Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Captivated Heart: Server Training!

When you ATTENDED your first Women's Encounter, we asked you to come with an OPEN heart and an OPEN mind.  We still ask every attendee to come that same openness.

Now that you're preparing to SERVE, you are asked to come with a CLEAN heart and a CLEAN mind.

ATTENDEES are led to FREEDOM in Christ.

SERVERS are asked to be taken CAPTIVE by him, to live as BOND-SERVANTS in their freedom.

The only way to live both FREE and CLEAN is to live as Christ's bond-servant with spiritual discipline; that is, by sitting at His feet.

Captivated Hearts: Server Training is designed to help all Women's Encounter servers come to the Encounter weekend with a clean heart and mind, fully captivated by Christ.

Here's how it works:
Captivated Hearts will touch on the major spiritual disciplines and help each one of us to be "on the same page" spiritually leading up to and during Women's Encounter.  Remember the "RPMS" that we've talked about?  (Read, Pray, Meet and Share)  We're going to fine-tune those, because they are crucial in the process of becoming captivated by Christ.

READ: Each day for four weeks, beginning on August 23rd, you will find here a daily devotion.  Read the Scripture and the devotional thoughts.  Give them time to soak in.  Think about what they really mean.  Journal your thoughts so you can share them later.  (Because our training will culminate on a Thursday, our devotional weeks will run Friday through Thursday.)

PRAY: After you've read through the devotion and jotted your thoughts down in a journal, spend some time in PRAYER, asking God to lead you as you apply what you just studied.  Don't forget to spend some time listening, too!

MEET: On Thursday, September 19th, we will meet together at Crossroads CC for some face-to-face time.  We'll talk about your journey to being captivated by Christ, and we'll also cover some of the logistics of serving at this Women's Encounter.  Please make every effort to be there!

SHARE: Each Thursday during the Captivated training, we will post a discussion question for you to think about and comment on.  This is your chance to share how God has been calling you throughout the week.  If you don't feel comfortable commenting for others to see, you may email your thoughts to the leadership team at womensencounter@ccchutch.com.  Feel free to reply to and interact with other servers' comments; just make sure to keep your own comments encouraging!

Is participation in this MANDATORY?  Yes and No.

YES, if you want to be fully equipped to serve at the Encounter.  Serving takes more than showing up ready to work.  In order to have your heart and mind totally captured by God, ready to do the selfless work of serving at this Encounter, you need to participate in this spiritual aspect of Server Training.  And in order to be prepared logistically, to know what to do and when to do it, you need to be at the meeting on September 19th.

NO, we are not going to hunt you down if you choose not to participate.  However, if you opt not to participate in ANY of the online discussions and you do not come to the training meeting, we will assume you have decided not to serve in October unless you contact the leadership team and make other arrangements.

As with many other aspects of Women's Encounter, please remember to keep comments and discussions from this site CONFIDENTIAL.  The leadership team will be careful to guard your confidentiality, and we ask that you do the same for your fellow servers.

SO...Start with Week 1, Day 1, and then check back here for your daily devotions and discussion forum.  Or better yet, sign up to have them emailed directly to you!  (There should be a button on the left margin.)   

We are looking forward to growing and serving with each one of you!
~Your leadership team -- Debbi, Shanan and Angie