“The gospel is the only true hope we have to offer.” Linda Green is right, which is why gospel empowered ministry thrills my heart—and why I’m sharing Linda’s article with you.
Linda is the author of 5 Steps for a Gospel Empowered Ministry of Counseling, an excellent resource for every Christian woman—even those of us who, like me, aren’t counselors and have no plans to become counselors.
Christ calls every Christian to ministry (Ephesians 4:12). I’m not saying He calls everyone to lead their women’s ministry team—or even to be a member of it. If I were the women’s ministry leader, it’d be a disaster. I’d call a meeting and forget to attend. Or plan a banquet and forget we need food.
I might not possess the gift of organization, but I can still minister well. God gives each us the skill sets we need to help build up the body of Christ.
Ministering isn’t reserved only for the leaders. It’s every Christian’s call and privilege. Christ establishes leaders into their position “for the equipping of the saints (us non-leaders) for the work of service” (Ephesians 4:12).
But the work of service can be hard!
If you’re like me, the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of your family and friends surround you. Try as you may, you can’t meet them all. You may be struggling to meet even one of their needs because of your own challenges.
No one person can meet all the needs around them. But gospel empowered ministry makes a difference. It enables us to serve “in alignment with God’s purposes and the mission of His Church.” It brings the light of the gospel into the darkness of the world.
Amen!
Article Link and Quotes
The link to the full article is below some of Linda’s quotes from the article.
It’s helpful to keep in mind that anything useful we have to offer women will ultimately flow out of our personal relationship with Christ.
It’s easy to feel inadequate for the role we have been assigned and, in fact, we are! Yet through the power of God’s Spirit and His Word, we are equipped and empowered to give the one thing that every woman needs, whether she is lonely or bleeding emotionally—the gospel.
Here are four things that will bring us peace, whether ministering to our own family members or the women in our church.
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- God is God, and we are not.
- He ordains our circumstances to accomplish His purposes for our eternal joy.
- Our job is not to rescue women but to point them to the Redeemer.
- Every thought or burden is an opportunity to pray, knowing that God loves His precious daughters even more than we do.
Note: God calls all women to biblical womanhood. He never calls the women of the church to go rogue. He’s placed all church ministry under the authority of the church’s leadership. Sadly, in today’s cultural climate, most trust “authority” less than before. Many choke at the mere word because they’ve seen power abused. A lot. Within a healthy church, though, authority is a gift of God, not an oppressive system.
Meet the Author, Linda Green
From Revivie Our Hearts website: “Linda Green is the former Director of Women’s Ministries at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church. She has been married to her husband, Ray, for over three decades, and has three adult children and several grandchildren. She enjoys writing articles that help women live out the gospel according to their God-given design and purpose.”
Check out some of Linda’s other ROH articles.
