Citylife Women

WOW

Introduction

There are great opportunities for us to grow in community and in faith.

God gives us the mandate to go and make disciples and his desire is that all of us will be involved as we build something significant for the kingdom. We are in it together.

God wants to bless us, he wants to bless Citylife Women and he will build his church. Citylife Women is based on the following:

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 do lots of fun things together, but basically it is about:

·         Women saved and brought into relationship with God through faith in Christ and his atoning work on the cross

·         Ensuring each woman is loved and discipled to fulfil God's plan for her life.

This is who we are.

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 is:

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 through creating Community

1. Belonging

Creating a place where women feel they can belong regardless of where they are on their journey towards faith.

It is not about a doctrine, or practices etc. These have a place, but most importantly it’s 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 women are on their personal journey towards understanding and towards faith we want them 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 women 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 others 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?

Most importantly, creating a place means being present. We create community by meeting together regularly and choosing to be part of community.

• ·         Loving them, not judging them
• ·         Welcoming them, by including them in our circle of friends, by caring.
• ·         By keeping a positive attitude when we are here and not criticising
• ·         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 – by engaging in the worship, not talking across other people, honouring the times of prayer.

·         Be thinking about how we can honour one another.

Q. What can I do to personally honour those around me?

Q. How can I contribute in a positive way to our community?

2. Focus on them

We want to reach women who do not yet know Jesus. Therefor our mindset is an “other person” mindset.

The focus of what we do is to help women grow in the grace and knowledge of 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 (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.

Go Make Disciples

·         GO - this is going into the world and sharing the love of Jesus with the people in your 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.

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.

Be a friend

We all have people that we know through life, people in our sphere of influence, at work and amongst family and friends.   

We can care about people and be a friend, doing the journey of life with them and encouraging them. In relationship we can become the one who helps our friend discover the love and grace of God.

Tell a friend

As we develop relationships with other women, 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 we can do is to simply take time to pray for other people to come to know Jesus. Pray for the women in your sphere of influence. Ask God to bless them and to show them his love.

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

Our faith is integral to our lives. Let’s not be fatalistic about what happens but believe that God wants to bless us and to build his church.

Let’s be women who transform our thinking, with our lives are 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 faith in Jesus. 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.

Will you be a part of it?