Renew: A Basic Guide For A Personal Retreat
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About this ebook
In spite of all the good reasons we can think of, we can also come up with just as many good excuses not to take time to be away. In this new guide, David Sherbino helps you to get through this hindrance and identify the many aspects and benefits of doing a personal retreat. It is a step by step guide that will help you with practical steps that allow you to develop and build your relationship with God, create an openness to God and learn to listen to what he has to say to you and be totally renewed.
David Sherbino
David Sherbino is professor of Pastoral Ministries and Spiritual Formation at Tyndale Seminary and senior minister at Cornerstone Community Church (PCC) Kleinburg. In addition he teaches at several other seminaries and graduates schools in Canada and overseas.He is married to Audrey an educator and they have two married sons and five grandchildren. David is an avid hockey player an enthusiastic motorcyclist and an out-of-control skier.
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Renew - David Sherbino
Table of Contents
Part I: Renewed Through Retreat
Section 1. The Need for a Retreat
Section 2. The Purpose of a Retreat
Section 3. Organizing and Preparing for a Retreat
Section 4. Choosing a Retreat Centre
Section 5. The Structure of a Retreat
Section 6. Sample Structure of a One-Day Retreat
Section 7. Sample Structure of a Three-Day Retreat
Part II: Practices for Your Retreat
Section 1. The Prayer of Examen
Section 2. Four Scripture Prayers
Section 3. Praying the Psalms
Section 4. The Practice of Holy Reading
Section 5. The Practice of Gospel Contemplation
Section 6. Reflection Questions
Section 7. The Practice of Developing a Rule of Life
Part I—Renewed Through Retreat
"You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water."
Psalm 63:1
Section 1—The Need for a Retreat
"A good journey begins knowing where we are
and being willing to go somewhere else."
—Richard Rohr¹
Life is busy with lots of demands, and many would acknowledge that they are overextended, exhausted and stressed out. In fact, some would say they don’t even have time to catch their breath. In the Gospels, there are different accounts of Jesus and the disciples deliberately leaving behind the demands of life and retreating to a quiet place in order to be renewed. This reinforces the concept that a retreat is a necessity for each one of us in today’s world.
The popular concept of a retreat today is somewhat different than the one used by Jesus. For example, if you are engaged in youth ministry, the term retreat
brings to mind the task of organizing endless activities to keep the youth occupied, to the extent that most leaders and participants return home exhausted. A retreat for adult members of a church congregation usually includes Bible study, teaching and extended periods of corporate worship. In some instances a retreat is viewed as an opportunity to work together with a particular group on some project related to its faith community.
Throughout his life and ministry Jesus would regularly retreat to a quiet place for extended periods of time just to be alone with the Father. Before he began his ministry, we are told, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he fasted and prayed for 40 days (Matthew 4:1–11). Mark gives us a glimpse into the demands of just one day of Jesus’ ministry. He went to Capernaum, where he taught in the synagogue, cast out evil spirits, healed Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever, and then in the evening, when the sick and demon-possessed came to the home of Simon Peter, he healed them as well. It was a busy day, to say the least. The next morning the disciples were looking for Jesus, but Jesus could not be found. He had risen early that morning to go to a lonely place, where he prayed (Mark 1:1–39). As you read through the Gospels you will discover that retreating to places of silence and solitude was a regular practice for Jesus (Matthew 14:23; Matthew 21:17; Luke 22:39–46).
Not only did Jesus practice this discipline, it was also a practice that he wanted his disciples to embrace in their ministry. When Jesus commissioned the disciples, he told them to