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Unity Spiritual Life Center
December 4, 2013 ~ Weekly Update
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MISSION
To be a center of positive, practical, progressive Christianity devoted to helping people awaken to the Spirit within and to inspire one another into a grater experience of God and life through prayer, meditation, education, and service to others.
VISION
To create a loving and engaged Unity Truth Community that transforms the spiritual consciousness of the planet...one thought, one word, one action at a time.
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Sunday, December 8, 2013, 10:30 am
LESSON FOR TODAY: The Joy of Life
The second Sunday in Advent is about joy and celebration. We can begin to understand the depth of this teaching through the words of Jesus in John 10:10: "I came here that they may have life and have it abundantly."
BAPTISM of Angel Maldanado
SPECIAL MUSIC: Synchronicity and Sandy Hemenway
Childcare provided for the service.
MEET & GREET follows the service ~
spend time munching and mingling,
as you greet old friends and meet new ones!
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PAULA'S PERSPECTIVE
YOUR CHOICE
Fear is an amazingly powerful emotion. It causes us to hold on tightly to exactly the thing we don't want. Fear masquerades as having to have it my way because it is the best way...I am protecting others. It shows up as distrust...someone is taking advantage of me or of others and so up goes the shield. We experience fear in our bodies as rigid and resistant...incapable of opening up...and we call this protecting ourselves. We express fear as anger, self-righteousness, superiority, degrading others, hurtful words, jealousy, glaring looks, judgment, gossip and revenge. Yes, the source of all of these emotions is fear.
How do I know this? Well, I believe there are only two sources of all emotions. One source is fear and the other source is love. That's it...two sources, two ways to bring our self to life. We either come from compassion and understanding or from fear in any of its forms. But...you start to say...but what about the tough stuff in my life and the difficult people and the hard times? Don't I have the right to be mad...don't I have a good reason to be jealous or to judge someone? After all they are in the wrong!
Sharon Landsberry is the wife of the middle school teacher Mike, who was killed at the school in October by a 12-year-old boy. She had this to say to the parents of the boy, "Knowing why doesn't matter. My husband laid down his life doing what he loved to do and protecting the ones he loved." And to the interviewer she said "That family is going to grieve just like we are."...and "My husband loved the shooter no matter what."
What is it in your life that is so monumental to rise above than the heartache and pain of the situation in which Sharon found herself? Using her example of coming from love in a most difficult time, what choice can you make to cast fear aside...to release and let go of whatever is causing you to express fear...and to make a conscious choice to relax your body and your mind and heart...and to come from love?
In this season of love, decide to do just that.
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Silent Meditation: 9:30-10am Sunday
First Friday of every month: 7-8:30pm - Fun First Friday
SPECIAL EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
WEDNESDAYS - The Christmas Choir will be practicing at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays through mid December. Share the gift of your voice at USLC over this holiday season. Choir will be singing on Sundays in December (1, 8, 15 and 22) and Christmas Eve at 7:00 p.m.
PRAYER AND HEALING MINISTRY SCHEDULE - Fillmore Chapel. The Prayer and Healing Ministry will be offering bi-monthly gatherings for all who are interested. We will be meeting in the Fillmore Chapel on the first Sunday of a month (after service) and the third Monday of a month at 7:00 p.m. The hour includes time for healing prayer and a guided meditation with the opportunity for a brief hands-on healing. Very relaxing and uplifting. NEXT GATHERING: MONDAY, DECEMBER 16TH AT 7PM. Come join us!
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6TH - Festive First Friday, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Come and gather with your USLC family for our annual tree trimming party. Sing carols while sipping hot cocoa. Bring your favorite Christmas cookies to share, bring an ornament for the tree and bring a friend to share in the Christmas cheer. We'll also spread the joy by creating Christmas cards for a local nursing home. Just the thing to get you into the holiday spirit! Come one, come all, children of all ages welcome!! Let's build community.
CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS - You can purchase a poinsettia in honor of or in memory
of a loved one. We will decorate our sanctuary with your gifts until Christmas Eve when you can take them home to continue to enjoy their beauty. Fill out the slip and attach your check or cash and drop it in the basket at our Sound Booth. Due by December 8th.
