This is Cindy Fikes with her 2 little ones. Aren't they the cutest things? I asked Cindy if she would step in and lead the evening study this semester and despite her own busy schedule of home schooling and raising a family she willingly stepped forward. I loved catching a glimpse of her heart along the way. Her attitude, desire to serve, and affection for those she served often reminded me of Paul's words to the Philippians...
" It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight...."Philippians 1:7,9
And those words from Philippians also perfectly fit Denise too. She lead the morning study. The more I know Denise the more I love her. You can't bump into her without getting a warm hug and a encouraging word. How blessed we are to have these two gals in our midst along with a plethora of others who serve alongside them.
By the way did you notice the necklace Denise is wearing?
And there it is again on Paula (who also helped with the morning study).
Curious?
Below is a little from Denise about the study and the meaning of the necklace.....
(From Denise)
It has been a week and a half since our last Bible study ended, and I am still praising my Savior for who He is and all He has done. We were all truly Gripped By the Greatness of our God. We opened our study by asking that, “He our Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but our eyes will behold our Teacher. (Is 30:20) We learned that His going forth is as certain as the dawn”(Hos 6:3). That “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart,… I will be found by you” (Jer 29:13-14)- all this spoken to us by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!
We had a glimpse into the heavenly throne room through Isaiah’s vision in Ch6, “I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, high and lifted up and the train of His robe filled the temple.” And we heard as the angels cry out to one another continually, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory”. Against this back drop of His holiness we saw Isaiah cry “woe is me I am a man of unclean lips” – as we all cry out- Lord save us, we are a sinful people. Next, the angel took a burning coal from the altar and touched Isaiah lips saying, “your iniquity is taken away, your sins are forgiven.” We saw how God’s holiness demanded that sin be paid for and then how His love compelled Him to pay the price Himself. James MacDonald says, “A true glimpse of God in all His holiness will rock your world to the core, and that holiness is character before it ever is conduct.” 1Peter 1:16 the Lord our God says, “You shall be holy for I AM holy”. A phrase from Beth Moore is, “It matters how we live”.
The last thing I want to share is about His awesomeness. We looked at Deut 10:17 “The Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great the mighty, and the awesome God.” During this week one of the names we studied was El Shaddai, translated God Almighty, the God of the mountains. In small group Paula Hennie shared when you look at a mountain from a distance it has little impact until you get nearer. Then, its size is magnificent and the detail so much more clear. In the same way if we only look at our God from a distance we miss His grandeur and all that can be seen and learned, what He so long to show us. How are you looking at Him today??
There was so much more I could share but know when you see the ladies wearing their necklaces with the 3 interlocking “G”s (which we thank Carol Skogen for making), ask them how they have been Gripped by the Greatness of our God!
Worship Him with this closing song.
Pretty cool, eh? More studies will be coming early next year so watch here for details and make plans to hop in one. We'd love to have you there!
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