Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "Four Ways God Wants Women to Lead Today" by Neal Pollard

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"Four Ways God Wants Women to Lead Today" by Neal Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

• 0:00
  If you didn't have a worshipful mindset when you came in here, having Kaysen beaming that
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  wonderful smile had to have engaged your heart with God in worship today.
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  Appreciate Kaysen, not only the fine way in which he led singing, but that disposition
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  that set the tone and example for us.
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  There are a lot of women in the book of Judges, and when you begin to examine that, you find
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  so many different personality traits, strengths and weaknesses among them.
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  When you begin to think about them, maybe you'll first come across Aksa.
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  Aksa is maybe not a name that comes off your mental faculties when you come to the book
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  of Judges, but this was the daughter of Caleb, which was also the wife of Othniel.
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  Caleb was the faithful spy, along with Joshua, who believed that they were well able to overcome.
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  Othniel was the first judge in the period of the Judges.
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  Aksa seemed to have such an influence on her father and on her brother.
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  Then we read about a somewhat enigmatic or obscure woman by the name of J.L., and J.L.
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  was living in Israel in the days in which the Canaanites were oppressing, and Sisera
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  was the fearsome leader of the army, the general of the Canaanite army, who had put Israel
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  to oppression and had had them frightened and intimidated for twenty years, and she
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  killed him.
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  We think of Jephthah's daughter.
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  Jephthah's daughter is a somewhat enigmatic character herself.
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  We know very little, but she seemed to have an unwavering trust and faith in God.
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  She was the daughter of a man who led Israel as judge and who made a rash vow, and she
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  paid the price, and yet she never seems to waver in her faith.
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  Then there are the Philistine wives of Samson, and we could describe them as self-serving
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  and manipulative women who were doing all that they could for their own survival, and
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  they did not care how it affected their husband.
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  There is the Levite's concubine.
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  Near the end of the book of Judges, in Judges chapter 17 through 21, she's a morally ambiguous
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  woman, and yet she is more abused than any other woman in Scripture, and her death was
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  the cause of a civil war in Israel.
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  When we think about the women that we read about in the book of Judges, not all of them
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  are names that we have preserved for us.
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  I don't know who the woman was who was there in that tower when Abimelech, who had stolen
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  the role of deliverer and judge, was a wicked man.
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  And as he stood at the wall, at the base of the wall, she drops a millstone and takes
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  his life.
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  And then we think about Manoah's wife, Samson's mother, and while we don't have her name,
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  she is central to the success of the Nazarite vow, and the belief when the angel of the
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  Lord comes, encourages her husband by her faith.
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  There are those who are in the period of the Judges who do not have their lives recorded
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  for us in that book, but are in that same time frame.
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  I'm thinking about Ruth and Naomi and Hannah.
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  Here are women who had an implicit trust and faith in God.
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  When we step back and we survey that over 300 years of that period of history known
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  as the period of the Judges, there were women who were good and bad, who were righteous
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  and unrighteous, some who were passive and active, just like their male counterparts
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  during that same period of time.
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  When we read in Judges chapter 4 and verse 1, there is a very simple statement that reveals
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  a lot more.
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  Four words, when Ehud was dead, seem to spell the difference between faithfulness and idolatry
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  in the nation.
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  It's incredible that with the death of this man, there was such a monumental change in
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  things.
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  And it makes us ask, why are people faithful to God?
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  Fear is not enough, and following a person is not enough.
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  And so when we read in Judges chapter 4, the Canaanites are oppressing the people of God,
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  and through the work of the Canaanites, they are fearfully oppressed and they cry out to
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  God for deliverance.
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  It takes them seemingly two decades to understand that this is a divine punishment, and they
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  call out for God to help them.
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  There's a phrase that appears in the book of Judges six times, that is, that the children
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  of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord.
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  And every time that this statement is made, we find them moving further and further away
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  from God.
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  Walk through the book of Judges, and you'll see that a departure is made that's worse.
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  Go back to Judges chapter 2, and it says that God raises a deliverer, but then they
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  go further away from God.
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  God, in the midst of all of that, raises up a deliverer or a judge to help the people
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  in His mercy and His grace.
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  He wants them back to Him, and so He'll send these deliverers, and they are of a diverse
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  nature and character, but none catch our attention more, given all that we know in the totality
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  of Scripture, than the fourth judge of Israel.
