Believing the Promises of God - in His Word

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Without weakening in his faith… Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. ~ Romans 4 [selected 18-21]



Saturday, April 2, 2011

Revive - Refresh - Renew RETREAT in PA


I had the great privilege of teaching at a retreat last weekend with Hope Community Church from Gilbertsville, PA. We stayed at the INN of Leola Village in Leola, PA, a beautiful facility hidden in the heart of the Amish Country.


My dinner table group on Friday night before the sessions began!



I wrote a skit about the Presence of God - and Natalie [left] played the little girl, and Carly [right] played the mother. Their added humor made it come alive for all those who enjoyed it! Great job ladies!! You're going on the road with me from now on!!



Worship was a focus of each session. The team from HCC is Carly, Danielle, and Marcie


Teaching for Saturday's morning sessions.



Gretchen was one of the ladies who came to the Bible study session on my favorite chapter of the Old Testament = Exodus 33!

This was our prayer upon beginning the retreat: As a Get-Away Weekend with the KING of kings – THE LIVING GOD.


We asked God to...


REVIVE us with YOUR LOVE …. that we may see clearly exactly WHO YOU ARE! Revive us with YOUR PRESENCE in a way we’ve never known. REFRESH us with YOUR SPIRIT, LORD, let the wind blows across our face. Refresh us with YOUR WORD so that we are able to live fruitfully and abundantly in these last days. RENEW a RIGHT SPIRIT within us, LORD Bring us to OWN RENEWED COMMITMENT - to follow hard after You!


It was my JOY and pleasure to serve you all!

Choosing JOY in this season,

Stephanie

7 comments:

KrippledWarrior said...

Blessings on you and all who were in attendance at this function. I only wish Revival Gatherings would use another word besides "RETREAT"
The connotation is to give ground back to the enemy. I know the word has secondary definitions. But the military one always settles in my mind first.

TRUTH SHARER said...

I hear you Kurt but just know that this was anything BUT a retreat of giving ground to the enemy. Actually - as the Word was brought forth - we learned the building blocks of faith and what God has taught me are the 'tools of the TRADE' against the enemy:
1. Praise [to God]
2. Prayer
3. God's Word

The very first one - PRAISE - is a declaration of WAR against the enemy of our souls. When we CHOOSE to Praise God first - the enemy must retreat because he cannot stand to be in the Presence of anyone who praises God!

It was truly an equipping kinda weekend. These ladies now have ammunition from God's Word to fight the battles of everyday life - and WIN - by God's Spirit's power and strength alone!

thanks for sharing, Stephanie

Patrinas Pencil said...

I'm sure they all enjoyed it as much as you did. You're such a good Bible teacher. What a great way to spend a weekend.

Blessings to you Stephanie
Patrina <")>><

Camille said...

What a gorgeous photo to open your post with Stephanie. What a blessing to belong to the KING of KINGS!! May HE continue to lead you on in Truth and fortify your soul in HIS Word!

Many blessings to you!
Camille

TRUTH SHARER said...

Partina:

I did enjoy it - probably even more than the girls did! God was amazing in every way to show Himself to us through His Word and how very much He loves us!

Camille:

That opening photo was our verse card that I had made for each of the ladies attending. It is actually loose white tulip petals that were placed in an antique blue pitcher and photographed with our theme verse for the retreat! Each one was mounted and given out on our last night together - just before communion!

American Home said...

What a beautiful post...Such lovely words and people...



Blessings

KrippledWarrior said...

points well stated, understood and taken to heart.