Confident Faith
Enrollment Ceremony
Major Beth Desplancke
Focal Point
Display a picture of Mary with baby Jesus on a small table covered with a tablecloth that coordinates with the color scheme of the luncheon or with the picture. The website https://havenlight.com has several affordable prints. Search on “Mother Jesus, or Mother’s Love.” They offer 50% discount for first-time buyer.
How’s Your Faith Today?
We read in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The rest of this chapter tells the stories of people from the Old Testament, and how they lived their life with confident faith. Several women are also included in this passage–Sarah, Jochebed (Moses’ mom), and Rahab.
As Christian women, we too are called to live a life of faith. Being a part of The Salvation Army’s Women’s Ministries is a way to help us walk with Jesus in confident faith. Our mission is, “To bring women into the knowledge of Jesus Christ, encourage their full potential in influencing family, friends and community; equip them for growth in personal understanding and in life skills, and to address issues that affect women and their families in their world.”
Today we have the privilege of enrolling the following women as members of our Women’s Ministries group. (Call the women by name and have them to come to the front.)
When I think of a woman of confident faith, Mary, the mother of Jesus, immediately comes to mind. We mainly focus on her at Christmas and Easter, but her faith journey is really an inspiration to all of us. Although none of us will ever be asked to do the same thing she was asked to do (be the mother of the Savior of the world) we can follow her example and be a woman of confident faith.
This woman of confident faith is one who serves others. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she is going to have the privilege of being the mother of our Lord and Savior, despite not knowing all that it entailed, she responded by saying, “I am the Lord’ s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38).
A woman of confident faith is a woman who fellowships with and encourages others. Besides being told of her own pregnancy, Gabriel shared with Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, was going to have a child in her old age (see Luke 1:36). A few days later Mary went to visit Elizabeth. She was able to encourage, support and enjoy fellowship with her cousin. At the same time, Mary received support from Elizabeth. It must have taken great courage for Mary to undertake the journey of many days to get to Elizabeth’s home. As a young woman, who was not married and carrying a baby, she must have felt anxious. Elizabeth would have offered support and understanding.
A woman of confident faith is one who seeks to educate herself, to grow and nurture her mind. Luke 1:46–55, records Mary’s song (Read this portion of scripture). It tells of Mary’s response to the news that she would give birth to the Savior of the world. As you read her song, you realize she knew God and the promises He had given in the Old Testament to the Hebrews, as was probably taught to her by her parents. As parents we must never underestimate the influence we have for God on our children, grandchildren, and the women of this group. As Mary grew as a mother, we can be assured that she grew in knowledge and experience.
The night Jesus was born, shepherds came to see her baby. Following their visit to the manager we read in Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She evidently was a deep thinker, which helped develop her confident faith in the Lord. She was a woman who loved the Lord.
As women of confident faith, we should want to know more about God, and to grow in our relationship with Him through worship and prayer. Mary’s commitment to worship and prayer wasn’t just before Jesus’ birth, or during his childhood. The last mention of her in the Bible is in Acts where Mary is gathered with the disciples: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.as they are joined together in prayer” (Acts 1:14).
Mary was a woman of confident faith. A woman who had a servant’s heart for God and to others. She desired to have fellowship, to encourage and support all who came in contact with her. She knew God and His Word but continued to learn. All of her life was about worshiping the Lord.
May we too be women of confident faith. (Pray over the new members or the leaders.)
Bookmark
As a gift of recognition, present each leader with a bookmark, note cards or small framed picture of Mary holding Jesus They are available from https://havenlight.com on search on Amazon.com.
With each gift add a personalized note reminding the women to continue to be women of confident faith.
