Calendar of Events

SF101: Living the Christian Year

An introduction to the Christian Year, which is based on the life of Christ We will seek to understand the significance of each remembrance: Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Christ’s Death & Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and the Ordinary Times.

The Christian Year is a wonderful rhythm of grace that helps us to walk afresh with Jesus each year, following in His footsteps in order to counteract the deadening effect of busyness and hurry.

SF102: Introduction to Spiritual Formation

This second course in the series of CSF’s Spiritual Formation courses will provide a first broad introduction to spiritual formation. Subsequent courses will layer on the learning, with a closer look at the various aspects of spiritual formation.

The focus is not only to learn & understand, but also to experience the process of spiritual formation, in community. We draw from the rich Christian spiritual traditions down the centuries to inform and challenge us. The group conversations and practice activities both within and outside of class times are as important as the teaching segments.

SF103: Spiritual Disciplines (I) ~ Praying the Word (Lectio Divina)

Lectio Divina evolved over time as a particular spiritual discipline of reading Scriptures. Psalms 1 & 119 exalt the meditation of God’s Word. Jesus used scriptures (Matt 4:4; Deut 8:3) to assert that the right Christian posture is to live by every word that comes from God.

The essence of Lectio Divina (as passed to us through monastic spirituality) is communion with God through the Word. It is anchored upon a deep reverence for God’s Word and a posture of deep humility. Both reverence and humility are starting points as well as desired outcomes of spiritual formation. The mature reader as well as the new believer can practice Lectio Divina. For the discipline is also anchored in faith that the Spirit of God draws near to the humble soul who seeks Him.

Today, Lectio Divina is accepted, adapted and practised in many ways. CSF has anchored our Noon Day Prayer (started in 2016) on this ancient practice. This introductory first course will provide the historical background, the what, why and how of Lectio Divina. We will also share how we practice this discipline in our Noon Day Prayer.

SF105: Seven Biblical Relationships with God ~ Pointers to Deeper Walk with God

The Bible reveals a God who is relational. He has revealed Himself as the Father, Son and Spirit, three persons yet one God. He, the relational God, created us also as relational beings (“It is not good for man to be alone.”). We can trace through the Bible records different types of relationships between God and humankind. During the course, we will look into 7 key sets of relationships. These relationships can serve as pointers to understand the differing degrees of intimacy with God. We will examine our own relationship with God, where we are currently, and where we desire to be.

SF106: Spiritual Disciplines (II) ~ Silence & Solitude

To practice silence is to become more attentive, sensitive to self, others and God. It is to be silent and quietened so as to listen to our own voice, recognize what voices are not ours, and above all to hear God.

In keeping times of solitude, removed from people and work, we learn to know our self, grow our own voice and recognize what or who have influenced us for better or for worse.

This dynamic and working of silence and solitude will be explained, with exercises for participants to experience these disciplines for themselves. We will suggest practices to cultivate this twin spiritual discipline. We will also present a brief overview of the history of silence and solitude as practiced during the biblical times to the present.

SF107: Spiritual Disciplines (III) – Different Forms & Traditions of Prayer

This course will  examine the different forms of prayer that are related to spiritual formation: lectio divina (Monastic),  the Jesus Prayer (Orthodox), the Examen (Ignatian), and Contemplation. How do these prayer forms serve as spiritual disciplines for our interior life?

An early Christian wrote that “prayer is keeping company with God” (Clement of Alexandra). In CSF, we agree. Prayer is a natural, unconscious, unceasing conversation with God. Prayer happens because the triune God has invited us to participate in His eternal communion. In Him, we move and have our being (Acts 17:28). It is because He adopted us, and we now have a relationship with God that we pray, converse with, listen to and keep company with God our Father.

SF108: Introduction to Spiritual Accompaniment

The CSF tagline is “Coming Alongside Becoming Christlike.” As Spiritual Formation is a process of transformation to be more like Christ, Spiritual Accompaniment is the posture of coming alongside fellow Christians to listen & co-discern God’s presence & work in our lives.

This introductory course will cover a brief survey of the history of Spiritual Direction, some important heart postures e.g. to be a listening presence, a safe holding space, and a co-discerner with the storyteller. The wider context of engaging in sincere, genuine spiritual conversations and cultivating spiritual friendship will also be introduced.

