Women In The Church - Free To Serve As God Equips!

May 2022 Sermon - Women in the Church - Acts 2:16-21; Galatians 3:26-29

Today we are beginning a short series on an issue that is very close to my heart. That issue is to do with the wellness of the body of Christ, the overall health of the church.

And it’s to do with the responsibility of the church to glorify God. The primary purpose of the Yonge Street Mission is to glorify God and to discern the mind of Christ. I have always loved that.

As the church, our responsibility is to make disciples. And when you make disciples, church always forms.

And as church forms, its members, all of its members, utilize their spiritual gifts and ministry passions for the glory of God and the building up of the church.

So the issue is just that. All members of the church have spiritual gifts and ministry passions. They have them because God gave them. God is the author and giver of all good gifts.

He alone has the right to choose what gifts He gives and to whom He gives them.

Now all of this may seem pretty tame and obvious. And it is obvious in our context here, because we encourage everyone to grow and to serve in the church. Helping set up is serving the Lord in the church. Putting out and putting away chairs is serving the Lord in the church. Participating in worship is serving the Lord the church.

Other areas, such as teaching and leading worship and things like that, we encourage everyone to explore and begin to serve in.

Including men, when they are ready and willing and capable and mature and quite committed to this local body. Including women, when they are ready and willing and capable and mature and quite committed to this local body.

Again, that’s a no brainer, right? For us, yes, and we also need to be aware that there are some churches and some Christians who believe that one people group in the church, generally 60% to 70% of any local church body, should not be allowed to...anyone want to guess?

To open their mouths in church. This group should keep silent in the church. Don’t speak. Don’t encourage another with words. Don’t talk. Period.

And that people group is...anyone want to guess? Women. According to a very particular way of reading the Bible and understanding the Bible, some churches and some Christians believe it is wrong to allow a woman to speak in the church, to teach in the church, or to serve in the church as a leader.

And if you’ve read much of Scripture, particularly the writings of the Apostle Paul, and if you’ve been paying, I would say, a little bit of attention to his overall message, you might think that what I’ve just said makes sense.

Perhaps women should be limited in what they can do in the church.

But…if you’ve read the New Testament and have been paying a lot of attention to the teachings and attitudes of Jesus, the writings of the Apostle Paul, particularly as relates to women in the church,

you’ve likely noticed and possibly been confused by Paul saying, apparently, different things, even in the same NT letter, or even in a single paragraph.

We are going to try to unpack some of this today, and then over the course of this short series on Women on the Church, we will hopefully grow in our understanding of the liberty that God gives all people to serve according to how he equips them to.

Here’s a quick overview of the points we are going to look at today.

Points:

1. Jesus’ broke the mold and elevated women far above their usual stature in His day

2. Paul did not universally ban women from speaking or teaching in church.

3. Only God decides who gets what gift and where to use it. The body of Christ recognizes who God calls (Arleen, Jan, Lee)

4. Seek to be knowledgeable the attitude toward women in Christian circles you are or become connected to.

5. Determine in your own life to love and serve God according to how God has equipped you, not how any man might seek to limit your service in the body of Christ.

Are you ready to dive in? Let’s do it!

1. Jesus’ broke the mold and elevated women far above their usual stature in His day

Did you know that women were not allowed to vote in Canada in 1918? In the US it was 2 years later in 1920. Women of colour were not allowed to vote in the US until 1965.

That seems incredible to us, perhaps, unless we know that the status of women throughout history has been a ongoing struggle.

If around 1920 in North America we were just coming around to the fact that women had the right, the human right, to vote, then perhaps it’s not too hard to imagine that in much earlier, ancient times, the status of women was much, much lower.