Women in the Word
Bibianna shares about the encouraging ways God has been building the women of GBC by growing their confidence in, love for and obedience to His word.
I recently marked the end of three years of work as the Ministry Worker for Women’s Ministry and Communications here at GBC. Time really flies. (And if I’ve not been able to meet you in person, hello! You can drop me an email for any questions on these two areas).
The past three years have been rather exciting and interesting as I have seen the church navigate COVID restrictions, emerge from those times, and also adjusting back to “normal” church life. My work in women’s ministry and communications have also evolved with these shifts.
Some of you may wonder what we do in women’s ministry. In a church of our size, we have different experiences and expectations of a woman’s ministry. Even at GBC, we have also adopted different structures and forms over the years. I am thankful that God has provided many faithful women who have sought to help other women grow. Together with Carrie, we see ourselves as continuing this same mission. So allow me this opportunity to share about what I really do love doing – women’s ministry – and how God has been encouraging me in my work through you, the church.
Women as a part of the church
Women’s Ministry at Grace desires to help women minister to one another. As a ministry, we also exist as a part of this local church. The gospel is central and it is the reason why we gather in the first place. As Bible teacher D. A. Carson puts it: “Ideally the church itself is not made up of natural "friends." It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort. Christians come together, … because they have been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance. In the light of this common allegiance, in light of the fact that they have all been loved by Jesus himself, they commit themselves to doing what he says—and he commands them to love one another. In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.”
It is this gospel that gathers women and allows us to form and build personal relationships with each other.
It is this gospel that gathers women and allows us to form and build personal relationships with each other. These relationships also serve as avenues for us to apply the gospel to our lives. Like our church, the ministry also exists to grow women and send them out into wherever God has placed them – in the homes, workplace, world etc.
Thus, in one sense, the goal and aim of this ministry is the same as the purpose of the church. Women, like men too, have been saved by grace through faith in Christ alone and are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (c.f. Eph 2:8-10).
And as Ephesians 4:11-15 goes on to write, the saints in God’s church – made of up men and women who are young and old, and of different backgrounds – are to be equipped for the work of ministry and to grow in maturity, while built up in love.
Women built on and built up by the Word
This has been the desire and motivation behind many of the Women’s Ministry events. Something new that we organised recently was a training series for women. We had heard from women that they desired to grow to be better Bible readers, and also wanted to help others do so. While there are many existing platforms such as the regular Sunday preaching, EQUIP, CGs etc, we thought that it could be helpful for women to gather to learn together and to model it for each other what it means to do so. Lord willing, the training would not only impart knowledge and skills, but also serve to facilitate the formation of friendships.
From August to October, about 15 women gathered for this four-session, fortnightly training on Thursday mornings. This series focused on helping women grow in confidence in trusting, reading and handling God’s Word personally, and with others. It was encouraging to see the women learn together, think and ask questions of the text, and also encourage each other to press on in the faith. Here are three main takeaways from the series:
God’s word is sufficient, clear, authoritative and necessary.
Firstly, God’s word is sufficient, clear, authoritative and necessary. As 2 Timothy 3:16 states, the Bible is God-breathed and we have all we need in it for salvation. The Scriptures speak of Christ, and the salvation that He brings. We had Pastor Eugene teach the women about the centrality of Scripture in the Christian’s life and why we are able to trust it and build our lives around it. There are many voices in life that threaten to drown out God’s voice through His word, and it was important for us to be reminded of this important truth!
The women in the room were also a testimony to the power of God’s word. Women of all ages, nationalities and Christian maturity were gathered together, because, as Romans 1:16 states, the gospel has the power to save.
God’s people have all we need in His word.
Secondly, God’s people have all we need in His word. This was also necessary for us to remember as so much of the Christian’s life is built on and around Scripture. Scripture is taught when we gather on Sundays. When we do our discipling, we can be confident that all we need is in His Word. As women, we may be walking and working through different circumstances but we can trust that we are not alone for God has given us His Spirit, Word and Son. Scripture assures us of our justification, gives us the tools to fight sin in our sanctification and also exhorts us to press on in hope by holding out our glorification. Scripture teaches, reproves, corrects and trains us in righteousness that we may be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:17).
Even when we do our evangelism, our goal is not to persuade through human reason and effort, but we speak the gospel clearly to those around us, trusting that these are “wonderful words of life”. This is especially encouraging for those who are mothers, as they strive to faithfully share, teach and display the gospel to their children from young. In fact, this is a lifelong endeavour, as they continue to parent their children through the years. This is also for women who are reaching out to friends, colleagues and other loved ones – husband, parents, grandparents.
This same Scripture is what we hold out to each other when we disciple each other. Whether we do a Bible study together, or meet to discuss the sermon, pray with and for one another, Scripture is our guide.
God-centred women love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Lastly, God-centred women love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. What I was most encouraged by over the course of this series was watching the women learn, think, ask questions and help each other. The women asked thoughtful, sometimes difficult questions too, and desired to know God as He has revealed Himself through His word.
It was exciting to see women of all ages engage with God’s word, and grow in confidence in handling it. The older, more mature women who participated in the training encouraged me with their presence and also reminded me that we will never exhaust God’s riches in His word. I too, pray that I will be as humble, teachable and faithful the older I get. Whether young or old, a new Christian or a more mature one, it was a privilege to read the Bible with another person!
In preparing for the training, I was helped by this quote by author Jen Wilkin, “"The heart cannot love what the mind does not know. If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God. The more we know God, the more we will love him. Our pleasure in him will increase as our knowledge does. We must make earnest study of him as he has revealed himself in his Word."
Indeed, it is our prayer that God will continue to grow the women in GBC to be rooted in and grow deeply in God’s word. We pray that God will continue to grow women who know Him and to love Him with heart, soul, mind and strength.