Harry Walls - Femininity - Wednesday, 24 March 2021

well good morning masters university i uh i couldn't have enjoyed chapel today more i was asked at trophy coffee yesterday and i'm on a bit of a binge i'm doing the lattes like every day so i'm in a bit of a rut and a cycle but uh i was asked what is the one thing as the campus pastor i would want for you as a student and i thought about a little while it was not a easy question to ask answer as it relates to one thing a lot of things that i would want for you but i boiled it down to this statement and we experienced it a bit today my one desire for you is that you would experience real christianity and that you would express what it means to be a real christian my great concern is that you can be here and it can just be words and not a reality and hearing jaden today should remind us all that christianity is not a religion it's a reality dead in trespasses and sins hopeless without god in the world and by an amazing act of unmerited kindness chosen before the foundation of the world foreknown by love and affection the greatest of all engages our heart and grants us repentance and changes who we are and grants us eternal life which is not just a length of it i'm glad it doesn't end but i'm more grateful for what it is my prayer for you as you matriculate study relate compete is that you'll get the opportunity to experience what it really means to be a christian and if you're a bit numb and dormant and kind of calloused and cold and christians can get that way that god would renew restore refresh transform the coldness into an intimate connection because of surpassing value of knowing jesus is the product of intimacy with jesus it's real knowledge it's not just this it's this heart transformation and a god connection well take your bible and join me in genesis chapter one so our theme all year has been under the sun we started out in ecclesia ecclesiastes with the recognition that this is solomon's look at the end of his life having lived his life in vain ways empty ways drawing conclusions about where life is and how life works and under the sun the book of ecclesiastes is the revelation of reality about life the way it is not the way you want it to be not the way the culture says it should be but the revelation of god's reality granted to us to the end that we can know how life works so in the spirit of under the under the sun i have been assigned and frankly i volunteered to preach on biblical femininity now listen i am not a woman but i love one we will celebrate 39 years in june i dated her for two years 41 years i have been the husband of a woman i'm the father of another woman she's 34 this june i'm the favorite grandson of another woman i'm the favorite and only son of a woman in florida i know a few women i love women and i wanted to volunteer to preach about women not because i am one not because i fully understand them any husband can tell you that even after 41 years of being with someone you still recognize you don't know what you think you know karen and i just flew to erie pennsylvania last monday drove back 2 700 miles in a car that i purchased in pennsylvania and we talked road tripping is fun and i was reminded as a couple just how valuable what i call crock pot relational time is not crackpot crockpot where a relationship gets tender because of time and i was just drawn again to the pleasure of being close to the woman god has gifted to me i wanted to preach about this today not because i know everything but because your identity as a woman is defined by divine design the culture is confused the world says a lot of things there's so many genders now it's really hard to count last count was 51. i don't even know how you do that there's confusion in our culture clearly there's a perversion in our culture but there can be confusion in your heart as a woman as to what and who you are because of the influences that pressure you because of the homes that you grew up in because of the lack of validation sometimes that you did not receive from your father from men you've been treated in a particular way that has caused you to respond and take on certain beliefs and convictions about who you are and because of the kind of the objectification of women and pornography and images and dress and outward things you can lose track you can actually never engage what it means to truly be female made in the image of god for the glory of god your identity is defined by divine design which is why i'm calling this today made not molded femaleness your identity is rooted in the reality that you are made female you were created and designed by an omnipotent omniscient god to be who you are as a woman in the world today to fulfill the purposes of god for which you were created and if you're a christian for which you've been saved as a man you need to appreciate who she is not because of what the culture frames a woman to be but how god defines a woman to be and i can acknowledge that i think in part the whole feminist movement the whole patriarchal culture idea where men oppress women and women react and need to be empowered because of a lack of equality in about every category of life that a lot of that is the result of the depravity of men or the weakness of men failing to be what men should be and then you have a drumbeat of the culture hypersensitizing this appetite in women as a result of the fall the man was going to rule over the woman and her desire would for be for him she wants to kind of master him and there's this innate intrinsic kind of reaction because of the fall where a woman wants to aspire to control to leverage influence to dominate in some cases so you have weak men abusive men you have i want to be stronger empowered and i want control women and you have this dynamic in our culture that makes it very hard to define and live out of the reality under the sun the way it is as a woman in the world today so i want to highlight and hopefully six things and obviously there's a lot to say this is one sermon not a series this is not a class on biblical femininity but i want to sow some seeds of conviction and as a pastor of many years and as i said as a husband as a father and as a son there's much that i would like to highlight today and i want to begin where i ought to begin which is design and definition defined by god in the book of genesis the book of origins so i want to begin this way no matter what you've seen or feel no matter what the world says as a woman the bible says you are made a woman by god look at verse 26 in the lord chapter 1 genesis sixth day of creation apex of creation the last creature made before the words it was good it was very good verse 26 then god said let us plural a reference to the trinity father son and holy spirit let us the godhead make man in our image man is mankind humanity according to our likeness and let them plural male and female rule over the fish of the sea over the birds of the sky over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth regency and rule on behalf of god over the world god created purposeful responsibility verse 27 and god created man in his own image in the image of god he created him again that's a reference to mankind and then it defines it male and female he created them now the first and obvious and foundational point as it relates to femaleness is the recognition that as a woman you were made a woman by god god the godhead calls you woman because he made you a woman genesis 5 1-2 this is the book of the generations of adam in the day that god created man he made him in his own likeness male and female he created them jesus talking matthew 19 verse 4 have you not read from the beginning the creator made them male and female mark 10 6 however jesus again from the beginning of creation god made them male and female biblically theologically and biologically you are made a woman if you are a woman you are not evolved you're not the product of random chance and a lot of time you are made by your creator a woman the culture does not define you your feelings do not define you your dna and what god has made you defined you and what the word of god says about you god has made two genders not 51 male and female gender is defined permanently at conception and it's revealed at birth my daughter wendy 34 years old was born born at henry mayo hospital when i was the dean of men here 34 years ago and i remember our first child i was in the process in the the birthing place with my wife and it was a long labor journey and karen ended up having a c-section so they put up this curtain so i saw her but i didn't see what they were doing in the delivery process i just remember the doctor saying sir congratulations you have a son man my heart left because i always wanted a boy and then he said no no no no congratulations you have a daughter now i don't know how you messed that up as a doctor birth determines gender when the gender is revealed biologically by the anatomy resulting from the dna that defines male and female when a person defies or denies his or her god-given biological gender by identifying dressing or presenting in contradiction to god's design it violates god your identity as a woman is determined by god for the purposes of god for the glory of god he made you the way he wanted you to be in the first conviction that biblical femininity requires is god made me a woman i accept it i celebrate it i want to maximize it because i know who did it your identity as a woman is the sovereign design of god for the purposes and glory of god and ladies he made you as a woman differently as it relates to men he made you out of different materials chapter 2 verse 7 which is kind of the focus on male and female creation he formed man out of the dust he fashioned you out of the rib of the man you came out of the rib living organic he out of the dirt he's a mud man he made you by a different method the word formed in hebrew 2 7 god formed man as means to shape it is like a mud man taking dirt and shaping it the word for the woman is fashioned and i'll talk about that in a minute custom built different materials different method women are designed to do different things different responsibilities different abilities women and men are not the same and they're not supposed to be the same they are uniquely prepared the mail to protect and provide it was adam that was given the work in the garden it was adam that was held responsible for not protecting eve in the fall it was adam that was to lead and to guide it was eve who was to bear children nurture support partner share women have sonar women know what children think who can't talk listen me changing a diaper and karen changing a diaper are two different experiences i'm fast furious and efficient it's a joy if karen as a woman is fulfilling that transaction it's a different flavor because women are different than men sensitive insightful responsive nurturing caring women are not men they are different and fundamentally biblical femininity begins with the recognition god made me who i am and i am different than men oh i'm not saying you can't play sports and be tough and i'm not saying you can't have common interests i'm not saying guys can't like art or cooking i've learned to like cooking i like fountain pens i like artistic things you can have common interests but men are men and women are women by design and they are different in our culture there's confusion transgender androgyny which it's like that term became familiar to our culture and you may or may not remember this because you've