News from the Inspire Movement JULY 2016
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Greetings 

Welcome to the JULY e-News from the Inspire Movement.
Below you will find news and testimony from across the Movement, including:


GOOD NEWS STORIES!

  • New Inspire Website

  • Inspire Learning Communities

  • From the front line: news of our Missioners

  • Real life stories

  • A note from Cath regarding prayer

  • The Harbor - an exploration of discipleship (part 2)


GETTING INVOLVED

  • Day of Fasting and Prayer

  • Prayer Pointers to help you pray for Inspire

  • Note from Cath

  • A word from the Word 

AND...

  • PLEASE help us to see more fruitfulness

  • Your ink cartridges can help us!

  • Find previous editions of the e-News

You can find up-to-date news and all of our resources on the website: inspiremovement.org
Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/mission.spirituality

New Inspire Website

Launched on 21 June, the new Inspire website is simple to use, and mobile friendly! Click here to see for yourself: inspiremovement.org

There are a number of new features including a feed from our Facebook page, and an Inspire blog where our Missioners will be adding news and inspirations. If you were registered on the old website, your account has been migrated but you will need to reset your password. If you've never registered on the website before, now might be a good time:-) The site is being developed and new information added regularly so do keep checking back. And if you find any missing links, or have suggestions for how we can improve it further, then please get in touch: contact@inspiremovement.org.

We hope that you will find the new website helpful and continue to enjoy journeying with Inspire.

Inspire Learning Communities

Our focus for teaching in 2016-17 is through Inspire Learning Communities. The great benefit of learning communities is the opportunity to actually build community as we share wisdom and learn together. These communities also have the potential for developing fellowship that continues beyond the formal period of training
For more info about what an Inspire learning community is: http://inspiremovement.org/learning-community.
We have learning communities planned in the UK and in Ireland. Check the EVENTS PAGE on the website for details as they become available 

In Chesterfield we are hosting three learning communities on:
- Exploring Discipleship
- Missional Leadership
- Missional Community Training
Each community will meet 5 times, approximately once per month, from January to May/June 2017. For more info about the Chesterfield learning communities, or to express and interest in participating follow this link to the website. http://inspiremovement.org/chesterfield.  Space is limited for each community, so please do let us know if you are interested as soon as possible.

Day of fasting and prayer for Inspire: Friday 29th July

From the Front Line...

On Friday 17 June, 16 Inspire Missioners were commissioned by the Methodist Church in Ireland as Missioners for Inspire Ireland. Here is how Richard Saunders-Hindley, Chair of the Inspire Steering Group began his message: 
We never cease to be amazed and humbled at the ways in which God is using Inspire in different places for the glory of his kingdom. There are many testimonies of how the deep accountable fellowship between disciples of Jesus in Inspire Bands has revolutionized people's lives, as they grow closer to the Father through the Son, and in the power of the Spirit are alive to the moments when they can witness to the love of God. And as the Movement grows, this is made possible by the men and women he has raised up as Inspire Missioners to be co-workers, which is no small undertaking and commitment....  read more of Richard's address here: http://inspiremovement.org/commissioning-of-inspire-missioners-in-ireland/ 
If you would like to know more about the Role of Inspire Missioner, please get in touch with us: enquiries@inspiremovement.org

Real Life Stories ...

The Inspire Leadership Conversations have challenged and encouraged many leaders over the last year. Here are a few comments of the comments we have received...
  • "Thanks so much for the teaching sessions this year. I found them inspirational and I love the discussion format - it really engages those present, and we learn so much more than listening to a talk. It is one of the few places that ministers get "fed" and so is very valuable to us."
  • "I feel more confident in who I am as a Christian but also as a leader in Christian ministry."
  • "No matter how tired I have been going to these sessions I have always come away spiritually encouraged, refreshed and enthused to continue on in God's mission wherever I am."
  • "Using this format (band fellowship), and the ideas from Inspire has been the most formative and indeed inspiring 'thing' for want of a better word, that I have been part of for years."
Do send us YOUR STORIES about how God is at work in your life, and especially how a band fellowship makes a difference. We don't have to publish your name, but it's always good to share the stories
You can contact us at any time: enquiries@inspiremovement.org
Prayer is at the heart of the Inspire Movement and we want to encourage you to pray with us and for us. Below in the e-news you will find details of the July day fasting and prayer, and some prayer pointers. Here are a few other ways you can connect to our network of pray-ers:

The Harbor - An exploration of Discipleship (Part 2 of 2)

David Hull, a former Intern for Inspire, is now a Missioner in Texas USA. Here is the second of a two part series reflecting on Fellowship Bands and the impact they can have on forming intentional discipleship community...

