The latest news for you from Valley Women's Ministry

Volume IX |September 3, 2020

WORSHIP WITH US!

We are so very thankful that we can continue to offer worship services on site with the safety of all in mind. To prepare for our gatherings each Sunday, it would be helpful if you signed up as early in the week as possible. It’s not a problem at all if you need to change or cancel your sign up, just call or text (515-707-4017). This allows us to open the seats we’ve saved for you to others who may be looking for a service to attend. Thanks for your help in allowing us to accommodate everyone who is ready to regather with safety in mind.

9:30am & 11am Live Worship in the Valley Church Auditorium.

Our Family Gathering at 10am in the Event Hall at the Valley Community Center is a great option for families with children. Each family self-selects their own table.

The Outdoor venue under the tent at the Valley Community Center is a great space to have live worship and teaching! We have a weather back up plan ready to go, so even if it’s raining, you can plan to attend. This service meets at 8:30am.

Our 8am Chapel service at Valley Church has live teaching and worship at 8am.

If you are attending our in-person worship gatherings and would like to volunteer to help with set up during the week or by being an usher or greeter on Sunday, please email Julia.

Church Online

Our online church platforms have provided an incredible way to stay connected as a church family during these challenging times. Especially if you're part of a vulnerable population, please keep joining us online on Saturday at 5:30 or Sunday at 8:15, 9:30 & 11 am.

Church Online

Facebook LIVE

Youtube

CONFIDENT HOPE!

Waiting! Ugh, I do not like to wait! Everyday it seems there is something I wait for...text messages and phone calls, decisions, the weather to change, a vaccine, the clothes to get dry, deliveries and the list goes on and on. As I am writing this I am waiting on a medical diagnosis for two family members. Waiting is soooooo hard, at least for me and I suspect for you too.

While I wait, I HOPE! I hopefully think that the good parts of what I am waiting for will come to pass and the bad parts won’t happen. I came across this commentary recently on Hopeful thinking. “Hopeful thinking is generally equated with wishful thinking. It is seen as a state of mind based on desire rather than reality. Hopeful thinking is little more than grasping at the straws of what we wish we could have or do that a check with the facts or likelihood of a change in those facts proves to be founded more on fantasy than reality." Ha...not exactly the confident hopeful encouragement I was looking for. However, I read on..."Some confuse hopeful thinking with biblical "hope-filled" thinking. The difference, however, is real and profound. Hope-filled thinking is not based on personal wishes or desires, it is based on the promises of God. It's coming reality is as real as God himself and his ability to make it so.” Amen and so True, True, True! As I meditated on the differences between being hopeful and hope-filled, I realized there was one more distinction about being Hope-filled. Being Hope-filled is more than just believing God's promises are true, it is so much more because we have the GOD OF ALL HOPE living in us through the Holy Spirit, We become Hope-filled the moment we ask Christ into our lives! Praise God...no matter how I am feeling or what I am going through, I am filled with HOPE because He lives in me!

Romans 15:13 is my favorite “Waiting” verse. "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit" (NLT). Several years ago during one of my many times of waiting, I read this verse in the New Living Translation. What caught my eye and my heart in this translation was the word “confident”. Now that is the kind of HOPE I want! So whether the results of my waiting are filled with good things or bad things, I can be filled with CONFIDENT HOPE because He lives in me.

As we embark on this Fall season of 2020, I invite you to be very aware of the living CONFIDENT HOPE you have inside of you. The confidence to know that you can "...have no fear of bad news, because you confidently trust the LORD to care for you." Psalm 112:7.

And...be ready to share with others the reason for your confident hope! God is calling us to shine our Hope-filled lives to a hopeless world.

Praying God reminds you daily of His HOPE living in you,

Debi

Debi Lydic serves as the Director of Women's Ministry at Valley Church. She has a passion for encouraging women to grow to Love God and Love Others. Debi and her husband, Gary, have attended Valley since 2006. To find out more about how Valley Women's Ministry can encourage you in your BOLD FAITH moves, contact Debi at debil@valley.church.

BIBLE STUDY FOR WOMEN

SPIRITUAL GROWTH OPPORTUNITY - Spiritual Practices & Opportunities, Relationships/Friendships, Character Growth

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Get to know our great God better by finding out what His Word, His story, says and means. This fall we will dig deeper into the first half of the gospel of Matthew which is the first book of the New Testament and the first of four gospels that tell the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is an excellent bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament because it addresses a Jewish audience. This study on Matthew is a great follow-up to the themes we traced from Genesis to Revelation in our last study, Even Better than Eden. Join us as we respond to God’s word personally and in community.

THURSDAY EARLY MORNINGS

Date & Time: September 10-November 19; 6:15-7:45am

Location: Zoom taught by Annie Stec

The Zoom address will be sent after registering.

Cost: No Cost

Format: Homework, Group Teaching, Discussion

IN PERSON BIBLE STUDY - REQUIRES ADVANCE REGISTRATION

THURSDAY MORNINGS

Date & Time: September 10-November 19; 9:30-11:30am

Location: Valley Church - Courtyard Hall - taught by Becky Staab

Cost: No Cost

Format: Homework, Group Teaching, Discussion

No Child Care Available

THURSDAY EVENINGS

Date & Time: September 10-November 19; 6:30-8:30pm

Location: Zoom taught by Becky Staab

The Zoom address will be sent after registering.

