We’ve had a lot of fun focusing our July blog posts on celebrating! From Hannah Hanzel’s Third Culture Kid perspective on America to Makenzie Magnus’ fresh and thought-provoking takes on Celebrate Your Geekness and Happy Pandemonium Day, we definitely enjoyed celebrating some holidays!

Tammy Jensen helped us relish the rest and relaxation gifts of Summer, while Heather McAnear reminded us of the season’s opportunities to encourage others. We’ve marveled at the Oklahoma Sunsets God so stunningly creates and the husband and wife duo of David and Sarah Sutton who turned our eyes towards them.

Our last three blog posts have included Heather McAnear’s podcast interview with Lauren Green, showing us a beautiful example of how to celebrate your one life well even when it doesn’t look like the one you planned, and two posts from Casey Yates—a Book Review on the path to Christian joy and some lovely insights into the gift of friendship.

But wait...we’re not finished celebrating. We’d like to end this month by inviting you to a very special Fall Launch Dinner Party!

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a full year since we relaunched the Council Road Women’s Ministry. We want to share and celebrate some truly amazing things God has done through our ministry already—cool connections made between our women, faith being strengthened, women being cared for, surrounding schools and community being blessed, personal stories being redeemed, and gifts encouraged!

We also want you to get the inside scoop on some very exciting new ministries and events we’ll be offering this year. You will NOT want to miss this fun evening!

We are expecting a full capacity crowd, so PLEASE do REGISTER NOW to secure your seat (it would greatly help us with planning too!) And share the invite with a friend. We’ve got a lot more to celebrate together!

Fall Launch Party
Monday, August 27, 2018
Dinner at 7PM | $10

July Blog Posts

SHARE THE LOVE BLOG SERIES

Holistic Health

As we focus this month on nurturing our whole selves - physical, emotional, and spiritual - I would argue that the spiritual is most important. It is the place from which all others will flow. As Proverbs reminds us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23, CSB).

Caring for Your Physical Body

How do we physically take care of our body well? That is a question many women find themselves thinking about often. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” A verse heard commonly. What does that mean exactly?

A "Sure" Thing

It matters how we’re asked to be a part of something. There’s a difference between asking someone, “Hey, do you want to go into a packed Nicaraguan jail and share the Gospel?” versus asking, “Hey, did you hear about the informational meeting about the mission trip to Central America?” There’s a difference between asking someone, “Will you put your schedule on hold unexpectedly today, pick up some Braum’s, and sit in a median to eat breakfast with a homeless man?” versus asking, “Have you noticed the homeless people on the drive to church every Sunday?”

Will You Sabbath With Me?

“How are you?” “Pretty good. Just tired.” If we only had a nickel for every time we responded this way or heard this from our loved ones. A few years back, Ryan (my husband) and I had gotten to a point where we were complaining of being tired constantly. We were both working full time jobs, leading a small group, trying to stay connected to our people, starting grad school, etc. These good things that God had given us had become a chore. Exhausted, we looked at each other and knew something HAD to change.

The Church As Family

We have all heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As a church, we don’t just believe that children need a village, we believe that every human needs a village. What we love about our village is that it is Christ-centered and our church is an extension of our household families. Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us that we are adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ. The church is not just a building, it is the people inside that are a direct extension of the family.

The Meta-Narrative of Scripture

As a child, I loved the felt board in Sunday School. Really, the physics of a piece of magazine-like paper sticking to a vertical surface is what interested me the most. But those felt board pictures stuck in my mind too. They taught me the compartmentalized stories of certain people from particular stories in the Bible. Short stories are a great way to teach children, but we all need to grow into an understanding of the Bible for formation not just information. Seeing the overarching “metanarrative” (or big picture) of Scripture is a great first step beyond reading the Bible for information. Here I’ll cover creation, fall, and salvation (redemption), but know that consummation (restoration when Jesus returns) is also included in the meta-narrative.

The Nature of God

The more time I invest in getting to know God through reading His Word, looking for signs of His presence and character in His created world, and listening to His indwelling Spirit, the more aware I am that there is so much more of Him to know. And the more of Him that I do know, the more I want to know! Yes, I know Him better than I used to, but not as well as I would like or as I believe I one day will. While I don’t want to miss knowing all that I can about God on this side of Heaven, I also appreciate that God is more magnificent and multi-layered than my mortal mind can fully grasp. This is all both perplexing and inspiring.

Imaging God In Our Work: A Panel Recap

In the first chapter of the opening book of the Bible, God repeatedly states that we as humans are made in His image, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the live-
stock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27, ESV)

Divine Reflections in Life's Transitions

If you are anything like me, then you most likely have had a bad experience with change and transition. We naturally seem to fight it with our every being, as it tends to shatter all of our “illusions” of control.

Meet the Author!

Bible teacher, author, inspirational speaker and disciple-maker, Vickey Banks is passionate about helping women connect the dots between God’s Word and their everyday lives. She loves serving as Women’s Ministry Director at Council Road, celebrating her people, playing with her puppy and getting lost in a good story.

Let The Celebration Continue: Come To Our Fall Launch Party

Fall Launch Party
Monday, August 27, 2018
Dinner at 7PM | $10

July Blog Posts

Meet the Author!

Vickey Banks

FIND YOUR SPOT!

Take Our Survey!

Fall Launch PartyMonday, August 27, 2018Dinner at 7PM | $10

July Blog Posts

Meet the Author!

Vickey Banks

FIND YOUR SPOT!

Take Our Survey!

Fall Launch Party
Monday, August 27, 2018
Dinner at 7PM | $10