{"id":1852,"date":"2015-04-15T02:19:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T02:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/?p=1852"},"modified":"2015-04-15T02:19:26","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T02:19:26","slug":"entering-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2015\/04\/15\/entering-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Entering In"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Catherine Gilliard is co-senior pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary and is a DMin candidate of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS) with an expected graduation date of May 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The forty day period between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus is often<br \/>\noverlooked. On the church calendar it is called the season of Easter. Many of us<br \/>\ncelebrate Easter on one day of the calendar, but it is a season of joyful testimony for<br \/>\nGod\u2019s people. For forty days we proclaim that we too are witnesses to the risen Lord.<br \/>\nWe have discovered in each of our ministries the evil that happens between Hosanna<br \/>\nand Hallelujah and on during this season of Easter we share the testimony because we<br \/>\nare those witnesses that proclaim, \u201cJesus Is Alive!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Life in the 21st century has become complex. Each day we awaken to the mourning\u00a0unfolding in community after community when we learn that another woman loses a\u00a0son, another wife a husband, another child a father, another sister a brother, we have a\u00a0powerful testimony to share. We pastor churches that are often reluctant to speak about the tension present in the daily realities for many who sit in our pews. What can we\u00a0share with those who are waiting to hear how the gospel really matters in their day to\u00a0day existence?<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2015\/04\/grieving.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[1852]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1856\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2015\/04\/grieving.jpg\" alt=\"grieving\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/a>Our nation is in a state of mourning and women are carriers and bearers of the good news that Jesus Is Alive! Who can speak to the profound tragedy of losing a son, more\u00a0than the mother who carried and bore him? Who can speak to the emotional pain of losing a husband, more than a wife who shared life with him? Who can speak of the profound impact of living life without a father, more than a daughter? Who can speak about the loss of companionship in loosing a brother, more than a sister? Women are in\u00a0pain as the evil destruction of relationships is sweeping our nation. We mourn with those who are mourning and we weep with those who weep. We sit with one another in the pain of grieve and loss knowing that we are called to be witnesses that demonstrate the complexities of loving your enemy and forgiving those who persecute you.<\/p>\n<p>Women clergy are prayerfully and painfully aware of the dark days in which we live<br \/>\nand we are equipping the church to speak in profound ways to the tragedy of living in<br \/>\nthese evil days. Women leaders in the church are teaching others how to live with hope<br \/>\nas they experience evil\u2019s destructive power to tear apart families and communities.<br \/>\nWomen in the church are called to minister to those experiencing days filled with<br \/>\ndespair, anxiety and fear. Whether women are clergy or lay, we are called to equip,<br \/>\nteach and minister with an understanding that we have all been commissioned to carry<br \/>\na message of deliverance and hope.<\/p>\n<p>Women shift the conversation and bring a different perspective to how people,<br \/>\nfamilies and communities draw hope from the resurrection story. We share not only how<br \/>\nGod, our Father watches as His only Son is beaten and killed as a criminal but we also<br \/>\nshare about Mary as she watched her Son being targeted, beaten and found guilty of a<br \/>\ncrime He did not commit. Mothers across this nation know the agony of Mary who<br \/>\nwatched her Son be killed by those in authority. Yet, this is the power of the season of<br \/>\nEaster, our story does not end in death!<\/p>\n<p>The power of the resurrection story reminds us to share how Jesus is coming back,<br \/>\njust as He did on Easter morning and that we too have victory over the grave because<br \/>\nof our saving relationship in Jesus. Women of God weep with others who are weeping,<br \/>\nbut we don\u2019t weep as those without hope. We mourn with those who are mourning but<br \/>\nwe mourn as those with hope. We have been given power to proclaim this radical &#8211;<br \/>\nJesus Is Alive! Jesus is Here! Jesus is coming! We have a voice of witness in these<br \/>\ndays of tension. God\u2019s kingdom is unfolding in the midst of chaos. Let\u2019s speak more<br \/>\nboldly, live more confidently and go with assurance where people are hurting knowing<br \/>\nthat Jesus not only sends us but goes with us. Let\u2019s enter in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=1852&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catherine Gilliard is co-senior pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary and is a DMin candidate of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS) with an expected graduation date of May 2015. The forty day period between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testimoies-and-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Entering In - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2015\/04\/15\/entering-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Entering In - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catherine Gilliard is co-senior pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary and is a DMin candidate of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS) with an expected graduation date of May 2015. 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