Cost: No Cost

Format: Homework, Group Teaching, Discussion

CONTACT Diana at dianaw@valley.church for more information and to register.

PRECEPT STUDY: AMOS

Precept Upon Precept Inductive Studies

Facilitated by Suzanne Lemon

Prepared to Meet Your God- A Study of Amos

As the Lord prophesied warnings about coming judgment through a shepherd named Amos, He can also send forth His Word through you to save others from coming judgment. Study how people can be prepared to meet their God, and your heart can be stirred to proclaim the warning with hope for those who heed it.

FRIDAY MORNINGS

Date & Time: 10am-12noon September 11-25th (three week study)*

Location: Go To Meeting Online Platform

The Go To Meeting address will be sent after registering.

Cost: Registrants are responsible for purchasing their own materials. Information will be sent upon registration. (Book is $6.75 plus tax/S&H)

Format: Homework, Video and Small-group Discussion

*Please note that additional Precept Studies will be offered throughout the Fall

-Joel/Obadiah will be offered in October (four week study)

-Galatians will be offered in November (seven week study)

CONTACT Diana at dianaw@valley.church for further information.

LET'S PRAY

SPIRITUAL GROWTH - Spiritual Practices & Opportunities, Relationships/Friendships; SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE

LET’S PRAY TOGETHER…

Want to learn more about prayer? Want to explore praying with others? This fall Women’s Ministry is offering:

Prayer Mentor Groups

Prayer that’s Caught andTaught

Mentoring the Next Generation

Starting Monday, September 23-November 21

1-2:30pm via Zoom

Led by Rebecca Wolford

Starting Tuesday, September 15th, 2020

6:15-7:45 a.m. via Zoom

Led by Becky Cox

Each group will have a facilitator and up to 6 women who will meet for 6 months or less and go through Prayer that’s Caught and Taught-Mentoring the Next Generation by Carol Madison

During this class, participants will:

-search out given scriptures on prayer

-learn to find your prayer personality

-learn how to pray scripture

-learn how to contend in prayer

-how to intercede for others

-how to pray radical prayers

-have time to reflect on your own personally answered prayers

-and much more!

You will complete the session with new friends that you can pray with, who have a new love and understanding of what God’s Word says about prayer, and practice in praying with others in a small group setting. Invite a friend/neighbor/Life Group gal to join with you!

Email sherrianfinson@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions.

Sherri Anfinson serves on the Valley Women's Ministry Coordinator Team. Sherri is passionate about PRAYER. Her heart's desire is to see women praying and being prayed for. If you would like to find out more about Prayer Opportunities at Valley Church, contact Sherri at sherrianfinson@gmail.com. You may also send us your prayer requests at: pray@valley.church

COMMUNITY BRIDGES OPPORTUNITIES - VALLEY COMMUNITY CENTER

SPIRITUAL GROWTH - Crossing Boundaries,

Volunteering/Serving; SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE - Bridge Building

Women's Ministry invites you to be a Bridge Builder and provide BoosterPaks for West Des Moines Schools

About BoosterPak

At the end of the the school week in the West Des Moines Community School District, a student will open their locker and find a sack of food has been placed there. This will occur multiple times at every elementary, junior high school, Valley Southwoods, Walnut Creek and Valley High School. The food goes home with these students because there’s a good chance that without it, they will go hungry this weekend. BoosterPak supplies our students with this food. It’s an organization with no paid staff that relies solely on volunteers. For years, it has coordinated the effort — supplies, volunteers and teachers — to put food in the hands of students in need. It takes an entire community to ensure all our students have the opportunity to be successful. We need your help because:

1 out of 3 children in the West Des Moines Community School District are food insecure.
Food insecurity and hunger prevents students from realizing their full academic potential.
Hunger affects the ability of a student to focus, learn and remember what he is taught. It also affects other students learning in the classroom.
School breakfast and lunch are a lifeline while students are at school. Booster Pak helps children when they aren’t in school- lunch on Friday can be the last meal a student has before breakfast on Monday.

What They Need From Us (ASAP for start of school year)

We hope to provide 150 packed grocery sacks for kids in our community

(use regular plastic grocery bags)

Each sack should include:
2 proteins (5oz premium white chicken, rice/noodle packet, ramen, peanut butter 16oz)
2 breakfast items (Instant oatmeal, individual carnation instant breakfast)
1 can of fruit or vegetable
Some snacks (pudding cups, microwave popcorn, protein bars, crackers with PB or cheese, single serve peanuts or trail mix)

Completed BoosterPaks may be brought to the Valley Community Center by September 4. Please make sure each BoosterPak is complete with all of the above requested items.

Tara Shontz serves on the Valley Women's Ministry Coordinator Team. Her focus is Community Bridges. Tara helps Valley Women become Bridge Builders. Contact Tara at taraneyshontz@gmail.com to find out how you can become a Bridge Builder.