Girl Talk with Cathe Laurie - Week 19

[Music] [Music] well hello everyone out there and especially to you ladies that are watching this episode of girl talk we're so glad that you tuned in are going to be eavesdropping in on a conversation that is near and dear to my heart it's really the heartbeat of what i believe god has called me to do and what my role in the church is in addition to being greg's wife i am so happy to be part of a women's ministry um you might call me the executive director you just might say kathy has just loved women's ministry for many years and what i love about women's ministry is that it focuses the women on community centered around the discipleship we find in the word of god how important that is so before we begin i wanted to read a passage of scripture that i feel really speaks so clearly to the need for being centered in the law of the lord in the word of the lord as the scripture says so i'm going to read to you from psalm number one and this is what it says blessed is the man or the woman who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers but her delight is in the law of the lord and on his law she meditates day and night she is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and in all that she does she prospers and then it says the wicked are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the day of judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish let's pray god your word is so clear isn't it there are two ways to live one's life that is centered upon your word looking to you as the lord and the director of our lives and the other one is to just try to make it on our own and father we pray that as we have this conversation today that many who are perhaps maybe they're christians but they have never really studied your word they don't know you intimately your word is not informing their day-to-day lives i pray that this conversation will instill in them the desperate need that they have to seek you first above all things so father would you guide us and direct us as we speak of the great gift you've given us in the scriptures that you've revealed yourself to us through for we ask it in jesus name amen like i said this is a um a subject that is near and dear to my heart it is a subject that has changed my life when i was a young girl i became acquainted with jesus when i was about 14 years old and although i had heard about god and heard about church and even attended a church i didn't have a personal relationship with him until that day when i was about 14 years old i asked jesus to be my personal lord and savior but it wasn't for a number of years that i really began to understand and appreciate the importance that it was for me to have an intimate personal relationship with god yes i went to church yes i listened to bible studies yes i even had christian friends but i don't know that i ever really sunk my roots deep enough into the word of god until a number of years later and my life really suffered for that reason but i am here today to tell you god's word will change your life and so are these ladies that i have gathered with me today in this conversation i am so happy to introduce you to a number of the leaders in our women's ministry and uh sitting closest to me is ronnie and ronnie you've been with us here in um in orange county at the bible stay for quite a few years is that right since we started excuse me since we started at um free chapel that's amazing yes it's wonderful it is wonderful very first year i love that and you probably won't remember this but the very first year shannon finnegan was my leader and he asked me to speak at the end of that very first year oh right and i said i when i first came there i didn't even know anybody that knew anybody that went there and you didn't know anybody i knew no one oh and i would come to church early and hide in the restroom i did until church got started and then because you just didn't i didn't know you know anybody wanted a phrase but i didn't know anybody and i didn't really have anybody approach me um but i was in a an awesome group shannon was my leader and then i started working hospitality with stephanie chapin that was it that was all that it took and now you've been a group leader for over almost 11 years it's got to be 11 years right wonderful oh and lisa you are also one of our group leaders yes i am i actually remember that story because i was there also a pre-chapter no way yes you remember when you spoke to me so much because i also would come and i wouldn't talk to anyone and i would just leave at night at the very beginning and but that encouraged me that you there was someone else out there that felt the same way wow i think we're i think we're learning something here that you can go to an awesome church and it could be a big church but really the way that you're going to get to know people and be able to make a friend is really when you step into like a small group in a bible study exactly now you don't have to hide in the bathroom because you dream you get to know one another when you join a small group right right it's how you make a big church a small church and it's also essential i mean if we're talking about the things that are essential to life and to thriving in life it is really god's word that is processed in a community of people because we're not meant to do this life alone are we no no yeah so melanie you are um you are what we call a coordinator which means you you head up the um the training and the support systems and the encouragement that small group leaders need as well as being a product of the small group system that you have grown up in tell us a little bit about that well i just want to say like one of the greatest privileges and honors of my life has been being