Discipleship as an Encounter with Spirit Led Community

    Slowly, the Spirit began to mature an idea in our minds, one that I have to confess I was slow to embrace, simply because it was an invitation into uncharted territory.
    A little over 6 weeks ago, we finally responded to the Spirit’s prompting and half-heartedly invited a group of friends and family to begin joining us bi-weekly for a Saturday evening worship/prayer gathering at “The Harbor”.  To our surprise, roughly 25 people expressed interest right away, and we began gathering together.
    Our initial sense was that we wanted to explore in community what it would look like to become a community that embodied the spirit of unity and love that Paul was highlighting as a goal in 1 Corinthians 11-14, a community in which dividing walls were torn down, people were affirmed and empowered to exercise their gifts in a manner that edified others, everyone sought to outdo one another in showing each other honor and value, and above all practiced sacrificial love toward one another.
    We entered into this journey recognizing that we had to surrender all forms of control and management of our time and space together and to be receptive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We knew that the time would involve a simple shared meal and partaking in the Lord’s Supper together, but beyond that we were stepping into the unknown. We had all in our own ways longed to be part of such a community but none of us had experienced it in anything other than a fleeting glimpse or taste.
     I cannot express adequately in words either the sheer beauty of our first meeting together as it unfolded under the Spirit’s guidance or the heaviness of the Lord’s presence. We were blessed to listen to timid teenagers inspired with boldness to share testimony of God’s goodness in their lives, unassuming housewives prompted to share prophetic words of encouragement, and construction workers sharing profound words of wisdom from the Scriptures. We were led into abandoned worship by a young woman who in the safety of this context sang passionately and in an unfettered way that she had rarely experienced as a worship leader in the local church. When the group finally came to its senses, we realized that we had expressed adoration for the Lord together for almost 4 hours. It didn’t feel too long, nor did it feel too short. It felt just right.
    The wonderful thing in our experience thus far is that no two meetings since have been the same. In some gatherings, the Spirit has led us in a more somber reflection and sharing of Scripture, in others an inspired bout of speaking prophetic words of encouragement over one another in order to dismantle the lies of enemy. And yet, in each gathering we gather around a common table to share a simple meal, along with much laughter and stories from our everyday lives about where we are seeing God at work. We also routinely partake of the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of the blood shed on our behalf that binds us together as family.
    Truthfully, it is a grand adventure that we have all embarked upon, one whose subsequent steps are not yet made clear to us. And yet, there is comfort in proceeding forward into this unknown space because we know that the Lord is with us and that we are walking this path together.

Discipleship as an Invitation to Others

    For my wife and I, as well as the burgeoning community with whom we are experiencing abundant life in Christ, these gatherings in “The Harbor” are a culmination of individuals and groups embracing and living into the Inspire Way of Life. Meeting together in fellowship bands has infected us with a hunger to experience the fullness of life that is possible in Christian community, as well as a resolute determination to not be satisfied with anemic expressions of the Christian faith. There is so much more of God to experience and we have found the journey to be richer and fuller if it is embarked upon together!
    It is important to share that the Spirit has impressed it upon us that this time together is not intended as a replacement for attending the local churches of which our group members are a part. Rather, it is a deep communal abiding in the love of God that empowers each individual and fellowship band to create compelling and attractive missional outposts within these local churches that radiate with the beauty of lives shaped by the hands of God. Gathering together bi-weekly at “The Harbor” is not a meeting for the elite, rather it is a group of hungry souls desperate to drink deeply from wells of living water. It is also becoming a place from which men and women go forth into the world compelled by the love of Christ to share with Christian and non-believer alike that there is yet more of God that he desires for us to experience.
    This is a journey upon which we are just beginning to set forth, one whose steps are not neatly laid out for us as we proceed. However, we are placing one foot in front of the other because of a simple confidence that we share. We believe that as we entrust both our strengths and weaknesses to one another and communally seek the wisdom of the Spirit the road ahead involves being conformed into the image of Christ and becoming men and women whose lives overflow with sacrificial love and whose scars exude wisdom. We have a profound assurance that this journey will continue until the day we stand before Jesus and we are finally made like him because we see Him as He is.
    The amazing thing is that this is not merely a testimony about what God is doing in our midst in a small town down in Texas. It is an invitation to embark upon a journey of your own with others around you who are hungry to experience the fullness of what God has for us all. In every town, in every church, in every home there is the opportunity for a new ‘harbor’ to be born because the kingdom of God is at hand. The King is waiting for men and women to come together at his feet and experience abundant life. He desires to guide and lead you in community with wisdom from above offered in the tenderness of the Spirit and invites you all to surrender control and embark upon a journey of encountering Him the likes of which will leave you awestruck and at a loss for words.
    The question that remains is this, “Will you join Him?”

