International Women’s Day of Prayer

March 1, 2025

SERMON
Reach Out
Written by Charissa Torossian

WORKSHOP
 Discovering the Joy of Being His
Daughter
Written by Charissa Torossian

This sermon resource packet was prepared by the

Department of Women’s Ministries
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
12501 Old Columbia Pike  Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6600  USA
women.adventist.org
womensministries@gc.adventist.org

GENERAL CONFERENCE
WORLD HEADQUARTERS

WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

January 9, 2025

Dear Sisters,

Warm greetings from the General Conference Women’s Ministries Department!

The International Women’s Day of Prayer is approaching, and we are so blessed by
the material written for us by Charissa Torossian.

Being a pastor’s wife and a mother, Charissa is also a powerful preacher and likes to
dig deeper into biblical text. Her sermon is about a woman who reached out to Jesus
in faith. We all need to reach out to Jesus. We all have our own unspoken prayer
requests or problems, challenges, and sicknesses. Will this story tell us something
we need in our lives today?

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The workshop is about how to discover the joy of being God’s daughter. Do you
enjoy being a woman? Does it mean a lot to you? What does God expect from us?
Are His expectations too high? Can you identify with the woman from Proverbs 31?

May God bless the Internation Women’s Day of Prayer in your locations! May His
Spirit unite us all and show us new ways to reach out to God and people around us.
May this day be brightened by Jesus’ love and hope that with Him the best is yet to
come!

With love,

Galina Stele, D.Min.,

Women’s Ministries Director

12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring MD 20904-6600 USA • Office (301) 680 6608 • women.adventist.org

Table of Contents
Table of Contents..........................................................................................................3
Program Notes................................................................................................................3
About the Author...........................................................................................................4
Scripture References...................................................................................................4
Outline of Divine Service...........................................................................................5
Children’s Story.............................................................................................................6
Sermon...............................................................................................................................8
Workshop........................................................................................................................16

Program Notes
Please feel free to translate, adjust, and edit the resource packet according to your
division’s needs, including the best Bible version for your use. Also, you are free to

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adapt the packet according to your cultural audience. When your division has
translated the packet, please send us the digital files. We will share French,
Portuguese, and Spanish with you when we receive it. Other languages will be
uploaded directly on our website.
https://women.adventist.org/women-s-ministries-emphasis-day

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About the Author
Charissa Torossian

Charissa began preaching at 16 years of age in Sydney, Australia. After finishing

High School, she studied to be a High School teacher of English and History but love
for ministry took her to Avondale College where she completed her graduate studies
in Theology and worked for Adventist Media in their Discovery Bible School. She
married Justin in January 2019, and together they have a 2-year-old son, Judah.
They are now based in Newcastle, Australia, where they serve in the North New
South Wales Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Charissa is
passionate about presenting on the Bible and its relevance in our time. She has
spoken to audiences around the world and is currently serving as the Prayer
Ministry Coordinator for the North New South Wales Conference in Australia. She
and her husband Justin love serving in ministry and seeing people join God’s end-
time church!

Scripture References
All scripture verses used by the author in this packet are quoted from NKJV, unless
otherwise noted.

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION (NKJV):
Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION®. Copyright© 1982 by Thomas
Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV):
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®.
Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM. Used by permission of
Zondervan.

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Outline of Divine Service

Suggested Order of Service

Call to Worship

Opening Prayer

Scripture Reading Mark 5:32-34,

NKJV

And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing
and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him
and told
Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.

Hymn: #326 Seventh-day Adventist

Hymnal
“Open My Eyes That I May See”

Pastoral Prayer

Children’s Offering and Story

“Wonderfully Made Giraffes”

Call for the Offering

Special Music or Hymn

Sermon

Hymn: #526 Seventh-day Adventist

Hymnal
“Because He Lives”

Closing Prayer

-end-

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Children’s Story

Wonderfully Made Giraffes

Written by Charissa Torossian

Proposal: Pictures of giraffes would be helpful for this story.

Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you were a giraffe? Probably
not.  How many of you have seen a giraffe in the zoo or in the wild? Giraffes are
beautiful and amazing creatures made by our amazing God. Let’s learn some
amazing facts about giraffes.

On average, giraffes only sleep for about 2 hours a day. That’s not much is it? Since
giraffes give birth standing up, when a newborn calf is born, they fall more than 5
feet or 1.5 meters (demonstrate with your arms) to the ground! How about that for
a start in life.  But guess what? Within the first 15 minutes after that baby calf is
born, it struggles up and stands up on its long, gangly legs to its birth height of 6
feet or 1.8 meters. That’s a tall baby isn’t it!

