"Living for Legacy" Mother's Day Message (2nd service) - Pastor Rachel Hickson (May 10, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. Thank you. Wow. The

first thing I have to do is say, sorry girls,

I've let you down. I haven't worn pretty shoes.

I felt very conflicted this morning, but here's

the secret. I've torn the meniscus in my left

knee and it's quite painful and heels and that

doesn't go too well together. So I'm okay standing.

I'll do a bit of bouncing, but I'm afraid of

heels. So I'll mire all your pretty shoes. And

I'm sorry you've got flatties and trainers. Just

in case you think, these British girls, they

really, no. We can wear heels, I promise. I want

to thank you for an amazing weekend. I want to

thank every one of you who came, leaned in. Thank

you for the incredible worship team. All you

guys. AV, power, make us sound good, look good.

You've been amazing and you work really hard.

Come on, let's give them a hand. Thank you. Thank

you. Thank you. And my favourite is what we in

our church call the wow team. Now, the wow team

is the team that when you walk into space, you

just go, oh, wow. These flowers. I mean, how

many of you went, oh, wow, when you saw the flowers

all around? I want to thank everyone that did

the crafting, just the decor and everything.

Give yourself a clap. We clap you. We thank you.

And I love these flowers. So say, wow, you did

well. So I'm going to speak today on living for

legacy. Living for legacy. You know, it's Mum's

Day and you maybe have an idea in your mind,

go preach at Mother's Day. Well, I'm going to

mess it up. You know, we live in Oxford in England

and that's a place which has raised many incredible

leaders across the world. George Whitefield being

one of them. If any of you have seen the movie

just come out with Angel Studios called A Great

Awakening. There is George Whitefield challenging

Benjamin Franklin and just shaping this media

mongrel of his day, newspaper editor, and just

saying, come on, and really preaching Jesus.

And they've released it for your 250 year celebration

of America being born. But that man, George Whitefield,

was born again in the church that Gordon and

I had the privilege of pastoring in Oxford a

few hundred years earlier. And you just, you

walk in a city of legacy. You walk down the streets

and we know that there were men who went before

us who shifted the whole of history. But their

start didn't feel that spectacular. So on mum's

day, father's day, influencer's day, are we going

to set in motion lives of a legacy? You know,

around me, I often hear students or people say

things like this. Hey, I don't want to be a mom

or a dad at the moment. It's a horrendous time

to be alive. What are those poor kids going to

do? What about the children? but I want to give

you a different perspective. I want to say to

you, what an amazing time to be awesome mums

and dads. Whether we have physically birthed

them or whether we're influencing, shaping people

with a mother -father heart. As I say, I live

in Oxford. We supposedly get the very brightest

of the world coming to us. We're the Harvard

Yale. When you watch those kids, dear Jesus.

How many of you get what I mean? They need help.

They need shaping. They need a mom and a dad

and conversations. So I want to ask you, are

you ready to live for legacy? Are you ready to

be part of this group of amazing moms and dads

that are going to shape culture, that are going

to influence the next generation, that are going

to speak hope, give them different horizons,

give them different patterns of life? Because

whether you have naturally birthed kids or whether

you're spiritual shapers, I believe we've never

had a greater opportunity to shape generations.

But we better get busy and get to it. Because

you see, all around us is an atmosphere of fear,

anxiety, stress. Mental health sickness is off

the charts. Suicide is rising. All the stuff

that people are going, woo, they're backing out

instead of engaging. So I wonder what life and

your anxiety level looks like. Where's your anxiety

level? Life and anxiety levels. Worry and trust.

So I want you to show me your second service.

You've drunk your coffee and you're wide awake

and read this scripture with me. One, two, three.

It's from Matthew chapter six, 25 to 34. There's

two slides, but you ready to go? One, two, three.

