0:00 Good afternoon, church family. What a special day. One of the verses we read uh which Sanjay put up before we sang the song was Proverbs 1:8 and 9. It's a beautiful verse to remember. A mother's instruction, do not forsake a 0:18 mother's instruction. Wear it like a crown. It will be like a crown on your head. Many of us have a good relationship with our moms. We We like our moms. We want things from them. We tell them we love them. But children, teenagers, how many of you 0:34 can say "I listen to my mom's instruction." And it's easier to Your dad sometimes is a stronger one. It's easier to listen to your dad because he's stronger and there's maybe more consequences if you don't listen to him. With your mom, 0:46 sometimes you take that for granted. This verse says, "If you obey your mom's instruction, you pay attention to your mom's instruction, that's like a crown on your head." And today, even in this church, there are some kids, some teenagers, who are 1:01 walking with spiritual crowns on their heads. And others who are not. It's just a simple Nobody Humans can't see it. God can see it. Spiritually discerning people can see it. You want to be teenagers, children, be one that is walking around with a crown 1:17 of your mom's instruction. What a What a great reminder for us on Mother's Day. Who do you think is the best example of a mother's love in the Bible? Greatest example of a mother's love in the Bible. Believe it or not, the best example of a 1:33 mother's love is God himself. So, I'll share a little bit to start with about what we can learn from God's maternal love, so to speak. So, if you turn with me to Isaiah 49, I'll just share a few of the passages that I found from both 1:51 God in the Old Testament, even Jesus in the New Testament, that show him. It says God created both man and woman in his in his image. So, he created mothers in his image. There were attributes there. There were virtues there 2:07 that he wants us to learn about his love. And it's interesting here that the passages I found about which talk about God's love like the love of a mother actually spoke more about God's love for the church or for family units. 2:23 Because the maternal love not just for individuals, but it was for family units or the church or the nation of Israel in the Old Testament which is a picture when you read Jerusalem or Zion in the Old Testament, that's a 2:33 picture of the church in the New Testament or a picture of the family unit that makes up our churches. So, Isaiah chapter 49 verse 14. This is Zion saying, this is the new covenant church or this is the family a family here is sitting in our church 2:49 saying, "The Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has forgotten me." This is the orphan syndrome. Based on what we're going through, based on the trial we're going through, based on the fact that we think we're not getting our way cuz 3:02 we don't see the Lord's plan and we respond saying, "How can he be a loving father? Where's this mother's love that he is he's forgotten me?" And verse 15 says, "Can a woman God challenges by them saying, not that I'm talking about a father's love, he 3:17 talks about a mother's love. He said, "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even a mother may forget, even a human mother may forget, but I will not forget you. This is the perfect maternal love. 3:33 I will not forget you. It might look because of the circumstance that you're not remembered, but take this as an assurance family of God, take this as a for us as a church, for us as families, individuals as well. The Lord has a constant remembrance of 3:48 you and your situation. And it says in the next verse, this is a verse we memorized many times as a church family as one of our memory verses. Behold, I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands. One of the translations, I think it's amplified, 4:01 says, I have a picture of you on my palms. The ones we love, we carry pictures of in our wallet. The Lord is saying, I have a picture of you. I have a picture of your family that I carry on the palms of my hands. You are 4:13 forever in my remembrance. Your walls are continually before me. What is your walls are continually before me? The context of this passage is Isaiah's writing to the nation of Judah that's in exile in Babylon. 4:32 Judah and Israel that's in in Babylon. And their walls are broken down by the enemy. And the Lord is saying, I see those broken walls, the broken walls that the enemy has tried to destroy, and they are before me, and I've got a plan. 4:46 That's what this verse means. We memorized this verse many times. It was important to know what it's talking about. It's a It's a verse of rebuilding. And the proof of that is in the next verse, which says, Your builders are 4:55 hurrying. But your destroyers and devastators will depart from you. That's a message for us as the church. We want to be We And for us as families, we want to be in the family of God or in as members of a family, we want to be 5:10 ones that are building up and that the spirit of the devastator and the destroyer is removed from our midst. And from our church. We want to be ones that the Lord will use with this maternal love to say, I am going to use you to build up. 5:25 I'm going to see that family over there whose walls are who's going through that trial right now, whose walls look like ruined. Look at that other member in the church. I'm going to use you to build up build up. I'm going to use you to hurry to 5:37 build up. This is the love of a mother that God himself exemplifies. Few chapters later, if you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 66. It's the last chapter in Isaiah. This is another attribute of maternal 5:57 love that we see from God, our heavenly father. Isaiah 66:12 and 13. For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend Again, this is spoken to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a picture of the new covenant church, the new covenant family. 