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you you you Running everyone welcome again to very bad districts, Manila and again. Happy mother's day to all the moms Please take your seats now. We're going to start our second service Grab your new nose and open to song number 169 song number 169 calm down Come in Come down ready 169 calm down already on the first oh oh oh Dear Heavenly Father that we thank you Lord for allowing us to have our services to this app this day Lord we pray that you would bless the service Lord praise the singing of the congregation Lord the praises and all the Bible reading Lord And also the preaching of your word that Lord we pray that you would bless brother stocky with the spirit to preacher Word boldly Lord also pray for the fellowship of the mother start this mother's day We hope that every everybody would have a great day on your house today Also the soul reading and all the things that we're going to be doing all these things we ask in Christ most precious thing we pray Amen All right morning really welcome to Verity Baptist Church Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that are here and let's go through a couple things real quickly First let's count up salvation's anybody from the back with salvation's any salvation's How about in this section any salvation's to report one anybody else and last section two two three five? Six total anybody else All right, all right, so eight anybody else All right, good job everybody as I mentioned earlier our goal is to start soul winning at 1 p.m.. Today, which means the second sermon is going to be a sermonette. You know as we like to mock other denominations of every preaching I'll be preaching a sermonette and So I'm also couple things after this service We're going to have all the moms come up here to take a picture We do have a gift for you that we're going to give you and all the moms will take a picture I think the first picture without kids second picture with kids and Also the last thing if you have not yet done this all ladies going to the bowling today if you could draw from the cup over there a number and you'll be added to your specific group for bowling and Because they have five or six people per lane I think in the bowling, but I believe that's it for announcements and at this time We are going to have the ladies choir perform for us once again You You You Ah Ah Ah Oh Ah Oh Ah Ah Oh And when the robot I spoke I love You Oh Please open your Bibles to the book of Psalms Psalms 127 127 Psalm 127 127 please say amen if you're there Psalm 127 please say amen if you're there. Amen someone 127 verse 1 Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain to build it Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh, but in vain It is vain for you to rise up early to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows For so he giveth his beloved sleep though Children are inherited to the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man So are children of the youth Happy is the man that has quiver full of them They shall not be ashamed they shall speak with the enemies in the game Bless the reading of God of God's word. Let us pray God in heaven have anything in earthly states given to us. I pray that you please bless preaching and preach of your word Go to stay. We love you. Just pray All right, we're here in Psalm 127 and as I said There's gonna be a much shorter sermon just for sake of time with the event later today and the first sermon the original goal Was for it to be shorter and it did the opposite it's longer So this next sermon is definitely going to be a lot shorter and it's also Mother's Day theme The name of the sermon is a blessing or a burden from the Lord a blessing or a burden from the Lord Bible says in Psalm 127 verse 4 as Arrows are in the hand of a mighty man. So are children of the youth Happy is the man that have his quiver full of them They shall not be ashamed But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate the bottom tells us here in verse 5 That the man who has a lot of kids is happy and I would say the same is true with the woman with a lot Of kids the person that God is blessed with children and a large family. The Bible says that person is Happy and what we're going to see in this reduction is the Bible is very clear having children are a blessing They're not a curse they're not a burden but they're actually a blessing given to you from God go to Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 And there's a lot of verses in Genesis, I'll just read you a couple that show this very clearly The Bible says in Genesis 1 verse 28 Genesis 1 verse 28 and God bless them and God said unto them be fruitful and multiply and Replenish the earth and the Bible speaking there about having children Why record says God bless them and then he says be fruitful and multiply go to Genesis 9 Genesis chapter 9 The Bible says in Genesis 9 verse 1 and God bless Noah and his sons and said unto them be faithful and multiply and Replenish the earth go to Genesis chapter 12 Genesis 12 I Was in Genesis 12 verse 1 in the word Now the Lord had said unto Abram get thee out of their country and from my kindred and from my father's house under a land that I will show thee and I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and now shall be a blessing and the blessing there is associated with having a great Nation having children and then they have children and these are all in reference to the blessing be Having children so that was very clear that children are a blessing and not only that you also see that the Bible teaches Not having children can be a curse That was about God opening the room