Citylife WOW 2013

This year will be an amazing year for Citylife Women.
Women on Wednesday is a key part of that. Be sure to connect with others and hear what is happening right across Citylife Women.

There are great opportunities for us this year to build on the success of last year and to continue to grow in community and in faith.

This is not a one man show. It requires all of us together to build something significant for the kingdom. God gives us the mandate to go and make disciples and it requires all of us together.

There will be a few changes this year along the way but they will bring blessing and growth.
God wants to bless us, he wants to bless Citylife Women and he will build his church.

1 Timothy 2:4
God wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth
1 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God's desire is twofold - that people would be saved and that they be discipled and disciple others.

WOW is totally about these two things. We will do lots of fun things this year, but basically it is about seeing women saved and brought into relationship with God through faith in Christ and his atoning work on the cross and its about ensuring each women is loved and discipled to full fill God's pan for her life.

Strategy
WOW - Women on Wednesday
Creating a place where women can:
Connect with God through worship
Learn to live the Christian life  through lifestyle application of the word
Connect with other women
Bring along their friends
Develop leadership potential
Visiosn:80% non-Sunday attenders

So how do we make this happen?

What is our part?

1. Belonging
We are community of women.

We want to create a place where people feel they can belong regardless of where they are on the journey towards faith.

It is not just about a doctrine, or practices. Of course these have an important place, but it is also about belonging. What we believe is important, and we will not dilute what we believe, but we will share it with love and grace.

How we present the truth will vary over time and place, but it will still be truth.

We rely on the word of God as our source of truth and in the belief that God loves everyone, that he sent Jesus as saviour, that Jesus is the way to salvation, that heaven and hell both exist and the only way to salvation is through the atoning work of Christ.

But as people are on the journey towards this understanding and towards faith we want women to know that there is a place that they belong.
We are a community of women, doing life together, growing, and becoming who God calls us to be.

What is a community. There are many definitions relating to different spheres of life.

Common ownership and participation - in other words a sense of belonging, inclusion and involvement.

We want to create a place of love and acceptance of people regardless of where they are up to.
This does not mean we won't be challenged to change and to grow.

It does mean we are creating a community of women who are willing to accept people wherever they are at and to walk the journey of life towards faith and Discipleship with them.

Jesus accepted people, he loved them and gave the call to follow him. He is our example.
John 8:1-11.

The woman caught in adultery. Jesus did not condemn her, he accepted her as she was, extended grace and cared about her enough to say - Go and sin no more. No condemnation, just acceptance, love and a challenge.

How can we create a place where people feel they belong?

By loving them, not judging them, by welcoming them, by including them in our circle of friends, by caring.

By keeping a positive attitude when we are here and by not criticising others!!

By making sure that whatever we do, we do it with excellence because we want them to experience something that tells them that no matter their background, no matter what has gone before, they are important and they are valued.

2. Focus on them
A midset shift that this is about others and not about us. This is about unsaved people.

The focus of what we do is to be about those who do not already know Christ. We exist to reach unsaved people and share God's love with them.
Of course the question that arises is "what about me and my needs?"

Two things here!

In Jesus, every real need we have has been met. We need to learn to live it out.
This also highlights the importance of friends and life group (though this should also have an outreach/other person focus,)

The key thing is that in Christ we have everything and those without Christ have nothing.

The New Testament has two key things - GO - this is going into the world and sharing the love of Jesus with the people in your circle of influence.

The second is MAKE DISCIPLES - looking after people, helping them in their walk with God, getting involved in lifegroup and reaching out to others.

What are we personally doing to go - to embrace the opportunity we have all around us?

God wants all to be saved. God wants those who are saved to be discipled and to disciple others.
This is not about personality, this is about loving others.

The Bible says that we are to be prepared to give a reason for the hope we have and to make the most of every opportunity.

1 Peter 3:15,16
Instead,you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way.

Col 4:5-6
Live wisely among those who are not Christians and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.

We may baulk at this, but its really quite straight forward.

Be a friend - we all have people that we know through life - at work, our families etc.
We can care about people and be a friend.

Tell a friend - As we develop relationships with people, we will find opportunities to share the hope that we have.

We do not need to force it, we just get to know them and listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is his job to convict people, and draw them towards salvation.

We lift up the name of Jesus in our actions and in our words, by living in relationship with him, and in sharing God's love for others.

Bring a friend - we all have the opportunity to bring people with us.
To invite others to come with us on the journey. (I'm talking the unsaved, unchurched here and not about pinching other Christians from else where).

Praying - one of the most effective things as we launch into this year is to simply take time to pray for other people to come to know Jesus.

God wants all to be saved. Our main focus is them, and not us.

3. Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Heb 11:6
So you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who seek him sincerely.

Lets not be fatalistic about what happens.

Let's believe that God wants to bless us, to build his church. Lets transform our thinking.
Maybe we need to lose the "I tried that and it didn't work" and replace it with an optimism that is grounded in faith in a mighty God.

"who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to his power at work in us". Eph 3:20 NIV

Heb 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see yet.

We can be certain that God wants people to come to salvation. We can be certain that God wants people in relationship with him, and in relationship with others.

Conclusion

God wants us to be a community of believers who are part of a broader community of women seeking to grow in the journey of life and encouraging others ro come on the journey with us.

Will you be a part of it?