How many of you watch movies for the credits?
It's your favorite part.
You skip to the end and watch the credits before you watch anything else.
! Nobody?
How many of you have seen a Marvel Comics movie?
Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Iron Mans, the Spider-Mans, all that stuff.
What do they have?
Now, I'm going to test how many of you are really fans of Marvel here.
What do they have after the movie ends?
Extra scenes, right?
Usually a mid-credits scene and then a post-credits scene.
And so, if you're watching it in the theater, do you get up and leave when the movie ends?
No, you got to stick it out.
You can always see the people who leave when a Marvel movie ends.
It's like, y'all don't really know how this works, do you?
Otherwise, now what I do whenever I, we just went and watched the Sheep Detective movie.
That was funny, by the way.
Sheep solving a murder mystery, if you're wondering.
They're scraping the bottom of the barrel for what to make movies about nowadays.
But look, it was a good time.
And I was Googling, is there a post-credits scene to this movie?
There wasn't.
So, we got up and left.
Why?
Because nobody wants to stick around for the credits, right?
It's just kind of...
Now, they should.
All those people worked really hard on that movie.
And you see their names scrolling by and you're like, forget it.
I don't care who made this thing.
It's over.
We're going to start the book of Romans with the credits.
So, take your Bibles, if you would, and go to Romans chapter 16.
It's the end.
It's the credits.
He is recognizing the people he needs to acknowledge.
Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome.
We're going to get into more of the background of the letter, the purpose behind it.
We're going to get into more of that next week.
So, come back next week if you want to know what this whole thing is about.
But today, we're going to focus on some very interesting things that Paul focused on as he ended this letter to the church in Rome.
This was arguably the most important, or if you look up at the slides, the most influential letter that Paul ever wrote.
We don't need to skip over the credits.
So, let's see what he has to say in Romans chapter 16.
You say, why are we starting with the credits?
Why are we starting with the end?
Well, I have read Romans front to back my whole life, and only recently I was challenged by a book and a teaching series called Reading Romans Backwards, more of a lecture series, from one of my favorite Bible scholars and theologians out there.
And he got into this thing called Reading Romans Backwards.
And it's kind of starting toward the end of the book because we get to get the whole picture, the context of why he was writing this letter.
And it serves us well to start back then.
The people to whom he was writing, they already knew the context.
They knew the whole situation.
They were living it.
So, they didn't need that context.
They were the context.
So, they got to start at the beginning and understand exactly what he was talking about in context.
We have to go kind of get the picture.
So, we're going toward the end where he shares some of the context.
And then we'll work our way back toward the beginning of Paul's letter to the churches in Rome.
So, let's look at verse 1 of Romans 16.
Paul writes,
By the way, Asia, not the continent you're thinking of.
Asia was one of the provinces of Rome and about in modern day Turkey.
So, that's what he's talking about when he says the province of Asia.
Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me.
They are outstanding among the apostles.
They were in Christ before I was.
Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend of the Lord.
Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
Greet Herodian, my fellow Jews.
We have different names nowadays, don't we?
They're a little different, aren't they?
They're a mouthful.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Was Narcissus narcissistic?
I don't know.
We can move on.
We don't need rabbit trails right now.
Here we go, verse 12.
Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa.
Watch this.
Those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis.
Another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
And then in verse 13, we finish.
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.
Quite some time ago, I felt like the Lord laid this epistle, this letter from Paul to the churches in Rome that we call Romans.
We all have it in our New Testaments.
Laid this book of the Bible in on my heart to preach through.
And this has been probably the last couple months.
I've been praying through and working through what sermon series to start next for our church.
And he confirmed to me, yeah, Romans is the way we need to go right now.
So I was thinking, well, we've got Mother's Day coming up.
I kind of want to go from Romans backwards to the front.
So I'm looking through, how is this going to work?
And then that verse 13 stood out to me.
Rufus's mother, who has been a mother to me too.
Thinking, huh, that's interesting that Paul talks about mothering.
And this lines up to start this series in Romans on Mother's Day.
Then I went back through the rest of that chapter and I saw how many women Paul was highlighting in his credits, in his acknowledgements at the end of his letter.