a part of this women's ministry and i love that i get to sit here with lisa and ronnie because i've served alongside them for since the beginning wow you know i didn't realize that but from the very beginning of harvest orange county when the virtue women's bible studies started so we've co-labored alongside each other for years and um to to that first point though um you know i grew up going to a uh you know in a christian home uh going to church every sunday but it was truly a um the bible study that taught me the daily discipline of being in god's word and i think that's what is so meaningful to you and what you want everyone to experience and i love that that is the vision for the for the women's ministry and you've let that be known cathy and i i love falling under that um that covering because that is all of our hearts that the women would know jesus for themselves and to be able to open up the word and and to read and you know to hear from god i think that that what what is happening today in the chaos and the busyness of our lives and we're all busy everybody's busy if you ask people have you been i'm busy that seems to be the go-to answer that that a lot of uh the women that i know that are or or that i see out there they are um they're christian women they go to church but their their personal um relationship with christ is often built on on a specific book or another popular women's speaker or and i think the the big drive that that we all have seen the fruit of in our lives is that um that our our spiritual lives although we're very much helped and informed by women who have walked the path ahead of us and mentored us but the best thing a mentor can do is to point you to the source to get your roots in the scripture because when the bottom drops out you know you cannot live on that pithy instagram post you're gonna have to know your savior for yourself and so melanie that's been really the importance right absolutely how it has transformed our life and how has it transformed your life ronnie to see the diversity that god has brought into a small it's the diversity in my group tell us about it whether it's socioeconomic whether they were raised catholic what their belief system was a year ago how strong they are and i have babies i mean babies two years ago i mean bridget's coming to mind when she first came into our group she'd never not only was she not attending church she had never been in a women's group she's she's got to be four years solid now every year she's back in group in our group and she's there every single wednesday no it's a beautiful thing so you know you ask yourself i was just thinking about this before we met and i was thinking where what other place would you see such a diverse group of women and i had 20 this year wow for a long time and i think even when we dropped down we still had 15. that's amazing where are we huge that is not such a small group where would you see that many walks of life yeah were it not for the love of god yes saying okay i'm gonna put you together not only that the way they love one another the way they've so easily accepted one another from such diverse backgrounds the moment they walked in if they were in the group they were in the group these women are on whatsapp every other day because i'm in that group talking to one another praying for one of you taking um i the support's unbelievable we've seen a lot of really unfortunate things but then we've seen a lot of things to be joined we've grieved with those that and we've rejoiced with those that are rejoicing yeah how important is that in your life we said when you think about your you know your small group and how especially through this time where we were quarantined and um what has the value been being connected to a group of women deeply that you know even despite the fact that we ca we weren't able to meet necessarily face to face and and ronnie you say you're still meeting um some of us continued on long after the our study in the book of exodus and the life of moses came to an end we continued how has it helped you through this season well it was perfect for the lord is so faithful and that he prepared us before we were studying the um the israelites and moses before we even went into quarantine so we were already able to study and see how we shouldn't be grumbling and complaining and we learned that and we were able to see that and then we were in it and we were right in the thick of it and had to have hold each other accountable you know to do the same to continue to point to the lord and um it's just been a beautiful thing to even though we couldn't be close you know face to face to still be able to connect with one another and be there for one another how old are your kids lisa i've um she's one of the oldest is going to be 13. no one's like you're 13 yourself and then my youngest will be nine and a half nine and a half that's that's great but you know what i love about the fact that you you know you have young ones still in the home is that you have stepped into a position of leadership and how did that how did that do you always feel like you were going to be a leader did you join a small group and i know somebody recommended you don't just become a leader someone sees gifting and potential in you and and invites you so right that that actually um happened unexpectedly it wasn't something that i always planned to do and it was actually the um the time that it happened i was in a small group and there were a bunch of women with tiny little babies in the group and i really wanted to have another child at the time and you know my husband we weren't ready we weren't going to do that again go down i had really tough pregnancies to put you know to make him feel a little better so that was the problem