Friday 29 October 2010

Bristol...take two!

Bristol training is always great fun, educational and full of energy. It was great being back there with all the other "impacters". Many stories of encouragement were shared and the feeling of unity was really evident again. 


We kicked off our first days training by taking a look into church history. We explored different eras; 100-1054 AD where they early church was having to contend for the gospel against heretical ideas and teachings. We took a look at the work of Athanasius and Augustine, and their fight to teach the one true gospel. 
The next era was 1000-1600 where a reformation started to take place. This involved men/women such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Lady Jane Gray as well as many others. Calvin and Luther are both very well known for their writing, and I am planning to check some of their stuff out soon.
This was followed by the legacy of the reformers which took place between 1600-1800. Main figures in this time were Richard Sibbes, Jonathon Edwards, George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers. This was a time where Britain really started to see revival through the ministry of Whitefield and the Wesley's.
After this evangelicalism started to rise. This was the era in which men such as William Carey, William Wilberforce, Charles Simeon and Charles Spurgeon came to be known. Spurgeon is said to be one of the best preachers to live, his preaches are still available in written form, they are defiantly worth taking a look at. 
We finished up in the 20th century, where men like Billy Graham, CS Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Martin Lloyd-Jones, John Stott, John Wimber, Smith Wigglesworth and Terry Virgo were all very influential. 
It is great to see what has happened in the past, and exciting to think about where the church is going in the future as we go towards our ultimate goal, preparing the beautiful bride of Christ. 


Our second day was looking at Jesus through the Gospels and the claims he made of himself. Jon Peel led this session as well as the last one. We took a look at why Jesus called himself the "son of man", "how he was son of God" and why he was referred to as "the word". At first some of the teaching was difficult to understand but I got there eventually and I have my notes to look back over. We also looked at the I AM claims that Jesus made of himself. 
  • "I AM the bread of life" John 6:35
  • "I AM the light of the world" John 8:12
  • "I AM the good shepherd" John 10:11
  • "I AM the resurrection and the life" John 11:25
  • "I AM the way, and the truth, and the life" John 14:6


In the last session Jon talked about the story of the church from Acts and the Epistles. We looked at God's view of the church, its dynamic and lifestyle, its message, its methods, its leadership and how it makes decisions. 
Imagery is often used throughout the bible to symbolise what the church is. Examples of these are...
  • The Bride
  • The Family
  • The Body of Christ.
  • The Temple (building) 
  • The Pillar of Truth.
I really enjoyed all that we learnt this training block. It was great to see all my brothers and sisters again, and to get fired up before coming back to Poole. 

Until next time...                                                                                                                         


3 comments:

  1. That sounds genuinely fascinating. The amount you FP'ers seem to learn in such short periods of time is bewildering, i'm not too sure my brain would handle it! Mind you, I do envy the year you're having.

    How often do you travel to Bristol for these training sessions?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoyed being with you guys for the first day. Sounds like a good time over the other days too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We go on consecutive months and then have a months break. It is not that often, but about right.

    Cheers Dave, I personally got loads out of it, I know the others did as well. I'm looking to get hold of some of Augustine and Athanasius's works soon. All the best.

    ReplyDelete