So, why are you in church on the "secular" holiday of Mother's Day? Isn't it because you know with Hannah that your child is the gift of God, and that he deserves your praise and thanks? Isn't it because you know with Mary that you must have God's help in raising and caring for the children whom he has entrusted to you, all the days of their lives? Isn't it because you desire with Anna to be a spiritual mother, example, and influence on the lives you can touch?

Know that your prayers and your child are both in the care of God. One day, we trust, someone will say to your child what Paul said to Timothy: "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also" (2 Timothy 1:5).

Pray specifically this morning that God would make you such a mother. The world needs more Timothys. And so we need even more to be Lois and Eunice today.

Not all of us are mothers, obviously, but all of us have or had a mother. If your mother has been a woman of faith like Hannah, Mary, or Anna, you're here to thank God. If she has not been, you're here to pray for her.

And we're all here to make a fresh commitment of our lives to the Father without whom we would have no mother and no life at all. The Father who sent his Son to die in our place, to purchase our salvation, to grant us his peace and life.

Let's close again this year with Peter Marshall's beautiful Mother's Day prayer, and express in its words our commitments together:

"On this day of sacred memories, our Father, we would thank Thee for our mothers who gave us life, who surrounded us early and late with love and care, whose prayers on our behalf still cling around the Throne of Grace, a haunting perfume of love's petitions.

"Help us, their children, to be more worthy of their love. We know that no sentimentality on this day, no material gifts—no flowers or boxes of candy can atone for our neglect during the rest of the year. So, in the days ahead, may our love speak to the hearts of those who know love best—by kindness, by compassion, by simple courtesy and daily thoughtfulness.

"Bless her whose name we whisper before Thee, and keep her in Thy perfect peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."