Are you a scoffer?

Walk, Stand or Sit
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2


You know, I've heard that Eileen Dover is trying to setup a prayer chain. I just think that is ridiculous. You can't have prayer chains anymore; they just become gossip lines for people to talk about others troubles. They never serve a purpose anymore.

I know, and that Dover lady is trying to hold a big event here at the church next Saturday to reach out to our new neighbors in the community. Why, I'll just bet you noone comes. What a waste of money to send out all those postcards. I wonder how much it cost. Who in their right mind will take the time to spend an entire day trying to learn about the Bible.

The conversation between these two scoffers could be very real to some of you. Have you ever participated in "scoffing"?

The dictionary says "To mock or treat with derision. To treat of express derisively; mock. An expression of derision or scorn. Derision is "an object of ridicule or a laughingstock."

Ever ridiculed the sermon, the Sunday School teacher, the Deacon, the people serving God with all their hearts?

Ever think you would have handled it better than someone else but didn't offer to help? maybe just talked about how it was done wrong?

My, we do love to talk about others and tear down what others are doing, don't we? Let's be completely honest: there are just some of us that could do everything better than anyone else, to hear us talk.

Scoffer!

God has a remedy for your ailment. Look at the next line in scripture.....it tells you what to do......it tells what the cure is to what ails you - that scoffing will come to an end if you take that advice.

Hey, it's the Word of God - our map to life. Believe me it is absolutely, without a doubt - totally and completely accurate.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night

P.S. Read your Bible and learn to delight in the law of the Lord - think about it all day and all night..........

Father, God may my words glorify you in all that is said. May you grant me Your grace to be a positive influence and not a negative one in the lives of others. God, help us all to be increasingly grateful for your bountiful blessing and let our mouths speak words of gratitude continually...

Amen

What is your passion?

I've been contemplating a good bit lately...wondering what the women of Roswell Street are thinking about....what your passion is...how does God fit into your life? what do you see as your ministry? do you think you have a ministry? do you feel too rushed and too busy to take time out for Him?

It's hard to say sometimes because many of us have different aspects of life that seem to capture our attention and then become our passion for a short time. I wonder at how quickly that can change based on our circumstances.

We've been dreaming BIG in the women's ministry for a few months now and we've watched in amazement as God equips one ministry after another and how He brings different people to different functions and we seem to be connecting two or three at a time. Which is wonderful because that is how you build relationships and I believe building relational bridges is the basis for reaching not only our sisters in Christ but also our future sisters in Christ.

In the survey that many of the women completed early in the year, you said you wanted fellowship time and yet the time we've set aside to try to accomplish that is not well attended yet. We need your feedback: why? How can we get together monthly, without much ado, and still fellowship and get to know each other better? Share your thoughts, please...

The small groups are growing so that we may need to add new ones soon. If you are not involved in one and are interested in doing so, please contact Zenita Beeler zenitabeeler@roswellstreet.com or me genaleal@comcast.net and we will hook you up with a small group....

Please be mindful of the announcements. Our Quarterly Covered Dish dinner is coming up in June where all our small groups come together and bring a covered dish. Your admission to this event is Laundry Detergent, Cleaning Supplies, Toilet Paper or Paper Towels that we can give to Cobb Street Ministries. Carol Paschal will be speaking to us about this mission field right here in Cobb County that evening and sharing about how this ministry is changing lives for the Kingdom. She's also looking for small groups or Sunday School classes to come out during the summer and cook out for the residents. Invite ladies from the church and outside the church to join us for these covered dish dinners. They do not have to be a member of a small group to attend.

We need women to join with us to support several ministry areas with in the Women's Ministry. We want you to listen to God's call in this ministry, not ours....

We need ladies to help with our "Special Touch" ministry that will be putting together and delivering "Special Touch" bags to the hospital for families that are there, to the homes of those that are homebound, or to the homes of those that have been ill. Please contact Debbie Heininger if you are interested in assisting her. debbieheininger@bellsouth.net

We need ladies to send out cards of encouragement to those that may need a little lift or a note thanking them for their service, contact Anne Powell anne@jea-architects.com to assist in sending "Hugs" through the mail.

Zenita Beeler needs someone to assist her with the administrative functions for the Small Groups zenitabeeler@roswellstreet.com

Michelle DeFrancesco needs prayer warriors to join us in praying for those who have prayer needs, in praying for our students as they go to camp, praying for our ministerial staff, praying for our folks that are headed on a mission trip rsbcprayerteam@comcast.net if you would like to join this prayer team

Kari Norman is about to get Working Women started where women who work outside the home can get together for breakfast or lunch to meet with other women and open the Word of God without taking time away from the family. Contact Kari if this interests you and you would like to assist in the organization and planning kari@lamplighterbiz.com

Our Special Events team is getting busy planning our event for August. Please contact Barbara Sanders barbarasanders@roswellstreet.com or Angie Green angiegreen@roswellstreet.com if you are interested in working with us as we prepare for those events.

The opportunities to serve are here....You are gifted...Let's join together and fulfill our role as the Body of Christ - working and reaching outside the walls of Roswell Street Baptist to meet women where they are, to teach them the truth of the Word and stand with them as they grow and learn to serve by watching us serve and grow.....

Thank you for your prayers for this ministry as we seek to honor and glorify God in all we do or say....Gena

Where are you standing?

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2

"Nor stand in the path of sinners".....what can that mean? Does that mean that we shouldn't associate with sinners?

How else can we develop relationships with people to be able to tell them about God's amazing grace and how He sent His only Son to accept the sin of the World and die for that sin to offer us the opportunity to come to know God. All we have to do is repent for our sins and ask Jesus to save us and He will do so.

We definitely have to develop relationships with people who do not have a relationship with Christ. If we don't, most of the time they would not listen to us; their perspective could be that we feel like we are better than them because we are Christians. Who wants to be with someone like that? If the world sees us in that light, then how can we be "light" in their dark worlds? We can't. We have to develop relationships with those who do not know Christ as their Savior. We have to love them where they are.

That, however, does not mean that we have to "love" their behavior that is unGodly or even that we have to tolerate that kind of behavior in our presence. The way to handle that is to ask them kindly not to use God's name in vain, to please not use foul language around you because it bothers you...by handling those things in love and without condemnation, you give them something to desire in their lives.

We have to be wise about where and how we hang-out with non-Christians. It doesn't mean that we participate in their lifestyles that disagree with our Christian belief. We have to stand firm on the principles of God in our behavior regardless of whom we are around. That is exactly what it means to not stand in the path of sinners. We don't need to get comfortable in an environment that is not honoring God. There are many ways to walk away from the sin (not standing in the path) and still love the sinner.

Dr. Easley challenged us this week to step outside the walls of the church. We can't share the hope we have with the world if we don't step outside the church. We have to think of ways to involve our community across the street, and touch the communities across the state, and reach out to the communities across the seas. It is the simplest thing but requires us to come out of our comfortable pews and touch others that may be just a little different or that we don't know yet.

We have to walk through those paths to let them see "salt and light" in our lives that becomes a beacon to their heart. Be wary Christian woman, others are watching you to see how you are going to behave when the stress and struggles of life come your way. Will they continue to see Christ in you? Oh, I struggle with that one - when I am stressed, I have to stop myself and look at how I react. It is not something I am proud of many times. We have to choose to keep walking through those areas and not to stop and stand in the path of sinners. It can pull us in the other direction is we stop right there on the edge and watch.

It really is all about the choices we make.......do you stand in the path of sinners?