Mother's Day 2026 - Sermon Notes | Bible Baptist Church of Ballincollig

I. Introduction (Exodus 20:12)

A. Honouring Mothers is NOT supposed to be a ONE DAY National Holiday

Celebrating Mothers and Motherhood is a good thing to do - almost every country in the world celebrates mothers in some way, in March and in May
Our modern Mother’s Day celebration began on May 10, 1908, when an American daughter [Anna Jarvis] held what is considered to be the first Mother’s Day celebration.

Her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia worked tirelessly in her church to help mothers handle the burden of caring for their children. She dreamed of a memorial day that would honour all the things a woman does to care for her children.
Ann Jarvis took up her cause after her mother’s death. She was 1 of 13 children with only 4 of them growing to adulthood, so she knew the hardship of being a Mom.
Anna wanted her mothers’ work, and all mothers to be recognized by the world as an honourable work. Her mother said before she died, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers’ day commemorating ‘a mother’ for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it,”
Her daughter Anna took that vision and created a day to come home and honour your mother, the one woman who dedicated her life to you.

That’s a very good thing!
But it should not be only a one day event!

B. It is One of God’s Ten Commandments to all mankind

God had already commanded all of us to continuously honour our mothers… and not just on one day out of 365!
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” - Exodus 20:12
Jesus said in Luke 18:20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
THAT is a commandment - not a suggestion!
It is part of God’s law! Everyone who fears God should honour their mother, every day of the year - at every opportunity! We should make them feel appreciated

It is supposed to be part of our culture - especially our Christian culture.
It is supposed to be how we live - not a rare event
How we think about motherhood, and OUR mothers especially

We definitely don’t do it like we should
How we treat our parents and especially our mothers is serious. God’s command is to honour our parents, full stop!

“And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death… And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death” - Exodus 21:15,17
Jesus repeated the warning in Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

C. There are So Many Great Mothers throughout Scripture. God honours Moms!

Not just great ‘women’, but great MOTHERS worthy of studying and learning from
Great examples - not perfect ones, but amazing examples of being a Mom
Like Eve, the mother of all living

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” - Genesis 3:20
Scientists have discovered a “Mitochondrial Eve” - the name given to the common ancestor of all living humans. We all trace back to one woman! Hmmm.
She was amazing because: she was first, she faced everything without a Mom herself, and she stayed married to Adam all her life!

Like Mary, the mother of our Lord

“And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” - Luke 1:39-43
Not the mother of GOD but of the Lord Jesus Christ
Picked because she loved God, and was willing to be used by God
She had many children - not just Jesus
“And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” - Matthew 13:54-56

Jochebed, the mother of Moses, who saved baby Moses’ life by faith, sending him to Pharaoh’s daughter in a tiny boat down the Nile River!
Ruth, who took a great risk, a big risk leaving her culture, her religion, her old life in Moab to follow the God of Israel because of her mother in law, Naomi. And she ends up meeting the most godly man probably in Israel, named Boaz, and marries him and becomes the great, great, great, great grandmother of King David!
Sarah, the mother of Isaac and of the Jewish nation of Israel. Learning about her as we study through Genesis

God promises in Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her [SARAH]**, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be **a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
She started off barren - unable to have children - and then had Isaac, and a zillion grandchildren and great grandchildren, and even adopted ones like us!

Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel.
Elizabeth the miraculous mother of John the Baptist
And don’t forget the one person who gave birth to you!
None of them were “perfect” mothers, but they were all great in God’s eyes
This morning, on Mother’s Day, I want to honour you Moms and your work as a Mom!

II. Message

A. God made being a mother, wonderful by design (1Peter 3:7)

Moms were given the miracle of bringing LIFE into this world!

