Mother's Day Sermons
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Mother's Day Bible Verses and Stories

Mother's Day sermons are a wonderful opportunity to inspire and encourage mothers in their important role.


Much of society today looks down upon the role of mother.


Business, career, and profession are preferred to the role of child-bearing and child-rearing.


Today's society forgets that children are an inheritance from the Lord. (Psalm 127:3 [or Psalm 126:3])


Without mothers being mothers, we wouldn't even be around!

Mother's Day is an excellent opportunity for the rest of us to be reminded to show our love and respect to our mothers - for their noble choice, their noble profession, their many generous sacrifices for us.

Mothers deserve our heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

Whether living or dead, our mothers deserve the best. God abundantly bless our mothers!


Bible Verses for Mother's Day Sermons

The bible has inspiration, encouragement, and lessons for all of us.

All scripture is written for our instruction (2 Timothy 3:16), and that includes mothers.

A great recommendation is to read your bible prayerfully every day, and you will receive food for your soul. You can read the whole bible through, or individual books of the bible, especially the Gospels.

Sometimes, some folks have the practice of praying to the Holy Spirit, and then opening the bible wherever. Occasionally I've done that with good results, especially when making a critical decision or having a difficult time, or just needing some inspiration.

And yes, there are many special bible verses for mothers, especially on Mother's Day.


The Humility and Obedience of Mary

God chose Mary to be his own mother. We read about this especially in the first 2 chapters of the Gospel of Luke.

He sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary this news. Mary obeyed, calling herself the servant of the Lord. (Luke 1:26-38)


The Charity of Mary

Mary could have stayed home to celebrate her motherhood. But the angel had said her cousin was soon to have a baby. Her cousin was a much older woman, and this would be her first child, and she was very pregnant, so Mary hurried on a journey to help her.

A few days later, when arriving at her cousin Elizabeth's house, Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit, and praised God, who had done wonderful things to her. (Luke 1:39-56)

She had received a mother's greatest gift, a child. Her child was special, the Savior himself, and so all generations will call her blessed.

She did not let it get to her head. She stayed several months to help her cousin.


The Prayer of Mary

It is interesting that we have very few words of Mary in the Gospels, but most all of her words are found in this prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of her child and the great things he would do, such as the salvation he would bring, and the deliverance he would give from the wicked, proud, and rich people of the world. (Luke 1:46-56)

This prayer is known as the Magnificat, from the Latin word, meaning magnify. That's how the prayer starts.

This prayer shows us the deep interior life of Mary. She was truly united to God, loving him with her whole heart, her whole mind, her whole soul, and her whole strength, and loving her neighbor as herself. (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31)

We also see how well she knew her bible verses from the scripture, because her prayer quotes many prophecies and bible texts, especially the Psalms, and paraphrases the canticle of Anna. (1 Samuel 2:1-10)


The Story of Anna and Samuel

The story of the childless Anna, whose bitter weeping and silent prayers in the temple were misunderstood by the priest, who thought her drunk, is in itself a wonderful Mother's Day sermon.

God heard her prayer. Anna became the mother of Samuel the Prophet, who did so much for Israel, probably more than David himself. In fact, he is the one who anointed both Saul and David King. And it all goes back to the weeping and prayers of a faithful woman.

This story must have been one that Mary loved to hear. Her own mother's name was Anna, who also had conceived Mary in her old age by a miracle of God, and like Samuel, she too had been offered to the service of the temple at a young age by her own parents, Anna and Joachim.


The Mother of the Savior was Poor - but Rich

Because of circumstances, Jesus' parents were poor. Because of a tax census, Jesus was not born at home, but in another town. In fact, he was born in an animal shelter, because there was no room in the inn. You can read more about this in the Christmas Story.

While earthly poor, this family was the richest from heaven's point of view. Angels came to sing. Shepherds came to worship. Kings followed a star and offered gifts.

Though Mary was poor, she felt herself richly blessed, having a husband who obeyed God, who protected herself (Matthew 1, 18- 21) and her son from certain death. (Matthew 2:13-18)

And she was rich with her son - the son of God himself.