Giraffes can move fast. When running away from dangerous predators like lions, a
giraffe can gallop for a short time at speeds up to almost 40 miles per hour or 70
km/hr. That is faster than most of us drive to church! Sadly, many newborn calves
do not survive their first year, but the ones that do survive can live up to 20 years in
the wild. Adult giraffes usually try to avoid predators by using their high vantage
point, swift gallop, and powerful kick, which can kill a lion. It is that strong. God
made giraffes to have a brown and cream pattern on their bodies that helps to
camouflage them from predators, meaning they can hide more easily and not be
seen. And guess what! Even though the patterns on the hide of a giraffe might look
identical to us, each giraffe has its own unique markings. How amazing is that? Did
you know that no one else in the whole world has the same fingerprint as you?
That’s how special you are! God made you that way, and He made the giraffes
special too. 

He made the giraffe to have a beautiful long neck, which is so it can find food for
itself among the leaves of the trees by using its 20-inch/50cm tongues to pluck off
the leaves. The giraffe also uses its long neck to communicate. It shows submission
by stretching its neck straight and tall with nose pointed up, and it shows
aggression by swooping down its neck to the ground. Male giraffes even use their
long necks to fight for dominance. It’s like they do an arm wrestle, but with their
necks.

What sound does a giraffe make? Giraffes are mostly silent creatures besides a few
grunts, but scientists have picked up low-frequency sounds, called infrasound
waves, which they now think giraffes may use to communicate over long distances.
That is incredible.

Giraffes are the tallest animal on land. Their lungs are 8 times larger than ours so
that sufficient oxygen can be sent all the way up their long necks to their brains.

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God made them so special that they can raise their necks up and bring them down
quickly without fainting or getting dizzy.  Giraffes are truly amazing creatures,
made by our amazing God. You and I may not be 5m/18feet tall like giraffes…but
just as they can reach up high for food that gives them life, you and I can reach up
to God in faith, because God gives us spiritual life! In our message today, we are
going to learn about a woman who reached out to Jesus, and it changed her life
forever. The next time you see a giraffe, remember that God made them special,
and He has made you extra special and He loves you so much. Would someone like
to close with prayer?

(Invite a child to pray.)

-end of story-

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Sermon
Reach Out
Written by Charissa Torossian

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side of the lake, a
great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the
rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His
feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of
death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”
So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.
Mark 5:21-24

All verses in the sermon are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted .

INTRODUCTION

Anyone who has had a parent, been a parent, or watched a parent knows that when
a child is sick it breaks the parent’s heart. If your baby gets sick, you get help as
soon as possible!

One day a man named Jairus, which in Hebrew means “God enlightens,” pressed
through a massive crowd to find Jesus. Everyone in Capernaum must have known
who he was—at least everyone who attended the synagogue. They knew him and
they knew her, his daughter. Jairus came to Jesus because all other medical help
had failed him and at that very moment, his precious little girl was dying.
Nevertheless, he believed that if Jesus could come and touch her, she would live.
However, time was running out for her; he needed a quick answer. Anxiously, he
begged Jesus to hurry with him to his home and lay His healing hands on her.

Like Jairus, if we want to receive answers to our prayers:

We, too, must put ourselves in the presence of Jesus.
We, too, must humble ourselves sincerely before Jesus.
We must lay our request before Him earnestly and
have complete confidence in the power and goodness of God.
However, the crowd was not there for the same reasons as Jairus. They just had an
appetite to see a miracle, and they were eager for the best view.

The Greek word for “thronged” is used only once by Mark in this story, and it implies
that the crowd was pressing in about Jesus on all sides with suffocating pressure.
In Luke 8:42, Luke used a different word which literally means “to strangle
completely”—even to drown or choke! If you have been in a hurry to get
somewhere in thick traffic, you know just a little of how Jairus’ must have been
feeling. What happens next would shake his faith to the core…

HER CRISIS

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Mark 5:25-26: “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and
had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and
was no better, but rather grew worse.”

A certain woman is singled out from this crowd. We do not know her name, but we
know her crisis. While Jairus had been enjoying 12 years of joy LIVING with his
daughter, she, most likely unmarried and childless, had endured 12 years of DYING
with a hemorrhage. That is a long time. Think of all the things you have
accomplished in the last 12 years!

