Thank you for your prayers, the retreat last weekend was amazing. I couldn’t imagine a better preparation for the upcoming Holy Week.

All of the talks are are online at OrthodoxSermons.org, I highly recommend listening to them before Holy Week. The booklet and PowerPoint files are up on Scribd.

For those of you who were asking, here is a high quality version of the Holy Week Treasure Map.

We have our annual Passion Retreat this weekend, I am really excited about our theme. We will be providing a guide to Holy Week, where we live the events of Christ’s last week with Him. Please pray for the retreat, that the Holy Spirit gives words to those who speak and opens the hearts of those who attend.

Our high school and college groups had retreats in December that were partly inspired by Mark Batterson’s, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.

All four talks are available for download at OrthodoxSermons.org. Here are the additional resources from the retreat:

Booklet for the retreat containing the schedule, talk, quiet time and discussion outlines.

Talk 1 - “What’s in Your Lion” - by Father Bishoy Andrawes
Presentation

Talk 2 - “Locking Eyes with Your Lion” - by Father Anthony Messeh
Presentation

Talk 3 - “Chasing the Lion” - by Father Anthony Messeh
Presentation

Talk 4 - “Slaying Your Lion” - by Julie Meawad and Michael Fam
Presentation

Our 2006 Winter retreat this year was amazing, the topic was about having a personal relationship with Christ as our Heavenly Bridegroom. Our retreats are one of the best opportunities for spiritual growth and are often a great starting point for our young adults to take their spiritual life to the next level. Personally, I had never really pictured the Bible as love letters from our Bridegroom, it helped to paint reading the Bible in a whole new light. My new challenge for myself is to schedule and take more personal retreats where I can get spend significant quality time with Christ.

All four talks are now available for download at OrthodoxSermons.org. Here are the additional resources we used for the retreat:

Talk 1 - “Jesus My Bridegroom”- by Father Bishoy Andrawes
Video - Isn’t She Beautiful (Bride of Christ) by Vineyard Elizabethtown

Talk 2 - “Living as a Bride of Christ” - by Father Bishoy Andrawes
Presentation
Quiet Time
Discussion Group Questions

Talk 3 - “Only for Overcomers” - by Father Anthony Messeh
Presentation
Handout
Quiet Time

Talk 4 - “The Unfaithful Bride” - by George Bishara
Quiet Time

A few photos from the retreat: