Note: Each worship program will coordinate with the monthly birthstone, their meaning, and their color to help with decorating ideas. Each birth stone meaning is linked to our identity in Christ.

October Birthstone Opal or Tourmaline, Color: pink (opals can be other colors) Meaning: Confidence.

Scripture: Hebrews 4:16. 1 Peter 2:6

Worship songs to play as women are arriving.

Same God by Elevation Worship https://youtu.be/yse43TUrces

Worthy by Elevation Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak5WTb-mgeA

Cornerstone by Hillsong Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izrk-erhDdk

Christ is Enough by Hillsong Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teUxQpnhezY

Ice-Breaker Game

Either/Or Icebreaker Game

https://womensministrytoolbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Either-Or-Icebreaker-Game.pdf

Activities

Create God-fidence bingo cards using the app https://myfreebingocards.com/. Incorporate the words God has given to identity us.

New Creation

Child of God

God’s Masterpiece

Redeemed

Chosen

Victorious

Disciple

Salt and Light

Royal Priesthood

Forgiven

Overcomer

Holy

Blameless

God’s Own

Saved and Sanctified

Righteousness of God

Craft

Look on YouTube for crafts using faux opals. There are technics using resin, Polymer clay, even hot glue and sparkling nail polish, which is found at: https://youtu.be/Y_elwrXFCRA.

Opal

If you were born in the month of October, your birth stone is the beautiful opal. Even though I have an April birthday, I have always loved the beauty and colors in the opal stone. The most common opal is a white blue with several colors shining throughout it.

Opal gemstones are quite rare and precious. They are formed from a solution of silicon dioxide and water. As water runs down through the earth, it picks up silica from sandstone, and carries this silica-rich solution into cracks and voids, caused by natural faults or decomposing fossils. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind a silica deposit. This cycle repeats over very long periods of time, and eventually opal is formed.

What I love about this process of a regular fossil becoming an opal is that the fossils can’t become an opal on their own. Something outside of them must come in and infuse them, fill them, and wash over them so they can become these beautiful gemstones. This reminds me of our relationship with God. Because of what Christ did for us on the cross, we can go boldly before the throne of God (Hebrews 4:16). Jesus offers us this precious gift of life. He is God’s gift to us. Like a precious and rare opal stone. Not because of all the amazing things we have done—our good deeds—or how good of a person we are. Rather it takes something outside of us (Jesus) which enables us walk in confidence and go freely to God’s throne in prayer. Jesus Christ has given us that beautiful gift, and we can be confident of His unchanging love. In Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6, NIV).

We can go boldly before the throne of God in confidence because of Jesus Christ. He has made us holy by His grace and forgiveness. Our confidence is not in things that may fail (this world, what others tell us, or even what we may tell ourselves), but in the love and grace that has been lavished on us by our loving Savior. Jesus is God’s precious and chosen stone, and we who trust and believe in Him will never be put to shame. Just like the silica-rich water must wash into the fossils, when we allow Jesus Christ to change us from the inside, we are renewed day by day. We become more like Jesus and can rest our confidence fully in who He says we are.

So, what does this look like in practice, in real. everyday life? I can easily identify what confidence is not. My struggle with confidence often comes down to how I feel. My inner dialog sounds like this: “I just don’t feel confident today. Lord! I am a nervous wreck. I am worried I won’t accomplish this task. I said the wrong thing to somebody. My hair is a mess. I feel insecure, unsure, and anxious.” Putting our confidence in ourselves, doesn’t work. Putting our confidence in Jesus will never fail.

Questions for discussion

• How do you feel when you are confident?
• Is confidence a feeling, or is it something more?
• How do your circumstances/experience affect your confidence?
• What is the opposite of confidence for you?
• What is your experience when you felt confidence?

Conclusion

What it comes down to is this: I’m least confident when I’m not living in, trusting in, and embracing who God says He is, and who He says I am. When we don’t feel confident, we should lean on Christ even more, draw even closer to Him. When we are weak, we are strong because of Christ and the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 12:10; Rom. 8:26). We must remind ourselves and each other that confidence isn’t in our circumstances, nor is it in our own strength. Our confidence comes from knowing Jesus. Walking in who He has made us, and who He says we are in God’s Word. Just like the opal is formed by an outside source, Christ is our source of confidence.

When we lack confidence, we can remember this fact: God spared no expense when He sent His Son to die for us. We were invited to go before the throne of God the moment that curtain in the temple was torn. Jesus has given us access to our heavenly Father. Think about the white opal: it’s the most common, yet each one has beautiful, unique colors making each opal special and different. Sometimes we may feel we are just common and nothing special. Yet God has made us each unique, and His love for us is not your everyday common love. It creates beauty within us that only God can give.

Challenge: Given this knowledge, we can go freely to God’s throne. Do we go to our Lord as often as we could? We can go confidently to our Lord at any time, because of Jesus Christ. He is our precious gift, and He has lavished His gift of love on us, and that inspires confidence. Really. it inspires God-fidence!

Follow-Up Activities:

21 Day Bible Reading Plan: Who God Says You Are- https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/92/a6/1792a6ae4585243a5f54667387e6afaf.png

Names of God Bible Reading Challenge- https://rachelwojo.com/the-names-of-god-bible-reading-challenge/

(Godly confidence grows by knowing who God is so this reading plan will help the women to grow in their knowledge of the character of God).

Scripture References for God-fidence Bingo:

https://rccgonline.org/17-names-god-calls-you/

https://lifestylebymo.com/identity-in-christ/