Behold Him

As we close chapter 2022 on the album of Life, what will the next hold? 2023 is a blank page, photos yet to be snapped, full of unknowns. Though the details remain hidden to us for now, the Author has not only the next chapter but the rest of the book in His hands. A look through the family album can help us enter 2023 with hope and peace.

Much has happened prior to where we find ourselves in the book. Opening to the first pages, we marvel at The Word’s magnificent creation work, imagining what it would have been to be there, seeing remnants of His glory in our own surroundings. Most striking in its beauty is the presence of God with His people in His creation.

We grimace as we review the fall, knowing our own fall is just as much represented there. But alongside the fall, our hearts melt at the grace of a promise.

We wade and wait through all the wayward years of the judges, the prophets, the kings. Even then the promise peeks through, the steadfast love of the Lord ever evident.

At long last, we linger on treasured photos—the incarnation, the birth. Jesus Christ, the Savior. God with us. Unfathomable!

The baby grows, and the Son of God, Son of Man astonishes and amazes at every turn. Later, snapshots of the garden, the agony, the cross, the tomb fill us with shame mixed with incredible relief. Three days later, the resurrection confirms the significance of what has been accomplished! It is finished, yet unfinished.

The birth of the church is announced, and it is rather dramatic, as births can be. There are tongues, a stoning, and baptisms beyond count. Word spreads, and that baby church grows and grows and grows. Until today. Finally, we see ourselves in the story.

Our very real, pinchable lives are in the middle of God’s family album! Visible, though invisible, God’s presence is with us in every photo. Loving, working, listening, answering, correcting, caring, protecting, directing, strengthening, providing. Do you see Him?

Which brings us to 2022. We would think the album would end here. How can there be pictures of things yet undone? But the rest of the story is there, even if we see it like the saints of old viewed what is now behind us—with dim eyes, with glimmers and promises, with faith. Things became more and more clear with time, and they will for us, too.

Looking ahead, we see shadowy pictures of a new heaven, a new earth, a feast, the reign of King Jesus forever and ever. And us, the church, his bride, by his side. Linger on those images. No matter what happens in ‘23 or beyond, this is reason for hope and peace.

As we flip through the album, it’s exciting to find ourselves in the book, but it’s easy to see that this story is really not about us. Snapshots of Jesus are from beginning to end. He is the centerpiece from eternity past to eternity future. As we start chapter 2023, it will do us good to look again and again at the family album, to see Jesus.

We behold Jesus as we turn the pages of scripture. We behold Jesus as we rehearse the story together week by week in church and in life group. We behold Jesus as we sing in worship. We behold Jesus as we read God’s Word Side by Side. Below are a few more concrete ways to behold Jesus and start 2023 full of hope and peace. Happy New Year!

• Behold Him—snapshots of Jesus, a scripture reading.

• Behold Him—a song about Jesus in scripture.

• Behold the Lamb of God—an album, the story of Jesus in song by Andrew Peterson.

• The Essential Jesus—100-day Bible reading plan to behold Jesus at You Version.

• God’s Story is Our Story—another Bible reading plan at You Version.

1st Thursday Connect

1st Thursday Connect is coming up January 5, 2023! The theme is SHARE. Following a cozy soup dinner, we will enjoy teaching from God’s Word and fun sharing with each other.

• January 5, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn, downstairs

• RSVP for January’s 1st Thursday Connect on the church website

• If you can’t make it in person, you can join us by livestream at 6:40 p.m.

We have been reading Psalms 1-41 in December and will start 2 Kings for January. Pick up materials at 1st Thursday Connect, in the church foyer, or print them from the church website.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• #Pray168—sign up to join the church in praying throughout the first week of January.

• Psalm 13—a song to prepare for 1st Thursday.

• 2 Kings—a devotional commentary by Ralph Dale Davis.

• Recommended Commentaries—@ Knowable Word. Recommended reading before using commentaries.

• Kings & Chronicles—a Spotify playlist.

• TGC Editorial Staff: Books We Enjoyed in 2022—@ The Gospel Coalition.

• The Light of Christ in a World of Darkness—@ Truth for Life.

• What Has Been Most Helpful in Your Marriage?—by Ed Welch @ CCEF.

Share the Joy, a women’s Christmas celebration, is this Sunday. You are invited to pause and come enjoy festive treats, optional crafts, and space to quietly reflect upon the meaning of Christmas.

This year’s reflection will move you through four beautiful stations with scripture and lyrics from the Christmas hymn O Holy Night. A Thrill of Hope, a booklet prepared for this occasion, will lead you to personally and interactively reflect upon the hope Jesus offers a weary world.

Bring a friend and share the joy of Christmas!

• Sunday, December 11, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn

• RSVP on the church website

1st Thursday Connect

1st Thursday Connect is coming up as soon as you turn your calendar. It’s pizza and pajamas night—like a sleepover without the sleep! Come in your pajamas, a robe and slippers, or comfy clothes. Along with pizza and teaching from God’s Word, we will be doing two service projects—decorating cookies for Coffee Cart and preparing packs of socks for Love INC.

Throughout the month of November, we are collecting packages of children’s socks for Love INC. They are particularly in need of socks that will fit children in middle school. Put packages of socks in a bin near the church mailboxes by December 1 or bring them to December’s 1st Thursday Connect.

• December 1, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn, downstairs

• Bring a package of children’s socks

• RSVP for December’s 1st Thursday Connect on the church website

• If you can’t make it in person, put on your pajamas and join us by livestream at 6:40 p.m.

We have been reading Judges in November and will read Psalms 1-41 in December. Pick up materials at 1st Thursday Connect, in the church foyer, or print them from the church website. Find or request a Side by Side Bible Reading partner and encourage each other with God’s truth in December.

Share the Joy

Share the Joy, a Christmas reflection and celebration for women, will be held December 11, 4:00-6:00 p.m., at New Life Church West Linn. Join us for festive treats, an optional craft, and space to quietly reflect upon the thrill of hope Jesus offers a weary world.

This special evening is designed to be a comfortable and meaningful pause in the busyness of the season for both you and your friends. Invite a friend and RSVP on the church website.

A Charge to My Sisters

(adapted from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 by Gay Haugen)

Hear my Sisters, listen, and respond to your Lord and Savior’s great, immeasurable love for you.

Let’s let our response be an all-in, every moment, completely whole-of-our-being response to Him.

Let’s write the words of Jesus, to love as He loved, on our hearts so that we live and breathe it.

Let’s reflect on and respond to His love when we wake up in the morning and when we lie down at night and when we walk and when we talk.

Let’s remember and respond to His love by sharing it with our family, our children, our friends, our neighbors.

Let’s keep it as the determiner of how we use our hands and the filter of how we see people and opportunities around us.

Let’s open our homes in a way that reflects who we serve and who we love.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions Through the Psalms—by Dane Ortlund.

• Psalms—a Spotify playlist.

• New Advent Resources: 75-song Playlist, Books, and More—@ The Gospel Coalition.

• Grammar Crash Course—@ Knowable Word. Read the Bible better by understanding grammar.

• Can Cancer be God’s Servant?—by Randy Alcorn.

• What Makes My Gift a Spiritual Gift?—listen to John Piper @ Desiring God.

Transforming Prayer

Does prayer sometimes feel like a housekeeping chore? Something you know you should do but find yourself giving a lick and a promise? Has prayer become a list of needs you feel obligated to rattle off to God, not expecting much in return?

Would you like a fresh start with prayer? Would you like to see it more as a love relationship than a grocery list? Would you like to talk to God the way you talk to a best friend, no topic off limits, no fancy words required?

This is what God invites us to. He wants us to know the blessing of seeking His face and the intimacy that comes with it.

