May 14th, 2017
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Transcription : MS Word (English) , PDF (English)
Bulletin : PDF (English) , HWP (English)
The Mother with Great Faith (Mt 15:21-28)
(Intro)
It is good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “The Mother with Great faith”. Today is not Mother’s Day Sunday, but it is Mother’s Prayer Day. I want to thank all the mothers here. In America, you have Mother’s Day on the 2nd Sunday of May. You can ask why does our church do Mother’s Prayer Day? We prepared roses. Originally, you are not supposed to give out carnations, but you are supposed to put it on yourself if she is alive. So many people bought red carnations, it ran out. The people who sell flowers used their heads. They had an idea. If your mother is not alive, put on a white carnation. Today, we prepared roses for the mothers. What is the meaning of a rose? It means love and passion. If a man gives a red rose to a female, it means he loves her. In our church, a red rose means the blood of Christ. The red stem represents Christ. It represents the blood of life. Today, you need to confess to your mother that she is the only one who gave you life. You are also confessing that Jesus is the only one who has given us eternal life. Thus, today, we are celebrating today as the Mother’s Prayer Day, just not Mother’s Day. What is the reason why we change the culture? It is necessary for you to know the origin of Mother’s Day. In Greek history, there are many gods. The mother of those gods was Rea. They celebrated Rea every year. That is where the day came from. Many years passed. The mother of Jesus is Mary. They celebrated every year the mother of Jesus. There are many people who were poor so they worked for rich people. They had to make a living. On Mother’s Day, the rich people would send all his servants back to their homes. They would get the day off so they could celebrate with their mothers. This happened in England. The American Civil War broke out and they did not have help, so mothers volunteered. Then, they had Mother’s Peace Day. It changed as time passed. There was a Sunday school teacher named Ann Jarvis in West Virginia, who passed away. Her daughter came to the church to speak and asked everyone if they respected their parents. Then she gave them roses. This spread throughout the country. John Wanamaker who was a CEO of the department stores invited mothers to come and celebrated them. In 1914, this was finalized. President Wilson set a date for the 2nd Sunday of May. Think about the flow of this day. This started from a Greek goddess. Then, it spread to the Catholic church. It was transformed into a Mother’s Peace Day. After that, through Christianity, it was changed into Mother’s Day. It was done by God. It was developed into a new day. We do not just celebrate Mother’s Day. Think about this day in front of God. How can we focus more on the Gospel while celebrating the Mother’s Prayer Day? We need to reinterpret this. As children of God, we need to reinterpret this Mother’s Day. Mothers are vital. They can change a person’s future. We need to have a prayer topic of a mother who hold onto the Gospel. Children need to pray for their mother. Mothers need to pray for their children’s blessings. We need to move forward doing this. We are giving Mother’s Prayer Sunday. A mother can change 1 person. They can fulfill God’s will.
1. Mother of prayer behind great figures
(1) Moses – Jochebed (Num 26:59)
(2) Samuel – Hannah (1 Sam 1:20)
(3) Timothy – Eunice (2 Tim 1:5)
Great figures have mothers who prayed for them. Moses’ mom was Jochebed. A Levite man and woman married to conceive Moses in Num 26. He was one of Israel’s greatest leaders. He fulfilled the work of the Exodus. They were passing through the wilderness and he was able to feed them. She had to hide and raise him. She had to send him off. Also, she had the faith to send her daughter to check on him. By God’s work, she went into the palace. As a nurse for her son, she was able to relay God’s covenant to him with praying. As you all know, he became one of Israel’s greatest leaders and utilized by God. Samuel’s mother was Hannah, who was a mother of prayer. He was a prophet who saved the nation and not one of his words fell to the ground. He was also a man of prayer. He was the one who raised David. This was all possible because Hannah prayed for him. Timothy’s mother was Eunice. He was one of the greatest evangelists. He received the faith of his mother. Many other individuals became great because of the prayers of their mother. One of the greatest theologians was St. Augustine. He had a life filled with depravity. His mother Monica prayed for him in tears. After many years, St. Augustine repented and wrote etter to his mother. “Wherever there was a fight, his mother was there. She had great patience. His mother prayed for others to come before God. She prayed for her husband to come back to God. Monica prayed for her mother-in-law.” They had a bad relationship at first, but it was repaired. Also, Rockefeller was a great and wealthy person. His mother taught him 10 lessons. “Serve God more than your father. Serve the Pastor next to God. Give worship at the church in Sunday. Sit at the front seat. Have tithe ready. Don’t make enemies. In the morning, write your goals and pray for that. In the night, think about your day and pray. In the morning, read the Bible. If you could help others, do it.” You all know he became a person of faith. When he was 33, he became a millionaire. After 10 years, he owned the biggest company in the world. He was a wealthy person. He confessed that he did all those things because of the teachings of his mother. When he was 53, he was diagnosed with an incurable disease. He was doomed to die. He went to the hospital in a wheelchair. When he was going through the hospital lobby, it was loud. He was asking what that noise was. The mothers had daughters in critical conditions, but could not afford hospital payments. Therefore, arguments broke out. This mother was begging because her daughter needed medical treatment. At that moment, he saw a picture with a quote, “Those who give have more blessings than those who receive”. He thought about his mother and cried. He thought that he believed in God, but only worked hard for money. He was about to die. He needed to be a person who gives. He asks for his secretary. He told him to pay for all their hospital fees. With his help, the mother’s daughter was able to receive medical treatment and was healed miraculously. Seeing that, Rockefeller was happy. He wrote it in his auto-biography. He was never happier than at that moment. The moment he helped others, his disease was cured. He was able to live until 98. When he looked back on his life, he was always going after something. in the latter part of his life, he lived happily. He was able to have a happy life because of his mother’s teaching. I bless you will have God’s blessings in grace. You can ask why are you only talking about Americans? There was an elder named Chae. He was a CEO of a big company. He confessed that He was able to have success because of his mother’s faith and prayer. He said that he was always told to sit in the front seat of worship, give tithe, obey the pastor and use his talents for the Gospel from his mother. He considered the words of his mother as extremely vital. The people who had success had the prayers of their mother.