This lingering, chronic illness had led to a loss of vitality and continual social
embarrassment for her. She felt her life ebbing away every day. The doctors of
the day had done nothing for her except leave her penniless; Mark said she had
suffered from them! Worse still, according to the religious teachers of the law, she
was perpetually "unclean,” subjected to “Levitical prohibitions,” meaning she was
unable to touch or be touched by anyone! Think about it: what she sat on was
unclean; what she slept on was unclean. For everyone, but especially for women,
relationships with family and friends are the stuff of life! For 12 slow years, she had
lived in appalling loneliness—like a leper—cut off from a community who did not
want to touch her. She knew that if she did not find a cure, it would be the end for
her!

Her ceremonial defilement pictures perfectly how sin defiles us too. Sin separates
us from God, and from each other. Our sin is just as embarrassing and costly as her
predicament was to her. Just as her disease was slowly killing her, so, too, does sin
sap us of our life forces, leading us to certain death. We try to treat it by seeing all
kinds of “doctors”: “Doctor Pleasure,” “Doctor Entertainment,” “Doctor Career,” but
just as her situation was hopeless, sin is likewise a hopeless problem apart from the
Great Physician; there is no human cure for sin.

HER CONTACT WITH CHRIST

Mark 5:27-28: “When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd
and touched His garment. For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be
made well’.”

Someone had told her about Jesus because somehow, she knew: ALL who came to
Him were healed. ALL whom He touched were made whole. ALL who reached out
to Him had their lives changed radically. Since she had exhausted every other
option, she thought to herself, “Jesus is worth a try!”

But she did not think that someone like her could ask Jesus for help. But she
supposes that maybe if she could just reach out and touch the hem of His
garment, she could experience some of His miraculous, healing power in her life.

The Bible says she came behind Him in the crowd. No doubt, she could barely see
His form among the masses of that multitude. Yet still she pushes her way through
the crowd, edging closer and still closer to Jesus’ side. The closer she came, the
stronger and stronger her faith grew. Soon the Great Physician she had only ever
heard about, only ever dreamed about, was but a few steps away! All around her,

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the current of the crowd pushed her back. But she was determined. It was now or
never. She had nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

She was looking for God’s touch in her life, and so in one DARING act, she took a
leap of faith, and lunged forward, reaching between the legs of the multitude,
managing to just barely touch the hem of His garment. In that moment was
concentrated the faith of her life.

Her actions speak volumes to people like you and me. She was not putting her hand
out for a handout. She was not following Jesus as a spectator there for the show.
She had one priority—she had to REACH Jesus. She was not in the crowd for
the atmosphere, or to watch the action, or to draw any attention to herself. They
were the last things on her mind! She had not just bumped into Him. She was there
because she had a need, and right then, all she needed was Jesus. That is why she
touched Him. She had put her heart into reaching Jesus, and God saw her heart, just
as He sees ours today.

HIS MIRACULOUS CURE

Mark 5:29-30: “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in
her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in
Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said,
‘Who touched My clothes?’”

When Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?” only one person in that crowd knew who it
was, and she must have frozen. She was immediately healed, and Jesus
immediately knew! Now I am not a doctor. My Handy Guide to Modern Science is
simple. If it is green or wiggles, its biology. If it smells, it is chemistry. And if it does
not work, it is physics.  But there is no medicine in this story. Something
SUPERNATURAL transpired that day; it was a miracle. And she did not even have
to pay for it. 

Christ’s power was greater than her issue. According to the thinking of the
day, by her touch Jesus should have been made unclean, but instead, this
touch made her whole. Nothing is impossible with God! As Spurgeon put it, “a
piece of fringe and a finger sufficed to form a contact between a believing sufferer
and an Almighty Saviour. Along that line faith sent its message, and love returned
the answer.”

I am sure she wanted to thank Jesus, but there was no way she was going to
interrupt Him on His important mission to touch a dying girl. So quietly, she tried to
slip back into that crowd, but Jesus suddenly stopped. Her faith had arrested His
attention; faith in Jesus always does.

HIS CONCERN AND CALL

Mark 5:31-33: “But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You,
and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ And He looked around to see her who had done

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this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened
to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.”

Luke’s gospel (Luke 8:45) says it was Peter who asked. It is no surprise; he was ever
the one who said what everyone else might have been thinking. He said, “Everyone
is touching You, Lord! We have hardly been able to get closer to Jairus’ house!”

