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    A Woman of Purpose
    A Woman of Purpose
    A Woman of Purpose
    Ebook217 pages1 hour

    A Woman of Purpose

    By Dee Brestin

    ()

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    About this ebook

    God Created YOU to be A Woman of Purpose!


    When you look at the Bible stories of women, many of them occur only in the Gospel of luke. In this 12-lesson study, renowned teacher and bestselling author Dee Brestin reveals a primary source for Luke—the women who traveled alongside, and who ministered to Jesus (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus exhorted women and validated their purpose in His Kingdom. You are precious and valuable in God's sight—come discover His purpose for you.


    In A Woman of Purpose, you will:



    See how God used Elizabeth to prepare Mary for Jesus' birth.
    Witness mary of Bethany as she "hung on His every word."
    Smile and understand as you read the account of Easter morning when the men said the "women's words seem like nonsense."

    Click here to obtain free Leader's Helps for A Woman of Purpose. This complimentary resource will help you guide your students to discover how Jesus exhorted women and validated their purpose in His Kingdom.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid C Cook
    Release dateMay 1, 2011
    ISBN9780781407038
    A Woman of Purpose
    Author

    Dee Brestin

    Dee Brestin (www.deebrestin.com) is a writer, speaker, and teacher. Her book The Friendships of Women has sold over a million copies and was recently released in a 20th Anniversary Edition. Falling in Love with Jesus has sold over 400,000 copies. Dee has written twenty Bible studies, the first of which, Proverbs and Parables, has been in print for over thirty years. She is a frequent guest on Moody Radio (Mid-day Connection) and Focus on the Family; she also speaks to many large women’s conferences yearly. A graduate of Northwestern University, Dee has studied with Covenant Seminary. She is the mother of five grown children and lives in Wisconsin and Missouri.

    Read more from Dee Brestin

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      Book preview

      A Woman of Purpose - Dee Brestin

      A WOMAN OF Purpose

      The Dee Brestin Series

      From David C Cook

      BOOKS

      The Friendships of Women

      BIBLE STUDY GUIDES

      A WOMAN OF PURPOSE

      Published by David C Cook

      4050 Lee Vance View

      Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

      David C Cook Distribution Canada

      55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

      David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

      Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

      The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

      All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

      Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked PH are taken from J.B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, revised editions © J.B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NAS are taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1977 by the Lockman Foundation, LaHabra, California.

      Art credits listed here.

      ISBN 978-0-7814-4334-0

      © 2006 Dee Brestin

      Cover Design: Greg Jackson, Thinkpen Design, llc

      Cover Photo: ©2007 iStockphoto

      First Edition 2007

      Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Special Instructions for Preparation and Discussion

      THE FIRST OASIS: The Savior’s Birth

      1. First Stop! Elizabeth: Blameless and Barren Luke 1

      2. Second Stop! Mary Believed God Luke 1

      3. Third Stop! Detectives for the Divine Luke 2

      THE SECOND OASIS: The Savior’s Power

      4. Fourth Stop! Who Is This Who Even Forgives Sins? Luke 7

      5. Fifth Stop! Who Is This Who Stops Storms? Luke 8—9

      THE THIRD OASIS: The Savior’s Wisdom

      6. Sixth Stop! Mary of Bethany Luke 10

      7. Seventh Stop! Praying Effectively Luke 11

      8. Eighth Stop! Fear God and Nothing Else Luke 12

      9. Ninth Stop! Parables That Women Love Luke 15

      THE FOURTH OASIS: The Savior’s Victory

      10. Tenth Stop! The Savior’s Farewell Luke 22

      11. Eleventh Stop! Do Not Weep for Me Luke 23

      12. Last Stop! A Slow Dawning Luke 24

      Sources

      Leader’s Helps available at http://www.davidccook.com/womanofpurposehelps

      To my sister Sally,

      who led me to the Savior.

      How I Thank God For:

      Dr. Darrell L. Bock of Dallas Seminary

      Whose award-winning commentaries on Luke are the best I have ever used and have profoundly impacted this guide. Whose support and counsel in reading and commenting upon this manuscript has been of inestimable value to me and to the women doing this study.

      The team at NexGen in Colorado Springs

      Who listen to the Lord, to each other, and to me.

      My team at home in Nebraska

      Particularly Gay Tillotson for dozens of vital tasks done well and enthusiastically.

      The reflective and diligent women in my Sonrise Bible Study

      for testing this study and then vulnerably allowing me to read their answers.

      My precious family

      Introduction

      Did you know that Luke is the Gospel that is most empathetic to women?

      Luke alone gives us detail into the birth of Christ from Mary’s perspective. We learn how God astonished her through Gabriel’s visit, provided her with a mentor in Elizabeth, and amazed her with miracles that she kept pondering in her heart. In Luke alone we read of Jesus raising a widow’s only son; of a sinful woman who broke her alabaster bottle at his feet; and of the women who traveled with Him and supported Him out of their means. In Luke alone we read of Martha rebuking her sister Mary and of Jesus defending Mary. And (my favorite) we read of the women being first at the tomb, running out to tell the men, and the men saying that the women’s words seemed like nonsense! (The word that Luke the physician actually used to describe the women’s talk means the delirious talk of the very ill!)

      Why is Luke’s Gospel filled with many incidents concerning women that don’t occur in Matthew, Mark, and John? Luke tells us he received his historical account from eyewitnesses. Who were those eyewitnesses? The apostles—definitely. But historians consider the possibility that Luke received much of his information from Mary, the mother of Jesus, and from the devout company of women who traveled with the Twelve and helped to support them out of their means (Luke 8:1–3). Why do I, as a woman, identify with so many passages in Luke? Perhaps it is because women may have been a primary source. Perhaps it is because Luke shows so clearly how Jesus valued women, reached out to women, used women for vital messages, and understood women’s deepest longings. We are not less valuable than men, as Jesus makes abundantly clear (particularly in Luke!) He has a purpose for our lives. Just as He allowed women to be a vital part of His ministry when He walked on earth, He calls you and me to be an active part of His ministry now.

      Susannah Wesley exhorted women not to live their lives as the rest of humankind, who pass through the world like straws upon a river, which are carried which way the stream or wind drives them. How can we be transformed into women of purpose? It begins by beholding the Savior. Just as the women who spent time beholding Jesus in Luke’s Gospel were transformed into women of purpose, so will you be.

      Beholding takes slowing down. I remember that in high school I didn’t particular enjoy history. I memorized lots of dates, places, and people for the exams, and then promptly forgot them. Boring. But then, in college, history was studied in a whole different way. Instead of this vast overview, we really looked into the life of Thomas Jefferson, reading biographies. Suddenly, he began to seem like a real person to me instead of just a name, a date, and a place. I was fascinated. If that is true of Thomas Jefferson, how much more should we slow down and behold the Savior.

      I also remember a whirlwind trip I took with my dear dad through England, Scotland, and Wales. The week is a blur in my memory except for one day when I persuaded Dad to slow down and spend the whole day exploring Oxford and the places significant to C. S. Lewis. We walked along the hill Lewis was on when he was converted, we sat in halls in which he taught, we lunched in a pub in which he debated theology, and we closed our day by standing at the headstone where his body was buried. That day is a golden memory, worth the price of the whole trip, and because of it, both C. S. Lewis and my dad are even more precious to me than before!

      I don’t want the Savior, or Luke’s Gospel (or the women in your small group!) to be a blur in your memory. Though you will read two chapters of Luke each week so that you will drive through all of Luke, we will get out of the car and walk slowly through four oasis stops.

      We also can only see as the Spirit takes the veil from our eyes. How I encourage you to ask God each day: Father, please help me to see what You have for me today!

      Luke describes more unique incidents involving women than any other Gospel writer. Here is in an incident from Luke 7 where Jesus is moved with compassion for a widow whose only son has died. Jesus raised him from the dead, giving him back to his mother.

      Special Instructions for Preparation and Discussion

      Once, while being interviewed, the Omaha radio announcer tried to provoke me by saying: I doubt very much that any serious growth occurs in women’s Bible studies—they are simply glorified times for women to gab over coffee. I was able to share with him (most graciously, of course) that, in my present study, the women had memorized John 15, had done their homework, and were sharing vulnerably, as many men are hesitant to do, from their hearts. Either gender can use Bible study time poorly, but there are certain standards you can set right now to prevent that:

      1. Do your homework—each day, same time, same place, for a minimum of 30 minutes! Each day, ask God to speak to you through His Word. If you don’t have a hymnal, buy one. Every home needs a Bible and a hymnal. Certain hymns for your times with God will be suggested.

      2. In the discussion, be sensitive to the Spirit. The naturally talkative need to exercise control and the shy need to exercise courage and speak up.

      3. Stay on target in the discussions. These lessons can be discussed in 90 minutes. If you don’t have that much time, you have two options:

      A. Divide the lessons. Do the prayer exercise both weeks.

      B. Do the whole lesson but discuss half the questions.

      4. Follow the instructions for group prayer at the close of each lesson. Keep confidences in the group. There is power when we pray together.

      May you rejoice, as

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