About the "Psalms of Ascents" take-home bible study~by Rebekah L.

Have you ever read the words "A Song/Psalm of Ascents" and wondered what it meant?  Before our Women's retreat where Terri taught on the annual feasts and before studying the take home Bible study written by Kathryn R., I did not realize the significance of these psalms in the lives of the Israelite people. The Israelites would quote Psalms 120-134 as they traveled toward Jerusalem for the annual feasts.

These Psalms touch our lives at the various moments we go through.  We all experience times of disappointment, discouragement, hope, excitement and great joy.  Just as God was with Israel, He is also with us~leading us toward Himself and His eternal kingdom.  God has taken Kathryn through great difficulties, but by God's grace she is walking in joy as she continues this pilgrim journey.  We're all in need of encouragement and that's what I have found in studying the Psalms of Ascents!  I want to encourage you to pick up a copy if you don't already have one, and if you have one, but haven't been able to to begin the study, I pray that the Lord would help us all to make the time.

Kathryn's final paragraph of her introduction says,
"As we read through the Psalms of Ascents these coming weeks, imagine yourself being a pilgrim quoting these words as you travel on that dusty path. And, remember that you are, in truthful fact, a pilgrim traveling toward the New Jerusalem, the celestial city, where you will be forever in the joy and majesty of God's presence."

May the Lord bless us all richly as we study His Word together!
~Rebekah L.

Synopsis for the Women's Retreat of June 2013~by Terri L.

While living in Europe I became intrigued, perhaps obsessed is a better word, with the history of pilgrimage and its offspring, tourism.  Whereas in the United States you might stumble upon a few religious sites, Europe has thousands.  Even our town, Jezus Eik, right outside of Brussels, boasted one; well, at least it was boasted about in the Middle Ages.  Nowadays, like most pilgrimage sites, the area’s draw is not religious; people come as tourists to experience nature in the expansive woodland and dine in the bevy of fine restaurants nearby.  I thought about American Christians and our tendency to approach our faith journey as tourists rather than pilgrims. This led me to God’s Word to search out more what it means to be a pilgrim and to contrast that with the spiritual tourist.

Pilgrimage, the idea of a traveler who is moving and a destination that is fixed is a theme woven throughout scripture as well as specific books of the bible.  As Christians, we are the travelers; God is our destination. Final union with God in heaven is fixed, but what an incredible blessing and privilege that God sends his Holy Spirit to move along with us and move us along in our spiritual journey. Psalm 84:5-7 became the key verses of study.  “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  As the pass through the Valley of Baca (Valley of Weeping), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.” 

By the time we had returned to the States, I felt led to share this material with others in the form of a women’s retreat.  It was an “easier said than done” process getting what was in my head out onto paper.  Reliance on God was such a sweet experience as bits and pieces were given over time. Many times during the corporate worship service God would send a verse or thought or connection and I’d have to quickly write it down on my church bulletin so I could refocus on what the pastor was saying.  Over the years, I had built up quite a stack of bulletins!   Other times, after praying, He would send just the resource I needed.  In addition to contrasting the pilgrim and tourist, certain Old Testament feasts that required pilgrimage were important to explore because that’s what Psalm 84 refers to in the literal sense.  The Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134), songs sung as they went up to Jerusalem for the feasts were brought out in the study as well. The pilgrim heart always has the steady rhythm of worship. Jesus, as always, would prove to be the key to the study, being the fulfillment of all the OT feasts as well as the Perfect Pilgrim.

God decided to add a dramatic, life changing event during the course of preparing this study.  While at a Women’s Ministry planning meeting, I was giving a summary of the retreat topic.  I quoted the theme verses, Psalm 84:5-7, sat down, and collapsed to unconsciousness.  God’s timing is perfect!  He could have had this happen any other time of day, but He chose to do it right after I recited, “…till each appears before God in Zion.” While I was in a coma in the Neuro ICU for ten days, my family, friends, and the church would grapple with God as to whether I would “appear before Him” in heaven or come back to them on earth.  I had suffered a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, the most devastating form of bleeding stroke due to a brain aneurysm rupture.  It is the rarest type of stroke, but because of its sudden onset and severity, it has the highest incidence of death. 

While unconscious, my mind was still working in darkness.  Although I did not see or hear God with my senses, I knew He was there. Scripture was in my mind and I talked to God; I repeated parts of the theme verses from Psalm 84.  Although I did not see or hear people with my senses, I knew they were there.  I knew I was in the hospital and that I teetered between life and death.  On the tenth day, God saw fit to allow me to awaken and take in greater details of His purpose, provision and care. I already knew God would be my Guide, even till the end (Psalm 48:14) but the experience of being taken to the edge of “the end” and then brought back was at once terrifying and amazing.  It’s added strength in the “strength to strength” and weakened my ties to this world.  This became my “Valley of Weeping” from Psalm 84:6 and God would go on to help me make it a place of springs.

My prayer regarding the retreat has always been for God to be honored and exalted.  Instead of describing dos and don'ts or unveiling a new spiritual shortcut, I sought to magnify Christ.  I thought if I could do that, God would produce lasting fruit in the hearers' lives.  I also prayed that women’s hearts would be transformed and their minds renewed by the Holy Spirit, that they would grow in their love of God and others, and have a greater sense of priority for eternal things in the midst of their busy, temporal lives.  In short, I pray for the women and myself to have pilgrim hearts in a tourist world.
~by Terri L.

Welcome, dear sisters!

We are the women of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in McKinney, Texas.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. 
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. 
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen 

We are so thankful the Lord has plucked us from lives of sin, brought us to Himself and placed us in a church together.  This blog is where we will write about how the Lord is corporately knitting us together in love, growing our faith in his Son and and lovingly showing Himself to be our Good Shepherd.