A Mothers Legacy

Happy Mother's Day again.

And at this point, our children w can be dismissed to our children's church downstairs.

Just follow our faithful leader out in the back, and uh you'll be coming back up in just a few minutes.

Since it's Mother's Day for the message today, I would like to uh look at some lessons we learned from a very special mother in the Bible.

And there is a sermon outline if you'd like to follow along.

If you didn't get one, our ushers would be happy to hand you one, just to let them know.

One Mother's Day, a husband was away on a business trip, so he sent his wife some flowers on Mother's Day, and when the flowers arrived, uh she opened up the card and all it said was no.

And being confused, she called her husband and asked him what the card meant.

He said, I didn't attach any message.

The florist asked me if I had a message, and I said no.

So it does happen, believe it or not.

Uh, in our study of the Acts of the Apostles on Sunday mornings, we ran into a disciple named Timothy who began to accompany Paul on his missionary journeys.

And in Acts chapter 16, Luke tells us a few good things about this guy, Timothy, that impressed the Apostle Paul.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Let me just read that in Acts 16, 1 to 3.

Paul also came to Derby and Lystra, and a disciple was there named Timothy.

He was the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.

And he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium, and Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Timothy and his mother probably came to faith in Jesus Christ when Paul and Barnabas first visited their hometown of Lystra back in Acts chapter 14.

Acts 14 · chapter mention

Timothy now had grown in his faith since then and had a great reputation among Christians all through the area.

By the time Paul met up with him again in Philippi in Acts chapter 16, Timothy had grown spiritually and was now referred to as a disciple of Jesus.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And in his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul recognizes that Timothy's mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, were responsible for Timothy's spiritual growth.

Listen to what he says in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 1, verses 2 to 5.

To Timothy, my beloved son, grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I'm sure it is in you as well.

Apparently, Eunice and Lois left behind a spiritual legacy in Timothy's life because he became one of the most effective, beloved leaders in the early church.

I'd like to like you to hear what Paul said about him in his letter to the Philippians, where Timothy lived prior to meeting Paul, joining him.

Philippians 2, verses 19 to 23, Apostle Paul says, I hope in the Lord to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be encouraged when I learn of your condition, for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

Philippians 2:19–23

They all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

But you know Timothy's proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.

Therefore, I look to send him immediately as soon as I see how things go with me.

Now, on this Mother's Day, I'd like to look at some of the things Eunice and Lois passed on to Timothy that had a huge impact in his spiritual life.

Three lessons are within reach of every mother and grandmother, even here today.

The first thing we see is that Eunice, Timothy's mother, passed on a personal faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior.

We looked at that in 2 Timothy 1.5.

But Eunice didn't just pass on how to receive Jesus' salvation.

She passed on much more.

One thing we note here during the time between Paul's first visit to Lystra and his second visit to Philippi, Timothy has not only come to faith in Jesus, he's now called a disciple of Jesus.

Well, how did that happen?

It's happened by his mother and grandmother.

She passed down a love and desire to follow Jesus.

Timothy's spiritual growth of faith in Jesus came right from his mother.

By the way, this is no small task either, for Eunice or for you.

Keep in mind that in Lystra, which was a Greek city, is made into a Roman colony in 6 A.D., it was a very pagan city and noted for the worship of Zeus, among other gods, in the Greek pantheon.

And because it was a Greek city, its citizens were highly educated in Greek philosophy.

Eunice and Lois had to contend with the pagan influences and the philosophies of that day in the culture.

Mothers today still contend with the corrupt influences in the culture on our children, and today it is formidable.

It's not an easy task.

To have a spiritual impact on our children, the first lesson is we need to learn from Eunice and Lois is to pass on your faith and loyalty to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

That means you must have a personal faith in Jesus.

If you don't have one, that's a great place to begin.

Place your faith in Jesus because Jesus promised to give us eternal life as we believe in Him, everyone who comes to Him and believes in Him to save them.

Leaving a spiritual legacy to your children begins by having one to pass on.

You can't pass on what you don't have.

As the old adage says, a lot more is caught than taught.

I'll talk to you in June, but I'll say a word here.

Linda and I have seen this, not just in our family, but over the years.

I hate to break this to you, but in many ways, many ways, not always, but in many ways, your children will become just like you.

Just like you.