Here are two steps to begin to refresh your prayers:

1. Use the Walk and Talk prayer guide from the Refresh retreat and spend time enjoying God, out in nature if possible.

2. Read Transforming Prayer: How Everything Changes When You Seek God’s Face. Daniel Henderson writes:

   God calls us to an intimate encounter as we pursue Him with all our hearts…. To seek His face today means to set our hearts to seek Him in worship with biblical understanding, submitting completely to the control of His Spirit with a longing to know and enjoy Him more. Prayer is not about rehearsing a quick list of needs with God, but seeking Him because of who He is, with a passion for a deeper intimacy and experience of His presence.

When you said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek’ (Psalm 27:8). It is our privilege and for our greatest joy to seek the Lord’s face!

1st Thursday Connect

It’s that time of year when families feast to celebrate and express their gratitude for God’s goodness. As part of God’s family, we are not just friends but sisters, so let’s gather together in thankfulness. Here are the details.

• November 3, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn

• Family-style dinner, Friendly Family Feud, teaching from God’s Word

• RSVP for November’s 1st Thursday Connect at newlifenw.com/westlinn/women

We have been reading Deuteronomy in October and will begin Judges for November. Pick up materials at 1st Thursday Connect, in the church foyer, or find them on the website. Find or request a Side by Side Bible Reading partner and encourage each other with God’s truth in November.

Would you like to join other women in memorizing Galatians over the course of the next year? You can get materials and instructions to make your own memory booklet on the website and get started anytime! Remember, perfection isn’t the goal. Time spent learning God’s Word is always beneficial.

Coming Up

For the month of November, we will be collecting packages of children’s socks for Love INC. They are particularly in need of socks that will fit children in middle school. Shop November’s sales and either put packages of socks in a bin near the church mailboxes by December 1 or bring them to December’s 1st Thursday Connect.

Share the Joy, a Christmas reflection and celebration for women, is coming up December 11, 4:00-6:00 p.m., at New Life Church, West Linn. This special evening is designed to be a comfortable and meaningful pause in the busyness of the season for both you and your friends. Put it on your calendar and begin now to invite friends to join you.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• How to Have People Over to Eat—@ The Lazy Genius Podcast. Not our typical link but a helpful way to plan for hospitality.

• Cultivate Faithfulness for a Lifetime—Glenna Marshall speaking @ TGC.

• God’s Goodness in Chronic Illness and Cancer—with Colleen Chao @ The Daily Grace Podcast. Beautiful.

• Heart Matters—by Kristin @ The Palest Ink.

• How Women in the Bible Help Us Find Our Place in the Story of Redemption—with Nana Dolce @ Daily Grace.

• Praying in Public—by Lisa LaGeorge.

• Debunking Grief’s Myths: 4 Lies You Need to Stop Using—by Clarissa Moll @ TGC.

• Hope in the Hate Spot: Daniel Nayeri’s ‘Everything Sad is Untrue’—@TGC. Everything Sad is Untrue—such an interesting book.

• Judges—a Spotify playlist.

• Judges: Such a Great Salvation—a commentary by Dale Ralph Davis.

Refreshed For Fall

Nearly 40 women attended the Refresh retreat in September to enjoy nature, good coffee and food with friends, and learn to read the Bible better. Using the excellent Bible study materials from Charles Simeon Trust, we gleaned principles and practiced reading the Bible well.

The Bible is not just an ancient text that we can take to mean anything we want. As with any piece of literature, we need to understand what the author intended to communicate. The Bible, unlike any other piece of literature, is God’s inspired truth and contains a unified story that points us to Jesus and the salvation he offers. Reading the Bible well helps us understand that story and how it applies to us. 

To read the Bible better, we should practice a few key principles. 

1. We should commit to upholding the intended truth of God’s Word, not going above or below the line of scripture.

2. We must find God’s intended meaning out of the text before we apply the text.

3. To find the intended meaning, we must understand the context in order to see how the original audience understood the text.

4.  Uncovering the structure also helps us find the intended meaning. Every text has a structure. The structure will reveal an emphasis. The emphasis should shape our understanding of the text.

5. We should not apply God’s Word to us now until we have considered how the passage points to Jesus and the gospel, because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the unifying interpretive center of the scriptures according to the scriptures.  

6. Reading the Bible well is more than getting the text right. We also must get it into life. The Bible is for us today, and we should never stop short of applying God’s Word to our lives.

Do you want to learn to read the Bible better? Try an online class through Simeon Trust or a free online course through Western Seminary. Do you want to practice reading the Bible better? Sign up for Side by Side Bible Reading in October and read with a partner! Reading the Bible better is a life-long pursuit and worth every effort.

1st Thursday Connect

Use Your Noodle, that’s the theme for our gathering on October 6, National Noodle Day. Should be fun! Here are the details.

• October 6, 6:00-8:00 p.m. (Note the new time!)

• New Life Church, West Linn, downstairs

• Noodle Bar, Asian-style

• RSVP for October’s 1st Thursday Connect at newlifenw.com/westlinn/women

We have been reading Galatians in September and will finish our study with teaching from Galatians at 1st Thursday Connect. It’s a short book and not too late to read along. We will be reading Deuteronomy in October. Pick up materials at 1st Thursday Connect, in the church foyer, or find them on the website. You can also request a Side by Side Bible Reading partner online.

Would you like to join other women in memorizing Galatians over the course of the next year? You can get materials and instructions to make your own memory booklet at 1st Thursday Connect or on the website and get started anytime! Remember, perfection isn’t the goal. Time spent learning God’s Word is always beneficial.

Opportunities

The Word Speaks, a women’s conference, will be held at the Salem Convention Center November 4-5. Tara-Leigh Cobble is this year’s speaker. Register online.

Revive Women’s Conference, put on by Western Seminary, is coming up November 18 at River West Church. This year’s theme is Seeing Beyond.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Galatians—a Spotify playlist.

• How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament—@ For The Church, a series of articles by Jason DeRouchie.

• How to Delight in the Law of the Lord—a talk by Jen Wilkin @ TGC podcast.

• Deuteronomy—an online commentary by J. Gary Millar @ TGC.

• Deuteronomy—a playlist for October’s study.

• Transform—free online classes for Christian development @ Western Seminary.

• Quiet Time Tips—@ The Daily Grace podcast.

Refresh

Refresh, a women’s retreat, is coming up Saturday, September 17! Registration is open through Sunday, September 11, and can be found on the church website. We hope you can join us!

We will meet at Everett Hall at Hopkins Demonstration Forest in Oregon City and enjoy nature, friends, and food while we learn to read the Bible better. Register on the church website by September 11. Cost is $20 which can be paid online or by cash or check to New Life Church and designated “West Linn Women’s Retreat.” Please contact the Women’s Ministry leadership team if you would like assistance to cover the cost.

• Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

• Coffee, snacks, lunch, a book, and handouts provided

• Everett Hall, Hopkins Demonstration Forest, 16750 S Brockway Rd, Oregon City, OR 97045

• Register online, $20, by September 11

• Bring a Bible and dress comfortably and appropriately for the weather

Here is a schedule for the day and a Spotify playlist to help you prepare!

Galatians

Will you join us in reading the book of Galatians in September? Resources are available online or in the church foyer. Find a Side by Side Bible Reading partner or sign up if you would like to be paired with another woman to read and discuss Galatians together.

You can also get materials for making a memorization booklet and start memorizing the book of Galatians with us this year.

Refresh

Women’s Ministry will kick off the 2022-2023 season with a day retreat, REFRESH, September 17! The theme for the day is: Read the Bible Better. Sierra, Gay, and Marcia will share principles and give us practice in reading the Bible better, looking for its intended meaning and application for us today.

We will meet at Everett Hall at Hopkins Demonstration Forest in Oregon City and enjoy nature, friends, and food while we learn to read the Bible better. Register on the church website by September 11. Cost is $20 which can be paid online or by cash or check to New Life Church and designated “West Linn Women’s Retreat.” Please contact the Women’s Ministry leadership team if you need assistance to cover the cost.

• Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

• Coffee, snacks, lunch, a book, and handouts provided

• Everett Hall, Hopkins Demonstration Forest, 16750 S Brockway Rd, Oregon City, OR 97045

• Register online, $20, by September 11

• Bring a Bible and dress comfortably and appropriately for the weather

Here is a schedule for the day and a Spotify playlist to help you prepare!

1st Thursday Connect

Our monthly gathering for women, 1st Thursday Connect, will resume October 6, but at a NEW TIME! Join us at 6:00 p.m. for dinner, followed by Bible teaching and fun activities from 6:30-8:00 p.m.. Put it on your calendar and watch for more information coming soon.

• Thursday, October 6, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

• Dinner, activities, Bible teaching, and fun

• New Life Church, West Linn downstairs

• RSVP online monthly at newlifenw.com/westlinn/women

Side by Side Bible Reading

Side by Side Bible Reading begins in September! An introduction to Galatians will be given at the REFRESH retreat. We will read Galatians and discuss it side by side from September 17-October 6. Resources can be found online, at the retreat, or in the church foyer. Ask someone to read and discuss Galatians with you, or sign up online to be partnered with another woman.

Scripture Memory

We are starting the year in the book of Galatians, and it is good book to commit to memory. We can do it in a year by simply working on 3-4 verses each week. A scripture memory booklet for the book of Galatians can be made by using the file and instructions provided. Start anytime. If you want to go slower, feel free to go at your own pace. Do it with a friend. Carry your booklet and memorize while you walk. Even if you don’t get it perfectly, the process will be good for your soul. Find the resources online or at our fall events.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• What would we be missing if our Bibles lacked the book of Galatians?—a short YouTube video by Ligonier Ministries.

• My Biggest Struggle with Daily Devotions—@ Fight of Faith.

• Imagine Reading “The Lord of the Rings” the Way You Read the Bible—by Greg Gilbert @ Crossway.

• Why Keep Reading the Bible? and Making Time to Read the Bible—@ Stray Thoughts.

• The Bible Tells Us the Rest of the Story About Who We Are—@ He is Faithful.

• Why Did My Life Have to Be Hard?—@ Desiring God.

• Refresh 2022—a Spotify playlist.

1st Thursday Connect LUAU

Pull out the flipflops, a Hawaiian shirt, bright colors, whatever you’ve got! We’re finishing off the year with a LUAU as we look forward to our future glorification with Christ from 2 Corinthians. Dinner will be provided at 6:30 p.m. with Bible teaching and music and fun to follow. If you didn’t already sign up at church last Sunday, you can do so at this link.

Thursday, June 2

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn downstairs

If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

We will finish our memorization of Romans 8 by memorizing Romans 8:37-39 in June.

2021-2022 Evaluation

Would you take a quick minute and help us evaluate this year of women’s ministry? We would love to know how we are doing at accomplishing our purpose. Complete this new quick and easy online evaluation. We value your input.

As we wrap up this season, thank you to the 2021-2022 Women’s Ministry leadership team: Leticia Crone, Elaine Hochstettler, Gay Haugen, Lisa Hartung, Cindy Shaw, Amy Crooks, Sierra Edmonds, and Marcia Reavely. We deeply appreciate those who have taught God’s Word to us this year: Katie Maricle, Meghan Haugen, Gay Haugen, Carolyn Rieger, Sierra Edmonds, Alina Gauthier, Shayla Crone, Layna Fullington, Lisa Hartung, and Marcia Reavely.

If you are interested in serving on the Women’s Ministry leadership team, you can let us know on your online evaluation.

Opportunities

• Women’s Camp at Tadmor is happening again this summer! Would you like to join other women attending camp July 15-17 to Renew, Refresh, Restore? Get more information and register here.

• Save the date! Women’s Ministry plans to kick off the fall with a Saturday retreat at Hopkins Demonstration Forest. Put September 17 on your calendar and plan to join us!

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• The Best Motivation to Pray—Julius Kim @ The Gospel Coalition podcast.

• Come, Lord Jesus with Nancy Guthrie—@ Journeywomen podcast.

• The Sugar-Coating—@ nuakh, to go along with our Paradise theme.

• Journeywomen Bible Study Guide—a wonderful guide for studying a passage of scripture. You might like to try it over the summer.

• The Good Portion—a series written specifically for women to immerse themselves in the depths of Christian doctrine.

• Beholding the Love of God—a sermon by Tim Keller. Are you a Christian or just a religious person?

• The Power of the Songs of Scripture—Nancy Guthrie on suffering and our coming Savior @ The Gospel Coalition Podcast.

• A Happy Ending without an End—Randy Alcorn on our hope in suffering.

• Teaching Children to Love What is Good—by Melissa Kruger @ Risen Motherhood. So good!

• Piercing Heaven Prayer Journal—prayers of the Puritans.

1st Thursday Connect

How fun! Our next 1st Thursday Connect is on Cinco de Mayo. Join us at 6:30 p.m. for Mexican food and coffee. At 7:00, we will finish our study Transplant: tending our new hearts with two last tools and some take-home reminders. To mix things up, we will be working at various hands-on stations. If you haven’t yet, there is still time to review the lesson from last time (Tool #5) and work on the Lab (Lab #2).

The study is easy to join, even if it is your first time. Bring a Bible and join us May 5!

Thursday, May 5

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn downstairs

Your RSVP at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

Side by Side Bible Reading resources for our current study of the books of 1 & 2 Corinthians are on the church website and in the church foyer. We are memorizing Romans 8:33-36 in May.

Save the Date

We are nearing the end of the school year and also the end of another season of 1st Thursday Connect. Wouldn’t it be fun for all of us to gather for a grand finale of sorts? In our current study of 1 & 2 Corinthians, we are reminded that a Grand Finale is coming. Though it will be a finale, it will also be an amazing Beginning. What do you think the new heaven and earth will be like? What do you know about it? How does anticipation of that Day affect your day today? Put June 2 on your calendar, and let’s celebrate the fact that we were made for Paradise!

2021-2022 Poll

Would you take a minute and help us evaluate this year of women’s ministry? We would love to know what was helpful to you and where you might like to get involved next year. Complete this online poll. We are grateful for your input.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Come, Lord Jesus with Nancy Guthrie—@ Journeywomen podcast.

• God’s Work of Sanctification with Gavin Ortlund—another excellent podcast @ Journeywomen.

• Ligonier Theological Study Guides—@ Feeding On Christ. Each study guide provides a short systematic theological treatment, with many topics available and more to come.

• Sin is “Barbs in Your Eyes, Thorns in Your Sides”—@ Looking at Christ.

• John Owen’s 9 Instructions for Killing Sin—@ The Gospel Coalition.

• The Awesome Super Fantastic Forever Party Storybook—a new children’s book on heaven by Joni Eareckson Tada.

• The Provisions of God in the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Days—@ enCourage.

• Let Tragedy Find Us Living—@ Desiring God.

• Seedlings Need the Weather—@sethlewis.ie.

• When Good Things Spiritually Harm Our Kids—@ Your Mom Has a Blog.

• How to Become Wise—by Paige Benton Brown @ The Gospel Coalition Podcast.

Living Our New Life

Maybe you’ve noticed. In our women’s Bible reading and study this year, we have again touched down from beginning to end of the Bible. The books we have studied correlate with the study Transplant: tending our new hearts to draw our hearts to the gospel message of all of scripture. The Transplant study begins with the reason God created the human heart, to reflect or image His character and attributes and to walk in His wise ways. Our sin, the enemy of our heart, is against God and His wise and good plan for us. We saw sin’s devastation in Jeremiah and learned that we daily need to understand sin’s devastation in our own hearts. We read of God’s rescue plan in Luke, fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, and learned how we personally and continually must experience God’s salvation. Currently, we are finishing Romans where we see God’s gift of a new heart and a new Spirit given by grace through faith. As we cultivate and exercise our faith in Jesus, God does His sanctifying work in us .