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them [YOUR WIFE] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” - 1Peter 3:7
Heirs of “The GIFT of life!” [UNBORN CHILD IN A WOMB]
King David described the supernatural gift of life in the womb in Psalm 139:13-16…
- For thou [GOD] hast possessed my reins [YOU HAD CONTROL OF MY LIFE FROM THE BEGINNING]:
- thou hast covered me **in my mother’s womb.
- I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
- My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth [DEEP IN A WOMB].
- Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Ladies, you were carefully designed by your Creator to have children

There is no such thing as a transgender mother (Dublin Zoo) - blasphemy and mockery of a what a Mother is
They are not “pregnant people”, or “child-bearing people” - they are Mothers
You are different by design:
- Your hormones are for having children ladies - don’t hate them!
- Physically built to conceive, carry, birth and feed children
ONLY you can have children, and that is a good thing!
Oh may God protect us from a day when not even MOM’s are needed to have children! [FUTURE INCUBATORS]

Having children was never a curse on a woman

It is a great honour God bestowed on mothers
Listen to the joy of a woman getting married so she would enjoy the gift of motherhood…
“And they called Rebekah [SOON TO BE ISAAC’S WIFE], and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them” - Genesis 24:58-60

But that does not mean it has ever been easy to be a Mom

B. It is Hard being a Mom (Genesis 3:16)

It is easy getting pregnant - it is much harder being a Mom!
It is hard From the start - being a mother will mean loads of sorrows

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” - Genesis 3:16
From the morning sickness, through the hormone swings
And the expansion around the abdomen
All the way through to the delivery: 2 hours later, 9 hours, 26 hours!!!
And that was just the beginning!

Being a mother in the third world is worst…

A huge number of Mothers die in childbirth from complications that are entirely preventable. Last year 260,000 mom’s died in childbirth in third world countries
So many mothers raise their children in extreme poverty, watching them go hungry while being powerless to do anything about it.
Mothers in war zones watch their children grow up surrounded by violence, displacement, and trauma.

What are the toughest things about being a Mom?

The work - hard work - every day - never-ending - and I applaud your faithfulness to the tasks ladies!
- Waking up - often before everyone else - and begin preparing the household for the day before anyone notices the effort it took
- Packing school bags, check homework was done, sign forms, find the missing shoe, and get everyone out the door on time
- Keeping track of appointments, school events, sports practices, birthdays
- Grocery Shopping
- Making Dinners
- Laundry - constant laundry
- Bathing the kids
- Reading stories
- Making lunches
- Cleaning the house
- Keeping your kids from killing each other over the bathroom
- Constantly encouraging your children and believing in them
- Helping with homework across multiple subjects and year levels, sometimes subjects you have not thought about in twenty years
- Praying for each of your children by name - their struggles, futures, their souls - carrying them before God in a way no one else does quite the same way
- Keeping the right attitude yourself
- Staying in love with your husband, meeting his needs despite exhaustion, distraction, and the thousand daily demands pulling your attention away
All of those things, and the 100 more you do are honourable and good to do!
The remarkable thing about this list is that almost none of it appears on any job description, most of it goes unnoticed and unthanked, and yet if it stopped being done, the whole household would feel it within twenty-four hours. Mothers are among the most underappreciated workers in the world - and the most irreplaceable.

So Much Grief

There is a lot of sorrow and pain being a Mom - goes with the territory
You dream of the best for your children, yet you will experience some of the worst nightmares imaginable
- Think of Eve and her first born son, Cain - finding out he murdered his own brother in cold blood!
- Think of the widow in 1Kings 17, whose only son died in her arms? The Bible describes that loss!
- Think of the Shunammite woman in 2Kings 4 when her child died in her arms, and she was powerless to do anything
- Think of Hephzibah, the wife of king Hezekiah, whose son Manasseh grew up to be one of the most wicked kings in Judah’s history…
You try so hard to advice your children, but are rarely listened to
- Solomon wrote down in Proverbs chapter that his mom warned him about the power of alcohol and women, and she told him about his responsibilities as king. And then she describes the kind of woman that he should look to to marry.
- “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?” - Proverbs 31:1-9 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
- Unfortunately, Solomon did not heed any of that advice! Solomon wrote those words, but ignored them, and fell for every woman that he saw, and experienced every pleasure imaginable he could find, and ended up miserable! Shame!
Mothers get very few breaks. A mother never stops being a mother.
- The worry does not end when the children grow up - it just changes shape.
- It gets more and more complex and deadly
What’s the point?
- Being a Mom comes with a lot of pain! A load of sorrows, and even guilt
- Moms experience heaviness and grief being a mom. Dads can handle stuff, but Mom’s don’t handle problems in their children’s lives so well!

