For this week’s Announcements please visit: (waterschurch.org/events):

Abundant Hope Baby Clothes Collection:  Collection for Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resources Center: We’re partnering with Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center to collect toddler clothing sizes 12m to 3T. They provide critical support for local families, from unplanned pregnancy counseling to parenting aid, all free of charge. Due to an unprecedented demand, the Center is in emergent need for new baby and toddler clothing. Let’s show our community the love of Christ. Please drop your new clothes donations in the giving boxes at all New England locations beginning this Sunday.

SAVE THE DATES: 

(Registrations will be available soon)

June 1 All Around the World Scavenger Hunt 2024 9-12 (All ages)  – New England Locations Only

June 1 Women’s Breakfast 10-12 – Apollo Beach Only (16 +)

July 13 Women’s Breakfast 10-12 – New England Only (16+)

NEW BOOK BY PASTOR TIM: “ENDING EMPTINESS” now available in our Lobbies, Kindle, and Nook endingemptiness.com

Book Signing  & Celebration: All are welcomed to join Pastor Tim for some light refreshments immediately following service on both Saturday and Sunday second service, May 18th & 19th [THIS WEEKEND!], in the North Attleboro Lobby as he discusses the inspiration behind Ending Emptiness and why its message is so important for today’s Christians– now more than ever. So, come hang out for a bit, chat, ask questions, and bring a friend!  Now is the time to discover God’s wisdom that leads to a life of endless abundance.

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Reminders:

✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well.  This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site. Thank you!

Waters Class Schedule:

• 1st Sunday: Discover Waters – after 1st service
• 2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
• 3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
• 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service

Waters Help: Need marriage and family care  or have a group member in need of marriage and family care?   Click here:  help resources page  or visit waterschurch.org/help

Location Text Alerts:

Key Verse: Titus 2

Ice breaker

Q. If you could pick a theme song for your life, what would it be?

The Bible is the most pro-woman book ever written.  The Bible exalts women, it lifts them up.  It advocates that men and women are equal in value and worth.

Men should celebrate women as God does.

Four PROBLEMS facing women:

1. The MEASUREMENT Problem.

Women are constantly being measured.  Measured by the way they look, their clothing size, etc.

2. The COMPARISON Problem.

Women compare themselves to other women.  Women look at magazines and social media posts with photoshopped pictures of other women.  They see the success of these women and start to compare themselves to them. 

3. The REPURPOSE Problem.

Women are expected to compete against men. They are forced to believe the ultimate woman is dominated by a man. 

Q. What do you see yourself or other women struggling with as far as these problems facing them? 

4. The TRUTH Problem.

Genesis 3:1 ESV

Women have been deceived.  The serpent’s craftiness was aimed at women.  Adam should have rebuked the serpent right away, but because he failed to do that, it led Eve to be deceived.

Men have used women, men have become apathetic and left women with a deceptive spirit.

Q. Discuss the implications of Adam’s silence and Eve’s decision to engage with the serpent. What lessons can we learn about accountability and leadership in our own lives from this event?

Four characteristics of a Godly woman:

1. HONORABLE in BEHAVIOR

Titus 2:3-5 ESV

This is God’s game plan for women. 

The word reverent can be translated as holy.  The Greek word for holy applies to the priestly function of the instruments of the temple.  The temple was the most holy place in Israel’s life.  The person that went in there was reverent, holy, a person of significance because they entered into the presence of God.

This is what God wants for women, a behavior that leads people into the presence of God and not them.  He wants for women, a lifestyle that puts the focus on God.  Women should live in such a way that when people see them, God is honored.

Q. What are the implications of not living an honorable life as the text instructs?  In what ways might women find it difficult to live out God’s plan for them?

Due to the comparison problem and measure problem women are tempted to put the focus on themselves.  A woman’s value and worth do not come from people paying attention to them. Women are not made to be showpieces or trophies.

Proverbs 11:22 ESV

Women are meant to glorify God with their inner beauty and modesty.

1 Timothy 2:8–10 ESV

What Paul is saying in verse 9 is to not let the women in the Church reflect the spirit of the women in the age.  If women do not walk in this way but are modest and self-controlled, then God will bless them with a man that will honor them and if not, he will honor them through their life regardless of a man.

Q. How can the concept of modesty be seen as empowering rather than limiting and how can both men and women support a culture that values inner over outer qualities?

2. SANCTIFIED in SPEECH

The word for woman in Hebrew also means soft. Women were created to be soft.  The way a woman can be the most beautiful representation of God is to have her speech softened by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. 

Men must learn to speak tenderly and kindly, and with the authority of God into the life of their wives but also women must learn to guard their mouth and how she speaks to her husband and others. 

Titus 2:3 ESV

Gossip and alcohol lead to loose lips.

1 Timothy 5:11-13

Women do not want to be known as gossips.  The Devil will use that and call them out.

Proverbs 25:24 ESV; 1 Peter 3:1–2 ESV

Leader – choose one of the following depending on your conversation:

Q. How can this principle of influencing through conduct rather than words be applied in various relationships, such as friendships, workplace interactions, and family dynamics?

Q. What are some examples where silent actions might speak louder than spoken words, in particular, when there is an unsaved spouse you are trying to win over to Christ?

1 Corinthians 14:33-35 ESV

Paul is talking about the office of  ‘teacher.’  When biblical instruction is being given to the Church, let a woman learn and not take the role of a man in disseminating biblical instruction. 

1 Timothy 2:11-14 (ESV)

3. TEACHING in the HOME

Titus 2:3 ESV

A woman’s home is her Church.  That is where she teaches her daughters how to be women, her young boys, in concert with her husband, how to be young men, how to be strong Christians, how to fight for the faith.

Husbands are also responsible for training their children, both son and daughter, in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

A man calls it a house, a woman calls it a home.  A woman has a responsibility to sanctify, to glorify God through her house.  It does not mean women cannot work outside the home, but they are not to sacrifice the well-being or the education of their young on the altar of marketplace achievement. 

The enemy targets the home and women are the guardians at the gate to protect and guard the home. 

Titus 2:4-5 ESV

Genesis 2:18 ESV

Q. The passage suggests that while women can work outside the home, they should not let their professional ambitions negatively impact the “well-being or the education” of their children.

What are the challenges and strategies for maintaining this balance?

How can both parents support each other in fulfilling their family and professional roles without compromising on either?

4. FILLED with the SPIRIT

Genesis 2:18b ESV Psalm 70:5

Jesus Christ called the Holy Spirit a helper.

Women are a representation of godliness, a representation of holiness, a representation of the help that comes from God for a man, and creation was not fully good until women got here.  Therefore, a woman’s home, family, or children are not fully good until she is there.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit, honorable in your behavior, and sanctified in your speech. 

Sermon in a Sentence:

Women are fashioned to be FILLED with the SPIRIT so they can fill the HOME with the fragrant TRUTH of God in WORD and DEED.

Challenge: Identify one way in which you can actively serve or improve your home environment—this could be anything from organizing a family prayer time, initiating a spiritual discussion, or performing an act of kindness for a family member without seeking recognition.