HopeUC Secunderabad

Power of Nurture

• HopeUC Secunderabad

Share episode

God’s design for nurturing is seen in both divine and human care, a love that anticipates needs and offers timely comfort, just as Isaiah 66:13 compares God’s care to a mother’s. Whether through Scripture, a timely word from a friend, or a quiet act of sacrifice, these moments reveal the heart of a nurturing God. Mothers, mentors, and even kings like David reflect this attribute when they create space for healing, dignity, and hope. Nurturing isn’t limited to one role or gender, it’s a kingdom value. And if you’re feeling unseen in your care for others, remember Hagar’s words: “El Roi” the God who sees you. Every act of love, though often hidden, echoes eternity.

PRAYER
We are here to pray for you - with you. Please share your prayer request or praise report here - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/3009, and someone from our team will pray for your need through the week.

NEXT STEPS
If you would like to give your heart to Jesus, it's the best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, provide you with resources and get you the support you need on this journey. Please fill the form - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/297739, and someone from our team will contact you soon.

ABOUT HOPEUC INDIA
Hope Unlimited Church is an independent, Spirit-filled church with multiple campuses in India, serving young professionals and families from all parts of India in a modern, dynamic metropolitan church setting.
More about us - https://hopeuc.in/

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopeucsecunderabad

Speaker 1:

I want to begin this sermon with the scripture, the base scripture for our sermon the power of nurture. It's from Isaiah, chapter 66, verses 13. It says I will comfort you there in Jerusalem, as a mother comforts her child. Now you know the dictionary meaning of nurture means to look after, to encourage, to help, to care, to provide, to support, to develop. It's huge and vast right, the dictionary meaning of nurture. And when I, when we see the power, when I, when I was thinking about the power of nurture, and when I'm, when I'm trying to figure out what can I talk to church and how can I, how can everybody relate to this word?

Speaker 1:

God plays this first thing that you know. Know, mothers are an amazing nurturers, like it's natural. But yet God is the original, ultimate and unfailing nurturer, like maybe, if we have to call, refer in today's language, we need to call him the OG of the nurturer, right, he is the original nurturer. Like you know, from the very beginning God has been nurturing his people. You know, just as a mother nurtures her child, right? I love the way God compares his love to that of a mother, just so that you know it is so relatable to each one of us, because each one of us experienced that and you know, think about, know, think about a mother who cares for a child. Only a mother knows when a child needs to be fed, when a child needs to be held, when a child needs to be taken care of, when the child needs rest, like if it's a like you know, younger child. Only a mother knows when a diaper needs to be changed, or if it's an older child. Only a mother knows when the weapons needs to be pulled out. Now I'm not going to give you the list of the weapons. I will leave it up to your imagination. The list changes from household to household. Ours is a spatula. I know Varsha Ka's was once a hanger.

Speaker 1:

So you know, a mother knows Like and you know, have you ever seen a mother watching a child learning to walk? And when the child falls like 20 times, 30 times? Have you ever seen mother getting disappointed looking at the child? Or does the mother gets excited looking at the child? Even if the mother knows that the child is only walking in the seventh month, trying to stand up in the seventh month, she would still look at the child in a way that you know the child is going to take the next firm step right.

Speaker 1:

And so is God. He is a God who looks at us. He doesn't get disappointed, he doesn't get frustrated. Even if you fall, he is there close enough to pick you up. He is there close enough to, like you know, he nurtures us through every season of our lives. He knows what you want, he knows when you need, he knows when to open the door, he knows when to shut the door. He knows when to discipline you with love. He knows when you discipline you a little bit in a harder way. He knows you and he will. And, and that's why we say that he is the ultimate nurturer.

Speaker 1:

And when we say, let's look at Psalms 23, verse 1 to 3. And when we read this, this is nothing but God proving himself as an ultimate nurturer. Psalms 23, verses 1 to 3, says the Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need. He renews my strength, he guides me along right paths, brings honor to his name. And then you know what kind of parenting says lie down, rest, eat, sleep. Like you know, I've got your back. That's like a nurturing one right. That's like a mothering one. That's like a, that's like a God-like one.

Speaker 1:

And you know when God nurtures us. It's, you know it's. It's in a proactive way, like ever seen moms carrying bags for their children, like she can bring down the entire house into that bag. Like she can pack things that are not even needed. Like you ask her a pin, you ask her ask for a walini, you ask for a band-aid, you ask for, like you know, wipes, whatever. Like you know she can bring down the entire house into this, into that bag. And you know that's how God nurtures us, with a kind of foresight, with a kind of care. Like you know, you mother wouldn't even have run into a situation, but she is ready, she is ready for her child. And so is God ready to nurture you, ready to pick you up when you fall, ready to stand with you, ready to care for you.

Speaker 1:

And you know you might say, when God nurtures, how do I know that God is nurturing me? How do I feel or how do I experience? Have you ever been in situation where you come out of the situation and look back and say, god, if not for you, that is God nurturing to you. Like God, how did I even do that stupid thing? Like God, how did I even bring me out of this danger. How in the world did I think of that? But yet how in the world that I did such a foolish thing and yet you held my hand, yet you brought me out of that. That is God nurturing, and God uses his word, god uses his spirit, god uses community to show us that he nurtures us.

Speaker 1:

And, and you know, second Timothy, verses 3, 16, says that all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in the righteousness. You know, have you ever been in a difficult situation, opened your Bible and then you saw that you know, you read a scripture and you thank God. God, this is exactly what I needed. Or maybe you came to us on a morning service like this and you sat down and you were in a difficult situation. Nobody knows about that situation, but you know, when pastor speaks, you felt like that is exactly for you situation. But you know, pastor, when pastor speaks, you felt like that is exactly for you. Or somebody randomly walks up to you and say that, hey, can I pray for you? Or you know, can, can I, can I ask you something? What is wrong with you? Or can I pray for you? They offer, you know, kindness.

Speaker 1:

That is how God uses his word to nurture us, right and then and then you know, just like a mom uses a community, like it takes a village to raise a child. I have two to three villages. One of my favorite villages is sitting right there Like I wouldn't have raised Leo without them and I thank God for them, who has been an amazing blessing to me. So mother needs a village to raise a child and God also doesn't nurture us in isolation. He uses people, he uses church, he uses community. Like you know, I feel like church is like a spiritual Ikea.

Speaker 1:

How many times have you gone to Ikea without having a plan to buy anything? Like just to see what's new or just to see if there are anything in sale or anything in discount? Like no thoughts of buying anything but just walk into Ikea but then you end up always buying more than what you want. Like you know, church is, you know, spiritual Ikea, where you walk in just like a Sunday morning, you know regular day, not expecting anything, maybe expecting few things, but when you walk out you are going out with extra encouragement. You're going out with more than what you required, more strength, more courage than what you required, and that's exactly how God nurtures us and as it goes on, god's nurturing is reflection of his love. Everything that we see from mother or mother-like figures, it's a glimpse of what God is Right.

Speaker 1:

And I want to move to the next point. If God is the original nurturer, then mothers whether you're a biological mother or not, whether you're just nurturing someone, whether you're just mentoring someone, whether you've adopted someone, no matter what, like you know, you carry the God's reflecting and you reflect God's nurturing heart, like if you're a mother. All the moms and the mom's figure carry this God's nurturing heart. And I want to read from Proverbs, chapter 31, verses 26 to 28. It says when she speaks, her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stands out and bless her. Her husband praises her.

Speaker 1:

Well, what kind of nurturing am I talking about when I say that mothers carry this nurturing heart? What kind of nurturing? I'm not just talking about the physical nurturing. I mean these days, vicky and Z'm not just talking about the physical nurturing. I mean these days, swiggy and Zomato can also do this physical nurturing. I was preparing last night and I got a notification from Swiggy want to order a dessert. Like it can fulfill my, like you know, physical nurturing, but I'm talking about the spiritual nurturing.

