Northfield Methodist Church

Dear Friends

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers with us today! Today we give thanks for you. We hope that it will be a special day. We think also of our own mothers. We give thanks to God for all that they have meant to us.

Today is a day for us also to pray for all mothers estranged from their children, or who wonder where they are, or who today will be totally forgotten. Especially, we hold in our hearts those who long to be mothers but who, for some reason or circumstance, are not.

Perhaps the deepest grief of all is the grief of those mothers who have lost their children. We will never know the deep pain in your heart. We pray that you will in a very special way know the tender embrace of our loving God.

Mother's Day also gets us thinking about our "mutual motherly ministry." (a term borrowed from Scot McKnight). It is intriguing to explore the motherly images that Paul uses in the New Testament to describe his own ministry. They help us to understand what we need to be about. Here are some images you may like to look up and ponder -

In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 Paul speaks of his ministry "like a nursing mother caring for her own children." Question: Do we give ourselves to nurse those young in the faith?

In Galatians 4:17-20 Paul describes his birthing ministry as someone who is "again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you." Question: Do we sacrificially pour out our energy in the slow, painful processes of making disciples who look a little like Jesus?

In Romans 8:22 Paul sees himsel sharing in the groaning of this world for newness, when he writes that we "know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time." Question: Do we respond to the groans around us in the community for healing and new life?

We hope that Mother's Day will help us rediscover our mutual mothering ministry here at Northfield.

God Bless

The Ministry Team