So I worked through this and the Holy Spirit guided me into seeing how valuable a role these women played in not only Paul's life in ministry, but the work of the early church of Jesus Christ.
Jesus had died.
He was risen from the dead.
He had given his marching orders to his people, his followers, to spread around the known world at the time and carry the message, the gospel message of Jesus, the good news.
Jesus was here.
Jesus had come.
Jesus had risen.
He was alive.
And all could be forgiven of their sins and have a place in God's kingdom through Jesus Christ.
This was the message.
So his followers started preaching that message.
They started going everywhere they could.
And Paul was one of the early fathers of this movement.
He was one of the people that God used in the most instrumental ways to help this catch on.
And there were people all around Paul that were helping him in this ministry.
And he acknowledges them in each one of his letters.
And in this one, women are featured prominently.
So I think it's appropriate on this Mother's Day to look at these women that Jesus valued, that Paul valued,
and that God used mightily in the early days of this church.
Churches are gathered all across this world, all across America celebrating Mother's Day.
Let's look and see what role they played in the life of Paul.
So, number one, we're going to look at the planters.
We've been in Romans 16.
We're going to jump around a little bit to a couple other places.
But if you want to keep your Bible open to Romans 16, that'll work because we'll keep referring back to that.
So let's start back at the beginning with Priscilla and Phoebe.
Phoebe and Priscilla.
What does he call them?
He calls Phoebe our sister, a deacon, a benefactor.
It's safe to say that Phoebe was instrumental in the life of Paul and the early church.
Now, what do we mean by a sister?
We call somebody a sister in Christ.
What are we talking about?
Come on, y'all.
This isn't a hard one.
Somebody's got this.
Fellow believer, right?
A fellow Christ follower.
We believe the same thing about Jesus.
So you're a woman.
We believe the same thing about Jesus.
So I can call you my sister in the faith, following Jesus together.
I'm married to my wife, but she's also my sister in Christ, right?
So let's move on to the next part.
He calls her a deacon.
This was a diakonos.
That is the Greek word that was used.
It's talking about a servant of the church.
Usually would have some kind of ordination coupled with that,
based on Paul's other teachings.
So Phoebe was a sister in Christ.
She was a deacon, and she was a prosthesis.
That is a benefactor.
That means she had means.
She had income.
She had some measure of wealth and was able to help support,
both probably by opening her home and also giving financially to the work of the ministry.
So she was an instrumental key player in Paul's ministry and in the church.
So when Paul was writing this letter to the church at Rome, he wasn't in Rome.
He had to send this letter by hand.
They had to travel over a thousand miles to get to Rome to share this letter with the churches in Rome.
We'll give you more background next Sunday on the churches in Rome.
I'm not going to spend too much time diving into that.
So come back next week, and you'll find out what was going on in Rome.
But Paul needed somebody reliable.
He needed somebody who could speak well.
He needed somebody who could expound on what he was writing.
When they went and read his letter multiple times to the different churches meeting in Rome,
they weren't all gathering in a building like we enjoy today.
There were many house churches that had sprang up throughout Rome.
They were filled with a mixture of Gentile Roman believers,
and they were filled with a mixture of traditional Jewish believers,
all trying to follow Jesus in the days after his resurrection.
And Paul needed somebody to go on his behalf and preach this letter to these churches.
The most reliable person he had was Phoebe.
So she played a powerful, dynamic, vital role in the early church.
And God used her in this arguably most important, most influential letter that Paul wrote that we call Romans.
One of the early church fathers, Origen.
Noted this about Phoebe.
He said there were women ordained in the church's ministry by the apostles' authority.
So we see this Phoebe being called a deacon.
And that would have been, like we said, coupled with some ordination.
Well, that wasn't something the church would take lightly.
They would identify who are the best equipped, who are the most qualified,
who are the people who are going to serve the church well in this servant role of deacons.
God has blessed us with some wonderful deacons here in our church.
We've got nearly 20 deacons who have set themselves apart to serve the church.
And they do so every week.
They meet every month.
They'll take meals to those who can't get here.
