WOW!

 

Our 8 week walk through of the book, RESTLESS by Jeannie Allen was so right-on-time!

Was it for you too?

I loved, loved, loved hearing your hearts.

It was an honor and my complete privilege to learn with such an humble, EAGER group of ladies!

FALL STUDY TBA SOON!!!!!!!

Leaning towards Sunday afternoon 4ish or 430ish…

Hopefully start by the first week in October??

Let me hear what’s best for YOU…

Also please help me pray through the details of what to teach next…

A couple of studies I am prayerfully considering:

The Best Yes by Lysa TerKheurst

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala

Until then, if you are struggling with your quiet time, check out www.ifequip.com

It  has a simple easy format:

pray, read a short passage of assigned scripture,  watch a 2-3 minute video commentary on the passage and leave a comment if you like.

It’s a great online community.

Thanks y’all….

MORE COMING SOON!

SiGN UP FOR DETAILS  BY LEAVING YOUR EMAIL in the box to the —————->

 

by Jennie Allen

BECAUSE YOU WERE MADE FOR MORE!

I am currently leading this AMAZING 8-week study on Tuesday mornings @ 10am at Wills Valley Community Church.  We are just half way so there is still time for you to join us!

There is no charge for the class and childcare is available.  For more information call the church at 256-845-0500

JOIN US!!

(updated July 7, 2014)

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The last two weeks of the study was AMAZING because of YOU! THANK YOU ladies for sharing your hearts, your hurts, you.  I pray the Lord will bless you in a way that only He can.  For your obedience to Him and willing hearts – I am eternally grateful.

our NEXT STUDY is TBA (to be announced soon)

Until then,  join us Mon-Fri at If:Equip  –the Word of God is what sustains us.

love y’all

 

got purpose?? #weekfour

abilities…the last part of  your SHAPE

going into this study I didn’t know where we would end up…as I begin to pray and research the who?what?where?when?why of

HOW DO WE LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE?  I kept ending up back in Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life  …Rick came up with the acrostic that helps us stay focused as to what on earth we are here for…

S-SPIRITUAL GIFTS

H-HEART

A-ABILITIES

P-PERSONALITY

E-EXPERIENCES

We’ve looked at each letter and learned a lot together. Discovering and rediscovering OUR PURPOSE!

#weekfour we looked at our natural abilities…the things we’ve done well since birth…activities that come naturally ..are effortless…..Natural abilities are just as important as spiritual gifts….

Natural abilities are God given at birth…

Exodus 31:3-5

³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— ⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ⁵ to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.

Pur pastor says all the time, “Everybody’s a 10 at something.!”  True.  To say you have nothing to offer your church, your community, others is an excuse.  Excuses are just that, excuses.  Whatever God has made you good at He wants you to do.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Without doubt your service is needed in your church. If you don’t have a church-visit ours..I assure you there are needs a plenty.

Now that we have the fact that there are plenty of needs and areas to serve…WHAT’S KEEPING YOU?!?!

1 Peter 4: 10 says ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithfulstewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

ARE YOU SERVING?

We have been saved to serve.

1 John 3:14

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

Bottom line…if you have made Jesus Lord of our life -His love is in us..we are His hands, His feet, His eyes, His heart beat.

We are to love and serve just as He did.

Service is not optional.

HOMEWORK:

Write YOUR STORY! and be ready to share….

a snippet of your life before Christ..and a flash of what it has looked like since surrendering your life to the One who CREATED YOU ON PURPOSE!

got PURPOSE? #weekthree

we’re halfway Ladies!  great insight this week..thanks for YOUR eager participation..

Here are Sunday’s notes:

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Did you know that each of us has a unique heartbeat?  It is the same with our emotional heartbeat.

Do tell….. “What makes you tick?”  

What is the ONE THING you do and lose all sense of time?   or what is the ONE THING you wish you could do more than ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD ????

Psalm 37:4-5

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

If you’re not sure what your passion(s) is/are ..Ask Him and

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct^[a] your paths.

We make this harder than it really is…

Consider your experiences:

your family? stable? or broken home?

education?  what were your favorite subjects?

work? vocational experiences?

spiritual experiences?  highs and lows throughout your journey?

ministry experiences?  where have you served?

and finally -your painful experiences??

They ALL MATTER & are NOT an accident.

2 Corinthians 1:4

who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

ONE MORE TIME y’all..NO PAIN IS IN VAIN!

Who better to minister to one from a ____________ than someone from a ______________?

Who better to comfort one who has lost than from one who has lost?

WE SERVE AN INTENTIONAL GOD.

The last key point we discussed is

As important as it is to KNOW WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST..it is JUST AS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHO or WHAT WE ARE NOT…. Look at this passage in John 1:19-23

¹⁹ Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³ He said: “I am

whew! what a fun week! thank you ladies for sharing your heart and dreams with us..it’s exciting to see and listen to what God is doing in and through each of your lives..

here are Sunday’s notes:

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Every good story has a WHO? WHERE? WHEN ? WHAT? WHY?  Did you know God is writing a GREAT story with your life? for HIS glory..!

We serve an intentional God.  He is not haphazard.  Your gender, ethnicity, your height and even your freckles are ON PURPOSE?!

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

we are His wormanship…

You are not an accident.

Think of this….just as an architect must know the purpose of a building before construction-

so does our Creator…He knew before He formed you in your mother’s womb what He designed you for..He fearfully and wonderfully made YOU !

Did you read Psalm 139?!  It’s AMAZING…

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17How precious to me are your thoughts,a God! How vast is the sum of them! 18Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. 19If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

We are customized with a carefully mixed DNA ..He wired you…and that my soul knows very well…

Nothing is wasted.  Your hurts, hang-ups, handicaps…all. of it.  every. single thing… working together for good….

Like a big floor puzzle..we are flipping over the pieces a few at a time hoping to see more of THE BIG PICTURE

Check out Gary Smalley’s personality inventory assessment…

What are you ?  a lion?  an otter? a golden retriever or a beaver??

As we learn how to better understand ourselves and by His grace we can relate and minister to or serve along side  our people…the people God has given each of us..I may never lay eyes on your people because THOSE ARE YOURS to lead to HIM…

Jeremiah 1:5 says

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Another piece of the puzzle -spiritual gifts?

Don’t miss that part.  A gift is just that-a GIFT.  Spiritual gifts are given to us from the Father after we have accepted His as Savior and made Him Lord of our life.  Gifts are not for our good but for the good of the body.  The body? is His church.

Romans 12: 6-8

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

If you liked this snapshot…Read more about it here

Understanding that that WE EACH HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY…& believing that there is NO SMALL SERVICE ..IT ALL MATTERS TO HIM….

1Corinthians 12:10-19

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placedthe parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be?

How do we determine our gift(s)?  by SERVING…the best experience is hands on experience…try different areas of service …which ones come easy to you or not…One of the women so graciously shared…

“When you are walking in your giftedness it’s as though your sailing in a sailboat verses rowing in a row boat….wearing yourself out…”

HOMEWORK:  reread Romans 12:6-8  & PRAY

Ask the Lord what area of ministry or act of service He has for you?  Ask those around you to help you discern what you are good at…you’re not looking for empty compliments but rather wise counsel and affirmation

COME PREPARED with an answer to this:

“BY HIS GRACE, IF I COULD DO ANYTHING THING -I WOULD DO ______________ FOR HIM!”

because you know what??….He might just let you!

I love y’all and am so grateful you have given me this opportunity…to learn and grow alongside you

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

 

ps-again many of today’s references were from the BIBLE yes that’s the book for me and The Purpose Driven Life ..if you haven’t read it please do :O)