C. The Call to Self-Sacrifice (Luke 9:23,24)

Ladies, What is your life goal?

Modern women have so many wrong goals: their career, wealth, their appearance and “happiness” - while their children (if they have any) are farmed off to other women
THAT is not a good thing!
Sometimes it is necessary to work, but it should not be the norm!

Mothers are called by God to be losers

We don’t like that word!
“And he [JESUS] said to them all, If any man [OR WOMAN] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross [PURPOSE] daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” - Luke 9:23,24
When God gave you a husband, he asked you to lose your life into his, and become one, with him as the head, allowing him to lead, and you follow - that’s Bible
When God gave you a child, He asked you again to lose your life into theirs, and at great cost to yourself, make them great
You constantly are losing… for the sake of others
And that is a good thing - a Christ-like thing - THAT is what Jesus did!
Don’t lose sight of this great calling! To lose your life into your family!
It makes you great
And WE thank God for you doing it!

Feminism has creeped into Christianity, and made women very upset about all they have supposedly missed by being married, and being Moms - REJECT IT!

It is true you missed so much - hangovers, venerial disease, Tinder accounts, fake friends, female pastors, constant depression, drug overdoses
But it is more true that you will ENJOY so many more things because of your self-sacrifices and losses:
- Holding your newborn baby is indescribable - I got to hold FIVE of them!
- As impossible as it may seem, Your children will bless you one day
- Your grandchildren will blow your mind one day with such wonders and accomplishments
- Your life will not ever have been wasted as a mother!
- “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all [LOST EVERYTHING], and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man [OR WOMAN] that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” - Mark 10:28-30
- In Christianity, whatever you think you have lost, was never lost! Only invested! (1Corinthians 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast*, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord*.

D. You have a great purpose as a mom

Your family desperately needs you from day one!
To be a Mom - to be what God made you to be! That is a high calling!
To be a wife to your husband - only you can do that! Your children need both of you
To Train your daughters how to be good helpers, godly wives

Hollywood is not going to do it. Your school is not going to do it - YOU NEED TO!
Paul tells Titus in Titus 2:1-5 But speak thou the things which become sound [RIGHT] doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The **aged [MATURE] women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Did you notice GOD’S goal for you as a Mom? As an older woman…?
- Holiness in behaviour - pure and moral - I don’t see much of that
- Humility - falsely accusing people and tearing them down, or criticizing them
- Not needing alcohol to cope with life - it grieves me to think Christian women would turn to alcohol to help them cope with stresses of life!
- Influencing the next generation of women (your daughters) so that THEY: Are sober minded, not always emotionally driven Love their husbands- hard to do sometimes but your job is to show them how Love their children - Moms don’t always love their children the right way - too much compassion is a bad thing Discretion - carefulness in the way girls dress, act and talk Chaste - means meek and quiet - under control, restrained Keepers at home - not seeking constant competition with men Good - not foul-mouthed like the boys Obedient to their own husbands
- So that God’s WORD is not blasphemed by your way of living
- That ought to scare Moms today! It is happening all the time!
God is not asking you to be a perfect mother - oh how the world has abused that fear
Not even a great mother
Just a humble one, real, dependent on the Lord, determined to serve God by your life
Teaching your daughters and granddaughters to do the same!
Oh how this is missing in modern Christianity!

Beware of your children picking up YOUR bad attitudes

Listen to God in Ezekiel 16:44,45 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
Women were loathing their husbands BECAUSE their mothers were loathing their husbands
Be careful Moms that your daughters are following YOU and not the Lord Jesus
The devil wants your children, and he is getting them sometimes through ther Moms

Have your OWN strong, consistent walk with Jesus Christ!