True Riches and True Joy

Psalm 127 says children are an inheritance from the Lord, and are his reward.

This short 5-verse Psalm is an encouragement to our mothers - a great sermon theme.

In today's society, many people look down on mothers. They think they have a worthless job because it doesn't pay money. They want women to get careers.

What ends up happening, many of the poor women who follow the world instead of God, end up frustrated, unhappy, and totally stressed out trying to follow a calling they were not made for. And many, when they go back to God's ways, find out that they may never again have children.

True, only God can give children. Those who follow God find much joy and meaning and purpose in life, that no amount of money can by.

After all, an individual, a child, a person, is worth more than all the riches of the world.

What about the precious soul of an individual, a child, a person?

Jesus said, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his soul? Or what will he give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36)


A Story about my own Mother

What a treasure to have a mother who teaches her children how to save their souls, shows it by her good example, and daily prays her children home to heaven!

I was blessed to have such a mother, and I know she continues to pray for all her children from heaven.

Over 20 years ago, and some years after my mother died, a pastor friend encouraged me to go see the house I had lived in as a very young boy, before we moved to another state. So my pastor friend and I went there.

A lady came to the door. She and her husband had been living in the house ever since we moved, so I asked if she remembered my mom and dad.

She didn't remember a lot, because when the real estate agent took her through the house, my mother took us 6 little children outside. But she did remember, that when they got outside, she asked my mother, "So you're babysitting?"

Then my mother said, "O no, they're all mine!" And the lady said her face was beaming and she had a big smile on her face when she said it.


The Sufferings of Mary

Mary the Mother of Jesus had many joys. But she also had many sorrows and painful experiences.

When Joseph and Mary presented Jesus in the temple when he was 40 days old, Simeon prophesied that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart. (Luke 2:22-35)

Soon after, the powerful tyrant Herod was jealous and tried to kill Jesus, so the family had to leave the country to keep Jesus alive. (Matthew 2:13-18)

When Jesus was 12 years old, one of the greatest sorrows of Mary was when he was lost in the temple in Jerusalem for 3 days. (Luke 2:41-51)

One of the great sorrows of Mary, that many people don't consider - because it is not recorded in the New Testament - is the death of her husband Joseph. Tradition says this happened sometime before Jesus started his Public Ministry.

A few years later, on Good Friday, Mary was to stand on Calvary and watch her son Jesus tortured and nailed to a cross, on which he died in great agony. (John 19:25-27)

Her reward is very great in heaven. But she suffered very much on earth.

Imagine Jesus saying to his Mother in heaven, Happy Mother's Day!

Those in heaven can never be sad again, because it's a truly happy day in a really happy place.

Mother's Day Sermon Topic - Our Happy Mother's Day

John, the Apostle and Gospel writer, was also was with Mary on Calvary. Jesus told John to take Mary as his mother. You can read more about this "privileged blessing at a tragic time" in the 7 last words of Jesus.

All faithful followers of Jesus have Mary for our spiritual Mother, because she was there at the time when our spiritual birth, the great work of our redemption, was happening.

Good Friday was our Happy Mother's Day - only that first day, it wasn't very happy.

It's like our birthdays. It's a happy event each year, but the actual day of birth ... when we were born ...

It's a reminder that it's not easy for our mothers to carry us for months, and then give birth to us, and then take care of us for hours, and days, and months, and years.

And years and years and years ...

There's a lot of sacrifices our parents go through, and we should appreciate both of them.

Especially mothers on Mother's Day. But don't forget fathers on Father's Day.


The Proverbs 31 Woman

Another good sermon theme for Mother's Day is Proverbs 31, verses 10-31.

I discuss it in much greater detail in a tribute to the pastor wife.

In fact, there's a few pages in Pastor Appreciation devoted to the wives of pastors that would give good sermon illustrations for Mother's Day also.


A Mother's Kindness and Thoughtfulness

When Jesus started his public life, he worked his first miracle at the request of Mary.

