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| Messages From The Heart For Women |
Available on audio cassette.
 Please take the time to check out the NEW Mothering from the Heart Website!!
Dear Women,
God has put a burden in my heart to teach women His Word. What started as a heart for my family and biblical mothering - teaching the practicality of the Bible to my own children and others they brought home has grown into my standing before you - grown-up women - teaching the practicality of God's Word to you. My heart's desire has always been to know God intimately, to obey Him earnestly, and to see His hand in the small, everyday moments of life. And I can say with integrity of heart, that I want people, whether children or adults, to know how the Word of God has a direct affect on everyday life.
A Heart Cry
Who would have thought that in such a short time in our America we would be living in a day when biblical womanhood and biblical mothering are so undermined by the culture? The times we find ourselves in have challenged God's unique design for women and because of that, I believe more than ever, God is issuing a clarion call to women of this generation who will rise up to the culture and speak out, without apology, for the truth found in the Bible.
I believe there is a heart cry across America from women who, just like me, are tired of the world's answers to women's issues, from women who want biblical answers for womanhood and mothering and who are willing to do whatever it takes to obey the truth of God's Word. But what does God's Word say about these issues? That's the heart of Messages From The Heart - to find out and present truth from the Bible. God has everything to say about women's issues. When we study God's Word and obey it, a whole culture is affected and there is hope for future generations.
God's Answer: The Titus 2 Mandate
"Older women, likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.
Knowing that God wants to use women in the lives of other women in His church, I have been concerned about ministries for women that pull women out of their homes too often, who even with good intentions, end up violating God's clear mandate for women found in Titus 2, 1 Timothy 2:9-15, 1 Timothy 5:9-10 and 14-16. And in the process, they have undermined God's created, designed role for women. But I am also concerned when women isolate themselves and do not gather with other women to fulfill what God has called them to do.
Biblically, older women are supposed to get involved in the lives of the younger women. Men simply cannot relate to a woman the way another woman can, nor should they have to. God did not set it up that way.
The pastor is to teach right doctrine to the body as he shepherds the congregation and although he is not to be directly involved in the women's lives, God recognizes that women have needs. See, God knows that women need to be cared for and nurtured so He set the standard we see in Titus and in the whole of Scripture. God created all women (whether they have children or not) to be nurturers.
According to Titus 2, older women have a duty to live the Scripture themselves (how can they teach with authority if they are not living what they teach?) and then to get involved in the everyday lives of younger women. Our generation has somehow missed this. But God's way is always the right way. It does not matter what is politically correct or how much feminism , and even now 'evangelical feminism,' seems to rule the culture. Women today harm themselves by expecting their husbands or the pastor to do for them what other women are supposed to do and by stepping outside of the boundaries of Scripture to "have a ministry".
This Season: Fulfilling the Mandate at CBC
So how will Community Bible Church practically fulfill the Titus 2 mandate for women? As I have sought God openly, earnestly, under the headship of my husband and through God's appointed authorities, I believe God has given us two avenues at Community Bible Church that honor His Word: MOMS Life and NIGHT Life For Women.
This season, God has stirred my heart to not only continue teaching at MOMS Life on the 2nd and 4th Thursday mornings of every month, but also to teach on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings of each month. I am deeply burdened for all women, including teens and those who work outside the home.
You will find details about both MOMS Life and NIGHT Life at the conclusion of this letter. Plan well this year. Don't just fill your calendar with activities. Fill your year with things of eternal value. Obey what you know. Choose, as Mary did, the good part - which can NEVER be taken away from you. It's easy to fill your life with nothing. But Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 to "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," because when you do, "all these things will be added unto to you." Jesus knows the good part and He takes care of the rest when we choose Him. Let His words speak to your heart. Read Matthew 6 for yourself.
An Intense Burden For Obedience
I told you at the beginning of this letter that God has put an intense burden in my heart to help women know His Word. But that burden extends beyond just knowing His Word. See, God did not give us the Bible just so we could discuss it, increase our knowledge, and give our opinions on it. NO, He gives us His Word so that we can know Him and bring glory to Him as we OBEY Him. We can't know Him unless we obey Him. See, God wants us to respond to Him and let Him change us. But women today don't know God. I want women to know HIM. So how can I not teach His Word? How can I not obey Him in the areas where I know He has spoken to my heart? As God has made it clear to me that I am to obey Him by teaching His Word to women, I pleaded with Him, " I don't want to teach unless You help me. I can't do this. Please help me. Oh God I don't want to teach unless I am deeply affected by Your Word." I begged Him to help me not just to learn His Word but also to live His Word.
My Confession to You
I confess to you that I cannot stand before you or even my own children, teaching and proclaiming His Word unless He is with me. See, as I continue to spend time with God, I realize all the more how I am a woman of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. I realize even more how much I need God to help me. I see the holiness of God when I immerse myself in His Word and I am even more amazed that He would want to use someone like me. So, I want you to know that as I stand before you, I will stand with integrity of heart - living openly and transparently before you.
A Final Thought
As I write these words, I feel overwhelmed and inadequate. Yet I know God is asking me to step out of my feelings and to rest in His arms. It's called faith. I know from His Word and from my own experience that He will be faithful. But I am still in awe that I am actually going to trust Him with things that seem too big for me. He must have a lot to teach this stubborn girl this year. So I am asking God to help me seek first His kingdom, to change my heart as I encounter His Word and to be faithful to Him. Every time I teach I am acutely aware of my own failures, how incredibly short I fall in light of God's holiness, and how much I need my God's strength to cover my weaknesses. I will be stepping before you this year to open God's Word, be confronted with truth and to hear from Him. I am fearful, I am trembling, but God is the One who holds my hand. Please pray for me.
Love, Audrey
MOMS Life
2nd and 4th Thursdays, 9:15 - Noon, August - May
Opening Day: Thursday Morning, August 10, 2000
We are walking slowly through Titus 2:3-5, where God has specifically stated the life curriculum for every woman. We have been studying God's Word deeply - looking at biographical passages and learning from instructive passages. We divide into smaller fellowships to get to know other women and to share our responses to God's Word. I urge you to come with an open heart, willing to hear truth, and then to search the scriptures to see if these things are true. You do not have to be a mom to come to MOMS Life. Every woman has a nurturing, life-giving, mothering heart.
KIDS Life
Bring your children because during MOMS Life, we offer a structured learning and craft ministry for the children age 0- 8th grade.
NIGHT Life - For Women and Teens
2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, September - May
Opening Day: Tuesday Evening, September 12, 2000
We are walking with Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation, looking deeply into God's heart, learning more of this Savior, this God-Man, this One and Only who, when we come face to face with Him, can change our lives.
I am asking God to refresh my own heart as I take this journey into the heart of God with you. We will laugh with Him, cry with Him, rejoice with Him, grieve with Him, have a heart of compassion like Him, and grieve over sin with Him. But more than anything it is my heart's desire that we are changed by Him. Oh how He wants to be intimate with us. But we must let Him!!
My daughter, GraceAnna, will be coming with me. It is my prayer that many teens will come. Young women need to be gripped by God.
There is no children's ministry during NIGHT Life.
Messages From The Heart For Women are available on audio cassette.
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