6:12 For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river and the glory like an overflowing stream and you will be nursed. You will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will 6:25 comfort you. And you will be comforted in Jerusalem." This is the message of God to the one that is repented repentant to the one that is tempted to feel condemned or discouraged. Once you've repented and you've turned to the Lord, the Lord is the next 6:43 message like we shared last week in repentance and rest, you will be saved. After you have repented, the next message for you is one of comfort, the one of a comforting mother. That's the love that the heavenly father That's the love that we 6:57 want to have. If we're mature members of the church, we are growing up as pillars in this church, we want to have this love to say when we see the first sign of repentance, we want to bring comfort to the one that is struggling. Comfort 7:09 to the one that is suffering. Comfort to the one that may have recently going through a period of grief. This is how the Lord models This is how our heavenly father models the love of a mother. And this wasn't just God in the Old 7:25 Testament, this was Jesus. If you turn to Matthew 23 and why don't we bring up that image if we can. Um This is a beautiful picture of what Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 3 23. Um This 7:43 Matthew 23 is an interesting passage. Encourage you to read it and meditate on it. The Jesus goes through the entire chapter with a bunch of very strong rebukes to the Pharisees. Really strong rebukes. Whitewashed tombs, woe to you this, woe 8:01 to you this. Like eight different woes. And calls them practically curses them out in terms of what they're the in terms of the hypocrisy that they show and the way they live their lives. But don't miss this last part, which is 8:19 where what Jesus the heart that Jesus had even for these Pharisees, which was in verse 37. Matthew 23:37. This is to those same people of Jerusalem he says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stoned those who are sent to her. 8:36 How often I wanted to gather your children together? How? Like how a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you were not willing." This is Jesus' example. Jesus is using an example of a mother. An example of a mother hen that wants to 8:54 gather everyone, even the even the hypocrite, even the Pharisee that is proud. But it says here, "You were not willing." The Lord is looking for repentant ones at the first sign of repentance. And that's what I have in this 9:08 picture right here is several chicks that have said, "We want to be under the wings of this mother hen." And that one that is a little bit unwilling that's saying, "You know what? I think I can manage on my own. I think 9:22 I can go out and do this on my own." Pride has crept in. And for the one that is proud and has turned their back on the mother hen, the mother hen it says right here, "You were not willing. I couldn't force you to get under here because you were not 9:35 willing." But at the first sign of repentance off that little chick turning around, the mother hen will grab him and put him under his his wing. And I was asking Gemini yesterday, what is Why does a mother hen do this to 9:51 chicks? And the first reason, I mean there were a couple of reasons like protection, but the first reason it said was to regulate warmth because a chick cannot generate warmth from its own body and it needs the mature body of a mother 10:04 hen to regulate warmth of the chick. And that's the reason that it's needed. I thought that was a beautiful picture. In a cold stormy night, cold stormy situation, to see Jesus as one that is providing that warmth and that comfort. 10:24 We have you know in all of our beds we have what's called comforters. Where does that word comforter come from? A comforter keeps you warm and it's a great picture that this maternal love of comfort goes with warmth. It goes with warming 10:39 up and this is a much needed ministry in our church as well. There are many who are seeking that warmth, who are going through a difficult time, going through a challenging situation. And if they're unwilling, if they're 10:52 proud and they're walking away, the Lord says I I I you we still grieve over it, but the moment we see them coming back coming in towards us, we want to we want to be ones that are comforters. The moment we see the first sign of 11:05 repentance, we want to have that same example that Jesus has. Even in our own family, when we see see our kids going through something or doing something wrong, the moment you see a sign of repentance in your kids, show 11:16 them the warmth of the mother hen. That's the love of the mother. That not just is not just for moms. This is Jesus saying, "I am