What did various people pray about around the time of the Lord's birth? |
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This Sunday In the stories of the Lord's birth, various Biblical characters
expressed their wonder and hopes in prayerful ways. We will explore their prayers and how we can relate them to our lives. There will also be time set aside during the service for your own prayers for Christmas.
THANK YOU for your part in "The Path"!! Thank you to everyone who helped with our annual live Nativity last Saturday! Our guides led 16 groups of people on this special walk, up from 13 groups last year. It's hard to get an accurate count of the number of people we served, since some went through more than once. But the important thing - to me - is that PEOPLE LOVED IT. I talked with many people beforehand and afterwards, and I was very pleased to hear
their affirmations. "I didn't really know what to expect, and I was delighted by what I experienced." "Very nice! Thank you so much for putting it on." "We come back every year. It's an important part of our
Christmas." "This is our first time, and we'll definitely be back next year!" I'm really proud of everyone's part in this event! It is a wonderful way to welcome the Christmas season for the community of Tucson.
~Nathan
Last Sunday's topic: Beautiful Feet, part 2Last Sunday I was fascinated by the insight that - symbolically speaking - the souls of the Lord's feet represent the final expression of Divine truth. According to Swedenborg,
this means that they correspond to the truth as expressed in the Word, the Bible. I learned afterwards that Swedenborg had a vision of the Lord standing on the Word! For any one of us to stand on the Bible would be disrespectful. But in this vision - and understanding the symbolism - it makes total sense. The Lord's Word is infinite, with internal meaning that we can only begin to explore. And the stories of the Bible are simply the outmost expression - the skin of
the Lord's body so to speak, and specifically the foundational area of the body that is suited to hold up everything else! Of course we regard the stories and the book that contains them as holy, but there is so much more "above" them! Next Sunday - December 17 -
Special Music-oriented serviceThe Sunday before Christmas Eve, we are planning a musically-oriented special worship service, including readings from the Christmas story and reflections on its spiritual meaning, as well as time for meditation and prayer. There will be no separate sermon. A variety of musicians will be involved, and together we will sing some of our favorite Christmas
hymns.
Janna Excell I sent around a separate email notice, but in case you didn't get it, I'm trying to get the word out about our dear friend Janna Excell, a well-known Bereavement and Crisis Counselor who has been associated with Sunrise Chapel
for over 30 years. She died Monday, November 27, surrounded by family and friends, after valiant efforts to recover since late September from a serious bout of pneumonia and other complications. A service will be held on Saturday January 13 at 1 pm at Sunrise Chapel. For more information, contact me. I will be happy to forward you the other email or talk with you personally about
it.
Nathan |
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UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT SUNRISE CHAPEL
11 am Worship Service 12:00 pm Luncheon - Everyone Welcome!
MONDAY 12/11/2017 11 am Tai Chi Class in Friendship Hall TUESDAY 12/12/2017 6:30 pm Bereavement Support Group
WEDNESDAY 12/13/2017 9:30 am Worship Team
meeting 3 pm - NEW DATE/TIME Small Group Study of offTheLeftEye videos (see below) THURSDAY 12/14/2017 NO Women's Group tonight - will resume January 4
1 pm Private Memorial Service and
Reception Evening Outdoor Christmas Gathering in Celebration Garden
11 am Special MUSIC-ORIENTED Worship Service
12:00 pm Luncheon - Everyone Welcome!
Christmas Giving Opportunities |
The Christmas Season is here! We love to make our facility look festive as we welcome visitors, family, and friends from near and far throughout the season. We also have a tradition of sponsoring some charitable giving.
Please consider helping in any of these
ways: 1. Sponsor (or donate towards) a sheep for the Path to Bethlehem (We plan to have 4 sheep (@ $60 each) Thank you for your support. The sheep were a GREAT addition to the P2B, and our shepherd, Beryl, said our young shepherds did very well and learned a lot during the course of the
event.
2. Bake or buy cookies for the Path to Bethlehem Wow! Did we ever have a superlative amount of delicious cookies! Thank you to everyone for your baking donations
3. Contribute towards and/or dedicate a poinsettia (for chancel decorations) to a loved one - $12 for a small, $15 for a large (you may take yours home after the holiday) Elise has purchased lovely poinsettias to adorn our chancel; if you would like to contribute to the cost, you are also welcome to take one home or gift it to someone else
after the holiday.
4. Contribute to live Christmas trees to adorn our chancel - We would like to have several trees at about $75 each One handsome tree is now up on the chancel, looking and smelling great!
5. Angel Tree - Pick a tag from the angel tree and buy an item for a child in need. The Angel Tree will be set up by Dec. 1st This has turned into a do-it-yourself activity. The organization we were planning to donate towards is not accepting gifts.
6. Monetary Collection for a local family’s needs
7. Food for the Community Food Bank (Collection baskets in Chapel lobby)
Questions? Ask Élise Gladish or our Treasurer, Bill Smith
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A Wealth of Fascinating Videos for Discussion -
Now meeting on Wednesdays at
3 pm |
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SWITCHING TO WEDNESDAYS FROM 3-4:30 PM for December 13 & 20 We are experimenting with this new day and time. If you are interested in checking it out, contact me. If the schedule doesn't work for you, and you would like to
consider a different time of day or night, let me know.
Each time we meet, we view parts of an episode from Curtis Childs’ You Tube Channel called “offTheLeftEye”. We hit pause many times throughout each meeting to share questions and ideas with each other. It's really educational and
also just fun. Each video is fast-paced, information-packed, down-to-earth at the same time as being uplifting and “spiritual.” He has so many thought-provoking shows on different topics and of various lengths of time. Currently we are focusing on a few of these episodes.
Join the study and fun! No meetings on December 27 or January 3
~Nathan |
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Readings/lessons for
Reflection |
Prayers at the Foretelling of John the Baptist's Birth
Luke 1:5-15
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and
decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right
side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord..."
What is Prayer?
Secrets of Heaven 2535
Regarded in itself, praying is talking with God, while taking an inward view of the things we are praying about. In answer we receive a similar stream of speech into the perceptions or thoughts of our mind, so that our inner depths open up to God, in a way. The experience
varies, depending on our mood and the nature of the subject we are praying about. If we pray from love and faith and focus on or seek only what is heavenly and spiritual, something resembling a revelation emerges while we pray. It discloses itself in our emotions in the form of hope, comfort, or an inward stirring of joy. That is why praying, in an inner sense, means experiencing revelation.
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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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