This month we begin 1 & 2 Corinthians where we will see how the gospel calls and empowers us to righteous living until we reach our final destination forever with the Lord. What is the church to be like? Themes of holiness, unity, and love run through these books—God wants us to see every part of life through the gospel. Why? The character of the church reflects the character of God. 1 & 2 Corinthians tie right into our Transplant study. We tend our new hearts, living out our new life in the power of God’s Spirit, so that we reflect the image of God as we were created to do. As we do so, imperfectly for now, we anticipate our final glorification when our transformation will be complete. But I am getting ahead of ourselves!

Will you join us? It is easy to join our Bible study anytime, at whatever level you can do. You can read 1 & 2 Corinthians during April and May using the personal reading plan provided. You can partner with another woman throughout the month to read and discuss some of the passages with the Side by Side Bible Reading guide provided. You can join us as we gather monthly at 1st Thursday Connect for teaching from the book we’ve read.

We meet next for 1st Thursday Connect on April 7 to finish Romans and introduce 1 & 2 Corinthians. On May 5, we will finish our study Transplant: tending our new hearts. Then, all are invited to an end of the year 1st Thursday Connect celebration luau on June 2—We Were Made For Paradise! We will finish the year with fun, food, and teaching from 1 & 2 Corinthians on our great hope in Jesus!

1st Thursday Connect

New Life Women, you and your friends are invited to our monthly gathering, 1st Thursday Connect. We meet next on Thursday, April 7. We are finishing our study of Romans, so it’s Italian night, of course—yum! Dinner will be provided at 6:30 p.m., and teaching from Romans will begin at 7:00. Just for fun, there will be a Sticky Note Scavenger Hunt! If it’s your first time or you haven’t been in awhile, it’s easy to jump in anytime at 1st Thursday Connect.

Thursday, April 7

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn basement

Your RSVP at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

A reading plan and Side by Side Bible Reading resources for our next study of 1 & 2 Corinthians will be on the church website and in the church foyer. This month’s Transplant study can also be found there, along with a take-home lab assignment. We are memorizing Romans 8:29-32 in April!

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Courses from the Gospel Coalition—@ TGC. Lots of courses, videos, and essays to learn about doctrine, books of the Bible, and more.

• 1 & 2 Corinthians—@ TGC. Introductory and study resources on 1 & 2 Corinthians.

• 1 & 2 Corinthians—a playlist @ Spotify.

• 1 Corinthians For You—by Andrew Wilson.

• 2 Corinthians For You—by Gary Millar.

• Exalting Jesus in 2 Corinthians—by Eric Mason.

• The Bible’s Light-bulb Hasn’t Blown—@ All Nation’s Church. The Bible is a light for our path. Do you use it?

• All This Wasted Worry—by Glenna Marshall. “Go to sleep, for God is awake and he loves you very much.”

• Spiritual Lessons from My Dumb Phone—@ Christianity Today.

• As Long as It’s Healthy—@ A View of the Lake.

• Tell Me Something True—by Kristin at The Palest Ink.

• Excellent Parenting is Remarkably Ordinary—by Brad Hambrick.

Not Alone 

by Amy Crooks

I first met DeAnn Moore at the 2021 September 1st Thursday Connect. The weather was nice, so that evening’s gathering was set up outside in the church parking lot. Marcia asked me to help by greeting and assisting with name tags as people arrived. It was my first time back to 1st Thursday Connect in two years, and despite the simple task, I was fighting social anxiety. As I nervously rearranged pens, tags and hand sanitizer, the first person to approach was DeAnn.  Quickly recognizing each other’s apprehension, we laughingly introduced ourselves and both confessed to feeling awkward and a bit out of place. My name tag gig lasted for the next 15 minutes as the rest of the women arrived, and throughout that time my new friend DeAnn kept catching my eye to crinkle up her own in what was clearly a warm smile behind her mask.  I have spent the rest of this year keeping my eye peeled for DeAnn in order to not miss a chance for a quick chat with this warm woman who bubbles over with easy laughter and kind encouragement. 

DeAnn was baptized in January.  Whether you had the joy of being there that day or not, I know you will be encouraged by her frank story of God’s rescuing love.  Below is the testimony she gave that day and a bit extra she’s said that I can share with you.         

My name is DeAnn and this is my testimony. I really don’t remember it all. Looking back, it’s all such a fog to me. As I struggled to remember and write down what God has done in my life, I saw something that really made sense to me on the show The Chosen. Mary Magdalene said, “All I know is that I was once one way and now I am completely different. And Jesus was in between.” That is my story, too. 

I’ll start here. I had been grieving the death of my husband Andy for four years. He died homeless from alcohol addiction. I was also struggling at my church. Our congregation had been without leadership or Bible teaching for 30 years which was essentially all my adult life. Surrounded by people as lost as I was, I was desperate for spiritual meaning, comfort and grace. I felt a pull to find the God I hoped was real – a God who loved me, who didn’t stand ready to judge me for my failures.

But I knew what I stood to lose if I walked away from this church. I’d lose my sons.

Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.”

Depression is a real thing. The enemy was always there when I was at my lowest point. I turned to the bottle. It was a quick fix to numb me, and I could escape through sleep when I passed out. As I spiraled down in hopelessness, I now found myself with no place to live. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Though I still didn’t know Him, God brought people back into my life that I had deeply offended and rejected. Clint and Joni Crone came and picked me up. They gave me food, let me shower and wash my clothes. Then my nephew Andrew called and told me that he and Madison weren’t going to let me be homeless. They gave me a room in their house. God had not only provided a place for me to live, He reconciled me with people I had rejected and offended.

But I still couldn’t do this on my own. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn’t find peace in my grief. My circumstances were better, but my heart was still broken. Little did I know that peace was waiting for me in God’s Word. I started coming to New Life church and hearing the Word preached. It was like oxygen, food and medicine to my suffocating, starving and broken heart. Through the fog and hurt I could see a glimmer of hope. I joined the study called “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.” That stranger on the road was Jesus. In that class the pieces of the puzzle came together and everything made sense. I realized that I had always believed in God and known He sent His Son. I had known about Him, but now I knew Him!  He loves me and I love Him!

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Jesus is my Lord and Savior. He has made me a new creation. I have lost almost everything, but He found me on the Road to Emmaus and I can finally rest knowing He will never let me go.

1st Thursday Connect

New Life Women, you and your friends are invited to our monthly gathering, 1st Thursday Connect. We meet next on Thursday, March 3. Yummy rice bowls will be provided for dinner at 6:30 p.m., and the next lesson from our study Transplant: tending our new hearts will begin at 7:00. We will be looking at how God does His sanctifying work in us as we live and act by faith in Him. The study is easy to join, even if it is your first time!

Thursday, March 3

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn basement

Your RSVP at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

Side by Side Bible Reading resources for our current study of the book of Romans are on the church website and in the church foyer. We are memorizing Romans 8:26-28 in March!

Underwear Drive

This month we are collecting new men’s and women’s underwear for The Father’s Heart Street Ministry in Oregon City. You can drop off packages of underwear at New Life Church, West Linn anytime up to March 3. There is a donation box in the hall next to the mailboxes. You may also bring underwear to 1st Thursday Connect on March 3.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Worship in the Word (Live)—by Shane & Shane with Kingdom Kids, a fun way to get scripture into your heart and mind!

• Paralyzed and Blessed: My Unlikely Path to Happiness—by Joni Eareckson Tada @ Desiring God. If you read one thing, read this.

• A New Season—by Kristin @ The Palest Ink.

• How Luke 24 Helps Us Read the Bible’s Eye Chart—@ TGC.

• Aging Doesn’t Make You Faithful. Jesus Does.—by Glenna Marshall.

• Fasting With Jesus—@ Gentle Reformation.

