Emilie Gate’s Review – Ephesians 2

We have been made alive in Christ!  We aren’t dead anymore, we are living in or moving toward resurrection county, women!!

Kathi talked about grace.  In Christ, as part of His “plan,” we are invited into a new life and it is in a place called resurrection county.  Verse 6 refers to God’s plan that includes a new citizenship.  Louie Giglio says “didn't make bad people good, he came to make dead people alive.”

Three Area's we'll look at today:

Grace
Gifts
Works
Grace

Eugene Peterson talks about water. When you have water you can run your hand through it. With grace, the reality is that you can swim through it. When you step out into the waters you can swim in it. It's not like it swimming in it because there are markers and the markers tell you where to go.... Grace holds you up.  There is a mysterious quality to grace!

'Grace is everywhere to be experienced, but in no way to be explained'

In Jacksonville we are surrounded by water. We can escape by going swimming in ocean or the river. There is more than enough water.

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Gift

Back to the story of creation. Gen 1.

Before creation we were chosen. Eph 1:4

These are truths: You are chosen. He chose us.

Eph 2:1-3

On the 7th day of creation, God rested from all the creating He had done. God is creator and God works in creation. Reality of creation is 'it's a gift.'  We're reminded everyday that our world was created as a gift to us, a gift to you. What is the word 'gift', what does it mean?!

Kathi shared how we could see a candy bar at the grocery store and it is just a candy bar. But when someone gives you the candy bar it becomes a gift. In the giving, there is a relationship quotient. God’s redemptive work through Christ is a gift. We practice it out through giving. Sometimes we can give or share our heart with someone resulting in rejection. If we only give gifts dependent on the response, we’ll get ourselves into trouble! We can't worry about the response. We still have to give. God gives all the time, he gives his son not dependent on our responses of acceptance or rejection. That is the reason why small groups are so important. They are a place where we can practice giving. So in turn, we can hold someone else's heart. It can feel awkward and uncomfortable, but it's sacred.

WorksWe are God’s workmanship, comparable to a piece of art, music or dance. In creation we are God's amazing piece of art, created in advance to do good works. God has given us gifts to encourage and build up one another. It's the same spirit, but looks so different in each person. It's so amazing to see a person freed up to be all that God has for them.

If there is work to be done, there are receivables (quite like a paycheck)! There is real work. Whether you have kids or not you still need to clean the toilets!

"Work is the bucket that holds grace!" Eugene Peterson

Some of Jesus' best work wasn't in the synagogue. It was out there on the streets with the people. Being with people, changing diapers, doing the dishes, whatever work is at hand, is the bucket that holds the gifts.

There is something that results from work that is sacred, like doing chores together.

'All our work is preceded by God's work'

He's everywhere. Sometimes doing chores or hard work doesn't feel good, but your offering is a gift, and it's grace.

How amazing would it be to have someone knock on your door and bring a meal. It's grace in action.

Eph 1- that you give back to him because it's praise and glory. Giving it back to him.


For Father’s day, Kathi's son Johnnie wraps up the toy he plays with the most to give to his father -- and then Tripp gives it straight back.  Our Father in Heaven operates much the same way!   

Third Meeting

October 5, 2011

I just love getting to come be with a group of women who #1 don’t already all know each other (no cliques, no hard to get into corners) and #2 started from scratch, is a fabulous mixed bunch of single women, young moms (OK, so you are the majority!!) and some of us are … well, almost empty nesters… and some are empty nesters.  I love the mix!!

Three people won prizes today!  I asked who knew the name of the book featured on the blog and BONNIE VERLANDER won!  Bonnie, Tessa the author is a friend of mine and her next book comes out in the Spring called Harvest of Rubies.  She has the most amazing testimony, coming out of the Muslim faith, she met Jesus in a dream, became a Christian, went to Harvard Divinity School and is now on staff at a church in Connecticutt.  The next prize winning question was who can show us something out of their purses that will give us the “What do you have that in your purse for?” response.  Caitlyn Lee had a cardboard message from (maybe) a neighbor telling her to regard the Sabbath.  OK, that is a very strange thing to carry around in your purse! And Stacy Chupp was carrying a pair of ballet tights.  Yes, we wonder why you wanted to let us know that!  What I don’t want to ask Stacy is if they were clean or not.  So I won’t!   Stacy and Caitlyn got to pick a present out of the gift bag and Bonnie won a copy of Tessa’s book.  Stacy and Caitlyn, we celebrate that you are bold enough to show us something inside of your purses, sometimes a very “off limits” place for women to share!  We celebrate that God is a grace giver and that “going with the flow” of letting our purse be a gathering place, storage place and a “hand over whatever” place has happened! As we give grace to those handing over these things, we are becoming a safe place not only for their “things” but also their hearts.   

