All right. Y'all give the worship team a hand. How's everybody doing this morning? Welcome. Thank you so much for being here at Harvest. How many of you are glad for springtime? Everybody's like, pollen. No, I'm just kidding. No, totally good.
Hey, guys, welcome. We want to thank you so much for being here this morning. Whether you're here in person or you're watching online, I know we've got a crew online. Let's give the online crew a hand who join us every week via the live stream. Thank you so much for joining us.
Guys, we want to welcome you. Thank you so much for being here. Guys, we serve a God who is righteous. He is holy. He is loving. He paid the ultimate price for us. And have you know, he deserves all the glory and the honor and the praise. And he is a God that deserves to be first. I love that we come together and we give him the first day of our week. We come together to worship him and to exalt his name.
So thank you for being here. Thank you for being a part of that. We don't believe that anybody ever walks through the doors by accident. We believe it's the Holy Spirit that draws. We believe that God has something specific for each and every one of you today.
If you are a guest with us, we just welcome you. We invite you to just make yourself at home and just receive from the Lord today. We ask everybody every week, whether you are part of the Harvest family or whether you're a guest, we ask everybody to fill out our connection form. It is online. You can scan that QR code on the screen. There should also be a QR code on one of the chairs in front of you. You can scan that real quick and fill out that connection form. If you would do that for us, we would appreciate it so much.
If you're part of the Harvest family, it allows us just to know that you are here and keep your information up to date. If you're a guest with us, it allows us to get information from you as well. We want to reach out to you and let you know how much we appreciate you visiting with us and worshiping with us.
So if you would take a moment and do that. I'll also mention at the bottom of that connection form is a place for your prayer needs. If you have anything you believe in God for, we believe that God answers prayer. We see him answering prayer over and over and over again. He is faithful. We've got a team that this week is committed to every day praying over the prayer needs that you submit. So please put those down as you fill out your connection form and let us be praying with you.
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Got a few quick announcements and then we're going to jump in. They don't get nearly as excited about work day. I don't know. Awesome. All right. Y'all give Pastor Shauna a hand.
Guys, looking forward to, yeah, this weekend, the We Are Messengers concert. By the way, next Sunday, I heard from John Wilson. Y'all know we've built a relationship with Light the Way. He and the team are coming here for church next Sunday morning. They will be here for both services. For those of you who have worked in the prayer tent and stuff the last couple of years, they're going to all come here. They want to come, and they want to worship with us next Sunday morning. So kind of give them a few minutes to share and be a part of service.
So it's going to be cool as well. But, again, welcome to Harvest. Thank you so much for being here. We are just a family of Christ followers. We love God. We love people. We serve the world at the hands and feet of Jesus.
All right. Can we do this together? If you're part of the Harvest family, what is our vision? Take followers of Jesus to fulfill their God-given purpose in life. And we do that through community, discipleship, and outreach. That was good. Man, awesome.
Yes. So we're continuing a series. What's the series we're in? Kingdom Without Limits. Women leading in God's church. And that sounded like a lot of ladies. Where's the guys?
Guys, we're hitting this topic. Because how many of you know that this is a controversial subject? This is making the news. This is dividing denominations. But here's the thing. It's not something new. This has been dividing the church for centuries. And this is something that we need to have knowledge of, something that we need to understand.
So over the past two weeks, we've been unpacking what the Bible says about the role of women in ministry. So if you remember, how many of you were here week one? We went back to Genesis. We looked at Genesis, basically Genesis 1 through 3. We went back to the very beginning to look at God's original design.
We saw that God created men and women to co-labor. He made them equal in his image. He commissioned them both to rule and to reign. Say, rule and reign. Rule and reign. We saw that the fall is what actually introduced hierarchy. And the good news is Jesus came to break the curse. Amen?
And so what did that do? That restored us back to God's original intent as the children of God. Then week two, last week, we tackled some of the misunderstood verses in the Bible. Really some of the verses that are used to keep women out of leadership. Verses like, women should be silent. Verses like, I do not permit a woman to teach. Verses, let's say, the verse that says, I do not allow a woman to exercise authority over man.
We talked about those things. We discovered that context matters, right? Context matters. We talked about how I believe that Paul was actually addressing specific concerns in specific churches. As he made these statements, he was not necessarily laying down universal law.
We saw that in the early church that God was already releasing women into teaching and preaching and leadership roles. And so today, we're going to kind of take that a step further. Because the deal is, if God's original design was partnership, if Jesus came to restore equality, and if Paul commissioned women to teach and to lead, then the question is no longer, can women lead? It's, has he been appointing them into leadership all along?