Speaker 1:

We see women in bible, who, who, who reflected this spiritual nurturing. Let's let's look at this. Two women from bible you know Hannah, you, we all know Hannah, like Hannah, prayed for a child and when God gave her a child, she gives back the child to God. And then when, when Hannah's nurture, nurturing Samuel began, began even before she got, like you know, she delivered a baby right while Samuel was still in her womb. She nurtured through her prayers, she nurtured through her promises and she was faithful and she was, and she nurtured through through every, every, every prayer and every promise. She spoke over him. And that's the powerful nurturing, even before the child was born, right? And then anybody know, anybody knows Moses's mother's name Jochebed. Yeah, like, what kind of a mother builds a basket, puts a child in that basket and let, sends the baby to float through the river? Only a mother, a kind of a mother who knows and who trusts God to nurture, when she knows that she cannot nurture? Right, we see that, you know, she nurtured. She nurtured Moses through courage and that one courageous nurture, one act of courageous nurture led to the deliverance of entire nation.

Speaker 1:

So, moms, today, if you are a silent nurturer, if you, if you are a quiet nurturer, I want you to know that. Do not underestimate the power of those sacrificial, faithful, silent nurturing that you bring to your child. I want you to know that your nurturing is not just for your own child, for everyone around you. And when we look at closely right mothers, they reflect this power of nurturing in many ways. The first way that I want to quickly talk about is mothers pray and act instantly, like they would just need a few seconds and probably a rubber band to tie her, fix her hair and then to fix things right. Like, have you ever seen mothers, like you know, whisper a prayer in the midst of a chaos? Like, maybe while flipping a dosa, maybe while washing? Like we don't need quiet times, like we don't wait, like we need quiet times, we don't wait for quiet times. We can whisper a prayer, we can. You know that's God. Like nurturing right.

Speaker 1:

And you know, I remember, I think close to a year ago, pastor Shauna, lisa and all of us, we stepped out for lunch and probably we were celebrating something like this some Mother's Day. We were celebrating Mother's Day and we stepped out for lunch. And then Lisa was kind enough to look after Leo. Leo was like one and a half year old probably then and then we had a good meal, we had a good time, good fellowship, and then all of a sudden we saw Leo started crying because his hand got jammed in the cafe door. And then the first thing that we could do was rush to the door and all I could hear was Pastor Varshaka and David began to pray in tongues. Like even before we could do anything, even before we took his hand out we tried to take his hand out of the door all I could hear was akka started, began to pray in tongues, and you know that gave me the courage to think actly and promptly and then ask the cafe guys to get oil and all of that.

Speaker 1:

That's God-like nurturing, you know. That's how mothers reflect nurturing, and I want you to. And the next thing is that mothers have the sixth sense, or, in another way I would say, spiritual instincts. Right, like my mom, like, no matter what I do, she would know. Initially I thought it was my sister who told her, but later, like it's like she got the Wi-Fi to my soul. Like I do something and then I go with full confidence that there's no way my mom would know, no way my sister would know, no way my sister would also tell. But I go in and she's like what's wrong with you? That's the. It's not. It's not magic, it's the spiritual thing, it's the. It's the discernment that God places in the mother's heart. It's the sensitivity that God places in the mother's heart that if anything goes wrong, you know your mom would be the first one to know that's wrong. Like you would do everything to hide. Like, let me tell you frankly, you cannot lie to God or mom because they both know everything right. So next time when you go to your mom trying to lie, better be careful.

Speaker 1:

And you know mother reflects this nurturing heart in a way that you know they identify their child If, like you know, the only one who sees you and the only one who sees full potential other than God is your mom. Like, god calls Gideon a mighty warrior, when did God call Gideon a mighty warrior? Did Gideon already won battles? He called Gideon a mighty warrior when he was hiding in fear. And that's how even mothers reflect. Like when Gideon was hiding in fear, god calls him a mighty warrior. And just so. Moms reflect the same very nature to recognize your identity. Like Leo doesn't, even my son doesn't even differentiate between the right footwear and the left footwear. And I still see him as a drummer, I already see him as an entrepreneur, I already see him as a musician. You know, when mom sees a child, mother sees the future of the child and just the way God sees right.

Speaker 1:

And can we talk about the sacrifices that the mother brings into the house? Can we talk about the dying to self? That happens not just one day, not just when she gives birth, not just when she is in a difficult moment, but every day, every day. Like you know, in John 15, in John chapter 15, verses 13, it says greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friend. And mothers reflect this kind of nurturing every day. Like can we talk about that coffee that got cold, that last bite of food that never happened, the date with your husband that never happened, like you know, that never came into existence, or the sleep, or the tears, the silent tears, like every sacrifice, every joyful sacrifice and every invisible sacrifice.

Speaker 1:

And I want you to know, all the mothers in the house we carry prayers that no one hears and we hold on to things when nobody else's holds on, and we speak life, we wipe tears. We stay, speak life, we wipe tears. We stay up late. We cook, right, we cook, we stay up late and we believe in others, even when they don't believe in themselves. Right? That's the kind of nurturing that you bring into your child's life. That's the kind of nurturing you bring into people around you, not just your child, but all the spiritual children that God has given you. And you know, while you receive this unsolicited advices, thousands of advices from all around you, hold on to your discernment. You hold on to your responsiveness. You hold on to your responsiveness. You hold on to your diligence and your sacrifice and you nurture your child in a godlike manner. Never underestimate the power that god has placed in your heart.

Speaker 1:

And you know, talking about mothers, when I said this sermon is not just for the mothers who gave birth or not just the ones who are spiritual mothers. You and I, we are all called to nurture. We are all called to nurture because nurturing is an attribute of God. He, you know when God nurtures, and so we are called to nurture. And you know, sometimes we think that it's only a mom thing. But I want to lovingly challenge you. It's not just mom thing, it's a biblical thing, it's a kingdom thing, it's a Jesus's value. And I want to read from Hebrews 10, 24. It says Let us think of ways to motivate one another To acts of love and good works, which means that if you're asking someone, hey, can I help you, that's you nurturing. Galatians 6, 2,. It says share each other's burden and in this way, obey the law of Christ, which means that if you're listening to a friend who is struggling or encouraging them and guiding them, you are nurturing. And I want to bring in this crazy example of David, and now you might know that, like, why are we talking about David? David is not even a mother, and this is a perfect example to say that each one of us are called to be a nurturers, because it's a kingdom value for everyone.

Speaker 1:

Remember Jonathan's son. Now you all help me pronounce his name Mephibosheth, correct? Did I say it right? Right, he is scribbled, forgotten. Like you know, he lives in hiding. Now, david, like King David, he goes out of his way to find him, to bring him back to the palace, to bring him back at the king's table, brings him back the lost dignity, the honor. And then he says you will eat at the king's table. You will continue to eat at the king's table, like, why would David have to do that? He's not even his father, right? He's not even a biological father, he's not obligated. But he chose to reflect the God's very heart of nurturing and he changed lives by creating a space, a safe space, a loving space, a space where they can be healed, a space for a broken heart.

Speaker 1:

And today we have that opportunity. All of us have that opportunity. Who in your life needs that gentle word? You might think that what can my words do? What can my words bring difference? How can my words bring difference? But I want you to know that each one of us are called to nurture. And who needs your prayer? Who needs your time? Who needs your time? Who needs your encouragement? You don't have to be a mother. You can be a mother, you can be a sister, you can be a mentor, you can be a pastor, you can be a leader, and yet you can nurture, yet you can create a space for someone to feel loved. You can create a space for someone who is broken, who can come and who can feel the love of God. And and you know it's it's just in listening, it's just in encouraging, it's maybe preparing a meal and it's maybe in loving them consistently, no matter what may come. And we never know who is in need of that prayer, who is in need of that encouragement. And with that I come to the last point.

