Purchase Tickets Here: Lydia + Pearl Market

We are excited to announce our 4th annual “Lydia + Pearl Market”!We have been so encouraged by the amount of people who have shown interest in this event or asked about being a vendor. We’d love to share a little of the backstory about this market and she got her name.

The Story of The Name: Lydia + Pearl

Lydia
Lydia is mentioned in Acts 16:14, “ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

She was a wealthy businesswoman, who sold her goods and used her wealth to serve others. She was the first European convert of the apostle Paul’s in the city of Philippi. It is suggested by some scholars that Lydia’s wealth perhaps was what funded the church of Philippi. One modern day preacher suggests, “Lydia bankrolled the Philippian church”. The example of Lydia’s skill as a businesswoman and devotion to God through her faith and generosity is why we named the market after her. We desire to promote women who sell their goods that they make with their own hands, for a greater good.

Pearl
In Matthew 13:45-46, the pearl of greatest value is described as the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)

The greatest good, our greatest treasures and investments should be eternal. While we want to promote local businesswomen selling their goods, we also wanted this market to add Kingdom value to the items you are purchasing.

Women selling their goods (Lydia), for good (Pearl).

We desire to see this market have a missional component that blesses our city and advances the Kingdom. Each year, we charge and entrance fee and a vendor fee that goes directly to a non profit that works in our city for the good of others. The past three years we have partnered with City Without Orphans. You can read more about the organization here: City Without Orphans

CWO is a local agency that helps bridge the gap between the needs of foster and orphaned children with the calling and resources of local churches through advocacy, education, support and events.

This market will be more than Christmas shopping, it will be supporting an agency that cares for the most vulnerable in our city, as well as supporting local artisans and small business owners.

Shop local.  Shop with a purpose.  Shop to give back.

Vendors
Since our vision for this market is to promote women vendors, some of our values are to accept vendors that:

Create their own products with their own hands
Sell ethically made products
Support small businesses

*There have been a few exceptions this year to the above requirements, but beyond the few that have been approved, we have limited our number of direct sales vendors. We desire this market to promote women who create and make their own goods.

There is a $5 entrance fee that will be donated to City Without Orphans. You can buy your ticket online here: Lydia + Pearl Tickets

For a full list of vendors and sneak peeks at their products, follow us on Instagram @lydiaandpearlmarket and be sure to find our event on Facebook and RSVP!

If you are interested in being a vendor and you meet the above requirements, you can start the process by filling out an application here: Vendor Application

If you’d like to see what we’ve done in years past, checkout the hashtag: #lydiaandpearlmarket

For further questions, please email lydiaandpearl@gmail.com

The Red Sea: When God gives His people more than they can handle he does it to display His power and glory. This week we’ll learn how God leads with His presence, displays His power through deliverance, and stirs hearts to worship.

Watch this week’s teaching video here:

Passover: the Blood of the Lamb that was slain serves as a reminder of the LORD’s mercy to passover the sins of Israel and display God’s power and judgment on the nation of Israel.

¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. (Exodus 11:12-14)

Watch this week’s teaching video here:

 ¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did it; as the Lord commanded them, thus they did.⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:1-7)

Watch this week’s teaching video on the plagues and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart below:

When life gets harder, not better, we can trust God is still working to redeem His people. We’ll see Pharaoh’s Declaration of defiance, the oppression and hardship of the people, how life gets bitter not better after obedience, and God’s reminder of redemption.

 

Through Moses doubt, insecurity, fear, faithfulness and hidden disobedience God is still faithful to fulfill his covenant promises and redeem His people. This week we’ll see Moses shrink back after failure and try to resist the call on his life to be the deliverer for the nation of Israel.

This week we see Moses, the powerful leader and promised deliverer of Israel, step out into his calling.  Right gifts, clear call, yet it was the wrong time and wrong motives. Someone ends up dead and he ends up an outlaw, fleeing for his life. He steps out to fulfill his calling in his own strength and it is disastrous.

We see God respond by stepping in and hearing the cries of the people.  He calls Moses, but not in Moses’ own strength and power, this time God calls Moses and goes WITH.

Moses asks the question, “God who am I . . . ?” and God responds with:

I AM that I AM.