but i walked into that group and wanted to leave i wow i just felt like it was just too much but god used that that pain and that anguish and i got to stay in that group and be around those women and actually i was my head free hand so i could be helpful in that and that group you know i didn't know this story yeah so i was able to i stuck it out and because i didn't feel the lord telling me to leave the group i just felt uncomfortable in the group but i was able to stay and then that led to serving the following year oh my goodness this is like what you were saying the diversity that many times you'll find yourself um in a group of women some of them you don't know some you might know but how important is it melanie that we don't just have people that look just like us live just like us are just like us we're only seeing life through a certain lens i love that lisa just kept coming back because i think as women um gosh a lot of things as women i think we could be kind of touchy feely i think we can become real emotional and let our emotions kind of drive our decisions but what i love about our virtue ministry is that everyone is welcome and in each of these small groups um it's like you're gonna find new br brand new baby believers who are just learning to take those first steps of faith and it's like what what a great place to be because they are learning the word of god and seeking to apply it and then we've got like saints we've got women that have like have walked with the lord for decades and they have so much wisdom and i think they're they're each gleaning from each other you know and um so i think i want to encourage everyone you know to be in a small group and and to give it a chance and to keep coming back because sometimes we just might feel oh i don't belong here or i don't have anything in common but if you just will just hold on and trust god he's going to start knitting hearts together and by the end of the year we're going to have all of these like praise reports and glory stories you know what god did it's so true you know i there's one story that sticks in my mind many many years later there was a um a woman that came someone probably said you really should come to this and she said you know i this isn't for me i don't relate to women she was a businesswoman and she didn't like all the touchy-feely emotional stuff all the tears and weepy and all that and all the hugs and kisses and hearts and cards and she's like i'm a businesswoman i will not fit in with this group and she came and she stayed and she stayed and she realized that there is that beautiful diversity and the different personalities different callings different giftings different lives that they've lived but she began to glean from each and every one and at the end of the year we have the moment to give tell your story as uh as the scripture says let the the redeemed of the lord say so and so it was her say-so moment to tell her story and i'll never forget what she said because it just blew me away she said i didn't know what it meant to be a woman until i came into this small group beautiful and it wasn't that um someone else was telling her this is the kind of woman you need to be it was because she looked at the scriptures she looked at what god's word said about what it meant to be a woman and today we have everybody under the sun telling us what a woman should look like what a woman should be like how a woman should behave what a what we should be and their the the culture is constantly changing so the definition of a woman in the 50s to the definition of a woman in the 70s to the definition of a woman today if there gives even a definition of women womanhood today has changed but god's word never changes it's not external it's internal and it it's why we put our roots down deep in it right amen beautiful and my prayer for women that might be watching um that have maybe never been a part of a bible study because i think there's that intimidation factor where well i don't know anything and it's like but this is the place to discover you know god's word and um and there is so much love in that group yes but what i was going to say is even if you just have um an inclination or even like a curiosity i would say that would be enough to come to a small group because like you're saying kathy like the culture is telling us who we are and what we should be doing but we want to know what god's word has to say and this is where we will discover you know god's plan for our lives right well when we when we look at where we are today as a as a nation and what's going on in the world and everything around us is moving everything around us is shaking we don't know from one day to the next right what's going to happen the foundation that god lays it tells us our god is a refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble how would i know that if i didn't know his word right and what does that even mean if i don't know the god who is telling me that he is a refuge and a strength in the day of trouble and and then it says that there is a city whose streams may glad the city of god in other words there there is our citizenship here in this world and we're living in our real world and we're facing real problems but underneath all of that we have god's word that is our security and our safety regardless of what's happening on the outside exactly and i want you to have that i want you to know that that god is there he is available for you and as we look at the scriptures and we we studied the israelites this year what did we learn i mean we learned that these people were in a places of transition they had massive transition they were slaves in egypt set free in the wilderness now they're the people of god they were tribes being formed into a nation