• Broken Hallelujahs—@ CCEF.

• When Trials Come, Our Habits Remain—by Abigail Dodds @ Well-Watered Women.

1st Thursday Connect

New Life Women, you and your friends are invited to our monthly gathering, 1st Thursday Connect. We meet next on Thursday, February 3. A self-contained foil dinner will be provided at 6:30 p.m., and teaching from Luke will begin at 7:00. Your RSVP at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at www.newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream. Side by Side Bible Reading resources for our next study of the book of Romans are on the church website and in the church foyer. Also, we are memorizing Romans 8:23-25 in February!

• Thursday, February 3

• 6:30-8:30 p.m.

• New Life Church, West Linn

To demonstrate love to some of our neighbors, we will be doing a project together to help The Father’s Heart serve the needy in our area. In addition to that, we are having an underwear drive for The Father’s Heart through the month of February. They are always in need of new men’s underwear (size S, M, L) and women’s underwear (size XS, S, M)! You can bring your donation to 1st Thursday Connect in March or drop it in a donation box near the mailboxes at church anytime between February 3 and March 3.

Side by Side Bible Reading

We are just over halfway through our Women’s Ministry year, and it is not too late to jump in (or back into) the monthly Side by Side Bible Reading.  In fact, that is one of the best things about Side by Side.  Every month provides a fresh opportunity to get started.

If you’re looking to start or re-start, here are some examples of how some New Life Women are doing Side by Side Bible Reading:

Alina Gauthier partners with the same person for two months and then changes to a new reading partner. For her, Side by Side Bible Reading is primarily an opportunity to connect and build relationships with women at New Life Church since she is relatively new to the area. (Alina and her husband Chris moved here a few months before the pandemic.) Alina is a pro at making friends and putting down roots and her adaptation of Side by Side Bible Reading is another tool she has harnessed to make meaningful connections.

Amy Crooks tries hard to meet every other week.  Sometimes every other week ends up only being once that month.  Amy started out a gung-ho every week Side by Side Bible Reading enthusiast.  But she talks a lot, so it quickly became apparent that the resulting 4-hour meetings every week weren’t viable! Letting go of trying to meet every single week has allowed her to still participate in Side by Side. Amy and her partner meet over the Bible, read, and pray but the goal is not to get every question answered and every blank filled out. 

Linda Damon likes to meet for Side by Side Bible Reading over a cup of coffee.  And her preference is to enjoy that cup of coffee (and the reading and discussion) in a coffee shop.  If you know everything about the Bible, Linda is your perfect partner.  If you know very little about the Bible, Linda is your perfect partner.  Linda brings warmth, comradery, wisdom and kindness to her Side by Side Bible Reading.  She especially likes to look for newer Side by Side readers to partner with (and to join her for that cup of coffee).

Linda Damon likes to meet for Side by Side Bible Reading over a cup of coffee.  And her preference is to enjoy that cup of coffee (and the reading and discussion) in a coffee shop.  If you know everything about the Bible, Linda is your perfect partner.  If you know very little about the Bible, Linda is your perfect partner.  Linda brings warmth, comradery, wisdom and kindness to her Side by Side Bible Reading.  She especially likes to look for newer Side by Side readers to partner with (and to join her for that cup of coffee).

Gay Haugen is pretty diligent about meeting weekly, but she has a very practical rule that makes this sustainable.  She sets a strict 1-hour time limit for the Bible study.  Gay has found that for her and her partners, it is more important to meet often and consistently and not get through all the material than it is to meet for longer periods less frequently.  Gay tends to read with one woman for a season and doesn’t feel the need to change partners too often.

Lori Smith likes adventure, and she brings that attitude of fun to her Side by Side reading partnerships.  Lori frequently asks the Women’s Ministry leadership team to pair her up with someone (or two). Sometimes she ends up partnered with someone she already knew and sometimes it’s with someone entirely new. Lori and her partner(s) stick as closely as schedules will allow to the cadence of weekly meetings and to the suggested reading and question format. 

Nancy Ross and Meghan Haugen are partners. Period. These two sisters in Christ are a few years apart in age but have found that is one of the things they love most about their time together.  Nancy and Meghan started out as Side by Side Bible Reading partners when they were just acquaintances. They are now each other’s dear friends who still meet regularly to sit at Nancy’s sunny kitchen table over a cup of tea to share and pray for each other.

Lori Elliott and her partner do the reading separately, jotting down things that stand out.  They then meet to compare notes, discussing questions with no requirement to resolve all of them.  Lori is using this to re-engage in church community after feeling distant during the pandemic.  She is focused on stepping into the mystery of God and growing her faith as she leans into a trustworthy God despite not having tidy answers to all the questions.

Whether you’re an old hand at Side by Side Bible Reading, have been taking a break and are trying to figure out how to dive back in, or are brand new to it, we hope it’s encouraging to hear some of the many ways New Life Women are connecting with each other while reading God’s Word.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Love Your Neighbor! How?—by Peter Mead.

• Love Your Neighbor—@ Truth4Women.

• You Don’t Have to Read the Whole Bible This Year—@ Knowable Word.

• The Danger is the Good Times—@ buildingjerusalem.blog.

• Gospel Parenting During the Little Years—with Melissa Kruger and Jen Wilkin @ The Gospel Coalition Podcast.

• Enjoying God—by Tim Chester, a book along the lines of Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund.

• Romans: A 12-Week Study—from Knowing the Bible by Jared Wilson.

• Exalting Jesus in Romans—a Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary by Tony Merida.

• Romans 8—five sermons by Ray Ortlund.

• Supernatural Living for Natural People: The Life-giving Message of Romans 8—by Ray Ortlund.

• The Book of Romans—a Spotify playlist.

1st Thursday Connect

On the first Thursday of 2022, we will gather to continue our study Transplant: tending our new hearts. Resources and review will be available, so it is easy to join anytime. Resources and past videos are also on the church website. Have you been meditating upon the Attributes of God? Have you read through the Sinful and Righteous Roots? Have you worked on Lab#1? If you have some time over the holidays, these might be fun things to do before we meet.

January 6, National Cuddle Up Day, is a perfect time for chili and cocoa. Bundle up and come at 6:30 p.m. for food and warm conversation. The study will begin at 7:00. Your RSVP at https://newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If your plans change, you can let us know at the same site. If you are unable to join us in person, livestream is available at httsp://newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

Thursday, January 6

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn

We are currently in the middle of reading the book of Luke in Side by Side Bible Reading. Find resources on the website or in the church foyer. We are memorizing Romans 8:19-22 in January. Please email the Women’s Ministry leadership team at wlwomen@newlifenw.com with questions or prayer needs.

Write On My Heart

The reflection video from Share the Joy, Write On My Heart, is available to view or share. It is a beautiful way to reflect anew on the story of Jesus, even after the Christmas holiday.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness Through Generations—@ Deeply Rooted.

• Reign With Christ, Hold the Suffering—by lovesickscribe.

• A More Bible-Saturated Me—by Kristin Couch @ Desiring God.

• All of Our Nightmares Will Become Untrue—by Laura Andrews @ CCEF.

• My Cup Overflows—@ For the Church. How do you view life?

• Ready to Try Scripture Writing?—@ Great and Noble Tasks, a good idea to try this year!

• FOMO: How the Gospel Answers Our Fear of Missing Out—podcast @ The Daily Grace. Anyone else need this?

• 2021 A Christian Music Review—by Jeremy Howard.

• 4 Questions for Your Bible Reading in 2022—by Glenna Marshall.

• The Good War Against Moods—@ Desiring God.

Share the Joy

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word. Thus begins the old hymn by Fannie Crosby as she goes on to recount the birth and life and death and resurrection of Jesus in song. On Sunday, December 12, New Life Women & Friends will gather at the West Linn campus to celebrate Christmas and reflect anew on the story of Jesus.