If he has been, then why has the church been slow to recognize it? And that's what we're going to talk about. So, we're going to continue on in this. I will mention, you can follow along, obviously, on the screen. If you've got your Bible, you can turn with us here in just a couple moments. If you have the YouVersion Bible app, that free Bible app on your phone, I know most of you have. I think we've got a slide for that. You can download that for free.
On the menu, if you hit more and hit events, our notes will pop up on your screen. You can just follow straight along from your mobile device. But we're talking about the role of women in leadership.
So, when you think about leadership, how many of you would agree that leadership is something that carries weight and it carries authority? It also carries responsibility, does it not? But leadership can be heavy. Leadership is something that really defines the direction of nations. It defines the direction of businesses, of churches, really of movements.
For centuries, leadership in the church of Christ has been almost exclusively limited to men. The thing is, what we find is it's not because women weren't gifted. It's not because women weren't called. But because people have been taught that God does not place women in positions of leadership. Is that actually true?
Well, what if rather than excluding women from leadership, what if in reality God has been placing them into positions of leadership all along? What if the issue has never been that God won't call a woman, but that people won't acknowledge all of those who God has actually called?
So today what I want to do is, in light of the last two weeks, I just want to look at God's track record. Because remember we talked about last week, God doesn't, God's not halfway in. He's all or nothing, right? He doesn't make exceptions. God is all or nothing.
So let's look at God's track record. Because if we want to know what God has to say about women in leadership, we don't have to look far. We've just got to look at the word of God and we've got to look at it in context. When we do that, what we'll end up seeing is that from the Old Testament to the New, that God always has raised up women to lead, to preach, to prophesy, to govern, to advance his kingdom. We see it all the way through.
But I'm going to break it down for you and then we're going to look at this. So we're going to answer three questions today. Y'all ready?
First question, number one, did God call women to lead in the Old Testament? Did God call women to lead in the Old Testament? For centuries, many have said that women were never meant to lead and that spiritual authority was reserved exclusively for men. I would say, if that's true, why does the Old Testament tell a different story?
God didn't just allow women to lead; he appointed them and he anointed them and he raised them up to govern and to prophesy and even to deliver his people on multiple occasions. I gave you a whole list of folks last week. Most of those are from the New Testament we went through briefly. But I'm going to give you just three undeniable examples today of women in leadership from the Old Testament that were chosen by God himself.
The first person that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the first person I was going to mention is Deborah. Deborah is described as a judge and as a prophet. You can find that in Judges chapters 4 and 5. We know that this was a time of oppression for the children of God, for Israel. In their oppression, they cried out to God for deliverance.
God's answer was not a king. His answer was not some great male warrior. His answer was a woman named Deborah. She was his chosen leader. In this, we see that she held two authoritative roles. The first one we see is that she was a prophet speaking for God to his people. Secondly, we see that she was a judge leading Israel spiritually and politically.
Guys, during that time period, the judges were the ones who ruled Israel. In Judges chapter 4, we're going to look at this for just a moment. In Judges chapter 4, verse 4, here's what it says.
I don't even know if I should try this. That's the son of Benoam from Kadesh Neftali. I didn't practice that. Barak was a general, okay? He was a general in the armies of Israel, okay? So she sent and summoned for Barak, son of whoever, from wherever.
She said to him, "Behold, the Lord God of Israel has commanded." She's saying, "Barak, you general, sir, here's what God commands of you. Go and march to Mount Tabor and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Neftali and from the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon. I will give him into your hand."
That's good news for a general, isn't it? But what does he say? Today, Barak said to her, "Well, if you go with me, then I will go. But if you will not go, I will not go."
I can just see Deborah in verse 9 says, "I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take. The Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman."
Guys, I want you to understand something from what we just read. Firstly, Deborah was not a substitute for a man who wouldn't step up. Deborah was God's choice. Okay? She was already a prophetess and a judge. She was God's choice. When Barak, one of Israel's generals, hesitated, she reassures him, but she makes it very clear that victory would not come through him. Victory was coming through a woman.
Then we see in Judges 5:31, it describes Deborah as a mother in Israel and a leader who shepherded an entire nation. Guys, if God's plan was for men only to lead, why would God put a woman in leadership of an entire nation? If women weren't supposed to have any authority over man, why did God command a male general in his army to follow Deborah's leadership?
The second person I want to talk to, number two, is Huldah. Everybody say Huldah. Huldah. She was the prophet who advised, I guess we should say prophetess. The prophetess who advised a king.
During this time, King Josiah was reigning. By the time King Josiah comes to power, we know that Israel had fallen into deep sin. They had strayed very far. They had forgotten God's commands. As a matter of fact, it tells us that the book of the law had been lost for generations. Most theologians agree that that was the book of Deuteronomy, that this book had been lost.