CHRISTMAS BOOKSTORE SALE - Give a gift of inspiration from our own USLC Bookstore! THE place to shop for books and gifts for children and adults. Our Bookstore Director, Janice Escott is ready to bargain! Specials include the Four Agreements Gift Set (book + CD's) for $20.00. Thank you for supporting this Ministry!
COMING SOON
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE, December 24th at 7pm. Join us for our Twelve Powers Candle Lighting Service. We will affirm our spiritual nature and light candles as a symbol of expressing our potential to be limitless and unbounded in all ways. We will remember the story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and our own re-birth into the light of a new possibility for our life.
BURNING BOWL SERVICE, December 29th. Participate in a ceremony of releasing all that no longer serves you by writing on paper and burning it in our fire pit. Claim the good you want in the new year by prayerfully writing your intentions. Don't miss this special Sunday!
FUN FIRST FRIDAY, January 3rd, 7-9pm. Mark your calendars for our Dreamscaping Playshop.
WHITE STONE CEREMONY, Sunday, January 5th Revelations 2:17 - "To everyone who overcomes...I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it." Receive your new name from the God of your being. An amazing way to begin the new year.
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YOU CAN HELP USLC GET FREE MONEY
***HOW?***
* Pick up a gift card from Carla; $5 is already on it to get you started.
* Take it to Kroger Customer Service Desk and put your grocery money on
the card.
(Be sure you do this at least 12 hours before you plan to use it. It takes time for it to be put in Kroger's system.)
* Go grocery shopping with the gift card.
This does not affect your regular rewards from Kroger.
Every time you use your card to buy groceries or gas at Kroger, the amount is credited to USLC toward a 5% reward when our total reaches $5000...that's $250 for the Center.
You continue to receive all your regular Kroger rewards. Encourage friends and family to join our fund drive.
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WOW!
No matter what has occurred before, this is a new day, a new hour, and a new moment. You can take hold of joy on the wings of prayer and find yourself lifted into lightness, peace, and courage.
Mary L. Kupferle
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| Sundays:
9:30
Silent Meditation
Fillmore Chapel
10:30
Celebration Service & YOU/Uniteen classes
(Childcare available) | | |
Directions: Exit 175 off of I-85. Turn NORTH on Guess Road; Turn right onto Carver Street. Go approximately half a block; USLC is located in the small business park on your left. |
Opportunities to Serve at USLC
Sunday Service Ministry
Co-directors Rev Paula and Renee Piere. This ministry takes on the responsibility for an exciting and inclusive experience for all who attend Sunday Services. Most team members arrive at least 20 minutes before the start of the service and some stay after everyone is gone to put our space back in order.
* Hospitality Team: Sets up coffee, tea, refreshments, and snacks and puts hospitality area and kitchen back in order at the end of fellowship time.
* Collection Counting Team: Two members count the Sunday collection and fill out the forms necessary for accurately recording tithes and love offerings.
* Greeter/Usher Team: Greets visitors and members, hands out bulletin, and collects the offering during the service.
* Sound Team: Sets up microphones, checks sound with musicians, provides sound control during the service, records service ,and provides CD's for purchase after the service.
* Worship Assistant Team: Reads announcements, provides inspirational reading, and hands out welcome packets.
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Please check out our Facebook Page -- and Click "LIKE" We want to grow our readership! | | |
Join us on Meetup.com
And forward this newsletter to your friends!
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COMMUNITY ZONE
HOUSING REQUEST!
We have a request from Rev. Patricia Veenema, Unity of Mills River, for a 2 night stay, December 9th and 10th, for two women, one of whom will be admitted to Duke Hospital for surgery on the 9th. If anyone has an extra room available, please contact Jeanie Rodgers (919-237-1998) or Paula Zabkar (919-471-3504).
3 Christmas Projects
Social Service Project:
Family - Information on the family and requested items will be on the table in the back of the Sanctuary. Select the item(s) you wish to purchase and bring them to USLC. There will also be a sign up sheet available for those who would like to participate and have not already signed up.
Deadline for items is December 15 (Sunday).
