Here's a link to the manuscript
Mater Ecclesia: The Church as Mother — Mother's Day Sermon (Galatians 4)
Taking a distinctive approach to Mother's Day, this sermon explores the biblical image of the Church as mother, rooted in Galatians 4 where Paul uses maternal language to describe his anguish over the Galatian church and contrasts two mothers — Hagar representing legalistic slavery and Sarah representing the church of grace and promise. The North African bishop Cyprian captured this theme in his famous phrase Mater Ecclesia — Mother Church — but the idea belongs to Scripture first.
The sermon develops three things a good mother does, asking throughout whether the church is faithfully doing them.
The Church gives birth. Just as a mother labors to bring new life into the world, the church labors alongside the Holy Spirit to facilitate spiritual rebirth. The church is always in the delivery room, even though God plants the seed. The challenge is whether we feel urgency for those not yet born — laboring for people outside these walls, not just caring for those already inside.
The Church feeds. Drawing on Paul's nursing mother imagery in 1 Thessalonians 2, the sermon addresses both the church's responsibility to provide substantial nourishment — not spiritual candy — and the individual's responsibility to show up hungry and feed themselves outside of Sunday morning. Hebrews 2:1 warns that drifting happens quietly, usually when someone stops feeding themselves.
The Church forms. Using the recent celebration of high school seniors as a living illustration, the sermon explores the church's role in shaping character toward maturity. Drawing on Ephesians 4 and the frustration Paul expresses toward immature believers in Corinth and Hebrews, three searching questions are posed: Are you still on milk? Are you still only being served? Have you become a spiritual parent yourself?
The sermon closes by inviting the congregation to commit to being a church with a mother's heart — one that births, feeds, forms, and sends.