by Kiersten Mehl on February 15, 2022
As a Timberline Windsor Women's Bible Study Leadership Team, we commit to the live the mission through women's Bible study as stated below. We have this written down as a way to guide our studies and our meetings to ensure that we are intentional with everything we do. We share this with you so that you can know what to expect from this group. While we don’t treat this as a contract or covenant and won’t ask you to sign your commitment to these goals, we do invite you to consider striving toward these goals in order that you would benefit as much as possible from this group.
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Living the Mission
Timberline Windsor Women’s Bible Study is a group that gives a space for women to live and prepare to live the mission of spending our lives sharing the life and love of Jesus.
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:24-25
How I will live the mission through Women’s Bible Study:
As a participant I will live the mission by growing spiritually.
- I will spend regular time in prayer, reading scripture, and attending church services and events.
- I will do my best to complete our study guide and come prepared and willing to participate.
As a participant I will live the mission by growing together.
- I will make an effort to make authentic relationships with those in my small group by attending group gatherings regularly, praying for group members, and working to resolve conflict.
- I will contribute to a safe environment by refraining from gossip, being non-judgmental, avoiding quick, flippant answers or easy fixes to complicated problems, and keeping group members’ comments confidential.
As a participant I will live the mission by growing ‘Beyond Me’.
- I will pray for and participate in mission and outreach activities organized by our group.
- I will seek to share the life and love of Jesus with others both outside of group time and by inviting them into our group.
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What do you think? Will you join us and live the mission? Let me unpack this mission a little more for you.
Our Living the Mission statement follows the overall mission of Timberline Church: We spend our lives sharing the life and love of Jesus. Women’s Bible Study is a place to practice doing just that. We hope that if the act of sharing about Jesus and serving others as Jesus would becomes comfortable within the walls of our “home” among our “family,” then we will naturally do the same out in the community. We know that we can’t share the life and love of Jesus without first knowing Jesus, so we focus on getting to know Jesus by studying the Bible.
Furthermore, we believe if we live the mission we will grow like a tree. 
Our efforts to grow spiritually are as important as the roots of a tree. The deeper the roots extend into the soil, the stronger a foundation the tree can establish and the more nutrients the tree can receive. The healthier the roots, the taller and stronger the tree can grow. As we study the Bible, spend time in prayer, and worship God, we surround ourselves with God’s truth. We absorb it. We learn it. We understand it. Learning about God is the first step to loving God. Loving God gives our hearts the desire to be with him, to follow him, and let him transform us to becoming more like him. If our spiritual roots are planted deep in God’s truth, we can then break through the surface of our communities, ready to stand firm and healthy, able to endure the storms that may arise around us.
Our efforts to grow together are as important as the trunk and the branches - the body - of a tree. When believers come together, we form the body of Christ. Together we are the image of how the world perceives the person of God. Together we stand tall and prominent in the landscape of our communities as we encourage one another with God’s truths, pray for one another, and live in harmony with one another. Together we are strong. Together we can make a difference.
Growing ‘beyond me’ is a use of a Timberline missions’ department campaign. As healthy followers of Christ, we must constantly be looking beyond ourselves to see how we can impact the lives of people around us. Our efforts to grow beyond me - serve others around us in the name of Jesus - are as important as the fruit produced by a tree that feeds other creatures. While loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind is of utmost importance, Christ reminded us that loving our neighbor cannot be neglected because it should be a natural result of loving God with our whole selves. We have a hope in Christ that leads to eternal salvation, we cannot love our neighbor if we are not sharing this hope with them or expressing our love to them by caring about their needs. A healthy tree produces fruit that other creatures eat and receive nourishment. This nourishment is necessary for life. When we serve others and share God’s truth with them, we, too, can offer life-giving nourishment.
Finally, as we live this mission to grow spiritually with deep roots, grow together with a strong body, and grow beyond ourselves producing life-giving fruit, we have one additional expectation. This is an expectation that we cannot control, but we pray that God will accomplish. The fruit of a tree contains seeds. When the fruit is consumed, the seeds are scattered. When seeds fall on good soil, they begin to absorb the nutrients of the soil and grow roots. Those roots turn into a new tree that expands the forest. Our prayer is that God will scatter the seeds of the fruit produced when we grow beyond ourselves, plant them in good soil, and let them grow into new believers who expand the kingdom of God and bring God glory. Amen.
