How many Churches here observed Mother's Day yesterday?

[Tripel]

The Lord's Day is to be separate, holy, set apart. It is not Mother's day or Father's day. There are six other days in the week for such recognition.

Where we disagree is at what point something ceases to be holy. I don't think yesterday was any less set apart as the Lord's Day just because I gave my wife a gift and cooked her breakfast and lunch.

 

[JOwen]

Having a "Mother's Day service" is quite different from at some point mentioning that it's mother's day.

That's the point friend, it's not Mother's Day, its the Lord's Day. I would argue from the 4th commandment that in the sight of the Triune God, it has never been, nor will it ever be "Mother's Day." It is the day we remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ alone.

Isa 58:13, 14 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

 

[Pergamum]

Woohooo, I'm ALL FOR FOOD DAY!!!!!!

Put that on the literugical calendar!

 

[Albatross]

That's the point friend, it's not Mother's Day, its the Lord's Day. I would argue from the 4th commandment that in the sight of the Triune God, it has never been, nor will it ever be "Mother's Day." It is the day we remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ alone.

So call it the Lord's Day......With A Little Bit of Thankfulness for the Mothers He has Given Us.

I recognize the day does not belong to my mother but how does expressing a small amount of gratitude dishonor God?

 

[Knoxienne]

Woohooo, I'm ALL FOR FOOD DAY!!!!!!

Put that on the literugical calendar!

 

[fredtgreco]

We do not incorporate into the service. After the service and before Sunday school, we thank the Lord for our mothers and give each mother a single rose.

 

[Tripel]

That's the point friend, it's not Mother's Day, its the Lord's Day. I would argue from the 4th commandment that in the sight of the Triune God, it has never been, nor will it ever be "Mother's Day." It is the day we remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ alone.

Isa 58:13, 14 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

I never denied it's the Lord's Day. That's why we set the day apart and went to church to worship.
I feel like now we are getting into the technicalities of words. Yes, I believe that yesterday was the Lord's Day AND Mother's Day. I also believe yesterday was Sunday.

 

[ubermadchen]

It was not really incorporated in the service. All the mothers were given a pink carnation before the service and were praised in the prayer time. Our pastor did mention that someone asked him whether he would be preaching a Mother's day sermon and he replied that he would not as his sermon focused on preparing for battle (Eph 6). I would contend though that even mothers have to enter into battle but that's just me.

 

[Tripel]

My primary premise is that the singling out of Mothers on the Lord's Day is a capitulation to the World

What about singling out the USA in a prayer, and not praying for all of the other countries of the world by name?

which is always trying to introduce some sentimentality which detracts from the Lord's Day.

Who decides when something has detracted from the Lord's Day?

 

[Wannabee]

What if we had a national fidelity day? Would it be wrong to preach about adultery on that day?
If it's biblical, why not turn the minds of those listening to the biblical application in order to help them avoid the negative cultural influences of the observation? I didn't preach on motherhood, but it turned out to be easy to use the occasion in my illustration. According to some of the comments here it seems that I denigrated the proclamation of God's Word. But, as of yet, not one person has given a clear biblical principle.

 

[puritanpilgrim]

Prayer for mothers. Mothers recieved a flower. My sermon was only about mothers if you consider John 6 a mother's day text.

 

[Scottish Lass]

Do the churches that make an effort to recognize Mother's Day put the same emphasis on Father's Day? Grandparent's Day? What about the recognition never given to those who never married or never had children? Are they second-class citizens in some churches?

 

[Albatross]

Do the churches that make an effort to recognize Mother's Day put the same emphasis on Father's Day? Grandparent's Day? What about the recognition never given to those who never married or never had children? Are they second-class citizens in some churches?

You got it. They are second class citizens in our church. I hope that was not a genuine question.

 

[Tripel]

Do the churches that make an effort to recognize Mother's Day put the same emphasis on Father's Day? Grandparent's Day? What about the recognition never given to those who never married or never had children? Are they second-class citizens in some churches?

Ironically, our text for yesterday was I Corinthians 7, and a good bit of emphasis was placed on singleness. Our pastor challenged us (rebuked, even) on the way we view singles in the church...as if they are incomplete. He spoke of the goodness of singleness.

(Sidenote: this was not a random passage selection--we are working through I Corinthians)

 

[Knoxienne]

What if we had a national fidelity day? Would it be wrong to preach about adultery on that day?
If it's biblical, why not turn the minds of those listening to the biblical application in order to help them avoid the negative cultural influences of the observation? I didn't preach on motherhood, but it turned out to be easy to use the occasion in my illustration. According to some of the comments here it seems that I denigrated the proclamation of God's Word. But, as of yet, not one person has given a clear biblical principle.

