May 10, 2020
Rose of Sharon Baptist Church May 10, 2020
Church Service Notes
AM Service
Scripture: Psalm 121
Psalm 121 is a psalm of hope and help from God. I want to encourage all people, but particularly mother’s as we celebrate Mother’s Day, to turn to the Lord for your help. Life can be difficult, and as we go through those things, the One who can be our Rock, is the Lord. God can be our greatest help. Often, we look for help in many different places, such as friendships, online, books, and family. Those things are good, but we should first turn to the Lord for help. The psalmist tells us God is our keeper and our protector. Whatever we are going through, God is at our side. We are not alone. We are not ignored. Even if others have abandoned us, God never will. Troubles may come in our life. We are not promised to be spared trouble, but God is there with us in the big things, as well as in the mundane and routine things. God is our ever-present help. The psalmist says God is with us “forevermore”. He will never leave us.
Specifically, when we look at God working in and through the lives of mother’s in the Bible, there are several mothers I would like to look at this morning. The first is Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth. This story starts with Naomi leaving Israel and moving to a foreign land. Her two sons marry women from the foreign land. Naomi’s husband died, and she is left a widow. Both of her sons die, and Naomi is left in a place of great despair and hopelessness. She tells the wives of her two sons to return to their home, but Ruth decides to stay with Naomi. In this story, we see God working through her circumstances and restores family, protection, food, and provision to Naomi through Ruth.
In the story of Hannah, we also see God being an ever-present help. Hannah was barren and cried out to the Lord. She promised to dedicate her son to the Lord to serve the Lord throughout his life. The Lord heard her cry and blessed her with a son. Hannah was faithful and gave her son to be raised in the temple to serve the Lord. God continued to bless Hannah with other children.
In the book of Kings, we see the story of a widow, living in the time of Elijah, who had no food during a time of famine. Through Elijah, God provided food for the widow and her son. Her son died, leaving the widow with no one to provide and protect her. God performed a miracle through Elijah and revives the son.
Another miracle performed through Elijah was for a widow who found herself in financial problems. God provided for her finances through Elijah by miraculously filling pots with oil for the widow to cook with and sell.
Another woman, a Shulamite woman, who was a help to Elijah is blessed with a child. The child died in an accident, and the woman reached out to Elijah. The woman was bitter and feels that Elijah has done her wrong by giving her a son, who was taken away from her. The Lord saw the woman’s despair and used Elijah to bring the child back to life.
Two mothers in the New Testament, Mary and Elizabeth, have unique, wonderful stories. Mary was visited by an angel and told she would carry the Son of God. God is a help to her. God spoke to Joseph in a dream to tell him not to call off his betrothal to Mary. God used Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child, to be a help to Mary. Elizabeth was beyond the expected years of child bearing. Her husband was mute throughout her pregnancy, as he did not believe the angel who came to tell him the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. God used Mary to be a help and comfort to Elizabeth.
As we read the story of Jesus dying on the cross, we see Jesus looking down on his mother Mary and giving John to care for her. As he is dying on the cross, Jesus takes care of his mother. Mary goes to the house of John, and John cares for her throughout the rest of his life. No matter what difficult situation you may be facing today, God loves you and is taking care of you. He is our help. We can cast all of our cares upon the Lord.
In Christ’s Love,
Charlie Tucker