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday

life, whether you have enough food and drink

or enough clothes to wear. Is a life worth more

than food and your body more than clothing? Look

at the birds. They don't plan or harvest or store

food in barns for your heavenly Father feeds

them. And aren't you more valuable to Him than

they are? Can all your worries add a single moment

to your life? Next slide. Don't worry about these

things saying, oh no, mama's syndrome. What are

we gonna eat? What are you gonna drink? No, you're

not gonna wear that. What will we wear? Verse

32, these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers,

but your heavenly Father already knows all your

needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else

and live righteously and He will... And he will

give you everything you need. So don't worry

about tomorrow. For tomorrow will bring its own

worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

Amen? Ready to go home? The Bible preaches well,

doesn't it? It just says... Going to say, stop

it. Slow down. You know, as we read that word,

worry, here in the New Testament, it could also

be very accurately translated, don't be concerned.

Or don't become OCD. How many of you know what

I mean? You're in a super drive of one particular

anxiety. You know, washing your hands, shutting

the door. Did I lock it? Did I lock it? You know,

the OCD, becoming OCD. overly concerned in one

particular sphere of life if we watch our media

it's all around us you know don't eat that you'll

get cancer this e that z this number that thing

and so we stop eating that and then they tell

us this is healthy wait six months and you're

dying again how many we know what I'm talking

about it's like we can't get it right And the

whole of our culture just stresses us out. And

what seemed to be simple, well, it's pretty obvious,

get up, put some clothes on, eat, drink, go to

work, has now become super complex. And the most

simple of things now is like, oh, am I getting

it right? Am I getting it wrong? So here on Mother's

Day, I want to talk about allowing the squeezing

of our culture and pressure to make you overly

concerned so that all the time you're trying

to second guess, am I eating the right thing,

drinking the right thing, dressing right? You

know, you haven't got the right shoes on. So

I want to ask you a question. What makes you

anxious or worried? What are the triggers inside

of you? Maybe you could just hear the news and

then sometimes you just feel that. It's like,

how many know what I'm talking about? And you

felt fine, but it just needs one person to say

that thing and suddenly you finally felt stressing.

And you just feel this engine begin. I had a

mum come up and say to me, Rachel, but if I don't

worry about my kids, I'm not a very good mum,

am I? After all, mums worry about their kids.

Isn't that what a mum does? That's part of the

job spec. But should it be? You see, if we're

growing up our kids in that atmosphere of fear,

it's not the best atmosphere to grow up in. But

there is almost that unwritten rule. If you're

a good mum, will you worry about your kids? Yes,

of course, I do believe there is that normal,

natural concern, care, protectiveness. I get

that. But there's also an obsessive concern that

begins to fill your head so you can never switch

off. The second your kid's not there, who's abducted

it? Where's it gone? How many get what I'm talking

about? If they're just a little bit late or they

don't text, they've had an accident, they're

in the hospital. And suddenly you find these

over -anxious concerns fill your head and you

can never switch off. I was talking to a young

guy and he was saying to me, I just worry all

the time my wife's going to have an affair. And

I said, why? I said, you know, any... No, no,

no, she says she really doesn't, but it's in

my head. And you see the enemies wanting to press

triggers and buttons. And these wrong concerns

begin to consume our life and begin to control

our decision making. And we feel like we're in

this chess game of life and the devil's playing

with us. He knows exactly which squares to land

on. How many of you know what I'm talking about?

And suddenly you turn the radio on and there's

someone just talking about a kid got abducted

or someone having an affair or your Facebook

scrolls onto something and suddenly, shh. And

the devil's going, ha ha, check. And suddenly

you're in that zone, check, check. And your whole

world. It's tight, fearful, dark, lonely, but

it's in your head. And on the outside, I'm fine,

you're fine, we're all fine, not. But there's

a big, wonderful father and he sits at that chess

table. And however much the devil shoves you

around with check, check, he's got a piece. And

he has the ultimate checkmate. And today, I want

to declare checkmate to all the what's ifs that

are kicking off in your mind. All those nightmare

scenarios. I want to declare over you, do not

let the devil torment you. With his horror movies.

