Dorcus The Doer Series

Grace Synder was born in 1885 and grew up on a lonely prairie in Nebraska. She lived in a sod

house that cost about twelve dollars to build. Water was scarce, and so they used their Saturday

night bath water to water the flowers. There was not much to do, and so Grace took up quilting.

She started with a quilt for her doll. As a teenager she accepted Christ, and was baptized in a pond

where the ice had been cleared away. She went on to become a teacher, and marry a cowboy, but

she was always quilting. In fact, she became the Queen of the Quilters in her state, and one of the

most skilled in all the world. Her quilts are featured in leading quilt magazines, and are flown to

quilt fairs all over the country. A museum in Lincoln, Nebraska has a Grace Synder room where

her handiwork is on display. She was a godly woman who became famous by means of her creative

skill.

When it comes t winning prizes for creativity with thread and needle, women have it sewed up,

and we want to focus our attention on a woman who sewed herself right into the fabric of biblical

history. Dorcas is her name, and her needle was her fame. Here is a biblical woman who is so

unusual because there is nothing unusual about her. Most of the women of the Bible got into its

sacred pages because they were married to famous men, or because they had famous sons, or

because they did some great an unusual deed. Dorcas is one of the few women who became famous

for simply doing a womanly thing, which was sewing. She is also famous for being the only adult

woman in the Bible who was raised from the dead, but this never would have happened had she not

been so faithful in using her needle to meet the basic human need for clothing.

She was not a multi-talented female. She was just a simple loving woman who used the gift she

had to be a blessing to others. There are three things that stand out in our text that I want to focus

on. The first is-

I. THE GOOD WORKS OF HER LIFE.

She is not portrayed as a brilliant and learned woman who could speak before groups, and lead

the women's Bible study. She is portrayed simply as one who is always doing good and helping the

poor. "I was naked and you clothed me," is the testimony of the poor about Dorcas. Those who

otherwise would have been cold were kept warm because of her labor and generosity. The poor got

a taste of God's grace through her, for none had any claim on her. She freely gave of her time and

talent to meet their need for clothing. God was the first to provide clothing for sinners in the Garden

of Eden. Dorcas was carrying on this ministry of grace.

Because of her example Dorcas societies are now world wide, and women by the thousands have

provided clothing for the needy. Only in eternity will we ever begin to know the full impact of this

one woman's good works. She is an outstanding example to both men and women of the importance

of good works in the Christian life. For millions of Christians this is the only way they can make

their lives count for the kingdom of God.

Everyone who knows the Gospel knows that we are saved, not by our own works, but by the

work of Christ on the cross. Salvation comes by faith in His finished work for us. Good works are

not a means for our salvation, but they are an expression of our salvation. If we truly trust in Christ,

and love Him as Lord, then we will obey His command to love our neighbor as our self. This can

only be obeyed in a meaningful way by good works. That is why Paul writes in Titus 3:8, "Affirm

constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works." Paul

implies that it is easy for Christians to forget the importance of good works. We need to be

constantly reminded not to become weary in well doing.

Arthur W. Pink, the famous Bible expositor, said, "This expression 'good works' is found in the

New Testament in the singular or plural number no less than 30 times; yet from the rarity with

which many preachers use, emphasize, and enlarge upon them, many of the hearers would conclude

that these words occur but once or twice in all the Bible." The reason for this neglect is that they

don't want people to think they can be saved by doing good. To avoid this the church has produced