Wrapping Up the Bible Study

This week was the last week of our "Wrapping Up Christmas" Bible study. We enjoyed a time of thankfulness to God for what He has done for us. We also took time to write "Thank You" notes to people in our lives who have blessed us.

This study has been a great time to reflect on Christ as the greatest gift to all of us this season. I want to thank all of the ladies who faithfully attended. I truly enjoyed getting to know you better and I hope to see you all at W.O.W. events to come!

The W.O.W. ladies also had a great time at dinner on December 1. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Cheddar's. Thanks to all of you who braved the bad weather!

Mark your calendars for January 11 & 12. We will be attending a "Mini" Retreat at Faith Church.

We will be exploring two hot topics: "Letting Go, Resting in God" and "Loving the Unlovable".

The guest speaker will be Katie Heid of Owosso, MI. Katie is a wife, mother, teacher, writer and former TV reporter. Katie will share her love of the scriptures with us so we can cultivate a deeper relationship with God.

Friday, January 11, 2008 from 6:30-9:00 pm
Saturday, January 12, 2008 from 9:00-11:00 am

Both sessions will provide breakout times to discuss what you heard and how to apply it to your life, a chance to get to know other women, light refreshments, awesome music and a time of prayer.

There will be a free-will offering to cover the expenses.

Contact Kim Lawson if you are interested in attending.

Accepting the Gift

Last evening's Bible study was really awesome! The lesson was a simple one based on John 3:16. We compared the verse to a gift. There is a gift tag that tells who the giver and the receiver are. The gift is wrapped with love. The receiver has to accept the gift for it to be meaningful and the giver gets great satisfaction when the receiver opens the gift. The picture is a really wonderful one.

Each lady shared with the group the story of how they accepted the gift of Christ. It was such a blessing to hear the testimonies of how God has worked in each one's life to bring them to the place that they are in now!! Our God is so good!!

Craft time was so much fun! It is great to be able to laugh together! We made some really cute gift tags using potatoes and paint.

Next week is our last week of this study. It will be sad to see it end!

Don't forget that we will be meeting at the church at 6:30pm on Saturday, December 1 to go out to a relaxing and fun dinner together! (Hopefully the weather is going to cooperate!)

The Perfect Gift

This week's Bible study was such a great time! I feel sorry for all the women who are missing it! Our group was small, but we went home with a big blessing last night!

We read the part of the Christmas story about the Magi and their quest for the perfect gift, Jesus. We of course equated this to shopping and how we are always in search of the perfect gift at Christmas. We looked at everything from anticipation and attitude to advertising. The best part of the evening was our discussion about our response to the perfect gift. What is your response to the perfect gift of Jesus? It was a great time of sharing our stories and what our salvation means to us.

We then headed to the kitchen to make potato soup mix and put it into gift jars for the holidays. We had a great time laughing and getting to know each other better!

I know I went home feeling truly blessed by the ladies who were there!

We will take a break next week for Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a great one!!

See you on Thursday, November 29! Don't forget to check the list of supplies you will need for the craft that evening!

God's Christmas List

This was our first week of the "Wrapping Up Christmas" Bible study. We had a great time reading through the Christmas story and talking about who was on God's Christmas list. God delivered the best Christmas gift of all in special ways to family, working people, seekers, the forgotten and men of great influence. We talked about who was on our Christmas list and who should be there that wasn't there. It was really a new way to look at the very familiar Christmas story.

We all worked together to make some really cool no-sew fleece blankets. We also had a chance to get to know some new friends.

Check out the list on the previous blog to know what you should bring for our craft time next week!

See you next Thursday!

Wrapping Up Christmas

It's hard to believe the holidays are fast approaching! What does the Christmas season mean to you? Is it a tangled ball of lights, the crushed door wreath, Aunt Edna's fruitcake or the shopping list that never ends? Christmas and all it represents can be overwhelming and inspiring. Join us as we take a fresh, creative look at Christmas. We will wrap up its meaning and its purpose and place a festive bow on top. Our desire for you is that the Greatest Gift, Jesus, will wrap you in His gift of love this holiday season!

Women of Willow presents "Wrapping Up Christmas".
This is a four week study beginning Thursday, November 8 at 6:30pm.

*Each session will incorporate a short craft project. Listed below are the supplies you
will need to bring for each of the sessions.

Invite a friend to share in this time of learning about God's gift to us!

Craft Projects

All of the craft projects that we will be doing make great gifts for Christmas!

Thursday, November 8- No Sew Fleece Blankets
-2 yards main color of fleece
-2 yards contrast color of fleece
(These fabrics can be any color pattern that you like!)
-Fabric scissors

Thursday, November 15- Jar Mix Recipes
-a large Mason jar with lid
-scrap fabric and any decorations you may want to use for your jar
(On our third week, we will be making gift tags that you could use on your jar gifts!)

Thursday, November 29- Country Gift Tags
-a brown grocery bag
-a potato
-a sharp knife
-ribbon or raffia
-Christmas cookie cutters

Thursday, December 6- "Your friendship has 'mint' so much to me." gift bag
-small gift bag (Something red & white would be nice since we are using peppermints in our gifts.)
-tissue for gift bag

CELEBRATE!

This week was our last week for "Chocolate Boutique". We celebrated all of the blessings that God has given us and enjoyed some fabulous desserts! I know that I was truly refreshed by this study and came away with a new awareness of God's grace in my life everyday! I have learned to slow down and intentionally look for God's grace in my life! I am so very blessed! I hope that every lady who participated in these times together was also blessed by it!

We will be taking two weeks off and will start up again on November 8 at 6:30pm. We will be going through a four week study called, "Wrapping Up Christmas". Each week involves a simple craft project. You will be asked to supply some of your own supplies. Please see the Sunday bulletin for more information or contact me (Kim Lawson 214-6425).

Overflowing To Others

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13

Have you ever seen one of those chocolate fountains? The silky chocolate flows for all to dip into and enjoy! Mmmmm! Now, think of yourself as that fountain. When you experience God's grace, it should pour out of you, a rich fountain that all around you can enjoy. It is something you can't help. You are so filled up that it overflows!

This week's study challenged the ladies to think of two people in their lives that they could bless with grace this week. It could be something as simple as a phone call or an encouraging note, but they needed to put what we talked about into practice!

John 13:34-35 reminds us that, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

Meaningless?

God's grace is something that flows through every part of our lives, even the smallest details and the things that seem common and everyday. Do we live like we believe this? This was the discussion at our meeting this week.

We took time for each of us to share what activities make up an average day for us and how we can take the opportunity to recognize God's grace in each of them. We decided that it would be a good idea to put notes up around our houses to remind ourselves of God's grace. An example of this would be a note on the washer or dryer to remind you to thank God for the gift of your children as you wash the mountain of laundry they have created. You could also put a note on the vacuum to remind you what a blessing your pet is in your life even though they shed everywhere!

Do we treat God's grace as the greatest gift we have ever been given? We found that many times we treat God's grace like a meaningless bag of trash that we have set by the back door to deal with later. It is sad but true.

I think the biggest thing that we are learning in our times together is to adopt an attitude of gratitude for everything God has given us! When we take the time to recognize His blessings and grace in our lives, it can really make a difference in how we live! We truly don't deserve the amazing gifts He gives us!

All the Gunk is Gone!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
II Corinthians 5:17

God's grace transforms our lives! That is what we discussed this week at our W.O.W. Bible study.
It is so great to hear the testimonies about God's grace in our lives and how we are all actually taking the time to recognize it in our lives every day!

The strawberries dipped in chocolate were amazing and they reminded us that an every day or average thing can be transformed into something spectacular. We are made into new creations by God's grace.

We also talked about the fact that once we become Christians, the veil of sin that separates us from God is torn away and we are the reflection of God's glory to those around us.

This study is definitely making us all more aware of how grateful we should be for the awesome grace of God!

A Night of Extravagance

Psalm 36:7-8

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights.

Last night's Bible study was awesome! I think the ladies left feeling truly refreshed and encouraged! I definitely felt like God had worked in lives over the last week and He is making Himself evident in some awesome ways!

This week we enjoyed ice cream sundaes and great discussion about God's desire to generously pour His grace out upon us. We also talked about how important it is to treat ourselves to something indulgent once in a while.

We continue to pray for each other and praise God for the relationships that are being built through this time spent together!

We hope to see you there next week!

What A Surprise!

Our W.O.W. Bible Study has officially launched and we had a very nice evening. We looked at the story of the prodigal son and compared it to the amazing grace that God offers to us. We enjoyed Cracker Jacks and the surprises that went with them. We were challenged to look for God's grace in our lives throughout the next week because it can show up in surprising places!

We divided up into small prayer groups and many of the ladies expressed how much this time of prayer meant to them.

All in all, it was a a great time! We missed those of you who were not able to attend and hope to see you next week!

Did Someone Say "Chocolate"?

There are so many things going on at Willow Community Church this fall!! One of most exciting is our Women's Bible Study, "Chocolate Boutique", that starts on Thursday, September 13 at 6:30pm. We will be exploring the extravagant grace of God and how it can transform your life!!
This is a six week study that will end with a Chocolate Party! We would love for you to join us for this amazing time of Bible study, fellowship and prayer. If you would like to know more, contact Kim Lawson, (517) 214-6425.

We would also like to encourage you to participate in M.P.G. (Monday Prayer Group). This group(It's not just for women!) will meet on a monthly basis to pray for the needs of Willow Community Church, our congregation and our community. The first meeting will be on Monday, October 1 at 7:30pm.