Week 1

WOMEN IN THE MARKETPLACE MINISTRY (Part 1)

By Sandra Clifton, D.Min.

 

Begin your study by reading “God at Work” by Barbara Wentroble (SpiritLed Woman magazine, Feb/March, 2007).

 

Introduction

As women enter into ministry in the marketplace, they are discovering to their amazement that God is in the marketplace, for He is everywhere, omnipresent and omnipotent! This is most encouraging news, as it encourages women to be empowered in the real world, far beyond their church walls. This is a mindset born of Hebrew tradition, found and encouraged in God’s Word.

 

What God Says

Read Colossians 1:15.

 

Write it out. Contemplate His omnipotence and omnipresence revealed in this passage!

 

Deeper Insight

Read the following Scriptures (in New King James Version, as the exercises to follow will be based on that). Make brief notes of what each passage is saying to you about how God, being omnipresent and omnipotent, is calling you to be empowered in Him in ministering in the marketplace.

 

John 9:4a: ___________________________________________________

 

1 Cor. 16:13: _________________________________________________

 

2 Cor. 5:20: ___________________________________________________

 

Phil. 3:14: ____________________________________________________

 

Application

Fill in the blanks of the Scriptures below (NKJV) taken from the previous Deeper Insight section. Check afterward to see how you did by looking up each one. Put them on 3x5 note cards, memorizing them, as powerful reminders that the God is calling you to be empowered to minister in Him in the marketplace.

]

John 9:4a: “I must do the _____ of ____ who sent me while it is ___.”

 

1 Cor. 16:13: “Watch, stand _____ in the _____, be ______, be ______.”

 

2 Cor. 5:20: “Now then, we are _________ for _____, as though ____ were pleading through ___.”

 

Phil. 3:14: “I ____ towards the _____ for the ____ of the upward ____ of God in ______ _____”

 

For Group Study

Begin your group time by reading aloud 2 Corinthians 5:20, and then have members of the group take turns sharing what it means to be an “ambassador for Christ.” Also discuss and explore ways in which we can be. Encourage testimonies where the members’ being ambassadors for Christ have won souls or influenced people to Christ!

End the meeting by taking prayer requests, and then pray for God’s empowerment on the women present and their ministries in the marketplace. Pray that members of the group hear and heed and follow through the call of God leading them to minister boldly in daily “real life” situations..

 

Prayer

Memorize 1 Corinthians 16:13 and read it aloud as part of your prayer. Then ask the Lord to give you discernment to see opportunities in which to minister to other women daily (“Watch”) and to have the persistence (“stand fast”) to walk in faith to be brave and strong! Thank Him that He is empowering you greatly and faithfully to do His work in the marketplace, or the world outside of the church walls. Thank Him for His anointing upon you, in whatever you do, wherever you go! Thank Him that His is a great and loving omnipresent and omnipotent and sovereign God!