Here we are on a hot Tuesday afternoon. I guess it's supposed to get extremely warm next week. Our family will be driving through Redding, CA, this Saturday, and I just saw a weather chart showing what the temperatures are supposed to be this week in Redding. Thursday indicates 111 degrees, as does Friday. Well that's okay, because we won't be going through town either of those days. And Sunday is down to 101. So what is Saturday's temp supposed to be, you ask? Only 704 degrees! Oops, someone made a typo (I hope!) for the day we'll drive through.
I'll be on vacation next week, but I'm not leaving you without a leader. Amy Rusaw will teach both Bible studies next week, and I'll be back in time to lead the following week. So please be sure to come out and show Amy how much you appreciate her filling in for me. Both studies meet at the church, with Common Grounds on Wednesday at 6:30 PM, and The Perk at 9:30 on Thursday morning.
This week Jaimie is bringing treats to Common Grounds. Thanks! No one signed up for The Perk snacks, so let me know if you want to do that. Y'all might want to make sure to eat breakfast Thursday morning, just in case! The following week (the one I'm gone) Jaimie signed up for goodies for The Perk, but no one has for Wednesday night's Common Grounds. I'm sensing a theme here!
I won't be sending out a WOW-Zine the next two Tuesdays since I'll be gone.
Until next time,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015 WOW-Zine
Ladies, just a quick reminder that neither of our Bible studies are meeting this week due to Vacation Bible School being held. I'll see you next week instead! Jaimie will be providing treats for Common Grounds next Wednesday evening, but I'm still in need of someone to help in that area for Thursday morning's The Perk. Let me know if you'd like to sign up for that.
In case you didn't see the article I wrote for the recent church newsletter, I'll include it here.
When I was a teen, my Forest Service dad was stationed in the hills outside Bakersfield, California, in a little town called Kernville. My siblings and I would often play in an area we called Poodle Puppy Park. It wasn’t an official place in town, but an area of big boulders and scrub brush in the hills across the highway. From our house, the location of the boulders and brush looked like the face of a poodle—thus, the name. We would often go there to play Cowboys and Indians, or Survivalists. We would become pioneer children whose parents had died and we’d somehow been separated from the wagon train and had to use our wilderness skills to survive. It’s hard to believe now, but we were actually allowed to spend the night out there a time or two. The scariest part of climbing those rugged hills was jumping from rock to rock as we made our way to the highest point. I was always afraid that I would have an unsuccessful jump and instead of landing on the next boulder, I would fall between the two and break my leg in a nest of rattlesnakes. The thought of being between a rock and a hard place did not appeal to me at all!
I was recently reading a part of Scripture which refers to God and Moses having a conversation with each other. I’m not talking about traditional prayer here, but a genuine one-on-one conversation. In Exodus 33, in the midst of their interaction, Moses asks God to show him His glory. (vs. 18) That sounds pretty audacious to most of us, but the Lord doesn’t seem to even blink an eye. His response is that He will cause all of His goodness to pass in front of Moses.
How could Moses possibly take in all the goodness, the glory, of God? We are overwhelmed when we see the Lord working in our lives, or in the lives of people we’re praying for. We are in awe of God in the power of the ocean, or the majesty of the mountains. We may catch a glimpse of God and His goodness, but our earthly lives are not able to totally absorb the entire greatness of God.
The Lord knew the same was true of Moses. He would not be able to withstand seeing God’s goodness. So the Lord told him “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will removed My hand and you will see My back, but My face must not be seen.” (vs. 21,22)
So God placed Moses in the cleft of the rock—which boils down to being between a rock and a hard place. Moses could have easily felt confined in that small space. It would have been dark and uncomfortable. It could have seemed he was being punished and put in a timeout! But that’s not at all what God was doing, was it? He Himself placed Moses there for his own safety. The Lord’s hand covered and protected Moses. Instead of God putting him there to distance him from God, He carefully positioned him because of His nearness. And God’s hand didn’t move until He was through and Moses was allowed to see His back.
This is often what God does with us. There are times and circumstances when we feel we’re in that proverbial spot of being between a rock and a hard place. We sense everything is pressing down on us, and darkness is all we can see. We may even feel abandoned by God. Yet perhaps in those times, more than any other, God’s goodness is so real and so near that we would be unable to bear it if we knew what was really going on. He hides us in the cleft of the Rock (Jesus) and covers us with His hand. His love and care are evident when He finishes His work and we see His back—finally understand what He’s been doing during our “rocky” times.
The next time you find yourself in a tight spot, or between a rock and a hard place, remind yourself that the hand of God has placed you there. And because of that, it’s the best place you could be. You may not see it right away, but God’s glory has been present.
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
In case you didn't see the article I wrote for the recent church newsletter, I'll include it here.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
When I was a teen, my Forest Service dad was stationed in the hills outside Bakersfield, California, in a little town called Kernville. My siblings and I would often play in an area we called Poodle Puppy Park. It wasn’t an official place in town, but an area of big boulders and scrub brush in the hills across the highway. From our house, the location of the boulders and brush looked like the face of a poodle—thus, the name. We would often go there to play Cowboys and Indians, or Survivalists. We would become pioneer children whose parents had died and we’d somehow been separated from the wagon train and had to use our wilderness skills to survive. It’s hard to believe now, but we were actually allowed to spend the night out there a time or two. The scariest part of climbing those rugged hills was jumping from rock to rock as we made our way to the highest point. I was always afraid that I would have an unsuccessful jump and instead of landing on the next boulder, I would fall between the two and break my leg in a nest of rattlesnakes. The thought of being between a rock and a hard place did not appeal to me at all!