Advent Day Retreat: You Shall Name Him Jesus (Luke 1:26-45)

Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year; the coming of Christ. The angel announced His birth to Mary, “You shall name Him Jesus.” Later, in a separate announcement to Joseph, the angel added that “he will save his people from their sins” (Luke 1:31; Matthew 1:21).

Step closer into the story of Jesus’ birth, focusing on the angel’s announcement to Mary and Joseph. Jesus is the true light that has come into the world (John 1:9). Let us ponder, be refreshed and renewed by the hope, peace, joy and love Jesus brings.

Advent Day Retreat: As You Have Promised (Luke 2:29)

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.” (Luke 2:29)

Simeon might be one of the most in tune persons with God’s salvation plan. At the national level, Simeon’s waiting for the consolation of Israel was fulfilled when he saw God’s salvation. At the personal level, God’s promise to him that he would see the Lord’s Christ during his lifetime came to pass at that moment.

In this day’s retreat, we will stay with Simeon in his quiet, heroic story of waiting, hope and fulfillment. Let this Advent season orientate you to the posture of waiting in hope. As Simeon, this old man from the pages of scriptures waited and found his consolation in Christ, so will we.

Advent Day Retreat: Behold… Look… Watch… (Matthew 1:18-24)

Advent, the beginning of the Christian year, marks the anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah who is believed to bring salvation from sin to humankind. Both Mary and Joseph were visited by an angel telling them of the coming of the Christ as a baby born of Mary (Luke 1 & Matthew 1).

When Matthew recorded Joseph’s encounter with the angel, he applied the complete fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 7:14) of the coming of the Messiah, ‘Immanuel’ – ‘God with us’, to the foretold virgin birth.

Joseph was surely one of those in Israel waiting for the Messiah but also surely not expecting that to take place so close to home! How did he respond to the angel’s prophecy? Join us for this retreat ‘’Behold … Look … Watch … “ (Matthew 1:23) when we shall journey with Joseph as he awaits Jesus’ birth.

May we heed the Lord’s invitation to us to be awed by His salvation plan and be refreshed by the hope, love, peace and joy that Jesus brings!

Advent Residential Retreat:  No Longer Longing: “O Come Emmanuel, O Come Lord Jesus”

“Soon it will be Christmas Day,” so goes one popular Christmas song. For Christians, a richer term to express the birth of Christ is “Advent.” It simply means “coming,” the coming of God into our world. With the Advent, we are no longer longing like Simeon who waited his whole life for the “consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25).

Advent does not just commemorate the birth of Christ, His first coming. It also anticipates the second Advent, His second coming. And we are reminded indeed to be like Simeon, and also the martyred believers who (in John’s vision of the future), “cried out in a loud voice “How long, Sovereign Lord … until you judge…?” (Revelation 6:10)

Advent begins the Christian Year, which is based on the life of Christ. Every new year, we start afresh to remember Christ’s birth and “follow” Him from cradle to cross, from the grave to the sky.

Epiphany Day Retreat: The Revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God

The Visit of the Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-12)
The Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17)
The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11)

The season of Epiphany follows after Advent. Epiphany is about the manifestation of Jesus – the revelation that He is the Son of God.

Epiphany is a season to be awe-filled afresh. This is what we seek in this retreat – for a fresh manifestation, an epiphany: that fresh revelation, unveiling, insight, new discovery, rediscovery that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Lent Day Retreat: Who Do You Say that I Am? (Mark 8:29)

Lent is a 40-day season of the Christian Year. The focus is on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.

If the true measure of a person is revealed in adversity, how is the true measure of God revealed?

This one-day retreat begins the Lenten meditation with Jesus’ own question: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8: 29a)

Who is Jesus to you? Don’t repeat after Peter (Mark 8:29b) even though that is a standard answer.

Face Jesus, converse with Him intimately and answer Him honestly.

Lent Day Retreat: What Do You Want Me to Do for You? (Mark 10:32-45) 

As we approach the Holy Week, meditate to remember again why Jesus died on the cross, and what He went through.

Mark 10:32-45 records a conversation between Jesus and His disciples. The journey to Jerusalem revealed what drives Jesus towards the cross. It also revealed the disciples’ self-referencing desires.

It is this contrast that shows us “the wonders of His glorious love, and our own worthlessness.”
(~ Hymn: Beneath the Cross of Jesus, Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane.)

Let the words of the disciples help you examine your own motivation as a disciple of Jesus.

Face Jesus, converse with Him intimately and answer Him honestly.

Lent Day Retreat: From the Mountain to the Road (Luke 9: 28-36)

On the mount of transfiguration, Jesus manifested his glory, “… the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (v. 29). The disciples were awakened and awed; they did not know how to respond.

Heavenly visitors, Moses and Elijah, appeared, “speaking of his departure” (v. 31). On the mountain, we are shown a road to Jerusalem. Glory and gloom. Light and shadow. Epiphany into Lent.

On this day retreat, we prayerfully dwell, gaze, and ponder on the mount, and we wait to be encountered by the Living Word. An encounter that can prepare us to step into the season of Lent, to once again walk with Jesus on the road to the cross.

Lent Day Retreat: With Jesus in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46)

Gethsemane (Gat-Shemen), literally means “oil press”. There, olives were pressed to oil, and there, Jesus was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mt 26: 38). There in the garden, “an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him” (Lk 22:43). And there, Jesus submitted to the Father’s will.

We cannot grasp the full weight of Jesus’ agony in the garden. But we can enter the Scripture text, humbly and prayerfully. There is the possibility too, that we will find ourselves like Jesus’ disciples, unable to keep watch with Him in this crucial hour of prayer.

Lent Day Retreat: “要我给你们做什么?” (可10: 32-45)

基督教年历中，大斋期是复活节前40天专用于祷告、禁食、悔罪的日子。我们继续跟随耶稣，与祂同行在去耶路撒冷的十架之旅。在《马可福音》10: 32-34，耶稣第三次预言祂的受难和复活，比前两次更详细具体。令人不解的，约翰和雅各却上前来，向耶稣直言他们想要的，引起门徒内部不小的风波。

我们不禁问，当耶稣讲出祂的属天使命，祂的门徒们在听吗？

你在听吗？耶稣同样问你我：“要我给你们做什么?” 你敢真实表白你的内心诉求吗？你在哪里？分别一日来聆听耶稣，直面耶稣，检视自己的内心，与祂做推心置腹地交谈。

Easter Day Retreat: I have seen the Lord! (John 20:1-18)

Lent is a season of “bright sadness” which leads to Easter!

On the first Easter morning, a revived and elated Mary Magdalene burst in on the disciples and exclaimed, “I have seen the Lord!”

Through John 20:1-18, let us come nearer to Mary’s sorrowful weeping and seeking which transformed into great joy of beholding the risen Lord! May her real encounter and lived experience draw our yearnings for Jesus.

Easter Day Retreat: Come and have Breakfast with Me (John 21:12)

After Jesus’ resurrection, the gospels record various appearances that Jesus makes: to Mary, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and groups of disciples.

In John 21:1-14, Jesus appears to seven disciples who were out fishing. He shows them a miracle – a catch of 153 fish after a whole night of catching nothing. Then He invites them to have breakfast on the shore – fish laid out over charcoal fire, and some bread.

“Imagine the camaraderie around the charcoal fire:
the hungry men, the welcome food, the questions
asked, the stories recalled, the shared laughter and
later the exchange that restores Peter. This is our
risen Lord, wholly other yet still human, mysterious
yet down-to-earth, forever one of us even as he is
forever over us.” ~ Bobby Gross, Living the Christian Year
(IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 209.

Hear Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to come ashore and eat with him, rest from their night of labour.

Respond to Jesus’ invitation to you to come away from your busy day, week, and year. Come, and spend a day of quiet with Him.

Easter Day Retreat – Jesus was Lifted Up (Acts 1:1-11)

Ascension day.

The day Jesus ascended to heaven.

“No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” (John 3:13) It falls on the fortieth day of Easter, always the Thursday of the sixth week.

Ascension day celebrates Christ’s exaltation. While on earth, He was a servant. Now in heaven, He is the Ruler and Lord of all. By entering heaven as the representative of mankind, He completed the work of our salvation and guaranteed the eventual glorification of all who love Him. Just as Jesus went up in the clouds, He will return the same way.

Come to immerse in God’s word and look with the disciples at the Son of Man; “He was lifted up and a cloud took Him out of sight.” (Acts 1:9)