The Joy of Spiritual Growth series
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#3 Not identifying with negative emotions
This Sunday we continue our series on tools for improving spiritual growth. Each topic is about a practical "task" we can do individually during the week in order to make more progress in letting go of negatives and adopting healthy alternatives. This time we'll consider a basic formula for experiencing heaven in the moment - by letting go of our tendency to blame ourselves for negative emotions instead of realizing where they
really come from.
Follow-up on a Visit from Bishop Peter Buss, Jr and his wife, Teresa
Thank you to Peter and Teresa Buss for visiting Sunrise Chapel last weekend. Peter visited in his role as Assistant Bishop and as the incoming Executive Bishop when Brian Keith retires this summer.
I thought the meetings were very useful, and Peter did a very good job of listening intently and learning as much as he could in person about Sunrise Chapel.
Thank you to everyone for showing up for the various events! We had 78 people in the church service and had to set up an extra table for the luncheon!
If you want to follow up with additional thoughts, contact him directly on his cell phone at 215-480-2546 or by email Peter.Buss.Jr@newchurch.org
Another Great Tucson Festival of Books
On March 2 & 3 we had another successful weekend opportunity to share our “Choose Joy Now” Spiritual Growth ministry with lots of people at the world-class Festival of Books on the U of A. Thank you to everyone who helped and supported, especially Kelly Woofenden, our CEO of the Arizona Spiritual Growth Foundation. She was at the booth both days, all day. We always have so many fascinating conversations with people. We handed out about 300 task cards from our card decks to individuals who we
had conversation with, some only brief, others very extended. Some people came back after last year to get another deck.
To continue our momentum, we have started three new spiritual growth groups (see schedule below). Just contact the leaders with questions or to let them know of your interest.
A note about my email address
This past Wednesday, my email address was the target of a malicious "spoofing" attempt to scare me into sending money to an unidentified "bad guy." My computer expert says this is unfortunately a fairly common occurrence when an email address is featured on public sites (such as the church's website or social media) as my email address is. It is unlikely, but possible, for this breach to have a ripple effect.
If you receive something unusual or suspicious supposedly from my email account or referencing it, or if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know.
With love and respect,
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THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES AT SUNRISE CHAPEL
4:45 pm Teen Talk Small Group
11 am Worship
12 noon LUNCHEON
MONDAY 3/18/2018
No Tai Chi class (Basic) this week (Spring Break)
6:30 pm Bereavement Support Group
WEDNESDAY 3/20/2019
9:30 am Worship Team today
1 pm afternoon Spiritual Growth Group, led by Nathan Gladish
6:30 pm evening Spiritual Growth Group, led by Frank Rose
No Tai Chi (Yang 24) this week (Spring Break)
7 pm Women's Group - Contact Elise Gladish for details
4:45 pm Teen Talk Small Group
SUNDAY 3/24/2019
11 am Worship
12 noon LUNCHEON
New Spiritual Growth
Groups
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New Series of Sunday Talks featuring Spiritual Growth Tasks:
The topics of the coming Sunday messages will be based the "Card Deck" of 52 Spiritual Growth Tasks:
Sunday, Feb. 24 - Stair Climb (card deck task #13)
Sunday, Mar. 3 - Self Observation (card deck task #33)
Sunday, Mar. 17 - Non-Identification (card deck task #3)
Sunday, Mar. 24 - Golden Rule (card deck task #5)
Sunday, Mar. 31 - Getting Out of Prison (new task)
Sunday, Apr. 7 - Turn a Blind Eye (card deck task #22)
New Weekly Small Groups featuring Spiritual Growth Tasks:
Wednesday afternoons 1:00 to 2:00 pm in the Chapel, starting March 6 for 7 weeks, led by Nathan Gladish
Wednesday evenings 6:30 to 8 pm in the Chapel, starting March 13 for 8 weeks, leader Frank Rose, co-leader Judith Keane.
Thursday evenings 7:00 to 8:30 pm Women's Group in homes, starting March 7 for 6 weeks, led by Elise Gladish and Kelly Woofenden
You can also find the tasks and supporting information about them on www.choosejoynow.org
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Introducing basic watercolor techniques
Friday, March 15 from 2 to 4 pm in Friendship Hall.
No materials or experience required. $20
Sign-up with Frank Rose
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Readings for this
Sunday's Church Service
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John 15:1-8
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
Divine Providence §321
If we convince ourselves of the appearance that wisdom and prudence come from ourselves and are therefore within us as our own possessions, it necessarily seems to us that if this were not the case we would not be human at all, only animals or statues; and yet the truth is just the opposite.
A law of divine providence says that we are to think in apparent autonomy and act prudently in apparent autonomy but are to recognize that this comes from the Lord.
It follows that if we do in fact think and act in apparent autonomy and also recognize that it is coming from the Lord we are human, but that we are not human if we convince ourselves that everything we think and do comes from ourselves.
Nor are we human if we simply wait for something to flow in because we know that wisdom and prudence come from God. In this case, we are like statues, while in the former case we are like animals.
If we believe that everything we think and do comes from ourselves, we are not all that different from animals. After all, we are then thinking solely with our earthly mind, the mind that we have in common with animals, and not with our spiritual rational mind, which is our truly human mind. It is this latter mind that realizes that only God thinks autonomously and that we think from God.
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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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