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Finding Joy... sometimes in unexpected ways
How are you doing with practicing last Sunday's topic - resilience? Reminder: it was about rebounding, bouncing back, starting over. If (or when) you or I fall short of a goal, what can we do to get back in the game of life and try again? And sometimes there is more joy in trying again after challenge than if there was no challenge at all. As mentioned in the sermon, Helen Keller is attributed for
this helpful mantra:
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” I think she knows a thing or two about that.
This Sunday, let's continue this series on Finding Joy and ask where is the joy in judging others? Sometimes there is less than angelic joy in assessing someone else and treating him or her in a harsh way. Judgmentalism is caustic. Other times we are invited by another -- a friend, a work associate, a family member -- to offer helpful critique, which is a form of
judgment.
Once again, there is paradox here. We can certainly find joy in judging others, but it is important to our spiritual well-being to judge our own judgment for how loving and wise it is. Angels are supremely good at judging the character of others, while at the same time avoiding unjust judgments. Come this Sunday so we can explore this together!
This series: The word "joy" seems like a pretty exceptional experience, but the Lord clearly says he wants us to experience it fully - which I take to mean all the time. A tall goal, for sure. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." John
15:11
Our granddaughter is out and about!
Welcome Briar Noelle into our family! Rachel and Tyler did such a great job together, and everyone is doing well. Elise is having a wonderful time with them all. They are home and enjoying the innocent sphere of angels who nurture this lovely and miraculous time.
Service Projects
Please see below for the new efforts at community service projects, including SANDWICH MAKING in the church kitchen. For more information, contact Judith 520-390-4112
New Air Conditioning Unit on the Chapel roof!
After a bunch of research, four bids from different companies, and a consensus from our local church Board of Directors, a new AC unit was installed on Wednesday. Just in time for several important events this Saturday - a memorial service in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon. Of course, it will also be an important investment for our Sunday morning church services. We have found in this really hot time of the year that we do need both units
functioning well to maintain comfortable temperatures. Thank you to Tom Waddell and Ken Lee especially for their collaborative work on this project. And thank you to the generous grant from the Asplundh Foundation which allowed us to move forward!
Holy Supper -- Communion -- Next Sunday, September 1st
This will be our next regular time to celebrate the sacrament of the Holy Supper together. We are getting back to our schedule of the first Sunday of every other month. So the next Communion Sunday after this will be November 3rd.
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NEW! Our own Little Free Library
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Thanks to Judith for registering our church's Little Free Library. You can look it up on the website littlefreelibrary.org Charter #91880.
It seems to be working - books are moving.
This is another way to serve people.
Thanks to Chip for fully taking on the design and construction! And thanks to Judith Keane for her support and encouragement of this project and to Nikos Casto for help with installation.
Thanks also to Élise Gladish for her long-held interest in this project. She loves books so much, especially children's books, that almost every time she sees a Little Free Library she takes a photo of it. She has quite a collection of photos. It has been a dream of hers to have such a feature on Sunrise Chapel’s property. ~Nathan
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THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES AT SUNRISE CHAPEL
11 am Worship Service - Nathan Gladish - Finding Joy in Judging Others?
12 noon LUNCHEON - in support of Arizona Mountain Camp
MONDAY 8/26/2018
11 am Tai Chi class (Basic)
6:30 pm Bereavement Support Group
WEDNESDAY 8/28/2019
No Worship Team mtg today
THURSDAY 8/29/2019
11 am Tai Chi class (Yang 24)
Women's Group - Contact Elise Gladish for details
FRIDAY 8/30/2019
No Teen Time with the Pastor tonight
SUNDAY 9/1/2019
10 am Music rehearsal
11 am Worship Service + Holy Supper
12 noon Luncheon
Service Projects to
help people in our community
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Thank you to Judith Keane and Betsy Gladish for organizing these activities!
Judith and Betsy are getting back into facilitating some Community Service Projects again!
Current projects include:
Our "Little Free Library" is up and running. The idea is to "take a book or leave a book" - it's a simple way of serving anyone in the community. If you have any questions, ask Judith Keane or Elise Gladish. If you find any books in our little free library that are "inappropriate or offensive" please remove them and notify Judith or Elise. We hope everyone uses this this new feature in loving and wise ways.
Donations of hats and sunscreen for the homeless continues. Thank you for your donations so far!
Today Friday Aug 23 - Sandwich making for distribution to the homeless @ 9 am at Sunrise Chapel
Sandwich making (especially for kids to help) - Saturday October 12 @ 9 am at Sunrise Chapel
Packing bags for the homeless - Women’s Group project - date TBD
If you are interested or have an idea for a project please call Judith 520-390-4112.
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Readings for this
Sunday's 11 am Worship Service
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The Judgments of the Lord
Psalm 19:9-11
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
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 (Emanuel Swedenborg)
'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.
If 'eye' and 'plank' did not have these meanings, would 'seeing a plank in an eye' have any meaning at all?
The Lord’s Good Judgment
Secrets of Heaven 2335
The Lord never judges anyone except from good, for His will is to lift all people, however many these may be, up to heaven, indeed if it were possible, up to Himself. For the Lord is mercy itself and good itself, and mercy itself and good itself cannot possibly condemn anyone.
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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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