been dead a while but michael jackson kind of introduced the whole idea of masculine feminine characteristics in one entity androgyny adros comes from a greek word which means male gynae is the female word for woman androgyny says male and female in one unisex similarities men who look and act like women and women who look and act like men that is not god's design it interrupts and violates and shields impedes his appetite to put his glory on display and his glory is on display in two genders deuteronomy 22 5 makes it clear that male and female distinctions are not to be blurred or ignored a woman shall not wear a man's clothing nor shall a man be put on a woman's clothing it is an abomination to yahweh who is your god now why would god say that because you don't want women to wear pants no the issue is not pants the issue is female versus male and blurring the distinction which god once maintained because it is an extreme offense to the creator to compromise the creation and the purpose for which he gave that creation and ladies let me say a second part of this first conviction you are made a woman listen to this by god by god the infinite and omnipotent creator of heaven and earth the painter of the sky the designer of the rose made you the most and the best made you value is defined not only by the quality of the thing made but by the one who made it the school received a gift of five violins this past couple of years they were gifted to us to sell and to benefit from their value some of those violins are incredibly valuable because of the name attached to the craftsmen who built them i looked this morning stradivarius most of us know that name as a violin and antonio stradivari was an italian craftsman who made violins in the early 1700s 17 to 17 1700 to 1725 was considered the golden era one of his violins in 2014 which is seven years ago sold for 15.9 million dollars a cello that he crafted is reserved price at 45 million dollars the tone the quality the craftsmanship defining value recognize value ladies you are made by god you are authored and crafted by the god of the universe and you are look at verse 2 22 of chapter two you are made and if you have a new american standard it's it reads this way and i don't know what the legacy well you don't have the legacy in genesis yet you are fashioned i talked about this last semester when i talked about dating you are fashioned which means you are beautifully made by god he took the rib out of the man and he fashioned that rib into a helper suitable for the man fashioned is the hebrew word bana it is not shaped like the prototype eve every woman is made custom built by the artist the word implies designed custom built the word is used of god custom building the earth and the temple of his home in the heavens amos 9 6 he who builds custom builds his lofty palaces in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth speaking of god who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out like artwork over the face of the land like the canvas god pouring out his artistic work both on the land in the heavens framing and fashioning biblical poets or described the ordered universe as a building which god customed designed and built listen you don't have to look at much outside in nature to recognize the incredible variety the unique and definitive beauty the one who did that did you you are made a woman by god and you are fashioned and you are beautifully made you are one of a kind there's no one like you you are the product of infinite resource you are fearfully and wonderfully made infinite know-how made you infinite creative creativity and capacity framed you i have a grandson t-shirt says god don't make no junk god doesn't make any junk i cannot tell you how many young women i have talked to who don't like no matter how pretty they are or they aren't how they are you need to embrace and accept the fact that i am what i am because god made me what i am and i need to maximize that i need to accept it i need to embrace it and if you're a christian woman you're not only made by god you are purchased by god that blood we just sang about was not a perishable thing like silver and gold you weren't ransomed by fort knox bullion gold you were ransomed by precious blood priceless resource bought you and there's two ways to define value who made you and what it costs to purchase you what somebody's willing to pay for you i'll tell you what you are if you're a woman saved by grace you are priceless you're not just the creature created by the creator fashioned and formed and beautiful you're one of a kind and that value is defined by cost and the value that you have been purchased with is priceless let me just punctuate with this statement women you need to own this conviction you are priceless you are precious by creation and by redemption and i want you to live out of that you're defined by who made you and who bought you not the world around you not even the family that grew you or even the ministry in the future that calls you because churches can conform people to an image but sometimes that image is not the image that the bible defines a woman to be you're defined by who made you who bought you not the world around you or the ministry to which god calls you or even the husband that marries you gentlemen you ought to validate this worth and value part of what god entrusts the father to do is validate worth in a woman a daughter and sometimes they do and sometimes they don't but when that daughter is handed off to you as a husband or if you're dating someone you treat her with honor because part of what you do is validate her worth by how you treat her how you protect her how you care for her but your identity is not defined by what some man says about you it's defined by what