Mother's Day

Welcome to Cross Church. My name is Tyler and I serve as campus pastor right here at Cross Church Elmarrage. And I want to welcome you to service today. Before we get started, I want to make you aware of a couple of ways that you can connect with us today. The first, if you have a phone with you, you can send a text message with the word church. No space to the number 940. Or if you'd like to use the cards that are in the seat back in front of you, we've got three cards that'll direct you on ways that you can be connected this week. The first is the new card. If you're new to Cross Church over the last few weeks, we would love to connect with you. Take some time to fill out that card during our service today and drop it in one of the black boxes and then we'll follow up with you this week with some more information. The next card is the next card. Take some time to use that card if you're interested in taking some steps in your faith journey. Things like baptism, joining a group, or even serving. And then lastly, and I believe most importantly, is the prayer card. And I want to guarantee you that if you take time today to fill out that prayer card, all of those come to me and I get to pray over each of them individually. So, if you've got things big or small going on in your life, please feel free to share those with us. We'd be happy to pray over them. Hey, as we get prepared for some God-honoring worship, I want to encourage you to go into service today with an expectant spirit. We know that God big things in our midst. And so I want to encourage you to enter this time with an expected spirit and let's get prepared for some God honor. Hey, good morning cross church. Let's all stand together. Happy Mother's Day. So grateful for you all. Hey, we introduced this song last week. It just talks about God's faithfulness and [Music] goodness. You've been good, good for all my life. Nothing could ever change my mind. You never break a promise. You're constant in all you do. Yours is the way, the truth, the life that I will choose. Oh, I know that. I know you won't never let me go. every low and every high. You are faithful all the time. I've tasted and I've seen you've been so so good to me. God, I know that I know you're faithful all the time. Oh, you're faithful all the time. Oh, I will look to the left or right. I will keep heaven in my side. You know I will not be shaking. Nothing is moving me. I've got a faith for sure. things I cannot say. Oh, I know that I know you won't ever let me go. Every low and every high, you are faithful all the time. I taste it and I see you've been so so good to me. that I know that I know you're faithful all the time. Oh, you're faithful all the time. Oh, I won't stand on word of man. God, I stand on yours instead. All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it in your name. And the world cannot deny all that you've done in my life. All of my days, all of my praise, all to live Jesus. Let's sing that again. I won't stand on word of m God. I stand on yours instead. All of my hope, all of my faith, all of it is in your name. The world cannot deny all that you've done in my life. All of my days, all of my praise, ought to live Jesus name. All of my days, all of my praise, ought to live Jesus name. Oh, I know that. And I know you won't never let me go. Every low and every high, you are faithful all the time. Oh, I know that. I know you will never let me go. Everyone, every heart, you are faithful all the time. I'll taste it and I'll see you so so good to me. But I know that I know you're faithful all the time. Oh, you're faithful. Oh, you're faithful. Oh, you're faithful all the time. Oh, faithful all the time. Yeah. Let's give our God some praise. [Music] There's a rain coming. We better get ready to wash your heart and dry your eyes to clean your [Music] soul. There's a wave going. You better get ready. It's caring love. It's carrying joy. It'll carry you home. The hearts need breaking. Cuz the world needs healing. The heavens open. The curse is broken. We'll see your kingom flood the earth. Oh hell. King Jesus. Salvation belongs to you. All power, all glory is yours. It's yours forever and ever. [Music] Yeah. There's a song coming. It's the sound of the [Music] nations. Banner of praise for sinners and saints. They army of love. Our hearts need breaking. The world needs healing. The heavens open. The curse is broken. We see your kingdom flood the earth. Let's sing. All hell. All hell. King Jesus. Salvation belongs to you. All power, all glory, it's yours. It's yours forever and ever. All hell in Jesus. Salvation belongs to you. All power, all glory is yours. Is yours forever and ever. [Music] The joy of God has come upon us. Sing praise. Sing praise. The heart of God is here among us. Sing praise. Sing praise. Spirit of God. You burn within us. Sing praise. Sing praise. Son of God. to reign forever. Sing praise. Sing. Let's sing that again. The joy of God has come upon us. Sing praise. Sing praise. The heart of God is among us. Sing praise. Sing praise. Spirit of God. You burn within us. Sing praise. Sing praise, son of God. You reign forever. Sing praise. Sing [Music] praise. Salvation belongs to you. [Music] All hail King Jesus, salvation belongs to you. All