Sunday Morning Worship Service

Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms that are in the house. We honor you, all the ladies in our life, grandmothers, sisters, aunts. We honor you today as we are celebrating Mother's Day. I want you to turn with me to 2 John. I'll try to be very brief, but I want to give honor to all of our leadership, to all of the families that are here today. We honor you and are thankful for you to be here today. 2 John, a very brief letter. I had this written in my notebook last year. I studied 1 John last year and I got to 2 John. I wrote this down, if I ever get asked to preach Mother's Day, this is going to be my thought. Pastor leaned over to me a few weeks ago and he said, "Would you be able and willing to preach our Mother's Day service?" And I gladly accepted because I have the greatest mom in the entire world. So, I feel like I have a good a good a place to be able to to preach today cuz I've got the best. I've got the best. Second John, Second John. We're going to read this letter. It's It's very brief. Beginning of the first verse, The elder, John, unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth. And not I only, but also they that have known the truth. For the truth's sake. Which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be with you, mercy, peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father in truth and love. I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children, other translations say some of your children walking in truth as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning. And that we love one another. And this is love that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that you have heard from the beginning. You should walk in it for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him God's speed is partaker in of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink. But I trust to come unto you and speak face-to-face that our joy may be full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Today, to all of our moms and everyone that is present today, I'd like to minister from first the first very first verse in opening to the elect lady. To the elect lady. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your spirit that's here. We thank you for the families that have dedicated their children this morning. We thank you, Lord, for all those that are gathered here, all of our moms, all the ladies in our life who have made an impact and who have influenced us. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us today to celebrate them, but Lord, also to celebrate the church, which is your bride. And I pray that you'd help us to glean from this short letter today. In Jesus' name we pray. And everyone say, "Amen." Amen. To the elect lady. Last October and November, uh I taught on Wednesday nights from 1 John. And these three letters are attributed to the Apostle John. He was, by this time, late in his life. He is the elder. Uh he is writing to uh the churches and the believers that are in Ephesus. And by the time that he has written these three letters, uh likely this these groups of people gathering together there were second and possibly even third-generation believers. They had endured painful splits, divisions, and a relentless onslaught of false teachers. And John deals with that in his first letter at length. Because this false doctrine was infiltrating the church causing division, he tries to set the record straight on the doctrine of Christ's deity and humanity. The church, the believers in Ephesus, took their faith seriously and stood ready to defend it. But not only were they facing false doctrine and false teachers, Ephesus was filled with idolatry and paganism. And these weren't necessarily ideal circumstances for a body of believers. And even when the church began, do you go back to Acts 19 and chapter 20, Paul is the one who started this church and caused a riot as he preached against the idolatry there. Later on, he leaves he leaves a young man by the name of Timothy to oversee the largest body of believer believers in Ephesus at that time. And so John, by the time he is an an elder statesman, is a overseer of sorts to these believers in Ephesus. First letter is to the church at large. The last two letters we have here are personal letters. John writes to this elect lady and her children and then he writes the third letter to Gaius. Who was this elect lady? Now, the natural reading is this, that John was writing to an actual Christian woman and her children. And in this view, we see this warm personal message encouraging her family to continue walking in truth and to guard against false teachers. Another idea is that John is using this phrase elect lady as symbolic language for a local church and her children are representing the believers in that congregation. I lean towards the first that