How many of you know you go into bed and suddenly

stuff plays or you're just in the car driving

and suddenly all this stuff. Say no in Jesus

name. I want you to find that delete button and

put your fingers on it and say no longer in Jesus

name. I'm going to delete all these anxious thoughts

from my thinking. Come on stinking thinking,

you bow down. I have a God who loves me, cares

for me. Because you see, prayer is always much

more effective than worry. Worry doesn't change

anything. But we begin to pray to it. We begin

to speak to it. And we say, uh -uh, no, in Jesus'

name. You see, God has come to give you peace.

We heard about that with Pastor Jen. There's

a dove of peace. And peace isn't only just, oh,

I feel all snuggled. I'm in my massage. I'm just...

No, peace is actually pretty strong. It's executive.

All the way through the Bible, it says, let there

be peace. Shalom isn't, I'll give you a hug.

Happy Mummy's Day. Shalom is actually an executive

order. It says, right now, I command a jurisdiction

of peace. Let heaven come to peace. Every onslaught

of the devil who's coming to stir your life,

we say no in Jesus' name, back off. This is a

peace zone. We are the United Nations forces

of heaven. We say, get off, back off, all mental

sickness, all anxiety, all fear. You move and

you shift in Jesus' name. For the peace of the

Lord will rule in your hearts and mind. Isn't

that what it says? It will rule, take dominion.

And so you see, He comes to bring us peace. What

I love about God is he gives us safe places and

spaces. So you don't need to be anxious. You

need to learn to lean and trust again. Where

you've been independent on your front foot, looking

after yourself, sorting your life, trying to

work out who's for you, who's not for you, looking

at your workspace and thinking, who do I trust?

Who do I trust? Who's after my job? Who's after

my girl? So that you look at life through that

lens of suspicion. Now you have a good shepherd.

He's on watch for you. You can love life and

live life because you have a God who's more than

enough and able. You don't need to be anxious.

Psalm chapter 9 verse 10 says this. Can you read

Psalms 9:10

it with me? One, two, three. Those who... know

your name will, will, for you, Lord, have, you

have, you have never forsaken those who trust

you. Come on, that's a big word. Never is never.

Come on God, we want to trust in you and we want

to take the risk of learning to trust again.

Because when you've been in those hell holes

of fear and everything feels like sinking sand,

it's hard to know where to lean. Hard to know

where to trust. But today, on Mother's Day, there

is a father. There is your precious God. And

he's patiently waiting for you. Just like a tender,

kind -hearted, persuasive mum. I want to tell

you a story. I have six grandchildren. I have

three that are Aussies and three that are British.

So my Aussies are called Leela Kuparilani. And

I took the youngest, Alani, to the park. And

she was playing, running, crazy. And I was just

captivated because in the middle of this park

was a really steep slide. And there was a dad

and he picked up his little toddler about two

years old and he climbed up right to the top

with this little boy, sat him on the top and

it's like, go son, come on man up and be my man

for the hour. This little boy was having none

of it. He clinged onto that slide for dear life,

clinged onto his dad, and his dad's trying to

peel him off to sit him on a thing. And the more

the dad is trying to peel him off, the more the

child is clinging, and it becomes a full tug

of war on the top of the slide. Dad is now getting

a little bit angry, agitated, because he's feeling

humiliated. And he says, come on, son. At which

point they went, and we have all hell at the

top of the slide. So Mama starts climbing the

slide, gets up to the top, sits on the top of

the slide, scoots in next to her son, who's not

letting go of anything, and just begins chatting

to him. Everyone around is now, hurry up, we

want to go on the slide. But she's in her bubble

with her boy. She begins talking to him. Slowly

he releases one hand, then he releases another

hand. And she persuades him to just scoot down

that slide about two metres. And she catches

him. She then begins to repeat this again and

again until finally he lets go of the top instantly.

Boom, he's right down there. And it was a huge

slide. Boom at the bottom, he scoots off. Mummy,

I've done it. So dad steps in and says, come

on, boy, let's do it. No. I don't trust you.

