Legacy 'n' Lace Grace Christian Academy Upcoming Events A Woman's Friend Tsunami Relief Effort Report Grace in Action - Filoli Gardens and Mansion
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I hope you will take the time to honor and celebrate your mother this month of May. I thank the Lord for my mother. She gave me life, passed on many talents and interests, supported me through many times of growth, helped to establish a Biblical foundation that resulted in my early salvation, cared for, prayed for, cleaned-up after, fed, helped clothe, helped educate, and released me into adulthood as I sought after the Lord’s will at the age of 21. Thanks, Mom, for your continuing influence and love.
What History Says About Mother’s Day...
Although it wasn’t celebrated in the U.S. until 1908, there were days honoring mothers even in the days of ancient Greece. In the U.S., Mother’s Day is a holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May. It is a day when children honor their mothers with cards, gifts and flowers. It is based on suggestions by Julia Ward Howe in 1872 and Anna Jarvis in 1907 when Anna celebrated the anniversary of her mother’s death (the second Sunday in May) in 1906. In 1907, Anna began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day and persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate Mother’s Day on the anniversary of her mother’s death. A memorial service was held there on May 10, 1908, and in Philadelphia the following year.
Jarvis and others then began a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother’s Day. They were successful and, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day a national observance that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
What the Bible Says About Mothers...
Genesis 3:20: “Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all living.”
Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Leviticus 19:3a: “Each of you must respect his mother and father.”
Deuteronomy 5:16: “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Isaiah 66:13: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
Ezekiel 16:44: “Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’”
Luke 1:43: “But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Luke 2:51: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
Some Motherly Advice...
Pastor Paul
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The Bible is full of great mothers. There’s Eve, the first woman and the first mother. Her story is one full of both joy and despair. Yet it was to her the promise was given that from the woman the Redeemer would come. Consider Hannah who desperately prayed for a child. The Lord remembered her request and He gave to her the boy Samuel, who would become one of Israel’s greatest prophets. Then, of course, there’s Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chosen as the vessel to bring forth the Messiah - the longing of every Jewish woman since the promise given in Genesis.
Proverbs 31 describes the “virtuous woman.” It is an ideal set forth in Scripture that challenges every wife and every mother. By the grace of Almighty God, I am who I am today because of a Godly mother. As I shared last month, my mom and dad were divorced when my brother and I were very young. The mantle of leadership and responsibility was placed upon my mom to raise her boys in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And nurture them she did.
Ours was a home filled with the Word, with prayer, with Christian music, and with love. As we lived just outside Chicago, we listened to Moody Radio - WMBH, from the Moody Bible Institute - incessantly. During Moody’s annual “Founder’s Weeks” there would be a radio on in every room of the house so that no matter where we were we could hear the preaching of God’s choice servants. What an impact that had on me!
Whenever the doors to the church were opened we were there - even when we lived 45 minutes away! Sunday School, morning and evening services, Wednesday night Bible Clubs, mission conferences, revival meetings - you name it - if the doors were open, we were there! Church was not just a “part” of our life, it was the “filter” through which life found purpose and meaning. I did not always understand it then. But I now see it as a fervent desire on her part to serve the Lord and to see her boys grow in their relationship with Him.
You won’t find my mom on the covers of magazines or being interviewed on TV or radio. Instead she’ll be at Wal-Mart in Northwest Indiana working to pay the bills and trying to save enough money for her next trip to California to visit her son and grandchildren. She’ll be singing special music at her church on a Sunday morning and working with children on Wednesday night. Because, even though her boys are grown and on their own, she is still serving her Savior and still serving as an example to those around her. Oh, she would be the first one to say that it’s “only by the grace of God”, but as we think about mothers this Mother’s Day month, I am thankful for that grace. And every life that I have the privilege to minister to - be it child, teenager, or adult - can find thanks for that grace as well.
The writer of Proverbs 31 asks the question, “Who can find a virtuous woman?” My answer is found in lane #6 at Wal-Mart.
Pastor Greg
One of our most vital ministries is our Church Nursery.
We are currently looking for some volunteers to work with our infants and toddlers in one of our services per month (the need is particularly great on Wednesday night).
If the Lord has given you a love for children, why not consider this opportunity?
Let Pastor Greg or Jenifer Shuffield know if you are interested and they will explain to you what is involved in helping in the Church Nursery.
Become a part of the Children’s Ministry TEAM! We’d love to have you!
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Grace Baptist Church
presents
A Mother/Daughter Tea
Saturday, May 7, 2005 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
In The Vintage Gym Cost: $5.00 per person
Every woman is a daughter, so all are welcome!
Sign up in the church foyer or contact Joyce Radobenko
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We would love to have you attend all of these activities and see what is happening at Grace Christian Academy!
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Join us at 6:00 PM on Sunday, May 15, for a special report from A Women's Friend.
Vivian Hoffart, Director of Development, will update us on current activities and plans.
For more info on A Woman’s Friend, visit their website at www.awomansfriend.org.
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Rick Caynor, ABWE missionary, will be with us on Sunday evening, May 22, to give a first-hand report on relief efforts. Rick was with our missionary Rich Davis while he was working on the relief effort.
For more info on the tsunami relief effort and Rick Caynor, visit his website at www.cityonahill.abwe.org.
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Filoli Gardens and Mansion
Saturday, May 21 8:00 AM to ?????
Cost: $54.00
includes chartered bus, entrance to gardens and mansion and gourmet box lunch in private room
Filoli Gardens and Mansion is located in South San Francisco and promises to be beautiful with May flowers in bloom: roses, lavender, columbine, and many more. You may tour on your own or take advantage of a guided tour.
Tickets will be available beginning May 1 or you may contact Joyce Seibel.
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Pastor Paul's Paragraphs
May 2005