They will pray.
They'll serve.
They meet together.
They pray for each other.
They pray over needs that you have.
They serve the church well.
The church has had that.
The church at large, the universal church scattered around the world and identified in local individual assemblies just like ours here in Henrietta.
They have had deacons throughout from the very beginning.
And Phoebe was one of these.
So we recognize and celebrate that a woman like Phoebe, the church believed she ought to be ordained into the ministry because she helped in many ways.
There was precedent for this.
Think back of Luke chapter 8 when Mary Magdalene and Joanna provided for Jesus' ministry out of their own means.
Jesus was the first one to normalize women as the financial and logistical backbone of his ministry.
So Paul was picking up the torch of what Jesus did.
The early church was saying, yes, we see the value that women brought to Jesus' ministry, and we're going to continue that today.
Back in Luke chapter 8 and verses 1 through 3, the 12 were with him, were with Jesus.
And also some women, Mary, called Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Chusa, the manager of Herod's household, Susanna, and many others.
These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
So this is Phoebe.
Then we move on to Priscilla.
Along with her husband Aquila, Paul says she risked her neck or risked her very life.
He called her his co-worker in Christ.
She laid it all on the line for the ministry.
So on this Mother's Day, we recognize these women that were instrumental in Paul's life and in his ministry.
By the way, Paul's son in the ministry.
We're going to test your Bible knowledge here.
Does anybody know or want to guess who Paul's son in the ministry was?
Timothy.
We got it.
Timothy.
He wrote two letters to Timothy.
First Timothy, second Timothy.
We've got them in our New Testament.
He uses the same word for Timothy that he uses for Priscilla and Aquila.
This co-worker means somebody who carried the burden with them.
Somebody who shared in the load.
Priscilla was identified as a church planter.
They would open their home, Priscilla and Aquila, and help get churches off the ground.
They were the early version of a church starter, a church planter.
And they were teachers, Priscilla and Aquila both.
Funny thing is, in Acts chapter 18, there were two great teachers in the church in the day of Paul.
One was Paul.
Does anybody remember who the other one was?
Apollos.
It was Apollos.
It was Paul and Apollos.
These two great teachers of the Christian faith.
Apollos was out there teaching.
And you know what Priscilla and Aquila did?
They invited him into their home and they corrected his teaching.
They corrected his theology.
In Acts chapter 18, you can read about this.
They set him straight on some things.
Said, Apollos, you're doing great.
You're a little bit off on a few things.
So they brought him in and set him straight according to the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
So these women had powerful ability in ministry.
A deep understanding of the faith and the scriptures.
And Paul gives them credit here at the end of Romans chapter 16.
So Phoebe carried the letter.
Preached it to the churches in Rome.
Priscilla explained the teaching of the scriptures.
Without them, Paul's teachings, Paul's ministry look a lot different.
So we're thankful for them.
Moving on.
There we go.
Number two.
Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis.
Who were these women?
These were the ordinary laborers.
Paul calls them hard workers.
Mary.
And then there were seemingly the twins, Tryphena and Tryphosa.
Do you know what those names meant back in that world?
Tryphena meant dainty and Tryphosa meant delicate.
So whatever vision their parents had for these ladies, maybe they were dainty and delicate in some ways, but they knew how to work.
Paul specifically calls them out for their hard work.
Look back in chapter 16 of Romans, verse 6.
Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
And then jump down, if you would, to verse 12.
Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who worked hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
Here's what I want to leave you with.
Ordinary work is the invisible strength of God's kingdom.
So on this Mother's Day, I think it's appropriate to highlight how hard these women work.
How many of you would say mothers work as hard or harder than anybody else?
You better have your hand up right now.
It's Mother's Day, y'all.
Of course they do.
The role of motherhood demands hard work.
These women worked very hard.
Paul noted them for their work.
There were plenty of other people who worked hard.
Listen, it wasn't easy being a Jesus follower.
And starting point this morning, we talked a little bit about that.
In today's world, it's different.
You get up.
Sometimes you fulfill a societal expectation of going to church on Sunday.
Sometimes it's more than that.
