Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Blueberry muffins

Activity #1

Blueberry Almond Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (we used 1 cup wheat and 1 cup white)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. In another bowl combine oil, egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract until well blended. Pour liquid mixer into middle of flour mixture and stir until not quite all combined. Add blueberries and gently finish combining. Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Godly or Virtuous Woman

Precious Handmaidens Discipleship ( PHD)
Lesson 1- The Godly or Virtuous Woman


1. Make muffins
2. While the muffins are cooking we will have devotions. Sing one hymn, 'For the Beauty of the Earth'.
3. Repeat memory verse.
4. Devotional
5. Eat and fellowship
Memorize: Proverbs 31:10 "Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies."

Devotional

Read Proverbs 31:10-31. This is a portrait of a godly woman.

vir·tu·ous (vûr“ch›-…s) adj. 1. Having or showing virtue, especially moral excellence: led a virtuous life. 2. Possessing or characterized by chastity; pure: a virtuous woman.
vir·tue (vûr“ch›) n. 1.a. Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness. b. An example or kind of moral excellence: the virtue of patience. 2. Chastity, especially in a girl or woman. 3. A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage: a plan with the virtue of being practical.

Ruby- ru·by (r›“b¶) n., pl. ru·bies. 1. A deep red, translucent variety of the mineral corundum, highly valued as a precious stone
There are few rubies and precious stones. They are not easy to find.
Have girls tell what they learned about rubies.

Proverbs 31 tells us that a virtuous woman’s worth is far above rubies or precious jewels. It says that it is a rare thing to find a woman who is virtuous. Being a godly woman is worth a very high price and it is hard to find.
Jesus should be our very greatest treasure. The more you get to know Him the more you will love and treasure Him.
Can you name some things besides Jesus that have a very high price or things that maybe are very, very precious to you, that you can’t even put a price on , like your Mommy and Daddy?
How can we be virtuous or righteous?
There is nothing we can do on our own. We need God. We particularly need the righteousness that is Christ Jesus’. The Bible tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory and do bad things. We need Jesus to forgive us of our sins and give us His righteousness.
Have girls read these scriptures.

Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags ;
We all fade as a leaf,And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.

Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray ;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Rom 3:23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Isa 61:10
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness ,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Illustration (do a skit): Someone is very poor and they only have the rags on their back. Some one gives them a brand new, beautiful, and clean coat. God does that for us but much better. He gives us His robe of righteousness.
What is your purpose in life?
The shorter Catechism asks that question.
What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

That is the purpose of our Precious handmaidens Discipleship group.
We want to glorify God and we want to enjoy Him together.
We want to become virtuous, godly, righteous handmaidens of God whose worth is far above precious jewels. We want to be that rare jewel of righteousness.
Remember that without Jesus we can do nothing, but the Bible tells us in
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

FROG= Fully Rely On God

Assignments
Age 5-9 year olds: Have your mom read Proverbs 31:10-31. Illustrate your own book about all the things that a virtuous woman does.
Age 10-adult: Read Proverbs 31:10-31. Study character and write an essay describing all the things the virtuous woman does and what you learn about her character.
All: memorize Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her worth is far above rubies.

Written By Laura