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Christian Women on the Move 47th Anniversary Second Baptist Church - Los Angeles, CA Ms. Valerie McDonald, President Rev. Dr. Williams Epps, Sr. Pastor   “Christian Women on the Move: I Need A Partner” This message takes a look at the personal responsibility in being a Christian Woman on the Move and explores the needfulness of mentoring relationships and prayer in moving forward on God’s agenda for our lives. We acknowledge that moving forward requires a partner, but sometimes we don’t know that we need a partner. Young women tend not to know that they need assistance with some areas of their life’s plan. The Ruth and Naomi story highlights the need for partnerships in accessing our personal destiny. Using Titus 2:3-5, we explore the responsibility of the mature Christian woman to mentor younger women and pray for them. The younger women have a responsibility, too. Finally, the Mordecai & Esther story looks at the outward potential impact of partnerships.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Ephesians 6:17-20, 23-24 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 23Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Thank you so much for this wonderful invitation to address Christian Women on the Move on their 47th Anniversary. I am honored beyond words. To the Pastor of the great, Second Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. William Epps, God bless you. There are not many who continue to allow women to grow and thrive in their own environment to do what God has called them to do. So, thank you, God bless you, and may others follow suit behind you. I bring you greetings from Disciples In Action: Los Angeles which is a faith-based nonprofit organization that houses a church and other elements we need to do what we do: serve people in the greater Los Angeles area. It’s my passion to serve young women; to help them understand why they need a partner. So, the message is entitled: “Christian Women on the Move: I Need A Partner”

Monday, September 13, 2021

Christian Women on the Move: I Need A Partner Let us pray. Gracious, Holy & Merciful God, thank you for allowing me to address your people today. I thank you that I decrease as You increase. That the people of God hear from You. It is your word that sets the captives free. It is your word that gives sight to the blind. It is your word that allows the lame to walk. So we thank you for your word that is forever settled. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight my strength and my redeemer. In Jesus’ name I pray, all in agreement say, Amen. Today I want to take a look at the personal responsibility in being a Christian Woman on the Move. You see, when we say we are going to move from point A to point B, that means we have to own some agency in that. I’m grateful for my grandmothers. I know they prayed for me. When I was younger, I was a little bit out there. I know they prayed for me. It reminds me of that song we used to sing in church every Sunday around prayer time, “Somebody Prayed For Me.” I’m so glad she prayed for me. Because she knew in my silliness (because sometimes we are silly women), I didn’t have enough sense to ask for a partner. Sometimes, we don’t know that we need a partner. Think about it.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Naomi & Ruth Naomi didn’t know she needed a partner. She was planning to go back to her own people and send the young women back to their own country. But Ruth said, “No! No! No! Where you go, I’m going to go. I am knit to you.”  She could have been saying: “I need your tutelage." "I need your mentorship.” “I need your partnership, and I’m not leaving until I get it.” Didn’t we hear that when Jacob was holding onto that angel? “I’m not letting you go until you bless me.” I’M NOT LETTING YOU GO! You see when a partnership is needed you have to hold on tenaciously until you get the blessing. We cannot move without a partner because sometimes, we don’t know we need to move.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Pray Them Through Can I be personal? It’s just us, right? I had a million excuses about it. CP time was my M.O. (modus operandi, aka, method of operation). I would pick jobs around not having to be anywhere at a specific time because I wanted to be in control of when I floated in and when I floated out. How many of you know that doesn’t work in the real life as an adult? I could not break that habit. I came by it honestly, though. It was in my household. We ran 15, 20, 30 minutes late for everything. That’s why sometimes you don’t know that you need a partner. There are some young, silly women who don’t know they need a partner to go from Point A to Point B. You can say you want to move. You can say you want to go from here to there, but you may not know that you need help getting to the place where you say you want to go. There should be somebody, a Christian woman, in your sphere of influence, who is praying for you. Who has you on her mind and is taking the time to pray for you; to help you move from here to there, from point A to point B. And we, the mature women in Christ, that is our job. Our job is to observe and interact with young women around us to PRAY THEM THROUGH. Glory to God! We don’t have to have a conversation with them. We don’t have to tell Sister Sally Sue about what we saw Little Bitty do. We don’t have to do any of that. What we have to do is pray them through. That is why we are admonished to pray without ceasing. There are some young silly women who don’t know they need a partner. They have big dreams. They have big ideas. They start out wanting to do the most and see the world, but they don’t know what they don’t know.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Pray and Model Self-Control and Kindness TITUS 2: 3-5 3Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behavior, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, 4so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. We can’t be running around and doing the most if we are supposed to teach the younger women not to run around and do the most. We have to be self-controlled. We’ve got to not love the wine bottle. We’ve got to be sober. We have to be kind. Can I say a word about kindness? We should speak words that are kind to one another. We don’t have to critique every single solitary thing wrong about someone or something. On the job, we don’t have to point out every little thing that the company is not doing correctly. That’s what prayer is for. That’s where we take our concerns. We take them to the Lord, in PRAYER! And if we model that, then the young women will see and say, ”Hey, maybe Sister Jones has something I need to get.” “Maybe I want to learn how to bake that cake, but while I’m learning to bake that cake, I can learn how to run my household and learn how to keep a kitchen together." Maybe there are some things we need to impart to these young women, but we’re so busy out there doing the most that they say, “NAW! I’m good.” God has called each and every one of us to a work. If we are born and if we are breathing, we have work to do. But we can’t get to the work by ourselves. We need a partner.