But sometimes it's just, well, it's Sunday.
I guess we're going to church.
Church, we've got Christian radio.
We've got Christian bookstores.
We've got Christian music.
We've got Christian insurance.
We've got Christian everything, man.
That was not so in their world.
It was a very pagan world.
It was a very anti-Christ world, anti-Christian world.
And this church was trying to get its feet under it.
And it was hard being a follower of Jesus.
You know what Christian means, right?
Like Christ.
So when we call ourselves Christian, as just a side note, what we're telling people is,
I'm like Christ.
I'm like Jesus.
I'm like the one who called himself the Christ.
Well, that's a lot to live up to.
So by God's power, by his spirit, we can reach that.
We can become more and more like him with each passing day.
But man, being a Christian back then, it was dangerous.
It required a lot of hard work.
You didn't have a beautiful building to come in and have your service and go off to your classroom and all that.
We didn't have any of that back in the early church.
We, as a church, as a universal church, were just trying to get our feet under us.
We were trying to get going.
We were trying to stay out of prison, trying to stay off the government's radar,
and still propagate or spread the gospel message of Jesus.
And it did spread.
It spread like wildfire because of the hard work of the men and the women of the early church.
And Paul notes four of them here specifically.
Mary, Tryphena, and Tryphos of the twins, and Persis.
And you know what he uses when he says work?
He uses the word copiao.
Copiao means we're not just working a job.
It means laboring to the point of exhaustion.
It means working until you're ready to drop.
Working your fingers to the bone.
Now think back on your own mom.
How many of you would say,
I remember seeing my mom work to the point of exhaustion.
I remember seeing her work, laboring, hard.
She's exhausted.
She's tired.
And she kept working.
Kept a smile on her face.
God has given mothers this unique gift,
this unique ability to sometimes, often set themselves aside
and prioritize those whom they love
and work their fingers to the bone for those people.
And Paul's calling out these women for doing that
on behalf of the Lord and his work and his church.
So we should value our moms.
Value the women in our midst
who work tirelessly,
who work to the point of exhaustion
for their families,
for their church family,
for their community.
And I've seen it in this church.
I've seen it in our school system.
I've seen it in your families.
I've seen so many examples sitting in this room
of women who tirelessly are used by God
to work, to labor for the faith,
for their families.
This is the same word that Jesus used in John 4
when he was tired.
He had worked himself to the point of exhaustion.
And he sat at a well.
And a Samaritan woman came up
to draw water from the well.
And while he's recovering from the point of exhaustion,
he shares Jesus.
He shares himself.
He shares the way, the truth, and the life
with this woman.
But that's the word.
It's what Jesus needed.
He needed to do the work
that his father had sent him to do.
And so many of you,
specifically, I'm looking at you moms today,
work yourselves tirelessly
for the same work that Jesus did
that we're all called to do as his church.
So Paul noted these women for that.
These women represent the invisible strength
of God's church,
the invisible strength of God's kingdom.
I'm thinking of, man,
I'll start calling out examples
and then we're gonna leave out way too many people.
But one specifically,
I'm thinking of Jaquita Graves,
who has taught her class for so many years.
And so many people have been used,
have been, she's been used in their lives.
She's taught them so much.
Their knowledge has expanded.
Their faith has grown.
Their walk with God has been cemented.
Roots have dug down deep
because of the ministry
that God has done through her.
Not only that,
but she's chairman of the committee on committees.
And listen, y'all,
we could do a dozen other examples
off the top of my head
from this church.
So we're only gonna take time for one.
And if you got mad that it was Jaquita,
I can't help you, all right?
But she's one that comes to mind immediately.
But there are so many other women in this church
that we could highlight
and just thank God for their faithful service,
tireless service.
But you know they do get tired.
But they continue on.
And we thank God for that.
They aren't always in the spotlight.
Sometimes they might be in the scullery.
Sometimes they might be in the background.
Sometimes they might be
in a seemingly low level position.
Sometimes they might be taking care
of a screaming baby in the nursery.
Who else wants to do that?
I don't.
I don't want to take it.
I don't covet their role in the nursery.
No, thank you.
But they are making sure
that the hungry are fed.
They are making sure
that the babies are comforted.
They're making sure
that the ministry gets done.
They're making sure
that people get taught the word of God.
They're making sure
that prayers are continually
being prayed on behalf
of those in need.
In the kingdom of God,
there is no menial work.
It is all missionary work.
It is all important work
for God's kingdom.
Ordinary, what we might call
ordinary work,
is the invisible strength
of God's kingdom.
When we're lacking
that ordinary work,
something breaks.
we're weaker.
So, I was supposed
to take you to this slide
when I read that word out,
kopio.
But that's the Greek word
that Paul was using there.
Then we go to number three,
verse seven.
Would you go back with me
to verse seven,
Romans chapter 16.
There's a married couple here,
Andronicus and Junia,
my fellow Jews
who have been in prison with me.
They are outstanding
among the apostles.
They were in Christ
before I was.
Now, if you want to dive deep
on Junia,
there's some controversy
over whether or not
she was an official apostle,
whether she and her husband
were called official apostles,
or were just recognized
by the apostles.
But it seems like
most Bible scholars
who seem to do the best work
and really pour themselves
into the study of the scriptures
and exegete correctly,
they seem to agree
that this title was given
to this married couple,
Andronicus and Junia,
that they were recognized
as apostles.
Now, that could only come
from the apostles themselves
saying,
we recognize you
to be an apostle.
That had to be given
by the apostles.
Each church couldn't just vote
and say,
we're going to vote
on an apostle.
It was different
than a pastor, okay?
Very different.
So this was a very special role,
a very special title.
John Chrysism,
another early church father
who's long been dead,
but whose work was valuable
in the early church,
wrote this about Junia.
He said,
how great is the devotion
to the work of God
that this woman had,
that she should be worthy
of the title,
the appellation,
the title of apostle.
This was rare.
Somebody would be given
this title,
that they would be recognized
by the apostles themselves
in this way.
So we should pay
close attention to this.
What was so special
about this woman?
Well, when we study,
Junia and her husband,
Andronicus,
they had been in prison
with Paul.
How many of y'all know
what Paul got put in prison for?
You're thinking through it?
You don't have to raise your hand.
You can just say it out.
What did Paul go to prison for?
Yes, he did.
Preaching the gospel.
He would run afoul
of the local government.
He'd run afoul
of the Roman government.
He would get put
in local prison.
He'd get put on prison
transport ships
and get transported
to another island.
And then he would get
shipwrecked along the way.
And crazy things
would happen
in the life of Paul.
Somebody's got to make
a movie at some point
about the life of Paul.
It would be amazing
cinema.
But clearly,
these women,
this man and his wife,
were out there
preaching the gospel
with Paul
because they got jailed too.
So these people
had a side-by-side
laboring role
in the ministry
of Paul.
Think of the resurrection
in John chapter 20.
Jesus chose someone
to be called
the apostle
to the apostles.
You know who that was?
Mary Magdalene.
He entrusted
the most important news
in human history
to a woman first.
Junia,
being called
an apostle
by the apostles
of the early church,
reminds us that
God does not
call the qualified.
He qualifies
the cult.
Regardless of
your gender,
regardless of
your status,
God can use
you
in powerful
ways.
Just like
he used
these women.
So,
we have
the planters,
Phoebe and Priscilla.
We have
the ordinary laborers,
Mary,
Tryphena,
Tryphosa,
Persis.
We have
the apostle,
Junia.
And now we're
going to bring it back
to the heart
of the home.
And this is
the mother
of Rufus.
Paul said
of the mother
of Rufus
back in verse 13,
the last verse
we read,
Greet Rufus
chosen in the Lord
and his mother
who has been
a mother
to me too.
This woman
was not seemingly
related to Paul.
She was the mother
of Rufus
and Alexander.
Rufus is mentioned
here.
Alexander is mentioned
in Mark 15.
Let's go over
to Mark 15.
Look at verse 21.
A certain man
from Cyrene,
the father
of Alexander
and Rufus
was passing by
on his way
from in
from the country
and they forced him
to carry the cross.