Your behaviors, your attitudes, your biases, your prejudices, all of it.

You're passing things on to them.

Do you realize this?

You will pass on who you are and what you believe.

And they can tell when it's real.

In fact, in his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul describes Eunice and Los's faith as genuine.

You know what that means?

It means without hypocrisy.

It is a mean what you say kind of faith.

And it shows up in how we live.

You know, hear one thing and then see something totally opposite in our behavior.

It's the same.

Unless you want to confuse them.

Our children look for validation of what we teach them in our lives.

I remember seeing things in my son, who's now almost 40, uh visiting him.

I could see some of my own behaviors in him.

It's very interesting to me.

In fact, he told me, Dad, I can't help, I don't want to do this, but I can't help it because I remember seeing you do it, so I do it now.

Okay, that's cool.

Uh I'll give you an example.

Well, one of my habits through my life has been I always like to prepare the night before for when I get up in the morning, have everything ready.

All my vitamins, all this, they're all stuff.

Obsessive, compulsive.

I get everything, my clothes, everything.

I don't want to think, I don't want to engage my brain in the morning.

I just want to get in it.

Well, my son has seen the benefit from doing the same thing.

And it bothers him.

How did I become just like you?

It doesn't matter.

Listen to me, that's exactly what's going to happen.

Not just with little trinky behaviors like that.

Everything, your attitudes towards this, that, and the other thing, your anxieties, your anger, all of it.

Apart from Jesus Christ, that chain can't be broken.

The legacy, uh, he has the power to change us.

Even I didn't grow up that way.

I grew up in a non-Christian home, really.

But Jesus broke through.

And I'm not the same, I'm still the same as my dad.

You know what he was?

Stubborn.

And I'm stubborn.

And the Lord's convicted me over and over again through the years.

Listen to me, he says to me, Don't be so stubborn.

Come on.

I remember, yeah.

I got it, didn't I?

Yep, got it.

Okay, so pass on a personal faith in Jesus.

You must have it, and it must be authentic.

Kids can pick that up.

They know there's hypocrisy.

And if it's hypocritical, it's not gonna stick.

Sorry to say.

So don't let it be hypocritical.

Be real.

Your own faith in Jesus, personal and real, experiential.

But there's a second way Eunice had a spiritual impact on Timothy.

In the second, his second letter to Timothy, Apostle Paul tells us that Eunice passed on a personal faith and trust in God's word.

Huge.

This is huge for children.

2 Timothy 3, 14 and 16, he writes to Timothy, he says, You, Timothy, however, continue in the things you've learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you've learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

And yet, all scriptures inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

Paul attributes Timothy's progress in the faith directly to his mother's teaching of God's word.

You see, it's one thing to take your kids to church to hear the word of God, which is great, but there's even a greater impact.

When those kids hear the teaching from you, mom or dad, much greater impact.

In fact, this is what God told parents to do from the very beginning.

Uh, in the great Shema of the Jewish faith, coming right out of Deuteronomy chapter 6, it says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

There's your personal faith.

These words, which I'm commanding you today, shall be on your heart, your heart.

And you shall teach them diligently to your sons.

Shock of them when you sit in the house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In other words, God's word needs to be an all-consuming part of your life, and then needs to be transferred to them.

Several years ago, the Barna Research Group surveyed teenagers and asked them, who had who had the greatest impact in your spiritual life?

47% said parents, 16% said the church, 8% said their peers, and 4% said their relatives.

47%.

Even more than the church, you see.

Some parents I know over the years, they count on the church to provide the spiritual uh instruction and so on for their kids.

It's not enough.

If they're not seeing it at home, it's not gonna stick very well.

Sixteen percent.

Well, how do you pass on a personal trust in God's word?

Well, again, it starts with you.

Do you trust God's word as the inspired holy word of God?

If you read and study it and trust what God says, they're gonna pick that up.

You can read God's word to your kids, you can have family devotions with them, you can memorize verses together with them.

No better time to do it when they're young because their memories are pretty good.

When they get to my age, their memories aren't so good anymore.

And I know in our household it was kind of interesting.

I know I'm a pastor and all that stuff, but it anybody can do this.

Uh, it just has to be a central, the word of God has to be a central part of your life.

When you run into a problem, when your kids run into a problem, teach them what does the word of God have to say about that?