We will gather at 4:00 p.m. in the sanctuary for an opening welcome. Following that, there will be three areas to visit as you desire. There will be a craft area to make ornaments coordinating with the theme of the evening. Next, enjoy an area with individually packaged snacks, treats, and warm beverages where you can sit and chat with one another. And finally, there will be opportunities throughout the evening to view a video prepared especially for this event which recounts the story of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas.

We will follow our current COVID guidelines and ask that masks be worn except when seated and actively eating and drinking in the food area only. Thank you for your consideration of others in this way.

This is a wonderful time to invite a friend to join you. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience at bit.ly/ShareTheJoy2021.

We look forward to our time together!

Sunday, December 12

4:00-6:00 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn

Share the Joy

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:10-12 ESV).

There you have it—Jesus’ birth announcement. Short and sweet. Good news, a baby is born!

This announcement begs a closer look. It did come from an angel, after all. This baby is a Savior, Christ the Lord. To those who know God’s promises and have been waiting for their fulfillment, these few words mean a lot. He is here—the Son promised to Adam and Eve who will crush the Serpent (Genesis 3:15). He is here—the seed of Abraham who will be a blessing to all peoples (Genesis 12:3). He is here—the descendent who will reign forever on David’s throne (2 Samuel 7:13). He is here—the one who will inaugurate the new covenant promised by God (Jeremiah 32:40).

When you recognize who this baby is and read the full story of His life and death and resurrection, calling this merely “good” news may be the understatement of all understatements. The angel’s humble announcement could have been, “The craziest most awesome thing in all the world in all of time is happening right now!” As we turn the calendar and celebrate another Christmas, may we realize afresh and embrace and rejoice and share the incredible good news of Jesus!

Throughout the months of December and January, we will be soaking in and studying the story of Jesus from the book of Luke. On December 12, we will gather for Share the Joy, a Christmas reflection and celebration. Enjoy festive treats, an optional craft, and opportunity to reflect anew on the story of Jesus. Do you have a friend who needs some crazy awesome news? Share the joy and invite them to come with you. The good news of great joy is for all the people.

Sunday, December 12

4:00-6:00 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn

Your RSVP at https://bit.ly/ShareTheJoy2021 is helpful. If your plans change, you can let us know at the same site.

1st Thursday Connect

Before Share the Joy, we have our regular monthly meeting of 1st Thursday Connect. It is pizza and pajama night! Come comfy—pajamas, slippers, or whatever says comfy to you. The theme is SHARE, and we will have fun ways to do just that. We will also enjoy teaching from Jeremiah and get started on our study of Luke for December and January.

Thursday, December 2

6:30-8:30 p.m.

New Life Church, West Linn

Pizza will be provided at 6:30 with teaching beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Your RSVP at https://newlifenw.com/wl-women is appreciated. If your plans change, you can let us know at the same site.

If you are unable to join us in person, you can find the livestream at httsp://newlifenw.com/wl-women-livestream.

Odds and Ends

• If you missed the Transplant study at 1st Thursday Connect in November, materials are available in the church foyer and on the website. You can also request mailed resources and share prayer needs there.

• We will memorize Romans 8:15-18 in December.

• Women’s Ministry has a Zoom account which you are welcome to use with your Side by Side Bible Reading partner. Access by clicking the link or by typing bit.ly/SidebySideBibleReadingRoom in your browser. If needed, the passcode is 770914.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• You Are What You Eat—@ Further Up and Further In.

• The Middle Years—@ Your Mom Has a Blog.

• More Than a Story—@ Truth:78—new Bible story books for children.

• Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Luke—by Thabiti Anyabwile. This and/or the resources below may be helpful and enjoyable to accompany Luke.

• Luke: That You May Know the Truth—by Kent Hughs.

• Luke 1-13 and Luke 14-24—by Dale Ralph Davis.

• The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus: Who Was the Man? What Was the Message?—by John R. Cross.

• Book of Luke—a Spotify playlist.

Transforming

At 1st Thursday Connect in October, our theme was Autumn: Aging with Wisdom. We watched a video of Jenny Joseph as an old woman reading her poem “Warning”, and we had some fun creating a Mad Lib version of her poem describing how we might be as old women. Looks like some of us will wear green yoga pants and travel to Budapest!

From the sound of her poem, Jenny Joseph hoped to throw off restraint and responsibility in her old age, but as those who belong to Jesus we want a different ending for our lives. It was a joy to learn about and honor some of most elderly New Life Women who are seeking to age with wisdom. Thank you to Barbara Montgomery, Agnes Spidal, Louise Holladay, Nancy Ross, Eleanora Larson, Pat Meyerdierk, Joan Meyers, and many others for your encouragement and example. We hope to follow you as you have followed Jesus, and it is our prayer that this revised version of Jenny Joseph’s poem describes our lives as we reach old age.

Transforming

When I am an old woman, I may wear purple

With a red hat, but it won’t be what defines me.

I hope to steward well all that God provides

And live out my new identity in Christ.

I shall sit more with age and talk with God throughout the day

And meet with friends and other saints

For help along the way to fear the Lord

And flee the foolishness of youth.

I want to love and serve and enjoy my King until this life is done.

With duties less, God’s Word will rest on my lap,

In my heart, on my lips.

I want to be clothed with the Spirit’s fruit

And walk in wisdom’s way.

May my life display God’s transforming grace

As I tell of all His faithfulness and watch for His return.

But now there is much yet to do--

Weeding, laundry, people to feed.

Lord, help me do my tasks with integrity and faith,

Knowing that I am not just doing things, I am becoming someone day by day.

I’ll practice now for what is ahead

So I am not surprised. One day soon I will be old,

And I want to be like Christ.

1ST THURSDAY CONNECT

1st Thursday Connect for November is coming up soon!

• Thursday, November 4

• 6:30-8:30 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn

Soup and Cider will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the Bible study will start at 7:00.

This month we will be doing a lesson in the study Transplant: tending our new hearts. We will be doing this study every other month throughout the year, but you can join any time. We will always review and then move on together. Bring a Bible!

Your RSVP at https://newlifenw.com/wl-women is helpful.

If you can’t join us this time, materials will be available in the church foyer, on the website, and can be mailed to you. Livestream will be available at bit.ly/NewLifeWomenLivestreamNovember2021.

We are currently in the middle of our 8 week study of Jeremiah and Lamentations in Side by Side Bible Reading. It’s not too late to start. Find materials in the church foyer or on the website.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Kardiology 101: How to Guard your Heart studies are available. This excellent study can be done at your own pace as a deeper addition to our Transplant study. Request a copy on the Women’s Ministry website.

• Resources for Side by Side Bible Reading, the Transplant study, and memorization cards for Romans 8 can be found on the website. You can also request mailed resources and share prayer needs there.

• We will memorize Romans 8:10-14 in November!

• Women’s Ministry has a Zoom account which you are welcome to use with your Side by Side Bible Reading partner. Access by clicking the link or by typing bit.ly/SidebySideBibleReadingRoom in your browser. If needed, the passcode is 770914.

LINKS

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Transplant—a Spotify playlist to go along with our Transplant study.

• 52 Pickup—@ The Palest Ink. “Our actions are mirrors to our hearts.”

• Our Lives in His: How Justification Leads to Holiness—by Joe Rigney @ Desiring God. “Does our right standing before God depend on our becoming more like Jesus, or does our becoming more like Jesus flow from our right standing before God?”

• You Are and Will Be Justified: The Future Promise of a Finished Work—by Scott Hubbard @ Desiring God. “As long as we live here, walking in a broken body upon a broken earth, we strive for righteousness, waiting for the day when God will openly crown us with the righteousness already ours in Christ.”

• Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners—by Dane Ortlund. Or the condensed version, How Does God Change Us. Excellent books to accompany our Transplant study.

• Sin Coddlers Are Not True Friends—@ The Gospel Coalition. This pertains to our Transplant topic this month, as do many of the articles posted here.

