"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

What an incredible joy it was to see so many women Tuesday night so excited about getting into God's Word! There was a palpable buzz in the air. I saw women across all decades from young mamas to the faithful pillars of FBC. I saw women of diverse backgrounds and some of you even brought new friends. If you are new, we are so thankful you joined us! It was a thrill to see so many women connecting in the name of Jesus. He's our common denominator. He's always pursuing us and He is going to meet us as we pursue Him. He's already begun!

I just want to brag on the Lord for a moment. The last 10 days have been such an exciting ride! I went from hoping to find at least 15 women to huddle up with me in Bible Study at the fireplace, all the way to realizing that our group of seventy-some women would best be housed in the sanctuary! As numbers grew, so did questions of how to best accommodate you. Over and over again, God provided the answer to my questions literally before or as I was asking them!  It blew my mind!  

My heart was so touched and humbled by FBC staff and lay people who just jumped in with both feet to help me. I didn't have a team of people in place, but God brought them to me! It definitely kept me on my toes, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world! 

*As promised I am going to post a few of our discussion questions from Tuesday night so more people can engage in discussion.

1. Please share any truths that stood out to you during our video session Tuesday night.

 Point 3 in our viewer guide stated, "walking with a whole new level of effectiveness takes faith." Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him much believe that He exits and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
2. How might our faith be displayed as we follow Jesus in new ways?

A Few Helpful Reminders

Diaspora: (Descended from the Greek word diaspeirein, meaning "to scatter, spread about.")
a: the settling of scattered Jews outside Palestine after the Babylonian exile
b: the area outside Palestine settled by Jews
c: the Jews living outside Palestine or modern Israel
(Merriam-Webster)

Sadducees
1.They were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God's involvement in everyday life.



2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18-27; Acts 23:8).

3. They denied any afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death, and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life.

4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (Acts 23:8).


Pharisees
1. They believed that God controlled all things, yet decisions made by individuals also contributed to the course of a person's life.



2. They believed in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6).

3. They believed in an afterlife, with appropriate reward and punishment on an individual basis.

4. They believed in the existence of angels and demons (Acts 23:8).

(www.gotquestions.org)

*FYI. Scripture writing starts next week in our study on Day 1











Comments

Barbara said…
What an awesome outpouring of God's grace, and His blessing on your endeavors. He clearly wants to bless the hearts of many women who participate in this study. I'm so thankful to have a daughter-in-law who is such an incredible answer to this Mom's prayer for her son's partner in life and in ministry! Prayers continue for this fantastic work!
January 27, 2017 at 9:20 AM
Kristy said…
Thank you so much! I am SO incredibly grateful to have a mother-in-law who would pray for me and support me in my life and ministry this way. What an amazing blessing. Thank you 😌
January 27, 2017 at 2:35 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overwhelmed with Joy

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 I began praying last April that the Lord would give me a word or theme for 2018. A word that would give me resolve in difficult times, a word that would motivate me to run my race well, a word that would encourage me. In December, I found myself daily pouring over Psalm 37. As I put it to memory, a word jumped off the page at me, and the day after that word came to light, it also flashed across the screen in large letters at a church plant we happened to be visiting. This particular Sunday I was feeling a bit out of my element and a bit emotional, like I was on the verge of tears, not because of sadness, but because my heart was full. God had recently called Mark and I to plant a church in Ridgefield, Washington. It was so hard to step away from all we had at First Baptist Church, Longview. It was our second Sunday since st
Read more

Eclipsed by God's Glory

Make Room for a Bigger God Psalm 24:7 “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” As I watched the heavens move this morning I was in awe of God and His creation. I was acutely aware of my smallness and in the midst of the largeness of God’s spinning universe, and yet overwhelmed that the same God who spoke the stars in existence knows how many tears I have cried and how many hairs are on my red head. As I opened up my Bible for a time of worship and reflection of God this morning, I came upon Psalm 24. I read, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it…” Not only do the heavens declare God’s vastness, but the earth does too. Recently, I traveled by car from Missouri to Washington. We moved from wide, open skies, prairies as far as the eye could see, and rain storms that could be identified from a far distance to the huge buttes and mesas of Wyoming. Our small car rolled through mountainous terrain with enormo
Read more

The Gospel

Image
“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) At the heart of the Christian faith is the Gospel. Growing up in church, I was introduced to the word early on in life.  I remember one of my pastors encouraging the church to share the Gospel. I knew what he meant in the context of his sermon, but I am not sure if I knew exactly what it all really boiled down to enough to tell someone else. I knew what had happened to me and that my life was truly changed, but I was still learning how to put the mystery into words. Truth is, I wasn’t trying to share it enough to even realize that I didn’t quite know how to put it into words. There is no perfect formula and God can use anyone who steps out in faith for Him, but if the Gospel was important enough that God Himself entrusted it to mankind to share with one another, maybe I ought to put some effort into finding the best way for me to clearly communicate it to someone else. When I am learn
Read more