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  Revealed for us in Judges chapter 4, and we're talking about Deborah.
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  Deborah had a husband.
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  Did you know that?
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  Do you know his name?
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  Deborah's husband's name is Lapidoth, and all we know about Lapidoth is that he is Deborah's
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  husband.
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  Men, would you be satisfied if the only thing that history ever preserved about you was
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  that you were the husband of your wife, whom history knew much better than you?
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  It happens that, on occasion, that I'm out and about, and somebody comes up to me, and
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  they say, hey, you're Kathy's husband.
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  I don't know how that would hit you.
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  I'm proud.
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  Kathy's about the best thing about me that I have going on.
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  When you think about the fact that God uses men and women in such powerful ways, we realize
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  that God is at play in the life of Deborah to deliver them.
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  Deborah, again, was the fourth judge, and she was a prophetess.
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  When we think about how God uses women in the Old Testament, she joins the ranks of
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  some who did great things.
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  She joins Miriam, the sister of Moses, who led Israel's women in song after their victory
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  in coming through the Red Sea in Exodus chapter 15, all the way to Huldah in 1 Kings chapter
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  22 and verse 14, who the Bible also calls a prophetess.
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  God is using the lives of these women for the better, for the good of the nation, for
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  the world to see.
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  And then later, when there is a king on the throne in Israel, an earthly king, and then
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  in Judah, there are women who are preserved for us, who take a prominent and a leading
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  role.
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  I think of Jezebel, and Meacha, and Athaliah, and while these women used their power and
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  their influence negatively, Deborah is one who uses the influence and the leadership
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  that God gives to her in a way that blesses and preserves all the lives of those around
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  her.
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  She was already judging before the battle with the Canaanites.
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  Judges chapter 4, verse 3 and 4, we find her sitting under the palm tree, and people came
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  from all over Israel in order to receive judgment in the matters of their lives.
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  Men, we have an important role to fill, and no one can fill that for us.
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  The Bible makes it very clear that there's a delineation of roles within the body of
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  Christ.
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  That in the home, that the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
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  of the church, and he is the savior of the body.
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  Within the body of Christ, we realize that women are to learn with entire submissiveness
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  and are not to have authority over the man, 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 11 and verse 12.
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  And yet, woman is such a powerful influence in the course of human society, and all of
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  us know that out of the background of our own experience.
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  Think about the virtuous woman of Proverbs chapter 31.
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  But when we focus back in on the woman that we have already introduced today, Deborah,
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  she demonstrates how powerfully God uses women today.
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  I thought as I prepared for this morning's lesson that we could talk about mothers, but
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  there are so many women who are not mothers.
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  There are so many women who are so much more than mothers.
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  And the collective influence that you exert, ladies, whether you are or not, blesses those
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  of us who are women or men who are present here today.
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  None of us can look at our lives without its connection to the women who bless it so.
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  Women, how can you be powerfully used by God today?
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  Let's look at Deborah's life for just a couple of moments and find at least four answers.
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  Number one, if a woman is going to be all that God wants her to be, she must use her
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  tongue properly.
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  When you see Deborah, you hear Deborah, and you hear her early on, and her voice must
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  have been powerful because in Judges 4, 3 through 4, from all over the nation, they
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  come and they sit at her feet in order to learn from her wisdom.
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  And we see that she is speaking the things that they needed to hear in Judges 4 in verse
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  6.
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  Her words were the commands of God.
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  In Judges 4 in verse 14, the words that she used are words of encouragement, words that
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  spur on those who are facing insurmountable odds.
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  And so as Deborah is given this stewardship of opportunity to use her life, she uses her
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  tongue properly.
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  It's interesting that God speaks to all of us and has special statements to make to both
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  male and female with regard to the tongue.
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  God speaks to women about the importance of her using her speech in a way that honors
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  and pleases God.
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  In 1 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 11, there's this group of women, and among the things
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  that said about her that she is to be temperate in her nature, not to be also a malicious
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  gossip, but faithful in all things.
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  He is focusing in on her speech.
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  And then in 1 Timothy chapter 5, there was the question of what to do with widows who
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  made up the congregation, and there were younger widows and older widows, and Paul urged against
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  having younger widows on the roll because there was so much more maturing in life left
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  for her and that she might want to get married and to give away that pledge that she had
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  made before.
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  And one of the things that Paul said is that she had to guard against using a word that
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  would be a busybody and to engage in gossip and to say those things that ought not to
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  be said.
