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February 2005 Beloved Friends, It seems we just put away all the Christmas decorations and now it’s time for Lent! Yes, preparations for Easter begin in February with Ash Wednesday on February 9th. Lent has always held deep meaning for me. It is a time in which we can concentrate our thoughts, prayers and meditations on knowing the healing power of God in our life. The soul yearns to know it is complete in God. I believe this is the intention of the spiritual seeker – to know the Higher Self, to know God. There is really no other need than to know God and express the divine qualities that God has breathed into us. We each need to heal, to be complete, and to live life from the inside out if we are to be the divine expressions of life, love and wisdom. I will be having a series of seven Sunday messages on The Path to the Higher Self beginning the first Sunday in February. Each week we will explore the spiritual basics necessary to know our Higher Self. Each message will build upon the foundation that spiritual mastery is ours to claim and manifest. The series will culminate on Easter Sunday with the theme: Overcoming! I have always loved this acronym for Lent: Let’s Eliminate Negative Thinking. Spiritual growth is growth in consciousness. It takes our commitment and preparation, our willingness to always move forward. The question before us this Lenten season is two-fold: How is God inviting me to live my Divine Nature? What lesser ways of seeing myself am I ready to shed in order to step into the greater? This month is filled with great happenings at Unity Church of the Bay Area. Come and be a part of the great spiritual journey with us! Although the path may seem rocky at times, the Truth is that God is with us every step of the way. Together we can love and support each other and claim the Higher Self! In Christ Love, MARK'S MUSINGS It’s the beginning of February already! Valentine's Day and the beginning of Lent happen this month. As I am writing this, I am drawn to keep us in touch with our vision here at Unity Church of the Bay Area. We envision a magnificent spiritual center of Love, beholding a world in which all people honor each other and live together in peace and harmony. I invite you to keep these ideas in mind for the next month: Do I have a clear vision of the kind of church I want to be a part of here at Unity Church of the Bay Area? Am I clear that God is truly the source of our good, and thankful of the blessings we have received so far? What am I motivated to do to be a part of the Church? Do I trust my intuition and wisdom in these matters? Am I continually seeking and acknowledging God in every area of my life? I want to commend our congregation for the incredible results we have attained with our Building Fund. I believe that we have manifested powerful results because as a congregation, we have a powerful "collective consciousness" of giving. From this consciousness we WILL see our vision come alive! With an unshakeable faith and trust in the goodness of life, we can create goodness for ourselves and others in this world. So we must continue to strive to know God and let Spirit work through us. Abundance is first created in the mind! Take some time this month to think about and visualize the church of your dreams. Give yourself a few moments to see and feel what the new church would be like. Take time to pray and meditate on this Divine Idea. Our Board of Trustees is always open to your ideas and feedback. Thank you for taking the time to create a consciousness of abundance and prosperity for all! BOARD TALK The Board voted to split January’s tithe between Unity School of Christianity and Positive Christianity.org, the internet prayer ministry of Rev. Chris Chenoweth. Evidence of our church’s prosperity consciousness shows in the remarkable strides we are making in our Building Fund. The 150 angels on the Christmas tree represented donations of $15,000, achievement of a goal that seemed grandiose, as some of us now admit. To reflect the status of the Building Fund, a poster to be placed in the Gathering Room will mark our progress. Currently the Fund stands at $81,000. You likely have noticed the new white chairs in the Angel Wing and Light House. They were purchased to replace the older pink chairs, which were donated to the omega house in San Leon. For those who need a cushion to be comfortably seated on these new chairs, plans are underway to purchase fifteen cushions. The Board approved purchase of ten new, upholstered chairs for over-flow use in the Sanctuary. Equipment purchases this month include a color laser printer and replacements for our carpet cleaner and vacuum cleaner. Team Ministries report all teams are doing well. The Youth Ed Team will be recognized at Sunday service on January 30th. The Special Events Team will facilitate a potluck dinner after services on February 20th, the Sunday when Marienne Kreitlow and Jerry Ford are with us to present a special service and a concert. The Development Team is bursting with ideas, but no active Building Fund event is scheduled at the moment. We’re a terrific group of people! YOUTH ED Thank you for the blessings from all those who lovingly give of their time and talent to our Youth Ed Ministry! We had a special blessing of these leaders the last Sunday of January, and all were given a pin with the words “Serving Unity Children.” This brought to mind that as a child of God (even if we appear as an adult!), all of us really are Unity children. As leaders and teachers on Sunday, most of us feel that more often than not, we learn more from our students than they do from us. So it seems that