he is writing to an actual elder Christian lady and her children because no other writer in the New Testament refers to a person in this way or refers to the church excuse me in this way as the elect lady but then also he is writing a personal letter to Gaius in the third letter so I believe that he is writing to this lady this mother and her children. And so from this short letter I want you to glean some of the amazing attributes of this elect lady and how we can apply these truths to not just our mothers but also as the church at large. Number one the elect lady loves truth. She loves truth. If there's anything moms hate it's lying. How many times does a mom have to ask are you telling me the truth? Or they make the statement don't lie to me. Right? Nobody has ever said had to say that to your child before. I'm so glad. I bet you've said that or asked that more than you want to admit. To love truth is to hate that which is false. AND IF WE'RE BEING HONEST today in 2026 no mother wants to hear their child say I'm just living my truth when they lie about not eating the chocolate chip cookies while having chocolate on their lips and in their teeth. That's for free, by the way. John says the elect lady abides in the truth and that all who know and love the truth love her. That is a remarkable quality and the first attribute John highlights about this elect lady, she loves truth. And John is obsessed with truth, isn't he? If you read his letters, all three of his letters here, truth is a major theme. For him to single out the elect lady's love of truth is highly significant. Moms, mothers, you can't simply desire truth from your children, you must love the truth of God's word. Like the elect lady, we must buy the truth and sell it not. In our day of AI, fake news, rampant deception, truth must be a non-negotiable in our faith, our doctrine, our lifestyle, and our speech. We can't love truth while living a lie. John opposes doctrinal lies as fiercely as he opposes the lies that we might tell ourselves. We must be lovers of truth. The next attribute of the elect lady, she's a teacher. He says, "I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father." Let me read to you the New King James version of this of this verse. I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth. Not all teachers are mothers, but all mothers are teachers. Mothers are constantly teaching their children. Some of the greatest advice and teaching in my life have come from my mom. Some lessons are Your life, Mom, is the pattern your children is the example. It is not just your children, but it's also community. Paul told Titus, "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands. Why? So that the word of God may not be reviled." In other words, your life proclaims what you believe. Paul was an important mentor and influence in Timothy's life. As I told you earlier, he left Timothy in charge of Ephesus. But even PAUL KNEW PAUL WASN'T THE MOST INFLUENTIAL person in Timothy's life. He says in his second letter to Timothy, he says, "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which first dwelt in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that's in all it's it that's in you also." He says later in the same letter, "But continue thou in the things which YOU HAVE LEARNED." WE THINK that's what at the Paul's talking of himself, and he's not. He says, "And has been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them. AND THAT FROM A CHILD THOU HAS KNOWN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in CHRIST JESUS." PAUL KNEW I'M NOT THE greatest influence in Timothy's life. It is his mother and his grandmother. They are the ones who have taught him the word of God. They are the ones who have lived this before him. He is here. I am trusting in Timothy overseeing the work IN EPHESUS BECAUSE HIS MOM AND HIS GRANDMOTHER have had a great influence in his life. It wasn't just Paul. It wasn't just great preachers. It was mom. It was grandmother. We should teach our children how to become good neighbors, upstanding citizens, and honorable spouses and parents. But we also must teach them the truth of God's word. Oh, you can say amen if you'd like to hear that again. Teach them how to to manage their finances. Teach them how to be a great parent. Teach them how to be a great citizen and a neighbor. But also be sure you're teaching them the word of God. My mom taught me the word of God and she exemplified that every day that we lived. Every day that I was around my mom, it was gospel music all the time. It was constantly worship music. When she would clean the house, it was Lanny Wolfe Trio. When she cleaned the house, it was Andre Crouch. When she cleaned the house, it was Brooklyn Tabernacle. When you get in the car, it's gospel MUSIC. A FEW WEEKS AGO, I HAD TO TAKE her car, get gas, and go get it washed. And get Guess what