WORD-FILLED MINISTRY
WORD-FILLED MINISTRY: Loving and Serving the Church
Authors: Gloria Furman, Kathleen B. Nielson, Claire Smith, Carrie Sandom, Cindy Cochrum, Gloria Furman, Keri Folmar, Ellen Marie Dykas, Nancy Guthrie
Review written by: Laura Merle
ISAIAH 55:10-11 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven. And do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving speed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty. But it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
FROM 3,000 FEET…
This is the first time in my life that I’ve actually been committed to a reading plan that goes through the entire Bible in one year. It’s always felt (and still does) like such an overwhelming task. It is time-consuming, uncomfortable, and confusing at times. I think part of it has also been that I’ve felt a lack of urgency or need for it. I’m exposed to Scripture through preaching on Sundays, small groups, and individual devotionals, and I feel like I’m learning about God. Isn’t that enough?
This is one of the areas that I have felt God pressing in on lately, pushing me to think about how I was engaging with the Bible and understanding it. Reading “Word-Filled Women’s Ministry: Loving and Serving the Church” was encouraging in many ways because it focused entirely on the centrality of Scripture. The authors reference Isaiah 55:10-11 (above), a very poetic and illustrative way of saying that God’s Word is like the rain and snow, which gives life to the earth and makes things grow. “So many voices these days tell us that in order to get at truth, we have to look deep inside ourselves, or at least we have to start there. But this picture shows us something originating from far outside ourselves—like precipitation from the sky, something we desperately need but don’t have in ourselves—so that we’re called not to look inward to receive it but to look outward, to look up and hold out our hands. These vivid pictures communicate the wonder of the way God speaks to us from heaven, sending his own Word from outside us, in order to give us life we do not have within ourselves” (pages 21-24). The Bible is not just a book about God, it is God speaking to us.
“Word-Filled Women’s Ministry” is a compilation of many authors that engages broadly with ideas of womanhood and looks in detail at how ministry among women looks in various contexts, including stories from women all over the world. The multiple authors argue that successful women’s ministry will be saturated in God’s Word, clearly communicate the gospel, and serve as an extension of a local church.
MY FAVORITE QUOTES (emphasis added):
"Eve means 'GIVER OF LIFE.' I don't think this redemptive calling to be a life giver is only biological. The life of Christ in us enables women to be life givers, rather than life-takers, in every relationship, circumstance, and season of life. God's grace empowers us to nurture covenant life--life based on the unfailing promises of God to us in Christ--in our homes, churches, neighborhoods, and workplaces" (160).
"We came to the wonderful realization that each of us was a younger and an older woman; there was a vibrant mutuality as we learned from and nurtured the faith of one another" (161).
“SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD is a call to all women!--Sharing our lives to train and help younger women know how to apply the Word in all of life--how to love others, care for their families, cultivate community, work productively, and extend compassion according to God's Word…godly women who prayerfully and continually point them to the sufficiency of Scripture to transform them from life takers to life givers" (162).
"Ever since Eve, it has been our human tendency to distance ourselves from God's Word. No ministry in the church is exempt from the temptation to focus more on human desires and needs than on the God's provision in his revelation of himself to us. Women's ministry in particular can so easily be all about women rather than being all about women together hearing and following God's voice, revealed in his Word" (13).
“Women's ministry is not about meeting women's needs, it's ultimately about GOD'S GLORY.”
"MY FEAR of theology was actually a fear of God's Word, evidence that I LACKED CONFIDENCE in the SUFFICIENCY of the Word for all aspects of my life" (173-174).
"Our ministries exist not simply for the purpose of helping people live well now; our ministries, like our whole lives, must aim for the end, when we'll see Jesus face-to-face" (39).
"It is easy for ministry among women to be mostly about the here and now-- the realities that we can see with our eyes, the things we see as our most significant needs and challenges. We can tend to come to the Bible and take women to the Bible seeking to discover the answers to what we see as our most urgent questions but often looking primarily for comforts in temporal troubles. We can spend so much time focused on coping strategies and improvement plans for this life that we simply squeeze out both hopeful and sober consideration of the life to come--the forever that will begin on that day the Bible points us toward again and again--the day that will mark the beginning of forever joy and rest in the presence of God or forever misery away from his presence" (229).
[Looking forward to the second coming] “Rather than focusing on the timing of that day, Jesus seemed much more interested in the disciples' READINESS for it" (230).
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
This book will encourage and provide guidance on how to start/continue/deepen women ministry within the church. If you seek to know how and why we should continue to strengthen the ministry among women in our churches, this book will give you the foundation you need to do that well.
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Thanks for taking the time to read through these posts. Like always, the point is to stir up consideration and then talk about it! I would love to get together to consider these ideas together.
Joyfully,
Laura