If we had a national fidelity day, it would not be wrong to preach about adultery. Although, I would hope that preachers would preach on it more than just on that day and not leave the subject alone the rest of the year! However, our nation defines honoring one's mother and father very differently than does the Bible. Its definition of prayer in its National Day of Prayer is very different than how prayer is presented in the Bible. It's a counterfeit. Its "honor" on these types of days is sentimental, humanistic and unitarian/universalist, not biblical. And in my opinion when we implement our nation's days into our worship services, we are acknowledging our government's definition of "honor".

I will not say you denigrated the Lord's Day yesterday. That would be wrong. As a Christian man and pastor, it is evident from what you communicated in your post about your sermon yesterday that you have a biblical view of motherhood and that it doesn't resemble that of our nation at all.

I just don't believe we should use the what the world does in the Church. I get nervous when the Church tries to "redeem" the World's methods or ways.

My praise for what you wrote to your mother still stands. It was very beautiful and honorable indeed.

 

[Tripel]

It Its "honor" on these types of days is sentimental, humanistic and unitarian/universalist, not biblical. And in my opinion when we implement these national standards into our worship services, we are acknowledging our government's definition of "honor".

Whoa....Wait a minute. You are talking about implementing these "national standards" that are humanistic and universalist. I don't think ANYONE is suggesting we implement that. I'm not acknowledging our culture's definition of honor--I'm acknowledging a cultural holiday and implementing God's standards to it.

 

[Knoxienne]

It Its "honor" on these types of days is sentimental, humanistic and unitarian/universalist, not biblical. And in my opinion when we implement these national standards into our worship services, we are acknowledging our government's definition of "honor".

Whoa....Wait a minute. You are talking about implementing these "national standards" that are humanistic and universalist. I don't think ANYONE is suggesting we implement that. I'm not acknowledging our culture's definition of honor--I'm acknowledging a cultural holiday and implementing God's standards to it.

No, I'm not saying you or others agree with our nation's standards. I know you don't. I'm saying that when we take the nation's holi(y)-day and use it, we are submitting to our nation's definition of it, whether or not we want to. We are not instructed in scripture to redeem what is wicked, but avoid it and separate ourselves from it. God already gives us standards for honoring our parents every day. He gives us standards for praying, every day. We don't need the World's definition of virtues on MD/FD or Prayer, i.e., National Day of Prayer, Labor Day, etc.

 

[reformedminister]

I mentioned it at the beginning of the service, during announcements, and gave the women white carnations before they left. However, the songs, Scripture readings, and sermon had nothing to do with Mother's Day. I preached on Romans 1:16-17.

 

[Poimen]

Nada.

 

[Wannabee]

Thanks Toni.

As I mentioned above, there has been no biblical principle set forth. This needs to be recognized as a philosophical discussion.

Part of the problem in some of the argumentation is the comparison to singles and other such nonsense. The focus is all wrong, and reveals an element of self-centeredness (not specific to an individual, but a thought process). The 5th commandment is the only commandment that tells us to honor a specific person (people). It is not because of who they are, but because of who God is. And every single person has a mother. Taking a cultural norm and attempting to turn people's minds to a biblical truth is part of what we do every week. To say that it is wrong to focus on a central issue appears to be more of a philosophical imposition than a biblical principle.

Much of the problem on these holidays is that it elevates the mother. Yes, mothers should be recognized. The the thrust of the holiday should be teaching every single person to honor their mother. This is something that we can remind our congregants and help deflate the culture's desire to deify motherhood.

Having said that, I do not consistently change my sermons for holidays. In this particular instance the passage I was preaching on fit nicely, and as I was personally convicted it gave me an opportunity to specifically model and use the holiday as a springboard. I might change my sermon if a message is burning in my heart, or if there are specific nuances or if there is some poor teaching or influences I perceive a need to address. But not simply because it's a cultural holiday.

 

[DMcFadden]

My membership in in a church that is not a "Reformed" congregation. Still, our mothers got a gift certificate for an ice cream cone at a local shop (rated as one of the top 10 in the USA!!!), handed out during the announcements. That was the only mention (other than a brief line about thanking the Lord for mother's during the pastoral prayer).

 

[AndyS]

Wait, let me guess....Mother's Day is actually rooted in paganism, which originated as the worship of the moon god, and medieval Christians created a more socially-acceptable cover for it by celebrating their "mothers" on a certain Sunday in the spring. Or maybe Walgreens or Hallmark is actually the originator of Mother's Day, capitalizing on our guilt of ingratitude and pinpointing our wallets as the true source of love...thus solidifying its pagan nature. And even uttering the word "mother" at church on this particular Sunday is a slap in the face of God as we cling to the gods of our culture???? Am I even close????

These days, honoring mothers is practically counter-cultural.

If we are going to allow announcements during a service, could there really be any harm in mentioning Mother's Day or including thanks to God for them in prayer? I kinda doubt it. Just saying.