god says about you and biblical femininity starts there and always has to start there and if you don't anchor down in that you're going to be blown all over the map as a young woman because the culture is going to validate nothing i just said in a world of outward things and how you look and what you accomplish it defies and denies the foundational identity reality defined by your designer god himself the second thing i want to punctuate at the very beginning here second big idea no matter what you have seen or feel no matter what the world says the bible says you are made a woman listen as an image bearer of god an image bearer as a woman you're a representative of god promoting the purpose of god and bearing the likeness of god in the world made by god for the glory of god you are part two and the complementary means by which god chose to reveal himself and accomplish his rule on the earth you represent him and he cannot be re represented by men alone it's men and women it's male and female that bear the image of god and it's the complement of the two that allow the world to see who god is how god is and accomplish what god wants to do imago day bearing a resemblance of god's likeness in rationality morality relational capacity the woman is essential and necessary not just for the good of some man but for the glory and good of god you are meant ladies as a necessary and essential representation to reveal the fuller image of god and to help accomplish the mission of god you are not an add-on afterthought god's image is revealed in the combination of male and female equal in quality designed different in nature and functionality men and women collectively reflect represent and fulfill god's rule on the earth as a woman you are essential crucial and valuable because of who you represent and because of whose work you do you were assigned dominion and rule with the man that is a high calling you are an image bearer don't ever forget it number three thirdly no matter what you've seen or what you feel no matter what the world says the bible says you are a woman and by design you are a potential partner practical partner to accomplish the purposes of god and this is chapter 2 verse 18 and i'll just touch on it because i taught you this back in the fall when i talked about dating so that you understand what you're aiming at but look at the verse again this is god giving the rationale for why he is going to create woman verse 18 chapter 2 the lord god said it is not good for man to be alone i will make do you see that it's make i will make i will design i will custom build i will build and make a helper suitable for him two hebrew words we're going to touch on both of them because ladies this is who you are by design whether you get married or not these are the characteristics intrinsic to the way god made you if you get married you're going to maximize this if you're not going to be married then you're and your devotion is exclusive to christ these characteristics will support the purposes of christ and the kingdom of god you are not only an image bearer you're a practical partner for the purposes of god the hebrew word for helper azir is one who makes up what is lacking you're a supporter it means to rescue in the ugaritic root which it comes from it means to rescue and save 80 times it's used of military assistance you're not a lesser then you're a necessary helper to accomplish something that needs rescued preserved or promoted this term is used of god david psalm 121 verse 1 i lift up my eyes into the hills from whence cometh my help same word whatever god is you are as it relates to function my help comes from yahweh which made heaven and earth yahweh is my helper so to be a helper is not a glorified assistant attack on add-on you go do my things no you are an essential partner to make up what is lacking in whom the man for what the purpose of god for which that man was made acts 13 36 because what is true here of david the bible by inspiration says something about king david that's true of every man for david after he had served the purpose of god in his own generation fell asleep now gentlemen this is for you but it's true about the woman that god may give you you were made for a purpose god made you for an eternal mission in your generation it's not my mission it's your mission and you need a helper to fulfill that mission if you're a woman you are made for the purposes of god either specifically to a man who he will give you to as your husband so that you can help him accomplish the purpose for which he is on the earth in an eternal missional way god made you a partner for an eternal mission question so what do you do while you're waiting and then let me uh quote first corinthians 11 9 a man was not created for the woman's sake but woman for the man's sake you were designed by god to accomplish something with a man specifically that otherwise will not get done you are cardinal and crucial to that you're essential what do you do while you're waiting i don't have a husband i don't even have a potential husband so am i in a holding pattern until god introduces me to that person and what happens if god doesn't introduce me to a husband because he's setting me apart exclusively for himself get a job and engage in kingdom ministry until you have a specific mission defined by your husband engage right now in the kingdom mission of your master as defined by the stewardship of your gifts your passions your training and your opportunity ladies as a woman you're a kingdom citizen whether you're married or not you're a slave of the master who entrusted assets to you according to his will and according to your ability you're a divine steward you don't have to be married to be a steward of the master's household matthew 25 the master went