THANK YOU…

Childcare workers Barbara the Wonderful, Aimee Franklin the Fabulous, Ann Riley the Sweetheart and Anndrea Foster the Fantastic!!  Bless you so much for looking after the sweet little ones.  And Moms, thanks for continuing to bring your little ones!  We are asking the worker bees to pray for them as well as play with them!!!

Gosh, what a treat to be with such a group of generous women!  Today we were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough people signed up for childcare, so we asked for “just in case” volunteers.  Thank you for giving us the grace and comfort of knowing we could call on you Grace Yu (great name!), Caitlyn Lee, Aimee Breeding and Gretchen Mitchell!! 

Thank you Jodi and Hank for keeping us caffeinated and for teaching me my first barista tips at the new coffee bar!! Thank you Kathi Vod for a great lesson and thanks for your vulnerability in sharing that you decided that a little “BEING” while you were sick was better than a lot of “DOING” even in preparing for this lesson!!  Mary Chupp, thanks for your sweet smiling face and keeping us on the clock and prayed up!! Glad to have the RPDS Moms back!!  Great to see all the faces!!  I so enjoyed that we had two sweet babies join our class!! 

EMAIL

Has everyone yet emailed Kathi Vod to tell her WHY YOU CAME TO KNIT TOGETHER? Tripandkathi@gmail.com ??  Some of us wrote this down during class, but if more come, perhaps Kathi will do a dance.  That's why I joined Knit Together.  I want to see Kathi Vod dance!  Does anyone want to add something to the blog collection like a quote of the week or a laundry or cooking tip?  Want to create a new “… of the week” section?  If so email smithsnow@aol.com or just plain comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REVIEW

Emilie’s review will be in the following post, so if you missed, please read it and be reminded that we are resurrected in Christ and this means that if we are not yet feeling alive in Christ, we might want to be asking directions on how to get there!!  (Kathi Vod called it a place named Ressurection County).

REMINDERS

Workbooks are on sale in the foyer at church for $8. 

Please sign up for childcare if you haven’t yet, as we are exploding (yahoo!!!!) with kids in childcare!!

PRAYER

Seriously?  Noone signed up for any prayer requests this week.  Do you seriously have nothing to pray about?  C’mom women, is everyone that well? Email me if you’d like.  I’m actually going to Denver and will be a prayer minister at a conference, so add your requests!!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I saw this on facebook and thought, hmmm, it goes with believing we are who God says we are!

It is not who you are that holds you back, it is who you think you are not!!

COOKING TIP OF THE WEEKWhatever you choose, make it into a picnic and eat in the back or front yard!!  And use paper products so there is not much to clean up!!

Review of Ephesians 1 by Emilie Gate

Ephesians 1

Review by Emilie Gate
Chapters 1-3 are about “who you are” and chapters 3-6 are about “how you walk into the reality of “who you are.”

Last week Kathi Vod asked us to think about how different life would be if we really believed that we are who God says we are.  Part of being in Knit Together is being in a safe place to walk out this truth.

Kathi read I John 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Kathi Vod marveled on how great it will be when we start to love the body (double entendre, our own and the body of Christ) that He has given us.  She called us sisters in Christ, members of the body and proposed that we can love one another.

She read Ephesians 1 (and in writing this review, I can tell you that the presence of the Holy Spirit dropped and fell heavily in the room at this time).

There is a book called Believing God by Beth Moore. Beth Moore emphasizes that we need to learn to believe that we indeed are who God says we are.  And at the same time, we want to walk into believing that God is who He says He is.

Beth’s Moore’s list of identity nametags from God:

• Blessed
• Chosen
• Adopted
• Favored
• Redeemed and
• Forgiven 

God gave us our identity. 

Chosen

Kathi shared how her childhood memories were fully lacking in the competitive realm.  As a result, her coordination was undernourished (not going to name her a bad name) and so her opportunities in the sports realm were … say lacking.  She was not chosen on teams to play competitive games, so her chosenness was also undernourished.  Her earthly experience gave her messages about herself.

God, on the other hand, did not choose you because he felt sorry for you, but he chose  you before the creation of the world (verse 4).  Kathi invited us to swim deep in the waters He chose for you BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.  Did you hear me?  (I am shouting).  HE CHOSE YOU.  YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD.  Insecurities?   Where did they come from?  Not the author of your story.   There is a place where insecurities can be healed.  Do you want to go there?

Eugene Peterson says, “Before you knew there was any action God had you in on the action!"

Your heavenly maker whispers “Blessed, Chosen, Adopted…” and He is whispering about you.  Do you hear Him?

