Today, May 10, 2026, we are celebrating Mother’s Day here in Zion Temple First Pentecostal Church. This is a day which has been set aside to give honor and show appreciation to all our mothers. For some of us, this will be a happy day, while for others, it may be a sad day but we can look back and remember our mothers. What is a mother? She is a woman in relationship to a child to whom she has given birth and/or a woman who has given continuous care to a child she has adopted. She does not necessarily have to give birth to a child to be considered its mother and there are also spiritual mothers whom God has placed in his church to nurture, train, and mentor spiritual children. Today, we thank God for all our mothers we are glad you came to be in our services on this Mother’s Day. We hope and pray that each one of you will have a great and wonderful day! Let me also say, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! to my wife Evangelist Mildred Smith and all our mothers. I have written this week with the Lord’s help about A Mother’s Love. And the biblical mother which we have chosen to feature is Hannah. If you want the whole story, you will have to Read: (I Samuel 1:1) (I Samuel 2:21). Hannah was the wife of Elkanah, an Ephrathite. He had two wives, Hannah, and Peninnah. Hannah had no children because she was barren Peninnah had children. Hannah had to endure Peninnah’s criticism about her because she could not bring forth children. This criticism brought much grief, sorrow, and heaviness to Hannah’s heart. She took her problem to the Lord in prayer. She believed that prayer to God would change things in her life! Hannah depended upon God to take away her reproach and make her a mother of children. And she vowed a vow, and said, “O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” (I Samuel 1:11). The Lord honored this sincere prayer of Hannah, and the promise of Eli, the high priest. Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him. (I Samuel 1:17). Hannah conceived and brought forth her first born son. She named him, Samuel, which means = “Asked of the Lord.” Then after she had weaned him, she took the young child to Shiloh and placed him the hands of Eli, the high priest. Hannah said, “O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child, I prayed: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also, I have lent him to the Lord: as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. (I Samuel 1:26-28). Hannah kept her vow and gave Samuel back to the Lord. But her motherly love and care for her first-born son never stopped. Elkanah and Hannah lived in Ramah and their first child (Samuel) lived in Shiloh and did minister unto the Lord before Eli, the high priest, but his mother’s love for him remained the same. Her heart and her thoughts were always there with her first-born son in Shiloh. (I Samuel 2:18, 19) says = 18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 19Moveover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Hannah expressed the love of a mother when she made him a little coat year by year and brought it to Samuel. She cared dearly for her first-born son. His mother wanted to make sure he was warm and did not get sick that’s a true mother’s love for her child or children. And because Hannah lent Samuel to the Lord, God blessed Elkanah and Hannah to have five more children. (I Samuel 2: 20, 21) says = 20And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. 21And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD. We choose Hannah as an excellent example of a true mother’s love for her children. We believe that this kind of love begins in the mother’s womb at the time of the conception of her child and continues in her until the time of her death. The children can be living in another place or city, but a true mother’s love, and heart, and concern will be there with them. In closing, let me exhort all our mothers show love and concern for your children. They truly need A Mother’s Love! HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Reprint (2025) Suffragan Bishop Charles L. Smith, D.D., Emeritus
