Mother’s Day at LEV Church: Keeping Your Lamp Filled With Oil
Mother’s Day at LEV Church: Keeping Your Lamp Filled With Oil
This Mother’s Day at LEV, Pastor Kim Bousum delivered a deeply personal and spiritually urgent message centered on intimacy with God, spiritual readiness, and the importance of truly knowing Jesus…not just knowing about Him. Drawing from the Gospel of John and Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, the message challenged the church to live with hearts prepared, lamps burning, and lives surrendered to the presence of God.
Pastor Kim opened by honoring mothers, grandmothers, spiritual mothers, and mothers-to-be, describing them as strong yet often fragile people who carry burdens, forgive deeply, and love fiercely. But the heart of the message quickly shifted toward what she described as a loving wake-up call from God to His Church.
“In the Beginning Was the Word”
The message centered heavily around John 1 and the reality that Jesus is not merely a historical figure or religious idea, but the living Word of God made flesh.
Pastor Kim shared a personal moment where God repeatedly brought the phrase “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” to her heart over and over again until it moved from intellectual understanding into deep spiritual revelation.
She described a vision of the words of God surrounding Him like an ocean, alive, purposeful, and creative, until those words formed into flesh through Jesus Christ.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
For Pastor Kim, this was more than theology. It was an invitation.
An invitation not to simply read Scripture intellectually, but to allow the Word of God to move from the mind into the heart where it transforms a person’s life.
Knowing About Jesus vs. Truly Knowing Him
One of the strongest themes of the message was the difference between religious familiarity and genuine intimacy with God.
Using Matthew 11:27, Pastor Kim emphasized that Jesus desires to reveal Himself personally to people:
“No one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
She reminded the church that Christianity is not ultimately about religious activity, church attendance, or outward appearance. It is about relationship.
Not simply:
Going to church
Knowing Bible stories
Having spiritual moments
But truly knowing Jesus.
She encouraged listeners to:
Read Scripture deeply
Talk honestly with God
Learn to listen to His voice
Spend intimate time in His presence
Allow the Holy Spirit to transform them from the inside out
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The second half of the message focused on Matthew 25 and Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins (or bridesmaids).
Pastor Kim explained that all ten bridesmaids appeared prepared outwardly. All carried lamps. All waited for the bridegroom. But only five carried enough oil when the delay came.
When the cry finally came:
“The bridegroom is coming!”
The foolish bridesmaids discovered too late that they had neglected preparation.
Pastor Kim explained that the oil symbolized spiritual readiness and the ongoing presence of God within a believer’s life.
The lamp represented outward faith and testimony.
But the fire could only continue burning if the lamp contained oil.
One of the central statements of the message was:
“The fire is only sustained by the oil, not the moments.”
She warned against living from emotional spiritual experiences alone while neglecting daily intimacy with God. True spiritual endurance is sustained by relationship, surrender, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, not occasional emotional encounters.
A Call for the Church to Wake Up
Pastor Kim repeatedly returned to the urgency of Jesus’ return and the importance of spiritual readiness.
Rather than speaking with fear, she framed the message as a loving warning from the heart of God.
She challenged the church to examine:
Whether their lamps were still burning
Whether their oil was running low
Whether they had become busy but spiritually dry
Whether they truly knew Jesus personally or only knew religious routines
She reminded the church that Scripture repeatedly speaks about recognizing the signs of the times and living with readiness.
The message stressed that tomorrow is not guaranteed and that eternity matters deeply.
“Church, Wake Up”
As the message closed, Pastor Kim shared the symbolic meaning behind the lanterns handed out to attendees that morning. Each lantern was meant to serve as a visual reminder to:
Keep your lamp filled with oil
Stay close to God
Walk in intimacy with Jesus
Live spiritually awake
Let your life burn with holy fire
The final prayer was both tender and urgent:
“Church, wake up. Church, lean in. Church, get to know Me.”
It was not a typical Mother’s Day message centered on comfort or sentimentality. Instead, it was a heartfelt pastoral call to readiness, surrender, and intimacy with God.
And perhaps that is exactly why it carried so much weight.