A Letter of Encouragement

Welcome to the podcast! I am so glad you are here.

This is a semi-recycled sermon from earlier last month, but I hope it reaches those that need to hear it (and those that want to hear it again). And although this sermon was primarily targeted for an audience of just women, all notes are mainly just as applicable to men. This episode is intended to encourage all people in all walks of life!

Questions or comments? 
Email me: annaeparish@gmail.com
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Transcript

Hey, everyone, welcome to the Field of Grace podcast. My name is Anna Parish, and I'm so excited that you are here.

Hey y'all, it has been so long. I feel like it's been forever since I actually produced another podcast episode, and so I'm really excited to actually get something out there. I have been so busy, especially with working within the CSC and some sermons that I've had to write. And so that is why I've been a little bit MIA. I had had some ideas to start a whole new series on the podcast, but I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've had a lot of challenges within my faith. And so, I'm going to just sort of do whatever I feel like God is calling me to do and calling me to produce. 

So today, I wanted to finally get something out. It's Friday afternoon. And I wanted to talk a little bit about encouragement that we should feel as women of the church with a capital C. So, I talked about this specifically, my first Wednesday night talking with the girls within the Christian Student Center. And I sort of just wanted to talk about it on here as well. I am really excited to talk about this because I feel like it's something that I need to hear, and other women need to hear as well. And so, I'm excited to see the fruit that comes from this. So, if you were at the Gathering at the CSC, you've already heard most of this and most of my thoughts on this, but I'd love for you to listen to it again. I feel like maybe there's something that is in what I have to say that you haven't heard yet. 