Kathi talked about being predestined.  When we look at the word “destination,” we think of boundary.  God puts us into a place with boundaries, He wants us to be nurtured in a safe place, a place with boundaries, not an endless scene where we can wander off without limits.

Kathi gave the analogy of our destiny, our “road,” our “map” can be likened to a road trip.  She and Trip drove to Maine from Florida (I know, what was she thinking?).  The trip was a plan in and of itself.  Because of “relationship,” the road trip was fun.  Picture the entire Vodenicker clan (three kids, mom and dad) in the minivian, luggage, tent, bikes, etc.  I am chuckling just thinking about it!

Along the way, she actually worried about getting lost (see this week’s quote of the week, quite in sync with this mom worry).  When she drove through Brooklyn, she had a feeling of  beinglost and taking the wrong turn. She wondered, “Will I ever get back to where I am meant to go?”

God has a plan and a destination for each of you.  How many of you are looking over your shoulder to look for someone else, because you don’t actually believe this for yourself.  Are you lost?  Do you need help?  Directions?  When we're lost we cry out “God show us where to go... “ and then oftentimes we turn off the GPS. Yet once He shows us where to go, we need to stay by His side, keep on letting Him be our guide, our GPS.

We are in the show but we are not running it. Did you hear that loud enough? We are a part, an integral part of this “show” called life, but we are not in charge.  God’s plan, His destiny is better than any road trip we could ever plan for ourselves!

Sometimes we get lost and need women who are wiser and need women to speak into our lives.  If we do not hold onto God’s truth of our chosenness, we can end up going in the wrong direction.  The “lostness” is a lonely place.  Beth Moore’s book uses the word  'favored,' whereas Eugene Peterson says in Luke 1:28 greeting you who are “highly favored.”

If your  kids hate you, if your husband and you are fighting, if your friends gossip about you, you might see this this all as rejection, yet God has still chosen you and wants your identity to be in what He thinks of you.

We can end up putting the coat of rejection on us that ends up being a strait jacket. But God wants us to know we have been cloaked in righteousness.  We need to know and receive the amazing truths that we are accepted, chosen, and beloved. He wants us to come to a place where we hear only His voice and choose to receive the truth.
The creator defines the creation. We are the chosen by God!

SECOND MEETING

September 28, 2011

I just finished with the blog entry and hit something on my computer and it all disappeared.  Don’t you wish other things would disappear (like laundry and dishes)?  Haha!  Starting again!

We had a great group of women at Knit Together today!!  We had nine newbies (and a lot of them brought new babies!) and even a visitor from Virginia!!  We started with the Prize Winning Question “Who has dishes left in their sink from last night?”  Jennifer and Elizabeth won!!  They each got to pick a present out of our gift bag. #1 Thank you for admitting it and #2 Thank you for letting us celebrate you in that you spent your time doing something different like loving on your family or actually going to sleep earlier!  As we read Ephesians together and soak up the truths that God wants to pour into us about how He sees us, we are able to lay down our “to do” list at night and realize that yes, Lord, there are only 24 hours in a day and yes, Lord, some of that time is for You!!  As the quote of the week last week reminds us, laundry and dishes are forever!

THANK YOU…

I feel like starting this like Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesians.  I thank my God for you all who came, encouraged, met together, drank coffee together, dared to share with strangers and blessed one another for being there!  Thank you so much for our childcare blessers, Aimee, Barbara, Theresa, Bethany and an added bonus, Kristen Packard brought her daughter Amelia and Amelia’s friend Ashley to help because they were out of school and they were awesome!!  God knew we needed the extra hands!!   Thank you Jodi and Hank for keeping us caffeinated!! Thank you Kathi Vod for an awesome lesson!!  Thank you everyone who brought someone new, adding to our sweet knit together group!!  And thank you Jesus for so showing up!!  Praise honor and glory to You!!!

EMAIL

Has everyone yet emailed Kathi Vod to tell her WHY YOU CAME TO KNIT TOGETHER? Tripandkathi@gmail.com ??  Please do!  She isn’t busy enough and this is really a way to overflow her inbasket with love (just kidding KBV!).  But seriously, please let her know.

REVIEW

Emilie Gate has kindly offered to be our review queen extraordinaire, so the following post will include her review.  I will, however, summarize a theme that ran through today’s lesson of Ephesians 1.  Kathi Vod sees things in word pictures and as she sees Ephesians, she relates the study to an analogy of swimming.  For some of us, we will be diving in the deep end, become immersed and really grasp the concepts of how deep and how wide this body of water is that relates to how God sees us.  Some concepts will not be as deep, and for those we will find ourselves floating by.  She then put on a very colorful (shocking how bright!!!!) swimming cap and invited us to go with her into the deep end.  Please see the attached picture, because I’m not sure we’ll ever see such a sight again!! 

