Generations of Faith
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Pastor Jojo Ma
Weekly Bulletin | Song Lyrics | Nicene Creed
2 Timothy 1:1-5
Today I want to speak on the significance of motherhood and mothering. I want you moms to feel honored and cherished and respected --- and I especially want all the women here to pursue the calling of spiritual mothering.
Gloria Furman: “‘Mother’ is a verb. Adoptive mothers mother. Fostering mothers mother. Biological mothers mother. Disciple-making women mother. The nurturing work of motherhood is not constrained to biological birth alone.”
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
Charles Spurgeon: “I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring...Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.”
2 Tim 3:14-15 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Tim 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
Acts 16:1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.
2 Cor 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
1 Cor 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
Moms, grandmoms, what a responsibility you have, what a privilege you have, to help raise the next generation of believers for the glory of Christ. Don’t take that lightly.
John Piper: “[The apostle Paul] bestows on motherhood and grandmotherhood a great honor. You have a calling that can become the long-remembered ground of faith, not just for your children -- mark this -- but for the untold numbers who will be affected by your children. And that’s in addition to all the other thousands of ripple effects of faith in your life.”
Motherhood and mothering are great and glorious callings. These are “Great Commission” work. Invest in your children and grandchildren. Teach them who God is and what the gospel is. Pray for them and with them from a very young age. There is hardly a more important duty.
2 Tim 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
A word to the men and husbands…
2 Tim 3:10-13 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra --- which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Tim 3:14-17 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Paul teaches us something very precious here, that one of the ways to bless and support and strengthen your childrens’ future is to spiritually mother them.
As children grow up in this hard and harsh world, they will remember from whom they learned the faith, who acquainted them with the Scriptures, which are sufficient to save them and train them in righteousness and equip them for every good work.
Please don’t listen to the voice of culture that says you aren’t needed or that you can reach higher. Listen to the voice of your Savior who says spiritual mothering is necessary and a highest calling.
Rom 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
CrossLife women, your names won’t be written in Scripture either, but they are engraved on your Savior’s hands and written on his heart. And your godly influence will be felt not only in this age but in the age to come.
Children’s Music (Youtube Links)