a mother hen." And if I can follow Jesus as he lived his life, then I'm also it doesn't matter. Father, mother, older 11:34 sibling. We can be we can provide that warmth and that comfort. So, what a beautiful example. And this is this picture that we want to live our lives in this warmth. We know that verse in Psalms 131 which we shared a few times 11:44 where it says, "I do not concern myself with things that are too great to me, but I great for me, but I will like a weaned child, I will rest against my mother." And this that's again a picture of what David was said the psalmist was talking 11:58 about leaning on God, depending on God, on God's warmth. And as we lean on that and the Lord grows us, we can be that same source of warmth to to ones as well to others in our family, others in our church. This is the ministry. 12:14 I don't know if you've noticed this, but Paul actually talks about a ministry of maternal love. If you turn with me to 1 Thessalonians, 1 1 Thes- Thessalonians chapter 2. Many of us have heard about Paul's great 12:36 admonishing and rebukes and his strong ministry, but here's a interesting passage where Paul himself says to the Thessalonians, to ones who were maybe struggling with discouragement or self-condemnation, who had repented, 12:50 and Paul's message to them was different than the message to the Corinthians where he spoke words strong words of rebuke. His message to the Thessalonians was verse 7 1 Thessalonians 2:7, "We proved to be gentle among you." 13:04 Well, how was our gentleness mo- modeled? Jesus himself said, "Come to me those who are heavy laden, those who are repentant, those who are weary. Come to me and I will give you rest and I will teach you humility. You can learn 13:14 humility and gentleness from me." And Paul fo- saw that example in Jesus and said, "I want to learn gentleness from Jesus." And he was showing this to the Thessalonians too. "We proved to gen- to be gentle among you as a nursing mother 13:25 tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also of our own lives because you had become very dear to us. This is a picture of a mother's love. 13:40 I'm not just going to speak words of the gospel to you. I am going to lay down my life completely for you. I'm going to impart my entire life for you. Why? Because you are dear to me. Not because it's a big chore for me to 13:52 do it. For the one who's laying down their lives with with a maternal love, the sacrifice doesn't even matter. You ask any mother here in this in in here sitting here today. They will tell you they will gladly when they were 14:05 feeding their babies when they're young or even now, they will gladly lay down their life, gladly sacrifice because of that love that God created in them. This is the picture that Paul has for a special ministry in the church. And I 14:18 love these words with the way it says, fond affection and dear. These are words we don't often hear in the church. We hear many other spiritual words. Brothers and sisters, if you are not growing in a fond affection for the other brothers and sisters in 14:37 this church, you cannot say, "I love to come to NCCF because I'm growing in fond affection for these brothers and sisters." Then you have missed out on the ministry that God has for this church, for the members of this church, for the maternal 14:53 love that he is trying to exemplify through what he is what we've seen through God the Father in the Old Testament, through Jesus, through Paul in these examples. This is the message of us to be growing in the example of Christ, in the example 15:08 of God, example of Paul as ones who grow in fond affection so that the brothers and sisters become dear to us. Obviously, our family is dear to us. Obviously, our children are dear to us. But even with them, let's grow in fond 15:18 affection for each other, siblings for each other. Let's grow in in the church as well as seeing each one here as dear to us. And that'll change the way we speak about them. When we we speak words that are loose words, we'll we'll speak them 15:33 carefully with discernment because they're dear to us. Because we have a fond affection to them. That'll just change the way in which we pray for them. The way in which we serve them. Because it's not because the elders told 15:44 you to do it or because you heard a word at NCCF or because you're listening to daily devotional, it'll be because I have fond affection and because they're dear to me. And that's why I'm willing to lay down my life for them. 15:55 So, this is the example of God and Jesus and Paul that I wanted to share. I wanted to also share a few words to sisters and mothers as well. Um in in a church like ours where we preach a new covenant message of the father being the head of the home, 16:15 there's often a danger that a sister or a mother just becomes a tag-along with the father. Father's the head of the home. The mother just tags along and and this is something I just want to speak about briefly. There are two 16:28 things that can potentially destroy families, new covenant families. And a mother that is either imposing themselves as the head of the home or a mother that has not gripped themselves with growing in Christ-likeness 16:47 while in submission to the head of the home. So, we don't want to be as sisters and and mothers here, we don't want anyone to be just tagging along, coming to church as tagging along because