was up to 99. It was BROOKLYN TABERNACLE CHOIR. WHY? WHY? BECAUSE THIS IS NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT WE DO ON SUNDAY. WE'RE NOT JUST TEACHING ON SUNDAY at Sunday school. Everything that we do must be teaching It has generational impact. I'll never forget we go to church and I'd sit with her sometimes if I wasn't sitting with my friends. And if I was sitting there, she'd hit me. Stand up. Get your hands up. Clap your hands. Lift up your voice. WHY? WHAT YOU'RE NOT HERE TO BE A SPECTATOR. WE'RE HERE TO worship the Lord. This is the house of God. You're here to worship tonight. THERE WAS A TIME SHE LET ME bring GI Joes and He-Man and wrestlers to church, but there was a time when she says, "No more sleeping under the pew. It's time for you to sit up and hear preaching. It's time for you to stand up. It's time for YOU TO WORSHIP." WHY? SHE'S TEACHING. COME ON. TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY THAT HE SHOULD GO AND WHEN HE IS OLD he will not depart from it. That's a word we have. Yes, he is glad. He He said JOHN SAID, "I'M GLAD TO HEAR SOME OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE WALKING IN TRUTH." I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT OF THY CHILDREN THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE WALKING in truth. We can teach our children to do a lot of great things. We tell We tell Easton We told her today, "BE A DOCTOR. BE A LAWYER. MAKE LOTS OF MONEY." WHY? I WANT YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL. BUT WE KNOW I WANT I THAT NOT ONLY DO I SEND HER TO SCHOOL TO GET A GOOD EDUCATION, BUT I SEND HER TO SISTER TRIMBLE TO LEARN HOW TO BE PLAY A PIANO. WHY? BECAUSE ONE OF THESE DAYS I JUST KNOW SHE'S GOING TO FEEL A CALL TO DO SOMETHING MORE THAN BE A DOCTOR. I'D BE GREAT IF SHE WANTS TO BE A DOCTOR, THAT'S GREAT, BUT I REALLY WANT HER TO MAKE KINGDOM IMPACT IN HER LIFE AND I'VE GOT TO SHOW HER AND INVEST IT IN UH I feel like preaching today. Teach. I know it's But I love There's A PROMISE HERE. SOME of thy children Some of thy children ARE WALKING. NOT ALL OF THEM. NOT ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN ELECT LADY ARE WALKING with him, BUT THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE WALKING WITH HIM. THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME WHO WALKED AWAY FROM THE TRUTH, BUT NOT ALL of them HAVE WALKED AWAY. SOME WERE STILL WALKING IN THE TRUTH, BUT I'VE GOT A WORD for somebody today. I'm a living example OF ONE WHO WALKED AWAY, BUT THERE WAS A PRAYING MAMA AND I'M STANDING HERE TODAY BECAUSE OF THE PRAYERS OF MY MOM. I'M STANDING HERE TODAY BECAUSE I WALKED AWAY. WHEN I HIT ROCK BOTTOM, I KNEW WHERE TO GO. I FEEL LIKE PREACHING this morning. I KNOW IT'S MOTHER'S DAY, BUT I WANT SOMEBODY TO REALIZE WE'VE GOT A RESPONSIBILITY TO TEACH OUR children well. My God. She's she's a teacher, but she's also a protector. Moms have the innate ability to protect their children. She monitors influences, watches friendships, corrects harmful behavior, and teaches right from wrong because she understands that not every danger is physical. The elect lady may have had a church in her home. Church buildings like this today were not the norm in the first century. The church went house to house to spread and propagate the gospel. And this is what John writes to this mother, "For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." Verse 10, "If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed." The elect lady, the mother, was to guard her home and guard her children. She guards the truth that she loves, and she guards her children that she loves. She's not allowing just anyone into her home. She's not going to let every doctrine and ideology into her home. She's not going to allow all influences into her home. Likewise, we must guard and protect our children. If you're a parent, you need to know what your children are watching and listening to. You need to know who they're messaging and when they're messaging. There are many deceivers gone out into the world, and they want to deceive and corrupt and harm your children. We are living in a time where we cannot afford to be naive. Just because it's on YouTube does not mean it's for your children. Just because you have guardrails and there's all Let me tell YOU SOMETHING. THEY'RE NOT YouTube is not guarding against false doctrine. That's up to you. That's up to me. We've got TO KNOW WHAT'S COMING INTO OUR HOME, AND THAT THERE ARE SOME things we're not allowing into this place. For John, it seemed the place that needed the most protection was the home. The home should be a sanctuary of love, peace, gentleness, godliness, and equipping. Your home should be A SANCTUARY. I DON'T allow just everybody into my home. Come on. Let me just say this, TOO. I LOVE EVERYBODY, BUT MY DAUGHTER'S NOT GOING TO SPEND the night with everybody. I