THE Greatest thing you can do, must do is spend time with Jesus!
YOU need time with God EVERY DAY just as much as your husband does
You need time on YOUR knees - you need to humble yourself and break before God and confess your own failings, knowing Jesus is a perfect forgiver and restorer!
Reading your Bible from cover to cover!
YOU need to draw strength from HIM, not just from your husband

III. How Should Christians Honour their Mothers? Especially the woman that gave us life?

A. Walk with God Yourself - as a son or daughter

Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Know God, and love God yourself - have your own walk with God
With it, you stand a chance - without it, you are the devil’s prey!
You will be surprised just how much that will bless and honour your Mom
Most Moms are tired of their children walking the course of this world and being ruined

B. Live Godly - Do Right

Fear God! Be wise. Don’t be a fool living like there is no God!
“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” - Proverbs 10:1
Show real respect, hard work, putting women first, protecting others instead of living only for yourself
Solomon says that when you live honestly, seeking truth and wisdom and instruction, you bless your parents, and especially your MOTHER.
“,25 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice” - Proverbs 23:24
YOUR MOM WILL REJOICE WHEN YOU DO RIGHT THINGS! Like get a job, pay your own bills, get saved, get baptized, get into a church ministry, join the church, get married, homeschool your children, stay honest, stay faithful to your husband or wife…
She may not be a Christian, but those things are SAFE and will honour her!
And you might just win her to saving faith in the Lord Jesus!

C. Praise your Mom

“Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her” - Proverbs 31:28
That means compliment her on all the little and big things she does
It ought to be normal that your Mom gets a lot of compliments for the things she does!

D. Listen to her and Learn from her

She has a lot of advice - ask her what she thinks.
Listen to her stories - you don’t have to always agree, but you ought to want to listen
Make time just for her - she gave so much of HER OWN time to you

E. Hug her, long and firm

She needs that
Dads do too, but Moms more!

F. Obey her when you’re still in her home.

She makes rules, and your job is to obey them
That honours her - rebellion is wrong no matter how wrong she may seem

G. Thank her

Start to be aware of all she has done for you, AND probably IS doing
Say thank you to her. Do not assume that she knows you appreciate her.

H. Remember WITH her - Remind her of memories that she gave you!

My mom washed my mouth out with soap when I was 7 years old - I laugh with her
Yanked a wasp stinger out of my left palm when I was 5 - deep trauma!
She prepared so many of my favourite foods, AND my NOT so favourite ones
She was there when my Dad walked out on us
She constantly told me I could do anything
She drove my brother, sister and I around America for an entire month after my dad left
She helped me buy my first telescope, and so much more!

I. Help her in practical ways

Come alongside her and help her in whatever she’s doing.
Hoovering or washing the ware.
Keep your room clean so she doesn’t have to
Make your own lunch!

J. Pray FOR her, and pray WITH her

Do you pray for your Mom to deeply know the Lord and trust Him?
Do you regularly pray her heart learns to rest on the strength of the Lord Jesus?
Have you ever sat with her and heard her heave with sorrow? Pray with her!

K. Forgive her - there is so much bitterness in children!

She didn’t know what to do with you at first
She probably made a load of errors in raising you
Nita and I made a zillion mistakes parenting
And you will too!
So go before God and tell him you forgive your Mom for her mistakes
And then honour her like she never made a single mistake at all

L. Honour her all your life, not just when you’re a child

“Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old” - Proverbs 23:22
Don’t ever think you don’t need her! She is God’s great gift TO you, that you should honour all your life!

IV. Conclusion

A. Ladies and gentlemen, All of you had a mother! Honour her!

Will you do more than just give some flowers, and some chocolate?
Will you do more than just say I Love You Mam?
Will you try and actually HONOUR her? Today, and at every chance you get?
There is a great reward for honouring your parents (Ephesians 6:2,3) Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Moms, What Do You Take Away From God’s Word Today?
That God thinks what you do day in and day out is worth praising, applauding
That you should draw all the strength you need from HIM
That all the hard work will be worth it all, when we meet Jesus and He says, Well Done!

B. Not all moms are going to meet Jesus on good terms

You cannot earn your way to heaven, no matter how hard you work
You have to be born all over again, from above, by humbling yourself as a sinner and believing that Jesus did so much more work than you ever imagined, to bring you into the family of God