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Gratitude for You
During this week of Thanksgiving, I want to share my gratitude for this church and all you who are part of it.
By attending and participating in any way, big or small, you turn the Chapel into a community.
By helping each other and also by serving people beyond our membership, you show the world we care.
By welcoming visitors and newcomers from all walks of life, you show that we are about encouraging spiritual community.
Sunrise Chapel is a precious place, a precious community, because each person is precious in the Lord's sight.
Thank you for being part of the miracle and the challenge of growing the Lord's church in this locale. I am grateful to be part of it all.
Topic for this Sunday
The Lord Does His Best Work Through Each Other
This Sunday I'll talk about one of my favorite quotations from Emanuel Swedenborg. Here is a snippet: "The Lord is present with a person the moment he/she starts to love the neighbor." (Secrets of Heaven 904) See below for more details.
No church service on Thanksgiving Day
In years past, we used to hold a worship service on Thanksgiving Day, often outdoors in the Celebration Garden followed by a luncheon. Several years ago we shifted that to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Last Sunday our Chapel and Friendship Hall were humming with the participation of over 80 people including visitors from in town and beyond.
Thank you to everyone who brought food for the food bank
It was special to have all the food that you brought placed on the chancel as a way of asking the Lord's blessing on our offerings to the community food bank. And they came in handy as visual aids in the children's talk!
Last Sunday's super deluxe Thanksgiving luncheon
One first-time guest said "This is the best potluck meal I've ever had!" Thank you to everyone for making our annual Thanksgiving feast such a good community-building event.
Lots more coming up and going on - see below for details!
Thinking of you all with love and respect,
Nathan
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Progress for our Annual Path to Bethlehem on Saturday December 1
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Thank you for your help!
We are making progress in our preparations for this annual event. The sets are getting set up, most of the cast is accounted for, including some sheep, cookies are being baked, advertising is being arranged. And there is still plenty more to do.
Thank you to those who are able to help with monetary donations!
If you feel called to give to this cause, please add a memo so our treasurer knows your donation is for the Path to Bethlehem.
* We have sponsors for several sheep, but we need one more. (Or you could give a portion.) $60 per sheep.
* Donate toward Christmas trees for the Chapel - about $75 each
* Help us improve our event sets, lighting, and sound equipment - any amount will help up to $150
* Safety "event signage" on Wrightstown Road - $40
The Path to Bethlehem SCHEDULE
4:00 pm Pizza supper for cast & crew in Friendship Hall
4:15 pm Start getting in costume (Elise will group people)
4:45 pm Pizza dinner over; clean up in Friendship Hall
5:40 pm Deadline for everyone in place & ready for first group
6-8 pm THE PATH TO BETHLEHEM!
8:05 pm Return costume... Celebrate! Enjoy refreshments in Friendship Hall
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UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT SUNRISE CHAPEL
HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!
[No church service today]
No Tai Chi today
No Women's Group tonight
4:30 pm TEEN TIME plus Campus Cleanup afterwards
2:30 - 9:30 pm Private Event in Friendship Hall
SUNDAY 11/25/2018
9:30 am Bible Study with Michael Brown (Library)
6:30 pm Bereavement Support Group (in the small room of the Chapel)
WEDNESDAY 11/28/2018
9:30 am Worship Team meeting
1 pm Bible Study - Gospel of Luke
4:30 pm TEEN TIME plus Campus Cleanup afterwards
The Path to Bethlehem SCHEDULE!!
4:00 pm Pizza supper for cast & crew in Friendship Hall
4:15 pm Start getting in costume (Elise will group people)
4:45 pm Pizza dinner over; clean up in Friendship Hall
5:40 pm Deadline for everyone in place & ready for first group
6-8 pm THE PATH TO BETHLEHEM!
8:05 pm Return costume... Celebrate! Enjoy refreshments in Friendship Hall
SUNDAY 12/2/2018
10 am Music rehearsal
11 am Worship First Sunday of Advent!
