Responding to the 2022 Retreat
We hope you enjoyed the time at our Family of Churches Retreat as much as we did. And we trust that you left Forest Home encouraged by the Spirit and the testimonies you heard, feeling more connected to the broader Restored family, and having met with Jesus in personal ways.
Often retreats, like the one we were just on, are “Mountaintop Experiences.” Significant, energising, maybe even life-changing times that re-orient us to Jesus, what He is saying to us, and what matters most.
But then we come back home and are immediately struck by reality and normality; chores, admin, work, kids, busyness and distraction. And it is easy for the ‘high’ of camp to quickly wear off. And for the important things that God was speaking to us about, and the work that He began in us, to get lost in a sea of competing voices and demands and needs.
So we wanted to send out a post to help each of us to remember what happened at the retreat, and to encourage each of us to continue the work that God began in us at the retreat.
Below you will find Questions to prayerfully consider, recommended books to read for further study, and the retreat sessions to watch or to relisten to.
But first, we’d recommend 2 practices:
1) Spend some time alone asking God how you should respond to the retreat?
Get alone. Get rid of distractions. Get out a journal. Read through your notes from the retreat. Pray. Reflect. And then define how God is wanting you to respond.
Make sure that this response is something concrete. Something that has clear, realistic action steps that find their way into your calendar and schedule.
Whatever you do, define for yourself what response Jesus is calling you to after the retreat.
2) Share this with someone.
A spouse, a close friend, someone in your GC.
Make time to meet up with someone, and share with them what God has spoken to you about at the Retreat, and how you are going to respond.
This could be something God revealed to you about His character, a confession of sin in your life, a lie you have been believing, or a specific habit or discipline that you believe God is calling you to adopt.
You could also ask them to pray for you? Or to check in with you to see if you are following through on this commitment? Or to meet up in a month to talk about how this is going?
Vocalising this to someone is a big next step for us in externalising the internal work that the Spirit began in us at the Retreat.
Questions from the Retreat:
What is a lie that you are believing about yourself? / What is a lie that your flesh is telling you?
What is a lie you might be believing about others? (Especially your brothers and sisters in Christ)
What is a lie you are believing about God or His character?
Recommended Resources for Further Growth:
In light of the theme of the retreat and what was shared in the different sessions, we would recommend the following books to help you go deeper into these topics and to find practices to introduce into your life to help you to live as a disciple in our fallen world.
Live No Lies – John Mark Comer
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self – Carl R. Trueman or Strange New World – Carl R. Trueman (shorter version)
Habits of Grace – David Mathis
Retreat Sermon Recordings:
Friday Night - October 14th, 2022: Session #1: "Hope For Our Time Together" | Andy Rodgers
Saturday Morning - October 15th, 2022: Session #2: "The World" | Brad Sarian
Saturday Morning - October 15th, 2022: Session #3: "The Devil" | Erick Davis
Saturday Evening - October 15th, 2022: Session #5: "Zoom Out and Slow Down" | Tom Logue
Sunday Morning - October 16th, 2022: Session #6: "Practices That Maintain Your Freedom" | Grant Clark