Mary noticed that the wine was running short at a wedding. (John 2:1-11)

Again, we see the watchful eye, the care and the concern of good mothers, even when their children are grown.


An Example of Fidelity

Jesus praised his own mother. It's a wonderful example of what we should praise our mother for.

A woman praised his mother for giving him birth. (Luke 11:27-28)

But Jesus said rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Which we know Mary did, as Luke says twice. (Luke 2:19, 51)

It's not the privilege of being a mother that makes a woman great. It's faith in God.

Faith is not just words either. Notice how Jesus defines faith - those who hear the word of God and keep it.


Fidelity to Vocation

Giving birth is primarily the work and choice of God (which some women frustrate by abortion), and has physical consequences and responsibilities.

Hearing God's word and keeping it - the new birth by living faith - is the choice of the person, cooperating with the grace of God, and has temporal responsibilities and eternal consequences.

Sad indeed that Jesus would refer to Judas, that it were better he had never been born physically, because he betrayed and rejected the source of spiritual birth. (Matthew 26:24; Mark 14:21)


About Heartbroken Mothers

It is a heartbreak to mothers whose children are spiritually lost.

A holy woman Monica prayed for years and years for her pagan husband, who became a christian before he died. Her son Augustine also turned pagan for years.

Luckily, Augustine repented and converted, no doubt because of God's grace and mercy, but also because of the prayers and tears of his mother. He was later to write much on God's grace, and was so grateful that his mother never gave up hope.

If Mary was heartbroken when Jesus was lost for 3 days in the temple, how great is the heartbreak of Mary, and all holy-minded parents, who see their children on the path of being lost for all eternity in hell.

Mary endured this pain also, according to what Simeon prophesied, that her son would be for the fall and rise of many in Israel, a sign that would be contradicted, and so her own soul a sword would pierce. (Luke 2:34-35)

When Jesus was going to Calvary, he told the weeping women not to weep for him, but for themselves and their children, because if they did these things in the green wood (which has life and doesn't burn easily), how much worse it would be in the dry wood (which is dead and burns very easily). Jesus used this symbol to talk not only of the horrible events the city of Jerusalem would see in their lifetime for rejecting him as Messiah, but especially about the horrible eternal punishments of hell for those who reject him.


Jesus Himself wants to be a Mother

If that sounds heretical, it's not. It's how bad Jesus wanted to save the people from making this terrible decision as they were rejecting him. Before his death, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, because the majority of the people would not follow the warnings of Jesus.

From a hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem, Jesus wept over the city, and said "O that I could gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not." (Luke 13:34-35; cf Luke 19:41-44)


Jesus talks about the Sorrow and Joy of Mothers

Well, I could go on and on. The bible is an endless fount of wisdom, because the source is an infinite and almighty and all-wise God. So go often to the source. But here's a few more stories.

Before he died, Jesus told his disciples they too would suffer. But one day - in a little while - they would see him again. (John 16:16-24)

He said in this world his followers would weep and mourn, while the world would rejoice.

But their grief would turn to joy.

It is like a woman in childbearing. She is in a lot of pain. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

And when Jesus comes again, his followers will rejoice, and no one will take that joy away from them.


An Obstetrician Agrees

One day as a teacher years ago, I was refereeing a soccer game. One of the students broke his leg, and I knew it instantly. Everyone else was asking, Are you sure, because the boy wasn't crying.

But I knew him, and had heard his first yelp which he immediately controlled.

So I got the duty of driving him to the hospital emergency room, and sure enough, he broke it.

As we waited there for hours, going through x-rays and tests, and getting the leg set and put in a cast, an obstetrician (a physician that delivers babies and takes care of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and recuperation) happened to be on call.

He told me that after birth there are chemicals in the body that wipe away the memory of the pain.

He said the pain of birth is so great, that if a man had a baby, a man would never have another baby again.

It left me with a lot of food for thought. A deeper appreciation for mothers. A deeper appreciation for the words Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper.

How blessed when we get to heaven, to be reunited with our mothers in a joy that no one can take away.

Thank your stars!



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