Life's a journey we were never meant to walk alone. 

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On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, I chatted with my friend and pastor from right here in Clarksville, TN, Luke Banner. Luke serves as the assistant pastor at my local church. It was so fun talking to Luke about how community really is the “big C” Church. Luke shares that the Church is the body of Christ and how as members of the Body, we make up the congregation of worshipping believers, aka the Church. Unlike secular community, Christian community isn’t just the frequency of interaction we have with someone, maintaining a shared passion, or sharing common interests. But the goal of Christian community really is as Luke said, “for the church to be the Church. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. To worship together, all-pervasive. Everything should be worship.”⠀ ⠀ We got into the nitty-gritty of what it looks like to genuinely love other believers who are very different than us. We discussed authenticity, vulnerability, hurt, and how our ultimate hope in the midst of even the hardest parts of doing life together is that the Kingdom of God is near. Guys, if you’re not a member of a local church, I really hope this episode encourages you to get plugged in! Be sure to check out my favorite resources for finding a church in the show notes of this episode.⠀ ⠀ You can find my conversation with Luke at the link in our profile!⠀ ⠀ ep. 48 | community | @lukexanderbanner
The topic of freedom makes me want to share my own journey with ya'll. Like many of you, I grew up in a family of faith, but my ears were opened to the Gospel sometime in elementary school while sitting in the pew of our home church. I was overcome with the reality that I was separated from God because of my sin, and filled with a teary-eyed kind of joy when I realized that Christ came, lived, died, overcame death, and made a way for me to be in a relationship with God. I began to understand that because of Christ's sacrifice, by his grace, through faith in his atoning work, I was saved from my sin and reconciled to God.⠀ ⠀ Fast forward to middle school, where I was the classic Bible-verse-taped-to-her-locker kind of evangelist who thought wearing overalls was cool (ahead of my time). The main thing I took away from this experience was that following Jesus wasn’t going to earn very many brownie points with the cool kids. So, during the transition from middle to high school, I made a conscious decision to set my Bible aside—because I felt conviction when I read it—in order to wholeheartedly pursue the attention of others. My four years of high school were characterized by an endeavor to curate my reputation and resume. I thought I could have one foot in with my faith and one foot in with the world, but I learned it doesn’t work that way. You’re either walking towards Christ or walking away from him.⠀ ⠀ I began to shrivel, spiritually speaking, but the beautiful thing is, God pursued me in spite of myself, just as He’d done years ago in that church pew. At my darkest time, I began asking big questions about whether or not God was who I believed Him to be all those years before. By His grace, I looked to His Word for answers. I gobbled up the words on the pages like a starving person who just had a hot meal placed in front of them, and I haven’t ever really stopped. College was a huge time of spiritual growth, as I was exposed to mentors and friends who challenged me in my walk with God, taught me how to really study the Word, and who walked alongside me as they lived out their own faith, many of whom you've heard from on this podcast. (Cont in comments)
"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13 . Who can you share the message of freedom with today? . ep. 47 | freedom | @gingercim
"It’s not just that my accountability partner listens to me so that I can get something off my chest, but she then turns around and she says the Gospel back to me. She is constantly calling me back to who I am and what I am called to do." -Ginger Ciminello⠀ ⠀ Tag someone below who has loved you enough to listen as you confess your sin and then point you back to the Gospel and remind you of who God has made you to be!⠀ ⠀ ep. 47 | freedom | @gingercim ⠀ ⠀ 📷: @laurenrund
"When we came to saving faith in Christ, confessing our great need of him and asking for forgiveness from the punishment we deserved, we were met with God’s unequivocal “yes.” Since Christ bore the penalty for our sins, we received freedom from that penalty for all sins past, present, and future. We were justified before God our judge because our penalty had been paid. Those who have been justified never need re-justifying. We can look back to the time of our justification and know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1–2). Our justification is behind us. It is a past occurrence. We were saved from sin’s penalty.⠀ ⠀ Now that the grace of God has been set upon us as a permanent seal (2 Cor. 1:20–22), we are being made new. We are being set free from the power of sin by the power of the Spirit... Our sanctification is ongoing. It is a slow-moving growth in holiness. We are being saved from sin’s power.⠀ ⠀ We will fight to grow in holiness our entire earthly lives. But when we have run the race and fought the good fight, we will enter into the presence of the Lord forever. We will be glorified. In his presence, our soul rest will, at last, be complete, as sin and its devastation will cease to assail us. There can be no evil in his presence. Though now we are surrounded on all sides by sinfulness, though now sin continues to cling to our hearts, on a day not too distant we will go to a place where sin is no more. In our glorification, we will, at last, be granted freedom from the very presence of sin. Our glorification is coming. It is the day we trade the persistent presence of sin for the perfect presence of the Lord. We will be saved from sin’s presence."⠀ ⠀ "How Salvation Brings Freedom" by Jen Wilkin⠀ ⠀ For more on this topic check out ep. 47 | freedom | @gingercim at the link in our profile! 📷: @jessiehshirley
"The first step toward freedom is confession - stepping from darkness into light. Anytime that I want to step back into that cage of believing a lie, the moment I choose to step out from hiding, I find grace waiting for me. I find freedom right there. Confessing my sin and claiming my need for God." -Ginger Ciminello . ep. 47 | freedom | @gingercim . 📷: @jillatogwe