Join us!

Save the Date!

Coming next summer......

Local Workshops

Plans are underway for our annual local workshops and we are excited to see you there!  We want you to be equipped and inspired as you shepherd your girls throughout the year - helping them understand their beauty in light of God's glory.

We hope you will join us for one of our local training events:

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Christian Health Care Center Heritage Manor Auditorium

700 Mountain Avenue, Wyckoff NJ 07481

8:30am - 2:30pm

Cost: $35

-Or-

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Fellowship Bible Church of Philadelphia

13021 Worthington Road

Philadelphia, PA 19116

8:30am - 2:30pm

Cost: $35

Click for more details and a registration form.

Please contact us if you have any questions!

grace and peace,

Lisa & Amy

Messengers Who Make a Mess of Things - weekly devo

From Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

Messengers Who Make a Mess of Things 

Jonah prayed, “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’”

Jonah 2:9

If bringing the message were based on our perfection, Jonah would not have been given a second chance to go to Nineveh. God would have let Jonah keep running, and sought a new messenger (who would also eventually mess up) for Nineveh.

God showed us there was more at stake then the city. He loved the people in Nineveh who needed the message, and He loved His messenger Jonah! He cared for the lost and the one from His fold who was prone to wander. It was out of God’s gracious compassion that He sent Jonah to Nineveh, and that He pursued Jonah when he took off in the wrong direction.

When we are messengers who make a mess of things we can beat ourselves up, try to erase it from our memory, or like Jonah, go below deck and take a nap.  Ironically, the captain woke Jonah up and said, “Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish” (Jonah 1:6). “Maybe” God will take notice? He’s the One who sent the storm in the first place! He is always on watch for those who need Him! 

This storm was in God’s hands. So is salvation. Even in Jonah’s disobedience, God worked out His salvation in the hearts of the sailors and in time, Nineveh. Jonah had made a mess of things, but God still worked a miracle.

After the sailors threw Jonah overboard, the sea grew still and the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him (Jonah 1:16). It’s one thing to fear God in the storm; it’s quite another when the waters are calm. It’s evidence that true conversion took place!

Like Jonah, God has entrusted us with a message to bring, and like Jonah we are capable of messing up. Whether someone is receptive to the message or not, remember that salvation does not come from us nor does it depend on us. Salvation comes from the LORD! We plant gospel seeds, but only God can make them grow (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Send Me: Forgiveness is also from the Lord. When we make a mess of things, ask God for forgiveness, and ask Him to do what only He can do. Salvation comes from Him!

Many Christians fail to share their faith because they are trying to do it perfectly, and since they cannot do it perfectly, they remain silent. What really convinces others of the truth of the Christian message is not our perfection or our rational arguments, but our willingness to love them where they are and to introduce them to our community of faith.

C. John Miller

The Message of a Changed Life - 5/28/14

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

The Message of a Changed Life

When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 3:9-10

He’d been carried since birth; first in his mother’s arms, then by the kindness of others. Each day people delivered him to the entrance of the temple at a gate called Beautiful. As they hoisted his weight was his heart as burdened as his body felt?

That was certainly his posture. Head hung eye level to his beggar’s cup, his lame legs, and the heels of all those who walked into the temple, Peter instructed him to “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them (Acts 3:4b-5).

The change he was expecting was not what he received or even needed most. While he held out his cup for temporal change that does not last or satisfy, Jesus’ power and presence poured in and changed him.

In the name of Jesus he received healing in his legs and in his heart. No longer sitting at the entrance of the temple, he was on his feet in the temple courts walking, leaping, and praising God!

The physical and spiritual change in this man’s life drew a crowd. People were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. They were astonished by what they saw.

The man held on to Peter and John, while they held out the life-changing message of Jesus! Look! Listen! Jesus is the One Moses told you about and Isaiah foretold. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:6).  Jesus is the One who heals, wipes out sins, and refreshes souls (Acts 3:16, 19)!

When people witness a changed life, they want to know more. When Jesus changed the Samaritan woman, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony (John 4:39). When Jesus healed Aeneas all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord (Acts 9:35). When Jesus healed the lame man at the temple many who heard Peter and John’s message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand (Acts 4:4). 

Send Me: What do people witness in our lives?

How has God changed you? Collect stories–yours and those of others (but give credit where credit is due). Become a storyteller.

Richard Peace

We'd like to hear from you!

Hello Ladies!

As many of your are wrapping this season up we hope and pray that you've had a great year sharing with the GEMS "Who is the Greatest".   We are excited to see many of you at our GEMS fun day next month too!

We had the privilege of meeting with the GEMS leadership training teams earlier this month getting updated and trained on the 2015 theme and the GEMS ministry and are excited to share with you!  

With that in mind, we would really appreciate you clicking through this 3 minute survey to help us in our planning of the local training we will be doing for our area club coordinators and counselors late summer/early fall.  We have a few different training options that are available and we want to make sure we are reaching and equipping as many of you as we can.  So your answers are VERY important to us.

Thanks for your input!

Thank you for all you give and do for the ministry of GEMS - as always, any questions or concerns please reach out to us!

Lisa & Amy

Weekly Devotional "Laying Down Our Idols" - 3/17

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

Laying Down Our Idols

Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.

Jonah 2:8

She only had seven minutes to talk, but it was enough. I needed her help with a project and in less time than was available she gave me what would’ve taken hours to gather on my own.