away to take a long journey to receive a kingdom he's coming back before he leaves he entrusts paradidomy personal assets his assets to you to be used for the furthering of his purposes five talents two talents one talent not the same his design his sovereign stewardship entrusted to you what are you to do while you're waiting for the specific ministry mission if god calls you to marriage is you exercise stewardship over the assets that he's given you right now you don't have to wait as a lady to do ministry you can do ministry right now you have a trust of assets that you've been given fulfill that given ministry opportunity you don't know when jesus is going to return matthew 24 verse 45 says you don't know who then is the faithful and sensible slave who has mastered entrusted to him the power and the responsibility to to dispense food to his household at the proper time so jesus said while you're waiting you don't know when i'm coming who's the faithful sensible steward of my assets male or female this is generic the one blessed is that slave who is found so doing when his master returns and i tell you jesus said truly i tell you that that slave that faithful steward of the assets right now that i've given to him or her when i return if i find them doing that i tell you and this jesus can't exaggerate and he doesn't lie i will put that slave in charge of all my possessions ladies you know what you are a steward of the king and the king is coming and you have assets to dispense and you don't wait till you're married you do that today and when you if the lord grants you a husband your mission becomes more specific to the design for which he has made that man to fulfill a mission in his own generation you are teammates and practical partners for the purposes of god but until such time as god gives you that man you are a partner and a kingdom influence servant you are a servant of the master you're a kingdom impact player you're a valued kingdom investor right now you were made a fellow heir first peter 3 7. women walked with jesus a woman was the first to see the resurrected christ women have a place to play in the kingdom of god in the advancing of that kingdom you are crucial you're a partner for eternal purposes fulfill your stewardship and recognize who god made you to be number four no matter what you see or feel no matter what the world around you says the bible says you are a woman and a potential life sharer and a life satisfier and i'm going to tell you who you are by design you are made to share life you are made to bring satisfaction to life for some man or for the glory and blessing of the son of man the son of god suitable is the word for someone who fits like a puzzle piece or broken pottery someone who fits a counterpart corresponding to him this word is translated intimate companion a soulish companion a friend of fit someone with whom you will share a close and intimate bond as a woman you were made to share life and to be a soul mate and an intimate companion and friend you were fashioned from adam for adam out of his core to meet a core relational need you are from him and for him from his core to meet core needs a wife is referred to as the companion of a man's youth in malachi you were made to be somebody's best friend and closest ally and proverbs says that you as that companion to the husband god may grant you you are to bring to him soul satisfying heart enriching heart rejoicing life enriching companionship the husband is commanded to rejoice in the wife of his youth the companion of his youth rejoice the hebrew word is be exhilarated with her love chaka means to be enraptured get lost in something to be consumed by something to utter satisfaction you were made by god to bring life satisfaction to share life with a man he made for you or the son of man he has set you apart to serve you were made by god for some man or single exclusively for the son of man the son of god himself listen i you cannot read the bible in first corinthians chapter 7 and say that singleness is second and some of you are called to be single but that's rare but you were designed as a woman either to be exclusively devoted to him bringing joy and pleasure as a part of his bride to his heart or joy and pleasure and relational intimacy with the man that he has made for you that's what you were designed for you were designed to make life better and what do you do while you're waiting you say pastor area i'm not married i don't know when i'll get married well two things mature and grow in your ability to relate because someday you're going to relate to somebody and maturity in that way will advance the purposes for which you were designed and created number two be proactive praying and pursuing there's nothing wrong with a woman asking god for the partner for which he has made her and there's nothing wrong with a woman pursuing that desire if you wait on a guy you may wait a long time put yourself in the right place at the right time obviously there's ways to do this and not do this you don't stalk but you can pray and pursue you can say hey let's go grab a coffee there's nothing wrong with that biblically there's no prohibition about desiring what god built you to do and to be god brought the woman to the man let god bring you to him fifthly and i'll just touch this because of the sake of time today fifthly no matter what you've seen or feel no matter what the world says the bible says as a woman this is first thessalonians chapter 2. you are a potential child bearer life nurturer and sacrificial worker paul said i proved to be like a nursing mother among you who tenderly cares for her children i delighted my joy and desire was to share not only the gospel with you but my own soul as well and i worked night and day i labored with