power, all glory is yours. It's yours forever and ever. All hell, King Jesus. Salvation belongs to you. All power, all glory, it's yours. is yours forever and ever. The joy of God has come upon us. Sing praise. Sing praise. The heart of God is still among us. Sing praise. Sing praise. Spirit of God you burn with. Sing praise. Sing praise. Son of God. to forever. Sing praise. Sing praise. [Music] Father of kindness, you have poured out grace. You brought me out of darkness. You have filled me with peace. Give her a mercy. You're my help in time of need. Lord, I can't help but see. Sing faithful. Faithful you are. Faithful forever. You will be faithful. You are All your promises. Yes. And amen. All your promises. Yes. [Music] Amen. You're so faithful. Beautiful Savior, you have brought me near. You pulled me from the ashes. You have broken every curse. Blessed redeemer, you have set his captive free. Though I can't help but seem faithful. Faithful you are faithful forever. You are faithful. You are all your promises. Yes. All your promises are yesterday made faithful. You are faithful forever. You will be faithful. you are. All your promises are yesterday. All your promises, all your promises are [Music] yesterday. Oh, faithful so faithful to us. You never fail. [Music] Let's sing this together. And I will rest. And I will rest. And your promise is my [Music] confidence. Is your faithfulness. And I will rest in your promises. My [Music] confidence is your faithfulness. I will rise and your promise is my [Music] confidence. Your faithfulness is I will promise my confidence. [Music] You [Music] are forever. You will be. You are. [Music] All your promises [Music] are [Music] you forever. You will be faithful. you are. All your promises are yesterday. All your promises, all your promises are yesterday. All your promises, all your promises are [Music] yesterday. Good morning, church. Go ahead and grab your seat, your chair. Uh, if you have a spare seat by any chance, if you guys can share a chair, maybe I don't know if we have everybody sitting back there, but we are, it's so awesome to see this room just packed out and full. Uh, we're grateful that you guys are here today to celebrate with us. Uh, I just want to say happy Mother's Day to all the mothers here today with us. Um, we are so grateful and blessed by God to have given us mothers, right? I'm so grateful for that. Um, my name is Javi for those of you that don't know me. If you're here for the very first time, we have a card. It says new. Um, so if you're here and you have and you're visiting or you've been here a couple times and you still haven't filled one of those cards out, uh, we would love to get to know you. Put your information on there. Somebody will reach out to you. Uh, the next card is the next step. If you've been coming to Cross Church and you're you feel ready to take the next step, whether it be your faith like baptisms that we're celebrating today, uh they're ready to take the next next step in their faith and walk with Christ or if you're ready to take the next step, serving and helping in the kids ministry or hosting or just anywhere you feel led, joining a Bible study would be a next step. Uh so that card is also available to you. Fill that out. somebody will get connected with you and and go from there. Um prayer card is very important to us here at Cross Church. Uh prayer, we believe that God still hears us. God still cares for us and God still answers prayer. So we just want to encourage you if you're going through anything, uh whatever it is, big or small, God cares. And we would love to have the opportunity and the privilege to be able to pray for you. Uh announcements. Uh we have pizza with the pastor next Sunday, which is uh May 18th. It's after the second service. It's in our next building. So Tyler will be there. You guys can ask him any hard question you guys have for him there. Uh we'll give you guys pizza so you guys are not thinking about food while you're sitting there waiting for lunch. So we're going to do that. Um also VBS is coming up and that's on June 1st through the 4th. Uh we had a great turnout last year. We had a lot of kids and that's going to be held here in this campus. Uh we would love for you guys to invite your neighbors, your friends, uh anybody. We would love to reach the community of Elmarrage. We want to reach the kids and we also want to reach the parents. So reaching the kids is also drawing in the parents. So we we would love to do that. Um I'm signed up to dance on stage during that week. So I don't know how that's going to turn out. My kids are probably going to have better moves than I do, but we'll go. So, yeah, that's going to be on June 1st through the 4th. Uh lastly, we would love to give you guys an opportunity to be able to give to the ministry and what God is doing here in Elmarrage through Cross Church. Uh we have different ways that you can give if you feel led, God is leading you to give to support what we're doing here. We're grateful for all those that give because we're able to be able to do all this because of people that give. And so we want to give you guys an opportunity to be able to do that. So we'll give you guys about 30 seconds and thank you guys. [Music] [Music] All