• A Theology of Disappointment—@ Southern Equip. Helpful perspective.

• How Jesus Responds to Sinners and Sufferers with Dane Ortlund—@ The Daily Grace. So good, so helpful, especially as we dig into the topic of sin at our Transplant study this month.

The Word Speaks is a conference for women of the Willamette Valley. It will be held November 4-5 at Oregon Gardens in Silverton. Speakers are Jen Wilkin and Elizabeth Woodson. The purpose of the conference is to champion a passion for God's Word as we learn to trust the power of God's Word. More information, including the schedule and registration, can be found at the website.

When you register, include the name “New Life Church (Marcia Reavely)” to get the group discount. If you are interested in carpooling from New Life Church, text Marcia at 503-720-7197.

Not Alone

an interview by Amy Crooks

This month’s focus on Proverbs and Godly wisdom got me reflecting on the women who are a little farther down the road than I am. Women who encouraged me with real, frequently unattractive stories of motherhood when my kids were young. Women who didn’t polish up the outside before sharing some of the hard seasons they’d navigated in their marriages. Women who were wise. Women who have been compassionate and generous to me.

One of those women is Lori Elliott. Below is a summary of a conversation I had with her about a recent mess that came crashing down on her and the wisdom that is emerging.  

Q. You’ve been a Christian for a long time. Do you have any bumps or bruises?

Ahhhhh! (laughing nervously) Can I show you my scars? Old Ladies like to show their scars.  

I can talk about this now a little bit with very safe people. The enormous pain, shame and heartbreak of what happened in my family this past year or so is still current. And much is still unresolved.

The wounds are healing—I didn’t think they would. I didn’t think I would survive. In the middle of it all, I knew I wanted to persevere, but I didn’t know if I could. So I just drew the next breath. And that’s all I could manage sometimes. But occasionally with that breath I could also choke out a begged appeal to God for a glimmer of hope. Pleading with Him to let me know He could hear me. He gave me that needed glimmer every time. Mind you, there was no resolution—but He provided a reminder that He wouldn’t leave. That He heard me. He gave no answer to what was happening in my life, what I was supposed to do, when it would end. He did say “I’m here; you’re going to survive this.”

Q. What wisdom have you garnered this last decade? What false wisdom have you discarded?

I had always lived in dread of something terrible happening because I believed my family was cursed. That someone (me!?) had unknown, unconfessed sin that would cause God to punish the people I love most. Or that He’d come for them for some generational sin that I didn’t even know about—that whole “sins of the fathers” visited on the following generations thing. The false wisdom I had said that if I could confess, serve and pray hard enough I might be able to outmaneuver, outrun this pending judgment. I lived in fear of the inevitable.  

Here’s what I know. Here is what is wise. His ways are not our ways and His ways are always good. 

I have a much clearer view of what He does with the ugliness and the ashes. You know that phrase—“He makes beauty from ashes.” I always thought that was a sweet phrase. It’s not a sweet phrase. Think about it. What did you have to go through to get to the ashes? Everything that you thought mattered is burned up and gone. My ashes represent extreme trauma and loss. What beauty could possibly come from that? Let me tell you. The beauty is His presence. His comfort. Assurance of His sovereignty. Real wisdom. God had not cursed my family. He let everything burn so He could show me that. He is the beauty that emerges from the ashes. And He is mine.  

Q. What do you know about wisdom today?

Proverbs isn’t a book of promises—behave like this and you will have this guaranteed outcome in your life. Those kinds of “negotiations” with God aren’t wise, appropriate or Biblical. Proverbs tell me that I’d be wise to behave a certain way. It tells me that some things are unknowable to me; that those same things are knowable to my God. It tells me that what I’m called to know is Him and to know Him requires me to search. The treasure is worth the search.

1st Thursday Connect

Autumn: Aging with Wisdom is the theme for our October gathering.

“When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple….” Jenny Joseph penned that now famous line in her poem “Warning” in 1961 at the age of 29. Truth be told, Jenny hated the color purple, but her poem has inspired thousands of women to wear purple. In 1997, Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California, gave her friend a vintage red fedora and a copy of “Warning” for her 55th birthday. Sue Ellen went on to found the popular Red Hat Society. The women wear red hats and purple outfits to their public gatherings where tea is usually served.

“Warning” celebrates aging ungracefully, the antithesis of Proverbs and the life lived in wisdom. As we conclude our study of Proverbs, we are going to honor our most elderly New Life Women. They have been and are being transformed by Jesus and are seeking to walk in God’s wisdom and grace in their old age. They are an encouragement and example to us. Wear something purple and join us for a special evening!

• Thursday, October 7

• 6:30-8:30 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn

Note, we will not be serving dinner this month. We will still meet from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and will serve tea inside. RSVP at https://newlifenw.com/wl-women.

Odds and Ends

• Kardiology 101: How to Guard your Heart studies are available. This excellent study can be done at your own pace as a deeper addition to our Transplant study. Request a copy on the Women’s Ministry website.

• Resources for Side by Side Bible Reading, the Transplant study, and memorization cards for Romans 8 can be found on the website. You can also request mailed resources and share prayer needs there.

• We will memorize Romans 8:5-9 in October.

• Women’s Ministry has a Zoom account which you are welcome to use with your Side by Side Bible Reading partner. Access by clicking the link or by typing bit.ly/SidebySideBibleReadingRoom in your browser. If needed, the passcode is 770914.

• The Word Speaks, a conference on God’s Word for the women of Willamette Valley, will be held November 5-6 in Silverton. This conference is hosted by Salem Heights Church, and the speakers for the conference are Jen Wilkin and Elizabeth Woodson. Registration is open.

Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• What Fools Despise—by Kristin @ The Palest Ink. Applying Proverbs.

• Be Worthy of Your Gray: what reminders of mortality can do for us—@ World Magazine.

• Stormfront—another beautiful piece by Kristin. A reminder to trust God’s character, knowing we are in His strong hands.

• You Can’t Fake What You Love—@ Desiring God. An excellent article to pair with Transplant.

• The Illusion of Normal Days—@ Desiring God.

• Does This Really Matter—@ Well-Watered Women. “The little moments are where our hearts are formed, our thoughts are shaped, our motivations are refined, and our lives are changed.”

• Critique Purity Culture, but Teach Sexual Ethics to Teens—@ TGC.

• You Need Christ to Put Your Sin to Death—by Dane Ortlund. See his new book Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners as well. Good reads to go along with Jeremiah.

• Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Jeremiah and Lamentations

• The Book of Jeremiah—a playlist on Spotify to accompany your study.

• Transplant—a Spotify playlist to go along with our Transplant study.

• Jesus Isn’t Scared of My Suffering and Questions—by Bethany Barnard. Her new album, All My Questions, gives words to a lot of our questions in suffering.

Transplant

One of the amazing statements of God in scripture is the promise of a new heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26), a transplant of sorts. What a gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ! But what does this mean? Maybe you have questions: Why do I need a new heart? How do I get it? What exactly happens at salvation? How can I tend my new heart? What is God’s part? What is mine? How can I fight the sin that still lingers?

This year at 1st Thursday Connect, we are doing an interactive study of the heart intermingled with our continued study of various books of the Bible. We are calling it Transplant: tending our new hearts. We will address these questions and more, gather tools to help us, and pray for each other.

Transplant is an abridged version of a thorough study of the heart called Kardiology 101: how to guard your heart by Julie Gossack. Copies of Kardiology will be available at 1st Thursday Connect or can be requested on the church website (https://newlifenw.com/wl-women) for a suggested donation of $15 (cash, check, or pay online and designate WLWM). The study includes a notebook, notecards, and labs—a wealth of resources. We encourage you to take advantage of the Kardiology study and work through it individually or with a friend. It is a good investment and highly recommended!

