The Joy of Spiritual Caring - part 7 |
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The Joy of Making Good Judgments We're constantly making judgments - about ourselves, about others, about the weather, the way people drive, products we might buy, mistakes the Cardinals made last season, etc. The list is endless. And yet Jesus said, "Do not judge, and you will not be
judged."
Wait, what?
Yes, let's explore this together. It really is a joy to make good judgments, including judgments that show we care about others. And I think the Lord smiles on our sincere efforts.
I hope you are enjoying this series, "The Joy of Spiritual
Caring." I'm having a good time working on creating spiritual growth tasks that apply inwardly as well as outwardly - first to ourselves individually and secondly to show care to others. I thought last week's task was especially useful, thanks to the worship team's input - Hold hope... for yourself and for others.
Serve More People Team meeting this Sunday after
lunch Last month, on July 16, we met and brainstormed an idea to have a series of special-event services on Sundays. The first one we want to plan is a "Care Fair" to spread the word about various activities that we already do as a church to care for others... and to welcome people to get involved. In this Sunday's meeting we'll continue to plan for this, and I also want us to look ahead and start planning other
special-event services that involve participation and take collaborative planning to pull off. Join us this Sunday after the luncheon to continue the conversation and planning.
Sky News
And now for something astronomical! The upcoming Eclipse on August 21 Below is an interesting website that goes into some detail about the epic solar eclipse coming up in a little over a week. This page is what you need to know about
viewing it in Tucson on Monday morning, August 21. We will only see it as a partial eclipse locally, but the page shows the path of the total eclipse across the whole USA.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/tucson
There's also information about the Perseid meteor shower at this link:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html
This shower peaks on the night of August 12.
With love and respect, Nathan
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UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT SUNRISE CHAPEL 11 am Sunday Worship Service 12:00 pm Luncheon - Everyone Welcome! Serve More People Team meeting after lunch
MONDAY 8/14/2017 11 am Tai Chi Class in Friendship Hall Swedenborg Study Small Group - time to be determined (contact Nathan)
TUESDAY 8/15/2017 6:30 pm Bereavement
Support Group
WEDNESDAY 8/16/2017 9:30 Worship Team meeting in Pastor's
office THURSDAY 8/17/2017
9 am - 4 pm Life Line Health Screening in Friendship Hall
11 am Tai Chi Class in the Chapel 6 pm Global Chant in the Chapel 6:30 pm New Church Foundations Class 7 pm Women's Group. Contact Elise G, Betsy G, or Kelly W for location 11 am Sunday Worship Service 12:00 pm Luncheon - Everyone Welcome!
Life Line Health Screening Event this Thursday in Friendship Hall |
This event is open to anyone. It is put on by an organization that rents our Friendship Hall for the day. Preregistration for screenings is required by phone or at their website.
Life Line
Screening will be at Sunrise Chapel this Thursday, August 17, 2017 offering five safe, painless, non-invasive preventive health screenings that are typically not a part of a routine physical. Appointments are limited, so please sign up now by calling 1-800-690-6495 and receive a $10 discount off the package or text the word circle to 797979 or visit Life Line Screening’s website at www.lifelinescreening.com/communitycircle
Complete Wellness Package which includes 4
vascular tests and osteoporosis screening for $149 ($139 with the special Facebook discount). Speak with the Life Line Screening representative for more package options. All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete.
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Small Group opportunities |
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Study Group of Topics from Swedenborg - Mondays Hey there! Are you interested in digging a little deeper into the teachings based on Swedenborg's works? I am looking for folks who want to join with me in an open group for study and discussion. We will use different resources, depending on the interests of the group. Two online resources will be episodes of Curtis Childs' "OfftheLeftEye" broadcasts and Jonathan Rose's "Spirit and Life Bible Study" classes. Dates and time to be determined by discussion with interested participants. Contact me to tell me
your interest and timing preference.
New Church Foundations Series - ThursdaysThis 7-week series of small group classes highlights the main teachings of our church, and helps give insight into what the New Church movement and the global organization is all about. This is also highly recommended for
introduction to baptism and membership in our church.
Open to anyone whether you are a recent newcomer or long-time member who wants a refresher.
One of the things I love about this course is the questions people bring!! It’s an opportunity to ask and discuss any question, no matter how basic.
I started this series on Thursday evening, August 10 at 6:30 pm. The group is still open, and we can adjust the time to a little
earlier if participants prefer.
Contact me to express your interest or discuss timing for either of these groups.
~Nathan
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Readings/Lessons for this Sunday |
Moses' Father-in-law Gives Some Helpful Advice
Exodus 18:13-24
Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his
father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”
Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these
people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as
officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
On Judging Others
Luke 6:37-42
Jesus said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you.”
He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like
their teacher.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Symbolism of Plank and Speck
Secrets of Heaven 9051
'Noticing a speck in another's eye' means seeing something erroneous in a person's
understanding of truth; 'the plank in
one's own eye' is huge evil of falsity, since 'wood' in
the internal sense means good and in the contrary sense evil. Good is also represented in the next life by a plank, which is why those who pretend to have good within themselves are seen carrying a plank, walking in safety as they do so. If 'eye' and 'plank' did not have these meanings, would 'seeing a plank in an eye' have any meaning at all?
The Nature of God's Judgment
True Christianity 50
Love, with everything that belongs to it, flows into wisdom and takes up residence there like a monarch or a realm or a head of a household. The actual administration of justice is something love leaves to wisdom's judgment; and since justice relates to love and judgment to wisdom, this means that love
leaves the administration of love to its [partner,] wisdom. More light will be shed on this secret in what follows. For now, the statement above will have to serve as a general rule. |
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Helping people experience heavenly joy through spiritual growth www.sunrisechapel.org
nathan@sunrisechapel.org Office 520-298-1245
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