Series: Mother’s Day
Sermon Title: Raising Children of Destiny
Passage: 1 Samuel 1

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Series: Mother’s Day
Sermon Title: Raising Children of Destiny
Passage: 1 Samuel 1

Remember that children are a blessing. 

• I Samuel 1:1-7 
• Psalm 127:3

Understand that parenting will have some pain…turn your pain into prayers.

• I Samuel 1:8-10, 12-16

Recognize your kids ultimately belong to God. 

• I Samuel 1:11

Prioritize their spiritual development more than anything else. 

• 1 Samuel 1:22, 24-28 
• 1 Samuel 3:1-4, 19-21 
• Deuteronomy 11:18-19 
• Joshua 24:15

 

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Do you have a parenting story where you completely blew it as a parent?
2. How do you model vulnerability, authenticity, and repentance for your children?
3. How have you turned to God in the difficulty in parenting?
4. How have you modeled poor behavior to your children that they picked up?
5. How does it comfort you to know that your children ultimately belong to God and you are just stewarding them?
6. Hannah uses the word ‘lent’ do describe her commitment with Samuel. Why do you feel she chooses that word as his mother? 
7. Do you prioritize your children’s spiritual development over other things in their life?  How is the evidenced by how you spend your time?
8. In 1 Sam1:11, Hannah makes a vow that “if God gives me a child…” , and in vs 28, she follows through.  In between, as the child is growing, what does God do need to do (vs 23), and  what does that mean to you? 
9. How have you turned every day moments in life into spiritual conversations with your children?
10. How have you set a spiritual rhythm and culture in your household?
11. What sort of legacy do you hope to leave to your children?

 

PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. What part of your story did not turn out like you imagined? How did that affect your view of God or your relationship with Him?
2. Have you lost something important to you that you cannot get back? How did you handle letting go?
3. How can we trust God with our kids or most treasured relationships? 
4. How do you deal with watching someone you love go through trials and pain? How do we lean on God in these times? 
5. How can we place our most valuable possessions in God’s hands with complete trust?

 

SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:

• Matthew 3:17
• Romans 8: 14-16

 

RESOURCES:

• BOOK | MATT CHANDLER | Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home through Time, Moments, and Milestones 
• ARTICLE | BERNARD HOWARD | IS GENTLE PARENTING BIBLICAL 
• PODCAST | FOCUS ON THE FAMILY | PRACTICE MAKES PARENT
• BOOK | PAUL DAVID TRIPP | PARENTING : 14 GOSPEL PRINCIPLES THAT CAN RADICALLY CHANGE YOUR FAMILY

 

MONTHLY SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY: CONTEMPLATION

This discipline is about your awareness. Aware of God’s 24/7 presence with you, in other words awake to the ongoing good and true realities of God. A contemplative person understands that every situation there is more than meets the eye.

In the scriptures Paul writes and instructs us to “fix our eyes”.  2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.“This struck me as I ponder the concept of “fixing our eyes”. When I dig into this idea it is about determined focus. The kind of fixed focus that leads to no distractions. A clarity among the complexity of choices.

Contemplation has gone by the wayside in our busy culture. “In a world where people anchor their identity on the shifting seas of performance and accomplishments, contemplation seems inefficient and too unproductive for the daily grind.” However, when I think of people who walk in total peace I picture a contemplative.

Here are a few practices to get started in your development:

• practicing the presence of God breath prayer simple prayer, prayer of the heart taking time to truly see.

• gaze on life, others, arts and so forth refusing the compulsion to go everywhere

• see everything and try out all that is novel

 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

One of my favorite messages I’ve ever heard on motherhood focused on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Most of us know the birth story of Jesus. In Luke 1 we see the angel Gabriel come to Mary saying “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” Wow, what an opening statement! The conversation goes on between Gabriel and Mary, him bringing the good news of Jesus amongst her concern and confusion as she was a young virgin without a husband. In the end, Mary proclaims, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled”, what a beautiful display of faith and surrender.

We see a young virgin engaged to be married receive news that she will bear a son, a situation that is sure to leave her outcast and distraught, or even in danger. But we see God cover her throughout her pregnancy and Joseph stands by her side. And then of course the finishing up of Jesus’ coming with Mary giving birth in less-than-ideal conditions, alone with her husband after long travels. This poor woman! She endured so much in just 10 months of pregnancy. Most of us finish our amazement and wonder of Mary’s faith right there. 

But what about what happens after that? We don’t hear from Mary again until she and Joseph lose Jesus when he was 12 as he preached in the temple. Mary scolds him in Luke 2:48-51 “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Can you imagine the anxiety and fear that would come with raising the Son of God? I imagine she feels the pressure to be perfect 10x worse than the rest of us. Jesus retorts, ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.’

We don’t see Jesus again until he is a grown man about to be baptized. So what was going on during that time? We don’t have full knowledge except to assume he was growing in scripture and learning his father’s trade as was customary of Jewish boys at the time. What we do know is at the end of Luke 2, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” So what is all this to say? Jesus was under the care of Mary and Joseph for nearly 30 years ‘growing in wisdom’. Mary had 30 years of influence in Jesus’ life. We know that Joseph died, we just don’t know when, so on top of the pressure of raising the Messiah, she was also now a widow and single mom to Jesus and his siblings. For 30 years Mary poured herself into raising Jesus. 

When Jesus began his ministry, he rarely was in one place for long, she couldn’t text or facetime him each night to make sure He was ok, she heard rumors of the Pharisees and Rome displeased with Him and His ministry, and ultimately she had to watch her perfect sinless son brutally murdered at only 33 years old. When I am faced with the trials of motherhood – the tantrums, meltdowns, illnesses, heartbreaks, children getting older, sleepless nights, hard decisions, and watching my kids struggle – I know it is a drop in the bucket of what Mary endured. She began as a pregnant teenager and ended as a widow without her son.

 But wait, I thought Gabriel said she had found favor with God? How can this be? How can someone highly favored be allowed to go through so much pain and heartache? Much like Job, I suspect God knew who Mary was, and knew she would not turn from Him even in her pain, she was the right person for the job. Just like you, just like me. We are given these specific roles, trials, careers, relationships, etc because we are the right person for the job. We will endure heartache as we raise our kids, lose loved ones, and have our life go a different direction than we thought, but we can be sure that God is with us. Next time you find yourself discouraged in your circumstances or story, just remember all that Mary endured, but mostly that she was highly favored, set aside for this costly calling, just like you, and just like me. When the overwhelm comes, call out to the Lord, we were never meant to do any of it alone. If God can be with Mary, he can be with you too. – Emma Menesini – Women’s Director