The Lavish Love of Christ

Dear Lake Tapps Community Church,

 

As an adjective, lavish means extravagant, bountiful, and luxurious.  Isn’t this the nature of our God?  Used as a verb, to lavish means to give generously, to heap, show and pour in extravagant quantities.  Isn’t this how our God operates? Ephesians 1 reminds us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, that we have redemption through His blood, forgiveness of our sins and that God’s grace has been lavished upon us. 1 John 3 we see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  What an identity!  

47 ladies just returned from an amazing LTCC Women’s Retreat at Rainbow Lodge in North Bend.  Our own Darcey Simmons was used by God to powerfully teach through the book of Philippians, pointing out the lavish Love of Jesus.  

 

She wrote:

 

“My prayer is that you believe you are lavishly LOVED by Christ Jesus, your Lord and Savior.  This unbelievable truth that you are so lavishly loved by Christ becomes what defines you.  Your loving Father created you.  Out of the depths of Christ’s love for you. . . even just for you, Christ died for you.  He bore the full weight of your sin so you could experience the inexhaustible, unfathomable love of the Trinity.  Forever.
 
When His lavish love runs in your veins, His lavish love spills onto every person you encounter in this lifetime.  Expressing Christ’s love is the fruit of experiencing Christ’s grace!”

 

In our four sessions we were reminded of the beauty of being His vessels to share His Lavish Joy, Grace, Hope & Praise with a hurting world, within the context of the circles of influence He has placed each of us.  Karli Peterson and Sydney Queen ushered us into worship of our lavishly loving God.  A small foretaste of Heaven! 

 

In addition to our time together in worship and the Word, we bonded in the community of small groups.  Seven leaders led us into times of discussion and sharing as we encouraged one another in the reality of Christ in the mountain tops and valleys of our individual walks.  It was beautiful to see the authenticity and deep community within the body of Christ.  These connections continued throughout the weekend, whether it be a heart-to-heart conversation over a midnight cup of tea, a shared hike in God’s beautiful creation, during one of our delicious meals, or in a friendly game.

 

 God’s abundant provision throughout the weekend reminded me of Psalm 23:5 “My cup overflows”.  Someone in my small group shared that she pictures herself sipping from the saucer under her overflowing teacup. The amazing thing is that God in His lavishness and abundance is enough for us all, despite the situation or circumstance.  Always more than enough.

 

I am thankful for the circles of influence God has given women within their homes, church and communities.  It is my prayer that we as women would come alongside each other, be intentional in knowing Jesus deeply and making His lavish, abundant gospel love known.

 

For the Elders and Deacons,

 

Leeanne Needham
 
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Upcoming women’s events: 

Annual Women’s Breakfast “Tea” for All-Ages - April 22

Women’s Game Night: Bunco Theme – May 5

Women’s “Remember” Breakfast - May 20

 

Ongoing women’s events:

Tea & Coffee with Three 

Senior Women’s Coffee Fellowship

Senior Women’s Book Club

 

See the Women’s Ministries webpage for details and to register!
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*For clarification, Jeanette Sherling is using the building for a Fashion Show fundraiser for local charities on April 15th.  As this is not an LTCC or Women’s Ministry event, we encourage you to speak directly to Jeanette for more information and to attend.  

 

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Save the Date for our First Family Forum on April 16th!

Leeanne Needham