Speaker 1:

If you are a mother or if you're somebody who is constantly, continuously nurturing, showing love, giving care, and yet you know you feel unappreciated Because nurturing doesn't, as I said, is not loved always. You know it's a daily choice that you make and it's very quiet, like you know, when we nurture, that doesn't always get noticed. And when we nurture, it's most of the times behind the scene. Have you ever seen a mother who nurtures to take all the credits, to boast about herself? No, right, and she does that in silence. And when you nurture I'm not just talking to mothers now, I'm talking to everybody when you're pouring into someone's life, when you're investing into someone's life, it can be your spouse too. When you're investing into someone's life, when you're investing into someone's life, it can be your spouse too. When you're investing into someone's life, it can be your child. It can be your friend, where you're pouring your heart, where you're giving all your time, where giving all that you could, giving all the encouragement, and yet you can sometimes feel unseen, unappreciated, and here's the truth that I want you all to remind of that he sees you. I want to read from Genesis 16, 13.

Speaker 1:

Hagar felt forgotten, alone, overwhelmed, you know. But God sees her. You know, she's not a queen, she was not celebrated, she was a servant. She was pushed into a messy situations. She ends up in wilderness, alone, broke, and what even more further painful is, she was pregnant, right, and then, in that very dryness, in that very deserted place, like she says, el Roy, the God who sees me. She didn't say the God who sees everything, god who sees the prophets, the God who sees the kings, but she said God who sees me.

Speaker 1:

Today, if you are in a place where you're nurturing someone constantly and you yet feel unseen, unnoticed, and you yet feel tired of doing that, but you constantly chose to do that, I want you to know that God sees you. Your father, who sees what you have done in secret, will bring honor to you, will bring reward to you. And the diaper, changing things, the lunch box, packing things, the 2 am things, the prayers, the whispers, the tears, Everything that you have done in silent. He restores everything and every care that you have brought to your family member. He sees it all and he doesn't just sees it all, but he honors you and he honors the nurturer, and he multiplies everything, what you have sown in love, and he refreshes those, he refreshes others. So I want you to hold on to this promise. I want you to hold on to this comfort that says El-Rohi he sees you, he doesn't leave you, he doesn't leave you in the wilderness. You might right now feel that you are in this deserted place, but he sees you and you matter more than you know. He loves you, he loves your heart, he is proud of your commitment to nurture your child, your family, everyone that God placed around you. And I want to read these scriptures. If you're feeling unseen, if you're feeling, if you're feeling unappreciated, I want to read these scriptures. I want to read these scriptures. I want you to hold on to these promises and and say yes to it.

Speaker 1:

Philippians, chapter 4, verses 19, says that God will provide for your needs While you are taking care of every need. God will provide for your need. While you have kept all the needs of yours aside and you're focusing on the needs of your child, needs of your people that God has placed around you, god is saying that my child, I, will provide for your needs. And Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5, says you don't need to have it all figured out. While you are trying to figure out everything, while you're nurturing for people around you, god says that come rest upon my shoulder. You're not alone in this, you don't have to figure it all alone. He says come rest your shoulders upon me.

Speaker 1:

And Galatians 6, 9 says difficult seasons leads to good one. He's saying you might be crying now. You might be crying and nobody might be seeing now, but he says that joy comes in the morning. He's gonna bring the lost joy, he's gonna wipe every tear that you have shed. And lastly, psalms 34, verses 15, says I see you when you are seeing everyone else and when you are feeling alone, unseen, he says I see you.

Speaker 1:

I don't know who you're nurturing today. I don't know how you're nurturing today. I want you to know that you are doing God's work. Hold on to it, continue to be faithful and know that God's comfort will flow through you and his eyes are always upon you, even as we ponder upon this that God is the ultimate nurturer, the one who is with us even in the wilderness, the one who stays close to us in our hurt. He is the nurturer who never fails. And when God nurtures, it's ultimate. And when God nurtures, it's ultimate. And when God nurtures, it's not just good enough, it's perfect, it's perfect. There is no better way. You know you might be nurturing, not so evident to people around you. You might be doing things behind the scenes, you might be doing every sacrifice, which is a daily choice, but I want you to know the impact is massive. You