Christ Lutheran Church
 
  • Home
  • Ministries
    • Community Events & Outreach
    • Learning & Services
    • Worship & Music
    • Youth and Family
  • I'm New
    • Worship Services
    • Meet the Staff
    • Who We Are
    • Become a Member
    • Contact Us
  • Media
    • Livestream/Recorded Services
    • Blog
    • Calendar
    • Resources
    • Online Donations
  • Preschool

Walking the Spiritual Path

10/27/2022

Comments

 
​By Rev. Joan Copeland
 
What might be gained at an Advent Retreat?
Picture
​The photo above is a delightful wooden version of an advent calendar. The winter scene reminds me of Christmas in Germany. Instead of the little punch-out cardboard doors with candy hiding behind them that we find in our grocery stores, some drawers might hold a meaningful treasurer. We hope you will return home with nuggets of wisdom, peace, and clarity that enhance your life no matter what the curiosity, goal, or burden brings you to our spiritual retreat.
 
There are as many reasons to go as there are retreat centers worldwide. Each person comes with their longings for answers. And while many settings enhance contemplation, whether sparse desert, lush forests, quiet, noisy, busy-ness, or solitude, our Advent Retreat will be four hours roaming from place to place on our campus at Christ Lutheran. By December 10, our church will start to "look a lot like Christmas" as preparations for the culmination of the Advent season are underway.
 
Still, we don't want to dismiss the purpose of Advent. We look toward the coming of the Messiah in a three-fold way. We will celebrate the birth of Jesus that manifests God among us; we often invite Jesus to come into our hearts daily to guide and direct us, and we await Jesus' promise to return as king to rule the world in righteousness. Each of these should give us pause to think about our preparedness actually to meet Jesus. This is not about how clean and organized our homes are. This is not a solemn time to contemplate our shortcomings but rather a season to contemplate how we can draw closer to the God that seeks us, calls us, and wants to commune with us every minute of the day. It is a time to deepen our prayer life and quiet the demands of the world’s expectations so that we can see the creative wonder of everything around us.
 
On November 13th, 20th, and December 4, during adult education, we will learn and practice several spiritual disciplines that will help us pray more deeply and allow scripture to speak to us in new ways. Then December 10, we will put it all into practice during the retreat. We will learn to consider everything in our surroundings with
 
fresh eyes that are not clouded by what we already “know.” This will be a time to cultivate an openness to hear the Holy Spirit share with us what God is up to now and an invitation to participate beyond what we think our limitations might be. It will be a time of becoming.
Comments

    CLC

    God's Work. Our hands.

    Categories

    All
    20’s
    30’s
    Adult Faith Formation
    Advent
    Brondos Missionary News
    Call Committee
    Camps
    Christ Lutheran Church
    Christmas
    Confirmation
    Dallas Ramp
    Deborah Circle
    Faith Milestone
    Fill A Basket
    Fill A Need
    Food Pantry Drive
    Friends At Christ
    German Ministry
    + Group
    Halloween
    Holy Week
    JHG Texas
    Library
    Luther Center Of North Texas
    Men's Bible Study
    Mission Trip
    M&M's
    Mosaic
    Mt. Olive Food Pantry
    Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
    Mus
    Music
    NTNL
    Outreach Sunday
    Pastor Ben
    Pastor Lanny Westphal
    Pay It Forward
    Preschool
    Pumpkin Patch
    Reverse Offering
    Sermons
    Spring Fling
    Sunday Devotional
    Texas Winds
    Thanksgiving
    VBS
    Youth Faith Formation

    RSS Feed

Christ Lutheran Church, ELCA

214-363-4355 (Church)
hello@clcdallas.org
214-363-2242 (Preschool)
Copyright 2015 Christ Lutheran Church, ELCA
3001 Lovers Lane
Dallas, TX 75225

Subscribe for News and Updates

* indicates required

Photos used under Creative Commons from ralpe, cookbookman17, gruntzooki, Grey World, Sjoerd_Lammers