Embrace

Rosaria is light-years away from where she was before the Lord claimed her as His own. She was formerly known as Dr. Rosaria Champagne. She was a tenured professor of English and Women’s Studies at Syracuse University, scholar in 19th century literature and culture (and advocate of Freud, Marx, Hegel, Darwin), author of a book in feminist theory and articles in queer theory, partnered to another lesbian woman, and a proponent of LGBT civil rights. Her conversion did not come easily, and she lost “everything but the dog” when Christ rescued her. Rosaria’s conversion left her clearheaded about God’s authority and holiness and the integrity of His Word. She also learned why God demands sexual purity and what the purpose of sexuality is. Hear her train wreck conversion and its many character-changing edges!

Almost one in five Americans are dealing with some type of disability. That means you or someone close to you has been affected by disability. And if you don’t know someone with a disability right now, you soon will and you’ll want to be ready to welcome them into your fellowship with open arms. Are you ready? Is your church ready? Stacia will help you learn what to avoid saying and what you can say to those walking the disability path. You’ll discover many practical ways to offer assistance that go far beyond the quick phrases “I’ll pray for you” and “Let me know how I can help” that we toss out so easily. Many Christians in the disability community may know God is good, but it’s our responsibility to help them see His goodness as we minister physically to them.

Why do we live in a world of both joy and sorrow, love and hate, life and death? To know the answers to these seeming paradoxes we have to understand the history in Genesis. God created a perfect world in which suffering and death were absent. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, the punishment for their sin was death and all of creation was cursed. Unlike the evolutionary worldview in which suffering and death are a “natural” part of the survival of the fittest, in a biblical worldview suffering and death are seen as intruders. And only in the biblical worldview is there hope! Hope found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Georgia will help you embrace these truths to help those hurting all around us.

While abortion is often discussed through various media outlets and political platforms, in many churches it is rarely mentioned. Unfortunately, when the topic is discussed, too seldom is there an offer to help those who have been affected. This is difficult to understand, since recent statistics show 37% of professing Christian women (Protestants) have had at least one abortion. That is more than 1 out of 3 women sitting in the pews on Sunday. Camille Cates believes the reason for lack of willingness to help is not because the church is calloused or indifferent, but because Christian women are unprepared to share compassionate answers with those who are hurting. Her message will inspire you to bring the grace of the gospel of Jesus to any hurting mother or family member of an aborted child.

This is the most common question Rose receives from hurting wives. Here, Rose presents her story about the devastation of sexual sin in marriage and helps us know how to minister to the married women in our churches and communities who need the hope and healing that can only be found in Christ. With her firsthand experi- ence of learning how to walk through this deep valley of betrayal, Rose is able to lead others out of the wilderness, teaching them to lean on their Beloved, Jesus. She will help you to see how God is able to take something as devastating as a husband’s sexual sin and bring good out of it.

Vickie tells the story of how Pastor John Harper, his 6-year-old daughter Annie, and her Aunt Jessie boarded the biggest, most luxurious ocean liner in the world. Over 2,000 passengers and crew members set sail on this floating palace for its maiden voyage from England to New York. The vessel was built with airtight compart- ments making it—what they thought to be—unsinkable. The news- papers stated that “not even God” could sink this ship. But in fact, the Titanic, never made it to the port in New York. Hear the heart- wrenching and heroic stories of passengers who shared or heard the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ as they were facing the end of their lives on this earth.