You see, that gentle mother's heart has got hold

of him. I want to say there is a God who sees

you. He understands some of the panic and the

alarm and some of the complexity of all the mental

health and things. And it isn't just a macho

moment of man up, jump. God understands how those

seasons of fear can really break you, dominate

you. And he's ready to sit with you. And do a

long conversation. Scoot up right next to you,

put his arm around you and say, come on. Because

why? Because he loves you. And you see, love

breaks fear. Perfect love casts out, drives out

fear. Romans chapter 8. for you have not received

Romans 8 · chapter mention

again a spirit of fear, but you have received

a spirit of papa, daddy, that cries in you, I

got a daddy, I'm safe. I'm sure it goes something

like that. And you see, that's what the enemy's

done. He has so saturated our psyche, our worldview,

whether it's from our marriage to our church.

What's going to happen to the church? Is it going

to fall in the river? Is it not going to fall

in the river? Is the river going to fall in the

church? Yes, Jesus. Oh no, Jesus. How many you

get? And so many nightmares and scenarios begin

to play out. And before we know what's happened,

they've become our reality. People are dangerous.

And we withdraw. And we cling on to the wrong

thing and scream at the wrong people. But I want

to say to you on this Mother's Day, God is waiting

for you. But will you trust him? Will you let

him scoot up next to you and sit with you and

say, come on, sweetheart. I want to do life with

you. Again and again around us, people have lost

their ability to really trust. People really

believed in marriage and then they were abandoned.

Not going there. Smarter, wiser now. They really

loved their dad and father, but then it got abusive

and dominating and violent. Not going there.

Loved my workplace. Really enjoyed going to work.

But then one day I was laid off and everyone

else knew and I just felt humiliated. Didn't

feel I can trust. Really trusted my friends.

Told them everything. And then one day I found

out on social media and they ghosted me and I

was out. There's so many different circumstances

and losses that leave us feeling vulnerable.

But I want you today on Mother's Day to know

that you have a father who's tender, who's ready

to come and sit alongside you in every fearful

and anxious space of your life. And he wants

to give you confidence again. In verse 33, we

read this. Seek first the kingdom of God above

everything else. And live righteously. And he

will give you everything you need. So I wonder,

what is your priority? Are you really putting

Jesus in that central place? Are you really seeking

him? And then as you get that right, everything

else comes right. You see... As you look to this

God who really, really loves you, it will create

the right atmosphere for you to live healthy.

There's some fearful atmospheres. I felt some

of you hate the night time, hate the dark time.

It's like that's a trigger. And God just wants

to come right in there and say, no, delete. I

want you to know that I'm sitting right there.

I've scooted in right next to you in the dark

time and I'm going to break every repetitive

dream and nightmare and you don't have to fear

night time anymore. I am with you and I'm going

to create a healthy atmosphere even in the night

times. So verse 34 says, don't worry about tomorrow.

For tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today

has enough trouble for itself. I don't know about

you, but for many of us, if we run homes, run

businesses, how many of you like a plan? Come

on, let me see the planners. Confess all. How

many of you are control freaks with your plans?

Yeah, I am. I love my plan to work. How many

of you love your plan to work? So we make a plan.

We want it. You know, I sit on several boards.

I want a one -year plan, three -year plan, five

-year plan. And we write these incredible plans.

Financial forecast, growth statistic. How many

of you know what I'm talking about? How many

of you have shredded them in the last six months?

You know, since COVID, it is just a nightmare.

I do these plans. I've got the algorithms. I

know where I'm going. What happened? In the shredder.

So much has changed. I don't like it. I really

don't like it. I don't like all the uncertainty,

the chaos. I like to live with a plan. But guess

what? God says, Get over it. Don't worry about

tomorrow. And so in my office now, we have a

little mantra when they all come running in.

What are we doing, Rachel? What are we doing,

27? You know, got an invite for November 27.

