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Our St. Paul's 2025 Advent journey will take us Through the Wilderness to find Healing for a Weary World
This Advent, I invite you into a season of sacred reflection and prophetic imagination centered on four visions of Isaiah. Each of these visions arises from the pain and longing of God’s people – realities that echo our own struggles with fear, division, and injustice today. Our Sunday morning Adult Formation time will encourage those who participate to courageously name the brokenness around and within us; explore what it means to embody prophetic love and courage in today’s world; and dream of a world made whole – and begin to walk toward it.
The four 50-minute sessions will be based on the Old Testament reading from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), that will be read later at our morning liturgy.
Adult Formation will begin promptly at 9:30a.m. in our Parish Hall. Please try to arrive a few minutes early so that our conversations and discussions can begin on time.
Session 1, November 30th, will focus on Despair, Longing, Vision (Isaiah 2:1-5) – The prophets gave voice to the people’s deepest despair and longing — while also daring to imagine a new reality shaped by God’s peace and justice. This first session will invite us to name the pain we carry into the Advent season and begin to envision what healing might look like for each of us, our communities, and our world.
Session 2, December 7th, will focus on Justice, The Only Way to Peace (Isaiah 11:1-10) – Drawing on Isaiah’s vision of a Spirit-led leader who brings justice for the oppressed and peace for all creation, this session will encourage us to discern how God’s justice and peace might take root in your own lives and that of our community.
Session 3, December 14th, will focus on Far from Home (Isaiah 35:1–10) – Isaiah 35 speaks to a people in exile who believed the only way home was a long, impassable road around the desert’s perimeter—but the prophet offers a surprising vision: a blooming highway straight through the wilderness, back to their scattered loved ones and back to God. We will reflect on our own seasons of wilderness and loss, while also considering the real-life journeys of those who cross deserts today in search of safety and home.
Session 4, December 21st, will focus on Choosing Vision Over Fear (Isaiah 7:10–16) – This session will invite us to reflect on the temptations we all face when fear takes hold – especially the temptation to trust in power, comfort, or status quo solutions instead of God’s deeper call to justice and peace. We will explore how to root our decisions not in fear and scarcity, but in God’s larger vision of healing, wholeness, and collective flourishing.
May we each encounter special blessings during this Advent Season as we engage in these special opportunities to enliven our faith and bring us closer to Christ's manger on Christmas Day
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