The theme of the retreat will be “The Power of Prayer”, with the main passage given in 1 Kings 18:41-46.

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Focusing on this passage, the teens will hear about the story of Elijah praying for rain, and how God answered when he prayed with faith. Other program points that will be covered in the retreat include testimonies, prayer meetings, and breaking bread.

OTM UK will hold regular monthly retreats with teens, helping them to understand God’s Word and to unite with the heart of God more in their lives.

Below are some of the pictures from the major gatherings across the United States, Europe, India, and Asia regions.

Congregants from across Olivet Assembly’s UK churches have joined together to celebrate a 2-day Christmas Retreat at the recently acquired Europe OC.
At the retreat, Bible study lectures and services were held focusing on the meaning of the birth of Jesus.

The first day commenced with an opening service where a message from 1 John 1:1-10 was preached.  The day also saw various fellowship, games and exercise activities take place. Bible lectures were also delivered focusing on Matthew 2, and in the evening there were several children performances, and readings from Christmas poems, as well as several music choreographies. The opening day ended with an extended time to meditate, and a prayer meeting.

The second day of the retreat saw a sermon delivered from Luke 2:1-20 focusing on the story of the birth of Jesus, and how this applies and impacts our lives even today.

In the afternoon, there were various fellowship activities, and conferences were held to discuss and make plans for some of the major challenges facing the churches, and for the churches’ development over 2019.

On September 13, the Faith & Family ministry will be holding a seminar to educate, guide and strengthen parents in creating Biblical, Christ-centred families.

London Summer Retreat 2018 took place in August and saw many attendees travel from far to attend, with UK churchgoers being blessed with the chance to unite with church members from Croatia, Sweden, Portugal, Czech Republic, India, South Korea and the USA.

The UK Summer Retreat took place over two days and saw dozens gather to study the first three chapters of Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Attendees were able to learn about context in which the letter was written and the relevance of the book of Romans throughout church history in finding and affirming the orthodox truth, and saving faith in times where the church had gone astray and become weak and corrupted. Those gathered were challenged not to be ashamed of the gospel that is the power of salvation for everyone who believes.

The retreat also featured a beautiful performance from Emmanuel Church’s children’s choir, who delivered a beautiful version of ‘A Heart of Worship’.

Attendees were able to meditate on Apostle Paul’s exhortations that we must realise first that we are all sinners; that there is not one who can go before God and call himself righteous by their own deeds. Apostle Paul described man being under the “curse of the law” – only being able to come to know sin through the law, but never being able to overcome or wash away those sins with the law or by our own efforts or deeds.

However, through Jesus Christ, and the cross of love, there is now a new righteousness that has appeared. It is something that has come only by grace, and can be received only by faith, and is available to all mankind, no matter our past deeds or sins.

Realising and accepting this unconditional love that was revealed by God giving his one and only son for us is something that can only truly be accepted by faith. The illogical cross, which saw God trade His own son’s life for our dirty robes and sin, is not something that can be understood by any human means or knowledge. But can only be truly received when you realise this was the extent of God’s love for us, and was given to us not because of anything any of us have done, but only by grace.