I so enjoyed our time on Tuesday!! I am looking forward to spending the next several weeks with you ladies!!
My goal for Tuesday night was to cast a vision for where we are headed and to (hopefully) get us excited about coming together to study God’s word and grow in unity.
I started things off in Genesis 1:1-2
God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void [and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.]
The two words being translated here are tohu and bohu.
Tohu – means formless, a wasted space
Bohu – means empty
The first scene in our Bible is one of nothing but blank space. Then our Triune God steps in and He speaks into existence order and life. He creates a structure and He creates life to inhabit the structure. The Bible introduces us to God as He is creating an environment for mankind that will be conducive to life, growth and flourishing.
In the beginning God pushed back chaos, that’s tohu, to make a home for us.
Like my God, I want to create a space for His people that is conducive to life, growth and flourishing. I want Tuesday nights to be a place pushes back the chaos in your life and allows for rest, peace, growth and worship.
I believe that as a church, we are called to be a group of people, gathered around a set of ideas that we have embraced as truth, submitted to the authority of God and the scripture, who together live in fear of God and in right relationship with one another. By doing so, God will give us the power to do good in our church, in our city and in this world for His glory.
I want us to be members of a church and a generation that seeks the face of God through prayer and in His scriptures. I want to challenge us to adopt some of the practices of the first church in the book of Acts by becoming a group of women who have decidedly devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings.
My purpose in leading this group is to create an environment where God can work to bring about a fruitful harvest in us individually and corporately. I chose Romans because (i) it is, in my opinion, the best book for understanding what we as Christians believe about mankind, God and salvation and (ii) it gives good instruction for living a life devoted to loving God, His people and His mission.
I won’t be a perfect leader. I will need a lot of grace and patience from you all. I am humbled by the opportunity to stand before you ladies and I am so grateful that you are allowing me to join you in this journey.
I have set Colossians 1:28 before me:
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.
See you ladies soon!!
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