Welcome to Karis!

By Trillia Newbell

It’s been months in the making and now we get to reveal everything we’ve been eager to share with you. Up first is our name. Karis: One God, One Gospel, All Grace.

To say that we took naming the Women’s Channel seriously would be an understatement. There were months of prayer and dialogue to come up with Karis. One might wonder why we’d be so diligent. A name carries with it meaning and characteristics. A name sets the stage for the message. We didn’t want to muddle the message with a name that didn’t reflect the heart of the ministry or the heart of the contributors. Our name, Karis, encompasses all that we want to communicate and accomplish here.

What’s in a name?

Karis (also known as charis) is a feminine noun defined in Greek as grace.  The full meaning is described as:

·  grace

1. that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

• good will, loving-kindness, favor

1. of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues

• what is due to grace

1. the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
2. the token or proof of grace, benefit
   1. a gift of grace
   2. benefit, bounty

·  thanks, (for benefits, services, favors), recompense, reward

Here’s how we hope to apply this definition through the ministry of writing at CBMW.

Grace of speech: The contributors of Karis are committed to communicating the truths found in scripture in a manner worthy of the gospel. We want to be salt and light on the earth. We want to speak boldly, but graciously. We are women of grace. It is our commitment. And though we cannot promise not to offend, that would not be our goal.

Loving-kindness, favor: God has done a work of grace in our hearts and we want to share about that grace. Here’s the thing, we are broken vessels working out faith like everyone else and we want to show the real joys in this walk as well as some of the battles. We fight with the word of truth; it’s life-giving, and our only hope. This is only possible because of Christ’s holy influence upon our souls. All good things come from him and we pray he would be exalted as we share.

Due to grace: It is by grace that we have been saved and it is not due to good works, our upright living, our effort, or our devotion to God’s word. No, we weren’t committed to any of that prior to salvation. God plucked us out of our hell bound race and made us new through faith and by grace. It’s a free gift and the life we now live is lived by grace. We don’t claim a righteousness of our own. Christ is our identity. Christ is our motivation for living.

Thanks: We will give thanks to God the Creator for His Word and His creativity in designing men and women equally yet distinctly. We thank God for his gospel. We thank God for you, our readers, new and old.

We hope you will enjoy reading Karis as we share about God’s grace and our faith journey as women. We will dive into the riches found in his word, examine scripture, enjoy devotionals, have a laugh or two at ourselves and highlight the joys found in womanhood.  But more about that next week as we highlight the content you will find on the site.