2. The mother of sick daughter who was acknowledged for a great faith
(1) The faith that transcended the limitation of region and identity (Mt 15:21-22)
(2) The faith that knew Jesus was the Christ (Mt 15:22)
(3) The desperate faith that humbled herself for the answer (Mt 15:23, 27)
We saw Matthew 15. A mother was introduced. It is not vital that the daughter was healed. What is important is what Jesus said to the mother. Jesus told the mother that her faith is great. She had great faith. How was the mother able to receive compliments from Jesus? Jesus was at this region. It was a Canaan woman whom He met. The image of her hometown was bad because of a oldest son of Canaan, who was cursed from Noah, and a wicked queen Jezebel. The woman was a Gentile, not a Jew. Her region was shunned by other people. Even though she was a Gentile, she came to Jesus. She did not beg for help. "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” She called Him as her Lord. She also called Him the descendant of David. “Lord” means God. “Son of David” means that she realized that Jesus was the Messiah. It was the same faith and confession that Peter had. She confessed, “You are the solution to all problems. If you cannot help me, there is no other way.” She knew who Christ was correctly. All the mother here need the correct confession of Christ. “My only happiness is Christ. The being who could bring success to my husband is Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who can make my children great.” You need to confess these words. Even if your husband leaves you or your kids are unkind to you, you need to confess that Christ is sufficient. That woman had faith. After her confession, Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him to send her away. He said that He was sent only for the lost sheep of Israel. When Jesus answered, she didn’t get mad. We would probably get mad. When pastors say something upsetting, people leave. The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." He is saying that she is a Gentile. She said that even dogs eat the crumbs off the master’s table. She had the faith of knowing the mystery of Christ. She needed His help to heal her daughter. She needed His power. At that moment, He said that her faith is great. Her prayer was answered with faith. Even though she was initially ignored, she overcame it. She had the faith to overcome everything. I bless that all the mothers would have this faith. Jesus complimented her. The daughter was healed. Even if she cannot eat, she would feed her children. Even though she is shameful, she would make a living. Even if she is criticized, she would make money to educate her children. Today, we need to hold onto that woman’s faith.
3. The mothers who faced the origin of Mothers Prayer Sunday
(1) The faith of only grace (Heb 4:16)
(2) The faith of only Jesus (Mt 17:1-8)
(3) The faith of only prayer (Mk 9:29)
We need to seek God’s grace. We need the faith that we only need God’s grace regardless of any conditions or situations. ‘Once the grace of God takes place, everything will be changed!’ All the mothers need to long for the grace of God. In the age of Noah, he founded favor in the eyes of the LORD. He was able to receive salvation and became a great summit as well. Receiving salvation and answers to our prayers are the grace of God. God has prepared everything in grace. We need to find that. May you forcefully advance the grace of the kingdom of God. In today’s scripture reading, the woman was concentrating on Jesus. Likewise, we need to focus on Him. You cannot compare anything with Jesus. We need to hold onto Him. It is recorded in Matthew 17, He led them up a high mountain by Peter, James and John the brother of James. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Moses and Elijah were beside Him. Peter was so shocked. Peter said that he would build 3 houses and give it to them. Then, when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. I hope that you only have faith in Jesus. The woman continues to ask for help. It is the faith of only prayer. That’s why Jesus said in Mk 9:29, "This kind can come out only by prayer." They shouted and yelled. Then, God’s miracle took place. All the mothers need this faith. Future mothers need this. Be the mother who receives compliments of God.
(Conc)
Mothers need to make children grasp firmly onto God’s covenant and to stand behind them with the strength of prayer. The only way to save children is only the covenant. You need to make your children grasp hold of the Gospel and world evangelization. Make them become imprinted and rooted inside of the covenant. Most of our children can have worship, but they don’t know about the Gospel. If they go out with that status, they fall. That is why people of the world criticize Christians. They don’t have the strength. We need to realize that our status has greatly fallen. You need to restore the value of the Gospel. This is what we are called by God. The mothers need to pray for their children. You might have a question. You might not have a mother to pray for you because she doesn’t believe or she has passed away. It can be frustrating. God can allow that. You need to go before God directly. How? It is in Jeremiah 33:1-3. He was imprisoned at the time because he was framed. At that time, God told him, “he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it--the LORD is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' If you don’t have a mother to pray for you, it is the time to cry out to the Lord. God has given you the chance to cry out to Him. God has given you the chance to see unsearchable things that you do not know. Only with Christ, can you finish everything. That is the Gospel. They are the figures of the Early Church. They are the figures of ourselves in this age. Even if no one is helping you, you can overturn everything with Christ. Mothers need to raise your kids to become that way. I bless that you will triumph.