I gushed gratefulness. She said how good it felt to be needed. The transition from full-time youth ministry to stay-at-home mom had left her feeling useless in the church and empty in her own skin. Not that she doesn’t love being a mom, she does! It’s just all so different.

“What God showed me is that I had made being needed my idol,” she said. “It feels good to be needed, but it’s my idol!” During our brief phone call packed with raw honesty and joy, she laid down her idol again.

Serving wholeheartedly, being a go-to person for others, and a mom are all good things! What we do within GEMS and as leaders is good! Until it’s not.

Q: What would make a good thing bad?

A: When it becomes an idol. When it takes priority over God. When we live for it instead of our Father.

Throughout Scripture God reveals His greatness and makes known the position that He is to have in our hearts. I am the LORD, and there is no other (Isaiah 45:6b). You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

Have you ever set your heart idols in a neat row next to God? The Philistines tried. They were all about worshipping other gods so bringing the ark of God into Dagon’s temple and setting it next to Dagon, their chief god, was common practice. The next day they witnessed the power and greatness of God. Dagon was prostrate before the Ark in a worship position. He had fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD!

So they propped him up again. Can anyone identify? Have you ever realized your idol was an idol, and instead of laying it down, you readjusted it? Making it and yourself a little more comfortable. How’s that working out for you?

It didn’t go well for Dagon. The next morning not only had Dagon fallen face down before God again, his head and hands were broken off as well. The Philistines still didn’t get it. Do we? (1 Samuel 5)

HE>i: Do you have an idol or more that you have set beside God? If so, will you make the choice today to lay it down?

The greatest danger is not atheism, but that we ask God to co-exist with idols.

Tim Keller 

Saying Goodbye

A letter from Kathryn Miller as she follows God's new call for her life. We pray continued blessings for her and also for the GEMS Ministry as we seek God's next Executive Director for GEMS Girls Clubs.  The entire GEMS sisterhood wishes Kathryn Miller and her family all the best!

As I sit at my desk watching it snow, I am contemplating all the wonderful, challenging, and exciting things that God has been completing throughout this last year with GEMS Girls’ Clubs. It has truly been my delight to be a part of the GEMS sisterhood. Which reminds me of a quote by Steve Maraboli: “It’s funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, and hope. This is a design of God that I appreciate and cherish.” I have truly cherished the opportunity to serve alongside each of you in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Even though we come from different backgrounds and places, God has woven us together into a beautiful tapestry.

Many of you know by now that God is sending my family and me on a new journey. While we are excited and filled with great anticipation for this next journey with God, we are also sad and will miss serving alongside each of you. My family and I have met so many amazing followers of Christ and we can see God moving and changing lives because of you.

I am confident that God’s plan for GEMS’ future is found in His Word. I cannot think of any greater honor as a woman than to share with a girl about our loving and caring Father. As a Club Coordinator or Counselor you are given the opportunity to paint a gorgeous picture of God’s pure love for them and His willingness to claim victory over sin by allowing Jesus to be crucified and resurrected, in order that each of them can live victorious with Him. This is truly the most beautiful and powerful message to share with girls everywhere.

May the Lord bless you richly with His love this upcoming year.

In Him,
Kathryn Miller

GEMS Annual Leadership Conference

It's time to start planning for the 2014 GEMS Annual Leadership Conference!  Conference information will be arriving in your mailbox very shortly and information can also be found online RIGHT HERE.  Register by February 20 to take advantage of the special Early Bird registration fee.

God's Great Reputation - Weekly Devotional

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager 

 

God’s Great Reputation

I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.”

Ezra 8:22 

Ezra was a man of God’s Word. He knew God’s Word, believed God’s Word, and obeyed it. So when Ezra told the king of Persia that God would provide all that they needed for their 900-mile trip back to Jerusalem, he didn’t go back on his word. Ezra refused to compromise God’s reputation by boasting about His gracious protection in the safety of Artaxerxes’ palace and then running back for the King’s Cavalry when the trip threatened to turn treacherous.

By the Ahava Canal he proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions (Ezra 8:21). They fasted, they prayed, and in His great power and provision, God answered.

At the beginning of our journey into a new year do we have Ezra’s mindset to rightly live what we know and have testified about God’s greatness? Over the past week I’ve wrestled that through with ten questions posed by Don Whitney. The list includes this: What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

I have to confess that up until that question my goal setting was within the realm of the possible and practical. It skewed toward my abilities, realistic timeframes, and available resources. If God says that nothing is impossible for Him shouldn’t my prayers and plans expand to His gracious promise?

Ezra was ashamed to do anything that would diminish God’s reputation.  As women of the Word, who believe it, and obey it, do we share his shame at the thought of our testimony of God’s greatness not lining up to our lives?

Who or what do you trust? Christ alone? Or do you trust Christ plus your capabilities, or Christ plus your cash on hand, or Christ plus your ____________? Do you say God is gracious, but then lie awake at night worried that He won’t be enough for your need? Do you say that God is good, but then constantly complain about your circumstances?

By the Ahava Canal, Ezra did not put his trust in the king’s chariots or horses. He humbled himself and staked his life on the reputation of God’s great name.

HE>i: What is your life telling others about God?

Christians have God's reputation at the forefront of their minds. It's always risky to live in a way that makes God look great.

Phil Moore