{"id":941,"date":"2015-10-12T15:26:48","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T15:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/?p=941"},"modified":"2015-10-12T17:13:04","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T17:13:04","slug":"weekend-away-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/weekend-away-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Away 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Geoff<\/div>\n
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Over 120 members and friends of Christ Church spent a weekend at an activity centre enjoying the surroundings and a wide range of activities and growing in our relationships with God and with each other.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Getting out of the boat<\/h2>\n
\"John

Speaker John McGinley introducing the topic<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

We welcomed John McGinley<\/b>, Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Leicester<\/b><\/a> as our speaker.<\/p>\n

John based his theme on the story in Matthew 14.22-33. Jesus’ disciples were in a boat in a storm when they saw him walking across the water towards them. “If it’s you,” Peter said, “tell me to come to you on the water.” And so Peter left behind the relative safety of the boat and set out on his adventure of faith.<\/p>\n

Our boat, said John, is what we might call our comfort zone. There are many reasons why we might want to stay there but to be a true follower of Jesus means taking risks and attempting things we could never do without God working in us.<\/p>\n

What does a call from God look like in practice? How should we respond when things start going wrong (as they did for Peter)?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Stepping

On the high ropes: the “leap of faith” was a metaphor for the whole weekend<\/p><\/div>\n

There are many people in Christ Church who have recently taken steps of faith of this kind, and in addition to listening to what John said we had much to talk about and learn from each other.<\/p>\n

John’s talks were recorded and will be published on our sermon download page in the coming days.<\/em>\n<\/div>\n

“Thank you to John for sharing with us about the transforming power of God’s love. I want to grasp that much much more”<\/div>\n
\"Children's

John brought a team from his home church to lead children’s and youth activities<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Our Weekend Away 2015 was held in the beautiful surroundings of Whitemoor Lakes<\/b><\/a> in Staffordshire. We came with a wide range of recent experiences and emotions: a family who had suffered a very recent bereavement (a loss felt by us all), two children celebrating birthdays, an asylum seeker newly arrived in the UK, people who had gone through other recent changes of direction, and all of us subject to the joys and difficulties that we encounter in our everyday lives.<\/div>\n
\"Worship

Worship at the Weekend Away<\/p><\/div>\n

“I felt lost before coming here and didn’t know how I would cope. Thank you for all your support and love”<\/div>\n
There were many opportunities for prayer over the weekend, and it was clear that God was at work healing both physical and emotional pain and encouraging us to respond to him in faith.\n<\/div>\n
\"Table

Young and old enjoyed table tennis, pool and other indoor games<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tough

A novel ball game meant tough competition on the boating lake<\/p><\/div>\n

“I long to see more people testify to what they’ve seen God do in their lives”<\/div>\n
\"Quiet

It was quite OK to just relax<\/p><\/div>\n

“I’ve seen a lot of representations of false love in the media. For me it’s been a weekend of being bathed in real love”<\/div>\n
\"Walking

A quiet walk by the lake<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Walking

The National Memorial Arboretum and the Trent and Mersey Canal were within easy reach<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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