BURNING HEARTS DISCIPLES |
The Quiet Work of Advent |
Advent isn't about doing more. It's about learning how to notice where God already is. |
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| Advent invites us to slow down, not speed up. To pay attention, not perform. This month’s reflections from Burning Hearts offer permission to let readiness look less like perfection and more like presence.
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| Advent Isn't About Doing More
Advent Meaning: The Art of Being Ready to Welcome Jesus
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| | A stray memory and a familiar scent helped revel what Advent actually forms us to do: notice God in the ordinary and make room for Him to come.
What if Advent readiness isn't about checklists or performances, but a way of living with open hands and open hearts?
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Evangelizing Through Wonder
Santa & Jesus: Helping Kids Understanding the True Gift of Christmas
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| | For many parents, Christmas is joy and stress in the same breath. You want your kids to feel the wonder of Christmas and also know its true meaning.
What if the story of Santa doesn't have to compete with Jesus, but can actually help children glimpse the heart of God's generous love?
This reflection offers practical ways to use holiday wonder to point kids toward the greatest gift of all.
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A Word on Rest as Christmas Nears
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| | Many leaders feel pressure to remain constantly available – especially during the holidays.
We want to encourage a simple, but countercultural way to evangelize and honor the holidays as a time for prayer, family, and rest.
Here's a version you're welcome to use or adapt for yourself. Leaders set culture – even through small, quiet choices like this.
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| Burning Hearts in the Field |
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Parish Mission • Denmark, WI | | This Advent, we spent several evenings with the parish community in Denmark reflecting on hope, healing, and what it means to make room for Christ in real life. One of the distinctive gifts of this mission was having Tony and Kristin present together, sharing faith not as an abstract idea, but through shared life.
Hearing the Gospel through two voices – shaped by marriage, family, leadership, and ordinary struggle – opened space for people to recognize themselves in the stories being told. Conversations felt honest. Prayer felt unforced. There was room to breathe.
What stayed with us wasn’t a single moment, but the tone that settled in: attentive, open, and quietly expectant. We left grateful for the trust of the parish and encouraged by the gentle, unmistakable signs of grace already at work.
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| Walking with the Duluth Diocese | | Over the past season, we’ve been walking with the Diocese of Duluth through a process of diocesan-wide strategic planning – work that has asked leaders to slow down, clarify what truly matters beofre rushing to solutions.
This has meant preparing teams, engaging presbyterates and chancery staff, and creating space for honest discernment about where the diocese is now and where the Holy Spirit seems to be inviting growth. Our role hasn’t been to hand over a plan, but to help leaders learn how to think, decide, and move forward together.
What’s been most encouraging is Duluth’s willingness to do the patient work of alignment – forming leaders at every level to collaborate, stay focused on mission, and feel the same sense of measured urgency in order to bear long term fruit.
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| | Looking Ahead: Lent 2026
Parish Missions & Retreats
| We currently have availability for a few Lenten Parish Missions for 2026.
Because accompaniment is central to our mission, parishes we've previously partnered with receive a discounted rate – allowing us to build on what god has already begun.
If your parish is discerning Lent and wants to start the conversation, we'd be honored to walk with you.
🔗 Book a Speaker » |
| As you accompany others this Advent — families, parishioners, fellow leaders— may you remember: readiness is not something we acheive. It's something we receive.
The Burning Hearts Disciples Team |
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Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us...? Luke 24:32 | | |
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| | | Want to talk about how we can walk with your parish, school or diocese?
Reach Out To Us » | | |
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