Jacinta opened the meeting with a word of prayer...it was nice to hear from her, one of our quietest members!
Susan then shared a word of encouragement from Gen 20, reminding us of
the story of when Abraham lied to the king of that region about Sarah being his wife so that he
would not be killed...but God revealed to the king in a dream that he had taken another man's wife. She helped us see that God knows all that we do, even in secret...
Susan then prayed a blessing on us and on the time of learning from God's word that was ahead of us.
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| Leona in the foreground, Jacinta and Rose |
In our series "Honoring Christ with our Lives" we spent two weeks learning about what God's word says about divorce and remarriage...the logical next topic was to explore what God's word says about sex and sexuality...
Rose not only did not shy away from the topic but leaned into it, obviously aware that this was an important subject for the ladies in our group...
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| Christine is such a good student! |
Later she shared her passion to help young women understand their roles as a wife in this area...
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| Squeezed into the pastor's sitting room! |
The lesson begins with the foundation of how God sees sex; as the expression of intimacy within the relationship that is used to describe Christ's relationship with the church: Marriage.
We then spent some time looking at Relationships and Activities that Abuse God's Gift of Sex...
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| Felista reading Pr 6:27-29 from the lesson |
We looked at premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexuality, pornography, and sexual abuse of minors...
Rose spent time in each area stressing the key issues of each one...
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| This is Jacinta's listening posture! |
Many of these abuses are common in the slums; especially abuse of minors. Many times a girl is taken advantage of in order to earn money for school fees, or even to be able to help feed her family.
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| Maulyne |
Even in the church extramarital sex is common, especially between pastors and their female congregants.
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| Felista reading to us again! |
These are real issues facing these ladies every day as they struggle to raise their families, be supportive wives to their pastor husbands, and carry out their roles as leaders in their churches.
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| Patricia |
We then tackled the challenge of How to Be Sexually Pure...
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| Valary |
All too often a couple planning to be married decide that premarital sex is okay since they are planning to be married anyway...but that is not God's plan for a man and woman!
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| Catherine, visiting with us |
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| Theresa - our newest member |
In many of the communities in Kenya it is a common practice to live together outside of marriage; it is commonly referred to as "come-we-stay".
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| The only shot of me! |
Traditionally a couple was considered married when the girl/woman moved
into the man's home, usually built when he became of age to marry.
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| Leona concentrating |
There are 5 steps to help young people remain sexually pure: 1 - avoid sexual immorality by avoiding places like bars and discos and people who are known by their reputation to be sexually immoral...
2 - control our bodies in an honorable and holy way...remember we are responsible for our body and our actions.
3 - realize God will punish people when they sin sexually...there is no such thing as having no consequences in sexual immorality...
4 - understand God's will, desire God's will, and do God's will in regards to sexual purity...
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| Salome reading Pr 6:23-26 |
5 - allow other mature and committed believers to hold us accountable...this is key and often the one thing that can stand between temptation and sin for a faithful believer...
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| Patricia reading Rom 1:24-27 |
We ended the lesson by looking at God's Gift of Sex...
Sex is a gift from God and is designed to be a mutually satisfying expression of love between a husband and wife.
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| Christine reading 1 Cor 6:13-20 |
Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) is a beautiful illustration of a wife enjoying her husband and a husband enjoying his wife physically...
Rose encouraged the ladies to ask their husbands what they want, and to not shy from giving it to him - practical help for a very important element of the marriage relationship!
We reminded the ladies of the importance of answering the homework questions to more deeply understand this very valuable teaching...
Then it was time for prayers and praises! It is so encouraging to hear praise reports each week of answered prayer...
Even as we bow our heads in prayer over all the petitions we do so with faith in a God who hears our prayers and cares deeply for each one of us!
Christine closed our session beautifully as she earnestly spoke to God on our behalf...