and it talks about cursing the whole nation and not allowing them to have children I Realize that you individually as a person just because God has not blessed you with children or as many as you want That does not mean that God is angry with you Obviously we just looked at Abraham and Sarah and Abraham and Sarah waited a very long time to have children We understand that but I do want to say that look as a married person You should look at having children as a blessing not as a curse Not as something that you don't want to take place But actually, you know, I want to raise kids for the glory of God go to your Bible to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew 6 Matthew 6 Statistics tell us that in our modern day 37% of people aged 18 to 39 do not want to have children 37% of people aged 18 to 39 want to have zero children in their life 37% and you might say well that's because a lot of them are young and changes as they get older actually 40% age 25 to 39 want zero kids So actually increases the likelihood of not wanting to have kids 40% now that that's bizarre to me because even before I was saved, you know I always had a desire to have a family. I grew up with a nice family. I enjoyed spending time We did things as a family So I like was wanting to do the same get married and have a family but 40% of people they don't have any kids at all and that's 42% of Millennials and the older group of that do not want to have any kids So I mean the percentage gets very close near 50% more than two out of five as they reach today So yeah, I don't have any kids No, look that might be what the world says But as Bible-relieving Christians, we should not be taking that mentality Because the Bible teaches, you know what God's plan for a person is for most people to meet the right person get married and then end up having a family and Raising kids for God's glory because there's a blessing associated with having children God bless them and said be fruitful not apply He said he blessed them and he's gonna make a great nation out of him having children is not a burden It's not a curse it's actually a blessing Matthew chapter 6 Why is it people don't want to have kids in 2023? Well, one of the big reasons why people look at having children as a burden or a curse is because of money They look at kids and say they're too expensive. I can't afford it. It's going to take up all my money It's like, you know I'm gonna work hard and just spend it on somebody else and not be able to do it I want I won't be able to afford it. Well, that's what the Bible says in Matthew 6 verse 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth Where moth and rust are corrupt and where thieves break through and steal But add for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust are corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The Bible warns about laying up treasures in this life And says lay up treasures in heaven. Let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of making a ton of money in this life? Just being very successful But not sharing it with anyone Let's just have a huge house and not have any kids. I'll have it all to myself. What's the purpose? I want to make a ton of money But I don't have kids because I want to be able to go on vacations and share with who What's the purpose I'm not sharing that with someone what's the point Most people don't typically say hey, I'm just gonna go out to a restaurant by myself I'm gonna go to the movies by myself. I'm gonna go on a vacation. Oh, who are you going with? Friends, family, nope, just by myself Now I'm not saying it's wrong to do things by yourself I'm just saying in general God designed us to want to be around other people And if you have like the greatest salary in the world and you have nobody to spend it on You're gonna live a miserable miserable life What's the purpose of working 80 hours a week and not having any free time to do anything? But you make a lot of money and have a big house and then there's nobody in that house, but yourself Or there's nobody in it, but your spouse But maybe God might give you a bonus or raise and bless you financially to raise kids for the glory of God The Bible speaks about God giving you the power to have wealth. You said brother Stuckey I'm a self-made man Well, I'm a self-made woman. I've made myself successful I'd be very careful that you say those words because God might just curse your life Look at this great empire that I have built, you know King Nebuchadnezzar Yeah, pretty soon you're gonna be like a dog running around just like eating grass Right. I mean, it's just like nobody in this life is a self-saved say self-made man I should say you say brother Stuckey, but I made so much money because I'm just so smart and who gave you your brain Who gave you your skills? Who gave you your ability? I? Mean imagine taking that in the spiritual life, man. I'm such a great Christian. I made myself so great is did you get yourself saved? Is that what took place? Did you teach yourself how to go soul-winning? Is that what suppose are you the one who preached to get the sin out of your own life or did somebody preach it to you? Nobody is a self-made man or a self-made woman Right, and I'll tell you what if you've been successful in this life There's nothing wrong with that and if God has blessed you financially that is great But the purpose is not just to spend it on yourself, but to actually think about other people Matthew 6 verse 33 But Seek you first the kingdom of God in his righteousness and all these things shall be added on you Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the marshal take thought for the things of itself