Women's Ministry: Hearts for Him

Kelly Knapp

It was a beautiful blue-skied sunny morning on that Saturday in February in 2017. I had never been to Hebron Church; I had always just “heard” of this beloved place. I was the guest speaker at the annual Heart Breakfast. Little did I know that the invite to speak on that sunny winter day was the beginning of a call and a journey our family would take… I had no idea. 

Think back to February 2020. The Barclay Building had just reopened. People were pumped! The energy was high, the room was packed with red adornment, and the food was delicious and savory. The testimonies were God-glorifying and it was a wonderful morning together. Little did we know that most of us would not be gathering like that in a big social setting for almost a year!… We had no idea.

Little did we know that on February 13, 2021 we would have over 50 women gather on Zoom to rededicate our hearts to Him! It was a wonderful morning. The Women’s Ministry Leadership Team wrestled and struggled with how to faithfully hold out the Word of life to our Hebron women, yet seek to go beyond ourselves in intentional outreach. The Lord went before us in this venue—and clearly guided every step of the way. We had a fabulous morning of teaching and discussion: our hearts being first and foremost called to be lovers of God, not of other people, or activities, or our families/children, or issues we are passionate about. We were instructed to love God passionately with our ALL. It was a morning of thinking through what it means that we so often have a divided heart. God desires an undivided heart that is ours through Christ Jesus—the One from whom we have received this heart transplant. We are the beneficiaries. He is the donor.  We have no idea the extent to which He sought us out and saved us. No idea. 

Lastly, after the teaching we had two fun activities together—preparing Bibles to be given away to the unchurched or a person we have contact with who desperately needs God’s Word. And, cookie decorating 101! It was wonderful. We were encouraged to mark up, highlight, and pray over this Bible, to be given away and shared. We also were instructed on how to decorate some lovely Valentine cookies to give away to neighbors and people who may be unreached with the Gospel. We pray this simple effort builds bridges with us and to our Hebron Church as we give them a personal invite, and ultimately, to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. This is our Lord’s primary idea and purpose in all things. 

Ultimately, God had the idea for this virtual event and shared it with us. We have no idea how gathering, preparing the Scriptures to be given away, and a feeble effort of cookie sharing across this region could bring Him glory and advance His kingdom. But He knows. The Lord doesn’t just have ideas. The Lord executes all things. He upholds all things. He sustains all things “by the Word of His power”. (Hebrews 1:3). We give Him great glory for the fun we had and for the way He may use this event. We have no idea. But He does!