Josiah sets out, and they're trying to find the book of the law that had been missing for generations, and they finally find it. Josiah reads it, and what does he realize in this? He realizes how far Israel has strayed. In the midst of that, he recognized that he was desperate for a word from God because he was young, and he was overseeing this nation, and he wanted to bring them back to God.
So he was looking for a word from God, and he needed a prophet to give him divine guidance. Out of all the prophets of Israel, Josiah's officials went to a woman named Huldah.
Now, let me just stress this further. You know who else were prophets during that time in Israel, advisors to the king? Zephaniah. Jeremiah. These male prophets we know of. They were prophets during that time. They could have been called on. They went to this woman named Huldah. She was obviously well-respected and held spiritual authority among the nation's leaders.
She wasn't just an advisor. She delivered a prophetic message that would go on to shape Israel's future. We see it in 2 Kings chapter 22. I'll show you what it says here.
It says, "So Hilkiah, the priest, went to Huldah, the prophetess. She said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, tell the man who sent you to me,' which was who? The king, right? King Josiah. 'Thus says the Lord.'" She continues to give this word from the Lord.
Let me tell you, her words would bring forth national repentance. It turned the direction of Israel. If women weren't supposed to speak with authority, why did a king seek out her word? If women weren't supposed to lead men spiritually, why did Huldah declare the word of the Lord to male leaders, including a king?
Guys, there are many more examples. I was going to give one that you guys are very familiar with. The last one I was going to mention was Esther. Esther, the queen who saved a nation, we know that she was a queen in Persia, right? Initially, she had no political power on her own.
The time comes when she finds out about this plot to wipe out her people, right? The Jewish people. She was Jewish by birth. In that, she was faced with a decision, and she made a bold choice to risk her life and to save her people. That's where we find that famous verse in Esther 4:14 where Mordecai says to her, "Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this," right? This is your moment.
Guys, Esther wasn't just a queen. She became a deliverer for Israel. She used her political leadership and spiritual discernment to shift the direction of a nation. Because of her boldness, the Jewish people were saved from genocide.
If women weren't meant to be leaders in government, why did God use Esther to influence a king and shift an entire nation's destiny? If God placed Esther in positions of power for a purpose, why do we question when God does the same today?
So if God used women to lead, to govern, to prophesy in the Old Testament, why would he suddenly change his mind in the New Testament? Which leads us to our second question. Did women lead in the early church? The New Testament, as we'd say.
Now here's the reality that we're going to get to, which is really our number three, is we are the New Testament church. Amen? We are in the New Testament. We are under the new covenant. But do women lead in the early church?
Did this, we see, we just, just three examples of women who led in the Old Testament, did they continue to lead in the New Testament? Some have argued that after Jesus, leadership then became strictly male. The thing is, the New Testament does not reflect that, guys. The New Testament does not reflect restriction, but it shows release.
Women were active in the New Testament in leadership, in preaching, in teaching, in shepherding, in evangelizing, in discipling. We even see an example where they might have even been holding apostolic authority. So women were a core part of how the gospel was spread.
Last week, I mentioned a lot of women from the New Testament real briefly. I just want to look at three or four of them here right quick. Last week, I mentioned briefly Phoebe. Everybody say Phoebe. Phoebe. She was a deacon and a letter carrier.
Now we know that this is, we find out about her in the book of Romans. This was a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome. We know that, I'm sorry, the book of Romans, that this letter is one of the most theologically rich and foundational passages, books of the New Testament.
So Paul entrusts the delivery of this letter not to a man, but to a woman. Phoebe would be the one who would deliver this letter to the church in Rome. She wasn't just a messenger. We can see that she was a leader in her own right, carrying spiritual authority.
In the Greek text, we know that Paul calls her deaconos. What word do you think that is? Deacon. She was a deacon. He refers to her with the same term that he used to refer to men who fulfilled that role, these men in ministry.
We see in Romans 16, verses one and two, he says, "I commend to you, I'm sending to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant." Now that's in the New American Standard. Other versions you'll find that that servant is the word deaconos. Many translate that deacon.
"She is a deacon in the church in Sincrea, so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you may help her in whatever matter she may need of you. For she herself has been a helper of many and of myself as well."
So Paul calls her deaconos, a deacon, proving that women held ordained church leadership. As Paul's representative, it's widely believed that she not only delivered this letter, but that she probably read it and explained it to the church in Rome.
If women weren't meant to lead, why did Paul entrust one of his most important letters to a woman? The next person I want to mention right quick is Lydia. We've talked about Lydia. I think I talked about her a little bit last year in regards to something else.
