Introduction
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. 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.
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.
Ensuring each woman is loved and discipled to fulfil God's plan for her life.
Citylife Women
A community of women who are:
Confident in God
Passionate about his Kingdom
Committed to his cause
We value:
Our cultural and generational diversity
We value our community
We value friendship with one another.
We endeavour to live out our values as part of a wider community by:
Caring for each other by
Intentionally building our relationships and friendships
Respecting and honouring others.
We place value on others by treating them with love and respect, helping them to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
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 in a meaningful way with other women
Bring along their friends
Develop leadership potential
We do this by focussing on some key things.
1. Belonging
Create a place where people feel they can belong regardless of where they are on the journey towards faith. It is not about a doctrine, or practices. These have a place, but most importantly its 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
He sent Jesus as saviour
Jesus is the way to salvation
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?
Community is 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, but 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, and 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, and not judging them, welcoming them, by including them in our circle of friends, and by caring.
By keeping a positive attitude when we are here and by not criticising others!!
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.
What is community?
It is ownership.
As we take a healthy ownership of what God is doing amongst us we will see amazing things.
A healthy community:
Cares about each other
Challenges ideas and challenges “the norms”.
A healthy community remains healthy by:
Accepting everyone, judging no-one and by an over-riding love.
By embracing the new, embracing people and by putting others first.
A community remains healthy by being intentional about what it does.
For us this means by being intentional in our relationships, by honouring one another and by loving one another. We want to develop a culture of honouring people.
We do this by:
Developing and maintaining a positive attitude towards others
Honouring others by contributing in a positive way to our community.
Q. What can I do to personally honour those around me?
Q. How can I contribute in a positive way to our community?
Because:
As we relate to one another, as we relate to our friends, our family our work colleagues; as we “Be a friend”, as we show God’s love to people by the way we love each other, people will come. As we tell friends about God, they will already see his love and they will come.
2. Focus on them
A mindset shift - that this is about others and not about us. This is about unsaved people. The focus of what we do is 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.
Col 3
In Him, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
This also highlights the importance of friends and life group. The key thing is that in Christ we have everything and those without Christ have nothing.
Go Make Disciples
GO - this is going into the world and sharing the love of Jesus with the people in our circle of influence.
MAKE DISCIPLES - looking after people, helping them in their walk with God, getting involved in life group and reaching out to others.
Q. 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, and to always act graciously.
Col 4:6
Your Speech should always be gracious…
Keeping our speech gracious may sometimes be hard. This is a challenge we can take on. Not just gracious when we want to be or when things are going our way, but always. Making an effort to keep our speech right.
In reaching out to others, we show the love of God as much through actions as words.
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.
We can invite others to come with us on the journey. (I'm talking the unsaved, unchurched here and not about pinching other Christians from elsewhere).
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.
Q. Who will I pray for?
Q. How can I be a friend to someone?
3. Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb 11:6
Let’s not be fatalistic about what happens. Let's believe that God wants to bless us, to build his church. Let’s 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
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb 11:1
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.
Q. How can I begin to exercise my faith?
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 to come on the journey with us.
Q. Will you be a part of it?
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