2016 Sisters Event - Life.Church

You Have God’s Heart and Hand

Scripture References

Primary text

• Zephaniah 3:17
• Jeremiah 31:3
• Romans 8

Other references

• Hebrews 3:13
• 1 John 4
• Psalm 63:8
• Psalm 139:7-10
• Psalm 73

Overview

The Sisters gathering opened with a panel that re-cast the ministry’s vision: “Reach one, teach one.” Amy Groeschel then launched the four-week study “The Pursuit” by insisting that every woman settle one core truth—God’s unfailing love. Using Scripture, stories, and personal illustrations, she showed that we already possess God’s heart and His hand, no matter our circumstances. The evening closed with an invitation to respond to that love and a prayer of surrender to Christ.

Context

• Event: annual Sisters night, simultaneously the kickoff for a four-week Bible study.
• Goal: mobilize women to live the Great Commission in everyday life and anchor them in God’s love before they go.

Main Points

Sisters Vision: Reach One, Teach One

• Sisters exists to help every woman become a fully devoted follower of Christ.
• The vision is intentionally simple: each woman commits to reach one person with Jesus’ love and to teach one person to follow Him.
• Panel highlights:
  • Story: Sher’s friends drove through the night, kids sleeping in the car, just to sit in her driveway and read God’s Word to her when her mom was diagnosed with cancer—“that’s reach one, teach one.”
  • Illustration: influence often begins at home—raising children, hosting a life group, adopting, or opening your table.
  • “Life is ministry overflow; we’re still being mentored even while we mentor.”

Truth 1: You Have God’s Heart

• God is “crazy in love” with His daughters; we are His “treasured possession.”
• Zephaniah 3:17 pictures Him delighting, quieting, and singing over us.
• He pursued us first (1 John 4); salvation is His initiative, not ours.
• Jeremiah 31:3 calls His love “everlasting” and says He draws us by loving-kindness—He wins our hearts, not forces them.
• Illustration: Valentine carnation sales in middle school—being passed over felt like rejection, yet God’s heart had never passed her by.
• Misread circumstances often distort our view of God’s love; the cross is the real measure.

• “You have God’s heart.”

Truth 2: You Have God’s Hand

• Multiple psalms describe God literally holding our right hand—guiding, stabilizing, protecting.
• Hand-holding communicates commitment, intimacy, and stress relief; if that’s true in human relationships, how much more with God.
• Psalm 139:7-10—there is nowhere His hand will not lead us.
• Illustration: Penguins hold flippers; God holds His children even more securely.
• Even in “living-hell” moments—prison, abuse in a meadow, global poverty—His hand is present and active, often revealed through the body of Christ.
• Nothing, “not even death,” can separate us from that grip (Romans 8).

Responding to His Love

• Love Him back with “all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”—the same way He loves us.
• Hold His hand in worship, prayer, decision-making; refuse to hunt for lesser loves.
• Invitation given for women to surrender to Christ as Savior, receive forgiveness, and enter the family of God.

Key Truths

• God’s love is not proved or disproved by changing circumstances; it is anchored in His character and the cross.
• We already possess God’s full attention and affection—His heart delights in us.
• God’s sustaining hand never lets go; He leads, protects, and upholds us everywhere we go.
• Loving God with our all is simply returning the love He has already given with His all.
• The Great Commission is lived out one relationship at a time: reach one, teach one.

Response

• Believe God’s declared love; stop measuring it by your day’s highs and lows.
• Cling to His hand—practice acknowledging His nearness in prayer, worship, and routine tasks.
• Share that same love: identify one person to reach and one to teach this month.
• Join or start a group to walk through “The Pursuit” study together.
• Speak life daily—encourage coworkers, family, and strangers as Hebrews 3:13 commands.

Closing

Amy reminded the women that empty hands are a lie—our Father’s hand is already locked with ours. His heart beats for us, and our only sane response is to love Him wholly and pass that love on.

“Sisters, we will reach one, teach one.”

Prayer

Amy led the room in two prayers: first, a commitment for believers to love God with their whole hearts; second, a salvation prayer for those receiving Christ—confessing sin, trusting His death and resurrection, and asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many raised hands, and the gathering celebrated new sisters in God’s family.

Resources

• “The Pursuit: Pursuing the God Who Pursues You” – four-week Bible study by Amy Groeschel (distributed to all attendees)
• Song referenced: “Good Good Father”
• Song lyric mentioned: “Abba, I Belong to You”