Now if the sermon is about Moms - I do have a beef with that.

 

[ww]

During the announcements before the Worship Service commenced the Pastor mentioned that he would not be incorporating Mother's Day into the Service or the Preaching as it would violate the RPW but nonetheless wanted to express appreciation for Mother's as God's gift. With that I voted "NO"!

 

[fredtgreco]

We need to remember that the RPW has two aspects:

1. Regulating worship
2. Not regulating areas outside of worship

So while I agree that it would be wrong to make a Lord's Day worship service a "Mother's Day" service, the RPW says that outside of worship, the Church cannot regulate which announcement I make, or whether I have flowers, or chant, or any other element that is not commanded.

Of course ordinary standards of piety (and on the Lord's Day, the 4th commandment prohibitions) apply, but I believe it is beyond the power of the Church to regulate non-worship by the RPW.

 

[Whitefield]

Well, obviously not. But we're not to break one commandment to "keep" another, either. The Lord's Day is to be separate, holy, set apart. It is not Mother's day or Father's day. There are six other days in the week for such recognition.

Agreed, it was the Lord's Day and I preached on Colossians 3:1-2, never mentioning mothers. The hymns were not about mothers. But during the pastoral prayer, after giving God thanks for His grace and love through Jesus Christ, I also returned special thanks to Him for blessing us with godly mothers. If some think that it "out of bounds", then, with all due respects, I think someone has moved the ropes in far too close.

With all due respects, I was only responding to your response to my post. I don't remember calling anyone specifically out in this thread. Secondly, thanking God for mothers, while not in and of itself bad by any means, shouldn't be done at the expense of thanking God for any other member of the family. My primary premise is that the singling out of Mothers on the Lord's Day is a capitulation to the World which is always trying to introduce some sentimentality which detracts from the Lord's Day. Then, when folks refuse to do that, they're seen as "moving the ropes . . . far too close." There's no problem with recognizing mums and dads and birthdays, etc. . . . they just don't belong on the Lord's Day.

I understand your point, I hope you understand mine. We just simply disagree, and neither of use will convince the other. I thought it appropriate to give God thanks for godly mothers on a day when most of my congregation was thinking about their mothers. Nothing forced me to do that, and nothing prevented me from doing that. I chose to do so. You chose not to. Not much to be said beyond that.

-----Added 5/11/2009 at 01:57:58 EST-----

Do the churches that make an effort to recognize Mother's Day put the same emphasis on Father's Day? Grandparent's Day? What about the recognition never given to those who never married or never had children? Are they second-class citizens in some churches?

I'm being a bit whimsical to make a point: we have a Veteran's Day on our national calendar ... should we also have a Non-Veteran's Day?

 

[rescuedbyLove]

(I love my mom, but singing a song about my love for her during church is just wrong.)

 

[Jimmy the Greek]

Mother's Day was acknowleged and a prayer of thanks for Mothers was added during announcements. But it was not integral to our "worship."

So, I didn't vote yes or no.

 

[Reluctantly Reforming]

Now if the sermon is about Moms - I do have a beef with that.

I'm late to this discussion, but I believe Andy has pointed to an issue lurking in the background. If the sermon is "about" mothers, in the sense of praising them, I too have a beef. The covenant assembly is for the purpose of giving glory to God, not waxing sentimental about mothers.

If being "about" mothers means only that the pastor takes the occasion of the surrounding culture's Mother's Day to exposit a passage with regard to the vocation of wife and mother, or notes the response to God's revelation of a mother in Israel as an exemplar of faith (1 Sam 1-2, e.g.), I'm fine with that.

Yesterday, our associate TE prayed for the needs of several mothers and their families as part of his pastoral prayer, and our senior TE alluded to the day, and to mothers in general, in a sermon that didn't depart from his foregoing series, and which was not really about mothers or motherhood. There was no special music "just for the moms out there," or any ado about pinning flowers to all the mothers (and spiritual mothers!) in the service.

I believe this was an acceptable way to address a cultural phenomenon much on the minds of members, without letting it take over the assembly of the saints. It was also a way to remind people of their obligation to honor their parents.

 

[kevin.carroll]

Don't we have this same discussion every Christmas? I marked "no," but some have painted the word "incorporated" so broadly that I would have to say yes.

Before the Call to Worship I reminded the congregation of our need to observe the 5th commandment every day. In the pastoral prayer (among other things) I thanked God for motherhood, for sanctifying it by sending his Son, born of a woman, for bringing redemption into to world through the Incarnation.

Then I preached my next sermon.

If that is a violation of the RPW, then have me flogged and report me to my presbytery.

 

[AndyS]

I believe this was an acceptable way to address a cultural phenomenon much on the minds of members, without letting it take over the assembly of the saints. It was also a way to remind people of their obligation to honor their parents.

We can teach the 5th Commandment on Mother's Day, right?