Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in
the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from
the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He
who has been born King of the Jews? For we have
seen His star in the East and have come to worship
Him.” ...When they heard the king, they departed;
and behold, the star which they had seen in the East
went before them, till it came and stood over where
the young Child was. When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they
had come into the house, they saw the young Child
with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped
Him. And when they had opened their treasures,
they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11)

In ancient times gifts were presented to kings when
people went to them. So too, the wise men from the
east brought gifts to the Lord just born. These
outward gifts symbolised internal or spiritual gifts,
namely, such as go forth from the heart. (Secrets of
Heaven no. 4262.3, Revelation Explained no. 661)
In the Lord’s Word, by “gifts” are meant the kinds of
things that are offered to the Lord by a person from
the heart, and which are accepted by Him.
(Secrets of Heaven no. 9293)

In the heavens there is a sharing of all with each and
of each with all. Such sharing goes forth from the
two loves of heaven, which are love of the Lord and
love of the neighbour. Love of the Lord is such
because the Lord's love is a love of sharing
everything it has with all, since it wills the happiness
of all.

 

There is a similar love in everyone of those who love
the Lord, because the Lord is in them. From this
comes the mutual sharing of the delights of angels
with one another. (Heaven and Hell, no. 399)

Reflection: One of the most enduring images of
the season is that of the wise men presenting gifts to
the infant Lord. This part of the story shows us that
giving of ourselves to others—sharing with them the
gifts and talents that we’ve been given—is part of
being truly human. This desire to give of ourselves to
others comes from the Lord, who strives to share
everything that He has with everyone. What is one
way in which you can give of yourself to others today?
 

 

First of all, Happy New Year!  Some of you may have noticed that lately in Friendship Hall, a) it got really cold, b) very soon thereafter it got comfortably warm!  

 

Second, you may have noticed that the concrete pad being pulled up by the tree beside the chapel and the cracked portion of sidewalk have been replaced.  This is all part of the recent effort to catch up on maintenance issues that need our attention, and we owe a debt of gratitude to our Property Manager (Claudia Wood-Osmus) for organizing these efforts.  More on how you can support them in a future newsletter, but for now...THANK YOU!

 

 

 

Several of you may have noticed the banner by the road (and the above snapshot in this newsletter), but we are starting a five week series on the "stages of grief" starting this Sunday!  We are introducing a task each week, so our first opportunity to check in with each other will be with a "meet yourself" style small group after church next week.  Join us! 

 

 

A reminder that we have book (and deposited) for AMC this July, and that Sunday's lunch supports that effort.  Please attend and donate if you can to what promises to be an exciting restart this summer! 

 

 

This week, the pastor submits what will be our next substantial grant request to support the development of our grounds for a family activity center.  For more information on how you can donate to support this (and other upcoming initiatives in the new year), please contact our treasurer Bill Smith: william@sunrisechapel.org