right. Well, hey, welcome. Go ahead and step up on stage here with me. You can go to this far side over here. Yep. Perfect. Uh well, hey, we're starting off Mother's Day with some child dedications. And so, we're super excited for all that God is doing here. here and I want to introduce you to a few different families. Um, we're going to start here with Christian and his mom Wendy. And, uh, Christian was born on April 16th of 2022. And one of my favorite things about Wendy and Christian is ever since the first Sunday they showed up on campus. It's been nothing but full force. They've been plugged in, getting connected. And so, we're super excited. And Christian brought out his best sport coat today. I love it. So, uh, we got Christian right here. And what we're doing today with dedication is important on a few different levels. I want to give you a little bit of a heads up about what it is for us. Dedication is about the children, but it's also about the parents because we know that raising kids is not easy. Amen. Anybody testify? Here's the deal. Um, we are making a commitment as parents on this stage uh to support our kids, to help them to know and ultimately follow Jesus. And so, this is an important commitment. So Wendy, we've got a Bible for you for Christian that'll be hopefully a start to his faith journey. And then next, if you guys want to slide over right here, uh, introduce you to a second family. Um, the rock star of this show is Arcelli Fernandez. All right, everybody say hi. Um, if you've been here any number of Sundays, you'll notice she is in here with the adults every Sunday, and she might pay attention better than some of you adults. She is always locked in even from the back row. But parents William and Abigail and she was born on December 20th of 2023 and brought out her best dress today. We're excited about that. And the same thing that I spoke of earlier, William and Abigail is for you. Um that this is not just about your daughter. This is about you and the commitment that you're making ultimately to raise her to know and love Jesus. So, we're super excited for that. We got a Bible for you. And then lastly, I get to introduce you to my wife, Hannah, if you'll come over here to this side. We'll get everybody all spread out. Uh, and then I'm gonna turn it over so that I don't do my own dedication. Uh, to my father-in-law. So, Hannah, if you want to slide here. This is Jackie. All right. Well, in all deference to you guys, she's pretty pretty. All right. Uh so uh we're happy to introduce Harper Lynn, born on March the 5th of this year. This is my daughter Hannah, my son-in-law Tyler. We're so proud of them and the great job they're doing raising children and also raising up a great church here. And uh later on uh it's a a special day for us because Harper's oldest uh sibling, her sister Hadley, is going to be baptized. And really that's the track. Uh you can clap for that. Go ahead. Uh that's the track we pray for all of these children is that they would be dedicated to the Lord. Uh really this is a parent dedication more than a child dedication. You uh partnering and coveting to dedicate yourself to raise your child so that one day they can come to faith in Christ and follow the Lord in believers baptism. And it's also uh a church dedication. you are saying as a church family that you're going to partner with not only these children but children all over this community that need the Lord. And so as Jav mentioned earlier, serving in children's ministry, however you serve as a partnership as a church that we're going to invest in young children to help them reach that day where they come to faith in Christ. So let's pray for these parents and these children together today. Father, we thank you for this uh wonderful occasion, Mother's Day. We thank you for all the moms in the room. We thank you for their commitment to the Lord to be here with their children perhaps. Father, we pray you'd be with these moms on stage and dads on stage with their uh children. We pray God that you would help them to commit themselves to raise their children in the love and adoration of the Lord. And then Lord, we pray as a church family that we would partner together and dedicate ourselves together today to help raise these children. uh so that one day they come to faith in Christ. But not only these children, but children all across this community that one day need the Lord. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the privilege of being here together. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. All right. Well, now I get to go to the preaching. You guys can go ahead and grab a seat. Man, what a great start to our time together today. Well, hey, if you got a Bible, we're going to be in Proverbs chapter 31 today. So, I'll let you flip there or click there, make your way there somehow. Uh, I don't know if you guys have noticed, we're kicking off a brand new series today. And, uh, if you've ever studied the Bible before, we thought long and hard and settled on Proverbs 31 to speak to women. Uh, which is like the goto passage for all women. But hey, Proverbs 31 is where we're going to dive in today. And my name's Tyler. I get serve as campus pastor here. If you're new to Cross Church Elmarrage, I'd love to connect with you. I'll be outside after service underneath the tent. Would love to hear your story and also share a little bit about our church there as well. But we're diving into Proverbs 31 today. And here's the start. Here's kind of our leadin. We're kicking off this new series that we're calling family less of the mess. Now, I don't know about you guys, but if you look at your family, and my family's in the room today, all right? So, they could probably speak to this. Um, all of us in our families have a little bit of mess. Amen. Some of us don't know what the mess in our family is. And most often that means you're it. All right, which is okay. Here's the deal. We all have mess in our family. But what I believe to be deeply true is that the source of truth and the way that we handle all of the mess that can happen in our family is found in the Bible. And so today, we're going to dive in and see what God's word has to say for us. And so we're going to read out of Proverbs chapter 31. I'm going to have you read with me. We're going to kick it off in verse 10 of Proverbs 31. So let's read together beginning in verse 10. Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will not lack anything good. She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like the merchant ships bringing her food from far away. She rises while it's still night and provides food for her household and portions for her female servants. She evaluates a field and buys it. She plants a vineyard with her earnings. She draws on her strength and reveals that her arms are strong. In verse 18, she sees that her prophets are good and her lamp never goes out at night. She extends her hands to the spinning staff and her hands hold the spindle. Her hands reach out to the poor and she extends her hands to the needy. She is not afraid for her household when it snows. For all in her household are doubly clothed. She makes her own bed coverings. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known at the city gates where he sits among the elders of the land. In verse 24, she makes and sells linen garments. She delivers belts to the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her. Many women have done noble deeds, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her the reward of her labor and let her works praise her at the city gates. Let's pray as we dive in today. God, we come to you and God, specifically today as we walk through this text and focus on women, God, our prayer is that you would give us wisdom about how to handle this topic and that we would honor the women in our lives. We pray all this in your name. Amen. Well, hey, I want to introduce just a little bit of a caveat or a side note as we walk into this text. Um, one of the things that we need to be mindful of as we come here, and I think our church is sometimes a description of this is that, uh, motherhood can have or mothers can have kind of a charged sort of emotional thing around it. It can be different. Um, as we look at this, um, motherhood is more of an inclusive word. I want to encourage you for some people that are mothers in the room to children that you didn't birth. Um to mothers to kids that may not have ever officially been your own. Motherhood is a bigger conversation. And what we're going to find today is that as Proverbs 31 speaks to women, I believe it actually gives us all an encouraging at the end of what it means to follow Jesus well. And so here's what we're going to do today. Um we're going to do a little compare and contrast. Is that okay? Good, because I was going to do it anyways. All right, so I didn't even have to ask you your permission. All right, but we're going to compare and contrast because here's what happens if we look to our world. Um, there are a lot of messages about what it means to be a woman. There are a lot of connotations of what it means to be a woman. But I believe the source of truth is in front of us and it's contained in these 66 books. And I believe for us that as we study scripture, we get to see a really cool picture of what a godly woman looks like. And so, let's begin our compare and contrast with the negative. We're going to get that out of the way. There's three types of women I see throughout the Bible and throughout our world that are a negative portrayal, a negative description of women. And so, here's some of our negative case studies. The first one is the weward woman. The weward woman. If you look at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 3, you'll notice that there was Adam and you guys are on it today. Adam and Eve. Now, Adam, uh, as God has commanded men to be the spiritual leaders of their home, um, was away. Eve was by herself and she was tempted by Satan to eat of the tree of knowledge. Now, this is the one place in all of the garden that God had said, "You can't go here and eat this fruit." And what happened is this, and don't miss this, because what's true of Genesis 3 is true of today and 2025. Satan began the temptation of Eve with a phrase that wasn't the big bold flashing sign that said, "Sin is coming." The phrase that he used to tempt Eve is this. Did God really say? And for the weward woman that we see in culture and all throughout scripture by Eve is this the temptation starts not always with the big flashing sign. Sometimes it starts in little subtle ways where we're enticed or we have thoughts or struggles that we allow to take root. And God's word instructs us that that is not how to live. But what did Eve do? Well, maybe God didn't really say or maybe it's not too bad and began to make excuses and those things built on each other up to the point at which she takes the step of sin. The wayward woman in our world today is the woman who doesn't go out necessarily looking for the wrong choices, but she finds them unintentionally. She has lost her way and in doing so finds herself dealing with real consequences. There is a second type of woman that we see negatively portrayed in the Bible. Not just the weward woman, but we see the outright wicked woman. I could give you plenty of descriptions of wicked women, but I'll save that for today. Okay? Uh here's the deal. Um when it comes to the wicked woman, here's what we find. The Bible is not mute on this subject. The Bible speaks to this a lot. As a matter of fact, uh I'll read for you out of Proverbs chapter 5. One of the things that you'll come to know as you study the Bible is that Proverbs is written like a series of tweets or X post now or whatever we call it. Uh but there are a lot of short choppy thoughts that don't always have great flow. But we find in Proverbs 5 a storytelling. What happens in Proverbs 5:1 is a father looks to his son and says, "My son, pay attention to my wisdom." He says, "Listen closely to my understanding." And here's what he begins in verse three. Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey, and her words are smoother than oil, in the end she's as bitter as worms wood, and she's as sharp as a double-edged sword, her feet go down to death. Her steps head straight for shield. She doesn't consider the path of life. She doesn't know that her ways are unstable. Understand it this way. The wicked woman as a categorical approach, not calling anyone wicked, all right, necessarily, it's the Bible's words. is this the wicked woman is the woman who has completely gone against the gospel has completely forsaken God's truth and not only has headed in the direction of evil but is pulling others with her. We see the instruction or encouragement here to be mindful of this woman. We get the big imagery here in verses five and six. Her feet go down to death. Her steps head straight for shield. It is a clear realmification that the path of life is not found in promiscuity. She doesn't consider the path of her life and doesn't know that her ways are unstable. What has happened in this moment is that this woman has completely turned against the message, has drowned out the voice of God, turned the volume all the way down, and has gone completely in the opposite direction. But there is still hope. We'll get to the hope in a moment. The third type of woman that we see is the wishing woman. The wishing woman. And this one's somewhat more nuanced. Um, but I think a a helpful understanding here is is a little bit of reality TV. All right? You don't have to admit publicly you watch reality TV. Okay? And neither will I. All right? Here's the deal. Um, we see in reality TV a popular phrase now. It's popular on shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. That's kind of waning in popularity. But but the idea is still there that women and men for that matter are looking for the perfect spouse or the perfect partner. Now, understand this. The perfect person doesn't exist. I'm sorry if I burst your bubble here. All right. Um some of you are like, "No, but I'm married. They're they're going to be perfect or we're gonna get married soon." All right. If you give them time, they'll prove they're not perfect. All right. Uh, some of us are just projects, all right? And we were never perfect from the start. But here's the deal. We see the wishing woman. It's found in the book of Hosea. Hosea, a prophet of God, marries a woman named Goomer. All right? Now, in all of my dedications, I've never seen a baby named Goomer. All right? So, I don't know if that's a sign. But here's the deal. Hosea marries Goomer. They have kids. They stay married for a season. And here's where the wishing woman comes in. She stays in that commitment for a season, but then begins to look and see that, hey, maybe the grass is greener on the other side. Leaves her family and her commitments to find other men. Check this out. The wishing woman is the one who says, "Maybe the grass is greener on the other side." Or falls for the trap of social media that says, "Everyone else's life is perfect. Why isn't my husband like this?" Or, "Why isn't my life as good as their life?" Understand it this way. Wishing will keep you from what I believe God has for you if you're always focused on what everyone else has. So, here's the key thought for our time together today. It's this. To have less of the mess, we need to look to the book. To have less of the mess, we need to look to the book. And as we process this, here's the conversation. Um, if I want to be rich, I go not to someone who is struggling to pay their bills. I go to a rich person and ask, "What'd you do to get rich so that I can learn lessons?" Right? If I want to get really, really fit, I