Man, all right. If you would turn with me, please, in your Bibles to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. And in Luke chapter 1, we'll begin reading in verse 46. Mary, the wife of Joseph, has already been told by the angel Gabriel that she would be giving birth to the Messiah. Six months before that, her cousin Elizabeth had been told by the same angel that Elizabeth's husband had been told that Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. gets the news. She runs to the house of Elizabeth. It's been six months now since they had got their message about John the Baptist coming. And Elizabeth says to Mary at the door, and whence is this to me? Verse 43, that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary goes and gives forth her Magnificat, giving praise to God. for what he has done in her life. And Mary said, verse 46, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Our memory verse for today, for He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. He has showed strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath opened His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy. As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your blessings and goodness. God, we thank you for the love of mothers and we pray that you would help each one. Father, that as your word goes forth, that we'd all be encouraged and especially mothers, Father, to be faithful in your calling upon their lives, in teaching their children of you, And Father, sharing that love. And that we would love and be thankful, Father, for our mothers. And that we each would draw close to you for godliness is profitable in all things, having promise of the life that now is and that which is to come. So we pray that you work in a wonderful way in our hearts this morning. Bless each mom, pray they have a special day today. Lord, we pray and ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Sometime ago, as I was reading this passage, I heard Mary's praise, and it was like I'd heard that before reading the Bible. And I want to talk to you this morning about matching mothers and the master, okay? We're going to compare the heart of two mothers. And by the way, they would become mothers. The other mother we're going to look at is Hannah. These mothers were about, were a little over a thousand years apart in time. Mary would have been able to read fully the account of Hannah. And I'm persuaded she did. Very much so. Because as we look at their praises to God, they are very similar. Why? Because there may be 40 different writers in this book, but there's one author, amen? And it's the Holy Spirit. And we're going to compare the hearts of these mothers. Now, when they gave this praise, they weren't mothers yet, either one of them, her or Hannah. But it's obvious that God had made their hearts fertile ground to be the good mothers that God would want them to be. And I think we can be challenged and we can be blessed by that as we look at the comparisons between Hannah and Mary. And we will see that comparison. We'll learn about Hannah as well here. First of all, they both realized, number one, that the fortifying strength of praise. Let me tell you a little bit about Hannah. She was married to, a thousand years ago, she was married to a man by the name of Elkanah. And he had two wives. God never sanctioned, by the way, polygamy, okay? In Genesis, God had said one man, one woman for life. But the Bible also says that God allowed Moses to put divorce in there. Why? Because of the hardened hearts of men. It took a while for man to be helped by God, I guess. But they saw the fortifying strength of praise. We see that with Mary in Luke 1 46. Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Verse 50, And His mercy is on them that fear Him. And so she's rejoicing in the Lord. She is magnifying, finding her strength in the Lord. We think about Hannah and she's been praying for a child. Penina, Elkanah's other wife, had had many children apparently. And she was an adversary to Hannah. She persecuted Hannah so that just year after year she made her fret. I'm the one that's bearing the children. I'm the one that's providing the household for Elkanah. What are you doing? You're just taking up room with the dinner table. We can't imagine the persecution. So she comes to where the tabernacle was set up, weeping. wanting God to give her a child. Eli, the high priest there, by the way, he wasn't a very good one, sees her weeping and her mouth moving, says, what are you, drunk? She says, no, no. Don't think that I'm a daughter of Belial. I'm not an ungodly woman. I'm pouring out my heart, praying for a son. But she promised the Lord that if she had a son she would give him to the Lord. He would serve the Lord the rest of his life. And we find as we read in the account of Hannah that she would do that after he was weaned. So after Samuel was born Hannah would keep him there at home with the family for two, three years probably, maybe a little bit more, and she brings him to let him serve with Eli. And as she commits him there, in 1 Samuel 2 we pick it up, Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. She's rejoicing in the salvation of God. And therefore she was finding strength in her trials. And verse 9 of 1 Samuel 2, He will keep the feet of His saints. So they see that God gives strength and they find that strength, what? As they praise God. They did that with like hearts. They both praised God in the midst of their trials and both recognized the mercy of God upon the lowly and associated his might and his power with his holiness. And we see that with Mary's case. Verse 48, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. Two things they associate their strength with. God's holiness and praising Him. God's holiness and praising Him. Hannah did the same thing. 1st Samuel 1.16, Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial. We talked about that. Are the abundance of my complaint and my grief, have I spoken? Eli answers her in 1st Samuel 1.17, Go in peace, and the God of Israel shall grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. She's asking him for his son at that time. Verse 18, so the woman went her way and did eat and her countenance was no more sad. She believed God was going to answer her prayer. She believed God was going to answer her prayer. And so as that prayer is answered, picking it up in 1 Samuel chapter 1, I'm sorry, or 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 2, she says, she says in praise, she's now brought, you know, Samuel to serve under the high priest. And she says, there is none, what? Holy as the Lord. There is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes. They both associated that strength that God gives with praise and the holiness of God. What a blessing, what a blessing. They found strength. I didn't give you Hannah's there. As holy as the Lord. Lifts up the poor. He lifts up the beggar from the dunghill. Set them among princes. They see the mercy on the lowly. And associate might with holiness. With praise. We think about that. Strength. Holiness. Praise. And join together. Isaiah 41 10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee, God says through Isaiah. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. See, holiness is connected with strength in the Lord. What we're learning from what we're reading here this morning is if we're not pursuing holiness, we're going to be lacking strength for our trials. We're going to be lacking joy, the joy that God wants us to have if we are not pursuing holiness in our lives as believers and praising the Lord. By the way, there's always something to praise the Lord for. There's always something to praise Him for. Listen, if you're here this morning and you've trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you believe it is death, burial, and resurrection, you believe that salvation is a gift, like the Bible says it is, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And now you have called upon the Lord to save you and forgive you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved is the promise. And you've done that. Then guess what? You called upon him. That was your part. And he saved you. That was his promise and his part. And you have been saved if you trust the Lord in the way you've been born again. His spirit comes into your heart then. If He never did another thing for you in your whole life, you would have reason to praise Him for the rest of all eternity. We'd have reason to praise Him for the rest of all eternity if He never did another thing. But He's done so much more, hasn't He? He's done so much more. We find strength and hope in our trials. We're going to be weak. and faltering in our trials if we forget to praise Him, if we forget to pursue holiness, if we forget to praise Him for His holiness. When King Jehoshaphat was called to battle in a battle where the armies were far too great for him, but God told him, don't worry about it. You're not going to have to fight in this battle. but go out and meet him. What would you do if you were king in that situation? Well, here was their decision. And 2 Chronicles 20, 21. And when he had consoled the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, that they should praise the beauty of holiness. Notice, praise and holiness. Right? Mix it in there. And they went before the army to say, praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever. And he found strength. God gave them the victory, but they sang and praised God and His holiness. I think about Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter 8. He was leading a great revival in Jerusalem. The temple had been destroyed, the Jews had now returned to Jerusalem, and Nehemiah is leading the project of building the wall. And they completed the wall, and Ezra and those that had come before him completed the temple. In Nehemiah chapter 8, it's the seventh month of the year, And all the congregation gathers together. They have some special meetings on the 7th month of the year. The Day of Atonement is coming up. That's on the 10th of that 7th month. The Feast of Tabernacles is coming up. That's on the 15th of that month. But they gather together in Jerusalem on the 1st of that month. Ezra and the scribe, he stands up and he reads them out of the book of the law. And all the people hear the law, God's word, and they weep. Why? Because they had for so long forsaken the law. They realize now what the value of God's word, and it has struck their hearts. so that they are weeping for their past sins and thankful that God has brought this revival. And Nehemiah, in that context, says to them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared. Here it is, For this day is holy unto our Lord. Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Holiness. Joy, strength, praising the Lord. Those things mixed together is where we find that strength. It's where we find that rejoicing. Psalm 22.3, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. See, praising God for His holiness. Praising God for His holiness. Hannah and Mary were women who were seeking God. They had hard trials, and we're going to see some of that here in a couple of the last points. By the way, point number one is the longest, okay? And look what Jesus says to Peter. Remember what he did? Peter denied the Lord three times, didn't he? Peter said, God said, Jesus said, before the cock crowed twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. When they were in the garden. What? I'll never deny you. Peter, he was so vehement about it. Everybody else started chiming in too. Yeah, we'll never deny you. But when Jesus told him that, Before they had really the chance to respond, Jesus said, But I have prayed for thee, Peter, I've prayed for thee, Luke 2, 22, 32, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen the brethren. What is He saying there? I don't think He's talking about salvation. He's talking about, Peter, when you have repented in your heart, When you have done this, and you've lifted it up to me, and you've now repented in your heart, and now your heart is right again, holiness, then you'll find strength. And when you find that strength, what? With that strength, strengthen your brethren. Peter, you're going to fail. Bob, you're going to fail. Put your name in there. When do we find the strength? When we turn to the Lord in repentance. Amen. And say, God, I want to get back on the path of holiness. I want to do that thing that I didn't do that you told me that I knew I should have done. I want to stop doing that thing that I know I shouldn't be doing. Whenever that repentance comes, that turning of the heart, God says, you're back in line. You're pursuing holiness. Now you're going to find what? Strength and joy. Strength and joy. By the way, this was in the heart of these mothers, ready to teach, amen, to these children that God would give them. Mary, in the text that we read, and it was the same for Hannah a thousand years earlier. Circumstances may change, brethren, but our God does not change, amen. He was sufficient for all that Hannah needed a thousand years earlier, and the same God with the same power, and even more promises revealed to Mary. What was what? Sufficient for all that she needed. Give unto the Lord the glory due His name. Psalm 29.2. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Praise and holiness. I love singing the old hymns. I love the songs that we sing. Some of them, there's so much scripturism in them, a message has already been preached before I even get up here. There's so much Bible in them. But think about this and encourage yourself with this. Singing and praising God are in themselves holy acts. Singing and praising to God for His holiness are in themselves holy things that we do, amen? Why? It's set apart, which is the meaning of holiness, set apart for God. It's set apart for God, amen? We're singing praises to Him. We'll find strength. We'll find rejoicing as we lift up our hearts and sing. And they both knew the fortifying strength of praise. By the way, that's associated with holiness and drawing close to God. Number two, they both knew the faltering steps of pride. They both knew the faltering steps of pride. Look at their declarations in Luke 151. Mary says about her God. He has showed strength with his arm. He hath what? Scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. Those who have thought they're OK without God. Scattered. You think you're okay without me? Is that the way your heart and your thinking and your reasoning is going? Well, good luck with that. And I say that, you know, with a little bit of tood. And I don't think God does, amen? It grieves God when we go away from Him. If you want to go away from me, I will let you. because part of my having a relationship with you is allowing you to exercise your free will. But I will tell you, you're going to be scattered away from me. If I want to be king and lord of my life, it is not going to draw me closer to God. Amen? I'm not going to find joy and strength praise. We won't find that if we let pride lead in our lives. We see the same thing with Hannah there in the problems that she was having and we see that and In 1 Samuel 1, we see Hannah and Peninnah are the wives. He had two wives. Verse 2, the name of the one was Hannah, the name of the other, Peninnah. Verse 4, verse Samuel 1. And when the time came that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions. She had many sons, multiple sons and daughters. See, here's the other contrast. We have Mary, or we have a contrast in between the two. We have Mary who is poor. That was one of her struggles. Apparently Elkanah and Penah are well-to-do. They didn't have this. So we have the poor, and the Bible says the poor and rich meet together. The Lord is the maker of them both. Amen? And yet, one family was wealthy, one family was poor, and they both had needs that money couldn't buy. Amen? What blessed truths we see in their heart that ought to encourage our mothers, amen? And we see that. They saw the steps of faltering pride. There were enemies that stood up against them. Mary says, He scattered the pride of the imagination of their hearts. And Hannah's enemy, Hannah says in her praise in 1 Samuel 2, 3, "...Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let no arrogance come out of your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge and by Him actions are weighed." They both know that pride Mary being poor, Hannah being rather well-to-do, they both know that having pride is a dead-end street. It's a dead-end street. Oh, what blessed lessons are stirring in their hearts for the children that would follow. Amen. Oh, what truths to found their lives upon. What a blessing. We think about that. They had their enemies. We think about Mary's adversaries, as I mentioned. Mary's adversaries, she, of course, was accused and suspected of fornication because she got pregnant during the first part of the marriage there where they're actually separated, living apart. And the Bible says in Matthew 1.19, and Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Mary comes to Joseph with this news. He sees that she's getting... And did she tell him about the angel? I'm sure she did. But you notice God didn't chide Joseph? Why is that? Well, the same reason God didn't chide Mary when she said, how shall this be, to the angel. A woman having a child without a man had never been done before. And by the way, it never would be done again. That's why the angel didn't chide Mary when she said, how that's going to happen. And God doesn't chide Joseph. He's thinking, well, obviously there had to be a man involved here. But what does God do? He speaks to Joseph in a dream and says, that's to the Holy Ghost. You don't fear, you take her to wife. And the angel had said to her earlier what? The power of the highest shall overshadow thee. So he was eventually comforted. But Mary had to put up with that doubt for a bit. She had to struggle with that, and yet we hear no complaints. As she got that news, she must have trusted that God would bring him around. She had that thing of persecution. By the way, later, the leaders in her nation, figuring out Joseph and Mary's marriage, and about the time that Christ was born, they began spreading the word that she'd been unfaithful. And when Jesus was rebuking the scribes and Pharisees for their sins in John chapter 8, well he gives some scathing rebukes there if you want to read that chapter. But Jesus said, you do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, we be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. We weren't born of fornication like you were. That's what they were saying. That's what Mary had to put up with. She said, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed. Well, maybe all the ones after her generation, because there were many persecuting her for that, and yet she found that strength. She found that strength, and we see that. She had these adversaries. What was the other adversary they had? Poverty. They didn't have much, Mary. And in Luke 2.22, they bring the Lord as a baby to the temple to have him circumcised and such. They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer his sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And Leviticus 12.8 says, if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons. So even after being married a while with Joseph, and traveling to Bethlehem, and being in the area there for a while, and then taking the child in to have him circumcised, they still are poor. They can't come up with a lamb. By the way, Joseph had family in that area, in the area of Bethlehem there. They had apparently very little. Poverty can be a trial, a great struggle, but we need to realize that God is able, amen, to provide. God is able to provide. Hannah had some adversaries. Let's look at hers for a minute. Hannah had some adversaries. Hannah's adversaries were what? Persecution and polygamy. The hard hearts that men had. Sad that they would marry multiple wives. Very hard on the wives. You wives can imagine. That wouldn't work out too well. It wasn't God's design from the beginning. But we see. By the way, Elkanah, yeah, he was among those men that had hard hearts. He married two wives. But apart from that, by the way, that was worldwide culture at the time, okay? It was worldwide at the time, a thousand years before the first century. Other than that, Elkanah was a godly man. And you could tell that he cared for Hannah. He says, I know, he must have realized that Peninnah was torturing her. He's saying, aren't I better to you than seven sons? He gave Hannah a worthy portion. He's kind of sensing her struggling. And to Hannah he gave her a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. The Bible tells us he loved her. Because Lord, he says, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb. And her adversary, who's her adversary? The devil, right? And her adversary provoked her sore for to make her fret, because the Lord had set up her womb. And as he did year by year, who's her adversary? The devil. As he did year by year when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her. Hannah's enemy was a she-devil. The devil was working his will through Panina, persecuting Hannah. And year after year, year after year. And, but they found what? God to be enough. Both Mary and Hannah had needs in the heart that money could not fix. Amen? And what a great blessing. What a great blessing. Thirdly, they both realized that the faithful supply of God for His people, all my needs, He will supply. My thirsty soul He'll satisfy. He is the Lord of all. He's all I need. They realized God would provide. Look at their statements. He hath put down the mighty, Mary says, from their seeds, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. My brethren, if God has to turn the tables upside down to meet my needs and your needs as one of His children, He will do it. Amen. He will do it. He takes care of the birds. My wife and I walked out on the deck the other night and a little bird flew out of the way in front of us. We have a shoe rack outside on the deck with some old shoes. Sometimes they get cracks in them. Our yard gets a lot of dew and stuff. This is Oregon, so it rains a lot too. Pretty soon as you're walking in that certain pair of shoes, Your socks start to get wet, and you think, well, maybe I'd better switch that out. But, they still got a lot of tread on them, so you sit them on there, because I can still walk up a hill when they're dry. Well, they're sitting on that rack. They apparently need to be thrown away now, but that little birdie had built the nest, and it's still there, inside that shoe. Inside that shoe, we looked in, and more back toward the toe, there's the nest, and there's five little legs in it. A little bird about that big. I thought about how God cares for the birds. I was talking with Brother Dennis this morning. They can't plant anything. And if they could, they have no barns to store anything in. And the Bible says that God, yet God cares for the birds. We are of more value than many birds. We can work jobs. We can plant gardens. We can build barns to store things in. But God just reminded us, even if we couldn't, He would still take care of us because He doesn't need that. We need it for our own character. We need it because it's the right thing to do. But brother, if you think we need that to supply our needs, you don't know how powerful your God is. Amen. Because He says, the birds can't do that, and I feed them. So if you ever get to the place where you can't feed, you can't do that, and you love God, He will feed you. Amen? He said, look at the flowers. They toil not, neither do they spin. Hannah and Mary are probably among those that made all the clothes for their children. And Jesus says, look at those. Look how beautiful they are. And they're just flowers. They're just the flowers of the field. Tomorrow, the sun's going to, you're going to gather them up and you're going to burn them in the flames. Yet I tell you that those beautiful flowers are more beautiful than anything you can make with all your spinning. And shall I not take care of you? Once again, we talked about this. God is urging us to trust His character, amen, and His goodness. You think I can't handle it? No, He can handle it. He can meet our needs. Hannah saw the same thing. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumble are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread. They that were hungry ceased. So the barren hath born seven, he and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. God is able to flip the tables, amen, if need be, if need be. Fourthly and finally, And by the way, think about this. All these blessed truths are in the hearts of these two women who have prayed for motherhood. By the way, that's a glorious blessing sign of a mother. A mother wants to be a mother. Amen. She's desiring that. God's faithful sponsors for His people, the founded stability, realize that, of His people. They both looked to the Lord for blessings and gave counsel even for generations to come. Look at Mary's case, Luke 1, verse 50. His mercy is on them that fear Him. What's it say? From generation to generation. Those that do seek God and worship Him as God, those that do praise Him and pursue that holiness, they find out that His mercies, that His blessings, that His provisions are upon people from generation to generation. Any generation that will do that, any person that will do that, what? Will find God sufficient. Amen. will find God sufficient. And what did Hannah say in her case in 1 Samuel 2.10? The adversary's Lord shall be broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. They both were ready to rear children, also with the idea of I want them to impact my nation. I want them to impact my nation because that indeed is a glorious thing. And I close with this. I sent my wifey a text, just kind of an application of each point. I didn't write it down on my... So what do we apply from this? The fortifying strength of praise that Hannah and Mary had. They both recognized the mercy of God upon the lowly. They both associated God's might and strength with His holiness. What do we learn from this? The child reared by these mothers will find that, according to the first point, they'll find the strength to live life, that the strength to live life well-lived will be found in the fear of the Lord, holiness, and praise. According to point number two, they would teach their children that proud enemies and difficult circumstances can be overcome in the Lord. Point number three, they would find that God can provide our needs in difficult circumstances. It is not riches that makes one great in the eyes of God. And on the fourth point, they would be teaching their children. that a godly life is to be lived with the hope of being a blessing to our own generation and impacting the next generation. All the hearts that God had made ready for motherhood, amen? And we can be thankful for mothers who are aligning themselves with God's will in that way, amen? Because they're gonna be producing something They're going to have an impact in a life, something that money can't buy, and they're going to be giving their children a good start. You say, well, if mom does all that, are the children guaranteed to turn out well? I see some head shaking. You're right to shake your head because you can do everything right. And we still have a free will, don't we? Now there are some cases in the Bible where children weren't reared right, like Eli's children. And we are told about his faults in rearing them. And so we know that it was part of Eli's fault that his boys didn't follow in his shoes. But we're also told about another man who was a priest and his name, Samuel. That's Hannah's son. And the people said to Samuel, your children don't follow in your steps. We want a king. Your children aren't godly like you, Samuel. You say, well, that's because Samuel. Don't you say that. Because the Bible never says Samuel did anything wrong. You won't find it. You'll find him saying, as they ask a king, look at my life. Bring an accusation against me. What do you find? What did they say? They had no answer. Nothing. See, mothers, do this just because it's right to do. Amen. Do this because it will give you joy and peace and strength, and it will be a help and a persuasion toward your children. Will it guarantee it? No. Let me close with this thought. The first parent only had two children, and both of them went astray. And His name is God. And let me tell you something, he didn't do anything wrong with Adam and Eve. He did everything right with them. They should have had a loving relationship with him and we shouldn't be talking about things like death and sorrow and all those things because sin shouldn't have come into the world. And by the way, don't be too hard on Adam and Eve. They were our representatives. That means if you and I were in their place, we'd have done the same thing, okay? So don't be too hard on them. But remember, they were gods, and they went astray. So moms, and all of us, we all obviously need to repent of things that we know that we've done wrong, and endeavor to seek the Lord and walk with Him. But I want you to know that even when we've done things right, children can still go astray. They can still choose the other way. Keep praying for them, amen? Keep praying for them. Keep being an example for them, okay? Remember the power and might and mercies of your mighty God. Thank you, mothers. What a calling. You know, when God talked about His love, Jesus said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thee together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. When God spoke of His love, He spoke of it from the perspective of a mother's love. as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings. Why? Because a mother's love is a great love. It's probably the greatest human illustration that we have of love. And God put that in a mother's heart. Thank you, mothers, for your sacrifice, for your prayers. Help us husbands, amen, to love our wives, be encouragements to them, thankful for them. So mothers, on your way out, we have some roses back there. If you're a mother here this morning, please take one with you and know that we appreciate you. We're thankful. We pray that you have a glorious Mother's Day. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for your love to us. And we thank you for the love of mothers. We think of these two whose hearts demonstrated such desire and such wisdom and wanting to pour it into their children, Father. Help mothers to be able to do that as best they can and help we as grandparents and whatever opportunities we get to pour into our grandchildren, dear God. Father, I just ask that you'd bless this day and mothers would have a good day. Father, we pray that as the gospel has gone out, we've been clear about how to be saved, that people would trust You alone as Savior, not trusting in works, believing in Your death, burial, and resurrection. I pray they'd let us know when they do that so that we can help them grow. I pray they'd let us know. some way. And then, Father, be with us now as we go home and help us to go stronger in the likeness of Thee. And Lord, we pray and ask it in Jesus' name.