Mother’s Day
May 8, 2022
Havasu Christian Church
“Ladies, you have a job to do…”
In 1890, a book of poetry was published, titled “Beautiful Gems of Thought and Sentiment.” In that book was a poem written by William Ross Wallace
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE IS
THE HAND THAT RULES THE WORLD.
BLESSINGS on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace.
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mothers first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
A mother has influence! This is VERY true. What a mother teaches may be later ignored, but it will always be a voice in the back of her children’s heads.
That influence can be for good, or it can be for evil.
From biography.com
Ma Barker
October 8, 1873-January 16, 1935
From Ash Grove, Missouri
QUOTE: “If the good people of this town don't like my boys, then the good people know what they can do.”
Barker was born Arizona Donnie Clark on October 8, 1873, to a poor family in Ash Grove, Missouri. Her parents were of Irish and Scottish descent. Clark was a headstrong girl with dark penetrating eyes and a nasty temper. Along with her siblings, she attended church regularly and spent her free time singing and playing the fiddle.
As a child, Clark witnessed local outlaw Jesse James and his gang ride through her hometown. The sight triggered her thirst for adventure and was a catalyst for her life to come.
In 1892, Clark married a man who would fail to quench that thirst — a poor, soft-spoken tenant farmer named George Barker. Over the next decade, the couple had four sons: Herman, Lloyd, Arthur (nicknamed Doc) and Fred. (Arizona Clark had by then had adopted the nickname "Kate," and taken her husband's last name.)
As the Barker boys aged, they were constantly in trouble with the law. Herman, the oldest, was arrested in 1910 for petty thievery. By the time Barker's two youngest, Doc and Fred, had reached their teen years, all four sons were repeatedly landing themselves in prisons and reformatories. But Barker refused to discipline her boys and would fly into a rage at anyone, including her husband, who tried to scold them. After the family relocated to Tulsa in 1915, George left Kate.
Ma Barker, her four sons – Herman, Lloyd, Arthur and Fred – and Alvin Karpis, formed the Barker-Karpis Gang in 1931. That year, Fred and Alvin shot a sheriff to death. The murder started a pattern of thoughtless killing by the gang. Barker became a wanted woman.
In the spring of 1931, Barker's youngest son, Fred, was unexpectedly paroled from Lansing Prison, in Kansas. Fred brought with him a fellow parolee Karpis. He and Fred agreed to become partners in crime. Barker approved of the newly formed Barker-Karpis Gang and let them use her Tulsa shack as a hideout. Living vicariously through the exploits of her boys offered Barker the adventure she had always craved.
Fred and Karpis quickly went to work, committing a series of burglaries and small-time bank robberies. In December 1931, they robbed a department store in West Plains, Missouri. The next day, they shot and murdered the town's Sheriff, C. R. Kelly, at point-blank range. Kelly's murder started a pattern of excessive violence and thoughtless killing that soon became the trademark of the Karpis-Barker Gang. For the first time, Barker became a wanted woman.
On March 29, 1932, Fred, Karpis and three accomplices robbed the Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis and made a clean getaway. The Barker-Karpis Gang got away with more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash and bonds.
In September of 1932, Barker's son Doc was paroled from a murder sentence at the same time that his brothers were free. The Barker gang was back at full strength and more menacing than ever.
With Barker's blessing, they quickly plotted another bank job for December, at the Third Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis. This time, however, they failed to adequately think the job through. The consequence was a violent shootout with the police, which only served to solidify their reputation as the most vicious criminal gang in America.
Another shootout between the Barkers and the authorities would occur on the morning of January 16, 1935, when the FBI raided the house in Oklawaha, Florida, where Barker and Fred were staying. Heavily armed FBI agents surrounded the house and ordered the pair to surrender. With no reply, the agents threw tear gas canisters at the windows. Fred fired a machine gun and a shootout began that left the house riddled with bullets. Fred and Barker fought for their lives, shooting back with everything they had. Finally, after four hours, the federal agents began to run out of ammunition and the scene became deathly quiet. Barker and Fred were found together, dead in an upstairs bedroom. A stash of weapons and thousands of dollars were recovered at the house.
This is an example of a woman who influenced her sons…. Boy, did she influence her sons. DID IT EVER GO WRONG!
INTRO: Last week, we talked about what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ. We looked at the idea of submitting to God’s will in our lives… “Pick up your cross daily and follow me.”
As we continue our theme of Discipleship, it’s also Mother’s Day! YAY MOMS!
So, today, we are going to look into Moms and Discipleship!
(I) For any of this to matter, a Mom first has to be a Disciple of Jesus!
a. During Jesus’ earthly Ministry, He had women who followed Him.
Luke 8:1–3 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
i. These ladies traveled with Jesus and cared for Him and for “the twelve.”
1. They had been healed of sickness or had demons cast out of them.
a. They had MUCH to be thankful for!
b. Jesus had other women who listened to Him and shared about Him with others!
i. Martha & Mary, the sisters of Lazarus
Luke 10:38–42 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
1. Martha invites Jesus to dinner.
a. Martha got sidetracked by her “duties” as the lady of the house, but I’m guessing she was listening from the Kitchen.
2. Sometimes, I think we “count Martha out” when it comes to following Jesus. NOT SO!
John 11:20-27 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.
3. Martha was a woman of great faith!
(II) A disciple should use what they learn.
a. Before you can disciple someone else, you must have your own spiritual house in order.
i. Actually, you will always be a “work in progress.”
1. But you have to have something to teach if you will be a teacher.
II Timothy 1:5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
Acts 16:1–3 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
a. Timothy’s father was a Greek who was not a follower of Jesus.
b. Without Lois & Eunice, his grandmother and mother, we never would have heard about this man Timothy…. This man that Paul called his “son in the faith.” This traveling companion, who was often left behind to do what Paul could not stay to do. This man to whom 2 books of our New Testament were written to.
i. Thank you Lois & Eunice!
1. For teaching
2. For realizing they had to let him go to serve HIS Lord!
Robin & Mom… Eunice & Lois… Thanks Ladies!
(III) The responsibility to teach never ends.
a. Eunice could have said “He’s your responsibility, not mine!”
b. Lois could have said “Mom, you’re the “spiritual leader” here, you teach Timothy!”
i. They BOTH had a hand of molding this young man to be the Godly servant that he wound up being.
1. Timothy was busy serving the Lord long before Paul asked him to “Come along.”
he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.
Conclusion: What should we all, Moms and everyone else, take home with us today?
* Moms Matter!
But more than that, we are all called to be examples and teachers!
* We will never be perfect role models or teachers, we are all flawed… but we can still be useful.
* We follow examples, and we are examples!
1 Thessalonians 1:6–8 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
* “A mother’s job is never done.” “A Christian’s Job is never done! Long after children leave the home, we still have a job to do!”
