Sunday, May 14, 2023
Sermon: “Witnesses to the Resurrection, Part 4:
Mary, the Mother of Jesus”
Steve Jacobsen delivers the message “Witnesses to the Resurrection, Part 4: Mary, the Mother of Jesus”, with music from Kathleen Sieck and the Music Team.
Scripture
Luke 26
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee.
Luke 2:41-51
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 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.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Mark 3:31-35
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
John 19:25-27
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Acts 1:14
14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
A Prayer for Mothers Everywhere
“Mary”, by Robert Graham
Leader: Most loving God, we thank you for creating each mother with a unique combination of gifts and talents. We thank you for the sacrifice of self each mom gives for her children.
People: We thank you for the flexibility of mothers, for their tirelessness, their perseverance, and their devotion.
Leader: We pray you give each mother strength. Help her to see in every mundane task the eternal, cosmic significance that you place on motherhood.
People: We pray that each mother may know her worth. Help each mother understand that through your Spirit, she is enough.
Leader: We pray for mothers who never had children of their bodies, but whose mothering heart extends to the many who cross the threshold of their lives. Loving God, help each mother to rest easy
in the knowledge that she is but a steward of your children and that each child in her care ultimately belongs to You.
People: On this day in which we honor mothers, may we love and cherish the special women who have born us, who have nurtured us, and who have prayed for our well-being.
Leader: We pray today for mothers who have lost beloved children. May you comfort them in their grief with your tender heart of love. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to you, who formed and knitted each of us in a mother’s womb.
All: All this we ask through the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen!