Turn East: Mother’s Day 2026
Sermon Summary
Maddie Echols delivered a message rooted in her own profound loss of her son, Houston Blaze, who lived only 30 minutes after being born in October 2024 following a fatal in utero diagnosis. Rather than offering easy comfort, she made the case that Jesus is not a distant God but a Man of Sorrows who enters fully into our pain, and invites us to do the same through the biblical practice of lament.
Drawing from the Psalms, Hebrews 4 and Revelation 21, she unpacked lament as a four-part pathway of turn, complain, ask and trust, a prayer that helps take our pain to a destination of deeper hope and relationship with Jesus. She reminded us that our anchor is Jesus, and our eternal hope is in the promise of His return, which will declare once and for all that death does not have the final word.
Key Scriptures
Psalm 139:7–12(NASB1995) "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,' even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You."
Hebrews 4:15(NASB1995) "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."
Psalm 13:2–3, 5(NASB1995) "How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death... But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."
Psalm 23:5(NASB1995) "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows."
Revelation 21:3–5(NASB1995) "And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.' And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And He said, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true.'"
Discussion Questions
Choose a few of these questions from the various categories to go deeper in the sermon and put the truths of Scripture into practice. You don't need to answer every question. Select the ones that will best help your group engage with God's Word and apply it to your lives.
Scripture Study & Deeper Understanding
Psalm 139:7–12 declares that God is present in heaven, in Sheol, at the farthest ocean and even in total darkness. What does this passage reveal about the nature and character of God? What is the psalmist's underlying assumption about God that makes this passage a source of comfort rather than fear?
Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus "sympathizes" with our weaknesses and has been "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." What does it mean that Jesus can sympathize with us? How does His full human experience shape what this verse is actually claiming about who He is?
Psalm 13 moves from desperation ("How long, O Lord?") to declared trust ("I have trusted in Your lovingkindness") within just a few verses. What does this tell us about how God designed His people to process pain, and how does this psalm connect to the four movements of lament: turn, complain, ask and trust?
Encouragement, Challenge & Personal Testimony
Maddie Echols said, "If you don't bring your pain to Jesus, your pain is going to drive you away from Jesus." She described hardship as a force that will either take you deeper in your faith or drive you away from it entirely. Have you seen that be true in your own life or in the life of someone you love? What made the difference?
The concept of "turning east" is the intentional choice to face your pain head on with Jesus rather than running from it or numbing it. What are the most common ways people in our culture tend to run west -- avoiding, numbing or denying their pain? Which of those tendencies is most natural for you personally, and what can you do to avoid slipping into those tendencies?
Maddie Echols described the co-existence of sorrow and joy as she’s processed the loss of her son while continuing to find joy with Jesus, her family and church community. Has there been a season in your life where sorrow and joy co-existed? What did that tension teach you about God or about yourself?
Putting it into Practice
Maddie introduced four movements of lament from the Psalms: turn to God, bring your complaints honestly, boldly ask Him to intervene and choose to trust. This week, write or speak your own prayer of lament for the hardest thing you are currently carrying. Create space this week to pray your own lament prayer out loud to God.
Maddie Echols shared that she created spaces of consistent worship, lament, praise and grief with God. Is there a place -- a chair, a room, a spot outdoors -- where you could intentionally return to meet with God this week, bringing your pain honestly to Him? What would it take to make that a consistent practice rather than a one-time moment?
Prayer
We're going to take focused time to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He wants to speak to us personally based on our time in Scripture and discussion tonight. Let's sit in silence for 60 seconds and ask the Spirit to speak to each one of us.
(After the minute of silence) What do you sense the Holy Spirit highlighting or speaking to you as we prayed?
What prayer requests come up for you based on our Scripture study and discussion tonight? How can we pray for you as you seek to apply what God has shown you?