However, Jesus was not asking this question for His own information. He knew
someone had reached out to Him in faith. Do not ask me how He knew, but He
knew. And she knew. The unclean, unwanted, untouchable woman knew. He wanted
His disciples, the crowd, this woman, and by extension, all of us, to learn an
important lesson. While she took the initiative to approach Him, a saving
relationship with Jesus does not come at OUR initiative. Romans 5:8: “But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us.” She needed to know that Jesus had reached out to her! He wanted everyone
to know He approved of her faith. To have let her go without doing so would have
left her with only half a blessing.

The Bible tells us she was trembling because people like her were not supposed to
be in this crowd. In my mind’s eye, in the power of that moment, I see her falling to
her knees with tears wondering, “What will Jesus say when He finds out that I am
the one who touched Him?” The crowd was taking notice, and they were making
judgments. "She is untouchable! Unclean! Does not He know who she is?" But
Jesus knew what He was doing. Jesus wanted to restore her in every way
possible.

She fell at Jesus’ feet and told her story. Everything. To everyone. Her condition, the
doctors, all her savings gone. She told how she had heard Jesus, watched Him, and
schemed to touch Him. She told of her total cure. Don’t you wish you could have
heard her testimony?
Shackled by a heavy burden
'Neath a load of guilt and shame
Then I touched the hem of Your garment
And now I am no longer the same!
Something happened, and now I know
You healed me, and made me whole.

In the same way Jesus called upon that woman to confess what God had done in her
and for her, God is calling all of us to be witnesses to His goodness and love and
grace to the world. The gospel of Jesus reorients not just our hearts + relationships.
It changes and shapes our posture to the society around us. Faith concealed
must become faith revealed. Faith must be confessed. Faith is always personal but
never private. The gift of salvation is not to be the best kept secret!

Isaiah 43:12b: “’You are My witnesses,’ Says the LORD, ‘that I am God.’”

A good witness is like a signpost. It just must point in the right direction to be
understood. We are witnesses to Christ; we point to Him, and when the church
service ends, that is when our service begins!

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“Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven’s chosen agency for revealing Christ to
the world.” (Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, 348) I like to think of it this way: I am a
nobody telling everybody about Somebody who will save anybody who will call on
Him. 

Psalm 107:2, 21: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed
from the hand of the enemy. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

HIS COMFORT

Mark 5:34: “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in
peace, and be healed of your affliction.’”

Jesus did not see an untouchable. He saw 12 years of anguish and pain. He saw
12 years of shame and rejection. He saw 12 years of bitterness. And He saw the
incredible risk she had taken to stand in the midst of the crowd. She needed more
than just physical healing. She had a broken heart and dark memories that had
lasted for 12 long years. Somebody needed to heal those, as well, and so He
did.

Jesus insisted on drawing the attention of the crowd to her story for several
important reasons: After 12 years, He wanted her to hear an official declaration that
she was healed. When Jesus told her to “Go,” that word was in the present
imperative tense in the Greek, which is like saying, “keep going in peace” or “go
into peace”—let this be your continual state. There is no peace like the peace
Jesus gives! He wanted others to know she was healed and no longer an outcast or
unclean. He wanted her to know WHY she was healed; it had nothing to do with
superstition and everything to do with her faith in Him. He did not want her to think
she had ‘stolen’ this blessing. He wanted to be more than her Healer; He
wanted to be her Saviour and Friend. He wanted to bless and comfort her in a
special way, calling her tenderly by a title that He did not give to anyone else. This
is the only time in the Bible Jesus called someone “daughter.” He wanted her to
know that she was accepted, and she belonged in His family! By the way,
whenever Jesus calls us, it is because He has something special for us. This physical
daughter of Abraham had become a spiritual daughter of God.

For 12 awful years, she had been a nobody, and now she was a somebody! He
literally put her in His family, stilled her fears, and secured her future with just one
sentence, and joy flooded her soul! She could hold her head high; she was fully
restored. She had not been orphaned by her Creator. She had a story to share! In
Jesus she had found a FOREVER FRIEND!

The Greek word Mark used here for “well” also meant “saved” (sozo). Jesus did not
just tell this woman, “Your faith has made you well.” He literally said to her, “Your
faith has saved you!” Her faith (not her finger) in Jesus’ power (not in His
garment) had made her whole. It was His personal response to her
personal faith in Him that cured her.

OUR CHALLENGE

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“We need to understand this lesson; for it has a deeper meaning than many realize.
It is possible to be in Christ’s presence, and even to press close to Him, and yet
receive no blessing, because we touch Him only with the casual touch of the
multitude. There are hundreds and thousands who think they have faith in Christ;
but they do not touch Him with the faith manifested by the suffering woman. ...The
time has come when it is for our eternal interest to believe in Christ.” 1

Have you ever been in that crowd? I confess, I have. Like the multitudes, I have
followed Jesus in the heat of the moment and pressed near to Him, yes, even
touching Him. How many times have those encounters changed my life? How many
times have I touched Jesus in the rush of religious activity but never really touched
Him?

