The Mother We Long For
Mother's Day • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsOn Mother’s Day, we often reflect on the love, nurture, and comfort that mothers provide. But for some, this day can bring pain, loss, or longing. In Galatians 4:26, Paul describes the New Jerusalem as our true mother—a city above that nurtures, frees, and prepares a place for us. In this sermon, we’ll explore what it means to be born into this heavenly identity. Drawing from Galatians 4, Revelation 21, and Isaiah 66, we’ll discover how the Kingdom of God mothers us with grace, comforts us in trials, and calls us home into eternal hope. This is not just a message for mothers—it’s a message for anyone longing to belong.
Notes
Transcript
🌸 Title & Subtitle
🌸 Title & Subtitle
Title: “The Mother We All Long For”
Subtitle: Finding Home, Healing, and Hope in the City of God
💔 Opening Paragraph (Hook)
💔 Opening Paragraph (Hook)
This life often leaves us with a deep ache—an ache for nurture, for security, for a place to belong. Some long for the embrace of a mother they’ve lost, while others carry the ache of never having known one. Many feel the burden of being a mother in a broken world—giving all they have but wondering if it’s enough. And still others simply long for home—not just a place, but a peace.
Mother’s Day brings joy for many, but for others, it reopens wounds. This year, my wife Kim and I are walking through that sorrow ourselves. In February, Kim lost her mom—and today, that ache feels especially sharp. No matter how strong your faith, the loss of a mother leaves an empty space only heaven can fill.
That’s why today’s message matters so deeply. In Galatians 4:26, Paul writes of “the Jerusalem above,” and says, “She is our mother.” God speaks of a greater motherhood—one that comforts, nurtures, and calls us home.
So today we honor not only our earthly mothers, but the heavenly city—the mother we all long for.
Here’s the phrase I want you to carry with you: The city that mothers us is the home that heals us.
Let’s lean into that truth and discover the love that still calls us home—even in our grief.
📝 Sermon Outline
📝 Sermon Outline
When you look at the woman in the Bible starting with Eve you see the companion, Bride, and Mother. And from the beginning God has used the woman to illustrate his relationship to his people. “The bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.”
We see it when God made Eve and brought her to Adam, but we also see this connection between Christ and his Church.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we are stewards of the seven mysteries of Bible. This is one of those: The union of Christ and his Bride the Church.
This morning I want to look at some passages that will bring comfort to us all. As we think about mothers on this beautiful Mother’s Day.
🕊️ A Promised Mother: She Frees Us
🕊️ A Promised Mother: She Frees Us
Paul uses the example of two mothers in Galatians 4 to illustrate our freedom in Christ. It’s the story of Abraham’s two wives, Hagar and Sarah. God had promised that, despite Sarah being barren, she would have a son. Sarah tried to figure out how God would do this and used worldly ways to accomplish God’s promise. The result was a concubine (slave wife) named Hagar, who bore a son to Abraham, which has caused a conflict over Abraham's blessing to this day. This is the very fight that is going on between Homos and Israel.
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Paul contrasts the law (Mount Sinai/Hagar) with the promise (Sarah/New Jerusalem).
Those born of the flesh are under the law of God and slaves to it.
Those born of the flesh are under the law of God and slaves to it.
God gave the law at Mt. Sinai as Jerusalem waited for the promise of the Messiah.
God gave the law at Mt. Sinai as Jerusalem waited for the promise of the Messiah.
The law brought condemnation because no one could keep it.
The law brought condemnation because no one could keep it.
The law was a school master revealing our sin nature and need for a Savior.
The law was a school master revealing our sin nature and need for a Savior.
Those born of promise are free and not under law.
Those born of promise are free and not under law.
There is another Jerusalem that is free from sin. it is the household of God that have been born again through the promised Son, Jesus.
There is another Jerusalem that is free from sin. it is the household of God that have been born again through the promised Son, Jesus.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Earthly systems bind, but the city above births us into freedom.
