RMCC Women’s Ministry Kick-Off

Worship, the Word and communion set the tone for the launch of a new season of Women’s Ministry at RMCC on Saturday, January 23rd, 2021.

Building on a Firm Foundation
Melody Daze, our new Women’s Ministry Director, reminded us of the goodness of God to the women of RMCC by acknowledging the firm foundation laid for us through the ministry of Pam Davis, Carol Farquharson and many others who have faithfully served the ladies of RMCC over the past 27 years. Pastor Dan Kowalczyk was also recognized for his faithful oversight and support of the ministry.

Even though we’re living in a season with a lot of unknowns and planning for the future is tricky, there was a sense of excitement in the air as we read together from Luke 24 and considered what happened that Sunday morning more than 2,000 years ago when the women arrived at the tomb and found it empty.

Women on Mission
In Luke 24, we read the story of a group of remarkable women. These women had been disciples of Jesus, on mission with Him as He travelled and ministered to people. They were eyewitnesses of His miracles and had heard Jesus teach in person. The Bible tells us these women actually provided for Jesus’ mission (Luke 8:1-3).

During Jesus’ ministry, He openly talked with His disciples about what would happen—that He would be crucified and rise on the third day. All His disciples, including the women, were familiar with His words. Yet, in Luke 24, we read that the women came to Jesus’ tomb expecting to finish the job of embalming His dead body. Instead, they found the tomb empty and encountered angels who proclaimed the marvelous news that Jesus is alive!

These devoted followers of Jesus were on a mission, but things didn’t go according to their plan. This is something we all can relate to!

Verse 8 tells us, “And they remembered His words.” Why did they remember His words? It must be because they had forgotten His words. Maybe it was too hard to comprehend. Maybe they were overwhelmed. Maybe they just couldn’t believe what Jesus was trying to tell them.

Whatever the case, after the women remembered Jesus’ words, everything changed. They had expected to finish what they had started on Friday (embalming Jesus’ body), but God recalibrated their mission, and, as the expression goes, they did a 180 in that moment, left the tomb and immediately began spreading the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. The reality was that their mission, which they thought was over, was now only just beginning.

God’s Word is Life-Changing
God’s Word changed the lives of the women that day at the tomb, and God’s Word changes our lives, too. As Moses said to the children of Israel: “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47, NIV)

The Word of God is a source of wisdom, comfort, encouragement, correction, and hope. It’s meant to guide us into His plans and purposes for our lives, including recalibrating us when needed. It is life to our souls.

To be on mission with Jesus, we need to remember what He tells us and it all begins by spending time with Jesus in His Word. This is something we are privileged to do together and, while we might not know exactly what Women’s Ministry will look like at RMCC in this new season, we know that three key elements in our mission with Jesus are to:

1. Remember His Word,
2. Remember to be doers of the Word (as James exhorts us in James 1:21-25), and
3. Remember we’re in this together.

Focused on Jesus Together
A recurring theme throughout the Women’s Ministry Kick-Off service was to keep our eyes on Jesus, to stay focused. The enemy of our souls, our own flesh, and the world all tempt us to get distracted, to slide off mission, to become divided.

But like what happened when the women met up with the angels in the empty tomb that morning, we can help each other remember Jesus’ words.

Together, we can stay focused on Him by keeping God’s Word front and center.
Together, we can be doers of the Word.
Together, we can be on mission.

Or, in other words and like we say at RMCC, Loving Jesus, loving others.

The power of God’s Word to transform our lives was also the theme Gayle Eng emphasized as she shared her testimony. Through extremely difficult trials, God reminded Gayle that, without Him, she can do nothing (John 15:5). As a result, she learned to abide in Jesus, the Vine, the Source of all that we need for life.

A key part of Gayle’s story was the value of togetherness. In some of her darkest moments, it was the faithfulness of sisters in Christ that kept Gayle going, bolstered her faith and reminded her of the love of Jesus.

Staying on mission isn’t possible alone. We need Jesus, we need His Word and we need each other.

Women in Worship
Melody’s message from Luke 24 shifted our gaze back onto Jesus and stirred up excitement about the mission He’s given us individually, and as the women at RMCC. We recommitted ourselves to being hearers and doers of the Word and made a fresh commitment to being on mission together.

We were blessed to experience that togetherness in a special way throughout the morning as we were led in worship by Jennifer Nudd, Janna Roji, and Laura Perron. We also shared a time of communion. It was a little taste of Heaven to join together in unison with our hearts fixed on Jesus and our hands and voices raised in praise to Him.

A very special thank you to Kelly Martin for her heart to bring us together as ladies and for all she did to coordinate things behind the scenes, and to Hannah Prins who sent us off with a beautiful summary of the morning and a word of prayer.

If you were unable to join us, we have included a few photos captured by Chera Gillard Cummins throughout this post and below. You can also find the audio recording of the service on our website at calvarychapel.ca or write us at contactus@calvarychapel.ca and we’ll send you a DVD with a video recording of the service.

Join us in praying for the Women’s Ministry at RMCC that the Lord would give us the direction we need to ensure we are on mission with Him. If you want to know more about the Women’s Ministry at RMCC, contact Melody at melody@calvarychapel.ca.

Written by Jana Carlson