DO NOT TRUST 99.9% of the people in this world. This is the way it is. I SHE'S MINE. I'VE GOT TO GUARD HER. I'VE GOT TO PROTECT HER. I LISTEN, YOU CAN GO TO THE PLAYGROUND. YOU CAN DO ALL THAT, have fun, high-five each other, BUT LISTEN, MY HOME IS A SANCTUARY. YOUR HOME NEEDS TO BE A SANCTUARY. THERE needs to be a time where it says, "NO VACANCY. ALL SOLD OUT. WE'RE CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT. PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN." Y'ALL AIN'T GOING to help me preach. MY GOD. I'M TELLING WE GOT TO BE PROTECTORS. WE GOT TO BE GUARDIANS. NOW, LISTEN, you can't shield your children from everything. You can't isolate them from hurt and disappointments and heartbreak, but you can insulate them and equip them. CHILDREN WHO WALK in truth are children who know what truth looks and sounds like. And they avoid the dangers and the errors and the false doctrines of the world. The next one, she's loving. The beloved disciple, John, also known as the apostle of love. John wrote at length about love in all of his writings. He famously penned, "God is love." According to John, we are to love God, love truth, love God's commands, and love one another. But we live in a paradap- paradox these days, don't we? LOVE IS PREACHED until one disagrees with you. THEN YOU ARE TO SHUN AND OPPOSE UNTIL THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS. SO, WE'VE TRADED TRUE love for tolerance. You're thinking, "Where's this Where's this guy going on Sunday morning on Mother's Day?" IF YOU PROFESS TO LOVE SOMEBODY, you must tolerate their choices and lifestyle. And if you don't, then you really don't love them. BUT JOHN CORRECTS THESE THESE THE THIS FALSE way of thinking. HE SAID, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE, THAT LOVE ISN'T based upon feelings or emotion. IT'S BASED ON GOD'S LOVE FOR US." And here's the idea. We love God and keep his commandments. If you don't keep his commands, YOU DON'T LOVE GOD. THAT'S THE PROOF OF YOUR LOVE. Commands are not burdensome because they are obeyed out of duty. That's burdens. But when you love someone, they are obeyed out of delight. WE CAN OPPOSE SIN AND CALL FOR REPENTANCE, and we do so, BUT WE DO so out of love. Being loving doesn't mean not correcting or disciplining. I love my children too much to discipline them. That's not love. That's abuse. DON'T YOU DARE CORRECT MY CHILDREN. ARE THEY ACTING A FOOL? IF you're not going to CORRECT THEM, THE LAW WILL. THEN YOU'RE GOING TO COME TO US IN COUNCIL. AND HAD YOU just let let the teacher discipline You know, here's the thing about my mother. My mother always thought it was my fault. If I got in trouble, IT WASN'T THE TEACHER'S FAULT. It was my fault. Y'all all right today? Y'all are thinking it was Father's Day. You You don't want me to preach on Father's Day. If you got IF I GOT IN TROUBLE, IT'S WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU NOT DO? WHAT DID YOU DO WRONG? WERE YOU NOT LISTENING? NATHAN, STOP BEING STUPID. WE GOT TODAY IF WE CORRECT ANYBODY'S CHILDREN, IT'S THE TEACHER'S FAULT, IT'S THE LAW'S FAULT, IT'S EVERYBODY ELSE'S FAULT BUT THE CHILD'S FAULT, AND WE WONDER WHY OUR PRISONS ARE OVERFLOWING with I'll tell you WHY WE GOT PRISONS OVERFLOWING WITH CRIMINALS IS WE HAVE TOO MANY PARENTS WHO WANT TO BE THEIR FRIENDS AND NOT BE THEIR PARENT. >> >> WHO THE FATHER LOVES HE CHASTENS. WE GOT TO DISCIPLINE. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF HATRED, IT'S NOT BECAUSE WE'RE MAD, IT'S BECAUSE WE WANT TO STOP YOU FROM BEING A FOOL. HELP ME, JESUS. I'm Listen, I got I got punished. I GOT PUNISHED. I grounded, and I had my fair share. I'm sure I deserved it, but it was for my betterment. It was a mother's love trying to teach me how to HOW TO ACT. NATHAN, YOU ALWAYS OPEN A DOOR for a lady. NATHAN, YOU ALWAYS TIP AT A RESTAURANT, AND IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO TIP, YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO EAT THERE. I know you're not hucklebucking right now, but I'm trying TO HELP YOU. THAT'S LOVE. All kinds of other things she taught me, too. I can't share all that. Finally, and you're thinking, "Thank God." She's chosen. Notice what he calls her. The elect lady. What a strange title to call a woman. John doesn't say to the kind lady. He doesn't say to the old lady. He doesn't say to the beautiful lady. He doesn't say to the perfect lady. He says to the elect lady. Elect here means chosen, called, or selected. John doesn't address her with something she does. He does not address HER BY SOME QUALITY SHE HAS DEVELOPED. INSTEAD, JOHN CALLS HER BY SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF HER CONTROL. She's chosen. She's selected. She's called. To be elected is to be called out. In theological terms, it's the electing purposes of God. JOHN DOESN'T CALL HER THE PERFECT LADY, but he calls her the elect