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  If I were talking about men this morning, it would be the same thing.
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  But when we think about the women that we know in our lives, they are known for their
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  speech, aren't they?
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  Can you think about a woman that you know who you do not know or associate with the
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  things that she says?
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  There are some women that have the struggles that Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 3,
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  in 1 Timothy chapter 5.
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  They use their tongues to complain, to criticize, to gossip, to say words that are suggestive.
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  Perhaps you have known even those who are Christian women who use their tongue in that
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  way.
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  And yet there are women, some of the most godly, temperate, and encouraging words that
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  have ever been heard have come off the lips of a Christian woman.
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  Women think about the power that you have with your tongue to encourage your husband.
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  His demeanor and attitude is so often impacted by what it is that you say.
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  Have you ever heard the saying, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?
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  How much of that's known from the tongue?
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  And your children are listening to your words and so often we're either horrified or quietly
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  pleased when we hear them saying the very things they've heard us say privately.
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  When we think about the Apostle Paul and the church at Philippi, he is encouraging Euodia
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  and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord, but how did the church at Philippi know that
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  they weren't living in harmony except for the words that they used?
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  When you examine Deborah and her speech and her tongue, she is using her words properly.
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  After the battle is won, for which we normally think of Deborah, she's also a song leader
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  and she leads a song of faith in Israel and in that song she speaks in praise to God as
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  we saw as Dale read to us so well a moment ago in Judges chapter 5 and verse 3.
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  And she's saying of the presence of God, chapter 5 and verse 5.
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  She's saying of the power of God, chapter 5 and verse 11, and of the purpose of God,
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  chapter 5 and verse 23, and of the preeminence of God, chapter 5 and verse 31.
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  Ladies, she shows the power of a tongue that's used to give glory to God and to do so not
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  just in public worship, but in the things that are said privately.
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  Deborah first of all shows us that God's woman, to exert the kind of influence that God wants
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  her to have, must use her tongue properly.
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  Then second, to be a woman who God uses to impact others for good, she must be a good
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  influence.
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  There's no way to escape this, but that Deborah was a good influence.
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  She was a source of encouragement and strength to those who were around her.
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  In chapter 4, verse 8 and verse 9, she encourages Barak.
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  Do you remember?
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  Barak is told by God that he was the one who was to lead the people of God out of Kadesh
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  to go in and to fight the Canaanites.
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  Deborah comes up and she conveys this message, but do you remember what Barak says?
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  He says, if you go with me, I will go.
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  But if you do not go with me, then I will not go.
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  And Deborah says that you'll go out into battle this day, but the honor shall not be yours,
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  but will be given to a woman.
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  And so he went with her to Kadesh.
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  You see her influence.
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  Her influence was used to encourage the men who were fighting in the battle.
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  Here she is serving as a general and the soldiers who press heavy and they destroy the Canaanites
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  in chapter 4, verse 24.
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  Ladies, I'm sure you know this, but you are such an influence.
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  We're guided by, we are influenced by what it is that you do.
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  And if you want to be the kind of influence that God wants you to have, maybe there's
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  two questions that you can ask.
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  The first question is, does my life deserve the respect of others?
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  I believe that every one of us would want the respect of others, but that's not just
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  something that we can desire.
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  Our actions must lead us in that direction.
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  We must dedicate our lives to this end.
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  Peter says that you can do that no matter what your circumstances are.
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  And in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 1 and verse 2, he is speaking to a woman who was married
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  to a non-Christian husband, and he says that through your submissive behavior, you may
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  win him who is disobedient to the word without a word, by your submissive behavior as they
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  observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
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  It's not your words, it's not your wardrobe, it's your walk with God that will cause others
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  to see that.
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  And so the question we ask is, in this situation, is does my life deserve the respect of others?
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  And the second question is, does my life change things for the better in society, in the church,
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  and in the home?
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  On an English hillside, there is a grave.
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  A little girl died prematurely in childhood, and on that grave marker, her parents engraved
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  these simple words, it was easy to be good when she was around.
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  Ladies, when you think about and examine your life, and the way that you're conducting yourself
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  by way of your influence, does your life lead others closer to Christ, or does it lead them
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  away from Christ?
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  As you think about how God wants to use you, you are an influence.
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  The Bible says in Judges chapter 5 and verse 31, that as the result of the actions of Deborah
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  over the nation, the land had rest for 40 years.