Earthly systems bind, but the city above births us into freedom.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
A godly mother loves unconditionally, you never have to prove yourself or earn her love.
A godly mother loves unconditionally, you never have to prove yourself or earn her love.
The world is not so. Love is conditional and must be earned and maintained.
The world is not so. Love is conditional and must be earned and maintained.
Application: Let go of striving and receive the identity of a child born into grace, not performance.
Tagline: You don’t have to earn your place in this city—you must be born into it.
🤱 A Nurturing Mother: She Comforts Us
🤱 A Nurturing Mother: She Comforts Us
7 “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. 9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the Lord; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; 11 that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” 12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
The Children of Zion are cared for like a Mother cares for her child.
The Children of Zion are cared for like a Mother cares for her child.
When Mothers comfort their children they display the attributes of God.
When Mothers comfort their children they display the attributes of God.
God is the comforter and close to the brokenhearted.
God is the comforter and close to the brokenhearted.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
The city of God is not cold or distant—it flows with the warmth of compassion.
The city of God is not cold or distant—it flows with the warmth of compassion.
Application: Bring your wounds, weariness, and worries to the God who comforts like a mother.
Tagline: There is no wound too deep for the comfort of your heavenly home.
🏠 A Prepared Mother: She Welcomes Us Home
🏠 A Prepared Mother: She Welcomes Us Home
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The New Jerusalem is described as a prepared place for prepared people.
The New Jerusalem is described as a prepared place for prepared people.
The Bride adorned for her husband.
The Bride adorned for her husband.
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
We are the makeup of this new Jerusalem, the Bride adorned for her husband.
We are the makeup of this new Jerusalem, the Bride adorned for her husband.
The Lamb of God in the midst of his people.
The Lamb of God in the midst of his people.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Every longing for home, belonging, safety, and rest is fulfilled in this city.
Every longing for home, belonging, safety, and rest is fulfilled in this city.
Jerusalem is the mother of us all.
Jerusalem is the mother of us all.
Jerusalem is where your mother waits for you.
Jerusalem is where your mother waits for you.
Application: Live with eternity in mind. This world is not your final home—your citizenship is in heaven.
Tagline: You are not wandering—you’re being welcomed.
🚶♂️ Action Steps
🚶♂️ Action Steps
Receive God’s Comfort of New Jerusalem: Take time this week to bring your grief, burdens, or longings before the Lord in prayer. Reflect on Isaiah 66:13.
Live as a Child of the Kingdom: Reject legalism and self-effort. Embrace your identity as a freeborn child of grace.
Build the City Now: Join God in preparing the world for the coming city—by serving others, extending comfort, and pointing people to hope.
🔁 Conclusion
🔁 Conclusion
From Eve to Sarah, from the Church to the New Jerusalem—God has always used the image of woman and mother to reveal something sacred: He is not just powerful—He is personal.
Through the heavenly city, we are reminded that we belong to a Kingdom that frees us from shame, nurtures us with grace, and prepares us for glory. If today stirs sorrow, remember this: you are not abandoned. You are not forgotten. You are being mothered by a city built by God Himself—one that flows with mercy, comfort, and belonging.
In this city awaits a glorious reunion of the mothers we lost, and the children we’ve lost. Our hope lies in New Jerusalem.
The city that mothers us is the home that heals us.
Let us walk from this place not as spiritual orphans, but as children of promise—living, loving, and longing for the day when the city comes down and every tear is wiped away.
📺 YouTube Synopsis
📺 YouTube Synopsis
“The Mother We All Long For” | Mother’s Day Sermon | Reliant Ministries
We all long for comfort, identity, and a place to call home. In this powerful Mother’s Day sermon, Pastor Bill Sizemore explores the New Jerusalem—the city that Paul calls “our mother” in Galatians 4:26. Discover how God nurtures, comforts, and prepares us through this heavenly reality. Whether you’re celebrating motherhood or grieving its absence, this message offers hope for all who long to belong.
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