So, most people know this, but I have two younger sisters. Olivia is four years younger than me. So, she's 16. She's about to be 17 in April. And then Emma Kay is eight years younger than me. So, she's 13. And she's going to be 14 in May. And I'll be 21. So, my parents have their hands full for sure. As the oldest, I was telling the girls that the CSC, that I think other older siblings will understand growing up, I took on the role of being the rule follower and the golden child. So being this older sister, this figure of authority, it taught me how to do so many great things. So, for example, at a young age, I learned how to get Olivia to do stuff for me. And by fifth grade, I was really like this pro-older sister, I became very creative with how and when I used my tactics, but specifically at the pool. So, whenever we would go to the pool, I would always encourage Olivia to do stuff before me. So, if there were consequences, I would not have to face them, and she would face them first. Which is very dangerous. But if the water was too cold, Olivia found out for me. If the diving board was too wobbly, Olivia found out for me. If the pool was too deep, Olivia found out for me. Older siblings will understand that we simply grow, where we've been planted, right? But I think it's important to mention also that I have a really great relationship with my sisters. And I used this example because, I told the girls at the CSC, what I do on my podcast, what I want to be portrayed, is that I'm not pushing people into the deep end of a topic and expecting people to figure it out for themselves. I have my podcasts so that I can jump into this metaphorical water together with y'all. And just because I'm talking about it, talking about whatever on my podcast, doesn't mean that I have everything figured out. And so, this week, I want to answer the question: how can we be encouraged, specifically as women, in the church? But also like as men and I'm sure there's stuff within this episode that men will get as well. But one reason I'm so thankful to be a part of a church and have friends within different churches is because it gives me (it gives everyone) an opportunity to be a part of a community of believers where we can talk about stuff together and it helps us feel a little bit less alone. So as Christians, we are called to be like Christ. We see this in Genesis 1:27. God created us in His image. And so, to be women of God, we are called to be women like God. I feel like it's as simple as that: we don't just become Godly women by reading a book that Sadie Robertson wrote, or a book that pushes us further into our theological beliefs. We don't become Godly women by going to small group or getting coffee with another Christian or singing worship songs. But we become more like God when we know who God is. And when we understand is character on a deep and personal level, John 15 Three says Greater love has no one than this than to light on one's life for his friends. And so godly women, they're going to love with an unconditional love. So will godly men and I say that because all of this applies to men as well. And so it's not simply an episode just for women. I feel like anyone would benefit from hearing this. We see in Luke 15, verse 16, that says that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed godly women and godly men spend time in prayer often, Luke 23 Verse 24, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing godly women forgive. Mark 10 Verse 45, it says, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for a ransom for many godly women are humble, godly men are humbled Luke to verse 45, through 46. That one says when they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days, they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Godly women spend time reading the Bible, they spend time looking at resources that teach them more about who God is, and they listen and they're curious, and they ask questions. Obviously, we know that there are lots more verses within the Bible that describe God's character. A good question to ask yourself is, are you living out the things that you may already know? Sometimes it's beneficial to be reminded? What do godly people act like what two godly people look like when we go back to the basics, and go back and look at verses like what I just talked about? It gives us a chance to discover and acknowledge deeply rooted problems and beliefs and heart postures, so is your life producing the fruits of the Spirit, it's a great way to examine your actions and examine your heart. I produced a series on this last year but love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control, it's important to ask ourselves what characteristics are easy for us to exude and what ones are harder to display. But also, let's acknowledge that godly women and godly men, and I'm not even sure if godly is the word to describe it. Like I said, I have really gotten back to the basics myself within my faith, and sort of had to take apart what I've been told, and what I thought I believed. And it's been sort of scary, but really just starting from the basics, I guess, is the best way to describe it. And so if there is something that I say within here that you don't agree with, I want you to know that I'm having a little I'm having some doubt. And so give me some grace, if you're listening. I'm hoping that within the next few months, I can take you guys along with me on this journey. But for now, this is what I wanted to put out there. Anyway, it's important to acknowledge that we are human, and we're imperfect. And we get angry, and we say things we shouldn't say and we hurt others. But we haven't been called to be Jesus. We've been called to be like him and knowing that we can move forward because we know that nothing can separate us from God's grace. And I believe that godly women accept that grace, and they pray for forgiveness. And they learn from the past and they asked God to change their hearts and the godly men and women are not perfect, thank goodness that God wants our hearts and not perfection at all
so I have three points that I talked about at the CSC that I figured might be beneficial for them to hear. And I'll be talking about the same topics on today's episode. But obviously let's acknowledge there are a lot more things that women in the church should know but these are three that I thought were beneficial to be talking about the times I talked about them if that makes sense. So as I was preparing for the lesson, and it was almost a month ago, which is hard to believe I found some facts about the human body that I wanted to share with the girls found out that the human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells. The human body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels, I found out DNA is fireproof, the pinky finger is responsible for 50% of total hand strength. Super cool. Then I started looking at other facts, because the more and more I've gotten older than more and more, I think I value intelligence. So maybe that's why I love fun facts so much. But I started looking at some other facts. And I found that there's these types of trees in Africa, they're called Arcadian trees, and they can warn each other. When dangers coming. I found out that sunflowers turn towards the sun, to optimize their ability to photosynthesize, they literally turn towards the Sun found out in space, metal can weld on its own. And all of this was created by the same God. The intricacy of our lives and