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  They went from struggling and suffering to being spiritual and strong and serene.
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  And while she was but one, she was certainly a leading influence in that being the case.
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  Maybe you don't have charge of an entire nation, but in the nucleus of the influence that you
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  exert, are you influencing others to be better because you were around?
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  Can they say, it's easier to be good when she's around?
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  Then third, if you want to be a woman that God can use, you need to demonstrate the right
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  attitude.
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  The attitude that she demonstrates on this occasion is a can-do attitude like Caleb did
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  that said that we're able to do this, that God will give us the victory.
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  And so Deborah never seems to have a moment of wavering.
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  Her attitude is a demonstration of the spirit that we read in the New Testament.
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  Just know in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5, the Bible says to have this attitude in
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  you which was also in Christ Jesus.
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  And then it goes on to show us what that attitude is to look like.
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  In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 14, scripture says, do all things without grumbling and
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  disputing that you may be blameless and harmless as children of God in the midst of a crooked
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  and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in this world.
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  And while Philippians 2, 14 and 15 is not just said to women, remember whose dispute
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  was the occasion for the letter altogether.
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  In James chapter 3, verse 13 through 18, if we are to demonstrate ourselves as wise and
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  respectable people, then we're going to show it through the gentleness of wisdom.
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  From the wisdom that is not from above is earthly and sensual and demonic.
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  And where there is arrogance and self-serving, there is disorder in every evil thing.
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  But the wisdom that's from above is first pure, peaceable and easy to entreat without
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  partiality and full of good fruits.
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  For the seeds of peace are sown in them who make for peace.
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  James 3, verse 13 through 18, James is saying that if we're looking to others and we're
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  reflecting that wisdom which is from above, then it's going to demonstrate itself in our
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  attitude.
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  A few years ago, I read about a surveyor who came upon a very interesting sight.
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  He saw in a shallow pool of water three bucks that were dead.
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  They were locked in horns, an 11-pointer, a 10-pointer and an 8-pointer.
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  And the landowner had his game cam out and was watching all of these and was surprised
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  he didn't see that this happened, but he surmised knowing how aggressive these bucks were, what
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  probably happened.
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  That two of the bucks were engaged in fighting one another and a third one came from a different
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  direction and locked horns.
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  And they locked horns and they wouldn't back down and they fought and they were so aggressive
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  that ultimately all three of them lost their lives.
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  How tragic that such beautiful and majestic creatures locked horns, literally, and it
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  cost them their lives.
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  James is contrasting two attitudes.
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  One is the gentleness of wisdom and that wisdom that causes one to be easy to be entreated,
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  full of mercy and good fruits.
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  James says that there's an attitude opposite of that, an attitude that should not exist,
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  that leads to locking horns and that causes one to be an influence that hurts others and
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  gets hurt themselves.
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  You know, they say that in social media that women lead men in engagement in every single
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  platform.
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  Not only that, but they use it more and they use it more actively and more often.
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  It's because of this that those who do the marketing trends say that women influence
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  fashion and they influence other marketing trends way more than men do.
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  And so who do you think that they're targeting?
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  They're looking at women, but women have this ability that we don't.
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  Sometimes men were very single-minded, but women can do a lot of things well at once.
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  They invented multitasking.
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  And so women do more with social media than just use its services.
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  They also nurture and cultivate relationships through that.
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  They do that through private messaging, but also do so as they post on one another's wall.
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  Ladies, as you use social media or in person in your interactions, does your attitude lead
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  to the encouragement of others?
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  Or are you one who's known for locking horns?
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  Deborah was one whom God used because she had the right kind of attitude.
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  And then fourth, I want you to notice that Deborah was used by God and shows us that
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  God uses women who are active.
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  To me, if you think about Deborah, that's what we think about the most with regard to
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  her.
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  That from the very beginning when she is sitting there and judging the nation all the way through
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  to when they end that song that she is leading, we find her to be actively involved.
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  She was an encourager of the brethren.
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  It was Deborah who took a man who was too intimidated and scared to do the work and
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  she encouraged him to go into the battle.
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  She was actively involved in the work of the Lord as she leads the troops up on Mount Tabor
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  in battle.
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  And she was also an example through her activity as what she did led others to go and do the
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  work of the Lord.
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  Ladies, I think about this with regard to you.
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  First of all, you are in a place where you can encourage the brethren.
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  Ladies, you encourage the brethren.
