Christian Women Guest Speaker – Page 2

Last weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at a Christian women’s conference in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with a lovely group of godly women, and, since many have asked about it and prayed for me, I wanted to share a little about the trip.

I arrived in Boston Thursday evening and was met by Maria, one of the women’s ministry leaders. She and her husband were kind enough to open their home to me the first night of my trip.

You know you’re in a good host home
when you find these on the night table!

Friday morning I finally got to meet my precious Twitter friend, DebbieLynne, in person. DebbieLynne is actually the one who recommended me as speaker for this conference. Thanks, Deb! (If you don’t already follow her blog, The Outspoken Tulip, check it out!)

This is what it looks like when, instead of “cheese,”
you say, “Everybody say ‘false teachers’!”
to a couple of discernment divas.

Friday afternoon, we arrived at the hotel in Cape Cod and got settled in. Then the women’s ministry leaders took me out for a lovely dinner. When I travel, I always like to try whatever dish that area is best known for, so, of course I ordered some clam chowder. It was great!

When this restaurant says a “cup” of soup,
that’s exactly what they mean!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and I taught the first of four sessions on the topic of suffering: Christ, the Suffering Servant.

Something pretty amazing happened Saturday after the morning session on The Theology of Suffering. I was standing near the exit door as closing announcements were being made, and a hotel worker (I’ll call her “Linda”) opened the door a few inches and motioned for me to come out into the hall with her. Linda asked me what who this group was and what was going on, so I explained that it was a group of ladies from a nearby church who had come to the hotel for a conference.

Linda then began to pour out her heart to me, that, in addition to her father’s recent death, her daughter’s medical problems, and her own health issues, she had been struggling with alcoholism. She felt too shy to go to a group recovery meeting and wanted to know if there were someone in our group who could help her one on one. I stepped back into the conference room and retrieved Julie, the pastor’s wife, hoping she might have some resources that could help Linda.

After hearing Linda’s story, Julie stepped back into the conference room and retrieved Maureen. Guess what? Maureen and her husband have a long standing ministry of one on one discipleship for people with substance abuse problems! We were able to pray and share the gospel with Linda and get her connected to Maureen for follow up.

Oh, and that talk I’d just been giving on the theology of suffering? My closing point was that one of God’s good purposes for suffering is that suffering can cause lost people to cry out to God for salvation. Lost people like Linda.

I was overwhelmed by God’s sovereignty in this situation. These ladies could have chosen a different weekend or a different hotel for this conference. Maureen could have skipped the conference. Linda could have called in sick that day or been too shy to stick her head in the door. My talk could have been about some other topic. But God kindly pulled back the veil a little and let us see how He orchestrated all of these things to bring the gospel to a suffering soul who needed Jesus.

Saturday afternoon, Maria and Julia graciously took me on a drive to see the sights around Cape Cod. Even though it was rainy, windy, and cold, the view from the coast was beautiful, as you can see.

I also got to see Nobska Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1876…

…and the oldest Episcopal church in Cape Cod, Church of the Messiah.

The church was founded in 1852,
with this stone structure being built in 1889.

Some people collect stamps.
I collect pictures of the steeples of churches I’ve visited.

Unfortunately, this “church” now touts itself as “inclusive” (read: homosexuality affirming), committed to “environmental justice,” and is led by the “Reverend” Deborah.

After another awesome seafood dinner (I LOVE SEAFOOD!), we returned to the hotel, where I taught session 3 of the conference: Rejoicing in God’s Promises During Suffering.

Sunday morning was a sweet time of worship and fellowship, and the final session of the conference: The Christian’s Response to Suffering.

After a quick check out from the hotel, it was back to the airport in Boston for the ride home.

What a lovely weekend! When I’m teaching a group of ladies, I can always tell whether or not they sit under a good pastor, and this group certainly does. If you live in the Boston area and are looking for a good church, I could not recommend First Baptist Church, Weymouth, more highly.

If your church is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.