I said, give me a break. And we have this little

mantra, just one step at a time. That's all one

step at a time. I can live. You see, God gives

us a capacity. And his capacity is, One step

at a time. One day at a time. One at a time.

I've got grace for one day. He's got grace for

eternity. Let him sort eternity. I'll sort one

day in Jesus' name. And I want to break the pressure

of trying to always be ahead. Because actually

what I find is if we over plan, we just become

controlling. We can't plan everything, but God

has a plan. And God's going to provide and God's

going to take care and God's going to sort it

and God's going to make it. How many of you believe

that? And I want to speak to you. Some of you

in businesses, some of you are trying to sell

properties. Some of you, and you're like, we

need to get this done. We've got deadlines. This

needs to be done. And how many of you know, you

give God your plan and he just seems to go, yeah,

whatever. Seriously, God, that's not nice. My

husband preaches this. God is good. We sang it.

God is good and I've witnessed it. But I've also

witnessed God is not nice and I've witnessed

it. He takes me right up to the nth degree and

I'm falling over the cliff and he says, it's

okay, I've got a plan. God, you better have because

I'm about dying right now. How many of you know

what I'm talking about? So, Gordon, I just wonder

if you can come just for a second. I wonder where

your trust levels are. Because you see, I just

keep feeling, if you could just stand behind

me, put your hand up. Will you let go? You see,

I ask Gordon because I know him and he's usually

nice most of the time. I don't think he will

just skip and let me. Will you? Not worth my

life. But you see, are you ready to let go and

let God? To lean into the goodness of God? To

trust him? To make a way when there seems to

be no way. Because you see, God wants to say,

I want to awaken you to trust. I want to awaken

you. I want to align you. And I want to advance

you. I'm actually, I've done my creative. I'm

on it quite a bit. Awaken, align, advance. What's

he going to awaken? Thank you. He didn't let

me fall. He's going to awaken you to the God

that sees you. Can you see him? He sees right

where you are. He sees all the tensions. He sees

all the pains. And he says, right now, I see

you. Then he aligns you with everything that

heaven is saying over you. And he says, come

on, don't be afraid. He then advances you into

the kingdom of God. You see, as mothers, we have

the privilege to birth. All my friends say, Rachel,

you didn't really do a very good job birthing.

And I said, why not? I birthed Nicola, my daughter,

she's now 42, in 38 minutes. And I birthed David,

my son, in 12. So yeah, I didn't make a big deal

of it. It was fast. And everyone said, that must

be fantastic. Actually, I shook with shock for

about three hours. Like, what in the world just

happened there? But we birth. And we all birth

in very different ways. And we all have very

different experiences. But one thing that is

common about moms is something that was not now

is. It's a mystery. It's a wonder. It's fantastic.

It's terrible. But we birth. So come on. Are

you going to leave a legacy life Bible? Is there

something in you that you know? That you've got

a birth. It's got to come alive. You know, we've

just had Easter. And we always celebrate. We

carry resurrection life. And we're always excited

about that. And we have Easter Sunday. He is

risen. He's risen indeed. Come on, practice with

me. He's, Jesus is alive. He's alive, Easter

Sunday. Monday comes, we forget. Is Jesus alive

today? Is He living today? Does He want to birth

life through you today? And you see, you're called

to be life people, to break every fear, every

shackle, every mentality. We are called to reverse

the curse of the enemy. And there's so much fear

and there's so much mental health issues. But

we have a Saviour and He's a life giver. Jesus

said in John 10, 10, I've come to give you life,

abundant life. And my purpose is to give them

a rich, satisfying life. So come on, we need

to shift some atmospheres. We're living in an

atmosphere of darkness, sludge, fear, anxiety.

Don't risk safeguarding. Lord, help us. I don't

know if you have that here, but it's one of the

main difficulties that we have to do a safeguarding

assessment on every meeting, everything we do.

