Home is Where the Heart Is
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a family playing cards
Where or when are you most at home?
This Sunday I want to explore together what it means to be at home. Not only will we celebrate Mothers Day with acknowledgements, prayers, and songs, but let's also look at the larger picture of what "home" means, including spiritually. The Bible and the teachings of our church have a lot to say to encourage us to be at home with the Lord, with each other, and with ourselves.
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What's new for this Sunday's worship service?
A special guest musician for one thing! See more info below.
WHEN WILL IN-PERSON CHURCH SERVICES RESTART?
That is a very good question! Not this Sunday. Arizona's Governor is considering allowing more normal activity as of May 15, but that includes continuing to practice distancing and other safety and health mandates. And I would caution that if your health is compromised in any way to continue to stay at home.
Even when churches do "reopen," what will that look like?
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please contact me by email, text, or phone. I'd love to hear from you!
In the meantime, I will continue offering church services by livestream. I hope to "see" you!
With love and respect and prayers for everyone's well-being, physically and spiritually,
Nathan
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What's new for this Sunday's Worship service?
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Continuing to improve our livestreaming
This Sunday, I'm experimenting with not having a full-length "curtain" behind the altar. Instead, I installed a shorter cloth at the top of the bay window that acts as an umbrella to shade the Word so the direct sunlight won't be as intense on it. In person, the human eye compensates for the bright light, but it's too much for the camera to adjust. With more control over the camera settings, this new shade will
hopefully allow us to have the view without too much backlighting. Let me know what you think!
Also this Sunday we welcome a guest musician! Liz Rose Zeno will be in town and has graciously accepted my invitation to help with music. Unfortunately our guitarist, Pablo, hurt his hand a week ago, and he is on the mend.
I'm also looking forward to introducing a beautiful and thoughtful new song by Diccon Lee called "Heaven's Gate." The lyrics ask the question, "What does it take to make a house a home?"
Apologies for the less-than-stellar sound quality of our livestream last Sunday! Afterwards, we discovered a little boo-boo, and it will be remedied this Sunday. I think you'll notice a big improvement!
Unfortunately, last Sunday the camera control software also decided to go on strike toward the end of my sermon. A couple of hours of troubleshooting seems to have corrected the problem - I hope!!
It's all part of the learning curve! Thank you for your patience, and for hanging in there while we continue to figure things out.
Livestreaming links for our You Tube channel
See below for the You Tube link or click here. You can also find it easily on the home page of our website sunrisechapel.org
Please note: If you subscribe to our You Tube channel and turn on notifications for the channel, you should automatically get an alert when the service goes live. (In order to subscribe and get notifications, just sign up for a free account with You Tube.)
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Photo: ZOOM logo
After church, Zoom at Noon this Sunday!
This is a casual "check in." Everyone is welcome. It's fun to see each other and say hello. You can pop in for a bit and leave whenever you need to. It's also nice to get some feedback from folks about the church service.
Here are the instructions:
AFTER the service ends, we will take a little break. Get a snack, if you want.
Then at NOON, join the Zoom meeting with either the link or the phone-in instructions below.
To join the Zoom meeting, click on this link at NOON:
https://zoom.us/j/414341900
If you need the Meeting ID, it is: 414 341 900
(Zoom is making it a requirement to have a password, but not for this Sunday's meeting. I will update the meeting invitation for NEXT Sunday.)
If you ONLY want to call in (without your computer or video), use one of these phone numbers and follow the prompts. You will have to enter the Meeting ID. You will be able to listen and talk (but you won’t see anyone and no one will see you).
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 414 341 900
A note about managing Zoom security
For the sake of security, last week I added a "waiting room" feature to our Zoom call. When you join the meeting, you will enter this "waiting room" until I as the leader "let you in". Also, as the meeting manager, I can block or turn off video or audio if necessary.
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A New Video about Spiritual Questions
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Our Office of Outreach is working on producing some new videos, and now they want our help to promote the first one!
The snapshot above is a frame from the latest video featuring a number of my colleagues who all teach at the Bryn Athyn College. They are pictured being interviewed about the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" You can see the 10-minute video on the New Church You Tube Channel. Here's the direct link -- https://youtu.be/cJvGcGinjv4
Please help promote this effort
You can help organically promote this video by watching it, liking it, adding a comment, and sharing it. The team behind this has spent many hours editing and fine-tuning, and now they simply want to get it to a broad audience.
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Photo: laptop + coffee
Weekday Meditation (9:00-9:30 am MT) This is the link for the Monday meditation that I lead, but it is also the same link for the rest of the weekdays, led by other folks. Try it! You might like it!
ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES:
New Church Vineyard (This is a RICH source of KID-ORIENTED content for all sorts of stories from the Bible and the teachings of Swedenborg. Use this for family worship and for "Sunday school" type activities to enhance your spiritual lives at home.)
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Sunrise Chapel phone directory
Elise and I are putting the finishing touches on the latest iteration of our Chapel's phone directory. Copies will be printed Saturday and available at the church. We will also organize a mailing to send hard copies to everyone listed in the directory. You can email or text or call me or Elise with any questions or preferences. ~Nathan
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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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