The reality is that a casual faith will get you nowhere. It will leave you stranded!
Some people profess to have enough faith to take them to heaven when they do not
have enough to take them to church every week! It’s not enough just to be in
His presence! We can be close to His presence but far from His power. We can be
in the building and still far from Jesus. It’s just not enough to believe about
Jesus. You and I must believe IN Jesus.

As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we believe that God has a last-day message

that MUST REACH every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Because Jesus is
coming soon! The three angels’ messages are impressive and unique! However,
there is an associated danger with this message. The danger is that because the
message is so impressive, you and I could be impressed, but only be impressed like
that throng of long ago.

Eugene Peterson, with reference to the gospel story, noted: “As the spectacular
dimensions of this story slowly (or suddenly) dawn upon us, we could easily become
enthusiastic spectators, and then let it go at that—become admirers of Jesus,
generous with our oohs and ahs, and in our better moments inspired to imitate
Him.”

We have got to quit being like the crowd was that day. What made this woman’s
faith work was not that she was NEAR Jesus. The crowd was near Him and touching
Him, too. What made her faith work was that her faith made contact with Jesus.
It is the connection with Jesus that makes faith work. Even a wire is not “live” unless
it is connected!

When faith connects with Jesus—it does not matter who you are—God will answer
such faith anytime and anyplace, every time and every place! You may not have a
strong faith—but we have a strong Saviour, and He responds to even a
touch of the hem of His garment. 

Here’s where this miracle matters to us today…I want to be part of a church where
the people believe God! I want to be the kind of Christian that has a faith that
connects with God. When God comes to sum you up, when God rewards you, He
says, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” Not according to your fame, not
1
E. G. White, “The Touch of Faith,” The Signs of the Times, October 25, 1899, 2.

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according to your fortune, not according to your friends, not according to your
feelings, not according to your fate, but according to your faith be it unto you.

Oh, friends, do not you see? The time has come for you and me not just to seek to
see Jesus, not just to seek to be close to Him as the crowd did. The time has come
for US to reach out to Jesus by faith and let God work a miracle in our
lives! The good news is that the hem of His garment can still be touched by faith! 
Jesus is still changing lives! God can do great things for, in, and through YOU! Do
not be satisfied to "rub shoulders" with the Lord or follow Him at a distance! PRESS
through the crowd and reach out to Jesus! You will find He is reaching out to you.

We almost forgot someone! Poor Jairus had been waiting for Jesus to hurry on to
his dying daughter, when suddenly his servant arrived bearing tragic news. “Your
daughter is dead, Jairus! Do not trouble the Teacher any longer.” But at that
moment, as grief surged in Jairus’ heart, he looked into the loving face of Jesus.
Every life matters to Jesus. Does Jesus care? Oh yes, He cares! I know He cares!
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; only believe and she will be made well” (Luke 8:49,
50). Jairus heard Jesus say those words. I am sure he must have looked at the
woman who had just touched His garment, and with her testimony of Jesus’
faithfulness still fresh in his memory, he chose to believe and hold on to Jesus. It is
like Jesus called the woman to share her testimony for Jairus. Jesus rewarded Jairus’
faith and raised his daughter from the dead. Psalms 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that
the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

One stormy night, a boat could make no headway, and while the captain was
struggling to get into port, a nervous passenger said to him: "Do you think we will
get in all right?"
The captain replied: "This is a leaky old boat, and we may go down; and the boilers
are not in very good condition, so we may go up. But, whatever happens, we are
going on." And ladies and gentlemen, I believe that God IS going to bring this
church to port. I believe that what God has started ... He will finish.

It takes faith to believe that the best days are ahead of us, but they are. God is
ABOUT to do something GREAT for us! The latter rain is ABOUT to fall! However, if
we want to receive the blessings God has in store for us, we must reach out to Jesus
and claim them as our own. We have seen what that will do for a suffering woman;
imagine what it could do for us as a church family around the world.

APPEAL

William Barclay said, “It happened in the middle of the crowd; but the crowd was
forgotten, and Jesus spoke to that woman as if she was the only person in the
world.”

Do you need to touch Jesus today? The woman in the crowd had a faith which
DROVE her to Jesus, and He changed her completely. Oh, that we would have a faith
that would drive us to Jesus, too. You can reach out to Jesus right now and touch
Him by faith like she did, and one day, when we get to heaven, we will meet that
woman, learn her name, and we can share together what a difference Jesus has
made in our lives.