If you missed part one of this story, or if you would like to be in touch with David, then contact us: enquiries@inspiremovement.org

DAY of FASTING and PRAYER Friday 29 JULY 2016

Join us on FRIDAY 29 JULY for our monthly day of fasting and prayer. This month we will be particularly focusing our prayers on plans for the coming year, that God will direct our steps

On the last Friday of each month, we commit to fasting, in whatever way we are able, and to praying throughout the day for the work of Inspire. Everyone is invited to participate: beginners and more experienced; fasting from one meal, or all day; fasting from caffeine; fasting from technology rather than food...  However you are able to participate, we do ask that you commit time to PRAY during the day and then TELL US what you feel God might be saying!

Cath Hill, Lead Missioner for Prayer, would LOVE to hear from you any time: c.hill@inspiremovement.org. And, If you would like to connect with others who are joining us as we fast and pray go to our Facebook page: facebook.com/groups/mission.spirituality 
 

Join with us in praying for:
  • Praise God for the Missioners who were commissioned by the Methodist Church Ireland. Pray for their protection and  encouragement as they discern how to integrate their passion for discipleship into their everyday contexts.
  • Missioners around the Movement who are reviewing their roles and thinking about how they can encourage people in discipleship using Inspire in the contexts in which they live and work
  • Give thanks for the enthusiasm already building for our plans for next year. Pray for continuing wisdom and discernment as we set things in place
  • Pray for protection over the seeds we have planted and nurtured through the year, so that they will not be spoiled by the enemy over the summer, but will continue to flourish and grow.

A word from the Word...

Someone recently sent us the following words from The Message Bible.They were using them to help them pray for Inspire. You might like to use them too - for Inspire, for yourself and/or for others.

"That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you- every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than give thanks. I ask- ask the God of our Master Jesus Christ, the God of Glory, to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focussed and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him- endless energy and boundless strength!" Ephesians 1:15-19

Help us to see fruitfulness thorough our faithfulness. Please consider giving regularly to Inspire...
We are so blessed to see so much fruitfulness wherever we go but we know that there is so much more that God wants to do through Inspire. PLEASE HELP US - SOW TO GROW  

All the income we receive for Inspire goes directly to fulfilling the vision of Inspire and we are always as 'lean' as we can be. We want to exercise generosity so that we can continue to see fruitfulness though our faithfulness but we really need your help to ensure that we can not only make-ends-meet, but see things grow and flourish

Please bless Inspire with your financial support, so that we can continue as co-workers with God in growing and multiplying disciples who abide deeply with God and live missionally in the world. Every gift we receive, no matter how big or small, is of great worth to us. We encourage people to give regularly but if you are not able to commit to that at this time, please consider making a single gift, and please encourage others to support Inspire as they are able
THANK YOU.
  • By bank transfer or regular standing order - click the button below to request our bank details
  • By cheque (GBP): payable to "Inspire Movement" sent to Inspire, 10 Woodland Walk, Chesterfield, S40 4YB, UK
  • By debit or credit card through our give.net giving page - click the button below
  • By PayPal - click the button below
  • If you pay UK Tax, we can claim GIFT AID on your gift - click the button below to request a gift aid form
Thank you for your support.  
Give to Inspire through give.net
Give to Inspire through Pay Pal
Request bank details and/or a Gift Aid Form

You can help to raise some funds for Inspire simply by recycling through Ink2Cash

  • unused cartridges
  • old mobile phones 
  • empty ink and laser cartridges
  • gadgets: tablets, e-reades, sat navs, etc.

You can also sign a gift aid declaration and Inspire will benefit both from the value of the items and from the tax we can claim back on the gift.    Thank you!

 

Previous editions of the Inspire e-News are available as pdfs from the website, along with lots of other useful resources that are free to download. If you can't see them at first glance, make sure that you are logged in to the website.

http://inspiremovement.org/wordpress/resources/

If you would like to contribute stories, events, or any other items to our e-News, do contact us: enquiries@inspiremovement.org
Inspire is an ecumenical network. We are pleased to have people from all the major denominations, many new church streams and networks participating in our way of life. We are always happy to hear from others who may wish to join us in the journey of mission-shaped discipleship.
 
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