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When a family brings their first baby home, everything changes, and their lives become focused on how to move forward in their new reality. The aftermath of the Resurrection had much the same feeling for Jesus’ disciples as they tried to figure out what was next – knowing that their lives, and the entire world, had changed completely. And then the resurrected Jesus disappeared…

Happy Mother’s Day! Today we’re going to talk about the idea of “spiritual mothering.” In light of the cultural and even governmental pressures on the family and attempts to redefine the roles of family members, it’s best for us as people of faith to seek the clarity of Scripture about such things – and the story of Samuel’s mother, Hannah, is a great place to find that clarity.

We’ve been talking about the “aftermath” of the Resurrection – what happened after Jesus rose from the dead. What did Jesus expect his followers to do in light of the fact that he’d been raised from the dead? As a start, Jesus wanted us to see that there are two kingdoms – the old kingdom of darkness and the new Kingdom of God – the kingdom the Jesus the King had brought to earth. Jesus now has “all authority” – and he wants us to exercise that authority on his behalf in our time here on earth as residents and renovators of the “fixer-upper” house that he purchased for us with his blood.