by serving others, we ourselves are served and blessed even more. And it always seems that what we need to be reminded of most or learn anew is precisely the lesson that we are given to prepare for our next class. It is a continual mystery and a constant joy to me how God plans everything so beautifully! Our children are growing up so fast these days and seem to be exposed to so many things that we perceive as potential threats. Concerns for our children extend well beyond the normal safety precautions and common sense thinking that most of us grew up with. How then can we make a difference or have a positive influence in just one hour a week? We can because we are there for them, listening, teaching and demonstrating our core values as expressed in our Unity Principles. We can because we allow God into our lives to work through us. We can because there are few things in life that are more rewarding than a heartfelt smile or hug from a child. Thank you for entrusting your children to us on Sundays. They truly are our greatest blessings! Youthful blessings, SUNDAYS IN FEBRUARY February 6, 2005 February 13, 2005 February 20, 2005 February 27, 2005 NEW MEMBERS! We welcomed into full membership Steve Broom, Debra DeNicola, Ann Rasch, and Karen Satterwhite and Rick Satterwhite. We celebrate you and behold the Christ in you! CIRCLE OF HEARTS February is the month we normally think of as the month for lovers. Who better to start with than ourselves? Mary Pat Gunn will guide us further along the path of loving ourselves. She will talk to our Circle Thursday, February 27th about being a “life coach.” Don’t know what a life coach is? Well, the short version is that life coaches help people to create balance, find support to handle challenges, and discover their own gifts. In so doing we learn to know ourselves more fully, find prosperity, and are able to find the energy to deal with all of the things happening in our lives. Mary Pat will help us learn more about what finding and committing to a life coach is all about. Also, she will facilitate the group in some exercise to help all of us along the way to more balance and love in our lives. So, please come and join Mary Pat Gunn and Circle of Hearts on Thursday, February 24th at 7:00 in the evening right here at church. We hope to see you there! Ash Wednesday Healing Service Ash Wednesday begins one of the most powerful and sacred times of the year. Lent is a time of preparation for our own personal resurrection – a new sense of freedom, vitality and joy. Join us in this sacred service as we pray and meditate and open ourselves to the infinite possibilities of God's transformative power in our lives. Let’s Eliminate Negative Thinking! A Celebration of Commitment: The Renewal of Wedding Vows The spoken word is powerful. To renew your wedding vows with friends and family is a powerful way to honor your marriage and to claim even greater future blessings. Reverend Steve will be performing a vow renewal service for all couples who would like to reaffirm their commitment to each other. It will be a sacred service to honor the commitment you have made to each other. Celebrate Valentine’s Day early by choosing to celebrate your commitment to each other! Ego Honey, the Chatterbox, by Janie Neill A friend’s two-year-old granddaughter Samantha recently taught me a good lesson about dealing with my inner chatterbox. Sam is going through a stage where she talks nonstop. You can stop everything, give Sam your undivided attention, discuss thoroughly whatever subject she is chattering about and think the subject is closed. Wrong! Sam continues on. She will only stop to sing or to sleep. We all thank heaven that Samantha loves to sing. I decided that if singing works with Samantha then it might work on Howard Cosell. Since I’m not really musical, I do a silent chant. Any repetitious thought will do. “I rest in God.” “Peace. Be still.” “God’s peace. My release...” or simply “ohm.” Now when Ego Honey (my term of endearment for my ego) starts to chatter I begin my chant, figuratively putting my fingers in my ears, punctuating it with “I can’t hear you. Just kidding, Ego Honey.” It is necessary to tell her I’m joking. Because believe me, you don’t want to get Ego Honey riled. This simple technique quiets Ego Honey. Every time I notice the chatterbox is at it again. I go back to the chant. The only problem is that Ego Honey is so clever about her distractions that sometimes she has rattled on for a while before I become aware. It has kind of become a game Ego Honey and I play. “Caught you again, Ego Honey. That’s one point for the Holy Spirit.” Ego Honey never gets any points. I figure that is the way God does it. He gives us credit for awareness, but never subtracts anything for mistakes, and besides this assures me that the Holy Spirit is winning. Hey, Ego Honey, it’s over when this fat lady sings! COMING IN MARCH! TRASHBASH 2005 TREASURER’S REPORT December 2004 Building Fund Income $11,475.00 Total Income $ 26,126.00 Expenses and Tithe -14,711.00 Net Income $ 11,415.00 Unity of the Bay Area’s tithe for December was $2612.60. It was blessed and divided with $1465.10 sent to our sister church in Costa Rica and $1147.50 to Unity Church Universal in Kansas City. NOTE: November’s tithe was to Interfaith Caring Ministries for $1578. We regret our error in reporting. UNITY OF THE BAY AREA TREASURES Stretch Psalm To heal, I do what hurts – It hurts: Thank You God – Lord I pray; now heal – my kin, my neighbor, my friend. Let me reach now, beyond my known limitations – God, now bless my scrapes and wounds; Amen. By Mark Kirby, © Sunday, 16 January, 2005
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