Walsall Community Church

Hannah de la Hoyde brings our Still Standing series to a conclusion with a look at our need for belonging and God's response

Guest Speaker Anna Betts joins us with her experiences of depression as a Christian leader, as a therapist, and as someone who has personally lived through it.
This recording contains personal testimonies that include discussions of domestic violence and suicide. While these stories are shared to highlight healing and hope, we recognize these topics can be distressing. Please practice self-care while listening, and reach out to the pastoral team if you need support.

Still Standing
We believe there is something profoundly courageous about choosing hope, seeking help, sharing our story, and continuing to trust God in the midst of our uncertainty.
Real Stories. Real Struggles. Real Hope.
Hayley brings insight into what anxiety is and how we respond to it.

This talk is about journey of grief around childlessness, infertility, and miscarriage. We recognise this will touch deep pain for many, and we want you to care for your heart first.

Guest Speaker and author David Oliver joins us to dispel the myths of responding to suffering.
 
You can find details of his books "All about Grief" and "All about heaven" at https://davidoliverbooks.com/

Still Standing
We believe there is something profoundly courageous about choosing hope, seeking help, sharing our story, and continuing to trust God in the midst of our uncertainty.
Real Stories. Real Struggles. Real Hope.
Heidi starts with the truth that perfect love drives out fear.

When we hear the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus in our time and places it demands a response

Together, we're exploring this term the impact of addictions and other challenging topics that are often difficult to talk about.
Oliver concludes the series looking at the culture of consumerism that provides the framework for many of the other issues to exist.
Link to PPT
Small Group Questions
In what ways does the idol of consumerism attempt to provide us with indentity, security or meaning
Have you ever made a purchase where you realised that the pleasure of making a choice had been more important than the value of the thing bought?
How can we better tell which of of our "needs" are really desires?
How can we better interpet the dissatisfaction we feel  as being a longing for a different world?
What can we do differently as a community to help us to live differently as individuals?

We are joined by Kate Harvey from the Naked Truth Project to address the harms and pathways out of porn usage.
Here are the links to some of the videos and information she shared:
The Naked Truth Project Manifesto
Facts and Stats
As a church we don’t want to raise this topic and then move on without offering support, so we want to provide some options that we will talk more about in coming weeks
If you wish to get help now, we would encourage you to connect to the Ctrl+alt+delete course through the Naked Truth Project website
Alternatively, some of you may wish to complete this course in community, and we will be running a men’s and women’s group to do this in the autumn, which Jen and Greg Cooper will share more about next week.
More details on support throughout this series