go to the personal trainer that is completely jacked, right? I go to the guy who's an image of what I want to be and find out what they did to get there. What we find in our life is if we want to be godly women, all right, I I can't be a godly woman. That's I should have phrased that differently. Um, but if you want to be a godly woman, where do you go for truth? You go to the source. You go to the example and the description that's found here in Proverbs 31. So, here's what I want to begin to do is a positive view of women, some aspirations for what it could look like to be a Godhonoring woman. And so, here it is. We're going to look at a few different things. Um, there's three, I believe, characteristics found in this text of what a woman should be like, what God calls women to be like. And here's the moment as we get there. Some of you, if you um take stock of your lives, would say that you find yourself living a little more wicked than you care to admit or find yourself in a weward season more than you'd like to admit or even are living right now in that wishful season of saying, "I want this or this instead of what God's given you in this season." And here's the moment to borrow a statement from the great theologians that wrote Frozen 2. You can laugh. It's okay. It's not forbidden. Um, here's the deal. Do the next right thing. You cannot change yesterday. We cannot fix what has already happened. Here's what we can do. We can do the next right thing. We can make a choice today to live up to the aspirations of a godly woman. And I put those here in three different categories. The first category we see is the wise woman. The wise woman. As you look at verses 25 and 26, here's what it says. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. In verse 26, her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. As we look at a wise woman, there's two things that stand out about these verses. The first is this. She can laugh at the time to come. The reason the woman that's spoken of here can laugh at the future is she is so grounded in her identity, so confident in who God has called her to be that what happens tomorrow can't shake her. She is unshakable and it is an aspiration I believe of a godly woman. She knows who holds the future. So she doesn't have to worry what the future holds. The second thing about this little chunk here in 25 and 26 is this. Her mouth speaks wisdom and loving instruction is on her tongue. As we look at this text, it gives us instruction and I think there's something assumed in this verse. Her mouth speaks wisdom. My wife and I were having this conversation this past week. I don't know if as an adult you guys feel this way. Sometimes I'm like, I can't believe that when we go on vacation, I'm the adult. Like, it's just kind of wild, right? I feel a little imposttor syndrome, like, okay, I am the adult now. And like, oh yeah, I do have the master bedroom in my home. Like this is just kind of wild to think I've grown up and sometimes we just don't know what wisdom is. We're figuring it out as we go. But what I believe is the assumed of verse 26 is this. Her source of wisdom is secure. The source of wisdom of which she speaks and instructs others is God's word. If you are a woman today, a mother or not, and you have a sphere of influence, whether it's friends, family, co-workers, or you name it, and you want to speak wisdom, the first thing to do is to study wisdom. Study God's word. As a matter of fact, one of the realities of the broken, sinful, sinful, fallen state that we're in is sometimes, not by intention, but by relegation, some women have taken up spiritual leadership in the home because men or husbands have just not done it. And and women have been faced with this. And I've counseledled people through this situation of like, okay, what do I do? Here's the deal. Do the next right thing. Go to the source of wisdom and instruct those in your sphere of influence with that wisdom. Her mouth speaks wisdom and loving instruction is on her tongue. I love that we get this here because it is one of those aspects of motherhood that is so helpful. Mothers often have a way of saying things nicely but firmly that we need to hear. It is the loving instruction that is on her tongue. It is of those in her household and in her sphere of influence. If you're here today wanting to be a godly woman, I believe the first characteristic you should aim for out of verses 25 and 26 is to be a wise woman. The second thing to consider is to be a watchful woman. A watchful woman. Here is the temptation I believe that sometimes exists for women. It is very easy to say that we want to just be the passenger princess. All right, which has its perks at some point. All right, but here's the moment. When it comes to being a woman, it is important to be a watchful woman. No matter your station in life, no matter your season in life. In verse 17, she draws on her own strength, not the strength of her husband. She herself has strength. Her strength comes from her relationship with God and it reveals that her arms are strong. She sees that her prophets are good and her lamp never goes out at night. She extends her hands to the spinning staff and her hands hold the spindle. What we find here is both for those