Happy Mother’s Day!
God tells us to “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12, ESV).
Proverbs 31 says, “…a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (v30b, ESV). Indeed, her “children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” (v28, ESV).
According to the Bible, children are a precious gift from the Lord. Being a mother, then, is a wonderful, important, God-given given role.
A mother who fears the Lord and lovingly raises her children in the truth is a great gift to her children and is to be praised.
While we should honor our mothers every day, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially established the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day, a day set aside for the purpose of celebrating mothers.
So, this Sunday, as part of our worship, we will recognize, honor, and pray for mothers in each of our worship services.
And as has long been our tradition, we will also have Parent-Child Dedication this Sunday. We will celebrate with parents who have recently welcomed a new child into their family. Those parents will make a commitment to raise their children in the truth, and our church family will make a commitment to partner with them as they do so.
It is going to be an exciting, meaningful, joy-filled day. I hope to see you for worship – with your mother, if possible – at Ingleside this Sunday!
Update on Dwell Church
For several years, Ingleside has supported three church plants – City View Church in Atlanta, Woodstock Community Church in Portland, and Dwell Church in Denver. After just over five years of fruitful ministry in the Denver area, Dwell Church’s last gathering will be on Sunday, May 18.
Dwell’s Pastor, Josh Cook, has summarized the reasoning this way, “I believe that to perpetuate Dwell would have resulted in burnout, frustration, and a limitation of the ways in which men and women could use their gifts and talents for the Body of Christ. Sometimes, like in the book of Acts with the early Church, God scatters so he can build (Acts 8).” (You can read his full update here.)
While there is sadness in the closing of this chapter, much good has come from Dwell’s ministry. People have come to faith in Christ, grown in their faith, worshiped the Lord, and found a church family for a season.
I am thankful for the opportunity we have had to partner with Dwell. Since 2017, we have sent 11 mission teams, 64 volunteers, and just over $100,000 to help make disciples in the Denver area. I celebrate every life that has been impacted by the gospel and celebrate the ministry that has been possible because of your generosity.
We remain committed to partnering with church planters around the country to make more disciples. For now, we will continue to support City View Church and Woodstock Community Church and look forward to other partnerships in the future.
With the affection of Christ,