Weekly Bible Study:
1 pm Wednesdays |
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"Open" group - anyone welcome
Wednesdays from 1-2 pm
Each Wednesday, "rain or shine." Dive into the details of the Gospel story from Luke's perspective. It's amazing how much there is to talk about in just a couple of verses! The Bible is the most important and fascinating book in the world. The teachings of Swedenborg say the Bible story has layer upon layer of
spiritual meaning. We will go at the group's pace, taking questions and comments as they come up. It's a study, not a lecture.
Anyone welcome. We meet in the small room off the lobby of the main Chapel.
Bring a Bible, bring a friend.
~Nathan
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One final meeting in this Book Study
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We have one last chapter in this study of life after death. This week we looked as positively and mercifully as possible about the existence of "hell" and discussed "good things" about it. On Thursday, November 29 we will conclude our study.
For Thursday, November 29, please read Chapter 10 "Coming Home." Bring your questions and comments!
Nathan
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Fundraising Gala Friday February 8, 2019 |
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Location: La Mariposa
Activity: Dinner + Musical Entertainment + Auction fundraising event!
NEW INFORMATION:
Preparations continue. This Sunday several people will meet again at La Mariposa to discuss more details of the layout and the schedule of the evening.
"After 7" will be our band entertainment for the evening. They are a local band, most of them from one talented family, who sing and play a variety of tunes, including some beautifully harmonious a capella pieces. They are very upbeat, fun, and lively!
The idea of this event is to provide a fun, social evening, including a meal, entertainment, and an auction of goods and services that a broad audience will bid on. This kind of event is not only fun,
but it can also be morale-boosting as we work together on a common project. It can also be an opportunity to welcome friends and others who appreciate Sunrise Chapel.
It will take collaboration and lots of planning to pull it off.
Put a big star on your calendar for Friday February 8, 2019. Consider it a big "date night" or some special event with family and friends. It's gonna be great! ~Nathan
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When you give to Sunrise Chapel's general operating fund, you are supporting a spiritual community as well as our down-to-earth efforts to serve more people
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Thank you for considering Sunrise Chapel in your charitable giving
Every church organization has many financial obligations, but the most important thing your gift supports is a sense of spiritual community among people who share a vision for serving more people with our message and our love. Sunrise Chapel relies on the generosity and dedication of donors to pay the bills so the important and meaningful ministries to many people can continue.
If you write a check, make it to Sunrise Chapel.
The PayPal button here takes you to an option for either a one-time or a monthly donation.
Thank you from our Treasurer, Bill Smith
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A Reading for
this Sunday's church service
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The Lord’s Presence
Secrets of Heaven 904
The degree of love we feel for our neighbor and of faith we have determines the extent to which the Lord can be described as present with us. The Lord is present in neighborly love because he is present in everything good, but he is not as present in so-called faith devoid of love.
Faith without love and charity is a detached or disconnected thing. Wherever there is union, there must be a uniting medium, and the only uniting medium is love and charity. Anyone can see this by considering that the Lord shows mercy to everyone, loves everyone, and wants to make everyone happy forever. As a result, those who lack sufficient love to have mercy on others, love them, and want to make them happy cannot unite with the Lord, because they are unlike him and are anything but his
image. To gaze at the Lord through the lens of supposed faith and yet hate others is not only to stand far removed from the Lord, it is also to put a deep, hellish gulf between yourself and the Lord, a gulf you will fall into if you try to approach him. Hatred for other people is that intervening, hellish chasm.
The Lord’s presence with us first becomes possible when we love our neighbor. Within love is the Lord, and so far as we have love, the Lord is present.
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Your church home for partnering with the Lord and each other in the practice of cultivating spiritual growth and choosing heavenly joy www.sunrisechapel.org nathan@sunrisechapel.org Office 520-298-1245 |
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