{"id":30849,"date":"2022-09-10T15:06:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-the-church-must-provide-women-in-todays-culture\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:06:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:06:56","slug":"what-the-church-must-provide-women-in-todays-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-the-church-must-provide-women-in-todays-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Church Must Provide Women in Today’s Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
Elisa Ph. photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Jen Oshman<\/em> <\/p>\n

Surveys measuring the mental health and emotional well-being of women and girls in the United States unanimously reflect a concerning trend. By all accounts, happiness and contentment are markedly down, while stress, anxiety, and depression are way up\u2014and this was true prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Women seeking relief have myriad options\u2014exercise class, book club, therapy, girls\u2019 nights out, an afternoon at the spa, a day in nature, a long soak in the tub, medication. And depending on the heart behind each of these self-care strategies, they may improve a woman\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

Our churches, though, have a unique and powerful opportunity to serve women and girls in this cultural moment. As discouragement and disillusionment threaten to take hold, women\u2019s ministries can hold out a particular kind of hope<\/em>\u2014a hope that\u2019s truth-filled, soul-deep, and all-satisfying.<\/p>\n

Our churches have a unique and powerful opportunity to serve women and girls in this cultural moment. \u2014 @jenoshman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

As church leaders, we must make the best use of our time (Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5). God ordained you and me for this specific moment in our specific contexts so that we each might seek Him and find Him (Acts 17:26). So then, how might we put the God who made us and died to save us on display for the women in our churches and communities to seek and savor Him?<\/p>\n

We must ask ourselves if we\u2019re offering a distinctly Christian hope<\/em> to our women. Do we point women to the Giver of Life, or do our programs and gatherings resemble what might be offered at the local library, Mormon ward, or secular self-help class?<\/p>\n

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The well-being of women in our communities is on the line, and we, the church, have an opportunity to be a porch light in a dark night. Let\u2019s not shrink back but rather, boldly shine. Here are three components to include in your women\u2019s ministry to ensure you\u2019re offering explicitly Christian hope and truth to your women.<\/p>\n

1. The Word of God<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This one may seem obvious, but many women\u2019s ministries forego the Bible in an attempt to be relevant or seeker-friendly. Especially in this cultural moment when many see God\u2019s Word as oppressive or on the wrong side of history, it can be tempting to make it secondary or to save it for later. But we who belong to the Lord know eternal life, mercy, and beauty are found in those pages. Let\u2019s not shy away from God\u2019s living and good Word. Let us say with the apostle Peter, \u201cLord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life\u201d (John 6:68, CSB).<\/p>\n

In this age of self-focus and discouragement, the Bible lifts our eyes up, off ourselves and our temporary cultural landscape, and onto our God and His sovereignty, kindness, and eternal glory. \u2014 @jenoshman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

This is no small thing: we have the words of eternal life<\/em>. With the Word of God as our foundation, our women\u2019s ministries will offer true life. Hebrews tells us the Bible is living and active and can help us know our own thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12). James says the Bible serves as a kind of mirror for us (James 1:22-24). We look to it to see where we might be corrected and transformed so that we can be doers of the Word. We need the Word so that we won\u2019t be conformed to this age, but instead have renewed minds to know God\u2019s will (Romans 12:2). In this age of self-focus and discouragement, the Bible lifts our eyes up, off ourselves and our temporary cultural landscape, and onto our God and His sovereignty, kindness, and eternal glory.<\/p>\n

2. The gospel of Jesus<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In an age that teaches women they must define themselves, help themselves, and depend only on themselves, the gospel of grace is oxygen to a suffocating generation. The deepest need of every woman attending our ministries is to receive the grace and mercy of Jesus. We must constantly remind ourselves and our women that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Because of His great mercy and love for us, Jesus traded us our sin for His righteousness\u2014our death for His eternal life. We\u2019ve been given the most scandalous and generous gift in all of history.<\/p>\n

In an age that teaches women they must define themselves, help themselves, and depend only on themselves, the gospel of grace is oxygen to a suffocating generation. \u2014 @jenoshman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

What a relief. What a joy. What a Savior! In our flesh, we tend to believe we must conjure up our own acceptance, or that we\u2019re beyond God\u2019s acceptance. This age tells women, \u201c<\/em>It\u2019s all on you.\u201d But Jesus says, \u201c<\/em>No, it\u2019s all on me. I paid the price. You\u2019re forgiven. You\u2019re mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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See also  Is It \u2018Ministry Failure\u2019 To See a Counselor?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Let us, therefore, make sure He\u2019s always on full display\u2014that His grace permeates our atmosphere, that His mercy is center stage. Do our messages and event calendars promote works-righteousness or a call to rest in Jesus, who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14)? Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). If our ministries are going to be truly life-giving, we must constantly rehearse the gospel to one another. It\u2019s Jesus alone who sets the women in your church free (John 8:32, 36).<\/p>\n

3. The people of God, led by the Spirit of God<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

In our individualistic and self-reliant age, we bear witness to an epidemic of loneliness. Our gatherings as the people of God are a strong antidote to the sickness of isolation. Simply inviting women in to be seen and heard, embraced in warmth and welcome, is potentially life-changing. But let\u2019s practice a particular kind of hospitality in women\u2019s ministry\u2014welcoming one another to gather not only with each other but with our sovereign God as well.<\/p>\n

As we who belong to the Lord gather, our Lord gathers with us. Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), is in our midst. Jesus told His disciples, \u201cWhen the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth\u201d (John 16:13, CSB). And so it is for you and me. The Holy Spirit lives inside us and guides us. By His guidance, we encourage and admonish one another; we remind each other of God\u2019s goodness and power during turbulent times. The Holy Spirit is our counselor and our helper. When we gather, He is there, speaking truth to each of us as we speak it to one another. May our gatherings not be marked by worldly advice, but rather unity in prayer, seeking the Lord, and building up one another in Him.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s ministries established in the Word, rooted in the gospel, and full of God\u2019s people led by God\u2019s Spirit offer life. \u2014 @jenoshman Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Women in our communities bring real and heavy burdens with them when they walk through our church doors. We have so much more to offer than the coping strategies of our age. Women\u2019s ministries established in the Word, rooted in the gospel, and full of God\u2019s people led by God\u2019s Spirit offer life. In this generation, may our women\u2019s ministries \u201cshine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life\u201d (Philippians 2:15b-16a, CSB). We have true, eternal, and unshakable life\u2014let\u2019s offer nothing less.<\/p>\n

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Jen Oshman<\/h2>\n

@jenoshman<\/p>\n

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Jen has been in women\u2019s ministry for over two decades as a missionary and pastor\u2019s wife on three continents. She\u2019s the mother of four daughters, the author of\u00a0Enough about Me: Find Lasting Joy in the Age of Self<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So\u00a0Much More<\/em>. You can find her writing and podcast at\u00a0jenoshman.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n