The books of the Bible for Side by Side Bible Reading this year will correspond with the Transplant study of the heart, and the best place to start is with the book of Proverbs, for it is Proverbs 4:23 that calls us to “guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23 CSB).

The schedule for the year, then, is as follows:

• September: introduction to Transplant and 4 weeks in Proverbs

• October: teaching from Proverbs; introduction to 8 weeks in Jeremiah & Lamentations

• November: Transplant study

• December: teaching from Jeremiah; introduction to 8 weeks in Luke

• January: Transplant study

• February: teaching from Luke; introduction to 8 weeks in Romans

• March: Transplant study

• April: teaching from Romans; introduction to 8 weeks in 1, 2 Corinthians

• May: Transplant study

• June: teaching from 1, 2 Corinthians

• July: Transplant study

There will be Personal Bible Reading plans available, plus Side by Side Bible Reading studies where you can partner with another woman or group of women and discuss key passages from each book. This is a golden opportunity to get to know other New Life women, find mentors, engage with neighbors or coworkers, pray for and encourage one another—extra benefits of being in God’s Word together. The Women’s Ministry leadership team is also available to help you find a partner. You can meet in person, on Zoom, any time of day that works for you and your partner. We encourage you to make the effort to be in God’s Word together this year.

Printed materials will be available at 1st Thursday Connect and in the church foyer. They can also be printed from the church website, or you can request them to be mailed to you.

One more thing! One good practice for heart tending is scripture memorization. This year we are going to memorize Romans 8, the core of the gospel. At just a few verses each month, we can memorize all 39 of them by next July!

We hope you will join us!

1st Thursday Connect

We’re kicking off the year with a grab bag party! According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of grab bag is: a receptacle (such as a bag) containing small articles which are to be drawn (as at a party or fair) without being seen. We will be doing a lot of grab bagging! Join us for fun, friendship, Bible teaching, and find out more about what is happening for New Life Women this year.

• September 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

• New Life Church West Linn

• A grab bag sack supper will be provided at 6:30. If you prefer, you are welcome to bring your own food and join us at 6:30. Can’t make it for food? That’s okay! Come at 7 for the meeting portion of the evening.

Your RSVP is appreciated. To RSVP, sign up for Side by Side Bible Reading, request prayer or printed materials, visit https://newlifenw.com/wl-women.

Stay Connected

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Text @wlwomen to the number 81010 for reminders before an event, inclement weather updates, and last minute notifications by text message.

For more information on Women's Ministry, visit https://newlifenw.com/wl-women.

Questions? Email the Women's Ministry leadership team at wlwomen@newlifenw.com.

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Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord—by Michael Reeves. Based on Proverbs 1:7. Available in the church library.

• Small Preaching: 25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Make you a Better Preacher—by Jonathan T. Pennington. A good resource for teachers, also available in the church library.

• Children Grow Slow and Leave Fast—by Sam Crabtree @ Desiring God. Yes, they do!

• Do Not Feed the Alligators—@ The Palest Ink, a good read and a good reminder.

• Learn It Give It—@Bible Equipping, training events for women happening in October.

• Quality Christian Music: 16 Artists to Watch—@ TGC.

• Godless Productivity: A Believer’s Guide to Redeeming Time—@ Desiring God. Pairs well with Proverbs.

• Let Fear Deliver You From Fear—another article @ Desiring God that goes well with our Proverbs study.

• Does the Book of Proverbs Over-Promise?—@ TGC, helpful in understanding how to read Proverbs.

• Proverbs—@ Spotify, a playlist to accompany our study.

• God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: a year of daily devotions in the book of Proverbs—by Timothy Keller.

• Proverbs: Wisdom that Works and Exalting Jesus in Proverbs and Proverbs For You—a few commentaries.

• Transplant—a playlist @ Spotify to listen to alongside our study of the heart this year.

• 5 Truths About Your Battle with Sin You Hate to Admit—@ Fight of Faith. A good start to our Transplant study.

1st Thursday Connect

Last fall, we read Genesis which begins in a garden.

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:8-9 ESV)

We conclude the school year with a new garden in Revelation.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5 ESV)

It seems appropriate to finish off our final 1st Thursday Connect for this season with a picnic in a garden! Come enjoy fun together and teaching from Revelation. Bring your own picnic supper, a blanket or chair, and meet in the Haugen yard at 6:30 PM. In the case of rain, we will meet at New Life Church, West Linn. Contact Marcia at 503-720-7197 with questions.

• Thursday, July 1, 6:30 PM

• 14343 Clackamas River Drive Oregon City, OR 97045

• Drinks and dessert provided

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Isaiah 40

As we memorize Isaiah 40, these excerpts from the commentary Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond Ortlund are provided for your education and enjoyment. We will be memorizing verses 29-31 in July, and then we are done!

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31 ESV)

God wants to get involved in our subjectivity by making his power perfect in our weakness. The word group “faint” and “be/grow weary” is the key to this passage, occurring seven times. God is speaking to weak, tired, discouraged people. Who are “the faint” in verse 29? They’re the complainers quoted in verse 27. So, how are these people faint and weak and weary? They’re weak in faith. Their fatigue is spiritual. They’re weak in courage. They feel like quitting. And it’s weaklings like them (and like us) who receive the power of God to live with our heads held high and with a lively confidence in a big God, because we can see in his promise a bright future for us out there beyond the barbed wire. People who find their reasons for living in God have an uncanny resilience about them.

Isaiah’s point in verse 30 is blunt. Human strength at its best, in its prime, will inevitably fail. We’re no match for the demands of life. But we’re not doomed to our own potential. There is a power beyond ourselves, and we can experience it.

In verse 31, Isaiah is not merely saying, “God enables those who draw strength from his promise.” He is saying, “God enables those who draw strength from his promise to do the impossible.” The weak sore like eagles and run without tiring and walk without quitting. Their confidence in God will not let them lie down and give up. It’s not a matter of willpower but of expectancy.

The key is the word “wait.” What does it mean? To wait for the Lord means to live in confident, eager suspense. It means to live with the tension of promises revealed but not yet fulfilled. This waiting is not killing time. It isn’t sitting around, drumming your fingers. It is waiting on tip-toe, waiting with eager longing….

Some translations of the Bible say that our part is to “hope” in the Lord. That isn’t wrong. But the ESV is wise to use the word “wait,” because waiting is an important part of our faith. Waiting is what faith does before God’s answer shows up. God gives us great and precious promises, and then he calls us to wait. And Isaiah’s point is that such bright expectancy is the psychological leverage God uses to empower us…. Are you willing to wait?… If so, your heart will be endlessly renewed until that great day. If not, you’re on your own….

We sometimes look for hope in the wrong places…. What we need is a clearer vision of God and a keener passion for his glory…. Christianity is not a way to cut a deal with God for an easier life now….

We have to ask ourselves two questions. First: Do I believe that God can take a quitter like me and make him into a hero?… Most of us would probably agree that Almighty God in heaven can do even that…. Second question: Have I deliberately shifted the loyalty of my heart from the false glory of this world to the coming glory of the Lord? God has promised that Christ will bring us salvation with his overwhelming glory. Is that where I have staked my happiness?

It will not do to put my faith in God while I keep my heart on this world. God will not underwrite my worldliness with his power…. Waiting for the Lord means not only that I trust him to be true but also that I admire him as stunning….

We’re all weak. But we don’t have to be supermen. God simply calls us to believe what we believe and to set our hearts on things above. If we will, that longing for God is the channel through which his power will lift us and renew us and cheer us all the way there.

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Links

Below are links to articles, books, podcasts, and music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

• Do Not Delay—@ The Palest Ink. “To delay is to disobey.”

• Are Tattoos Worse Than Adultery?—by Trevin Wax @ TGC.

• Our Hiding Place—@ Gentle Reformation.

• He Will Come—@ A View of the Lake.

• Revelation—@ Spotify, a playlist.