They could have been ostracized from the village. And in an instant, in an instant, her her future is not what she expected. It's uncertain. And yet her simple reply is this. I am the Lord's servant. Let it be to me as you have said. I think this is one of the most powerful statements of faith in the entire Bible. You see, Mary doesn't ask for guarantees. no guarantees. She doesn't even demand clarity. The only thing she asks is, "Well, how can this be? Because I'm a virgin. How can this be?" And I love what the angel says because the angel says, "Oh, Mary, the Holy Spirit is going to pour out on you and he's going to fill you up." Can you imagine?

I've been praying. God gave me the word empowerment several years ago in my life. It was a word I I have words every year and God gave me that word and I pray for God's empowerment every day. Every day. Mary doesn't even negotiate the terms. She doesn't say, "Well, okay, I'm 14. Next year I'll be 15." That would be better, God. It really would be better. Joseph and I'd be married. We'd be established. Things would settle down. That's a good time. God, she doesn't say that. She simply makes room and she loves her God. So often I want a five-step plan. You know th those of you that know me, I am a planner beyond. And I kind of like to have control too a little bit. And I definitely want a clear outcome. And I don't want any risk. Wow, she took a risk. But you see, she believed God, not just believed in him. We see Mary demonstrating obedience to the fullest fullest extent. Last week, Daniel preached on um Jonah. Loved that story. I There needs to be a sequel, Jonah 2, because it ended weird. Sorry, God. But it did kind of end weird. I was like, "Oh, what's the next part?" He said this, "True obedience is an alignment with God and his will." True obedience is an alignment with God and his will. You see, I can read my scriptures. I can come to church. I can pray. I can do all of these things. I can even volunteer. I can accept ministries. But if I am not aligned with God's will, it's really for nothing. that really spoke to me that obedience is in alignment with God's will. This is expressed through a costly faith. Her yes is the ultimate act of faith in action. And she becomes at that minute a vessel. We're all vessels, but she became at that moment a vessel of God's love to the world. Well, now let's look at Phileiman. Phileiman lived out this kind of faith and love at the beginning of his story as well. And you'll see every day in his life that he provides a place for others to experience the love of Christ. In Phileiman chapter 1 verse 5, we read these words from Paul. He says, "Because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people." You see, Paul is praising Phileiman. He's praising him for his faith in Jesus. He's praising him for his love for all the believers. He's praising him that he lives a life that refreshes others. And it's obvious that Phileiman had been doing this because he had a reputation and Paul knew about it. Paul knew that he provided a place where people could experience God. Faith doesn't just go vertically. It has to go horizontally. It has to move horizontally. Paul intentionally ties faith and love together. your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. Who are the saints? Well, when I was a little girl at Mount Air Christian Church, I thought the perfect people were the saints. Makes me think of little Frankie Frankenberry. That was her name, Frankie Frankenberry. She was small, but she was mighty. And she would sit behind us in her pew, and we sat in our pew. And she loved the Lord. And I remember her telling me, even as a little girl, she would say, "I carry gloves and a bag of snacks just in case somebody's in need. A love that's horizontal." And I'm sure she offered up a prayer for them as well. And I soon learned that we are all saints and we are all sinners in the eyes of the Lord. And real faith, real faith that's active. It produces love for people. Filamine Philean loved God and his people. And Mary loved God and her people. And we, you and me, are the recipients of that love. We wouldn't be sitting here if they wouldn't have said yes and made room for God. If Paul wouldn't have said yes, we wouldn't be sitting here. Faith in Christ is the root and love for others is the fruit. And both Mary and Phileiman and little Frankie Frankenberry demonstrated this to the fullest. In verse six, Paul says this, "And I'm praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ." This refers back to the Ephesians chapter. We have all these spiritual blessings simply because of Mary saying yes. And Paul's saying to Phileiman, I'm going to pray for you. But along with those spiritual blessings, sometimes there is a cost. And Mary's yes and making room for God cost her her comfort, her simple life, the predictability of her future, reputation. There's still some doubters out there. And ultimately ultimately it caused her to be a witness at the foot of the cross.