the world tends to be so overlooked. Hit god is this omnipotent and omnipresent creator, we see this in Psalm eight, verses three through four, where the psalmist has the same reverence for God that I'm feeling right now it says, when I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon, and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that you're mindful of him in the Son of man that you care for him? So when I think of God's fingers, and all that he has created, it makes my life seem so small and so insignificant, and yet it's crazy that he cares so deeply for us. As women and men, I feel like this whole time I'm going to be saying, and men, because this is not just a woman problem. But as people, we put a lot of worth in our bodies. How could we not right, because everywhere we look, there's a new hairstyle trending. There's a new blush, we have to have new jeans that are in jeans that are out like skinny jeans, what the heck, first they were in, and then they were out. And now apparently, they're in again, I don't know. That's why I asked my high school sister What the What the fashion trends are. There's a stretch mark cream that we have to try because God forbid that we have stretch marks, there's razors that are better. There's hair dryers like the Dyson one that work better or one body type is better than the other and to some famous person says that it's not and it's exhausting. Because everyone's opinions are not steady. But then we open up our Bibles or resources that maybe highlight God's goodness. And we hear something entirely different, that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And Psalm 90 It talks about how from everlasting to everlasting. He is God that the world on one hand, is shoving opinions down our throat, and in the middle of that hurricane, we're trying to grab the last pair of Ugg slippers, maybe not for men, I don't know maybe so but then God is there. In the middle of the hurricane, constant and unshakeable to God, don't our hearts matter so much more than what's on the outside? Scripture says over and over again that our bodies are temples and we've been created as a living sacrifice with the Holy Spirit within us, we have to acknowledge that we're so much more than flesh and bones. Glass fun fact website that I found said that the strongest muscle in the human body is our tongue. So why do you use it to tear yourself down? Why do you pick yourself apart? Our words have this great weight. And I think that you'll be surprised when you start listening to what God is saying within you. I thought of a funny little thing when I was talking to girls a month ago and I said this Holy Spirit gives us more of a heavenly glow than a self tan ever could. Gosh, that's true.
The second topic I labeled there's room for you. Another big struggle for people is comparison. Galatians three, verse 28. It says There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. I want to encourage you that there's room for you that we are all one. And while we are urged to be united in Christ, we are not being asked to be uniform and I love that diversity within the church truly creates sacred spaces Ephesians four verse says 11 through 12, they say. So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service. So that the body of Christ may be built up. I love acknowledging the gifts that people have. But while we all have different god given gifts, we come from the same body from the same spirit. So as people in the church we have a choice. We can separate ourselves from those that are different than us or we can become united on ground that is shared. Hello, love Isaiah 64 verse eight. It says Enya, oh Lord, you are a father, we are the clay, and you are the potter, we are all formed by your hand. So we each have our own individual fingerprint. And we've been handmade by the same Potter taken from the same clay. And yet, we have been created with different gifts. And over time, God has gently molded us and shaped us through our own personal life experiences to make us more like him. Each of us being a work of art, and literally a masterpiece, not because of what we have done, but because of the one who has made us. There's a lot of women in the Bible, that possess great gifts. We have Ruth, who was devoted and honest and compassionate. And Mary Magdalene, who is at times joyful and loyal. We have Deborah known as woman of a Lapindo, I believe meaning woman of higher, she was a prophet. And so let that be encouragement to you women, especially that you can be both strong and gentle, both bold and compassionate, both honest and tender, that you can do hard things and holy things. There is not one mold to each Christian woman has to fit into the church body has room for you, to comparison that keeps us from embracing, I believe who God has made us to be think about your friends or women in your life and know that they do not have your specific calling, they do not have your specific talents. So your family, your heart, your dreams, your goals. And that is a gift that you can celebrate those people you can celebrate your friends and cheer them on. But also know that God is not giving you anything less than what is best for you. And to another woman success does not interfere with your blessing. I believe one of the greatest gifts that we can bring into a world, especially like the one we live in today is to simply be ourselves. And I'm working on that too. My question for you is what will your life look like? When you live into your God given purpose and not someone else's? I believe that our differences should be celebrated. On the topic of women, I found a song that has really been encouraging to me lately. It's called a woman. It's by Amy Grant and Ellie Holcomb and it is beautiful. And so if you're feeling discouraged, I want to encourage you to listen to that even men to there are women in the church that are gifts.
The last topic that I came up with I titled the gift of emotions, often, I feel like women in particular are labeled as dramatic and unrealistic and too emotional. But I want to encourage you really quick that emotions are a gateway to experiencing God mom always told me growing up and still tells me now. Because I have big emotions that God is big enough to handle all of the emotions that I bring to him. And that when we come to God, and we're honest and vulnerable with how he feel, he tends to shift our focus from our feelings to himself. When we go to God, and we're getting our emotional needs met, we have more room to connect with others. Our emotional connection with God, I believe is what helps us emotionally connect with others. And so what would happen if you started to view your emotions as a gift from God? I want to let you know that God can use you use how you feel whether it's guilty or disappointed in him, or angry or depressed or anxious or jealous. He can use all of those feelings to glorify himself if he liked him.
I know my thoughts may be all over the place today. But I thank you for listening think thank you for supporting me and my podcast. I haven't posted about this on my podcast, but the stats from 2022 are insane. I've been ranked way higher on Spotify as podcast artists than I thought that I ever would. And so thank you for listening and continue to share and give me five stars. If you believe I deserve five stars on Spotify and Apple and wherever you hear your podcast from I would really appreciate it. I want to let you know that I love you. And I'll talk to you guys soon. Bye