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If it is your desire to press through the crowd and reach out to Jesus, raise
your hand and reach out to Jesus with me right now as we close in prayer.

CLOSING PRAYER

-end of sermon-

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Workshop

Discovering the Joy of Being His Daughter

Written by Charissa Torossian

All verses in the workshop are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FACILITATOR OF THIS WORKSHOP

Before you begin, ask participants to form groups of three or more. It is best to sit
in a circle or around a table. Project the discussion questions and quotations onto a
screen where able.

INTRODUCTION

This afternoon we are going to discover the joy and satisfaction that comes from
belonging to Jesus and being a part of His family; we’re going to unpack what it
means to be a daughter of God. To do this, we must first explore the Bible’s answer
to a very fundamental question: What does it mean to be a godly woman? This is
such a crucial question for which we need to have a biblical answer. We are living
today in a world that no longer recognizes the binary genders of just male and
female, and where the definition of what it means to be a “woman” is in constant
flux. What a refreshing relief it is to have God’s Word as a solid foundation; His Word
stays the same.

Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands
forever.”

God’s Word stands forever. It doesn’t change with social trends or societal fads.
HOW does God define what it means to be a woman? What does this mean for your
life and mine? God is the best Person to ask, as women were His idea.

MEN AND WOMEN

Genesis 1:26-27: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them.”

Men and women are made by God, in the image of God, with the likeness of God,
and He made us to have dominion over the earth.

Does this mean we have deity? No, it means we have dignity.

1. Mentally, we have the ability to reason and choose.

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 2. Morally, God made us upright, with a conscience; a moral compass to
sense/discern right from wrong.
3. Socially, we were created for fellowship, to reflect the triune nature of God +
His love. Whenever we create something, or whenever we recoil from
something evil, or even whenever we make a friend, we are demonstrating
that we are made in God’s image! With His likeness.

God’s assessment of His creation was that it was good. And of course, having saved
His best for last, after He made woman, He said it was very good. 

I know it is obvious, but to be clear, God made men and women to be different.
Being a godly woman isn’t the same as being a godly man.  It is different. Who is
better? Who is superior? Women are infinitely superior to men at being women. Men
are infinitely superior to women at being men. When God brought Eve to Adam,
Adam liked her not only because she was like him, but also because she was NOT
like him. How are we different? Where do we start?

Generally, women are physically weaker than men; this is because God made Adam
with a stronger physical frame. Men naturally have more muscle mass than women.
They actually also have almost 50% more blood than women and men also have a
larger lung capacity than women! In fact, males have a higher oxygen demand in
their tissues than females because of their greater muscle mass, so the blood-
vessel diameter in males is larger than that of females. God is just amazing. We are
different on the cellular level! Why? God made men this way because He intended
for them to be protectors and providers. In the Garden of Eden, God put Adam in the
garden to tend and keep it.

On the other hand, Eve, whose name means “life-giver” or “source of life,” was
made to nurture and to love. Men did not decide they would not be the ones to have
children; God gifted women with that role. However, just because women are
physically weaker does not mean we are inferior. Silk is weaker than canvas—but
not inferior. God made us equal but different. We should celebrate this!

How else are we different? Women process information differently to men too. They
say that the left hemisphere of the brain deals primarily with logic, reasoning and
calculation, while the right hemisphere of the brain deals primarily with things like
feeling, emotion, sympathy, love and intuition. Surprise, surprise! Studies show that
men primarily use the left side of the brain, while women tend to use both sides of
the brain.  Men tend to be more logical and analytical in their thinking. Women
also think logically and analytically, but they also mix in emotion at the same time.
a. Women tend to be more detail-oriented.
b. Men report, women share.

Ephesians 5:33: “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife
as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

The deepest need of a woman is to be loved, while the deepest need of a man is to
be respected and admired. Neither is better; we are just wired differently, and God
made us this way. We should celebrate this difference. 

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A doctor once said, “If women felt genuinely respected in their roles as wives and
mothers, they would not feel the need to abandon them for something better. If
they felt equal with men in personal worth, they would not need to be equivalent to
men in responsibility. If they could only bask in the dignity and status granted them
by the Creator, then their femininity would be valued as their greatest asset, rather
than scorned as an old garment to be discarded. Without question, the future of a
nation depends on how it sees its women, and I hope we will teach our little girls to
be glad they were chosen by God for the special pleasures of womanhood.”