hardship to the end that you could become what you were created to be as my spiritual children well that's a definition of what a woman does he said as a nursing mother what mothers do is they bear children they nurture those children and they sacrifice to advance those children now take your bible in closing and i want in just a brief time first timothy chapter 2. and i want to touch on this and this is really a series and a sermon in itself but i want to touch on it because of the importance of understanding there's a sixth thing you are by design potentially no matter what you've seen or feel no matter what the world says the bible says as a woman you are a potential spiritual influencer and eternal soul shaper you are a spiritual influencer and you are an eternal soul shaper you impact now first timothy chapter 2 9-15 is a section of scripture i wrote my master's thesis on the role of the woman in the church was my title is 100 plus pages so in a couple of minutes let me reduce a hundred plus pages to two key thoughts that you can leave with today key truth number one in the church and that's what chapter two is about first timothy is life in the church chapter three verse fifteen paul said i write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of god this is not about society this is not about the marketplace it's not a woman's what a woman's allowed to do in society or the work world it's what a woman is allowed to do and focused on in the church of god the household of god in the church godly women demonstrated by their priorities and virtue look at verse nine likewise i want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing modestly and discreetly not with braided hair and gold or pearls and costly garments but rather by means of good works as befits women making a claim to godliness godly woman women manifested by their focus on virtue inside not the trappings of fashion outside those women who are respectful and teachable verse 11 let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness let me boil that down women weren't taught in that culture not by the jewish culture or the gentile culture they were not allowed in in the church of jesus christ they were not only allowed in they were to learn and to be taught but they were to be taught with a submissive teachable i want to learn spirit that's what verse 12 fundamental verse 11 means they quietly receive instruction with submissiveness they are teachable they are godly women who are respectful and teachable and in the church such women here's a key statement can lead and teach within the proper boundaries of qualified leadership they are not to exercise leadership or teaching authority defining doctrine or practice in the church chapter 3 that's reserved for elders who are men which is why verse 12 says i do not allow a woman to teach and that has to do with directive doctrinal authoritative teaching or exercise authority leadership in the church that is authoritative over a man men in the church but they're to be quiet as it relates to those leadership functions now listen there's a ton of people say well that the reason this was written this way is because of what was going on in ephesus and what paul was dealing with is what gentile women pagan women were doing in the church that is not the reason that certainly he might have written it for that reason but that's not the grounds for which he says it ought to be this way he gives two statements as to why it ought to be this way masculine authority is rooted in creation order verse 13. it was adam who was first created then eve that's why he leads it's like colossians 3 18 wives be submissive to your husbands follow their leadership voluntarily voluntarily that's what submission means tasso to arrange yourself huppo under someone else and you voluntarily not because you're inferior you're an equal in quality but by way of function you need a leader you willingly and voluntarily submit to that leadership and you submit to that leadership because you recognize what colossians 3 says because it is fitting in the lord it's the way god designed it i didn't design it men didn't design it god designed it first timothy chapter 2 says ladies follow the leadership of proper authority chapter 3 elders qualified by character doctrine and practice follow them elders are definers of doctrine acts 15. you have a question about the gospel the elders come together they deliberate they decide they communicate that is not the role of women that is the role of qualified biblical leadership rooted in creation order and rooted in verse 14 the fall it was not adam who was deceived but the woman being quite deceived fell into transgression now listen this bothers a lot of people but let me just summarize for the sake of time in some way as demonstrated in the first woman who by the way was without sin the woman by constitution is more vulnerable to to deception and seduction by the enemy which is why the enemy strategically pursued her when he apparently wasn't fulfilling his protective purpose now adam sinned willfully she was deceived in some way as demonstrated in the first woman who was without sin the woman by constitution is more vulnerable to deception and seduction by the enemy we are not told why we are just told because of this vulnerability manifest in the first woman woman women are not to teach authoritatively in the church defining doctrine and practice this is reserved for elders who are men but ladies listen to me this is not to say a woman cannot lead or teach in the church but she is to do so under the protective authority of qualified biblical leadership women can lead women can teach in the church but shepherded under the leadership that god provides in godly elders this leadership restriction applies