Spirit & Truth Equipping weekends for your local church
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Sometimes all it takes is a single moment in the presence of God to change the course of someone’s life. Sometimes at little bit of training and a simple opportunity to take a new step of faith can reset the trajectory of a person’s life in Christ. At Spirit & Truth we long to see the church fully alive! And to see the church fully alive means that believers in your church must become fully alive in Christ. God has given us the ultimate gift of himself, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, so that every believer can be filled, transformed, and empowered, as we are sent to live as bold witnesses for Christ in everyday life. If you long to see folks in your church become more surrendered to Christ, empowered in their Christian walk, and bolder in their witness—we want to come alongside you and help you host an “Empowered for Witness” Equipping Weekend. You don’t need a fancy location, lots of technology, or any gimmicks. Our team has led these weekends in tiny churches, huge churches, urban churches, and rural churches. No matter the style or context, we’ve seen God move in eternity-shaping ways when even just a handful of people, hungry for God, come together with open hearts and a desire for more of his presence in their lives.
These equipping weekends are designed to focus on the heart and life of the participants, and then move them into a greater intentionality of sharing their faith with others. The weekend covers these core themes for full Christian living:
Cultivating a greater hunger for God and posturing our lives in greater surrender to Christ
Learning about the Holy Spirit and how we are led by the Spirit each day
Learning to listen for God’s direction in prayer so we can respond in obedience in practical ways
Shifting our understanding of evangelism from a programatic church approach and helping every believer see ourselves as a missionaries right where we live, work, and play
Learning and practicing some simple ways to begin sharing our faith
All our weekends are experiential. Everything will be saturated in prayer and worship. We will lead people into practical learning exercises that go beyond just talking about concepts. Life change happens when learning collides with the presence of the Spirit and people take new practical steps of faith.
We know that affordability can affect accessibility, so we strive to keep things as low-cost as possible so that our ministry is available for any size church. We do offer some strategies for churches to partner together and host a weekend to make the experience more affordable for any size church.
Interested? Contact us and let’s start a conversation.
Watch a few testimonies from Spirit & Truth Weekends:
Testimonies from DuBois, PA
Testimonies from Heber Spring, AR
Testimonies from Ebensburg, PA
Testimonies from Dublin, GA
An encouragement and testimony about hosting a Spirit & Truth Weekend from Paul Lawler, Senior Pastor of Christ Church Memphis:
What are pastors saying who have hosted a Spirit & Truth Weekend?
“The Spirit & Truth Weekend provided our church with a powerful opportunity to experience God’s presence and to receive training to become more effective witnesses for Jesus. Through the teaching, practical application, worship, and prayer, all who attended were blessed and left the weekend with a deeper love for Jesus and a greater passion for sharing the gospel. If you are considering hosting a weekend with Spirit & Truth, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. God has truly called and gifted the Spirit & Truth team, and you and the congregation you serve will be blessed by having them come. The weekend our church hosted was one of the best experiences of my pastoral ministry, and I want you and your church to share that same experience!”
“Our Spirit & Truth Weekend was a shift to a deeper place spiritually for our church community. Here are some phrases I’ve heard from others who participated: “Life changing. I didn’t want the weekend to end.” “I felt like an old dog being revitalized by being around young pups....Excited to try some new prayer exercises and refresh spiritual muscles.” “I hope others are feeling the shift to being a praying church the way I am.” “When can we do this again?!” If you are considering hosting a weekend, do it! You and your church will be so grateful for this time set apart in the presence of Jesus.”
“The weekend with Spirit & Truth brought a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit into our church that has stirred up a greater awareness of and hunger for the presence and power of Jesus. I believe the faith of our church family has increased as we were equipped and invited to practice hearing the voice of God, praying for others, and taking the love of Christ into our community. If you long for your church to return to fundamental, Spirit-empowered Christianity that looks more like the Book of Acts and the early Methodist movement, please invite the Spirit & Truth team to minister to your church. You will be blessed, encouraged, and enlivened in the Spirit, and your church family will likely take steps of faith that you have not yet seen.”
“I knew God would move powerfully this weekend, and still all my expectations were blown away! Every prayer I prayed for the weekend was answered in abundance. It was truly incredible to watch how the Spirit moved and to see an excitement in the church that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. I think the outreach time and prayer exercises were incredibly impactful. Most people had never done something like that, but it helped them see that it really is something that anyone can do and really isn’t scary! It helped them step out of their comfort zones and was encouraging for me to see them stepping out. This weekend was truly an answer to prayer.”
“The Spirit & Truth team brought a challenging message for us that was highly relevant to where the church finds itself in our culture today. Our people left the weekend feeling equipped and empowered for Kingdom work. If you are considering hosting a weekend, I would say to do it! It helped us in so many ways. We will be reaping the spiritual fruits of our time with S&T for months to come.”
“I marveled at the testimonies of our folks. It is a blessing to me to see how God is working in people. And so this is what a pastor hopes for. To see his people actually take steps and encounter God in new ways. For those considering hosting a weekend with Spirit & Truth: Do it. The more we show our folks how to live and move in the Spirit the better our communities will be. The team communicated wonderfully with our people.”
“The Spirit and Truth team are the real deal! They are ordinary people who allow our extraordinary God to use them to equip the Church for ministry. The weekend our church experienced was a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit. As one church member shared, “I’ve been going to church pretty much my entire life, but I’ve never felt like this. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I felt what I’d been missing.” If you are looking for spiritual renewal in your church or community and you want to help equip your people to follow Jesus, I can’t imagine a more Spirit-led team than Spirit and Truth.”
“The weekend was a breath of Holy Spirit air in our church. We are enthused and equipped to be led by the Spirit and reach people with the Gospel. If you are considering hosting a weekend: Do it quickly. They will equip your church to follow the Holy Spirit in the most gentle way. The weekend was a breath of Holy Spirit air in our church. We are enthused and equipped to be led by the Spirit and reach people with the Gospel. If you are considering hosting a weekend: Do it quickly. They will equip your church to follow the Holy Spirit in the most gentle way. ”
“The weekend was a breath of Holy Spirit air in our church. We are enthused and equipped to be led by the Spirit and reach people with the Gospel. If you are considering hosting a weekend: Do it quickly. They will equip your church to follow the Holy Spirit in the most gentle way.”
“Renewal may need to look different in different churches. The Spirit and Truth team comes prepared to teach, pray, give counsel, and lead worship on significant topics that would likely benefit most churches. However, at the same time, they are also attuned to the working of the Holy Spirit so well that they often change gears as needed in order to minister to individuals or address specific areas of need as they arise. For example, they might feel the need to stop to pray for a need that arises in that moment, or they might pause to minister to a specific participant who needs it at that moment. The team’s modeling of listening to the Holy Spirit, prayer, compassion, and individualized attention to the pastor, leadership, and members stands out as different than most programs that I have been a part of in the past. The experience had a major impact on our church, and we would like to invite them back again in the future.”
“The Spirit and Truth team was such a blessing to have in our fellowship! They were a fresh voice that the Spirit used for attendees to hear many things about truly being a disciple that we already speak about and exemplify, but often are not heard by many people since it usually comes from the “pastor’s” voice. Seeing the Spirit speak to and through everyday people for the Kingdom of God is always refreshing, but this was especially beautiful because the S&T team did not allow any of us to be sideline followers of Jesus! All ages engaged and experienced a fresh touch from the Spirit, for the world! Do not second guess this opportunity. This is an incredible gift to the local church for the kingdom of God and the world around us!”