DISCUISSION QUESTION

 How do you think we can celebrate better and embrace the God-given
differences between men and women in our families and in our churches?
What do these differences teach us about our Creator?

GODLY WOMAN

We are complementary to each other by divine design. Women are intentionally

designed by God to be different from men. Thus, what characterizes the life of godly
women? A godly woman is a woman who identifies herself as belonging to God. Like
the woman in our message today, godly women know they are daughters of God.

In Proverbs 31, Solomon famously describes what a godly woman looks like. And his
target audience in this chapter is men: “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth
is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). In Jewish culture, men and children memorize
this chapter to sing as a song of appreciation to the women in their lives because
the God’s Word says godly women are priceless. Why?

1. A woman of God is priceless because of her CHARACTER.

Proverbs 31:11-12: “The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no
lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.”
In Proverbs 31, we see that a godly woman is someone her husband can trust. He is
blessed and affirmed by her presence in his life, and he reaches his full potential
because of her. Martin Luther King Jr. once said he dreamed of a day when his
children would live in a world where they would not be judged by the color of their
skin, but rather, by the content of their character.

Do you know what the most important quality of her character is? We see THE CORE
OF A GODLY WOMAN in Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Women, it is not about looks, charm, charisma, or sex appeal; what matters most is
your relationship with Jesus. This is the bedrock of Christian character.
Circumstances change, looks fade, but character endures. Godly women seek God
first.

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Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge
of the Holy One is understanding.”

To fear God is to know Him, to take Him seriously, and to walk with Him reverently.
There is no substitute for the power of a life given to Jesus.

We must reject the lie that anything or anyone can satisfy. Matthew 6:33 says, “But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.” Making time each day to rest in Jesus and in our identity in Christ is
so critical. Daughters of God, learn His righteous principles, so the Holy Spirit can
work in and through your lives.

Think about it. Before Ruth got married and became a mother, before she ever
became a wealthy and influential woman, Boaz said, “… All the people of my town
know that you are a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11b, NIV). Ruth is identified
as a virtuous woman because she lived her life with bravery, wisdom, and
strength. She bore the fruit of Christian character in her life. And this is really the
bottom line: godly women reflect the character of Jesus to others; they remind
people of Jesus by how they live life.

DISCUSSION QUESTION

 A call to “Fear God” is the very first part of God’s special Three Angels’
Messages which must go to the world before Jesus comes (Revelation 14:6,7;
Matthew 24:14). How can we, as women, fear God and give glory to Him in
our lives? Give examples from Scripture to support your responses.

2. Godly women are INDUSTRIOUS.

Proverbs 31:13-18: “She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it
is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her
maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a
vineyard. She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms. She perceives
that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.”

We must serve the Lord: Set your mind on eternal things, serve the eternal King,
and live to please only Him. In Bible prophecy, God’s church is pictured as a comely
and delicate woman. In many respects, Proverbs 31 is as much a commentary on
how God’s church should be in its service to God as it is a commentary on the God-
given role of women.

DISCUSSION QUESTION

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  List the ministry capabilities and opportunities unique to women or to which
women are especially equipped for. Discuss the ways in which these unique
gifts and qualities could be used to reach out to your local church community.

Consider the following quotation as you formulate your answers:

“The Lord has a work for women as well as for men. They may take their places in
His work at this crisis, and He will work through them. If they are imbued with a
sense of their duty, and labour under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they will have
just the self-possession required for this time. The Saviour will reflect upon these
self-sacrificing women the light of His countenance, and will give them a power that
exceeds that of men. They can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work
that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men
cannot reach. Their labour is needed.” 2

3. Godly women are COMPASSIONATE.

Proverbs 31:20: “She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands
to the needy.”

When God created woman, He gave her a compassionate heart.  As women who
have experienced the transforming power of the grace of God in our hearts, we
have the opportunity to reflect His compassion to the world in a unique way. As we
do, God’s Word encourages us to do the following:

 Speak faithfully: Love others with godly wisdom, boldness, and kindness as a
faithful completer of others.
Proverbs 31:26: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the
law of kindness.”
 Stay humble: Be constantly aware of pride and selfishness. Don’t think less of
yourself but think of yourself less.
Philippians 2:3: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but
in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

 In what ways unique to women, can daughters of God bring compassion to

 their homes?
 their churches?
 their communities?

 How important is compassion when it comes to fulfilling the Great

Commission in Matthew 28:19-20?