Now y'all,
I wasn't there.
So I can't say
with absolute certainty.
But the vast
consensus
among those
historians
and Bible scholars
who have done
the work
of piecing
the scriptures
and historical documents
together
believe
that the Rufus
mentioned right here
in Romans 16
is the same Rufus
who was the son
of Simon
from Cyrene
who carried
the cross
of Jesus.
And his wife
became like a mother
to Paul
who God used
arguably more
powerfully
with greater impact
than anybody else
we've seen
in the early church history.
So we thank God
for the letters
of Paul
that he used
so powerfully
and is still using
today
to teach churches
like ours.
But then we've also
got to thank
Simon's wife
who God used
so powerfully
in his life.
She wasn't
his mother.
His mother
likely was not
a follower
of Christ.
but Simon's
wife was.
And because
God allowed
Simon
to be picked
from the crowd
that day
Simon
from Cyrene
Cyrene was a country
in Africa
a region
in Africa
about where
Libya is today
seemingly
he was
a Hellenistic
or Greek Jew
who was probably
living there
at the time
and he came back
during the Passover week
to celebrate
the Passover
back in his homeland
and the Roman soldiers
plucked him
from the crowd
well
I think God
allowed that to happen.
God directed
their choice
to the right man
for the job
because then
when Simon
carried the cross
for Jesus
seemingly
if he hadn't yet
he converted
his whole family
to the way
of Christ
and then Rufus
was chosen
in the Lord
his son
because
Simon had been
chosen by the Lord
even though
those Roman soldiers
thought they were
doing the choosing
God directed
their choice
to the person
you see how it all
fits together
because then
Rufus was chosen
in the Lord
his whole family
turned
his wife
became a mother
figure
to Paul
father of the
early church
so let me say this
to the moms
in the room
God has given
you your children
to have an impact
to
but you can have
so much of an impact
even beyond
your own children
Rufus' mom
was not content
just to be a mother
to Alexander
and Rufus
God used her
as a matriarch
of the early church
to fill that role
of support
encouragement
love
teaching
to Paul himself
so
it's appropriate
on Mother's Day
to recognize
who Paul looked at
as a mother
in his life
Paul was a giant
of the faith
he was a Pharisee
he knew the scriptures
knew them inside
and out
his teaching
often revealed
that
but he had
a spiritual mother
that God brought
into his life
and he felt
that it would
not be complete
this letter
to Rome
would not be complete
without recognizing
her
and the impact
she had
and then he goes
on and greets more
there are a few
more women
that he greets
but this is all
the time we have
to highlight today
so let me conclude
with this
the most important
credential
in God's kingdom
is answering
his call
you might not
have all the
Pharisee training
like Paul had
you might not
have all the
seminary degrees
you might not
have all the
history of
serving in
particular roles
in the church
etc etc
the most important
credential that
every single one
of these women
answered
in God's kingdom
is answering
his call
if you say
yes to Jesus
there's no limit
on what Jesus
can do
through you
whether you're
a husband
or a wife
a father
or a mother
a sister
or a brother
a woman
or a man
a child
or an adult
a teenager
or college age
regardless of
your age
your gender
your wealth
your abilities
if you say
yes to Jesus
he can use you
in ways
that you will
never dream
Galatians chapter
three verse
twenty eight
Paul affirms
this
he says
in Christ
there is neither
Jew nor Gentile
there is neither
slave nor free
man
there is neither
male nor female
we are all
one
under Christ
so Phoebe
shows us
that the gospel
is authoritative
she carried
the authority
of
and Junia
as well
but she carried
the authority
of the ordination
into the
the deaconhood
from the early church
and the apostles
Junia carried
that authority
of the apostles
that they had
bestowed upon her
collaborative
the gospel
is collaborative
this letter
was collaborative
and Priscilla
shows us that
as they were
co-workers
co-laborers
with Christ
it is transformational
we see what happened
in the lives
of all these women
but Junia
specifically
having been in prison
and then God
transformed
what seemed to be
a terrible thing
a setback
into a powerful thing
that God used
to spread the gospel
message
every time
the Romans
or the Jewish