that had to learn to stand together and to trust god in the hard places and then at one point they're called to leave the wilderness and and possess the promised land and how how important that is for us that we have god in every moment of those transition points in our lives that he is the constant when everything else might be changing and we might not have known how important what we were studying was really going to be because it was like okay we're studying moses but then we didn't realize that we were going to be in that narrative we were going to be having to apply those um you know those those lessons that we had been learning and i think that's the other thing i've heard you say before too um you know kathy is like being in bible study is really an investment and it's like at one point or another you are going to want to know what god has to say and it's never too late um you know to begin to begin no it's not i was thinking back that when i very first started bible study um i came with a baby on my hip i had a six month old and i wanted to find out what is bible study all about and um but for the sake of i don't want to sound dramatic but honestly i could say that being in a women's bible study has been one of the best decisions i've ever made in my life and maybe that 20 year old didn't think it then yeah but i can say that now having walked this far you know and i just think to myself i know i have far to go but i am so grateful that i have been rooted in god's word because it has been my stability through um through everything especially right now these crazy times all the seasons that you have lived and some of us have lived a few more seasons than some of the rest of you but but we can stand and say testify that the lord is faithful i would also like to say it's not too early to start either because my daughters were able to we homeschool and they were able to do join the homeschool group over the summer studying philippians and first peter and my little one who's nine and a half it was so fun to see her like going through the the lessons and then pulling me aside and i really let them take ownership of it on their own but when she had questions she would come to me and i would show her how to dig a little bit deeper and change the translation if to make it a little more understandable but they were really enjoying that time as well and she of course they're a little they were a little timid to share but that's beautiful too to see how god can take that desire and they can he can grow that as well yes yeah and then speaking of the foundation that you were mentioning a moment ago one of my women i was our business is income tax and i got really busy and one of my women without me knowing went ahead and took it upon herself to invite i believe it's it's four or six women in our group even though we were supposed to be social distancing i'm thinking the thinking was not no more than 10 right yes i'm thinking it was no more she did she took six and they did the study in philippians and they just found out recently and you weren't able to be leading that group but they were they stepped up and did it even invite me because they knew i was working but i just they're getting ready to finish isn't that amazing wonderful but i know but it's because they've been in group they've been in groups they've been in study what are we just going to stop studying the word of god because we're no yeah you took it upon yourself to invite six of the women that are in our group it's it's our breath right it's our lifeline right it's the food we eat it's like okay well we're not gonna eat till next september right now because we're but we're gonna do that every day intentionally yeah and i love the fact that without you being there they decided to do it on their own and you know i would just say to those of you who are out there that um that aren't part of a small group and maybe don't live in this southern california orange county or in the inland empire area that we have every single one of the bible studies that we've ever written posted online they're free for you to download there's no reason in the world that you can't gather a group of friends via zoom or or the people in your own household together and begin to study god's word for yourself and there's teachings available and blogs available lots is available on the virtue website which is virtue.harvest.org so you may be thinking well this is so great for all you guys because you live near each other but i live in wherever and there isn't a women's study that i know of can i just say be the catalyst start and uh and we would love to come alongside and help you you know just uh shoot us off an email if there's any way we can be an encouragement to you we could even send you some some training materials that would be wonderful but uh melanie you're getting we're getting ready to and those of you that are in this southern california area and can join us um and would like to be a part of a women's study we're about ready to launch in september um it'll be so much easier and so much more um convenient for all of us to become a part of a small group because we're going to be offering um some different ways in which you can participate um and that's going to be so exciting tell me what you're thinking about that melanie is we're getting ready to raise up new leaders and it's so exciting and you know i love that our women's ministry is harnessing the technology that we have available we're definitely seeing it as a blessing from the lord you know the gospel has has not been hindered you know where it's going out and we've seen so many actually more women able to participate and i think i don't know if i'm letting the cat out of the bag but we are going to have a lot more options