4. Godly women are CONFIDENT.

2
E. G. White, “The Words to Lay Members,” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, August
26, 1902, 7.

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Proverbs 31:21: “She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her
household is clothed with scarlet.”

Godly women can be confident because they know they’re daughters of the King of
kings. They know they belong to Him!

Remember, Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a

woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Daughters of God possess true beauty—beauty of character. Bodies deteriorate, but

persons develop. We choose what we invest in. Let us invest in that which lasts.

Did you know that 32% of teen girls say that when they feel bad about their
bodies, Instagram makes them feel worse? Instagram increases anxiety and
depression. Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and
6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram. Instagram
makes body image issues worse for 1 in 3 teen girls.

Too many times we are tricked into believing the lies society feeds us: you have to
wear less to be heard, to have value, or to be appreciated. We are living in a world
where 13-year-olds are getting lip injections! Friends, God does not see the way the
world sees! He sees so much more and so much better. He sees our hearts.

1 Peter 3:3, 4: “Do not let your adornment be outward—arranging the hair, wearing
gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with
the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the
sight of God.”

“A modest, godly woman will dress modestly. …The one who is simple and
unpretending in her dress and in her manners shows that she understands that a
true woman is characterized by moral worth. How charming, how interesting, is
simplicity in dress, which in comeliness can be compared with the flowers of the
field.”3

Jesus Himself lived a life of modest simplicity. Today, God is calling women and men
to a counter-cultural life of modest simplicity. 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

DISCUSSION QUESTION

 What steps can daughters of God take to ensure they do not fall into the trap
of seeing themselves the way the world says we should? How can we ensure
we live beautiful, confident lives in heaven’s eyes?

In closing, I want to share with you an inspiring story about a woman who knew who
she was in Jesus. She knew she was a daughter of God, and it impacted her life in a
remarkable way. Anna Knight4 was born in Mississippi in 1874. Her mother was an

3
Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, 413.5

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emancipated slave, and her father was a white man. Actually, her dad was also her
grandfather; he had raped his daughter.

Growing up in poverty and unable to go to school, Anna taught herself to read and it
was because of this that she encountered Adventist literature via mail order. This
led her to become a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1893.

She regularly went out into nature to spend time alone with God, and whenever she
did, she took 3 things: Her Bible, her Sabbath school lesson pamphlet, and a gun
just in case she met with some dangerous predator! 

In 1901, Knight attended the Battle Creek General Conference. While there, she was
made aware of a need for missionary nurses in India, and she sensed the Holy Spirit
calling her to go. She became the first Black Adventist woman to do mission work.
After several years in India, Anna returned to the USA and again worked in her home
community to reignite the Adventist school and church.
In her nearly 100 years of life, Anna Knight made 11,744 missionary visits and
travelled around the world an equivalent of 23 times, founded dozens of schools,
sponsored many students through their studies, and spoke at countless conventions
on education. Despite her humble origins, Anna was a powerful force for the
expansion of the Adventist message around the world.

“In the various branches of the work of God's cause, there is a wide field in which
our sisters may do good service for the Master. Many lines of missionary work are
neglected. In the different churches, much work which is often left undone or done
imperfectly, could be well accomplished by the help that our sisters, if properly
instructed, can give. Through various lines of home missionary effort they can reach
a class that is not reached by our ministers. Among the noble women who have had
the moral courage to decide in favor of the truth for this time are many who have
tact, perception, and good ability, and who may make successful workers. The
labors of such Christian women are needed.” 5

CONCLUSION & APPEAL

I am convinced with all my heart that the God of heaven is longing and looking for,
women like Anna who fear God long and desire to live for the glory of God. Women
who recognize that they are daughters of God, and are His twice, because He not
only made us, but He has redeemed us with the precious blood of Jesus. I believe
that God is longing for you and me to be daughters of God, whose hearts yearn for
the perishing world around us as God’s own heart yearns for the salvation of our
lost and dying world.

4
You can read more about Anna Knight in the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia at
https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=7CF2&highlight=Anna|Knight

5
Ellen G. White, “Women as Missionaries”, The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Dec. 10,
1914, 3. {Evangelism, 466.2}

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Revelation 14:7: “… Fear God and give glory to Him…”

Fearing God simplifies your life in the best way. You suddenly find yourself living for
the audience of One. God is glorified when we fulfil the purpose for which He made
us. Godly women still have problems, but they know how to handle them. As
daughters of God, they take them to their heavenly Father in prayer. Will you join
me today and say, “Lord Jesus, help me see that my greatest joy is in belonging to
You, in being a daughter of the King of kings!”

—end of workshop—

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