traditionalists
tried to stamp out
this way of Christ
God would use it
to transform
more lives
and more hearts
and the mother
of Rufus
shows us
that it is relational
that is one of the most
important aspects
all are important aspects
but that relational part
is maybe the part
we feel the most
that warmth
that dependability
that steadiness
so we thank you moms
we thank you ladies
for your service
back in the day of Jesus
back in the day of Paul
and all throughout
the history of the church
to today
right here
in First Baptist Church
Henrietta, Texas
we thank you
for your giftings
in the spirit
we thank you
for your willingness
to serve us
to serve the Lord
to serve our church
to serve your families
to serve your community
the gospel came to Rome
in the hands of a woman
the gospel has come
to your heart
so many of you
through the hands
through the love
of those
who have labored
for you
may we be a church
that honors the women
the mothers
in our lives
not just with flowers
today in just a moment
but with the dignity
the respect
and the appreciation
that both Paul
and Christ
showed to mothers
and women
would you join me
in praying
God you took time
out of your ministry
for everyone
for the great
for the small
for the old
for the young
for men and women alike
those who wrote
the records
of your ministry
on this earth
knew that it would be
important to highlight
the women
the mothers
who you used
powerfully
in your kingdom work
and Paul did
the same thing
so we would be wrong
to not recognize
the impact
they had
and on this
Mother's Day
I pray that we
would not only
just say thank you
to mom
and say happy
Mother's Day
hand them a flower
or maybe a card
or whatever else
we have planned
maybe give them a call
if they're not here
but God
I pray that we
would take it
a step further
and say
we recognize
the impact
you've had on us
we've recognized
the impact
that God
has had
through you
that we would
give them
the dignity
the honor
the respect
that you
showed them
that we would
not stifle
when you want
to use them
in your work
that we would
celebrate that
that we would
support it
God however
you choose
to work
through the lives
of women
in your church
I pray that
we would not
stand in the way
but just like
the early church
did
that we would
say yes
God is working
through them
we celebrate
that
we honor
it
we make
room for
it
God
work
through
every one
of us
if there's
somebody
here
who doesn't
know you
today
I pray
that they
would see
that you
are a God
who values
every one
of them
everyone
equally
that there
is no one
who would
say I'm
too far
gone
I'm out
of the
reach
of God's
love
every one
of us
regardless
of status
regardless
of identity
you love
us all
and you
died for
us all
you rose
for us
all
and you
offer
each one
of us
eternal
life
through
Christ
with our
heads
bowed
and our
eyes
closed
I'll
just
ask
this
question
church
there's
someone
today
maybe a
guest
or maybe
someone
who's been
coming here
for a long
time
and you
would say
I know
today is
the day
that I
need to
surrender
to Jesus
I need
to open
my heart
to Jesus
and say
I want
to follow
you
I believe
that you
are God
I believe
that you
died on
the cross
to take
the burden
of my sin
to forgive
me
I believe
that you
rose
from the
dead
by the
power
of God
and I
believe
you're
alive
today
and I
want to
follow
you
through
the rest
of my
life
if that's
you
today
would you
slip
your hand
up
and I'd
love to
pray for
you
thank you
how many
of you
would say
God
is working
on my
heart
about
something
else
and I
need
prayer
would you
slip
your hand
up
and I'd
love to
pray for
you
as well
I need
prayer
thank you
how many
of you
well I'm
not going to
ask you to
raise your
hand right
now but I'll
just throw
this out
there
if anyone
would like
to join
us in
membership
in this
church
if you've
been maybe
attending
for a little
while
and you say
I'd like
to commit
I'd like
to make
this my
home
church
and be
a part
of this
body
of Jesus
followers
please come
down front
after the
service
is over
or meet
me in the
back
I would love
to set up
a time
to talk
with you
and discuss
what it
looks like
to join
us as we
follow Jesus
we want to
welcome you
into our
number
God thank you
for meeting
with us
today
we love
you
we want
to do
our best
to follow
you
and to
honor you
as we
also honor
the moms
in our
lives
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen