Rev. David Holwick P Mother's Day
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 14, 2017
Proverbs 6:20-23
LISTEN TO YOUR MOM
I. Your mom has molded you.
A. My special tie this morning.
1) [tie decorated with colorful handprints]
2) This tie reminds me of a masterpiece I composed in the
first grade.
a) I used fingerpaint and swirled handprints on plain
white paper.
b) My mother framed it and hanged it in the bathroom for
the next fifty years.
c) Moms are special!
B. I bury mothers, lots of them.
1) The standard question when preparing their funeral.
a) What values did your mother pass on to you?
b) I find that almost everyone has positive things to say
about their mother, and what they learned from her.
2) What values did yours pass on to you?
3) Here is a humorous list emailed from a friend of Celeste
and me, Diane Thompson:
My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE -
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside - I
just finished cleaning!"
My mother taught me RELIGION - "You better PRAY that will
come out of the carpet!"
My mother taught me LOGIC: "Because I said so, that's why."
My mother taught me FORESIGHT - "Make sure you wear clean
underwear, in case you're in an accident."
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM -"Will you LOOK at
the dirt on the back of your neck!"
My mother taught me about WEATHER - "It looks as if a tornado
swept through your room."
My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY - "If I've told you once,
I've told you a million times - Don't exaggerate!!!"
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION - "Stop acting
like your father!"
My mother taught me about ENVY - "There are millions of less
fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful
parents like you do!"
#19125
C. King Solomon had a mom.
1) Bathsheba had some issues, but she raised a good son.
2) The book of Proverbs, which is attributed to Solomon, is
framed as the advice that fathers and mothers should
pass on to their children.
3) I would like to highlight some of those values.
II. Have a kind heart.
A. Be kind to poor people.
14:31 - "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their
Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
1) If you can do something helpful for them, do it.
3:27 - "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act."
2) Compassion for the poor is a sign of spirituality.
In 31:20, the passage about the perfect woman, it says,
"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands
to the needy."
B. Be kind even to mean people.
1) Don't gloat when an enemy falls.
24:17 - "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they
stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice."
25:21 - "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink."
2) Kindness doesn't mean you allow yourself to be influenced
by them.
22:24 - "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered."
C. Value everyone.
1) Friendship is important.
18:24 - "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
a) Go beyond the superficial - go deeper with your friends.
20:5 - "The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters,
but one who has insight draws them out."
b) Good friends make you a better person.
27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens
another."
c) Friends will be there for you when times get tough.
27:10 - "Do not forsake your friend or a friend of
the family, and do not go to your relative's
house when disaster strikes you -- better a
neighbor nearby than a relative far away."
2) Seek unfailing love, and give it to others.
20:6 - "Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful
person who can find?"
a) YOU can be that faithful person that others can depend
on.
III. Control yourself!
A. Control your tongue.
1) Your tongue can build people up or tear them down.
a) Use your words for healing.
12:18 - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the
tongue of the wise brings healing."
16:24 - "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to
the soul and healing to the bones."
b) Use gentle answers.
15:1 - "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh
word stirs up anger."
c) Don't gossip.
16:28 - "A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a
gossip separates close friends."
d) Don't be two-faced.
26:24 - "Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
Though their speech is charming, do not
believe them."
2) Be honest.
12:22 - "The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in
people who are trustworthy."
3) Listen before you talk.
18:13 - "To answer before listening - that is folly and shame."
4) And don't believe everything you hear.
14:15 - "The simple believe anything, but the
prudent give thought to their steps."
B. Control your temper.
14:17 - "A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the
one who devises evil schemes is hated."
29:11 - "Fools give full vent to their rage,
but the wise bring calm in the end."
1) Self-control makes you like a warrior.
16:32 - "Better a patient person than a warrior, one
with self-control than one who takes a city."
2) Don't fight people.
a) This theme has a lot of proverbs.
17:14 - "Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks
out."
20:3 - "It is to one's honor to avoid strife, but every
fool is quick to quarrel."
b) When you are wronged, don't pay back evil with evil.
24:29 - "Do not say, 'I'll do to them as they have
done to me; I'll pay them back for what
they did.'"
17:13 - "Evil will never leave the house of one who
pays back evil for good."
c) Overlook slights.
19:11 - "A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to
one's glory to overlook an offense."
3) Be positive.
a) Love atones for a lot of errors.
16:6 - "Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the LORD evil is avoided."
17:9 - "Whoever would foster love covers over an
offense, but whoever repeats the matter
separates close friends."
b) Don't give up, but persevere.
24:16 - "Though the righteous fall seven times, they
rise again."
c) Watch out for pride, however.
27:21 - "The crucible for silver and the furnace for
gold, but people are tested by their praise."
29:23 - "Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in
spirit gain honor."
C. Control your habits.
1) We need to live within boundaries.
a) There are a lot of proverbs on disciplining children.
29:17 - "Discipline your children, and they will give
you peace; they will bring you the delights
you desire."
b) They may not like it, or you, but they need it.
2) Booze can destroy you.
20:1 - "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is
led astray by them is not wise."
3) Sex can destroy you, too.
a) The danger of adultery is a big theme in Proverbs.
2:16 - "Wisdom will save you from the adulterous
woman, from the wayward woman with her
seductive words...
Surely her house leads down to death...."
b) Find someone to love, and stick with them.
5:18 - "May your fountain be blessed, and may you
rejoice in the wife of your youth."
IV. Work hard.
A. Put your back into it.
14:23 - "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads
only to poverty."
B. Know what your priorities should be.
24:27 - "Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields
ready; after that, build your house."
C. Watch your finances.
1) Be careful about taking out loans.
22:7 - "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is
slave to the lender."
There are some nations which should take this to heart!
2) Be careful about giving out loans, too.
11:15 - "Whoever puts up security for a stranger will
surely suffer, but whoever refuses to shake hands
in pledge is safe."
3) But don't be cheap, either.
23:6-7 - "Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not
crave his delicacies;
for he is the kind of person who is always
thinking about the cost.
'Eat and drink,' he says to you, but his heart
is not with you."
D. Leave an inheritance.
13:22 - "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's
children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the
righteous."
V. Honor God.
A. God should be taken seriously.
1) Tremble before your God.
28:14 - "Blessed is the one who always trembles before God,
but whoever hardens their heart falls into
trouble.
2) Get to know his Word.
30:5 - "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield
to those who take refuge in him."
3) Confess your sins to him.
28:13 - "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but
the one who confesses and renounces them finds
mercy."
B. Worship God, not your stuff.
15:16 - "Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great
wealth with turmoil."
16:8 - "Better a little with righteousness than much gain
with injustice."
C. Know that God will provide for you.
30:7-9 - "Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me
before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God."
1) God can give you just enough.
2) But the greatest thing he can give you is Himself.
a) Do you believe in him?
b) Do you live in a way that honors him?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#19125 “What My Mother Taught Me,” email submitted by Diane Thompson of
Succasunna, New Jersey, May 15, 2001.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
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