This is the third time we have had the Solas team come for a weekend here at Cowplain Church. We love having them as it’s so helpful for our people to hear that it is possible to be able to share our faith with others. What’s great about the day conference is that it’s both informative and biblical in showing us practical ways to know the gospel, answer questions people ask and also to have a renewed confidence in talking to people about Christ. The sessions on how to deal with peoples questions which are often based on faulty assumptions they hold was especially helpful as it helped people to see that they don’t have to jump in to defend the Bible position. Instead we can ask questions in a gentle way which unlocks better conversations with unbelieving friends and family. – Pastor Phill Brown
Andy Bannister was joined by Gavin Matthews and Dave Hutchings for a day of Confident Christianity at Cowplain Church – a return visit to the Hampshire town for the Solas team. Phill Brown chaired proceedings and after his opening devotional talk and some sung worship to helpfully focus our minds on God himself, we got into the main content of the day.
Confident Christianity is Solas’s travelling conference which helps Christians to share and defend their faith more naturally, boldy and winsomely at home, amongst friends, and at work. These conferences have taken place with all kinds of churches, up and down the length and breadth of the UK. (If you want to know more about them, listen to this podcast).
These conferences get tweaked for each church and context in which Solas deliver them so no two are identical! In Cowplain, Andy Bannister led sessions on conversational evangelism, and connecting conversations to Jesus, Dave Hutchings looked at questions as conversational tools and a model for evangelism he uses, while Gavin looked at the biblical underpinnings for Solas’s approach and the problem of suffering, as it is raised as an objection….
Two lively sessions of Q&A were really enjoyable and engaging when people brought all manner of real-life scenarios to the table for discussion with the speakers. As ever several people didn’t want to talk about their situations publically but were keen to chat and pray personally with the Solas team about people for whom they are especially burdened. It is a huge privilege to hear these stories and join people in praying for the salvation of those they love.
Dave was especially encouraged to hear that his last visit to Cowplain had made a great impression on one young person. He had done a session on evidences for the existence for God -and the next week an RE teacher had asked for a show of hands for ‘Who here believes that God created the world?’ The pupil who had been at Confident Christianity bravely stuck up his hand (he was the only one!) and when the teacher challenged him to justify his belief, used several strands from Dave’s talk! The teacher was so impressed with his courage and thoughfulness that he contacted his parents to commend their son!
The weekend didn’t end with a Saturday conference, Andy stayed on to preach on the Parable of the Two Sons on Sunday morning, and then Dave and Andy spoke at at outreach event on the Sunday evening. From Solas’s perspective what can we say other than that it is a huge privelege to serve Christ alongside people like our friends at Cowplain Church.
