Fall Afresh - Women's Ministry Kick Off (2)

In one paragraph

This message was delivered at a women's community Bible study event hosted at First Baptist Jackson. The speaker was Deborah Buckingham, introduced by Carolyn Warzyniak. Deborah taught on the meaning of mercy, tracing it from its definition through its roots in how God values every person. Deborah opened by explaining why she had spent nearly a year researching mercy, describing how the theme kept...

Read together

1. Ephesians 4:12-13 quoted to cast the vision for community Bible study and equipping the body of Christ
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 cited to define grace as God giving what we do not deserve, not from works
3. Romans 8:1 cited to say there is no condemnation for those in Christ
4. Matthew 5:7 quoted as Jesus saying the merciful will be shown mercy, placed among the beatitudes
5. Jeremiah 33:3 cited as God's invitation to call on Him and be told things we do not know
6. Lamentations 3:22-23 quoted to say God's mercies never fail and are new every morning
7. Matthew 9 referenced as Jesus eating with the riffraff at Matthew's house and rebuking the Pharisees about mercy over religion
8. Hosea 6:6 cited as the Old Testament passage Jesus was quoting: God desires mercy, not sacrifice
9. Psalm 19:7 quoted to say the instructions of the Lord are perfect and revive the soul
10. Psalm 107:20 cited to say God's word heals us
11. Proverbs 22:17-18 cited as four action verbs God gives us to get to know Him: listen, study, remember, quote
12. Matthew 3:17 quoted as the voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism declaring His Son whom He loves
13. 1 John 3:1 cited as John asking how much the Father loves us, calling us His daughters
14. Galatians 4:6 cited to say God sends the same Spirit that was in Jesus into our hearts, prompting us to cry Abba Father
15. Isaiah 41:13 quoted as God saying He will take us by the right hand and help us, so we need not fear
16. Psalm 103:8 cited to say God is compassionate, merciful and very slow to anger
17. Psalm 103:11 quoted to say as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God's mercy over us
18. 1 Peter 5:8-9 cited as Peter's warning that the devil prowls like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour
19. Proverbs 23:7 cited to say as a man thinks, so he is
20. 1 John 4:4 quoted to say the Spirit in us is greater than the spirit in the world
21. Luke 19:10 quoted as Jesus saying the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost
22. Psalm 139:17-18 cited as David marveling that God's thoughts about us outnumber the grains of sand
23. Isaiah 49 cited to say God never forgets us because we are engraved on the palms of His hands
24. Psalm 139:13-14 cited as God saying He knit us together in the womb and we are wonderfully and fearfully made
25. Ephesians 1:4 cited to say God had us in mind before the earth's foundation and settled on us as the focus of His love
26. John 15:16 cited as God telling us He chose and appointed us to bear lasting fruit and to love each other
27. 1 Timothy 3:15 cited to say the family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of truth
28. 1 Corinthians 12:27 cited to say all together are Christ's body and each one is part of it
29. Romans 12:1 cited to say in Christ we form one body and each member belongs to the others
30. Ephesians 2:10 cited to say God made us to do good works He planned long ago for us to live doing
31. 1 Peter 4:10 cited to say God has given each person special abilities to use in helping one another

Talk about it

1. Deborah described mercy as having two parts: meeting someone's need with action, and choosing to forgive. Which of those two is harder for you personally, and why?
2. Deborah said the root of mercy is telling someone 'you are worth it, you are valued,' and that withholding forgiveness sends the opposite message. Can you think of a time when someone showing you mercy, or you showing it to another person, changed a relationship?
3. Deborah talked about the difference between knowing about God and actually knowing Him, and said that knowing Him is what leads to understanding who we are and what we are here for. How would you describe where you are in that process right now?
4. Deborah said God's order is identity first, then activity, and that unhealthy Christians who hurt people often do so because they do not know who they are. What does it look like in daily life to live from the identity of being a daughter of the King rather than from what others have said about you?
5. Deborah used the image of a bolt working loose from an airplane's elevator mechanism to illustrate what happens when someone pulls away from community. Where have you seen that play out, either in your own life or in a community you have been part of?