this year where ladies are going to be able you know to meet more um you know just on different days different times so i think just the variety and the availability is going to be wide open so uh we really want everyone just to be a part of a small group it's gonna yeah it's gonna be a wonderful blessing i was thinking about how you know we are busy as women right we have we wear a lot of hats mothers wives a lot of us work outside of the home and um i just love that you know and i'm let's all be praying that women just really have that desire that they want to know what god's will is for their life how they are to navigate through this you know these times in this world that we're living in because i feel like if you have that desire god is going to show us he's going to reveal himself you know to us so i'm excited for what's you know what's to come yeah i really am well we read that passage in psalms where it speaks about the tree that is planted by the rivers of water and the rivers of water is a source of life yeah and our source of life is christ and he is revealed to us in the scripture so if we aren't rooted in our source of life who is christ and he is revealed to us in scripture if we're not rooted in scripture then what happens to a tree that has no source of life it becomes it dies it eventually dies it withers and um it eventually you know we'll you'll see a d a tree decomposing but what we want is to be rooted and not only rooted so that we can live but that will bear fruit in season and i know for each of you because you all are in different places of leadership um what that how did you recognize those gifts while you were just once upon a time just a group member just sitting in there you know what point did you say gosh you know i think i could do this i think i'd like to do this i'd like to help women uh ronnie come on you have the largest group of women and they won't let go of you they want to stay with you you're after you never entered my mind kathy i don't think how many of you did you ever feel like no i'm going to be someday i wanted to live in hospitality the rest of my life i because it's where i met and loved and was loved and it never entered my mind um leadership never did um that's something that harvest chose for me yeah it's leadership saw something saw something in me and chose that for me but once that was chosen for me i took it what we changed you bought we ball and change you to this okay you are going to be a leader and you must do it i took it yes yes you received it absolutely 100 and i thought wow okay i want to be i want to reflect you i i want to have the wisdom that you want me to have i think more important importantly and i need to be really honest because i do believe this is why my group is what my group is i love is the key it will always win yeah and he fulfilled me with an abundant love for all of them no matter who they were what they were what they used to be what they wanted to be whether their study was i think i want to join her girls was ever done or um and they reflect that um to one another so by the power of the holy spirit that's what that's what it is it's god's saying i've called you to this that and i hear it and i hear him all the time i've called you that it's the only way i can navigate my work and home and um the women it's yours it keeps us sane absolutely absolutely okay so ronnie okay you are a such a godly woman because you are so filled with god's love so it's not a mystery how you are called into leadership you have a genuine love for jesus and his word and for others so we just gave you the tools to be able to facilitate a small group but god and we stopped doing the coffee so i had you had to put me [Laughter] we used to give away we used to have coffee brewed before bible study and then we just decided we probably should cut that out because people would stand around and drink coffee all morning but um so you ended up there you go you had to find a place for me someone someone recognized the gift in you because they saw your faithfulness in study and um and that's and you've given us the tools leadership at harvest has given us the tools to start seeing that and the women that are yeah i think that's what's so beautiful is that the body of christ isn't a single person it's not a single voice it's you know we have all the different parts that work together and we're put and there's such like you say there's such diversity in gifting and calling and so each of these small groups is a little microcosm of a church it's a microcosm of of the of the body of christ because he says where two or more gathered in my name there i am in the midst of them and so how beautiful is that that that even as we meet in small group we see jesus we see jesus in the body of christ and we're fitted together as the scripture says like stones fit together you know making us one you know standing together and we need everybody's voice because sometimes women discount themselves and they go well i don't know enough to share or i haven't been a christian for that long and they don't even realize how god can use your simplest you know response to really bless somebody else in your group and so you know um that's why i you know everyone should be a part of a small group whether you're a baby believer or you know i even want to encourage those ladies who have maybe have been in bible study years ago and they might say oh well i've already done that i would say come back because we need your voice we need to go more than ever more than ever i believe that um what we have because we're a community of women that are helping each other praying for each other supporting each other through thick and thin when one when one member suffers we all suffer together when one member rejoices