my husband comes here and he's the one who's gripped and 17:01 he's moving or we don't want anyone to be asserting themselves as an authority. And there may be once in some cases, in some homes, the mother may be the most spiritual one. But yet the way the mother and the other wife 17:15 displays that spiritual spirituality or that that message of discipleship and love of Christ is through submission to one who's less spiritual than them. And so, I just want to show you a couple of examples from the Bible of mothers that you may 17:29 have may of uh that you may not see. The first one is the example of Mary in Luke chapter 1. And Luke 1 chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2. So, if you can turn with me to Luke chapter 1. We'll look at um Mary and Elizabeth. This is a beautiful picture. We have 17:48 often, you know, sisters talking to each other, moms hanging out with each other, calling each other out on the phone, spending time with each other. What is it that our conversation must be filled with? There's a verse in Titus chapter 2 which 18:01 which encourages older women, older sisters, when they are around younger sisters or older moms when they're around younger moms, it says in Titus 2:3-5, it says, "Do not be gossips, but teach the other sisters what is good. Encourage young women to love 18:17 their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible and pure workers at home." That's Titus 3:5 3 Titus 2:3-5. Kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. There's a way we can 18:30 dishonor the word of God that we hear at NCCF is by not is by gossiping. We hear these great words, we think we're applying them, but we go and gossip. And the Lord is saying, "Older sisters, be an example to younger sisters to love 18:43 their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure workers at home." And I want to show you this example from from Mary and Elizabeth. So, Mary heard the word of God uh through the angel that said, "You will conceive and bear a son." 18:56 And uh she was uh that's an overwhelming thing for her to hear. And one of her first responses after that encounter was she said, "Let me go seek fellowship with another sister. This is an overwhelming thing that I've received. Let me go see 19:11 seek fellowship with another sister. And so, she says in verse 39 and at that time uh Luke 1:59 it says, "Mary arose and went in a hurry." It was so urgent for her to seek this fellowship. To the city of Judah and entered the 19:26 house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. Now, it's not said what she said to greet Elizabeth. But, it's a powerful thing. I don't want to gloss over that too lightly because it says in verse 41, "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, 19:41 the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." What a powerful ministry. Imagine replacing, sisters, moms, as you fellowship, imagine replacing gossip or just idle talk with saying, "The way 19:58 I'm going to greet, the way I'm going to encourage you is going to cause the Holy Spirit to come down upon you." I'm going to We're going to encourage each other with the hunger which you have and that hunger is going to be 20:10 contagious. And when the Holy Spirit comes upon me, the Holy Spirit will come upon you because of the way you receive my greeting. What a powerful word that Mary just greets Elizabeth and Elizabeth's filled with the Holy 20:20 Spirit. And then Elizabeth, I mean, this is like a ping-pong match. It is ping-pong of encouragement and prophecy because Elizabeth goes right back and says, "Blessed are you." Encouraging her. And this is the verse we meditated at 20:33 the beginning of this year, verse 45. We we meditated on this verse which our brother Kevin Turner shared with us at the end of the year. "Blessed is the one who believed that" verse 45, "Blessed is the one who believed that there would be a 20:46 fulfillment to what God has spoken to him or her." This word was spoken from Elizabeth to Mary would not have happened if Mary did not come with that encouraging spirit to Elizabeth. Holy Spirit comes down on Elizabeth. Elizabeth, in return, 21:01 prophesies back to Mary and says, "Cling on in hope to that word that the Lord has uh promised you." That's what it says about Sarah in the hall of fame in the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. She said it says that she's considered one of the faithful 21:16 women because she after an initial period of doubting, she clung on to God's promise that God was faithful to honor his promise. And this is the same verse over here. Imagine if we can be ones when we're when when sisters are 21:30 fellowshipping, when mothers are fellowshipping, that they are encouraging and challenging each other like this. Prophetic utterance. And then right back right after that as soon as Mary receives this word, she goes into 21:41 one of the most famous prayers, what's called the Magnificat, where she says, "I rejoice in the Lord. My spirit exalts in you." From verse 46 and 47. And many powerful verses that we quote like that say, "He has scattered the proud proud 21:53 ones in his thoughts. He has filled the hungry with good things and set the rich ones empty-handed." Verse 53. Verses that we quote often. This came out of just one sister visiting another sister and saying, "I'm going to 22:07 encourage you." And the Holy Spirit falls on both