Friday, September 17, 2021

"I Need a Partner" Esther was beautiful, but it was Mordecai who saw the opportunity. Esther had to be willing to do what Mordecai set out for her to do. When it was all said and done, it was Esther’s position that Mordecai helped her to get into that saved the Jewish race and allowed us to have life in Christ Jesus. We need a partner because it’s about more than just us. We are to be pouring into the next generation. Young women need our help and they don’t even now they need our help. How many young women have you seen in gaggles on the corner being loud, talking silly, half dressed? Yet if you ask one of them they’ll tell you, “I want to be a doctor.” They need help. They need help getting from A to B. They need help. No, we don’t need to talk about them. No, we don’t need to chastise them. We need to PRAY for them. When we pray specifically for these young women, God will open the opportunity to put that young women in connection with an older woman of the church in order for her to get her life on track. That is our responsibility. How should we be moving? We should be moving together in prayer. We should be moving together mentoring. Who are we speaking life into? I need a partner. I needed a partner this week. I tell you CP timing was my middle name. Our family was known to be the ones who were always late. I came by it honestly, but it didn’t matter. I made all kinds of excuses for it, but it didn’t matter. We must allow ourselves to hold up our hand and say, “I need a partner.” But you will not do it if you don’t see people operating in excellence around you. You see a partner, a mentor, a guide, is somebody who has something you want. If you look at their life and it looks as raggedly as yours is, you don’t need a partner like that. You’ll go on and say it like they say in the streets, “I can do bad all by myself.” We are to be the example that means we must first get ahold of ourselves. If we have been walking in excellence, if we have this together, then we need to come together in small groups and pray. Bring names to the table. Call their names out. We don’t have to put their business out in the streets. Call their names out. We must pray!

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Prayer Changes Things Prayer changes things. We need to move our next generation. I don’t know about you, but in the United Methodist Church there is a paucity of young people. You look around and you wonder, where are the young people? Well, when the young people were there, what did they see? That is an open question. My goal is to help us understand, we who are gathered here, for the next 47 years of Christian women on the move, the need to pray for the younger people. Pray them through. Pray them into partnerships. And then find young women to connect with. Women who are not in your family. Maybe she is a neighbor. Maybe she’s the young woman across the street. Maybe she’s your best friend’s daughter or granddaughter. Find a young woman and pray for her. Don’t chastise her. Pray for her. Pray her through from point A to point B. Then we will be fulfilling our role as Christian Women on the Move. The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

What About the Children Yolanda Adams

Second Baptist Church Los Angeles 2412 Griffith Ave Los Angeles, CA 90011  Phone: (213) 748-0318

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