One of the ways that the church can serve God in its generation is by trying to demonstrate in its life together all that Jesus will one day bring to perfect restoration. One key part of that restoration will be men and women living and working in harmony together. It’s a fact that the church has not always been the place where women have felt valued or their voice heard. Over the years, the church has amplified men’s voices at the expense of women’s. But that was neither God’s intention, nor the calling of Jesus’ followers.
This series will explore the ways women and men can be stronger together rather than suspicious of one another, or sidelined in power plays. It will have implications for our life together in church, the type of marriages we have and the way we act in the workplace.
| 6 March | Both wounded: What we lost 1 Genesis 3; The loss of relationship, the curse of power between the genders, the victory that Jesus brings (the serpent is crushed). Why it all matters. |
| 13 March | Both wounded: What we lost 2 Genesis 3; The Healing: 1 Corinthians 11:11-12. The loss of relationship, the curse of power between the genders, the restoration that Jesus wants to bring. Why it all matters. |
| 20 March | God in the Mess we Made Genesis 16 & 21. The pain we cause one another (men to women and women to women) and God’s response. |
| 27 March | God in the Mess others Made Exodus 1 & 2. Five overlooked women save a nation. God takes our everyday contributions and creates a new story for everyone. |
| 3 April | God in the Mess of Circumstances: Ruth 1-4. Two Determined Women and One Good Man working together. |
| 10 Apr | Jesus honouring the Outrageous One. Mark 14: 1-11 What did she do that was so good? Why was Jesus so impressed by her? What are we supposed to remember? Jesus made this woman feel safe among the men |
| 17 Apr | Jesus meeting the Faithful Ones Luke 24: 1-12 Jesus appointed the women to tell the men. Why the resurrection accounts were so outrageous and why they point to the accounts being true. (After all who would have invented the women telling the men?) |
| 24 April | Jesus appointing the First Leaders Romans 16 Who were the women leaders in the early church & what does that mean for all of us – men and women? |