I might jump off here and break a leg. But we

have a God who says, are you ready to risk? Are

you ready for some courageous insanity where

you will just let go and lean into the goodness

of God and know He will catch you? Many things

don't make sense, but it isn't nonsense. Many

things you look at and you think, what is going

on? But God's got a plan. It's a Deuteronomy

30 verse, 19 says this. I want you to read it

with me. What does it say? This day. Which day?

This Mother's Day, 2026. Say it one more time.

This day, I call the heavens, read it with me,

and the earth as witnesses against you that I

have set before you life, Death, blessings, curses.

Now, choose life so that you and your may live.

You see, what we choose today starts a domino

effect. You start a rumble that goes through

your... Family line. This region. This generation.

We start a life choice that breaks fear. And

come on, you are called Life Church. Don't let

the devil intimidate you and become Death Church.

You're not going to choose death, are you? We're

choosing? You're not going to choose curses.

You're choosing? Now choose it. Because it will

give you life and for your children. Come Holy

Spirit. So I want to just close. And I want to

ask you, have you chosen life? Have you chosen

Jesus to be right in the centre of your life?

I love that you've come to church on Mother's

Day. Thank you. Coming to church is being in

a family, being seen, being loved. But coming

to church can't save you, break the fears, break

life patterns. Only Jesus can do that. So we

have to come to Jesus and let Him change the

way we think, the way we feel, the way we are.

And receive that gift of Jesus into our lives.

Then we can extend our hands and find family.

Coming to church won't save you. It might just

secure you a little, but it won't save you. It's

coming to Jesus that will change you. So right

now, I want to count to three. One, two, three.

And if you're saying, yes, Jesus, I need you.

I want you to just put your hands straight up

and say, you know what, Rachel, you're right.

Jesus is not in the right place in my life. I

need him. And if that's you, maybe you've never

given your life to Jesus. Mother's Day 26 is

your day. Birth something new in your life. Maybe

you have done it a long time ago, but you know,

you've taken your wedding rings off. You're living

a wrong life. But today you're putting your rings,

that gold covenant ring back on. And you're saying,

I'm yours. So I'm going to count to three. And

if you're saying, yes, God, I want to wear a

Jesus ring 24 -7. I'm just going to ask you to

put your hand right up. One, two, three. If that's

you, put it up. Thank you, sweetheart. Thank

you. Thank you. I see your hands. I want you

just to keep those hands up. And I want you to

imagine you're taking hold of the hand of God.

And He's taking hold of your hand and you're

saying, thank you, God, you've got me. Amen.

Then I want all of us in the room to pray a prayer.

Can we do that? One, two, three. Jesus today,

I give you my life. I'm sorry for the wrong things

that I have done. But right now, I want you.

Break the fear in my life. Let me know you love

me and help me. Live the best life. Amen. Thank

you, thank you for those hands. God really bless

you. Can you give them a clap? Thank you. And

I wonder if all of us can just stand. Because

before we run out the back door and we do mum's

day, photos, lunch, and I hope you have a fabulous

day. As we just close, I wanna give you an opportunity

and if the prayer team and the pastors will come.

If you put your hand up to give your life to

Jesus today and just saying, I really need to

sort that. I'm gonna ask you to come to this

right hand side and I'm just gonna ask some of

the pastoral team to be here because I want them

to pray with you so you really know that Jesus

is in the right place in your life. Just come

here. But for everyone else, Before you run out,

if you know you need to leave some fierce stuff

at the altar and just say, God, I want this off

my life. It's become obsessive. It's controlled

me and I hate it. Then I just want you to come

down the front. And before we go, we want to

pray for you. So prayer team, just come and just

say, I need to shake off every fear because I

know that God, you've called me to live free

from fear. That's right. Just come. And we want

to pray for you. We're not going to humiliate

you or embarrass you, but we want to walk with

you to make sure that this Mother's Day, you

know, fear is broken off my life. And if prayer

team, pastoral team can just gather around them,

come, pray with them, help them. And as we worship,

you just keep coming forward if you'd like someone

to pray with you. Thank you for taking the time

to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful

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