of them. What a powerful ministry there is here for sisters and moms as they fellowship. And then if you turn to Luke 2, let's look at Mary's example as a mother. Luke 2, we know the story of how when 22:26 Jesus was forgotten in the temple and his parents came to retrieve him. And and when they found him, they found him in the temple talking to the scribes and the priests. In verse 49, he said to them, Luke 2:49, he says to them, 22:43 "Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my father's house?" But they did not understand the statement which he had made to them. And verse 51, it says, "He went down with them and came to Nazareth and he 22:54 continued in subjection to them." Great great word for all of us children and all of us teenagers to follow the example of Jesus. He did this all the way from zero to 30 in this context is talking about from 12 to 30 continued in submission to his 23:12 parents. Continued in submission to his mother. Wore his mother's instruction like a crown. Jesus who was much more spiritual than his parents. Perfect with imperfect parents. But here's a beautiful part I want to show you about Mary's response to it. His 23:29 mother treasured these things in her heart. And so I want to challenge you mothers. What is it that you're treasured today? When you look at your children are you treasured the fact that they're really good in a sport? Or they're really good in a field of 23:46 study? Or they're really doing great in their grades? They've got a 4.0 GPA? They're great at the piano or great at in a in an instrument? Mary treasured the fact that her son was growing in subjection 24:05 and growing in submission. And it says Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and with favor with God and men. That's what I want to challenge all mothers and and fathers for that matter, all of us to start treasured the right 24:18 things in our children. Treasure a spirit of submission. Treasure a spirit of obedience. Those are the things that are worth treasured. Everything else is going to pass away. The fruit of Christ the fruit of the spirit the life of Christ growing in 24:36 humility in our children for them to be disciples starting with submission in their own home, obedience in their own own home. This is what Mary treasured when she saw it in Jesus. She treasured that in her heart and that must be the treasure of 24:48 our hearts as parents. I want to show you another example in of a a wife. There's another uh mother in the Bible whom an angel appeared to. You may not have ever seen this before and if you turn with me in 25:07 Judges chapter 13, there's another story of an angel that appears to a woman and says, "You will conceive and bear a child." Very similar to Mary. But this was Samson's mother. Judges chapter 13. I'll just read a few verses and this is 25:22 a beautiful picture of a sister whom I believe was much more spiritually minded than her husband. And the reason I think that's the case is because the angel of God appeared to her. The angel of God never appeared to her 25:36 husband, but he always appeared to her. But I want you to see her response as a wife, as a mother to these to these situations where the angel of the Lord appeared to her. And it says um the angel of the Lord appeared in 25:52 verse nine, Judges 13 verse nine, came Uh actually, let's go over a few verses earlier. Uh he's In verse five, the angel of the Lord appears to him appears to Manoah's wife. Manoah is the father of Samson and says, "You will conceive and bear a son." 26:11 Judges 13 verse five. And what is her response as soon as she sees this man talking to her? She doesn't get into a conversation with him. She doesn't uh try to rationalize it or think about how favored she was because the angel of 26:28 God was speaking to her. She immediately runs and comes to her husband. In verse six. And tells him exactly, "A man of God has come and spoken to me." And that and says that we will conceive and give birth to a son. And then it says Manoah prayed to the 26:43 Lord verse eight and said, "Please let the man of God whom you have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boys to be born." And God heard this prayer verse nine. And again, the angel of the Lord came to 26:54 the woman. As he was sitting in the field, he could have come to Manoah, but he came to the woman. But her husband was not there. And think about this, we we know the parallel story of Eve in the Garden of Eden where the serpent comes to Eve and Eve gets 27:08 into conversation with the serpent, but does not consult her husband. This in a way is the opposite of Eve. Here's a woman interacting with a celestial being and in verse 10, it says the second time when the angel came to her, again she ran quickly back 27:24 to her husband saying, "I am a woman under authority. I need to run back to my husband and said, 'Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me. You must come and meet him, too.' And then she brings her husband out to come 27:35 and meet meet him. And then verse 12, Manoah, the father, says, "Now when and this woman is never named." Manoah's wife is never named, but I I just see a beautiful picture of a wife who's in submission, who is the Lord is ministering to 27:51 directly, but she has an urgency for her husband to be brought along. And an urgent and she has a desire to continue to submit to her husband. Manoah said to