'When you step before an audience, tell the truth. Do not make up fairy tales about the Christian life. People are listening, and they may hear and take seriously what you say. Do not promise more than the gospel promises: The gospel of Jesus Christ promises deliverance from spiritual death and hell. The gospel promises eternal life with the eternal God. The gospel promiese God's enpowering presence in our lives. But the gospel does not promise that if we live a certain way, certain results are 100 percent guaranteed. A woman being batterted by her deacon- or elder-husband should not be told that if she is submissive, she will have a wonderful fullfilling marriage. Here marriage is a torment, and she may end up in a coffin if her husband's violence escalates.
In your preaching, do not gloss over the problems women face in bad marriages. Do not dismiss the struggle of single mothers, the stress and hassle of work world, the painful obligations posed by aging parents. Do not ignore or trivialise women's realities. When you do, you may help push them towards disillusionment with the church and with the gospel.'
Alice P Mathews, Preaching That Speaks to Women, p.77.