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  Every time you go into the Bible class and you teach small children, you're an encourager
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  of the brethren.
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  Every time you go up to a Bible class teacher after the class and you thank him or if you're
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  in a ladies' class, you thank her for the good work that she's done.
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  Or you come up to the preacher or the others who lead in public worship and you encourage.
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  Ladies, you are an encourager of the brethren.
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  Every time you open up your home, every time you send a card or you in some other way say
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  some word of thanks for something that's been done, you are an encourager.
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  Your words of encouragement rest and remain on the hearts of those whom you encourage
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  long after you think that it's been forgotten by you.
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  Furthermore, you, like Deborah, can be involved in the works with the brethren.
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  She led the troops up on Mount Tabor and yet you have the opportunity to serve.
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  I hear the announcements and I realize that an announcement to everybody is an announcement
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  to nobody, but think about all that we have coming up, all the activities, all the events.
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  When you're solicited for help, do you more often say yes or do you say no?
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  And ladies, as you grow older, you're in a position to help those who are younger who
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  are looking up to you and they're going to be encouraged by your influence and your godly
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  example, Titus chapter 2 verse 3 through verse 5.
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  Furthermore, you find yourself where you can be an example to the brethren.
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  There are ladies in several groups that I want to briefly address here for the next
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  moment or two.
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  Young mothers, you're an encouragement to us.
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  I know that there are Sundays where it's very difficult for you to pay attention and maybe
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  you leave the assemblies thinking, I didn't get anything out of this, I had to go out
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  of the auditorium and back in several times and I feel like that my children are a distraction
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  to others.
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  May I tell you that you're encouraging us.
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  You are telling us as you're telling them that the most important thing, even with its
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  challenges, is to be here and to show your children what's the most important thing.
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  You're encouraging us.
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  Please know that's how we're seeing things.
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  And maybe you're a single woman.
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  Do you realize that you're encouraging us?
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  You are showing us that you have faith that's not tied to a husband or to children, that
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  you love the Lord like Anna, who is exalted for us and preserved in scripture in Luke
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  chapter 2, who spent her life in the temple serving the Lord.
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  If you are a divorced woman or if you are a woman who has desired but has not been able
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  to have children, do you realize how you're encouraging us?
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  Because what you see as trials and difficulties that you're bearing with a Christ-like spirit
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  is influencing us by the example that you show.
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  Widowed women, you're such an example for us.
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  Women who have lost children, because we know the ache and the pain that's in your heart
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  and yet despite that, here you are still faithfully serving the Lord.
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  Oh, how God is using you as an example.
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  And we benefit.
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  No, you may not be remembered as a judge who sat under the tree and all the nation came
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  to you.
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  But oh, how important you are to God and how important you are to us.
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  We're watching and we thank you.
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  There are 74.6 million women who are in the American civilian workforce.
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  Women own 10 million businesses in the U.S. and account for $1.5 trillion in revenue.
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  Did you know that women are 10% more likely to have their college degree by the age of
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  29?
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  And so in this, we see the growing and the spreading influence of women in our society
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  today.
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  And yet God wants women's influence to grow in the church and in the home.
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  And through that, society will be impacted.
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  Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 34.
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  Ladies, like Deborah, you can be such a force in God's kingdom as you use your tongue properly.
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  As you recognize the powerful influence that you exert.
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  As you exude the attitude of Christ and have the mind of Jesus.
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  And as you find yourself actively serving for the Lord, only heaven will show the great
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  good and the population that exists in that eternal home because of what God did through
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  righteous and faithful women through the ages.
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  Perhaps this morning there is someone, male or female, who finds themselves in a place
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  in which you realize that you're not using those resources and assets that God has given
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  to you in the way that he desires because you've not yet been obedient to the gospel.
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  Cason is going to lead us in a song to encourage us to trust and obey.
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  Trusting in the sacrifice of Christ that leads us in faith to repent and be baptized to have
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  our sins washed away.
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  The invitation call that we share every Sunday, every time that we preach, is for those who
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  need to respond, who need to become his children.
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  Perhaps also for those who are children of God and yet perhaps are living in such a way
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  that changes need to be made.
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  Maybe they need to be made publicly.
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  We want to afford you that opportunity.
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  Need to make a public response this morning.
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  We wait for you.
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  In fact, all heaven waits.
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  You need to respond.
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  Won't you come right now as we stand and sing.