But God says this to Mary. I love this part. Do not be afraid Mary. Do not be afraid Mary.

You have found favor with God. You have found grace with God. And he says that to us, do not be afraid, Freda. Do not be afraid, Sandy.

Phileiman's faith cost him as well. And we'll see this as the letter begins to unfold. He's asked to do an unthinkable. He's asked to welcome Onissimus back, his slave, after he's not treated Phileiman so well. He's asked to bring him back as a brother. And in that culture, that would not have been done. You didn't go from slave to brother. That was revolutionary. It was a big ask. You see, making room for God doesn't just change your heart, but it's a faith that makes room for God. means that we welcome when it's welcome God when it's uncomfortable. Oh, have you ever felt uncomfortable when God has asked you to do something? Making room means that we allow God to interrupt us. We have to think of those as God moments. Making room for God means that we have to forgive when it's hard. We have to love when it's undeserved. And we have to allow God to transform and change how we treat people.

You know, Phileiman isn't known for one dramatic thing. Some of us had never even heard of him. I don't know about you, but I had to kind of figure out where it was in the Bible. He isn't known for that. But he is known for a consistent way of living. He's known for opening up his home as a house church where he refreshes others and he invites them in. He makes room and in his relationships, he invites them daily into his house. So they can experience God. So perhaps one day they too will make room and have others experience God. Mary's hospitality is a dramatic moment where she literally welcomes God's presence into her life. She willingly offers God's body into her life. Into her body. He moves in. He moves in. He moves into us too.

Mary shows incredible hospitality.

And then later we see her in a community with believers. She's living out this expressed faith. What must it have been like to be the mom of Jesus? Have you ever thought about that? To guide him in those year early years to discipline him. He was fully God and fully man. But he was also three at one point in time. We forget about that, don't we? That's a question I'm going to ask God someday. What happened between birth and 12? I want to know. You know, at 12, he was in the temple and he was doing what God had called him to do. And his parents were frantic because they couldn't find him. Like we get when we can't find our kids. Scripture tells us the child grew and he became strong and he was filled with wisdom and he was filled with grace and God was there with him. I would imagine at the same time God was filling up Mary and Joseph also with his love and his wisdom. They were such servants at heart. God knew that Mary allowed herself to be filled with God's grace, love, and goodness. And often we read these words and Mary pondered all of these things in her heart.

Well, I would imagine moms and dads in this room, daughters and sons of the king have pondered things in your heart as well. See, we have to surrender. Oh, that's that word we don't like. That was another word God gave me a while back. Surrender. We have to surrender to God in order for him to fill us. If we are running on empty, we cannot offer anything to anyone. We have to allow that. Align with God's will. Allow him to fill you. If you physically have to raise your hands in the morning and kneel on your knees, ask God to fill you. In Acts 1:14, we find Mary. She's in the upper room and she's praying with the disciples and she's once again showing this hospitality to them to a group of men who have failed and fled and are frightened.

And Mary's presence refreshes them. She was the living witness of the resurrection and she brought joy and comfort to them. Scripture tells us that they all joined together in constant prayer. I think this was God filling them up.

Verse seven, Paul says to f Phileiman, "Your love, Phileiman, has given me great joy and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." He praises him. And Phileiman's love and generosity and kindness has brought Paul great joy to the church and the saints. And Paul said, "The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." What a great compliment Paul gave Phileiman. The hearts of the saints, the hearts of the people have been refreshed because of you, Phileiman. Because you said yes. You see, his love strengthened tired believers and it encouraged discouraged hearts and it lifted burdens and it brought joy and it provided comfort. And Mary's joy is found in the Magnificat. Listen to these words. My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. And from now on all generations will call me blessed for the mighty one has gone done great things for me and holy is his name. You see joy is the presence of God and both Phileiman and Mary felt joy and the presence of God. Mary made room for God in her life. Phile Phileiman made room for God in his home. And they both made room for God in their hearts. Mary embodies embodies the beginning of a life of a radical yes. Yes, God. While Philean represents what a yes looks like to you and me. What yes looks like in community. What love looks like that refreshes and welcomes and restores. A generosity that can only come through the resurrection power of a hymn.