And I will be WITH you.

Read this week’s passage here: Exodus 2:11-3:22

Watch the LORD unfold his plan of redemption through this section of Scripture below:

During a dark time in Israel’s history when they could not make sense of life God was still moving and redeeming.  This week will see the beginning of God’s faithfulness to fulfill his covenant promises and redeem His people.  Watch the video below to see the story of God and His people unfold through:

The oppression of a nation

The unlikely plan of rescue

The deliverance of a deliverer

Read this week’s passage here: Exodus 1:1-2:10

The book of Exodus is all about God’s power.  It’s a book about redemption and God’s faithfulness to fulfill His covenant promises and redeem His people.

It’s a perfect book for me to study and teach as I have wrestled in a season of doubt, discouragement, and disillusionment.  I thought this was over.  I thought I was done.  Until the LORD whispered to me, “Daughter, if you are struggling with unbelief, with doubt, with disillusionment, you don’t quit, you come closer. If you don’t know my power, come here to me and I’ll show you.”

That’s just what He’s been doing the past few weeks.

Watch the Intro Message here: Exodus Intro Message

Watching so many around me run toward or slowly drift, confess or get caught was starting to scare me. None of this was my own relationship with Christ, but it started to affect my relationship with Christ. I give my life to helping others find joy and fulfillment and satisfaction in Jesus, He is the way, the truth, the life. And so when I watched so many around me pursue a different path, when I watched my own professor who taught me so much live a life of hypocrisy, it filled me with doubt and I started to ask:

Is this all real?

Is this all true?

Is this all worth it?

I didn’t realize until I was reading my 10month old a bible story that what I was doubting was: GOD’S POWER. Somewhere along the way, watching believers choose to go their own way, choose sin, live in hypocrisy, led me to a faith crisis.

Does God really have the power to break chains? To set people free? To satisfy? To redeem? To deliver? To renew? To change? To raise the dead?

Is his power real? Is it true?

And I stopped believing it. I stopped believing in God’s power and I started down a path of disillusionment. I started to see myself take subtle steps toward believing, “If this is not true, than what am I doing? Why am I pouring my life out, getting up in the wee hours of the morning to study, meeting with women, leaving my cute baby? I could be watching Netflix, shopping, drinking wine, moving to Italy, living for me and mine. And I started to struggle with wanting to compromise myself, pursuing the false gods of comfort and selfishness.

And I realized, I have to quit. I can’t teach and lead a bible study about God if I don’t believe His power. If I don’t believe this is all real and God can really change people, then I can’t stand up here.

Listen to the rest of the message below.

 

 

Years ago, while I was in seminary I had to find a woman that had my dream job, a woman that was doing what I hoped to be doing once I finished my degree, and ask to shadow her for a semester. I had a desire to write and teach bible studies as well as lead and shepherd other women through a scripture based ministry that crossed generational lines. I needed to find a woman in my church that was leading, teaching, and writing bible studies and I couldn’t find one. Not one.

There was not one woman in my church doing what I believed God has made me to do.

I never want that to happen again as long as I live. I want my generation and the generation behind to be able to find lots of women living out their calling and serving the LORD in these ways. I want the women behind me to see women using their gifts, dreaming, serving, advancing the Kingdom, and spreading the Gospel!

That is why I have created an internship for anyone wanting to be equipped in ministry. This internship is a 2 semester commitment and will be 5-10 hours a week September-November 2018 and January-April 2019. The time will be made up of weekly attendance in women’s bible study both semesters as a leader or coleader, cohort meetings twice a month, reading assignments, podcasts, personal reflections, and meeting with other women in leadership or discipleship relationships. We will meet once in August to get to know each other and go over the expectations and syllabus for the year.

The goal of this internship is to spend the first semester focused on your own spiritual formation and growth, while the second semester will help equip you in specific areas of women’s ministry.

If you are interested in applying for this internship, you can fill out the application here by August 15^th.

To apply click here: Women’s Ministry Internship

The tentative dates and topics are listed below:

If you have any other questions or want more information, you can email me melissa@thewellcommunity.org.

I look forward to growing in Christ with you this year!

-Melissa