But she was the businesswoman who helped establish the church in Philippi. So what we know about Lydia, we know that Lydia was a wealthy merchant. She was in the city of Philippi, which Philippi was a Roman colony. We know that she sold purple cloth. Purple was hard to come by. Purple cloth was reserved for royalty and for the elite wealthy only.
That tells us that Lydia was highly influential and probably a very successful woman. At the time, this was a time when women were rarely ever involved in business or in public life. But Lydia, here she not only is running a business, but she becomes a key figure in planting a church and expanding the gospel.
We first hear about her in Acts chapter 16. In Acts chapter 16, verse 14, it says, "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia." If you look further down, it says, "The Lord opened up her heart." She was baptized and her household as well.
Now, if you read on from chapter 15, a few verses further, we see the story of Paul and Silas. They get themselves in a little bit of trouble with the establishment, right? They get beaten and they get thrown into prison. What do they do? Do they gripe and complain? No, they worship. They lift up their voices and they worship God.
Then what happens? This earthquake comes and it shakes the place. All the shackles fall off and all the doors fly open. Then they ran out and escaped, right? No. What do they do? They stick around and they lead the jailer to Christ. He surrenders his, and he and his family surrendered their life to Christ.
Then you go to verse 40 in the same chapter. After this, it says, "Paul and Silas returned to the home of who? Of Lydia." They met there with the believers and encouraged them. Where were the believers? They were at Lydia's house.
Paul and Silas left prison and headed to Lydia's house to meet up with the saints. We know that Lydia was the first European convert, marking the gospel's expansion into Europe. We know that she used her wealth to support the church, hosting the first believers in Philippi in her home.
It's widely believed that the early Philippian church met in the home of Lydia, making her a house church leader, possibly the first in Europe. How many would you say? That's some influence.
If women weren't meant to lead, why would God use Lydia to establish the first church in Europe? The third person I want to talk about, and because there's a little controversy here, I put a question mark. Junia, a female apostle. A question mark, because I want to address a little of the controversy around Junia for just a moment.
Did some real research into Junia this week, more than I ever have. So let's talk about the apostles first. Among the highest offices in the early church was the apostolic office. Apostles were those who were sent out to establish churches. They were carriers of divine revelation, and they were pioneers of the gospel in new regions. Paul was an apostle, right? That's why we call him an apostle. He planted churches all over. That's why we have these letters that he was writing to them. He was their oversight, right? This is the role of an apostle.
What's interesting is that Paul seems to name a woman, Junia, as one of them. Now, where do we get this from? We get this from Romans 16:7. Now, I'm going to read to you from the New American Standard. This is the New American 95 version, and that matters. I'll come back to that in a minute.
But here's what he says. He says, "Greet Andronicus," who by the way is a male, "and Junius," who are outstanding among the apostles. Now, there's questioning around some of the wording here, and I'll say this firstly. For centuries, there were some translators that actually removed Junia's name from this passage altogether because they did not believe that a woman could have possibly been an apostle.
There are ancient manuscripts that have been found from, really, it's from the medieval times, where her name was actually removed. You have others where we see where her name was changed to a masculine form. It was changed to Junius because, again, they couldn't believe. They felt surely this was a mistake because surely a woman could not have been an apostle.
Now, here's the interesting thing. If you look right here, this is, like I say, this is the New American Standard 95 version. It says Junius, which is the masculine form of the word. Now, here's the thing. Junia was a common female name in ancient times. The name Junius is found nowhere in any ancient manuscript. It has never been found.
Her name was Junia, not Junius. There are writings we have found by ancient church fathers from the first several centuries. Chrysostom, Origen, Jerome, they all recognized Junia as a woman. By the way, the reason I mentioned the New American Standard 95 is the New American Standard 2020 that was released not long ago, which I'm beginning to get into and finding very interesting, has changed the name back to Junia.
You will find, actually, that the King James, interesting, which was translated in 1611, calls her Junia as well. So the Greek phrase, so we're establishing in the Greek that her name is actually feminine. It's actually a woman. The Greek phrase is, she was outstanding among the apostles.
Now, there's controversy around this because I'll say, people will say, well, the word among could just mean that she was around or recognized by the apostles. She was recognized as outstanding. But here's the thing. The Greek phrase doesn't suggest that she wasn't just around them. She wasn't just among them, but she was one of them. Not just respected by them, but one of them.
I'm going to show you more about that here in a minute. But for over a thousand years, here's the thing. For over a thousand years, the church recognized Junia as a woman and as an apostle. During the Middle Ages, scholars began to alter the translation to remove the idea that either, they either removed the idea that she was female or removed the idea that she could have been an apostle.
In the 13th century, in the 1200s, theologian Egedius of Rome argued against female apostleship. In the 1522 edition of Erasmus' Greek New Testament, it was the first to suggest that her name was probably Junius and a male. The Luther Bible, in the 1500s as well, also translated Junia's name in the masculine form and influenced later translations.
In addition to that, the phrase, I'm really not going to say that. I've taken a little bit of Greek. I'm not going to try. But let me tell you that it, word for word, outstanding among the apostles. That is exactly how it is translated, word for word.
When you look at it, the Greek preposition there, it looks like an EV. It's actually pronounced N. E-N is how we would say it, N. It means it's what we find in our scriptures translated as among. Really, many believe the better translation of that word is the word within.
Nowhere in scripture was that word in ever translated to mean that, mean like well known to or around, it was more translated to be within. Many believe that, I believe more than not, scholars believe that it really could be translated that she was outstanding within the apostles. That she was a woman and that she was an apostle.
Only other things I'll just say on that, back to the early church leaders, John Chrysostom in the fourth century, in the 300s, we found writings of his. Early church father in the 300s. Here's what he wrote. He wrote, "Oh, how great is the devotion of this woman that she should even be counted worthy of the appellation of an apostle." The word appellation simply means designation or title.
This is an early church father from the fourth century writing, confirming her to be a woman and to be an apostle. Then you had Origen and Jerome, who also around that time were early church fathers. They recognized Junia as a woman and apostle.
So if the apostles were the highest leaders in the early church, why does it seem that Junia is counted among them? If Paul and the early church and the early church leaders seem to recognize her as an apostle, why do modern theologians still try to fight against it and argue against it?
So we see here in scripture, we see God using women to lead in the Old Testament. We see God using women to lead in the New Testament, which leads to the third question: Is God still leading, calling women to lead today?
So for the past two teachings, we've built a biblical case showing that God has always through scripture been using women to lead. We've seen how God has appointed women in the Old Testament and how Jesus affirmed women in leadership during his time.
So the real question is, did God stop using women when the apostles died? It's the same question as the Spirit-filled church. Did the gifts of the Spirit cease when the apostles died? No, things continued on, right?
So if his calling didn't end in the first century, why does the church still resist so hard many times? So what I want to do is I want to spend the rest of our time, I want to look at how history, spiritual fruit, and modern testimonies confirm that God is still calling women to lead today.
So have women led through the century since biblical times? I want to look at a little bit of history here. Some argue that while women were used in biblical times, that the church has historically been completely male-led. But is that true?
When we look at church history, we find that women have filled crucial, critical roles of leadership, even when the culture was trying to hold them back. Again, I'm going to give you some examples. I'm not going to break these down with a lot of time, but I'm just going to give you a brief list, and I believe they will be on the screen.
A few that I just want to mention from the 1300s to the 1900s. In the 1300s, you have Catherine of Siena. She was a theologian and church reformer who influenced popes and political leaders. She was later recognized as a doctor of the church.
Teresa of Avila in the 1500s, a spiritual leader and founder of the Discalced Carmelites. She was considered one of the greatest theologians and reformers of her time. In the 1800s, we had Catherine Booth, who was going on to be the co-founder of the Salvation Army. She was a preacher and an advocate for women in ministry.
Maria Woodworth Etter in the 1800s into the 1900s, a pioneer of the Pentecostal movement. She preached in massive tent revivals where thousands were healed and converted. Amy Simple McPherson, 1890-1944, founder of the Foursquare Church. She built one of the largest churches of her time and revolutionized evangelism through modern technology. What was it? Radio.
I want to give one more example. Actually, I forgot to tell Ms. Dawn I was going to do this. She sent me an article this week, just a couple of days ago, that actually confirmed quite a bit of things that I've said over the last week or two, but is another modern-day example.
It was six or seven pages of an article. I broke it down real quick and used quotes from it and broke it down to about four paragraphs. But listen to this. Another example from the 1800s. Harriet Livermore, one of the first women to preach before the United States Congress, delivered her first sermon in the Hall of Representatives in 1827 to a packed audience, including President John Quincy Adams.
Preaching from 2 Samuel 23:3, she emphasized the necessity of just leadership, rooted in the fear of God. Her sermon moved many in the audience to tears, and she would return to preach in Congress three more times over the next two decades.
Her bold presence in the National Chamber came at a time when the Bible remained a powerful influence in early American life, despite challenges from figures like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. The American Bible Society, founded in 1816, underscored this influence with an ambitious goal of distributing a Bible to every American home.
Livermore was part of a broader movement of women who defended their right to preach through biblical augmentation. In 1824, she published an article called "Scriptural Evidence in Favor of Female Testimony in Meetings for Christian Worship." It was a detailed and independent defense of women in ministry.
She confronted prevailing interpretations of Paul's writings, particularly his reference to Iodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4, arguing that they labored with Paul in the gospel, not merely for it, as many commentators suggested. She also engaged in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, a passage often cited to silence women in church.
Following scholars like Adam Clark and Thomas Scott, she argued that Paul was addressing a specific group of disruptive women rather than making a universal prohibition against female speech and worship. Furthermore, she drew a distinction between two types of church meetings: worship services where women were permitted to speak during that time, and business meetings where they were traditionally silent.
However, she broke even this convention by speaking in a male-only business meeting where her insights were ultimately affirmed. Despite early criticism, Livermore persevered in her ministry, traveling across New England as far south as Philadelphia to preach.
She engaged deeply with theological thought, challenging the dominant views of respected commentators like Matthew Henry, who limited women's roles to simply assisting ministers rather than preaching themselves. Her claim that the early church in Philippi was governed by women was especially radical in an era when church leadership was exclusively male outside of Quaker circles.
By grounding her arguments in scripture and historical scholarship, she presented a compelling case that inspired future generations of female preachers. We need more people like that in Congress today. Man, just some women in there preaching before the House and the Senate. Amen?
Guys, all that to say, back to scriptures we've read the last couple weeks. Joel 2:28, what's it say? "And it shall come to pass that I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh." All flesh, right? "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." We read in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," right?
Guys, if women were not supposed to lead, why has God been raising them up all throughout history? If women were not supposed to lead, if the Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh, why would we restrict his calling based on gender?
Matthew 7:16, Jesus said, "You'll recognize them by their fruits." I would argue that how do we measure calling? Well, Jesus told us that we can look at fruit in somebody's life. In John 15:16, he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose and appointed you," right? That you should go and do what? Bear fruit.
If calling is revealed through fruit, the question is, are there women who are leading in leadership today and producing fruit for God's kingdom? There's many. There's many examples. The answer is undeniable.
Again, I just made a quick list of women today that I respect that are highly influential in ministry today. You have Christine Kane, outstanding teacher, founder of the A21 movement, a global organization rescuing victims from human trafficking.
Kay Arthur, founder of Precept Ministries International, teaching in-depth Bible study methods to believers worldwide. Lisa Bevere, co-founder of Messenger International, best-selling author, dynamic teacher, calling believers to rise into their God-given identity.
Joyce Meyer, one of the world's most influential Bible teachers, leading Joyce Meyer Ministries, which reaches millions through television, books, and conferences. Heidi Baker, missionary evangelist who has planted thousands of churches across Africa.
Beth Moore, widely respected Bible teacher with a ministry that's discipled millions. Priscilla Shire, a powerful preacher and teacher whose ministry has shaped Christian leaders worldwide.
Guys, just a few women that God is using powerfully today, not just because of their gender, but because of their obedience, because of their anointing, because of their fruitfulness. We can see the fruitfulness in their life. If women aren't supposed to lead, then why is God blessing their ministries with undeniable fruit?
If we judge calling by fruitfulness, is it time that we recognize what God is doing through women today? So the biggest questions we got to ask is, are we resisting what God is doing because of tradition?
I want to close with this. This is far from the first controversy to stir up things in the church. We know that when Peter first preached to the Gentiles, guys, it stirred folks up. Who did it stir up? Jewish believers, Jewish followers of Christ Jesus. They're the ones that got stirred up. They're like, we're God's people. This isn't for them. This is for us.
Paul preaches to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10, and we know that the Jewish believers resisted. They thought the gospel was only for them, but the reality is God was doing something different than what they expected and different than even what their tradition or culture would have taught.
Acts chapter 10, verse 47, Peter says this. He says, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" What did Paul see? Actually, Paul saw fruit is what he saw.
He sees these Gentiles who are out on the edge, and they're hearing the good news of the gospel. They're not even praying a prayer to receive Christ. They're just putting their faith and trust in him, and all of a sudden, they're being filled with the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are coming forth, and the apostles are going, how can this be happening?
Paul said, well, who are we then to withhold water and not water-baptize them into the kingdom if the Holy Spirit's pouring himself out on them? Y'all see where we're going? The church was stirred up over this. There were folks angry over this.
We even see Peter himself struggling over this. Paul and Peter had this discussion. We see in Scripture where it got heated. It got heated. Many today resist women in positions of leadership, but it's not because God forbids it. It's because tradition does.
So the question remains, can anyone withhold the call of God from someone that God has appointed and anointed? If God is calling women, if the Holy Spirit is being poured out on them, if their ministries are producing fruit, then the question is not, can women lead? It's, will we recognize and support what God is doing?
The issue is no longer, can God use women? Guys, he always has, and he already is. Will we acknowledge it and stop standing in the way? Amen?
I want to invite you guys to stand up with me. I want to invite the worship team to come up, and I'm going to start closing out here.
So really, guys, my question for today is, is it possible that we've been standing in the way of God? Is it possible that we've been holding back some of those that God has been calling? Is it possible that we've been stifling gifts and talents and callings that God has placed on the lives of half of humanity, on the female?
Now, let's just close our eyes together for just a moment. Just ask yourself, have I ever resisted something that God was doing because it didn't fit my expectation?
Have I ever resisted something that God was doing because it didn't fit my expectation? Like I say, there's some of you here, you were raised being taught certain things. You came here to Harvest, and the first time you came, you were uncomfortable because this is weird. Man, this is a hand-raising bunch. What in the world? They get excited.
Then you started learning about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Some of the things you were learning totally went against what you had been taught and things that you had learned. But you heard and received from the Word, and you dug into the Word of God yourself. You received what God was offering.
God did something in your life that went against your expectations. It went against all that you had ever been taught, the way that you had been brought up. But you opened your heart to all that God had.
Maybe you grew up hearing that a woman can't lead a ministry. A woman can't teach. She can't do those things. Maybe this is the beginning of a journey for you. Maybe you've seen, as we've talked about this over the last few weeks, that maybe Scripture does tell a different story than what I thought.
Maybe you've seen women used mightily. Maybe you've seen them used powerfully. You just struggled with it. You were very hesitant to embrace it because of what you had always been told, and it made you feel uncomfortable.
So, what if today, God is asking you to lay down tradition? To lay down those thoughts and preconceptions and those things you've been taught that have maybe even made you feel uncomfortable a little bit the last couple weeks as we've had this discussion.
God's calling you to lay those things down. Open up your heart to what he's saying. Be open to his will. It's all right. You don't have to be fully convinced today. Get into the word of God and see what the Bible says. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to lead you, and guide you.
Let's just bow our heads. I'm just going to pray. We're going to go into a moment of just reflection and worship here in just a moment.
Lord, I thank you, firstly, for your mercy and your grace that abounds toward us. Thank you for your great love. I thank you for your spirit that is poured out on your sons and on your daughters.
Lord, we repent for any area of our lives where we've resisted what you're doing because of tradition, because of the way we were raised, because of what we were taught. God, open our eyes to your will. Open our eyes to what you're doing.
Give us the courage to support, not just support, but to empower those who you have appointed and anointed. God, may we never stand in the way of your kingdom work. For those who you're calling today, may they step forward in their life in obedience in Jesus' name, fulfilling every purpose that you've called them to. Not holding back in any area in Jesus' name. We thank you, God.
Let's just stay in this posture of worship for just a moment. I don't want to close out the service without giving the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ.
Guys, if you've never surrendered to the lordship of Jesus, the Bible says that while we have a loving father, he's also holy and righteous and just. We're the ones that broke relationship with him. It was our sin that separated us from him.
Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to restore that relationship. If we had a thousand lifetimes, we could never be good enough to restore that relationship. But God, in his great love, we see all the way back in Genesis chapter 3, even as judgment is pronounced, we see God implementing a plan to send his only son.
Fully God, but he had to be fully man. He had to break the curse as a man. He comes to earth and he lives the life that we were supposed to live, and he died the death that we deserved. He did it willingly because of his great love for you and me.
Now because of that, even like Aaron was talking about this morning, we don't have to sacrifice animals anymore when we mess it up. We don't even have to go to a priest for repentance. We come to the Lord. We recognize our sin. We repent. We make things right.
The Bible says, if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What we do now, we put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the ultimate lamb. That's why he's called the lamb of God. The perfect lamb, slain for the sins of the world.
Today, if you put your hope and your trust in him, if you'll lay down your old selfish self, your old life, your old way of thinking, your old sin, your guilt, your shame, and you'll surrender it wholly to him, he promises he'll make you a brand new creation. All things pass away and everything becomes new.
He'll walk with you through the highs and the lows, through the good times, and even through the valley of the shadow of death. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will be there. He will be your strength. He will be your guidance. He will be your peace. He'll be your provider. He'll be your comforter through it all.
So I'm going to pray a prayer. I'm going to invite you to pray with me. But with every head bowed, is there anybody in this place today that recognizes that you need Jesus, you need a Savior, you need to make Jesus Lord of your life? Just raise your hand up boldly and say, I need Jesus today.
We've all been there. We've all done it. We've recognized that we live life our own way long enough. We recognize we were an utter failure without him.
Anybody that would say, I need Jesus, I need to surrender. Father, maybe you're watching the live stream right now. The Holy Spirit's drawing you. He's tugging at you right now. Man, this distance doesn't mean anything. This is between you and God anyway.
I'm going to pray a prayer. We're going to pray. I just invite you to pray together with us. When you do so, and you mean it with all your heart, truly repenting and putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, all things are going to change.
Just pray with me. Just say, "Heavenly Father, I thank you for Jesus. Because I recognize my desperate need for a Savior. I recognize I've tried to live life my own way. And I end up bankrupt and empty and an utter failure.
Today I repent for thinking I knew what was best. I repent for doing things my own way. Today, God, I put my trust in you. I ask you to forgive me of my sin. I confess on my mouth from this day forward, Jesus, you are my Lord. You are my Savior.
I believe that you were raised from the dead. I'll follow you all the days of my life. Make me that new creation you promised. Be with me. Walk with me as I navigate this life.
May every step that I take and every word that comes from my mouth glorify your name. Bring fame to your name. And just say, "Holy Spirit, fill me. Empower me to be everything you called me to be. I'll follow you all the days of my life."
In Jesus' name, everybody said. Amen.
Guys, I want to invite our prayer partners down. We've got a few more minutes. I want us to press into worship for just a moment. We're going to have prayer partners along here across the front. We've got prayer partners across the back.
Listen, if you have a prayer need of any kind, I want to invite you to step out during these next couple minutes of worship. Let somebody talk to you, pray with you. First and foremost, if you gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life to Christ, go and tell somebody. Say, "Hey, I just needed a fresh start today. I have rededicated my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you pray for me?"
Let them just encourage you and build you up and just pray over you in Jesus' name. Whatever your prayer need may be, there are folks here that would love to pray for you. Maybe you need healing in your body. We serve a God who heals. He answers prayer.
I don't know what it is you're believing for. Maybe you need a breakthrough in your finances. Maybe you're believing for a new job. Maybe you're believing for one of your kids to come to Christ. I don't know what it is for you, but there are people here that would love to pray for you.
How many of you know there is power in agreement? So take advantage of this moment. Or maybe you're here. Maybe God has spoken to you through his word today. Maybe you are female. Maybe you felt a tug early on in life. Maybe you felt God tugging you into ministry to be used in specific ways.
But you had people speak things over your life that were contrary to that. So you put that aside and said, that must not be for me. Because a woman can't do that. Or maybe it's even, I'm not worthy of that. But, guys, God loves you.
He wants you to pick up those dreams that you've set down. Pick up those callings that you've set down. He wants you to step back into him. Amen. He wants to empower you.
So maybe that's you. Maybe you're ready to step forward. Go to one of our prayer partners and say, "Man, I'm ready to take the next step. But I've been held back or I've held myself back long enough. I'm going to move forward."
Maybe you're somebody here that's held others back because of mindsets. Just take a moment and repent and say, "God, I'm sorry if I've ever gotten in the way of what you're trying to do. I will make a change from this day forward. I will support and empower those who you appoint and you anoint in Jesus' name."
We're just going to press into worship here for a moment. I just want you to allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in you, whatever that may be. Just say, "Holy Spirit, what are you speaking to me right now?" Allow him to minister to you as we press into worship for just a few minutes.
All right, guys. So we're going to conclude next week. As we finish this series, it's going to be a powerful ending. You know, we started week one. We had so many different people who found freedom in week one. I believe we're going to find the same thing in week four as we conclude. I believe it's going to be a powerful time together.
So make sure you're here for that. Also, as we conclude, we've still got quite a few prayer partners still available. So go see a prayer partner on your way out. The worship team will still be up here playing for the next few minutes as we prepare for the next service.
But take advantage of that moment. Next Sunday is going to be powerful. Be here for that. Like I say, guys, from Light the Way are going to be here. We're going to hear what's going on with them and all the things that are coming up.
And so, guys, y'all have a great week. Get involved in community. We love you guys. Go be salt and light. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. God bless you. You are dismissed.
If you joined us on the live stream today, thank you so much for being a part. We're so thankful that you joined us for worship today. If you didn't fill out your connection form, if you would take just a moment and do that for us, we would certainly appreciate it.
Don't forget to give us your prayer needs. We want to be praying over those and believe in God for breakthrough in your life in Jesus' name. We'd love to see you in person sometime here at Harvest. Come and see us. But in the meantime, be blessed. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.
on Mar 23, 2025
