New Web Address

Ladies, we are excited about our new blog:
Come find us at our new address:
http://www.ChristianLifeWomenConnect.com

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An Announcement & An Invitation

We are moving to SATURDAYS!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS 

September 21^st   October 19^th    November 16^th

10:00 am – 12:00 pm  @ Christian Life Brown Chapel

Childcare for birth-11 with a reservation by the Monday before the event. 

Reserve below or call 798-4488. 

Let’s CELEBRATE 10 years of  Connecting

as we kick off a brand new season  together!      

 Saturday, September 21st @ 10am–Noon in Brown Chapel

“Refresh, Renew, Restore”

There are so many of you precious ladies that we don’t know.  

But we want to know you!!  

Your life story is being written every day, but we know from experience that having a cheering section makes the hard days worth it!  

Our passion is to inspire, encourage and equip women as we connect our very real life {perfection isn’t allowed} with real faith in Jesus Christ!  

Could you use any of that?  

Then YOU are invited to come find out what WCW is all about & experience the power of connecting?

FYI:  Childcare for all events are provided by paid church staff.  Please honor your reservation.

Perfect Love - Abounding Hope: Week 12

How do we describe that which is perfect?

Miriam Webster defines the word as "being entirely without fault or defect; flawless"
None of us, born in the flesh to a fallen world, can fully understand or attain perfection.  ONLY Jesus, being God on earth, was able to reach that status.  What we do see  throughout scripture, is God's love, perfected in us.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." I John 4: 7-12

This is the kind of love that we must rely on as Christians.  This perfect love surpasses aggravation, difficult people, children with bad attitudes, and that most annoying driver that almost made you say a swear-word in traffic.  Imagine if God had given up on us when we were any of the above.  Instead, his love fills us and allows us to be so much more than we ever were.  God gives us value, putting a price on our life (the life of his perfect, precious son.)

 



Knowing how much God loves me, stirs up a hope to love others just as much as He loves me.  I pray that our love goes before us, showing others that we belong to Him, through our actions.

Freedom from Fear- Abounding Hope: Week 11

 

 

God did not give us a spirit of fear!!

 

A simple, quick search on BibleGateway.com of the word "fear" yields 336 results. Why so much attention to fear? If repetition is any indication, it can be said that the Lord did not want his children to be hindered by fear.

 

"fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

 

The Word instructs us not to fear, "don't be afraid", to be free of fear. But how does one operate free of fear? How can you stare down the circumstances and situations that fallen many before you?

 

"Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious hand. See, all of your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing" Isaiah 41:10-11(NLT)

 

Hold onto God! Hold tight to his Word, trust and believe in the might of God.  Seems simple in theory, but in practice…recognize what makes us fearful.  Recognize the conditions and settings that make us fearful, those moments that would seem hopeless, for it is in these moments we must hold tightest.

 

God wants us to hold to Him so that we can be courageous, secure, hopeful!  God does not want us to be apprehensive, full of dread or terror. We must keep in mind that there is no room for hope if we choose to hold onto fear.

 

"And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in the world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear…." 1 John 4:17-18

 

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Seven Questions

Celebrating 10 Years of Connecting Women to Jesus & Each Other

Has it really been that long?  Oh yes--yes it has!!!

And we have all been changed so much in these ten years.

We moved from Thursday nights in the basement (fellowship hall) to Monday nights in the Youth Auditorium.  We have moved from foyer conversations to the kind of deep talks that usually happen around a kitchen table.  We have been moved to tears to learn of her story--the story that we never knew was behind her beautiful face!  

On Your Mark. . . Get Set. . .Pray (track shoes & pom-poms) 

The Thrill of Letting Go.  (the pink carabiner that might hold your keys :-)

Relentless.  

Holding Fast

Shine.

These are just some of the themes we have had the past 10 years of ministry guiding our hearts to connect to Jesus and to each other.  We have shopped together, retreated at the beach, joined in simulcasts with other churches.  We have been silly and serious.  We have been excited with hope and desperate with disappointment.  But always we have been faithful to loving women where they are and cheering them on in their faith journey!  