in her household and for the poor, she extends her hands to the needy. A godly woman is watchful. She does not sit back and take a backseat in her life. She is an active participant in following God and sharing his instruction with others. In this passage, we see time and time again, not a trophy wife syndrome here, just waiting for someone else to do it for her. In verse 16, she evaluates a field and buys it. She plants a vineyard with her earnings. I believe it is important and commanded here for women in all stations, in all seasons to be watchful. And here's where things begin to sort of turn in this passage as we sit back and look at some of our experiences. Uh I was reminded um this past week, my daughter Hadley, who get baptized earlier, about the way in which how we raise people and how we set them up on a trajectory does sometimes pay off. Um, as a matter of fact, I have people in my life that are successful as parents that have a whole lot of kids that have grown up to be successful to know and love Jesus. They are articulate and do all these incredible things. And I'm like, "How did you do it?" Right? I want to know exactly what you did as parents. And was having a conversation with my oldest daughter about the fact that our youngest daughter was getting dedicated. And she asked the question, "What does it mean?" We talked about it and how she was dedicated. And in this conversation, it was helpful to see that a watchful woman is one who gives instruction to those in her care. Because ultimately, my daughter used this phrase about talking about her dedication that today it's finally paying off, right? The fact that we dedicated her, it's finally paying off today. I was like, you know, you put it that way, that kind of works. Here's the moment. It is important to be watchful to understand what we're teaching those in our sphere of influence. Be wise. Be watchful. And the third and I believe most important characteristic that we'll spend a few minutes here on is to be a worshipful woman. A worshipful woman. Of course, it's a W word, right? A worshipful woman. Here's the text in Proverbs 31. 30 says this, and this is a highlight circle underline moment. Do not miss this verse. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. If you are a woman in the room, understand this. Spend money on skin care. Do your routines. Buy all the nice clothes. Enjoy. But understand this. The most important thing you can invest in, the very best thing that you can do with your life is to be a woman who fears the Lord because that woman will be praised. Everything else is secondary to first what is so valuable in this conversation that it is the woman who fears the Lord that will be praised. And if you are a woman in the room, the best thing that you can do with your time, the first fruits of your time is to study God's word to worship the creator and sustainer of the universe. Because at the end of the day, that is what matters. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting. I'll never forget in a Bible of mine that uh a mentor had written a note next to this verse and had said, "Marriage isn't a beauty contest." That's good. It's a lifelong commitment. Our looks will fade. The thing that will not fade is our faith in Jesus. And it is worth investing in. And so, uh, as we begin this, I want to give you one piece of natural application that we'll observe here in just a minute. But I believe one of the best thing that you can do, one of the best things that you can do today is to pray for the women in your life. It is not an easy job to be a woman, a mother, a wife. I wouldn't know because I haven't been one, but I I understand. And I believe one of the best things that you can do is to pray for the women in your sphere of influence. And so here's what my encouragement is to you today. Maybe this afternoon or this week, go and take stock of those in your life. write their names down and spend time praying over them this week. Spend time encouraging them this week. And as a matter of fact, what we're going to do here in this moment is I'm going to create a space and I'm going to ask you wherever you're at in the room today to spend just a few moments praying over the women in your life. Maybe you've got a wife or a mother. Um maybe you've got some co-workers who are women. And I want to encourage you in this moment to pray over them. So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. I'm going to give you a few moments to pray for those in your life and then I'm going to come in and pray for all of us in this moment. God, we come to you and God, we are so thankful for the women that you've placed in each of our lives. God, the women in this room uh are a blessing. And God, specifically today, we want to pray a few things. First, that you would protect the women in the room. you would protect them by giving them wisdom that they would know when and how and what to do in their lives. That they would know the next right thing that you're calling them to do. God, we also just want to pray over the women in this room that you would help them to be watchful, focusing on the things in their lives that you've given them the ability to lead. God, we just pray specifically that as they work in the different areas