So the questions are simple.

Are we making room for God? Are we making room for God so that we can experience and that others can experience him and believe him?

Remember, most believe in him. They don't make room for him. And you know, making room is not always easy.

But when we do, when we make room, he tells us these words. Do not be afraid. I am with you. So, let's encourage one another on this journey of faith. Sisters and brothers in this room, let's encourage one another to make room for God and God's calling in your life. Let's make room for the people to be loved and cared for. Let's make room for relationships to be transformed and restored. Because when we do, God doesn't just work in us. He works through us. And he stoops to meet you exactly where you are. And then we experience pure pure joy. Whatever your circumstances, may you, as Mary and Phileiman did, entrust your future, entrust your plans, entrust your will wholeheartedly to God. And dare to believe God's generosity, knowing that the greatest act of faith can be enclosed in a simple yes. And allow your life to make room for the one who loves you the most. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Can you show your appreciation to Angela? Thank you. It's all him.

I'm sitting back there and I'm listening. I'm going the complications of relationships. Yes. But when we make room for God, his grace and his peace to come in, that's what changes relationships. Absolutely. And so, Angel, I do have because it's Mother's Day. Yes. I I know there's a lot of moms out here and probably as she's speaking, different relationships gone through all of our minds, but mom, special ones in yours. Um, and so I just have a couple of mom questions for you. Okay. The expert gets to speak. And here's the first question. When you're so busy as a mom caring for everyone else, how do you begin to even make room for God in your own life? Well, I will tell you that my babies were born 29 and 26 years ago, and I had to find a way. I've been a believer for a long time, and God and I had a personal relationship, but I had to be intentional about that. And so, what I would do is in the wee hours of the morning, as I'm rocking, as I'm singing them Jesus loves me, I would be praying for them. And that was my quiet time. And then later on when they were I was the taxi cab and we were going to dance class every other day. And I could not go to Target every day while they were in dance class because that was dangerous. So I would bring my devotions. I would bring my scripture. I'd bring my Bible study and I'd find a way to have my time. Then you know God God wants us to be in communication with him. He's so pursuant of us and I think we just have to find a way to be int intentional. Maybe it's taking a prayer walk with your young ones. Maybe it is just sitting down at the kitchen table with your teenagers and letting them know that, hey, I am praying for you. Um I I use the book with my um kids, praying the scriptures for your children. And I would think about what they're going through at certain times. And this book has all these scriptures and I would insert their names and then I would put them on a little card and I would tape them to their bathroom mirrors so they knew that mom and dad were praying for them with this specific idea in mind. And for me that helped me in my prayer walk in my journey because then I was trying to fill them and at the time at the same time God was really filling me as well. So I was encouraged to do Bible study by my husband. I was encouraged to go on women's retreats and just solely focus on the Lord for that weekend. Um, those were some very fond times in my life where I could get away and just fill myself up. And quick story, when my girls were four and seven, I went on my very first women's retreat here at this church. Left Harry with the girls. We have a lot of hair in our family. And um he came to church with them on Sunday morning and he had their dresses on and their patent leather shoes on and their tights on and their hair was curled and the girls laugh. Remember how dad curled our bangs? He curled them the wrong way. So they had a good laugh and and you know it allowed me to get away and be filled truly be filled. So I think that's one of the biggest things is you have to find time and there are moments in the day where you can do that. So, what about the mom who says, "Okay, I I can't find the time. I'll do it the next season of life." Whether the next season's when they're in elementary or next season's where they're in high school or next season's when they're out on their own families, right? What would you say to that mom? Well, I would say don't wait. I would say don't wait. You know, my mom was a great example of this and I was hoping to find this picture because it really says it all. We're standing in the pew and she's got the himynel and she has it held down so I can see it and she's pointing to how to read a himnil. Now, she had no idea that I was going to play the piano the rest of my life and read himnil music, but she took the time on that Sunday morning to show me how to read a himnil. She was constantly showing us that she was involved in Bible study and teaching Sunday school and being an elder at the church. And I remember my mom and dad sitting at the dining room table and they would prepare their Sunday school lessons for their classes. And so she didn't wait till the next season to share God's love with us. She didn't wait. She did it at the time. She taught us how to pray. She was an example of what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. And just a quick story, um, two weeks ago tomorrow, we moved my mom from her home of 64 years

