Sundays (dates below) in the Depot Room from 2:00-4:00pm
The Spiritual Formation Workshops are a series of engaging & practical sessions to support you on your Christian journey. We hope that you leave each workshop with a few new friends, encouragement to go deeper with Christ, and some practical tools & resources to help you get there.
Upcoming Workshops:
How To Care For Hurting People
Sunday, December 4
How do you help a hurting friend? Should you call? Send a text? Show up unannounced? Or is it better to back away and give them space? As we live together in Christian community, it is important for us to care for one another in suffering. The Bible commands us to comfort others as God has comforted us. God uses the actions of Christian brothers and sisters to comfort others in their grief. But many of us don’t know how to do that. Our attempts to care end up causing more pain, so we freeze and do nothing. This workshop will offer a few practical ideas on how to move toward hurting brothers and sisters in a way that brings the healing power of the gospel.
Former Workshops:
How to Confess & Forgive In Relationships – Conflict is everywhere. No one can escape it. When it erupts, it’s always disruptive and often destructive. While conflict may be inevitable, you don’t have to be defeated by it. God has a perfect plan for conquering conflict. Confession and forgiveness are two of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal He provides. If you’re willing to confess, forgive and fight conflict His way, you can overcome it and find the peace and freedom He intends for you to enjoy. And when you fight conflict his way, victory is guaranteed!
How To Grow Through Conflict In Relationships – We all experience the ups and downs of being in relationship with others. This workshop is designed to help participants examine their pain response when in conflict and through the truth of Christ move toward a more peaceful response. Participants will leave encouraged, with a more thorough understanding that the ways people love and trust in relationships is one of the greatest reflections of Christ. This workshop will provide tools based on Biblical truths and neuroscience to help us learn how to grow in relationships and know what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ and walk in Him.
How To Disciple Someone – At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gave the church a clear and simple instruction: Go and make disciples. This is an essential duty in the Christian life. But how do you disciple another person? This workshop will explore a few practical issues: How do you start a discipleship relationship? What do you talk about when you meet? And how can you replicate this with the person you are discipling?
How To Answer The Hard Questions In Evangelism – Barrie Winn – “I can’t believe in a God that would allow so much evil.” “I can’t believe that God would send people to hell.” “Hasn’t science disproved God?” It’s not uncommon to hear statements like these from non-believers when you share your faith. How do you respond? In this workshop, Barrie Winn will explore how we can graciously answer some of the most common objections to Christianity.
How To Evangelize In A Post Christian World – Michael Talley – Evangelism a few decades ago seemed a lot simpler. Pass out a few tracts, knock on a few doors, and schedule a few events at the church. In a Christian society, people had fewer dots to connect to understand the gospel. But how do you share your faith in a Post Christian world, where a growing number of people are resistant – even antagonistic – to the gospel? This workshop will explore a few strategies to take on a missionary mindset: How to meet non-believers, how to have engaging conversations with non-believers, and how to see non-believers make mini-decisions toward a relationship with Jesus.
How to Celebrate Advent – Chaplain Jim Fisher – The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year! But for many of us, the awe of the advent season has been cluttered with the trappings of a busy and self-centered society. This workshop will explore the importance of waiting on Christ as we reenact the story of his first coming, and wait for his second coming. We will explore a few practical ways to get the most out of this advent season in your heart and in your home.
What Does the Bible Say About Generosity? – Jim Loscheider – When you look at your paycheck, do you think of it as your hard-earned money? It’s tempting to view money, and everything we own, as a result of our own efforts, but this perspective encourages us to act as if all our resources belong to us instead of to God. It gives the illusion of safety, but our sense of security can quickly evaporate with the loss of a job or a bout with serious illness. True security is found only in the Lord, who owns all things—not in our monetary stockpiles or marketable skills. This practical workshop will explore the Bible’s rich teachings on generosity. When we recognize that the Lord owns all we have, we will be free from the “love of money” and the tendency of greed so prevalent in our culture today. Come and be both challenged and inspired!
RESCHEDULED – How To Disciple Someone – Cam Lloyd – At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gave the church a clear and simple instruction: Go and make disciples. This is an essential duty in the Christian life. But how do you actually disciple another person? This workshop will explore a few practical issues in discipling another person: How do you start a discipleship relationship? What do you talk about when you meet? And how can you replicate this with the person you are discipling?
How to Identify Heresy – Join us for an interactive workshop on how to identify heresy taught by Pastor Scott Andrews. False teaching was not just an ancient threat to the church; it is a perpetual threat to the true, life-saving message of the gospel. Come learn how to discern the difference between the life-giving message of Christ and heresy.
How To Lead Your Family In Worship – Throughout church history, faithful men & women have led their families (however small or large) in worship throughout the week in their home. This workshop will explore a few tools to help you design and lead your family in worship in your home. Disclaimer: nobody will make you sing at the workshop. But you will have a lot of fun.
How To Know & Love Your Bible – We often say that “Bible” is our middle name at Alliance Bible Fellowship. But do you know how to read or study your Bible? Do you long for a richer, deeper experience in the Word? This workshop will offer a few tools to help you engage with your Bible – how to make a plan to read through your Bible in a year, how to study a passage, and even the benefit of listening to the Word.
How To Know & Use Your Spiritual Gift – 1 Peter 4:10 urges each member of the church to use their spiritual gift to serve one another. When every member does this, we display God’s varied grace. This workshop will offer a few tools to help us identify and use our spiritual gift to serve the church.
Lament – Over 1/3 of the psalms are laments – a type of prayer to help us navigate the chaos of our suffering. It is an important aspect of our worship, and yet few people today know how to use or compose a lament. We’ll explore this essential form of worship and learn how to compose laments to worship the Lord through our pain.