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Set Our Hearts on Fire – Advent and Lent Course
This eight session Advent (3 weeks) and Lent (5 weeks) Course is designed for individual and group study and explores how our faith deepens as our hearts are set on fire with love for God, in our communities and in our individual lives.
This is the Diocesan Advent and Lent Course. During three weeks of Advent, we look at some of the ways in which we are called to be a community on fire with love for God and for the communities we serve. During five weeks of Lent, our attention turns inward somewhat, as we ask what aspects of our individual lives of Christian faith and discipleship might need a touch of ‘holy fire’.
This A4 booklet includes the whole Advent and Lent course.
Introduction to the Course
Every morning Common Worship: Daily Prayer invites us to pray that the light of God’s presence will ‘set our hearts on fire’. This image of hearts on fire gives a powerful sense of what ‘Raising the Spiritual Temperature’ might look like and feel like.
Our faith is not a dispassionate matter and there is no Christian virtue in being ‘cool’. Conviction and care stand together as two complementary aspects of the compassion to which we are called. There is no true faith without heat and light.
The Advent Course themes:
- A Voice in the Wilderness – Hearts on Fire for Justice
- Yours are the hands – Hearts on fire for service
- Holy, holy, holy – Hearts on fire in worship
The Lent Course themes:
- These things I pray’ – Hearts on fire, day by day
- Teach me, my God and King – Hearts on fire for learning
- Let me be as Christ to you – Hearts on fire for others
- All things come from you – Hearts on fire with generosity
- In fear and trembling – Hearts on fire with wonder
How to Use this Course
Notes for group leaders
If you are leading a group, consider deciding in advance how you want to ‘present’ each section of material.
- Which sections will you read aloud yourself? This may be best for the Introduction.
- Which should a group member read aloud? This can be a particularly good idea for Dwelling in the Word and Testimony – consider asking two or three people before the group meets.
- Which should the group read quietly to themselves? This is likely to be most helpful with A Bit of Background and How, When and Where.
The main sections of the material are intended to spark discussion and reflection. Timings need to be flexible and respond to what arises in conversation, but a good plan to begin with is:
- First Thoughts and Final Thoughts – 5 minutes;
- Dwelling in the Word – 20-30 minutes;
- A Bit of Background – 10 minutes, mainly for question or comment rather than discussion;
- How, When and Where – 10-15 minutes;
- Testimony – 15-20 minutes.
The Introduction and opening and closing Prayers should not be rushed but do not need to be discussed. Overall, you should allow at least 90 minutes for the whole session but no more than two hours.
Dwelling in the Word is a form of ‘lectio divina’, an ancient tradition of prayerful reading of Scripture. Ideally you should have the passage read aloud twice, with some silence in between each reading, before turning to the questions that follow it. You should conclude this section with a third reading of the Bible passage. This is a good opportunity to involve other voices.
Notes for individuals using at home
If you are doing the course on your own, set aside the time to engage with each week’s session. This could be spread over a week, or engaged with all at once. Try to make sure that there is minimal risk of being interrupted.
Consider reading some of the material out loud. This may be particularly valuable in the Dwelling in the Word and Testimony sections. Although it may feel a little awkward, like ‘talking to yourself’, reading out loud can help you to engage with the words in a different way. This might be particularly helpful with the words of Scripture.
For those sections intended for discussion and reflection, have a notebook to hand and jot down your ideas. Try not to rush this. If you have questions, write these down to and make a commitment to ask someone you trust about them later.
Above all, take your time! You could read a week’s session in less than 15 minutes, but the value of the material will be far greater if you give time and space for prayerful reflection and make a record of any ideas that occur to you.