Every online course on the Inspire School of Discipleship includes a time of fellowship band. It is only really a taster but many people find it challenges them to go and form a band, or it rejuvenates an existing band, or inspires them to multiply this kind of fellowship.
Here are a few of the testimonials we have received recently.
“When I first joined in Inspire I was having many struggles that could damage my faith, and the band helped me to find God through my fellows and spiritual disciplines. Nothing so hard, very simple, as Jesus is. I can acknowledge Jesus leading us in each band. After that, I have been feeling myself challenged by God to go ahead on the mission He called me when I first met him.”
“I do feel that the Fellowship we share in Band is true Christian fellowship and there are very few places to be able to spiritually share, grow and encourage each other. It is life giving and life changing. May the Lord continue to equip us and prepare us to be bold and courageous….whatever He reveals that will look like!”
“Being in close and authentic Christian fellowship is life-changing.”
“I like that Jesus made his Disciples reflect too…..he didn’t give them all the answers but in the questions he asked, allowed them to reflect and seek answers for themselves. This too is at the heart of Band. We are not there to solve but lead and encourage each other in love to reflect with God who has the answers!”
“I have become more and more aware of God speaking to me since joining my band. He definitely takes over my pen when I am writing in my journal preparing to lead a group or reflecting on where I have seen or felt God each day.”
“Band is a place of mutual fellowship where Jesus is the leader and the Holy Spirit is our guide.”
Band is a remembrance that we got into the ministry to share Jesus.
“Band is where where learn to listen to God through people who are together to share life. Accountability is easier than I thought because in fellowship band it is not a place of judgement, it is where we friends who share life, strengths and weaknesses. It has changed my life to part of a fellowship band.”
“Holiness is not something you can achieve on your own.”
“Being in an Inspire fellowship band has helped me to recognise where God is or has been in my daily life. How God brings people into my day that I need to hear from or who need my help through the Holy Spirit working in me.
During the first lockdown in the UK last spring and summer, I spent many hours sitting in the garden and watching nature and listening to creation. As I watched for eg rhubarb sprouting from the soil I felt an awareness grow inside me of me being harshly pruned back over recent months in order to grow anew with stronger roots and better fruit.
Fellowship band has given me the opportunity to sit and share spiritual conversations with Jesus sitting amongst us steering and leading us. As trust grows so does confidence to voice our innermost feelings and thoughts. Even our failures! As we recognise if we have let self overtake the Holy Spirit in our life and by being able to voice this we find we receive words of wisdom that reassure us. during fellowship band. That we recognise that the Enemy tries every which way to make us stop or fail and for us to say” Get off my shoulder Satan, don’t take away my joy!” Has become a fellowship band statement! It took 15 months from my invitation to join a fellowship band to actually being in it! What a blessing though to have found this group situation to fire my daily walk with God and to water me so I am growing stronger in the Holy Spirit.”
“On the online course, the band time was the best part to me. My own band had struggled a little because there was no-one in it with any experience. We mostly did what we needed to do but some of the group members floundered with knowing how to structure the conversation. So seeing a band in action with someone who knew what to do was very helpful.”
