Best of the net #6

Singleness and sex
Today the numbers of adults is on the rise in the UK—and it looks like the number shows no sign of shrinking. What can pastors and church members do to honour and care for singles in their midst?  The following articles will get us thinking about this important discussion.

How to Honor and encourage singles in the church.
On the Gospel Coalition website they have a new roundtable video with Jennifer Marshall, Carolyn McCulley and Betsy Childs.  Each of these women have written books and articles about their experiences and what the bible has to say.  Jennifer Marshall has written Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century and Carolyn McCulley, wrote Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?: Trusting God with a Hope Deferred. Watch the video to hear these three women discuss the idolisation of marriage, what McCulley loves about Psalm 25, advice for the discouraged, and more.

No Sex in the City
In an honest article on Premier Christianity, author and blogger, Carrie Lloyd, talks about her struggles with saving sex for marriage.  She challenges the church to talk openly about sex and the importance of communicating the great value of purity.  

Sex and the single woman
In this article, again on the Gospel Coalition, Fabienne Harford, director of women’s training at The Austin Stone Community Church, shares her struggles with singleness.  She says, "...it turns out believing that sexual fulfillment is designed for marriage doesn’t make you any less of a sexual being.  Understanding and even loving God’s view of sex doesn’t make you want it less.  Singleness presents a series of hardships, but for me learning to live without physical intimacy has provided the biggest challenge and deepest suffering of this season."

If you have any suggestions of good blogs/articles, please do get in touch at womenatcharlotte@gmail.com

Dependent on Generous Investment

One of the talks that shaped my thinking before our last brunch on materialism was Trevor Archer's talk from the fiec conference on Luke 16.  He did an excellent exposition of a difficult passage.  Check it out here Dependent on Generous Investment  Prepared to be challenged.  Jesus has a lot of say about what we do with our money.

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them,“You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

We live in a material world

We live in material world.  In a world obsessed with stuff and money.  A world constructed by a value system that has us preoccupied with possessions and the social image they project.  As Christians we know the pressure to conform to this world.  We are not immune from the allure of the adverts and their seductive messages.  So how do we live in line with the gospel in this material world?  This is the question we considered at our last Women's Ministry brunch.  What does Jesus have to teach us about money, possessions and wealth?

You can listen to the talk here - 
 

Or read the talk below - 
 

The women's ministry brunches are meetings where it is possible to meet older women and younger women, women who you wouldn't normally meet up with.  They provide an opportunity for the development of those deeper relationships we desire with one another.  They provide an opportunity for teaching and learning more about God.  So, if you are an 'older woman', the younger women of Charlotte chapel need you; if you are a 'younger woman', you need an older woman in your life and this is an opportunity to find one!  In reality, we are all younger and older women and we all have a role to play in our church community.  The dates for 2015 are as follows.  Get them in your diary now.  

• February 7th - How do I behave as a Christian online?
• April 25th - How can I be a good friend?
• September 26th - How do I talk to my friends about Jesus?
• November 7th - How do I care for my friend who is hurting?