What has God promised in his word about that?

Show it to them, read it together, pray about it together.

I used to have fun with my kids.

They I would do this.

Uh, they'd come to me with a question or problem they'd be facing.

I say, get my Bible.

What does the scripture say about that?

Any ideas?

They'd throw this out, throw that out, I'd say, and then eventually I might say, So, have you considered this?

It was just, to me, it was a lot of fun because that's exactly what they needed.

To find answers to their their life issues in the scripture, just like you should do.

Learn to relate issues in your life back to the scripture.

It's really important.

This is passing on a spiritual legacy.

That's what I'm talking about.

You do it by your own personal faith in Jesus, you trust him, you believe in him, he's real in your life.

Then you trust the word of God, the promises of God, and you culte your children to do that.

This is inspired.

All scripture is inspired by God, breathed out from God's own spirit.

There's a third way Eunice had a spiritual impact on Timothy.

And I just I look at it like this.

Uh third thing we learn about Eunice is that she, I believe, passed on a Christ-centered value and vision to her children.

What I mean is it's extremely important that our kids know they are valued by God and us.

In ancient times, one way parents did that was by the name they gave their children.

It had something to do with who they were.

And ordinarily, in a Jewish home, the father had the honor of naming his children, and the children would be identified with him, Jesus, son of Joseph, like James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

But in a mixed marriage, like Eunice, whose husband was a Gentile, the child born to a Jewish mother and a Gentile father was considered Jewish.

And the honor of naming the child went to the mother.

As a result, Timothy would have been known as the son of Eunice, indicating his Jewish heritage.

And I believe Eunice passed on a Christ-centered value and vision in his name, Timothy, or in the Greek Timotheus.

Timotheus has two Greek parts connected.

Time, which means honor, value, importance, and theos, God.

You combine the two ideas, Timotheus may mean something like valuable to God.

Important to God, treasured by God, God honoring.

Eunice wanted Timothy to know he was valuable not only to her, but also to God himself.

Timothy's mom believed it was important to cultivate this kind of vision in her child's life.

And by giving Timothy this name, he would always remember that God valued him, not because of what he did, but simply because who he was.

Without any conditions.

You know what he heard?

Valued by God! And when the time came, Eunice was able to let go of Timothy in Acts 16 because she had given him a God-sized vision for his life.

Much larger than her.

And that mother's vision for her children, their children's value, can have a huge impact on kids.

Huge.

You know, while names today don't have the same impact they did in ancient times, there are so many ways parents today can communicate and reassure children of their worth.

In God's eyes, of their worth in our eyes.

Just simply verbally verbalizing it.

Mom, make sure you're communicating that to your children how valuable they are, how important they are to God and to you.

Mothers are an incredible gift from God.

I mean, I could spend all day talking about the scriptures honoring of mothers.

And moms, we're here to honor you today.

This is your day, all that you are and all that you do.

And Eunice, by the way, is one of the first examples in the Bible of a Christian mother.

She lived in a pagan culture in a time of great turmoil and tension.

She passed on her faith, overcoming tremendous obstacles.

How did she do it?

I have a feeling she learned it from her mother, Lois.

Most likely Lois believed in the Lord first when Paul's team came to Lystra, and she had a spiritual impact on her daughter, Eunice.

No doubt Lois at some point reminded Eunice that her name now reflected the truth of who she was in Jesus.

The name Eunice is also a combination of two Greek ideas.

You, which means Greek for good, and Nike, which means conqueror, victorious, success.

Eunice, eunike.

The next time you buy a Nike, think of Timothy's mom, Eunice, the real icon of success, a godly mother.

This is where your spiritual legacy begins.

Always with a personal, genuine, real faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Whoever you are here today, if you've never had the opportunity to express your personal faith in Jesus, I invite you to do that today.

Believe in Him.

Just express it silently in your heart to God, even as I close in prayer right now.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you that Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

We thank you for the many testimonies and scripture of people who found Jesus and their lives were transformed.

I thank you that you've come to seek and save us.

And I thank you for the mothers who showed us the way to Jesus and lived in genuine devotion to Him.

And Father, I pray that you would help each mother, each grandmother here to pass on a lasting, significant, powerful spiritual legacy in Jesus to their children.

For we can only do it with your help.

And I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.