Holiday Gift Bags for Carolina House of Durham - I
nformation on requested items will be in the Sunday Bulletin. There will also be a sign up sheet available for those who would like to participate and have not already signed up. Deadline for items is December 22 (Sunday).
Caroling at Carolina House of Durham - There will be a sign up sheet in the back of the Sanctuary for those who would like to participate and have not already signed up. Wear festive holiday clothes. Carolers will meet at the Carolina House at 1:00pm on December 8 (Sunday).
KEEPING UP: What's happening in your neighborhood? Are you traveling, hosting visiting friends or relatives, having a yard sale, announcements, other activites? Send your information to rodgers.jean@gmail.com by Tuesday of each week.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
HOW INDEPENDENT ARE WE?
Excerpt from Craig Hamilton,
Integral Enlightenment
The call to independence is in its essence a call to freedom, and it's been responsible for profound cultural advances -- from the ending of publicly condoned slavery to the steady advancement of human rights.
Where our spirituality is concerned, however, our attachment to independence may be one of the greatest obstacles on our path. To truly realize our highest potentials, our individual work is often not quite enough. Ultimately, we need to engage in transformative interactions with other people who share our aspiration to evolve. It's a simple idea. But its implications run deep.
For instance, this notion that we can't walk the spiritual path alone may resonate with part of you - - the part that longs for connection and support on your journey. Yet you might also be aware of some resistance to this suggestion. In our modern world, in which independence has become almost a religion, the notion that we need other people for anything can seem almost like heresy. If we were to embrace such an idea, wouldn't we be giving away our power and our freedom?
When we think about traditional depictions of the spiritual path, the picture that often comes to mind is also of a solitary, independent journey. The lone sage on the mountaintop...The yogi alone in the cave...The hermit in a hut... The wandering pilgrim. Even if we attend church services or classes or meditation groups, most of us still tend to think of our spiritual path as a private, internal, solo quest in which we are the sole determining factor of our own spiritual destiny.
But how independent are we, really?
Although we like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient, the reality is that we are social creatures. Our ability to co-exist with one another depends on our willingness to abide within a matrix of shared values, assumptions, and agreements about what is real, what is important, and what is acceptable behavior. So unless we surround ourselves with others who share our deepest spiritual values and aspirations, we almost inevitably find ourselves fighting against a kind of invisible but powerful "social gravity." And it pulls us back into the unenlightened, unevolved "world mind" we're trying to break free from.
Not only is shared spiritual inquiry a potent accelerator of our own evolution, I've also come to believe that we stand a much better chance of moving the mountains many of us dream of moving if we do it together.
Ultimately, insistence upon pure "independence" is an obstacle -- to our evolution beyond ego and into the truly enlightened relationship to life that will yield the world we yearn to create. To be an effective, spiritual evolutionary is to embrace and cultivate the support of other spiritual evolutionaries.
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MINISTRIES
Creativity and Play Ministry: Director: Robin Johnson. This ministry schedules an event each month that is fun and provides an opportunity for fellowship.
Bookstore Ministry: Director: Janice Escott. Many people love to browse our books and gifts after the service on Sunday. Team members are available to ring up and record purchases.
Music Ministry: Works on special singing projects during the year including Christmas and Easter. Team members sing on Sundays.
Healing and Prayer Ministry: Co-directors Lisa Giragosian and Rev Paula. Twice monthly this team conducts healing and prayer service. Team prays with members requesting prayer one on one and also prays for requests dropped into our prayer box. One member carries the prayer box at the Offertory during the Sunday Service.
Youth Education Ministry: This essential ministry provides Sunday lessons from an established curriculum for our youth during the 10:30 service.
Adult Education Ministry: Director: Rev Paula. Unity classes are offered for credit and other classes for spiritual enrichment by Rev Paula and other teachers.
Media and PR Ministry: Co-director: Jeanie Rodgers and Renee Piere This team handles all things media...social, print, electronic and visual.
Earthcare Ministry: This team is focused on activities related to caring for our planet. If you are called to this ministry you can help guide us into the next greatest expression for how we accomplish this goal.
Community Service Ministry: Giving to our community and to the world is important at USLC. This team helps identify ways we can do this and organizes our efforts.
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