Reader,

To be honest, I have a hard time saying the word "preaching" out loud when it comes to me. I grew up where women weren't allowed to. Even now, at nearly fifty-five years old, "I preached on Sunday" feels like I'm saying something that isn't mine to use.

Maybe it's because I feel the title of "preacher" doesn't fit. If I'm preaching, does that make me a preacher? What if I'm teaching, but not technically a teacher? I do have a theology degree; does that make me a theologian?

I find myself wondering if we (or is it just me?) get hung up on nouns when they were originally verbs.

Looking at how the Bible uses the word "preach," it's less about a pulpit and more about being a herald, someone publicly announcing a message like a royal messenger. The Greek roots, kērussō and euangelizomai, point to the act of carrying the Good News. And that's something any of us can do, in the way God wired you to communicate with the people in your sphere.

Rainier View Christian Church invited me back to be a Guest Communicator (Communicator feels just right), as part of a series on Galatians. My portion of Scripture for teaching was where Paul takes the Genesis story of Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael and uses it as an allegory. Reading it in print on the pages of a Bible… it's a bit of a doozy.

I was downright excited to be researching this challenging passage with women in it. While I'd researched and taught on Hagar and Sarah before, I hadn't looked at Paul this closely in a long time, so I pulled out my seminary textbooks and found all things for free from N.T. Wright and also bought his book, The Challenge of Acts (yes, Acts is incredibly informative for Galatians).

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After teaching, preaching, communicating, whatever we're calling it, I went looking for those earlier sessions I mentioned, on Sarah and Hagar, and pulled them out of the archives.

I was amazed how much I'd forgotten about the details of their lives. I spent some time editing them to make them available to you too, on YouTube (a first for me). They look very DIY, because they very much are DIY.

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If you prefer audio, they're also on Spotify.

First Ladies: All The Women... Aug 4 · Illuminate 38:08   ​

First Ladies. All the Women... Aug 5 · Illuminate 51:48   ​

If you only take one thing from all three, let it be this: God was faithful to both of these women.

"The LORD opened Hagar's eyes, and she saw a well of water" (Genesis 21:19), a well that, like God himself, had been there all along.

And in the Sarah session from First Ladies, I said I'd consider renaming the Abrahamic Covenant the Sarah'ic Covenant (I do like making up words). Controversial, maybe, but if you listen, you'll understand why.

When you look back at your life, what ways do you see God's faithfulness to you?

What I didn't expect was the gift of timing on this sermon. In the same week, I was interviewed for an Enneagram + Marriage podcast. It was released this week, and the host, Christa Hardin, included a link to the Rainier View sermon in her show notes. A huge surprise, and a genuine honor. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be with her. Thanks for spreading the Good News, Christa.

​https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/enneagram-and-marriage/id1493137938?i=1000779998825

PS Just a reminder of the Saturday, August 22nd session on Miryam, a block of time for yourself to reflect on the first half of your life, and a way to consider looking forward to the latter half. Yes, I know it's still summer, but have you tried to find "a good time" for everyone lately? There is no good time. Ever. Next event, in October, will be announced shortly.