May 11, 2025 || Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, AL || James Jackson, Pastor
Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day! Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter one.
This is a big day. Today, cell phone traffic will increase by 37%. There will be 122 million phone calls made to moms.
More than half of the American population will go out to eat. One quarter of all flowers sold in a year are sold the week of Mother’s Day. There will be 113 million Mother’s Day cards given today.
And it is all to celebrate and honor the person who has probably had more impact on the person you are today than anyone else. Your mom.
Its been said that the hand that rocks the cradle moves the world. And it is true. No matter the culture, when adults are asked which parent had more influence on their lives, moms win.
In a 2017 UK survey, 52% of respondents said their mother had more influence, compared to 25% who said their father.
In the US it was 50% to 28%, according to a 2005 Gallup poll.
A 2018 survey by the Australian Institute of Family studies put the numbers at 60% to 20%.
And its the same in Africa, India, Japan, and China. Even in cultures we typically think of as super patriarchal, such as Judaism and Islam, mothers are still considered more influential in the lives of their children than fathers.
This morning, I want to zero in on one mother in Scripture who changed the world by the way she raised her son.
Her name was Eunice. You may not know her, but you’ve probably heard of her son Timothy. Timothy was the Apostle Paul’s protege. He’s mentioned by name 25 times in Paul’s writings, is named by Paul as the coauthor of 6 of Paul’s 13 epistles, and was the recipient of two of them— the last letters Paul ever wrote.
But enough about Timothy. Let’s talk about his mama! Let’s talk about Mrs. Eunice. The name Eunice in Greek is Eunike. In mythology, Nike was the goddess of victory. And the particle eu means good. So the name Eunice could be translated “virtuous victor” and I think that’s a pretty great description of moms. We are introduced to this virtuous victor in 2 Timothy 1:1–8. Let’s read it together.
“1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,”
Let’s pray together.
Ok, so even though Mother’s Day wasn’t around when Timothy was alive, I want us to imagine four things Timothy might have put in his mother’s day card to Mrs. Eunice.
Thanks, Mom, for keeping at it.
We are first introduced to Timothy in Acts 16:1. Paul met Timothy when he was in a city called Lystra, which is in modern Turkey, about a thousand miles from Jerusalem. Eunice isn’t named here. The text just says that “A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.”
So we know Timothy’s mother was a believer. But all we know about his dad was that he was a Greek.” Since the text says, “BUT his father was a Greek” the implication is that he didn’t share his wife’s religious faith. Some scholars believe he either died when Timothy was a child or abandoned his family, possibly because he didn’t share her faith.
Again, we don’t know for sure. But there’s a strong indication Timothy was raised by a single mother. We learn her name, Eunice, from 2 Timothy, and we also learn that her mom Lois was a woman of faith as well.
Now think about this: Eunice was a Jewish woman living in a Gentile city. Not only that, but she was also a believer, which means that she recognized Jesus as the Messiah. So she kind of had two strikes against her. She wouldn’t have been accepted by the Jews because she followed Jesus, and she wouldn’t have been accepted by the Greeks because she was Jewish. Yet she raised a young man who, according to Acts 16:1, was already a disciple before he met Paul. What’s more, Verse 2 says that he was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. That means he had a good reputation with other believers. Paul had already visited those areas on his first missionary journey, so it’s possible that Paul had already heard of him and maybe had even come to Lystra to recruit Timothy to go with him on his second missionary journey.
And she did this all without a believing husband.
Some of you moms know what that’s like. You didn’t choose to be the spiritual leader of your house, but you wound up being that anyway. Many of us grew up in households where it was mom who made sure we got to church, whether Dad went or not.
That’s a hard thing because it’s not an ideal thing. It’s not God’s design for the home. But I praise God for moms who stand in the gap for their children, even when there is little support from the dad.
We’re not told when Timothy came to faith in Jesus, or when and how he matured into being a disciple, but it’s pretty safe to say if his mother hadn’t kept the faith, Timothy may never have come to faith.
Remember what Eunice’s name means— virtuous victor. I want to honor all of you moms who are raising your children to know and love Jesus, and I pray for those of you who feel like you are doing it on you own. Thanks, moms, for keeping at it!
Here’s the second thing I think Timothy would have put in his Mother’s Day card.
2. Thanks, Mom, for Keeping Me Grounded (2 Tim 3:12-17)
Flip over just a couple of pages to 2 Timothy 3. Paul is warning Timothy about the challenges of trying to live as a disciple in the real world. Pay attention to how he describes the state of the world in the last days before Jesus returns:
2 Timothy 3:1–5 “1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
That’s our world today, isn’t it? And Paul goes on to say in verse 12 that its only going to go from bad to worse.
And its tempting to look at that description of corruption and moral decay and think, “Do I even want to bring a child into a world like this? And if I do, what mother in her right mind would dare send her child out into a world like this. Better to dig the moat, raise the drawbridge, and bar the door.
But that is never an option for Christian parents. The Bible describes our children as “arrows in the hands of a warrior” (Psalm 127:3-5).
And arrows are meant to be launched.
So the only way to prepare your kids to be launched into a world like this is to ground them in God’s Word. How do you counteract that? By keeping your kids grounded in God’s Word. Paul told Timothy:
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Who acquainted Timothy with these sacred writings from childhood? It wasn’t Paul— Timothy was already a believer before Paul met him. No, it was Eunice, with the help of Timothy’s grandmother Lois.
Timothy had grown up with a deep immersion in “the sacred writings” (the Old Testament). And it was more than just surface knowledge. That phrase “acquainted with” in verse 15 seems pretty weak. We might describe someone as “an acquaintance” if we know his name. But the Greek word oida goes much deeper than that. It means “to have seen,” or “to know.” Oida has the connotation of not only having knowledge, but also being able to understand that knowledge.
If you’re taking notes, underline that phrase “to have seen.” Because for your kids to truly understand God’s word, they first have to see God’s Word displayed in you.
Its not just telling your children Bible stories. Its helping your children understand the Bible. How do you do that? By displaying the truth of the Bible in your own life. Paul goes on to say that
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, and equipped for every good work
Moms and dads, isn’t that what you want for your kids? For them to be complete and equipped for whatever the world throws at them? It starts by grounding them in God’s word. By helping them to see and to understand God’s Word because they see you applying it in your own life.
According to some research LifeWay did a few years back, 66% of churched kids walk away from regular church attendance between the ages of 18-22. The best way to beat those odds is to help your children read and understand God’s word. Get them a Bible they can understand. In simple, plain English, with no thees and thous and thys and arts, no begats, no “gatherests” or “halloweds.” I’m not throwing shade on good old King James, but you cannot expect your kids to love God’s Word if they can’t understand it.
And don’t just tuck it under their arm on Sunday morning when you go to church. Read it together. Listen to it together. Talk about it together.
Second, let them see God’s Word active in you. Children are going to pick up on the cognitive disconnect if mom and dad say they believe one way, but live their lives another way.
Third, let them see you serve God, and let them join you in serving God. Go on a family mission trip together. Take meals to shut-ins…
Timothy was grounded in God’s Word. And he had his mother to thank for it.
Here’s the third thing I think Timothy would have thanked Eunice for in his Mother’s Day card. I think he would have said,
3. Thanks, Mom, for raising me right
Let’s go back to 2 Timothy 1:4–5
“4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
When the apostle Paul thought about Timothy, two things came to mind. The first was Timothy’s tears. Isn’t that interesting that the first thing Paul mentions is Timothy’s tears. He may have been thinking specifically of the time he said goodbye to the church in Ephesus. Acts 20 records that there was much weeping as the elders surrounded Paul, knowing they would probably never see him again.
I wonder if Timothy was at all embarassed by that. Like, Jeez, Paul, how come that’s the first thing you mentioned? Like, for the rest of history, I’m gonna be known as “Crying Timothy,” kind of like Doubting Thomas.
But we need to understand that tears are not a sign of weakness in a man.
4. Thanks Mom, for letting me go.
English Standard VersionChapter 16
3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.
By the time Paul came to Timothy’s home town, Timothy was already a disciple. People in Lystra and Iconium were reporting good things about him (Acts 16:2). He may have been wondering what we could do with his life, and where he would do this. There is no mention of any other brothers or sisters in Timothy’s family, so he may have been an only child so he may have been struggling with the need to provide for his mother and grandmother, and how he could best serve the Lord. This is something, by the way, that many struggle with, even today.
Eunice could have played the “guilt card” on Timothy and used any number of tricks to get him to stay with her. If she had no other means of support, certainly she would have had a point, and Timothy might have strongly felt his obligation to help his mother. Nobody would have faulted him for being concerned about his mother.
Still, Eunice made a sacrifice just as sincere as Hannah’s, generations before, when she gave her son to the Lord’s work. She allowed Timothy to accompany Paul, who apparently must have been impressed, too, with Timothy because Paul asked him to serve the Lord together with him. The New Testament has many examples of where Timothy served with Paul, plus a couple of other situations. Paul had instructed Timothy to stay in Berea with Silas (Acts 17: 14), when Paul went on to Athens; and Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3) when Paul was in another location. Later, Timothy was put in prison for his faith (Hebrews 13:23) but was released.
Could Eunice have foreseen any of this? Probably not, but she’ll join in the rewards for Timothy’s faithful service because he would have done none of this, if she hadn’t let him go along with Paul on the journeys.
So he could say, “Thanks, Mom, for letting me go”.
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