“I feel like I have been completely rewritten. God has broken off lies that I was believing about myself, which had accumulated over many years, and which were keeping me anxious and silent. School of the Spirit gave space for God to put His finger on them and say “That wasn’t me. That’s not who I made you to be” and replace it with truth about how He sees me instead. The person I was before is unrecognisable now. I’ve gone from believing I was never going to be good enough to standing firm in the one who made me good enough; from being silent to having a voice. I can’t thank Him enough for that.”
School of the Spirit participant
School of the Spirit is a six-month course, designed to help us live more like Jesus – secure in our identity, filled with his power, and carrying the Kingdom of God wherever we go. This year we have had 65 people on the course, learning to go deeper in their relationship with God. And it has been a blast!
Each week we’ve spent time worshipping together, hearing teaching on a wide range of subjects, and then gathering in small groups to apply and practice what we’re learning. Over the course we’ve seen people healed, physically, spiritually and emotionally; become more rooted in their God-given identity, breaking free from lies that have held them back; hearing God with greater clarity, including some people receiving prophetic dreams for the first time; sharing their faith with friends, colleagues and strangers; receiving the gift of tongues; praying for the sick, and taking huge steps of faith.
All sorts of people have come on the course! Those who are relatively new to the Christian faith, with little experience of the Holy Spirit, and others who have been following Jesus for years, including a handful of church leaders. And the feedback has been wonderful.
One participant said,
“Although I have been a Christian for a long time, I have been yearning to have a deeper relationship with God and I feel SOTS has given me the ‘push’ I needed to do this. Long may it continue!”
while another wrote,
“I feel like I’ve been woken up out of a slumber, ready to get on with life.”
And one lady, who had never previously had dreams from God, wrote,
“I have had three dreams given to me by God, I have prayed for people and they have been healed. I have had visions, pictures and prophecies for people. The Holy Spirit is now able to work in me and use me for his glory in a way I never imagined possible. I have found the joy that I have spent years seeking!”
For me, leading this course has been both a challenge and a joy! None of us leaders has ‘arrived’. We are all on a journey of learning more about life in the Spirit, and I’ve been provoked by the faith and courage people have displayed. It’s caused me to go deeper in my own pursuit of God and dependence on Him.
Some personal highlights include:
- Hearing people start the course saying, “I will never do x” and then watching as God gently led them over the year to grow in confidence to do the very thing they’d discounted.
- Prophesying on the first night that God was going to provide for someone financially, only to discover that they had the exact money they needed deposited in their account by the very next morning!
- Starting each week with testimonies, and hearing remarkable stories of physical healing, restoration of relationships, and people sharing the gospel with people through the week.
Our next course runs from October 2024 – March 2025 and bookings are now open! The promo video below will give you a taste of what to expect, and you can find out more and apply by visiting schoolofthespirit.co.uk. You may also want to follow us on Instagram, or check out resources from some of our recent events via YouTube. And if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line at sots@occ.org.uk
Liam Thatcher, Assistant Pastor at Oxford Community Church & leader of School of the Spirit