lady. There was no committee or council called together. There is no campaign or lobbying. There was no canvassing OR STUMP SPEECHES. GOD CHOSE HER TO BE A MOTHER. With all of her imperfections and flaws, she may NOT HAVE FELT QUALIFIED OR ADEQUATE, BUT THAT did not matter. SHE MAY NOT HAVE VOLUNTEERED OR THROWN her name into the hat, BUT SHE WAS CALLED OF GOD TO BE A MOM. A mother of her children and a mother TO A BODY OF believers who met in her home. AND WHAT OF her times? Having children and raising a family in less than ideal conditions. She didn't get to choose her country, city, or circum- stance. She didn't get to CHOOSE HER CHILDREN. FALSE TEACHERS AND FALSE DOCTRINE HAD infiltrated the church and the FAITHFUL WERE STILL MEETING IN HER HOME AND she's trying to raise a family and minister to broken families who may have suffered through the church split. LIVING IN EPHESUS WHERE IDOLATRY AND HEATHENISM WAS RAMPANT. THAT SURELY WAS NO PLACE TO RAISE a godly family. Add to that the persecution the young Christian church was enduring, never knowing when it would come to her doorstep. But John called her elect. Chosen, called, and selected. Did she know what she was doing? She probably didn't know any more than the mothers that are in this room. But God knew exactly what he was doing when he chose this lady in Ephesus. There may be some mothers in this room that you don't feel qualified or adequate to be a mom. Maybe you've been a mother for decades and you still don't know if you're doing it right. Maybe there's a mother who wishes she lived in a different culture or era to raise her children. Maybe you became a mother to children who aren't yours biologically and you feel like you're not competent enough or adept at being a mom. Maybe you're a single mother and feel deficient or bereft of support. I want to tell every mother in this room today, you are the elect lady. You're called, chosen, and selected by God to be a mother for such a time as this. The world and all its suffocating ideals, the constant pressure to protect and guard your children from predators and deceivers, constantly having to teach the same truths and principles, loving and caring when your children are going through broken hearts and disappointments, TRYING TO MANAGE A MARRIAGE, NURTURING your own spiritual, mental, and emotional health, balancing home, work, and kids' sports schedules, AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES, THE CONSTANT ANSWERING OF QUESTIONS AND recreational problems that you have to deal with as being a parent over and over and over again. How about folding laundry, making dinner, and cleaning house, scrolling through social social media while fighting the urge to covet others' families and situations, then wrestling with the idea that you have to become the world's influencer WHILE YOUR OWN CHILDREN JUST want your attention? Stand with me. I want to tell every mom in this room, you were called for such a time as this. You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to have all the answers. But you're called, you're chosen, you're selected. Thank God for moms that love Jesus. They pray when no one else sees it. They model faith in everyday life, not just on Sundays. They love sacrificially even when they're exhausted. They create homes filled with grace and truth. They shape the next generation to follow Jesus. To the elect lady, keep loving truth in a day submerged with lies. Keep protecting and guarding your children and your home in God's truth. Keep loving in a culture that's confused on what true love is. Keep teaching and modeling faith, holiness, and godliness. And one of these days, someone will say, "I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father." Would you lift up your hands right now all over the sanctuary? Maybe there's a mom who feels weak and tired and exhausted and wore out, burnout. Maybe you're confused. Maybe you're you're fighting this trying to keep everything in balance and everything in check. Picked you for this moment. You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to have the a a degree in parenting. You don't have to have it all together and worked out and understood. All you have to know is that if I'm called, if I'm chosen, I'm selected, I can be anointed to do this very task of being a mom. I can do this because he's called me to do it. And God believes in me enough to give me this responsibility, and I'm going to trust him every day, day by day, no matter if I feel like doing it or I feel like quitting. I'm called. I'm elected to do what God has called me to do. One more time, would you just lift up your heart, lift up your voice as they begin to sing. You can come to this altar if you would like today on this Mother's Day. I invite every mom, every woman, every family to come up today if you would like. Let's spend a time in worship to the Lord.