So now we want to look ahead to the next 10 years.  How are we doing and what can we do to improve?  

Thank you for taking 3 minutes to complete this simple survey.  And as always, if you want more information or have more feedback you'd like to give, feel free to email us at womenconnectingwomen {dot} gmail {dot} com. 

Look out for upcoming news for WCW's BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!!

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if you can't see the survey below, please click here for the link 

Abounding Hope: Week 9—The Brink of Hope

July 17, 2013 by Jen Baierl

The Brink of Hope

This week, we see the prophesy begin to unfold for Joseph.
The land is destitute and people are traveling to Egypt for food.  Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt and bow before him, as Joseph had dreamed and told his father and brothers previously.

“Then he [Joseph] dreamed another dream

and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have

dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon,

and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  But when

he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father

rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream

that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother

and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves

to the ground before you?”  And his brothers

were jealous of him…”Genesis 7:9-11a

Joseph doesn’t let on to them who he is, but instead seems to be harsh to them.  This harshness is not out of revenge, but to bring them to repentance and humility. 
Matthew Henry says “God, in his providence, sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to those for whom yet he has great mercy in store.”
What Joseph wants most is to see his brother, Benjamin.  He puts one of his brothers in prison while he is awaiting Benjamin to be brought back.  He reassures them, with the words, “Do this and live! I reverence and fear God!!!” – Genesis 42:18b

As the brothers travel back to their father, their guilty conscience begins to kick in and they are blaming each other for the harm they caused Joseph.  When they reached Jacob, he was troubled.  He was frightened of the money found in their sacs, distraught that Joseph was already gone, Simeon was in prison, and now they wanted to take Benjamin.  He distrusted his sons and laid the fault on them.
Proverbs 21: 8 “The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright”
Little did Jacob know that the Lord had this all in His hand and was leading him to a place of great HOPE.
Matthew Henry says of Jacob “We often think that to be against us, which is really for us. We are afflicted in body, estate, name, and in our relations; and think all these things are against us, whereas they are really working for us a weight of glory. Thus does the Lord Jesus conceal himself and his favour, thus he rebukes and chastens those for whom he has purposes of love. By sharp corrections and humbling convictions he will break the stoutness and mar the pride of the heart, and bring to true repentance. Yet before sinners fully know him, or taste that he is gracious, he consults their good, and sustains their souls, to wait for him. May we do thus, never yielding to discouragement, determining to seek no other refuge, and humbling ourselves more and more under his mighty hand. In due time he will answer our petitions, and do for us more than we can expect.”
Yes, Lord, that we may seek no other refuge other than YOU!!

Abounding Hope: Week 8--A Vessel of Hope

When we meet Joseph the stage is immediately set.

 "…Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age.  And he made him a robe of many colors" – Genesis 37:3

What could have become a story of hate and revenge instead became one of restoration and hope.  

Joseph was not the first to suffer at the hands of his brother, but in this case we see God's continued favor upon his life. From the sparing of Joseph's life forward, God continued to bless him, and even at times using people to position Joseph.  Starting with Reuben,  God provides vessels to be used in providing for Joseph.  Even in the most dreadful of circumstances, regardless of the person's motivations, God can use someone to make a way.

I'm asking myself what kind of vessel am I. Am I a vessel of hope and encouragement? Or do I allow bitterness and anger to fester and sour hope? 

 "..there are not only vessels of gold and  of silver, but also wood  and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor.  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared to every good work…follow righteousness, faith, clarity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart…" –2 Timothy 2:20-22

 Are you willing to let God use you? I think most of us want to be helpful, maybe even hopeful.  But are we willing to do what is required of us to be used by God? 

Yes God can use anyone, any circumstance.  But to be an honorable vessel means "you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work" (NLT).

 Thankfully perfection is not a requirement! Even with my flaws God can still fashion a useful vessel. Even if I am still trying to read through the Bible for the 1^st time, even if I haven't memorized every Psalm or perfected Family Devotions, God can still use me and you!

 Lord, I pray you shape us into the vessels you call for us to be. By your design may we find purpose and hope.  Amen.

Written by Michelle Walker-Alexander