REMINDERS

Workbooks are on sale in the foyer at church for $8 or during class for $10 (just kidding, only $8). 

Please sign up for childcare if you haven’t yet, as we are exploding (yahoo!!!!) with kids in childcare!!

PRAYER

The leadership team is praying for you, so if you have additional prayer requests during the week, let us know.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“OK, are we almost done being lost yet?” Yes, folks, that was my daughter Virginia Smith.  I am directionally challenged in the natural but with God’s grace (the Holy Spirit GPS really helps!) I am on the road trip to the destination He has picked for me! J

COOKING TIP OF THE WEEK
Just go on strike! (Just kidding, sorta).  For kids, make a face out of food, noodles as hair, ketchup for eyes, beans for mouth, etc.

Blessings to you this week,

Kathi, Kathi and Mary

Emilie Gate's Review

From: Emilie Gate
Date: September 21, 2011 6:15:58 PM EDT
To: Knit Together
Subject: Women's Bible Study Week 1

Women's Bible Study Week 1

Acts 18v24

Ephesians , church of Ephesus


Recommended Book:
'Practice resurrection' - by Eugene Peterson

Paul didn't write the letter because the church was going through problems. But to give a deeper sense of calling of Who we are in Christ and what church can be like!
The Bible fits together! First 2 ch of Luke and you see Jesus ministering to the poor and the marginalized. Act 2 was the birth of the church caused by the Holy Spirit. That vulnerability doing extraordinary things.

Eph 4 v 1

There is a balance in our lives between calling and walking. When I say calling not 'to be an artist or dr' but that God is calling us into relationship with him. To learn information about God but that God's voice is calling us. Moses is an example. He was called into a relationship, which led people who were  in bondage into freedom. That balance of calling and freedom. Calling and walking it out go together.

If part of our relationship is just doing there must be more to be able to walk it out with one another.

God does desire for us to live this out together. That we do have sweet moments when we have moments on our own at home. There is something powerful when women walk out our faith together. We're inviting other women into the calling. We're inviting other people into the conversation together. He desires us to encourage one another to support each other.

Paul talks about the church as if it's a body that's been given to us. When in church we are a part of one body. Where we don't choose who we are with.

Eph 4:16

We are knit together - that is something bigger to us. Where we can grow together!

FIRST MEETING

September 21, 2011
 
 Dear Knit Together Women,

Did anyone have as much fun as I did today at Knit Together?  Watching Bonnie
Verlander count out seven lipsticks for a prize was awesome!  Great cookies and
snacks Kathi Vodenicker and Theresa Difato! Way to ring that bell, welcome,
greet, organize us, number us and gather us for prayer Mary Chupp!  Thanks to
Barbara, Kristin Keene, Laura Fowler and Jodi Beere for childcare! To Amy Gay
for advising us on what to do with sooooo many awesome children! To Hank for
setting up!  THANKS!! Great teaching Kathi Vodenicker!!!!

EMAIL
Kathi V at Tripandkathi@gmail.com to tell her why you came to Knit Together and
what you hope to get out of it.

REVIEW
Kathi Vodenicker (we call her Kathi Vod) talked about how she is not a solo
farmer and how we need community to help us. She challenged us to think about
what our life would look like when we believe that we belong to and are accepted
by God, rooted, established and accepted!  Do you know that you are seen as
worthy by God? She encouraged us to read Ephesians 1 for next week but gave us
freedom not to if we did not want to... The Holy Spirit was very present! 
Prayer Ministry time was awesome and the fellow shippers lingered for quite
awhile in the foyer! 

REMINDERS
- Workbooks on Ephesians will be available next week for $8
- If you didn't sign up for childcare please email me-- Kathi Smith-- at
smithsnow@aol.com and I will let you know what Wednesday is available.  Right
now we have 2 out of 5 spots filled for next week.

PRAYER
The leadership team and I are praying for you and the requests you wrote down. 
We look forward to praying with you after the study next week too!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
(send in yours to Kathi Smith at smithsnow@aol.com)
Fresh cookies are better than laundry.  Dishes and laundry are forever!

COOKING TIP OF THE WEEK
Add vegetable stock and rice to your chopped up leftovers to create a soup for a
new meal that doesn't look like leftovers.  And if you need an eggplant, go
visit Kathi Vod!

We loved having you at Knit Together this week!  Please come again!  We pray
that God will fill you with His Holy Spirit, bringing joy and peace (two words
given for today from someone who heard from God) to you.  God bless you!

The Knit Together Team
Kathi, Kathi (not Pete and Repeat), and Mary

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13 NIV)