we all rejoice together we need each other so desperately and by this the world outside sees a different kind of community we're not in competition with each other we're supporting each other and helping each other along the path to grow spiritually and that is the joy and the blessing of of what we do and it's the joy and the blessing of what we want all of you to do and like i said if you live in the southern california area and you're anywhere near orange county riverside we would strongly encourage you this ministry has been going on for over i would think almost 40 years now and we have lived to testify melanie you came as a young mom because and your mom came and we've seen the legacy passed down and now your daughter is in every right a leader in her group and her group of young ladies so how beautiful is that that we see this being passed on in generations and it's not that we are here to proclaim a women's ministry we're here to proclaim the word of god and how essential this is in all of our lives this isn't some special calling for a certain class of women well oh they're they're they're the bible study women this is god's call for every single believer and every single woman out there and if you're a baby christian just know that yeah there's some parts that you might need a little help with understanding but so much of the scripture is so plain and we can just hear jesus voice speaking into the simplicity of our lives don't discount the fact that well i don't know everything and i'm intimidated i might not have the right answer begin where you are and the bible talks about line upon line precept upon precept how do you teach a child to read how do you teach a child to walk they just one day at a time one step at a time and you grow stronger and stronger and deeper and deeper in your in your knowledge of his word and then you will be that tree planted by the rivers of water its leaf shall not wither and it will bear fruit in its season and this is this is the fruit that we'd love to see in every woman's life in every woman's life whether you're called to be married or you're single or you're out there in the workforce or you're doing something from home wherever you are god's word informs you and directs you and guides you and will keep you through those troubled times which we're in right now won't it right melanie would you close this in a word of prayer and um just pray for the women out there that that are perhaps um right now not meeting in bible study and they're they're not sure if they're going to come back to bible study or for the women woman that might not even have begun in any way to study the scripture for herself would you pray for her yes yes lord we just come before you now god and you know every woman's heart who's tuning in right now lord you know the fullness of what they're feeling um what's on their heart on their mind and god i just pray that you would just speak so personally to them lord i pray that you would woo them by your love that you want to make yourself known to them so lord i pray that you would stir up our hearts god that we would have that desire to want to know you lord the more we get to know you the more we will love you and the more we love you the more we will obey what your word has to say yes and the more we obey you lord you will transform us you will transform our lives and so god that is what i'm praying for each one of these ladies who are tuning in god i pray father that you would show yourself to be that loving shepherd that wants to guide them and feed them and protect them and just give them such a wonderful life lord your promises are sure lord and i just pray that they would have that desire for your word and lord i know that there are women that are lonely right now that are feeling isolated and lord i pray that you would bring sweet friendships that you would connect hearts that you would do such a life change in women's hearts and lives god so lord we seek you we seek you first and lord we know that in your grace and in your kindness you will provide us with so much lord as we put you first thank you so i thank you lord for this company of women and i thank you for the women that you're calling lord um just to uh just to add lord to um to the flock lord we love you so much and we just thank you for this time that we've had in jesus name amen amen and i know you're all waiting to hear how you can become part of a small group and i will just say would you please stay tuned would you follow us on social media virtue for women or my social media and just kathy laurie on instagram and facebook also you can um keep in touch with us on our virtue website we will be giving you all the details for those of you that want to join a group and be a part of this bible study which i guarantee is going to change your life just stay tuned and we'll be in touch with you to let you know how to do that so we love you we hope this has been an encouragement don't wait until we actually formally launch our small groups go ahead and start diving in download those lessons there's so many beautiful studies available on the virtue website and we encourage you to begin get a group of girls and start together so with that i'd like to say thank you for joining us and we hope we'll see you or hear from you on our website let us know how we can pray for you on the virtue chat and just be uh be in touch with us we love you guys take care until next time

Channel: Harvest Virtue

Views: 428

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Girl Talk, Virtue, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Womens Bible Study, Cathe Laurie, Melanie Brown, Lisa Aquino, Roni Lopez

Id: a8jlT-9qwZo

Length: 37min 45sec (2265 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 27 2020