January 2023 Newsletter

Welcome to the Rocky River Church Women’s Ministry Newsletter!  Each month you will receive two newsletters filled with ministry updates, group meeting information, and so much more.  

Seeing that this is our first issue, it seems fitting to share the passage of scripture that guides our planning and hopes for this ministry.
Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. 2 Peter 1:5-8 CEV

The Message translates these verses this way:

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.  

God wants us to share in His nature and character; these verses give us a roadmap to do just that. This women's ministry exists to help us grow our faith in the ways Peter described in 2 Peter 1:5-8. We want to help you grow deeper in your faith; deeper in your relationships, both with God and the people in your life; and deeper into the purpose for which God created you.


The best part is that we are all in this together – you do not have to do this work alone.  The teaching team has loved watching all the friendships form since the launch in August. Seeing y’all chatting on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings, seeing y’all pray together, and share each other’s burdens has been so inspiring. So many of you who took our survey last summer were looking for connection with other women and we hope that you have found that here.


Stay tuned for so much more to come in 2023: new groups and studies; a NAME and logo for the ministry; times to gather for fun; and opportunities to serve our church and the community.

Catherine, Annie, Karen, Beverly, Mindy, Wendy, Sharyl, and Kris
Apps for Meditation, Devotions, Bible Reading Plans
By Catherine Hatcher


Life is busy – crazy, nutty busy with endless demands on our time and attention.  Finding time to read God’s Word and connect with Him is challenging at best and near impossible at the worst.  And while technology can be a time-suck and distraction, it can also be a great asset in our pursuit of a deeper faith.  
With a new year on the way, do you want to start studying the Bible but have no idea how to do it?  Here are a few of my favorite and most used apps to help.  You can find all of these in the App Store (Apple IOS) or Google Play (Android).
YouVersion/The Bible App – this is probably the first Bible app I ever used. The app has 2,847 Versions/Translations of the Bible in 1,884 languages.  The app also has a ton of reading plans from Bible in Year to verse by verse plans for individual books and topical plans for marriage, parenting, regret, etc.  There is also a Verse of the Day that can be emailed to you each morning and in the app, there is a devotion and prayer that goes along with the verse.  Bonus – it’s FREE and you can choose to have the Bible read to you while you’re getting ready in the morning, making dinner or driving.  
https://www.youversion.com/
Lectio 365 – this is a newer one for me and I really like it. Each week has a theme and there is a morning and evening/night devotion for each day.  You can choose to read the devotion or have it read to you.  I like to listen to the evening devotion as a way to wind down before bed.  You can download the devotions you want to listen to again.  And this one is also FREE.
https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/
She Reads Truth – the mission of SRT is Women in God’s Word every day.  I’ve been using this app for my morning study time for the last 9 months and I love it.  There are reading plans for seasons (Lent/Advent), studies of individual books of the Bible (I especially enjoyed the study on 1 & 2 Timothy), topical studies (Trusting God, Cultivating Community, Fruit of the Spirit).  I started in April 2022 with This is the Old Testament, an overview of each book of the Old Testament.  I loved the study because it clearly showed the overarching narrative of Scripture and the fulfillment of prophecy from the Old Testament through the New Testament.  The app is FREE and includes some of the plans. For access to all the plans, there is a fee of $2.99/month.  
**You can also order study books (the books are beautiful – I always buy the Advent book) or sign up for their Subscription Box plan.  
https://shereadstruth.com/
Glorify – Connect with God, Every Day is the motto for this app.  There’s a weekly theme and for each day there is Daily Passage, Devotional, Reflection and Prayer. The free version allows you to read the content – the Glorify Plus plan includes additional content and the option of listening to the passage, devotional, etc.  The annual fee is $47.99.
https://glorify-app.com/
First 5 from Proverbs 31 – Spend your First 5 Minutes with God.  I love this app!  Lysa TerKeurst sums it up well – “We must share whispers with God before shouts with the world”.  There is NO better way to start your day than with this content.  The app and 5-minute studies are FREE – if you want to go deeper, you can order study guides.  
https://first5.org/
Pause – from author John Eldredge.  This is a great app to use at any point in the day.  There are 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute and 10 minute “Pauses”/Guided Meditations.  The app “invites you into the simple practice of releasing everything to God, restoring your union with God and inviting Him to fill you.”  I use the 5 minute Pause most mornings to settle my mind before starting my study time.  The 10 minute Pause + Guidance is especially helpful if you’re wrestling with a difficult issue.  The app and its content are FREE.
https://www.pauseapp.com/