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Coming Alongside Women in the Church

CHRISTINA FOX | EDITOR I sit around the table surrounded by women from various seasons of life. One by one, we share our prayer requests for the week. Requests for healing from painful diseases. Requests for restoration of broken relationships. Requests for endurance in troubles and trials. Requests for comfort in grief and sorrow. As we share our cares and concerns with one another, we feel each other’s sorrows and fears. Our hearts hurt for each other. That’s because we are united to the Body of Christ. So, we pray with and for one another. We rejoice when prayers are answered. We encourage one another in our sorrows. We bear one another’s cares. The church is filled with hurting people. We all bear the burdens and scars of living in a fallen world where the tentacles of sin stretch far and wide. We experience the consequences of our first parent’s sin before we are even born. We enter this world in sin and live our lives in rebellion against our Creator until we are rescued and saved by the blood of Christ. We sin against others and others sin against us. Some wounds we receive at the hands of others burrow deep in our hearts and linger long. There’s also the impact of sin on our bodies as they fail to work as they should—as disease and decay leave their mark until death makes its final call. Sin’s tentacles also impact our created world where natural disasters spin out tragedy and destruction on the regular. In all these ways and more, we feel the weight of our brokenness. Tim Keller once described the church as “a hospital for sinners (where triage happens) not a museum for saints.” If this is true, how are we as the church doing such triage? How are we helping one another in our sufferings? Are we honest about our common struggles with living in a fallen world? And, as redeemed saints who share in the sufferings of Christ and have the same Spirit living within us, shouldn’t we encourage one another in the gospel and in its power to deliver, restore, and redeem?...

Coming Alongside Women in the Church2024-02-04T20:15:16+00:00

Remembering God’s Mighty Deeds: A Look at Church History

ANN MARIE MO|GUEST Remember. Study. Meditate. Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly calls his people to remember all that he has done. Studying God’s past faithfulness help us to understand difficult providences today. Meditating on his mighty deeds invigorates our prayers so that we can plead along with the psalmist: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders” (Ps. 77:11–14). God commands us to give thought to his works of mercy and judgment because when we reflect on them, we behold his providence. Providence—God’s most holy, wise, and powerful governance over all creation, actions, and time—is one of those biblical truths we ought to reflect upon daily: thankful for God’s past providence, grateful for his provision today, and confident in his future care for all our needs. When we ponder God’s providence in Scripture and our own lives, our faith is strengthened and we remember that God is worthy of reflection. In addition, recalling God’s past providence helps us to face present adversity. Consider how reflecting on God’s former mercies strengthened David before he fought Goliath: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:37). Simply put—God blesses reflection on his past deliverances. These recollections quicken our faith to persevere and grow through hard times. The act of remembering is not only a spiritual discipline for every Christian to cultivate but also a charge God gives us to pass on to the next generation. We are to tell our children “the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done . . . So that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Ps. 78:4, 7). To pass down accounts of God’s enduring faithfulness, we can teach our covenant children church history. Studying chronicles of how God has defended, strengthened, and delivered his people through the ages is a thoughtful way to reflect on his mercies and judgments. Teaching Our Covenant Children Church History Among the many excellent resources available, Simonetta Carr’s Church History is a great place to start. In this visual encyclopedia, she invites young and not-so-young readers to come and behold God’s wondrous deeds. Arranged in nine parts, this hardcover book chronicles God’s faithfulness to his church....

Remembering God’s Mighty Deeds: A Look at Church History2024-01-28T01:30:25+00:00
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