to the church there is no biblical prohibition against women leading in the marketplace or society and the final thing i want to say about this is verse 15 but women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith love and sanctity with self-restraint if as a godly woman this is not salvation this is not spiritual rescue this is preserving your leadership influence in the body of christ so you can't lead from a pulpit like i'm leading today but what you can do is impact and influence the church through your influence over children you bear and raise a woman should not overlook her greatest eternal and kingdom influence is with her children she impacts through her godly life and influence that's what the second key truth is in verse 15 that a woman's greatest greatest leadership impact in the body of christ shall be preserved by the soul-shaping eternal influence a mother has in her home with her children and her greatest influence ladies listen to me is not in the marketplace what paul is saying to women you've not forfeited your ability to teach and lead in the church you just need to be under authority to protect and preserve both your leadership and the things you teach but don't think that leaves you without influence that leadership influence is preserved and promoted by the influence unrivaled that you have in your home so i would say to you women don't underestimate god made you to be an impact player with the children he entrusts to you it is your greatest opportunity for impact for eternity listen abraham lincoln said my mother is the person responsible for all that i am and all that i've become thomas edison said my mother was the making of me charles spurgeon who had a hundred thousand people lined the streets to see his coffin go by said i cannot tell you how much i owe to the solemn weighty words of my mother his brother said of spurgeon's mother eliza who had several children said she was the starting point of all the greatness and goodness of any of us by the grace of god what we've become and enjoyed it's because of her susanna wesley birth charles and john wesley was known as the mother of methodism not because she preached a sermon or wrote a book but because she parented young children who became impact and eternal influence players my favorite african-american preacher i spent a summer with here in south central los angeles ev hill said to me my mama's prayers and love have changed my life so let me finish with this statement i'm out of time it was aquila and priscilla who taught apollos the way of god more accurately a woman can lead and teach but her greatest ministry is in the children that god gives to her i'm not saying she can't be an impact player in the church i'm saying her greatest impact is the only impact she can provide in a way that nobody else can and you say what if god doesn't give me children invest in somebody else's the most fertile ground for transformation in the kingdom is before the age of 12. i was called to the hospital in birmingham by three daughters because their mother had taken a bottle of pills when i got to the emergency area and the doctor came out and said to the daughters and to me her pastor her organs are shutting down she doesn't have long her father was an alcoholic who abused her her husband had taken his life in their home just the year before my interpretation as i'd rather be dead than live with her her life was full of pain and dissatisfaction she was dying she didn't want to live life was not worth living for her and as her pastor with her daughters i went into her hospital room to visit with her i'm going to give her a name this is not her name but i said to her i said mary i want to say something to you that you need to hear nothing outwardly has affirmed or validated who you really are but i'm going to say to you as a representative of god which is who i am and what i am as your pastor what you need to hear what you need to trust and what you need to believe god who cannot lie says you are precious he made you your worth is priceless because of what he had paid for you and mary no matter how you feel no matter what your life has said or communicated to you you are beautiful in his eyes and i did i told her i said i'm going to do something i never do i leaned over and i kissed her on the forehead and i said mary on behalf of god trust believe what he says about you he is who he says he is receive that believe that and if god grants you life live out of that mary you are beautiful you're a woman made in the image of god for the glory of god purchased by the son of god i would say that to every one of you no matter how you feel no matter what the world says that's the truth and the good news of that story is her organs came back she got out of the hospital and i got to hug her at the back of my church she's alive today living for christ today because she believed and trusted a god who cannot lie be who god made you to be as a woman and as a child of god father thank you for the time this morning i know we've traveled a bit long and so much to say i just pray that seeds of conviction will be planted so that the beauty that you want to display and the creation unique you have made in a woman female to honor you to fulfill purposes designed by you that these women these young women would anchor down in conviction and live out of the joy of that reality to become what you've made them to be so that christ is honored the kingdom has advanced the world is better and i ask it no matter what the world says for the honor of jesus christ in whose name i pray and all god's people said amen

Channel: The Master's University

Views: 58,288

Keywords: California

Id: Q__zOhTxHW8

Length: 58min 39sec (3519 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 25 2021