Working for Solas is such a privilege!
This came home to me recently when I was invited to join Riverside Church, Ayr for their church weekend in Glenshee. They were providing great company, worship services, prayer times and good coffee, while the Compass Christian Centre provided good food, comfortable beds and loads of outdoor activities. I had the joy of bringing some Bible teaching to the three main meetings for the adults – while the church also provided an exciting programme for the children. All this took place in Glenshee, most famous for its extensive ski resort. It is not the most dramatic part of the Scottish landscape – but it is stunningly beautiful, with mountains, rivers, and wide-open vistas from every window of the centre!
I was invited by Riverside Church to do three sessions based around their church vision statement. So on the Friday night we looked at an aspect of our personal growth in Christ. In particular how a sense of assurance of salvation, which comes when really are gripped by the gospel of Christ and His Spirit – liberates us to live for Him even when it seems costly or risky. In session two we looked at our growth together in Christ and the way in which we need to live in fellowship, what disturbs fellowship and how we can recover a biblical vision for it. The final session was on growing the body of Christ by adding new believers. We thought together about some of the things that hold us back form sharing our faith, and some useful ways of breaking out of those traps. We drew extensively on Solas’s Mind the Gap articles about overcoming obstacles to our witness and our current Launch Pad series on practical tips for sharing faith. We also delved into the Frontlines series for some examples of people who are doing this at work.
Alongside some Bible teaching and sung worship, we had times of discussion and prayer allowing everyone to dig into the topics and reflect on how they relate to their own experience.
Outside of the main meeting room, fellowship was enjoyed around the campfire, the table tennis table, the kayaking loch, the tree-climbing course, the high ropes course and the pool table. The meal-times were a big highlight too, with lots of laughter, serious conversation and of course food too.
I always enjoy working in partnership with Riverside, they are a lot of fun alongside their profound commitment to Christ. We’re in the process of planning a Confident Christianity conference with them, later in the year. Details of that will be posted on the Solas website as soon as they are available and can be accessed through the “Events” tab at the top of this page. If you are in that area, please come along and see us there – and say Hi to us at the Solas stand!