I was recently reading a part of Scripture which refers to God and Moses having a conversation with each other. I’m not talking about traditional prayer here, but a genuine one-on-one conversation. In Exodus 33, in the midst of their interaction, Moses asks God to show him His glory. (vs. 18) That sounds pretty audacious to most of us, but the Lord doesn’t seem to even blink an eye. His response is that He will cause all of His goodness to pass in front of Moses.
How could Moses possibly take in all the goodness, the glory, of God? We are overwhelmed when we see the Lord working in our lives, or in the lives of people we’re praying for. We are in awe of God in the power of the ocean, or the majesty of the mountains. We may catch a glimpse of God and His goodness, but our earthly lives are not able to totally absorb the entire greatness of God.
The Lord knew the same was true of Moses. He would not be able to withstand seeing God’s goodness. So the Lord told him “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will removed My hand and you will see My back, but My face must not be seen.” (vs. 21,22)
So God placed Moses in the cleft of the rock—which boils down to being between a rock and a hard place. Moses could have easily felt confined in that small space. It would have been dark and uncomfortable. It could have seemed he was being punished and put in a timeout! But that’s not at all what God was doing, was it? He Himself placed Moses there for his own safety. The Lord’s hand covered and protected Moses. Instead of God putting him there to distance him from God, He carefully positioned him because of His nearness. And God’s hand didn’t move until He was through and Moses was allowed to see His back.
This is often what God does with us. There are times and circumstances when we feel we’re in that proverbial spot of being between a rock and a hard place. We sense everything is pressing down on us, and darkness is all we can see. We may even feel abandoned by God. Yet perhaps in those times, more than any other, God’s goodness is so real and so near that we would be unable to bear it if we knew what was really going on. He hides us in the cleft of the Rock (Jesus) and covers us with His hand. His love and care are evident when He finishes His work and we see His back—finally understand what He’s been doing during our “rocky” times.
The next time you find yourself in a tight spot, or between a rock and a hard place, remind yourself that the hand of God has placed you there. And because of that, it’s the best place you could be. You may not see it right away, but God’s glory has been present.
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 WOW-Zine
Good morning, ladies! Welcome to another beautiful day. There's not a lot to share with you today, so it won't take you long to read the WOW-Zine this week (unless you read it in slo-mo!)
Remember, neither of our Bible studies will meet next week due to Vacation Bible School. We'll be back on schedule the following week, however, and meet through the month of July.
I didn't assign any memory verse for this week, but I'd like you to "bring" one of your favorite verses with you to study and share why it's important to you. We can encourage each other with God's word.
Snacks for Common Grounds (Wednesday night, 6:30 at the church) will be provided by Jody. On Thursday morning at 9:30, treats will be brought by Carol R. for The Perk.
Since I don't have much to say this week, let me leave you with a short devotion from Faithhappenings:
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Remember, neither of our Bible studies will meet next week due to Vacation Bible School. We'll be back on schedule the following week, however, and meet through the month of July.
I didn't assign any memory verse for this week, but I'd like you to "bring" one of your favorite verses with you to study and share why it's important to you. We can encourage each other with God's word.
Snacks for Common Grounds (Wednesday night, 6:30 at the church) will be provided by Jody. On Thursday morning at 9:30, treats will be brought by Carol R. for The Perk.
Since I don't have much to say this week, let me leave you with a short devotion from Faithhappenings:
Have you ever considered that God’s perfection on earth before sin’s corruption entered, was a garden? My mind can’t fathom what that garden was like, but I can know that beautiful, lush, productive growth was important enough to God for him to make it “home” for his beloved Adam and Eve.
Just like God’s original design for the perfect world was centered around a garden, God’s design for you and me is for us to be the most productive we can be. But in order to produce – to FLOURISH – we must start with the basics of our faith:
"Then He said to them all, 'If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will save it'" (Luke 9:23-24 HCSB).
Just as compost - the healthiest addition to soil - is made of plant and animal waste, when we take our sins, our pride, experiences we consider as useless, our accomplishments, our talents, and even the most painful part of our lives to Jesus on a daily basis, we allow Him to transform those things meant for waste into the healthiest soil.
In time, we’ll see not only beautiful fruit, but we will also reap a harvest of righteousness and a harvest of souls, as the Spirit works it all together in unseen ways.
The next time you dig in your garden, the next time you see a bag of compost at the store, the next time you add that banana peel to your compost crock, let this be a reminder to you, to take your scraps to Jesus, and FLOURISH.
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Welcome to June! We keep getting teased with delicious warm days scattered here and there, and I'm sure spring fever is running rampant among your children. Summer is just around the corner. We will be continuing our Bible studies through the month of July, then taking a break before resuming in September. Remember, it's never too late to join us. (Neither study will meet during the week of VBS, which is June 15th-18th.)
Common Grounds will meet at my house this Wednesday evening at 6:30 due to baccalaureate being held at the church at the same time. Contact me if you need directions to Ashberry Lane. (The Perk will meet at the church on Thursday morning as usual. Keisha will provide snacks.)
Our memory section for this week is actually two verses. If you're not able to memorize both of them, concentrate on the first. These verses are found in Romans 12:1-2:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. (Vs. 2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Part of our study this week will deal with what these verses could mean in our lives.
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Common Grounds will meet at my house this Wednesday evening at 6:30 due to baccalaureate being held at the church at the same time. Contact me if you need directions to Ashberry Lane. (The Perk will meet at the church on Thursday morning as usual. Keisha will provide snacks.)
Our memory section for this week is actually two verses. If you're not able to memorize both of them, concentrate on the first. These verses are found in Romans 12:1-2:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. (Vs. 2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Part of our study this week will deal with what these verses could mean in our lives.
Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com 971-285-6699
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)