Sufficient unto the day is the evil there. I'm going to do the army chapter 6 dude around me 6 dude around me 6 And I remember when I was younger there's a lot of things I thought would be a cool thing to do But I was like, I don't want to do him by myself I was like, I don't know anyone else who's interested in doing this. So it's like it'd be a cool thing But you know, it's probably something I'm never going to do because doing things by yourself is not generally that entertaining generally like to do things with other people and If your whole life is about you and you say right or not, I want to be able to save my money I don't have to spend all my money. I mean think about how selfish of an attitude it is I don't have to spend all my money on somebody else So you only care about yourself is what you're basically saying then I'm not saying it's wrong to go on vacation and have nice things, but I'm just saying this attitude Well, you know what? I cannot have financially afford kids. I don't want to spend all my stuff money on them That is actually a selfish attitude in 1800 The average American had seven point zero four children in 1826 point seven three Eighteen forty six point one four eighteen sixty five point two one 1880 four point two four nineteen hundred three point five six 1923 point one seven Nineteen forty two point two two today one point seven three I mean this rate is gonna be like negative five in a couple years, right? One point seven three seven point zero four So by the second I thought America was a growing country because people move there Not because people living there have kids Let me ask you a question. Do you play do you believe that people in? 1800 were more or less financially able to have a family a lot less There's a lot more wealth in 2023 then there was in 1800 Even in American 1800 a lot of people have tired lives. It wasn't that easy a lot of modern conveniences Yeah back then they had difficult lives. They say what my money is not about me It's about other people and the rules what God said God has commanded us that I mean, it's not just a suggestion Hey have kids are gonna be happy. No, you can move you be fruitful and Multiply and replace your God commands people to have children that are married He says I want you to have children Do you know Islam is a much faster growing religion than Christianity the number one reason is the number of kids that they have? That's the number one reason It's not because they're just converting so many people actually they're just having a lot of children and by virtue of that they are a growing religion and Christians today say you know what having children is no burden. It's a curse I can't find it What's taking place is normal be the biggest religion above Christianity in our lives No question about that at the rates that they're going One reason people don't want to have kids is because of money and I wouldn't say is this You're never gonna feel like you can financially afford children They are expensive Everyone's like me if I just work a few more years in my job I make a little bit more money so I can save up be able to have a house and Then you're gonna be like well now I'm gonna set it up to have a car I mean if I'm gonna have kids I have a car to put them in Right and then you're gonna be like but I don't have any money for this or that you're never gonna feel like you can financially afford them Because kids are expensive, but here's the thing if you just looked at your life there's probably a lot of things that you could cut out if you really needed to and You choose not to cut it out Here's the thing that you could actually raise kids if you realize that you know what my money is not for me and what I Want it's actually about other people Number two another reason people don't want to have kids they consider them a curse or a burden is because kids are very time-consuming they take up a lot of time and energy by the says in Judah army chapter 6 verse 6 and These words which I command thee to stay shall be in thine heart and now shall teach them diligently honor thy children And shall talk of them when thou citizen thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up Yeah, it takes time to diligently teach your kids. It takes time to show them. What's right and what's wrong I? Mean what's what's the internal problems 31? What is the number one reason in my opinion why people don't spank their kids in 2023 because it takes up time It takes up energy Now better people can use whatever excuse they want that's reality people don't spank their kids because it takes up too much energy in time That's the reason why People don't spend time with kids because it takes up time and energy. I want to spend my time on something else I'm so busy, and then they neglect their kids and people treat their kids as if they're a curse They treat their kids as if they're a burden and they wonder all those kids grow up and reject their parents Because you treated them like they weren't important going up I Mean all a kid wants to do growing up is spend time with mom and dad is that not true Anyone who has kids they know that's true 24-7 they want to spend time with with you. That's the way it is But a lot of people they treat kids as if they're a burden as if they're a curse I'd rather just spend time on myself. That is a very selfish attitude and You're not going to raise kids that are going to grow up and love you because you didn't put love into them I mean things are reciprocal It's a direct correlation you put in time energy and love in your kids And you're at the same is going to be returned to you if you don't Know all my kids grew up, and they rejected me. Well. I wonder why that's what takes place That was 31 verse 15 She rises also that is that night and giveth me to a household in a portion to our maidens Rising light is that night is indicating before the Sun has actually risen in the morning Generally think of like 6 a.m.. And 6 p.m.. As you know sunrise and sunset But depending what time of year and where you live that can obviously various you know change But the idea would be that men would go off to work right when the Sun rises You know they work on a farm or whatever once. There's there's daylight You just head out and so of course that means the wife is going to have to make food before her husband heads out So she rises while it's still dark outside to make food well that takes time doesn't it I mean they wake up early in the morning and provide food for your family and a lot of women would look at that as A curse and they would complain about it and say I just need my beauty sleep. I just need extra sleep It's like well You know I'm sorry But if God blessed you with the family he expects you to actually put in time and energy and effort and that might mean sacrificing some sleep That might mean spending more time on your family instead of yourself No, I could preach against the moon, but it's not Father's Day It's Mother's Day Ladies wake up in the morning and cook a meal for a family So my assess if you get mad at me tell me your interpretation. She rises also out as yet night She rises also that is yet night. You know. What's a movie on YouTube? Somebody says she rises also that is yet night to spend time on her cell phone No, it's a good meet your household and a portion your maintenance And look you know your husband might be able to cook something for himself or do it ever But your kids they can't And it and for you ladies to say well It's such a burden and so hard really because I don't think that a microwave back when this was written I Don't think that modern conveniences that they have now Either a lot of food was just made from scratch And what is made from scratch and it went bad the same day so you had to make new food the next day In a modern day there are a lot of modern conveniences that can make this a whole lot easier Right It's just a matter of not wanting to put in the time and the effort in treating your kids and your family Like they're a burden instead of a blessing like the Bible says Verse 31 verse 27 she looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness She is not lazy. That's really the defining feature of the virtuous woman is that she is Hard-working my seed pog that is the defining feature of the virtuous woman And yet Ruth was called a virtuous woman. She was certainly a hard worker. You can certainly see that in the book of Ruth verse 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates I mean, it's based on the work that she does and yeah, you know what it's time-consuming To raise your kids and to be a mom, but you get out what you put in in life I Mean if somebody gets like a lot stronger and puts on major muscle, it's like man. What's your workout program? I Don't work out, you know, I just started putting on muscle No, it's cuz you started lifting You started doing push-ups. I mean, how does it get in such great shape? I don't know. I Just was magically just it happened Doesn't work that way Anything that you're successful at in life is because you put in time and effort. I Mean how do you get raises at your company that you work at and bonuses and move up the company ladder by hard work Isn't that the answer to everything? So if you want to raise kids that love God you gotta put in the time and effort and Instead of thinking of the various trials and difficulties realize the end result of kids that love God get a first Corinthians 13 We're going to close up here first Corinthians chapter 13 Oh It's spending time with your kids is a great blessing enjoy It's fun. I enjoy spending time with my kids Well, I mean before you have kids There's probably a lot of hobbies that you have but there's been when you have kids one of your great choices just seeing your kids smile I Mean kids enjoy the gift of life more than anybody It's like my son Ezra is so happy now why because he can walk He's so happy, I mean it's more like a water, but you know he moves he can move step after seven He's so happy the smile on his face because he wants to make mom and dad happy And I'll tell you what as a parent when you see that it brings you great joy One reason people treat kids as a burden their curses because it's expensive Number two because it's time-consuming Number three and lastly because when you have kids you can't do all the same things that you used to do Bob says in first Corinthians 13 verse 11 when I was a child I Spoke as a child I Understood as a child I thought as a child When I became a man I put away childish things Bible says what eventually you reach an age where you grow up and You put away childish things Why I mean there's you know the store that when I was a kid my favorite store to go to was Toys R Us Why because there's all kinds of toys all kinds of video games all kinds of bouncing balls It's a you know what the song of Toys R Us It's like I don't wanna go up on the Toys R Us kid. There's a million toys that I could play with But you know what that's actually very unbiblical That's okay for a six-year-old to think or seven or eight or nine, but eventually Not a kid anymore Yeah, it's obviously somebody who's middle-aged. It's trying to act like a kid You're gonna stop right here There's somebody who's like 50 years old and they got the windows down listening to like I don't like rugs up or something They're like with long hair or rock shirt on it's like It's It's fun for kids to play Just go It's a different life But look when I was younger, it's like all I like to do is play sports and go to the gym I still exercise. I don't go to the gym anymore. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying you know what? I'd rather just be around my kids and It's just like you never know when they might need help or whatever and it's just like I don't go to the gym for various Reasons, but it's like you know what when you get married and have kids you're at a different place in life And yes, it's true when moms have kids There's a million things that they can't do that they used to do Obviously we understand that you know the ladies are going out bowling today and the reality is Women when they start having kids, you know what they're not able to do a lot of outdoor things that they used to do But here's what I would say whether you're a man or a woman It's like you're married, you have kids, it's time to grow up It's time to realize your life is not about you. It's time to invest your life into the next generation Why is it people take this mentality while they're brainwashed by movies like Peter Pan It's like I just always want to be you know a little kid Right isn't that the purpose of the movie Peter Pan? It's like doesn't want to grow up It's like hey, why don't you grow up? Yeah, you know and as I said you know because we're talking about this yesterday memories We had as a kid because sometimes you can have fond memories of things for example I have fond memories of being a kid and playing Super Nintendo but number one you're not going to recreate that same memory 30 years later and Number two you could actually put in different memories in your kids heads Than the fond memories you have What I mean by that how about the kids having fond memories of so many marathons Isn't that a good memory to have? fond memories of church events I mean this event today is a good thing for you And I'm sure a lot of the daughters are going to go with their moms to the bowling. It's a fun memory for them We have fond memories of our annual children's day events Fond memories of being in church, final memorization challenges things like that I mean those are the memories you want to put in kids heads and look I get it a lot of us have had memories in Our past where we weren't really serving God, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that obviously those are the memories We have I have a lot of fond memories of soccer and other things But I have a different plan and a vision for the life of my kids And what I'll say to adults is forget about those things You know if you get older the reality is you can't do the same things anymore because you have children It's different That does not mean that children are a burden or a curse. It just means you're at a different stage in life And what takes place is when you go to a new stage in life if you try to hold on to your past stage You know what's going to take place? You're going to be miserable Realize there's a lot of great things about new stages of life. I get it. You know I have a lot of fond memories when I went to college Hanging out with my friends playing sports, but but here's the thing you know what those might be fond memories I'm not in college anymore And if you try to hang on to those moments and act like you are you're going to destroy your future Look if God has blessed you with kids. What are you saying is you know what you can financially afford it? If I've given you kids, I'm going to give you the ability to actually raise them financially Number two your free time that you have God expects to use with your family with your kids And number three was yeah, you might be in a different stage, and maybe you can't do all the same things It's like you know what just change I've said before my wife's biggest hobby before she was married with surfing Well, I mean you just can't let her do that anymore once you're married and have kids And she has fond memories of surfing, but it's just not what you're going to do is you're raising young kids anymore It just is what it is. I Have fond memories of playing soccer. I haven't touched a soccer ball in a long time Right it's just you're at a different stage. It just is what it is But look this does not mean that children are a burden or a curse children are a blessing But if you treat your kids like they're a burden or a curse You're going to cause them to resent you You're going to cause them to care about other things more than yourself and other things more than serving God treat your kids like exactly what they are a Blessing given by God for you to raise. Let's close one word of prayer. You have me father Thank you for allowing us to be in your house today And I ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives whether we're moms or dads in this room Help us to realize our children are blessing and help us do the best we can to raise our kids for the glory of God We praise us in Jesus praise in Jesus name. Amen Amen for a last song song number 170 170 Hallelujah one Savior We'll see the whole song man of sorrows ready on the first Oh Oh Oh Oh Let's pray dear heaven father there. Thank you for all all the lessons that we have learned from your word Lord this morning Lord we pray that you would bless us Lord and apply the sermons in our life They're the parents as mothers and as fathers third There's a prayer that you would help us have fun in our fellowship events this afternoon We hope there that you would also bless us in our soul winning this afternoon and all these things We ask in Christ most precious. Can we free? You Oh I