WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.479 So please help me welcome up Pastor John. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:03.279 Let's go. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:04.000 Awesome. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:04.959 Thank you. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:07.280 Love you guys. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.800 Love you. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.359 It's my wife if it's your first time. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.160 So I love you too, Craig. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.239 Give it up for Craig. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.280 Those servant leaders behind the scenes. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.000 Let's go. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.480 Hey, let's put our hands together one more time. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:27.199 I know we've been doing a lot for our Zion Online family that's streaming online right now. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.879 Thank you for joining us. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.000 We love you. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.839 You're a part of the crew. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:44.640 And we're uh stepping back into this series, This We Believe, and very excited to uh come around a conversation and a message today about the role of women in ministry. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:49.439 And this is a conversation that I think is so important for us to have. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:56.159 And just to kind of preface the conversation, uh, this isn't just about what we believe at Zion Church. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:16.079 Uh, really, this is a bigger conversation around what we believe God's purpose is for women, God's plan, God's God's mission for both men and women, uh working alongside one another to see the lost saved, the saved ignited, and the world changed. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:17.840 And uh, I'm just very excited. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:27.280 So if you if you want to take notes, it's gonna be a great message to uh to maybe um dig in a little deeper into a topic that perhaps you've thought about or maybe you haven't thought about it. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:35.599 But the reality is that many of us, when we even hear the phrase women in ministry, we have different feelings, thoughts, and emotions that come up. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:41.120 Because some of us have grown up in churches where we've seen women pastor and lead and preach and teach. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:45.280 Um, but others were taught that certain roles in the church were exclusive to men. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:51.359 And uh for some women in the room, uh, this is this is more than a theological discussion. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:02:07.280 Uh, it touches something personal because you may have been celebrated in your calling, but others may have uh felt overlooked, controlled, or felt like your voice was diminished because of the inability to express it in the context that you were maybe brought up in. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:12.800 And I want to approach this conversation with conviction, but also with humility and care. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:25.680 Because um there are there are a variety of churches, denominations um that faithfully interpret the scriptures, love Jesus, that have a different perspective than I do. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:27.599 Um, and so I want to honor that. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:34.319 This isn't a conversation to uh go to war with other uh churches or anything like that. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:47.759 It's it's it's honestly just to look at scripture, and we're gonna look at some difficult passages as well today and clearly explain what we believe here at Zion, because the truth is what we believe shapes who we become. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:52.159 And it's just as true for this conversation as anything else. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:03:03.520 And when it comes to women in ministry, I'm not just talking today about vocational church ministry, uh, because every member of the body of Christ is a minister, man or woman. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:12.960 And God has called all of us into ministry, maybe marketplace ministry, it may be vocational church ministry, it may be in-the-home ministry. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:18.240 And so and so God wants to have a holistic conversation with us today. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:24.639 I want us to clearly explain what we believe here at Zion, uh, why we believe it, and how we intend to practice it. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.960 And I hope that it's it's powerful for us and it's applicable for us today. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:40.159 It's also a deeply personal conversation for me because I'm standing here in part because a woman generations ago said yes to God. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:48.240 I am a fourth generation pastor, the first person in our so we have no other marketable skills in life. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.240 That's essentially what I mean by that. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:59.439 But the first person, my great-grandpa Harvey, that actually became a Christian, the first one that gave his life to Christ in our entire family line. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.879 We had a jacked-up family story, alcoholism, there was abuse and so on in our family. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.879 And my grandpa was radically saved. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:17.439 My I'm sorry, my great-grandpa, and he not only was the first one saved, but but as he continued uh to hear the voice of the Lord, he was called into pastoral ministry. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.879 The very first pastor in our family line. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:32.720 And my grandpa uh was invested in, mentored, personally mentored by, trained by, developed by a female pastor. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:49.600 She said yes to God, she used her gift, and she invested into this untrained dude, and her yes affected the generations that follow. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:05:15.199 And now, generations later, I have the ability to have a microphone in my hand and the freedom to preach the gospel in part because of a woman years and years and years ago in her time in her culture, said yes to a call of God upon her life and invested in a young pastor. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.600 Sometimes I wonder, if not for her, yes, where would I be? 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.680 And now I want you to be clear. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.600 I don't build my theology on my family's experience. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.000 That's not what this message is about today. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:33.360 I build my theology on scripture, and experience must be tested by scripture. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.639 Scripture isn't rewritten by my experience. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:46.879 My family's story doesn't determine what the Bible means, but the Bible helps me recognize what God was doing in my family's story. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:53.600 And sometimes your story helps you see what's at stake in your theology. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:56.800 At Zion, I want to be very, very clear. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:12.240 If you're brand new or if you're someone who's been coming here for a long time, we believe biblically qualified women may preach, teach, lead, pastor, prophesy, and serve throughout every area of ministry in the church. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.560 We don't believe this because culture told us to. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.360 We don't believe this because it's 2026. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:32.480 We believe it because we see it in scripture, and I'm gonna, in humility, unpack that today. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.360 I want you to know, women, today you are not a theological problem to solve. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:52.160 You are image bearers, you are disciples, you are leaders, you are spirit-gifted members of the body of Christ whom we want to honor, develop, equip, and release. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:59.199 And so perhaps the first question today isn't where we a lot of times start in this conversation. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.439 What are women allowed to do? 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:09.199 Perhaps the better question is what has God already called and empowered women to do? 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.399 This is where we must begin, where scripture begins. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.120 In Genesis chapter 1, verse 27. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:19.680 The word of God says, So God created human beings. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:28.399 Sometimes translations will say mankind, but the Hebrew is human beings in his own image. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.639 In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:33.519 So watch this. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:45.040 Before sin entered the world and the brokenness of sin that distorted the relationships, God created both male and female in his image. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.040 That's called equality. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:54.000 And then Genesis chapter 1, verse 28, the next verse says, Then God blessed them. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:08:00.480 And we're gonna say them and said, Be fruitful and multiply. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.720 If you're married, you should you should. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.480 That was your moment to say amen. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:07.600 God literally commanded you to have sex. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:10.560 Thank you. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:12.399 Someone's willing to. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:15.040 It's pretty cool. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.480 His first command was to be fruitful and multiply. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:25.519 Fill the earth and govern it, reign over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and all the animals that scurry on the ground. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:26.560 I want you to catch this. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:32.320 Both receive God's blessing, both receive God's image, both receive God's commission. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:39.039 God didn't bring them together and say, be fruitful and multiply, and then Adam come over here. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:48.720 Eve, you stay over there, and you just sit on the sidelines, Eve, and cheer Adam on as he rules and reigns over the stuff that I created. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:09:01.200 He brought both of them together in a cohesive conversation and a commissioning moment and says, Together, you're different, but you're unified. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:08.720 And you have a mission, you're teammates together to rule and reign over my creation. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:15.200 In fact, in the next chapter, Genesis chapter 2, we see that Eve is created to be Adam's helper. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:22.480 It's one of the more misunderstood texts in the Bible, though, because helper doesn't mean subservient, it doesn't mean inferior. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:29.279 Helper is actually the same Hebrew word that's used in context where it says God is our helper. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.200 Is that powerful or is that weak? 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:34.240 Okay. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:43.360 Um, the word helper means equal partner, equal mission, equal teammate. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:51.200 And so what we have to see here is from the very beginning, woman is not an afterthought. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:57.759 Woman is not a lesser expression of God's image or merely a supporting character in his mission. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:14.399 And as Tara and I raised four sons, I want, this is personal to us, I want our four sons growing up recognizing women not as accessories to the mission of God, but as fellow image bearers and kingdom partners. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:22.159 I want them to grow up secure enough to recognize, receive, and celebrate the gifts of God in women. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:22.879 How about you? 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:34.559 See, sin distorted the relationship between men and women, but it did not erase God's image or cancel his purposes for women. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:36.879 We're gonna see this all throughout the scripture. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:52.000 Throughout the Old Testament, you have Miriam, the first prophet, that's revealed in Exodus, that is literally hearing the words of the Lord and offering them to the people, men and women. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:59.039 In Judges, check this out there was a vacuum in leadership in that time and day. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:09.759 And in Judges chapter 4, 4, it tells us Deborah was not only a prophet, but also a judge, which meant now Deborah, a prophet, was leading Israel at that time. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.879 Deborah, a woman, led the nation of Israel for a season. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:22.639 Holdah, a prophet in the Old Testament, had a powerful role in helping ignite spiritual reform. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:44.879 And Esther, when the people of Israel needed deliverance, God positioned and placed Esther in a platform of impact and influence to have a voice in the king's ear, and God used her to help deliver the Jewish people and save them from extermination. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:50.639 God entrusted women with leadership, revelation, courage, and responsibility. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:52.879 We see this all throughout the Old Testament. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:59.200 I don't know what you've heard about the Old Testament, but God honors women, He doesn't hide them from the story. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:07.039 When Jesus enters the story, he consistently treats women with dignity and spiritual seriousness. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:13.919 And he he elevates and empowers women in a culture that continually marginalized them. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:15.600 I want you to see this. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:25.200 Mary of Bethany sits at Jesus' feet, crisscross applesauce, and becomes one of Jesus' disciples in close proximity to a rabbi in that day. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.360 That would have been so radical. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:35.759 That Jesus, a respected rabbi, would have allowed women to follow him, to learn from him, and to study his teachings. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:46.879 We see Jesus having a conversation with a Samaritan woman in John chapter 4, and it changes her life. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:55.039 And she runs into the Samaritan village and becomes the first evangelist in her region, proclaiming the good news of the gospel. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:04.559 Women remained near the cross at Jesus' death in the face of opposition and persecution when all of the men fled in fear. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:06.639 Consider that for a moment. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.200 Women were the first witnesses of the empty tomb. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:25.279 And before Peter publicly preached the resurrection, Mary was commissioned by the resurrected one, Jesus Christ, to go and announce it to the men. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:36.399 Luke tells us that these uh these other women, Mary, Magdalene, and Joanna, Susanna, and many others, uh, they they funded Jesus' ministry. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:38.960 I want you to think about this for a moment. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:55.039 Uh, the the only ones in the New Testament that the scripture says financially supported and funded Jesus' kingdom ministry were women, aka like marketplace mamas of that day, boss babes of that day. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:56.799 It doesn't talk about men. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.320 I mean, that maybe the dudes were stingy, just like sometimes today. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:07.840 But women were kingdom funders for Jesus' ministry. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.519 Their radical generosity helped move the mission forward. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:18.879 And I'm not trying to force every biblical example here into like a modern job title, but the pattern is unmistakable. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:27.039 Jesus welcomed women as disciples and he trusted them as partners in his mission. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:33.440 And then we see the pattern that continues in the early church. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:41.039 In Acts chapter 18, Priscilla and Aquila, they uh hear a gifted preacher named Apollos in the early church. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:48.080 And Apollos was the most eloquent, gifted, and powerful preacher in the New Testament. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.480 And look at here. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:15:09.279 Priscilla is the wife, and Aquila, they take him aside, and it says that they both took the most gifted male preacher in that day, and they helped him, they instructed him to teach the scriptures with more accuracy. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:19.440 In Romans chapter 16, Paul commends Phoebe as a diaconos, which means a minister or a deacon. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.600 That's a leader in the early church. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:30.559 He honors Junia, who suffered imprisonment for the sake of the gospel, and it says that she was highly respected among the apostles. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.200 In Philippians, Paul describes Yodia and Syndechy. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:42.320 If you need some baby names, these are women whose scripture says contended. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:45.039 Paul says they contended at my side. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:53.120 In other words, they did spiritual warfare at my side for the sake of the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:05.519 Sometimes we get to caricature that Paul was misogynistic because of specifically two verses that we're going to unpack in a moment about women in the church. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.600 But Paul was actually radical. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.679 I want you to see this. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:14.399 In his culture, in his day and time, Paul did not merely tolerate these women. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.799 Scripture honors them. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:37.840 Women in ministry are not an accommodation to modern culture, they're woven throughout the biblical story and the New Testament church. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.919 And the clearest picture of this is Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.879 Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit fills the room. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.360 Men and women are empowered. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.919 They begin declaring the wonders of God. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.159 And Peter explains this moment by quoting the prophet Joel. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:10.799 Joel says, In the last days, God says, I'm going to pour out my spirit on all people, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:14.880 This is central, hear me, to what we believe. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:25.200 We believe that as Pentecost came, the Holy Spirit announces a new era of God's redemptive work. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.599 Sons and daughters, young and old, men and women. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:34.079 And God pours his spirit out upon all flesh. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.240 And what does Peter say that the daughters are going to do? 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.039 The daughters are going to prophesy. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:51.279 The daughters are going to hear from the Lord and speak upon the anointing, the empowerment, the wisdom, and the authority of the Holy Spirit for the strengthening of the body of Christ. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:59.680 A spirit-filled church, in other words, will have both sons and daughters using their gifts for the glory of God. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:00.960 Amen. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:09.039 Now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 to support this, now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:15.599 A few verses later, and he distributes them to each one just as he determines. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:16.960 Catch this. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:25.279 The New Testament describes gifts such as prophecy, teaching, leadership, evangelism, shepherding, and mercy. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.599 And it never says that those gifts are distributed according to gender. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:40.640 In other words, God calls, Christ gifts, the spirit and powers, the church recognizes. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.160 This is the normative pattern in the early church. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.519 We don't decide who God is allowed to call. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:58.319 If God calls gifts and powers and forms biblical character in a woman, who are we to tell God that he chose the wrong person? 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:05.759 We cannot ask God to pour out his spirit and then reject the people upon whom he pours it. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:11.200 We cannot pray, God, send revival and then tell his daughters, remain seated. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.119 I'm preaching up here today. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.079 I'm preaching better than you're responding. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:22.880 I love you. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:29.519 The point is, if God gives the gift to church, you should make room for it. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.440 Well, John, what about the difficult passages? 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:35.039 I'm glad you asked. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:36.720 We've got a few minutes. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.240 And I know what some of you guys are thinking. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:38.880 What about Paul? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.119 What about women should be silent in church? 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:42.960 What about I don't permit a woman to teach? 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:44.319 What about the stuff that we've heard? 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:56.720 I want to, I want to just say, I uh um we don't honor scripture by avoiding hard passages, difficult passages, or or isolating two verses from everything else that the scripture reveals. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.079 Faithful Christians, and I just want to say this, disagree here. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.599 And we can hold a conviction without dishonoring them. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:11.119 But sound interpretation of scripture, aka hermeneutics, ask these questions. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.599 What does the text actually say? 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.119 What problem was the author addressing? 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:21.440 How does it fit within the context of the greater letter in these cases? 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.880 And how does it fit within the whole witness of scripture? 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.480 So let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14, 34. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.119 Paul says, Women should be silent during the church meetings. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:33.920 Boom. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:42.720 If you just read it like that, it's not proper for them to speak, and if they have questions, they should ask their husbands at home. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:56.480 But but the issue is three chapters earlier, Paul actually gives instructions to women who pray and prophesy and how they should use their gifts publicly. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:08.400 And so we can't reasonably argue from the holistic nature of what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians that that that woman should never ever speak. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.599 So, what's happening here here in 1 Corinthians chapter 14? 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:13.599 These believers gathered in homes. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.920 It was a little different than this context today. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:24.240 And Paul addresses three things in 1 Corinthians when it comes to the issue of speaking and taking turns and order. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:28.799 Really, one of the major themes in 1 Corinthians is order. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.799 The Holy Spirit has been poured out. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.960 Gifts are in operation. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:34.720 And Paul's like, this is amazing. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.640 Now we got to bring some order to it. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:44.960 The first example is when people are speaking in an unknown language to build up the church for that purpose, and there's not an interpreter there. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.799 He says they should remain silent. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.599 This is men or women. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:58.160 And wait for an interpreter to help give an intelligible prophetic building up of the church response. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:01.279 The second thing is that if People are prophesying. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:13.920 Paul says if someone else receives a word of prophecy in this kind of home gathering context, the first person should be silent, and then the next person begins their word of prophecy. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.319 The third example is this. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:29.680 Now, what scholars believe, and it's pretty obvious in the holistic nature of scripture, is that this wasn't Paul prohibiting all women from talking in church. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.480 That there was a specific situation happening. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:35.200 In fact, the word women should be silent. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:41.920 The word for women can be also translated as wives in the Greek here. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:57.680 And what most people would say is that it actually was a specific situation in the church in Corinth where women or wives, while someone was speaking, while someone was teaching, they were trying to learn and understand what was going on. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:02.640 And so they were shouting to their husbands or shouting to other people, shouting to men. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:04.000 Hey, what did he say? 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.279 What does that word hermeneutics mean? 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:08.640 Right? 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:15.039 They were disrupting the teaching and the unity of the gathering. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:25.200 And so Paul is giving a specific contextual response that is trying to bring order to a particular situation. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:26.000 Here it is. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:32.559 The issue in Corinth was not women speaking, the issue was people speaking in ways that prevented the church from being strengthened. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:33.839 Okay? 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:38.880 His conclusion is everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:47.359 So we have to allow scripture to interpret scripture and not just isogee or take one text and apply it everywhere. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.759 First Timothy chapter 2, verse 12 is the other one. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:55.839 Paul tells Timothy in a letter that's written to a pastor. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.599 Timothy was a local pastor of the church of Ephesus. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:04.400 He says in chapter 2, verse 12, let a woman learn in quietness. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.319 So first of all, let a woman learn. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:08.960 That's a clue here in quietness. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.799 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.559 At first glance, at first reading, you're like, case closed. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.799 But again, we have to understand the context. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.359 We have to understand what is happening. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:30.160 It's a letter to a particular church first, to a pastor. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.680 And Timothy was leading a church in Ephesus. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:38.480 If you read the entire letter of 1 Timothy, that's filled with deception. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.640 It's filled with false teaching. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:42.880 It's filled with false doctrine. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:53.200 It's filled with myths from the different cults that were happening in Ephesus, and people teaching things that they did not understand. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:11.680 That's the reason why the first thing that Paul says is let a woman learn what he's trying to communicate, that I think is very evident when you study the culture, the history, and the context and supporting scriptures, is that there was something very specific happening in Ephesus. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:25.279 And it's very clear because there was a cult worship that elevated everything in that society elevated and was surrounded around the Greek goddess Artemis. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.160 And the Greek goddess Artemis influenced every aspect of that society. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:37.759 He was very unique, where even there this myth of Artemis was that she was born before her brother. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:51.680 And there's even this concept that there was deception in the church where women who were commandeered by this cult worshiped were being taught that Eve was born before Adam. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:10.240 This word assume authority is also a clue that this is a very specific case because it's the word authentine in Greek. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.039 Paul uses this word for authority nowhere else in the New Testament. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:20.319 In fact, in the New Testament, authentine is never used again, only this one time. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.480 And I'm not trying to support our case by just using one Greek word. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:28.960 It's just very interesting because the New Testament talks a lot about authority. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:33.359 A lot about God's authority, a lot about respecting authority. 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:37.680 But this word for authority is never used in another case. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:46.079 And it's it carries this context of usurping someone else's authority, dominating or domineering someone else who's in authority. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:27:08.079 Very clear to me that Paul is talking to a specific group of women in Ephesus that have been indoctrinated with deception and false teaching that are trying to override, trying to disrupt, and trying to deceive healthy leadership and authority in that specific church. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:15.759 The issue in Ephesus wasn't a woman possessing a gift, it was deception leading the way. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:19.359 And that principle applies to everyone, man or woman. 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:22.640 No one should teach before they start being trained. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.440 If they don't have character, nobody should lead from deception. 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:31.759 No one should carry authority if they haven't developed the character to steward it. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.200 And I just want you to know that affirming women in ministry doesn't lower our standard for leadership. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:45.440 At Zion, we believe that biblically qualified women may serve throughout every level of ministry, but the important word is qualified. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.599 The same standard applies to men and women. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:59.200 Spiritual leadership requires calling, character, gifting, and fruit. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:21.839 I think about Taryn. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:24.559 What would it look like? 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:33.519 What would Zion Church look like if Taryn did not have space, did not have room to operate in her calling and in her gifting? 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:44.240 So much of what we experience at Zion carries her fingerprints, her heart for people, her her discernment, her teaching, her prophetic gifting. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:53.519 And she did not grow up in a church context that made room for her to operate in ministry in this capacity. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:29:04.880 What would that look like if we would not allow her to lead, to speak, to care? 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:17.920 I mean, I have watched what happens in an atmosphere when someone like a Taryn is able to step into her God-given calling. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:31.440 We are better for the women in our house, the humble, passionate, called, anointed women in our house that have courageously said yes to God. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.559 And we want to honor you today. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:40.160 Bless God's gift on your life because Taryn isn't the only one. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:45.039 Women throughout this church carry gifts that the body of Christ needs. 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:49.359 And I just want you to know like not every woman is called to a pulpit. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:57.599 Just like not every man is called to a pulpit, but every follower of Jesus has been entrusted with something. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:59.440 And you're calling. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:28.799 Your calling is not something for you to apologize over, it's a responsibility for you to steward. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.240 Because we need you. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:36.079 We need what God's put on your life. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:39.920 To the men of Zion. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:54.640 And we shouldn't be threatened by the gifting of women and the empowerment of women, the flourishment of women, because healthy leaders don't protect their platform, they developed people. 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:59.519 Kingdom leadership calls other people's gifts forward. 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:03.279 The advancement of women is not the diminishment of men. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:11.359 And when every part of the body of Christ functions properly, the entire church becomes stronger. 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:23.359 See, somewhere behind my my great-grandpa and his yes was the yes of a woman who answered God's call. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:41.920 It's like she couldn't un she couldn't understand or see the generations that would be impacted, the future generations that would find God, that would answer their call to a life of ministry. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.039 But she just simply said yes. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:46.720 And her yes mattered. 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:52.319 I just want you to know, women, your yes matters. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:57.519 It matters more than you probably will ever realize. 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:14.559 Throughout scripture, we see that God has a purpose and a plan for you to share in his mission, for you to hear his voice. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:30.000 And no matter what's been spoken over your life in the past, or the insecurity, or the comparison, or the diminishing of your voice, or the fear that you have, God is speaking truth over your life today. 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:44.079 That you are seen, that you matter, that you have a purpose, that you're called, and that we need you, and the world desperately needs you. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:50.079 I actually want to just take a moment and invite us to close our eyes in the room. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:33:01.440 And as we close our eyes in the room, I want to actually invite all of the women right now, if you feel comfortable, would you just stand to your feet? 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:06.319 We just want to take a moment and respond to what the Holy Spirit is doing in the room. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:15.359 We don't want to just merely say that we we believe in the calling of women. 00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:17.039 We want to practice it. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:18.880 We want to practice what we believe in. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:22.720 I just want you to know that this moment is for every every woman. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:26.480 Not not just the women who feel called to vocational ministry. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:29.039 It's for the women who feel overlooked. 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:39.920 And in fact, right now, would you just put your hands out in a posture of receiving rest your hands out, palms towards heaven. 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.799 This moment is for women who have felt wounded. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:48.880 Maybe you've been afraid to use your voice. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:53.440 Perhaps you felt the pressure to prove yourself. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:34:03.359 This moment is for the woman who doesn't want the platform but knows that God has entrusted her with something. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:23.119 This is for daughters, this is for moms, this is for grandmas, sisters, this is for leaders and intercessors, disciplers, entrepreneurs, teachers, creatives, servant leaders. 00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:33.599 Fall fresh upon the women of Zion. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:38.000 Fall fresh upon those women that are watching online right now. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:49.119 You said that in these days, sons and daughters would prophesy, sons and daughters would use their gift to build up the body of Christ and advance the kingdom. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:52.719 You said that you would pour out your spirit upon your daughters. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:54.480 And so do it again, Lord. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:55.679 Do it today. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:08.880 Pour out your Holy Spirit upon your daughters, where there's been places where you've been wounded because perhaps there's even been male authority that has uh been controlling or been even abusive. 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:15.760 I am just praying and declaring healing over your mind, healing over your heart, healing over your identity. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:20.159 You are a daughter of God, you are an image bearer. 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:28.320 And I declare that you have a purpose in the mission of advancing the cause of Jesus Christ. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:33.519 When you have felt like, man, the enemy just tries to push me down and tell me to sit down. 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:41.599 Today is your day to stand up and to rise up into the calling that God has in front of you. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:50.079 And we declare that you are seen, you are valued, you matter to the mission of God. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:54.639 And I just declare right now, confidence rise in your heart. 00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:56.800 Would a calling become clear? 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:03.360 Maybe even a dream that you had long ago that's been diminished, dulled, or it's even dead right now. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:11.920 I just even believe that God is resurfacing and reestablishing those dreams in your heart today. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:15.039 We thank you, Holy Spirit. 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:18.000 We're just gonna continue in this space, just stay in this space for a moment. 00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:25.840 I'm gonna invite Taryn to come up and just create some space and hear from the Lord. 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.320 Yeah, I want to invite the men right now. 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:37.519 If you would extend a hand to a woman around you, I believe this is just a powerful moment, a physical representation. 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:57.360 Thank you that the men of this house have your back, that the men of this house honor you, that the men of this house are not insecure or intimidated by you, but the men of this house love you and champion you and want to call out the God-given gifts on your life. 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:06.000 And so, Jesus, right now, I thank you that you are raising up a group of women who will not shrink back. 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:14.639 And the word that the Lord kept giving me for this particular service, for this particular moment in this room, is obedience. 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:17.119 You don't have to have all the answers. 00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:23.360 You may not know what the future looks like, you may not even know particularly what the call is. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:28.800 But God is looking for your obedience, and it's one step, it's one yes. 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:33.599 So we break off all comparison, we break off the spirit of fear. 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:39.119 God has not given you a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind. 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:43.679 So I release a fresh baptism of fire over you. 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:46.559 And God says, no more shrinking back. 00:37:46.719 --> 00:37:54.000 Some of you have been trying to dim the fire of God on your life because other people around you aren't burning quite like you are. 00:37:54.239 --> 00:38:00.719 Some of you, it's even your husbands, and you've been trying to diminish the fire to say, hey, like, no. 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:07.440 Actually, what the world needs, what your family needs, what your kids need is the fire of God on your life. 00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:11.440 So I declare over you that you will be a wild fire. 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:13.360 You will be too much. 00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:15.679 You will be wild for the kingdom of God. 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:20.880 So I break the spirit of fear off of you, and I release you into your destiny. 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:25.760 And I just declare over you that you will not wait as long as I did to say yes. 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:30.800 You will say yes into your call, into your destiny today. 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:38.800 The old is gone, the new is come, and we thank you, Jesus, that it's not by might, it's not by power, but by your spirit, says the Lord. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:47.519 So there is no striving, there's no earning, it's just walking filled and fueled by the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:49.679 In Jesus' name, we bless your women.