into assisted living. Her mind is bad. Her dementia is worse than we thought. It's been a challenge. But

we can lean on her faith. She hasn't forgotten that. She hasn't forgotten that because I'll tell her, "Mom, God is in every detail. God is in every detail of this journey and he's going to see us through. She asked me the other day when I left her, she said, I told her that and she said, "Do you promise? He promises." So don't wait. I don't care if they're just tiny, tiny little babies. Oh, sing to them. Jesus loves me. Pray for them.

One last question, Angela. We got moms out here that their kids are grown and they can't rock them. They wish they could. Yes. But they're in that season of life where maybe their own grown kids have walked away from the grace and peace of Jesus. What would you share with that mom? Well, first and foremost for foremost, we have to just love them through it. We have all been at a place where we're searching. We've all been a place where we're searching. We've planted the seed, right? We've planted the seed. We've encouraged them along the way. But ultimately, their choice is their choice. I had to make that choice for myself when I was 16 years old. I've been raised in the church. I was baptized. I did all of those things. And I went to a youth retreat and and um the man said, "You're not a believer or a Christian because your parents were." Oh, okay. And I remember raising my hand and accepting Jesus into my heart as my personal savior. So it was my choice. My faith was no longer my parents' faith. It was my relationship with Jesus Christ that changed my life forever. So, I think we just keep praying and we let them know that being an a young adult is hard in this world. Oh, I'm glad I was raised I was raised because it's hard. So many different things pulling at them all the time. But there's a verse in Proverbs that that um rings true to me and it says this, "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is is old, he will not depart from it." That is a promise we have to trust in. You know, I know for all of us, today's word has has hit us, right? Whether we're mom, dad, son, daughter, niece, nephew, it's hit us. But for moms, we just want you to know, not just that we celebrate you, that we want to pray for you. And I'm going to do something we've done the last couple years here at South Sub Mother's Day, and it may be one of the most holiest moments that we do all year. And I'm going to invite moms to come up here where we can pray for you, where you can have another mom next to you that you may not even know who they are. But there's something about the gathering of motherhood up here that speaks in a language as us men, we have no idea what's going on. And you may be here going, "Well, I'm not a mother." Here's what I would say. God has created every woman to be a mother in some way. Whether you're with child yet or not, everyone, you're taking care of somebody, you're loving somebody, you're nurturing somebody. And so, moms, would you join us up here that we as a church can pray for you? Just come up here if you will, and we're just going to gather around you. We're going to pray.

Come on. Don't be shy. Don't be bashful. Don't be shy. There's going to be a lot of us. Some of you are afraid the men are going to get a jump start on the good food out there. That's why you don't want to come up here. Just come on up here, moms. Come on up.

Yeah. Just come on. Squeeze on up here. I'm not scared. You can come on. And I want you to touch somebody next to you. I don't I don't care how with hands, shoulder, just touch somebody. Making room. Making room. We're making room. All right, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Moms, we love you. Heavenly Father, we are so indeed grateful for this beautiful day that you've given us that we can come into your house and we can worship you. I thank you for each person here today who has made room in their life to come here to your house to be filled with your spirit, to be filled with your word, to be filled with your love and grace and peace. Oh Lord, what a special day. Special day when we honor the mothers in our life, whether they're still with us or they're celebrating in heaven, we honor them. And now, Lord, I just pray pray a special special prayer on each one of these ladies in this room that they will allow you to come into their life. That you will allow that they will allow you to move into them to fill them with your love and with your grace and with your wisdom and your patience and your courage and your confidence.

Your love knows no end, God. fill them so they can do the job that you've called them to do. To love on the little people in their life, to love on the young adults in their life, to love on their own moms. Fill them, Lord. Help them to make room so that they can feel the mighty power of Jesus Christ and feel his amazing, amazing presence. And I pray these things and a special blessing over all of you. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.