Now, in verse 12, Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be 28:05 the boy's mode of life and vocation?" Manoah is thinking ahead and saying, "When this boy, Samson, is born, what is his life going to be? What should we train him to be?" And the angel's response is fascinating. He doesn't 28:15 answer that question. The angel says, "Just make sure." Verse I'm paraphrasing verse 14. Okay, uh verse 13 and 14 says, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I have said. Let the mother just obey the word that I've given her, which is not to drink 28:32 um not to eat anything that comes from the vine. And this is the message to many of us as parents as well. We may be asking we may undertaking to the Lord and saying, "Lord, what is it that you want me what that this child is supposed to do that 28:48 my child is supposed to do? They're getting ready for college age and I I I show me your will. What should be your will your perfect will for my child? And the Lord is saying, "All you need to do is obey me in your own life right now. As a mom, 29:01 show me with your own obedience. And as you show me with your own obedience, I will reveal my will for your children." This is a message not just for moms, it's a message for us as parents as well. As we obey the Lord, as 29:13 we seek to obey the Lord, as wives who seek to grow in submission, even if they may be more spiritual than their husbands, grow in submission, grow in the likeness of Christ, grow in humility. This is what the Lord intends to do. 29:31 He is for us to grow in obedience through these examples. I want to share a brief excerpt from my mom's book, God Made Mothers. In the opening chapter of this book, this is what's written. All of us mothers have a great responsibility 29:50 before God to pass on to our children all that God has taught us. We must not leave this earth without having done so. This is not a responsibility that we can afford to postpone until our children are grown up. We must 30:07 start sharing with our children the wonderful things that God has done for us right from the time that they are very little. There is no magic formula for bringing up children all right since each child is different, but you must never forget that it was 30:22 God who chose you to be the mother of your children. It was God who created each of those children in your womb. And he created each of them with a purpose. He appointed you to be their mother. So, you have to take your God-given 30:37 responsibility seriously and be willing to sacrifice everything for his sake and their sake. What a great challenge. What a great ministry we have. Maybe a nameless ministry, but one that will empower disciples for the next generation. 30:52 And I praise the Lord for my own mother, who has been an example to me. Nameless in many ways of the life of Christ. She's had no desire to be known as a pastor's wife. Completely content to be in the sidelines. In fact, we as elders have asked her to 31:09 come and share with the sisters many times, and she's turned us down. She couldn't turn us down today. For Mother's Day, but for me, even as my dad was traveling, my mom was an example of the life of Jesus to me, even more so 31:24 in many ways. I developed a friendship with my mom as a teenager, and I encourage this is it was a great example to me. I encourage all of you moms as well, befriend your children. And children as well, make a friend of your mothers. 31:40 That is a glorious relationship that will last for a lifetime. A friendship. While continuing to honor them, while continuing to wear the instruction as a crown on your head, become a close friend to them. And I can say that 31:55 my mom's friendship um with started from a very young age, and it's been up and downs. I've dishonored her at times, and I've had to repent. But I praise the Lord that he's revealed to me what it means clearly to honor her. 32:09 And uh one of the clearest evidences of that of my mom's silent love for me was when I was going through a a very tough time as a 17-year-old. It was actually right before I gave my life to Christ, going through a major trial 32:21 in my life. And I remember coming back home from a difficult situation. And I walked in to the gate, and my mom actually came out of the house to the gate, kind of like the prodigal father, and just gave me a hug. Didn't say a word, knew what I going 32:37 through, just gave me a hug. You know, it says in 1 Peter 3:1 that a wife can win a husband, a disobedient husband, without even saying a word. And that's not just a message for wives and husbands, that's a message for many 32:51 of us that are be all the life of Christ in us as parents. And I want to say my mom won my soul that day. That was the seed that the Lord sowed to turn my life, to give my to surrender my 33:08 life to Jesus. And it started with a silent hug. Just a hug. And I praise God that I've had a mother that has surrendered her life to Jesus, has not sought the limelight, but has been willing to lay down her life, 33:27 not just for her children, but as a spiritual mother to many, including many of you. So, it's my absolute joy and pleasure to invite my mom to come in speak. We'll be We'll be doing a little rose 33:56 sharing ceremony with the mothers later this uh towards the end of this meeting, but I'll I thought I'd get an early start to it, so I saved one here for my mom. Happy Mother's Day.