of career and finance and family and all of these different things that you would give them a watchful spirit that they would be what Proverbs 31 shows us. But then also God, our prayer is that you would create a culture at the corner of PY and Elmarrage in this church, a culture of worshipful women who know their identity is first as a follower of you and then all of the other things that they would understand that they are rooted and secure in you and that that gives them a platform to operate off of. God, my prayer today is that a group of worshipful women would be the expectation in the culture here. And God, today as we prepare to worship, I pray that you would inhabit the praises of your people. Pray all of this in your name. Amen. Let's put this to application today and let's stand and sing these [Music] words. You give life. You are love. You bring light to the dark. You give hope. You restore every heart that is [Music] broken. Great are you, Lord. It's your breath. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. We pour out our praises. Your breath in our lives. So we pour out our praise to you [Music] all. We sing all the earth. All the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. Great are you, Lord. Sing it again. All the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. Great. Are you Lord, all the earth, all the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These folds will sing, "Grace are you, Lord. is your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise to you all is your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise to you [Music] all and great are you. All right. Now, here's the deal. Um, you guys can go ahead and grab a seat or stand up, wherever you're most comfortable. Um, today we've got four baptisms. And, uh, I got to tell you, from the start, one of my favorite things has been the fact that this baptismal has been a celebration. And so, we're excited to celebrate today. The first baptism we get to celebrate is Ellie. Everybody say hey to Ellie. Ellie, you got your family here. You got your friends. And most importantly, and I think excited, uh, her dad is here to do her baptism. And so, Ellie, I've got a question for you today. Are you coming as a candidate for baptism based on your profession of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Awesome. Well, it's going to be based on that profession of faith that he gets to baptize you, his sister, the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, buried with Christ in a death like his, and raised to walk in brand new life. Amen. That's what it's all about. You go ahead. Come down, Brady. All right. And go ahead and grab a seat. Next is Brady. And uh Brady, we were talking about baptism this past week, texting back and forth, and I'm like, "All right, you got any questions?" He's like, "No, I'm ready to go." All right. There was no doubt he was ready for this moment. So Brady, the question is the same for you. Are you coming today as a candidate for baptism based on your profession of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Awesome. Well, it's going to be based on that profession of faith. that I get to baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in a death like his raised to walk in a brand new [Music] life. Go ahead, take your shoes off, buddy. And then hop in. I promise the water's nice and warm. It was a nice 96 when we started today. You go ahead and sit right up here, buddy. Jackson and his siblings uh are honestly, and I mean this when I say some of the first on campus, but are absolutely the most excited when they get on campus. They are running right to their classroom. And so, Jackson, I've got a question for you today with your family here. Are you coming today as a candidate for baptism based on your profession of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Awesome. It's going to be based on that profession of faith that I get to baptize you, my brother, the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, buried with Christ in a death like his raised to walk in a brand new life. Go ahead and hop out, buddy. Last is Hadley. Oh, there's your shoes, buddy. All right, Hadley, you can go ahead and grab a seat. And this is uh maybe the most exciting. I'm biased, but this is my daughter. And uh man, Hadley, this is a moment that we've been waiting for. And it is absolutely your dedication paying off, right? And uh just a couple of weeks ago, we were getting ready for other baptisms here and she slid me an I said yes card. And as a dad, I was just melting, right? And just knowing how important that is. And it was there that we prayed and you received Christ as your Lord and Savior. And so Hadley, the question is the same for you. Are you coming today as a candidate for baptism? Based on your profession of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Awesome. Well, it's going to be based on that profession of faith. I get to baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in a death like his, and raised to walk in a brand new life. Well, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate you joining us in celebrating baptism. We'll see you guys next week at 9 and 10:30 a.m. Can I have a hug? Except I didn't bring you a