Women's Ministry

Running on Empty

December 7, 2015 by Mary Davis

Karen Hodge

December 2, 2015

During this time of the year, there are many indicators that our lives are full. Consider all the delicious food that fills our stomachs at holiday meals. Our wallets are filled with receipts from gifts purchased. Holiday décor overflows all the way to our street.

So if our lives are so full, why is it that we often feel like we are running on empty?

Today I pulled into my office parking lot on fumes. My fuel light indicator was on and instead of driving straight to the gas station I pushed the button that tells me how much longer I can DTE – Drive until empty. The light cautions me that unless I address this fuel problem, I will be stranded.

What is our fuel light indicator? Does it show up in your emotions, words, or relationships? What a gift it would be if we had our own red light to let others know of the impending threat. Warning: this woman is hangry (hungry+angry), cranky, anxious, fearful, or despairing.

Popular researcher Brene Brown says, “We live in a culture of scarcity. The not-enoughness of life. We wake up in the morning and we say, I didn’t get enough sleep. And we hit the pillow saying, I didn’t get enough done. We are never thin enough, extraordinary enough or good enough.” The opposite of scarcity is abundance. It is truly enough.

My emptiness impacts others but so does my fullness as it overflows with blessings for others. We have an invitation to be full, to have our emptiness filled and satisfied. Jesus reminds us that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 ESV).

Blaise Pascal, a philosopher from the 1600’s, said, “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are though none can help since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.”

We have a God-shaped hole inside our hearts that we are trying to fill with many good, yet not ultimate, things. We seek experiences, entertainment, good works, the approval of others, and a good reputation, all of which ultimately leave us empty. This hole cannot be filled with created things, but only with the Creator. The Creator God in the Garden is the one who creates something out of nothing; he forms and then fills empty things. He filled the water with fish, the sky with birds, the land with food, and he promises to fill us with himself.

Gospel-Driven Hospitality

September 29, 2015 by Mary Davis

PATRICIA CURTISS

September 29, 2015

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-3, NAS)

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (1 Peter 3:18-19, NAS)

Hebrews 12 talks about how we are to run our race and about how Jesus ran his. He endured the cross and its shame for the joy set before Him. What was that joy? It wasn’t sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy set before Jesus was us! He came for us. He died for us. He wants to spend eternity with us. Where does that leave us? Redeemed. This is the gospel and the gospel drives everything, even hospitality.

The biblical view of hospitality is housed in cultures very different from ours. Biblical hospitality has to do with inviting strangers in. Abraham invited strangers into his house (Genesis 18:1-15); the Shunammite woman invited the stranger Elisha into her home (2 Kings 4:8-10); Job entertained strangers (Job 31:32). In the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples to travel light, because they were to find hospitality along the way (Mark 6:8). The apostle Paul traveled all over Asia Minor and he planned his journeys knowing that people whom he did not know would invite him in for food and a place to sleep.

This is so different picture from our current idea of hospitality, where we feel compelled to create culinary art from whatever is in the pantry, and to be able to set a table that would be the pin-of-all-Pins. But the biblical definition of hospitality broadens things. We were once strangers to God, a people without a home, an unrighteous people, strangers to Him and His holiness. But while we were in this state, he died for us and brought us to God—He invited us in. Bringing strangers to God is gospel-driven hospitality that crosses time and culture, and there are many ways to do it.

Perhaps biblical hospitality can take the burden off those of us who get a sinking feeling when we hear the term “gospel hospitality”, and think that this is just one more area in our Christian lives where we fall short. Maybe we need a fresh way of looking at it—to be motivated by Jesus living in and through us, and not concerned about how clean our house is or what food we might serve on a moment’s notice—so that we can share the gospel and not be burdened by it; so that we can take the initiative and make the invites for the purpose of preparing others for eternity because that’s what Jesus did. He didn’t have a home and he used borrowed food to feed strangers. He made the time and took the opportunities to bring us to God. He knew hospitality isn’t so much about the food or the accommodations, though he is taking care of that, but it’s about bringing estranged humanity to Himself so that they can feast on Him and find a place to rest in Him, and call Him Blessed Host.

10 Things to Pray for the Leaders in Your Church

September 29, 2015 by Mary Davis

CARA JOHNSON

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Protection and preservation of their marriages.

Ask God to give their marriages loyalty, grace, kindness, forgiveness, time, intentionality, and joy. And pray that God will give them friends to support and provide accountability and encouragement in their marriage.

Peace over their homes.

Ask God to make their home, and all the conversations and people in it, full of grace and peace—with themselves, one another, and God. Pray for wisdom as parents and in all relationships within their home.

Supernatural wisdom.

As they make decisions and have conversations that are fragile, controversial, or difficult, pray that God would give them wisdom and a sensitivity to the Spirit.

Humility and submission to God.

Pray that these men and women would be aware of their sin and need for Jesus, and aware of the sufficiency of the Savior, making Him greater and themselves less.

Perseverance and long-term vision.

Pray that God will sustain them with perspective and encouragement when they’re worn out, discouraged, or confused.

Friendships outside of church for encouragement and perspective.

Ask God to give them objective friends who walk closely with Jesus and who can provide deep encouragement and clarity.

7. Hope.

Ask God to keep them from becoming discouraged in doing good, and to place their hope in Jesus alone rather than circumstances or results.

Individual time with the Lord.

Pray that God would establish a regular, meaningful time for these leaders to spend with Him each day. Ask God to convict, equip, prompt, train, encourage, and inspire them as they seek Him.

Rest and Sabbath.

Pray that they would carve out time to rest from a job that’s hard to put down and not bring home. Ask that they would experience true Shalom—wholeness and completeness—as they cease their striving for a time each week.

A heart that breaks where God’s does

Ask God to give them tenderness and compassion toward those in need, moving the gospel outward by meeting spiritual, physical, emotional, and communal needs of their neighborhoods, cities, countries and the world.

Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation

September 29, 2015 by Mary Davis

SHEA PATRICK

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

When I sat in Leadership Training in February, I had no idea that God was calling me to Nairobi, Kenya this summer. Five months later, I found myself part of a team of sixteen women from every age and stage of life. We assisted the Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church in holding a four day Women’s Health Symposium. Women heard teaching on theology, dealing with stress, parenting, mental health issues, and other topics that address the whole of a woman’s life—physical, emotional, and spiritual. The team also held a medical clinic each day for conference participants, many of whom do not have routine access to medical care.

Here are a few highlights of our time there:

1) Women traveled from all over Kenya to be at this conference with their sisters. A young pastor’s wife traveled with her thirteen-month-old twins and a friend by motorcycle for two hours (with a driver) and by bus for another 10 hours. How humbling to see their commitment to fellowship and learning with their sisters. How often I take for granted my access to teaching and training specifically designed for women!

2) During our discussion times, I was struck by how my sisters in Kenya face many of the same issues we face here in the States. In three different languages (with translation, of course), women admitted their struggles with gossip, envy, and discontent. We talked about how the gospel is the only answer to our struggles with sin (no matter what language you speak).

3) This trip was my first with a team of all women. It was a great reminder of how God has uniquely gifted women to minister for His glory. Each woman served a role on our team, whether teaching God’s word, counseling women with broken home lives, encouraging pastor’s wives to continue to serve, or serving in the medical clinic until the last patient was seen. What a beautiful mosaic of personalities, gifts, and abilities coming together to serve the kingdom!

What a privilege to worship with my sisters who I will see again as a part of the great throng of witnesses from every tribe, tongue, and nation.