Ideas for Celebrating Mother's Day
Be sure to visit our new Mother's Day and Graduate Recognition Sunday Resource page. You will find links to free articles, free model sermons, worship readings, bulletin covers, and gift ideas for moms and graduates.
What to do with Mother's Day worship confronts all of us as worship leaders. From the very first Mother's Day of our ministry, we face the inevitable struggle between observing what is basically a greeting-card and florist-invented holiday and the worship of God.
Early in your ministry, you extol the virtues of motherhood, focusing worship on Proverbs 31 or other biblical accounts of virtuous women. Somewhere along the ministry path, you encounter someone in a counseling session whose mother is anything but a virtuous woman. This awareness-raising experience then is accompanied by the reality that there are women in your congregation who do not resemble remotely the Proverbs 31 woman.
When these realities surface in your ministerial consciousness, you begin examining the worth of giving a corsage on Mother's Day to the oldest and youngest mothers or the mother with the most children. (My own examination was advanced rapidly by a mother in her 90s who told me she was tired of receiving that carnation every year and would be back in worship on Mother's Day when we ceased this senseless act!)
However, the reality is that Mother's Day does offer an opportunity to do something in worship other than honor mothers. Stepping back for a broader view, think of Mother’s Day as an occasion to worship God by virtue of our relationship with Him as parent. This view facilitates a worship theme focusing on parenting. The Bible has much to say about our relationship with God as child with Father, and just as much to teach parents.
Therefore, Mother's Day worship becomes not just some overly sentimental exaltation of mothers but a reason for offering biblical instruction in parenting. Even the best mother admits to a need for improvement in parenting. Involve these mothers in leading worship in a manner suitable to your congregation.
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Sing hymns about Christian homes
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Pray blessings on all homes
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Read Scripture instructing parents in Christian values
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Preach about these Scriptures
The following could be used as a sermon, devotional, or Wednesday night lesson:
Links to other mother's day sermons available in our free index of Mother's Day and Graduate Recognition Sunday Resources.
L. Joey Faucette is a pastor in Virginia. This article is courtesy of Let's Worship Magazine.
Bible References
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
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