Friday: Mothers (5)

"You will be with child and give birth to a son."

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Wow, Friday, blessed Friday, and the day we pray for all those who work in the fields of Harvest for our Lord Jesus. Please as you pray for all the workers, pray for The Couriers who are traveling in the Mid-West. And please remember these words of mine, "If you are not on this prayer list then you are not listening to one of God's commands ... Mark 16: 15 - He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Mothers (5): Luke 1: 26 - God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." (NIV)

My friends, as I preach and teach this week at the Bridges, my message is called Mothers, God's second best gift! I do believe this with all my heart. Stop and think about it, look back in your life and in almost all cases who do you remember most? I even lost my mother at a young age, but my memories of her get stronger and stronger each day. Let me tell you that if men had to bear the pain of childbirth, there would not be any families with more than one child. Mothers are very special and this week I told you of just a few from the Bible ... Eve, and the wives of the Noah men, and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and now the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus.

I need to get this off my chest. Yesterday, a very young mother from Brazil who came to America in our area to be a baby sitter for a family, and who was with child, delivered that child in the family's home and then murdered it and hid it from the family. She was arrested and will more than likely spend at least 20 years in jail. YET EACH DAY SOME DOCTORS MURDER BABIES ONE AFTER ANOTHER AND GET PAID FOR IT. And yes, even those murdered as they are born. Please tell me the difference between the young mother who could not handle what had happened so she murdered her baby on birth and the doctors who do the same darn thing.

Now if you had an abortion or were in any way involved in one, may I suggest that you get on your knees and ask God to forgive you ... And if you ask in faith He will.

Down the street from our home is a very nice creek, and along the creek we have ducks and geese. Now these ducks and geese are now out with their young. You see the family walking along the road looking for food, the mother is leading and the little ones following and the old man is bringing up the rear. He moves his children along and if you stop, you better not get to near, for this mother and dad are going to get you. Families today should be the same way.

Today I would like to give thanks to our Lord God for all mothers, those early ones to our neighbor right across the street who is to be a mother, maybe even on Mothers Day ... their second.

I give thanks for Mother Mary and what all she went through to have her Son Jesus and what all she went through while Jesus did what He did for all of us. You talk about sending your child off to war ... and that is another thing ... To all the Gold Star Mothers, those who watched their sons and daughters go off to war and never return, I want to just say "thank you" and ask people to pray for you this Sunday on Mothers' Day. And there are just a couple more mothers I want to give thanks for.

Sarah Margaret (Kimmel) Lehman, the mother of this writer who died in 1959, the year I came out of high school. She died from a brain tumor which came from a car crash involving another driver who was drunk. I was blessed to have a solid born-again mother. Thanks, Jesus, for my mamma.

Helen Frances (Ream) Cook, the mother of my wife Dolores, who was killed in a car crash in 1980 when a tractor trailer ran a red traffic signal and killed her mother and father in the same crash. Dolores was also blessed to have a mother who was born again.

Karen Nadean (Witmer) Mummert, the mother of four of my children who did one great job of raising the children even after I did a "walk about" before I found Jesus (I have been forgiven for this by my children, my X and by Jesus ...)

My daughters, Danelle and Leanne, and my daughters-in-law, Dian and Karen ... Happy Mothers' Day.

Also Martha Campbell, the mother of some really good kids who always refer to me as "Pap". Martha is the wife of Rob Campbell.

Helen Virginia Harman, the mother that I adopted after my mother died. I spent so much time at her house she treated me like one of her kids.

Now I could go on and on and on. So let me just say, to all mothers, I say thanks for having those kids and taking care of them.

Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks for mothers all over the world, and thanks for my mamma. Lord, please bless those working the fields for You this day. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Carry The Light will be singing at The Bridges tomorrow, Saturday, at 2.00 PM., and you are welcome. Come out and meet our flock. I must tell you that the message today came through a lot of tears in my eyes. My mamma was so good and I have missed her so much for so long, but each day, each day gets nearer and nearer to the day I will see her again. So to all of you who, like Dolores and I, have lost their mothers, please get tight to Jesus so you make it home to see them again.

Now go forth, sharing your blessings ... and loving Jesus.

At noon today we will be taking our big Eagle Bus and with the belly of the bus full of food, we will be going to the home makeover in Penbrook Pa to stock the kitchen for the family that needed the makeover. This is just another outreach of the food pantry and Carry The Light Ministries. Thanks to all who support Carry The Light, we could not do this without you ... love ya, dan.