15380870_1483790701661859_4323964281052367505_n-edited

As many of you know, last week I flew from Baton Rouge to Chicago to speak at Water’s Edge Bible Church’s annual ladies’ Christmas banquet. I had a lovely time, and, since many have asked, I wanted to share a bit about it with you.

I arrived in Chicago Wednesday afternoon and had the privilege of attending Wednesday night church at WEBC, which made me feel right at home (because that’s what I would have been doing Wednesday night if I had been at home): dinner and fellowship, followed by prayer time and Bible study. A perfect match to my own church’s Wednesday night schedule.

I attended the women’s Bible study class, taught by Pastor Jayson York’s wife, Lindsay. What a pleasure! Lindsay taught straight from the Bible and handled God’s word expertly. And I was very impressed by how biblically knowledgeable the ladies in the class were. It was a perfect example of how women’s Bible study ought to be done.

cypxtnqxgaae175 Jayson and Lindsay York and me

Thursday was the only day during my short trip that I had time to do anything touristy, so Lindsay and a few of the other ladies from WEBC graciously took me out for authentic Chicago deep dish pizza for lunch. (My bucket list consists mainly of eating and visiting various churches- what can I say?) It was awesome! I enjoyed getting to know Lindsay and the other ladies better and hearing their stories. And, of course, the pizza was delicious. Lots of cheese- my favorite!

If they’d had more cheese, I would have taken it.

Thursday evening, I spoke to about a hundred ladies. Now this is a church that runs about 120 on Sunday mornings, so it was quite an encouragement to have that many women there. WEBC uses this annual event partly as an outreach, so a significant percentage of the attendees were not members of WEBC, and many of them were unsaved.

cyoxie-xeaedyr4 Some of the 100+ lovely ladies in attendance

The theme for the evening was “Pondering the Promise,” taken from Luke 2:19:

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

I spoke about some of God’s promises that Mary may have been pondering that are also God’s promises to us today that we should ponder, mainly the promise of the gospel. (I’ll share the entirety of my speech in article format here on the blog this Friday.)

15380847_1483790848328511_9018555034775383392_n It cracked me up to see this on the door of
the ladies’ room- and in the stalls!
Smart way to advertise!

I was so blessed to speak to several of the ladies after the event who were thankful that the unsaved friends they had invited got to hear a clear presentation of the gospel. Another of the ladies e-mailed one of the event coordinators the following (identifying details removed for anonymity):

“[My two unsaved friends] and I had a very meaningful conversation after the event…if you communicate with Michelle Lesley again, please let her know that the prayers of the people in her church and our prayers were heard! [These two unsaved friends] are the two that always seemed to be the most interested in Christ of my friends…They are interested in knowing more about the gospel and reading the Bible!”

This sweet lady mentioned that my church had been praying. I didn’t go to Chicago as some sort of Lone Ranger. My church sent me out, and to me, that’s deeply meaningful. I’m humbled and grateful to my Sunday School class and my pastor for praying for me and the event, for the ladies who sent encouraging texts while I was gone, and for the opportunity to share about how it went when I got back. I’m also very touched and thankful for those of you who prayed for me and encouraged me. (And for those who have asked, I had no problems with stage fright at all- praise God!) Thank you for holding the rope.

15253573_1483790661661863_3061748588269341143_n-edited Beautiful Christmas cookies for dessert!

Though I was glad to get back home to my family, I regretted having to leave Chicago so soon. My host family, Mr. Ken and Mrs. Kathy, as well as Jayson and Lindsay, and everyone I met at WEBC were so kind, gracious, and hospitable. I think just about every member of the church came up to me at some point and told me he or she had been praying for me and for the event. If such things can be measured, I’m sure they were all much more encouraging to me than I was to them. If you find yourself in the Chicago area and looking for a good church to attend, I couldn’t recommend Water’s Edge Bible Church more highly.

If your church is ever in need of a speaker for a women’s event, I’d love to come share with your ladies as well. Click here for more information.