Welcome To Unity Church of Light!  

Minister: Rev. Blaine Tinsley	Musician: Richard Carr
	Listen to Richard's Music

The Easter story is not just a story of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. It is a story of us today. The real message of Easter teaches us to see the challenging situations in our lives as opportunities to practice the principles that Jesus taught. In this way, we too can transform our painful circumstances into blessings. By putting on the Christ presence, we can shift our consciousness and resurrect our lives.

There are four parts to the Easter story: the trial, the crucifixion, the tomb, and the resurrection. We all experience challenging situations or trials. We might have a problem with our finances, our job or a relationship. Out of our fear or hopelessness, we may feel that some part of us is dead, as if in a tomb. In essence, we have rolled a stone in front of our tomb for self-protection, because we think that if we bury our problems, they cannot hurt us any more. Sometimes a trial may be so painful that we feel almost as if we are being crucified.

This Easter season, let us remember that if we let the light of God into those areas of our lives that seem dead, there will be a resurrection. God is a God of resurrection, not just in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago, but here and now. Here are some tools to help you experience a resurrection.

· First, affirm God’s presence in every challenging circumstance. You might say, “God I know you are present in this situation, guiding it to its perfect solution.”

· Second, affirm that God is helping. You could say, “God, I know that you are giving me the guidance I need to rise above this challenge.”

· Third, rest in the assurance that you will receive an answer. God will reveal to what you need to know at the right and perfect time.

The Christ presence within you will rise up and lift you to a new place in consciousness. You will receive the love, guidance and strength you need. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the light. Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” The Christ in you will experience a resurrection, and you will find new life in those areas that you once thought to be dead. You will see that you are not the same, but even better. You will be born anew in body, mind and spirit.

Affirm: “I am the resurrection and the life; I rise triumphant out of every trial.”

Welcome To Unity Church of Light!  

Today's Message: "Palm Sunday - He Betrayed Him"

Do you ever wish that God would sit down in front of you and tell you exactly what to do in a particular situation? Unfortunately, that is not how God works. God gave us free will, which gives us a lot of independence, as well as responsibility.

If God directed our every move, our spiritual growth would be minimized. That growth often comes as a result of first denying God's presence. Thankfully, we then remember our eternal connection with God, and change our thinking and behavior, so as to fully experience God within the challenges of our lives.
In the Gospel of Luke 22:54-60, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. We, too, sometimes deny God, which keeps us from fully experiencing or appreciating God's blessings. Here are Peter's three denials:

1. "Then a maid, seeing him (Peter), said, 'This man also was with Him.' Peter denied it saying, 'Woman, I do not know Him.'"
2. "And a little time later, someone else saw him and said, 'You also are one of them'. But Peter said, 'Man I am not.'"
3. "And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, 'Certainly this man was with Him, for he is Galilean', but Peter said, 'Man, I do not know what you are saying.'"

Here are some illustrations of how we also deny God:

1. We deny God when we believe that a challenge is larger than God, and God cannot possibly help us with it.
2. We deny God when we look to outer situations and people to make us happy, rather than going within to God in prayer and meditation to discover the desires of our Christ self..
3. We also deny God when we look only to our egos, or small selves, for answers. We strive to make something work based on our own limited expectations and desires.

To solve the challenges in our lives, we need to go directly to God. We can have open communication and oneness with God. Spend time in meditation and prayer, and a portal of awareness will be opened for you. You will experience God's love and peace on a deeper level then ever before.

Welcome To Unity Church of Light!

Minister: Rev. Blaine Tinsley
Musician: Richard Carr

Sunday Celebration: 10:00 - 11:15 am
Youth Ministry:         10:00

2809 Yale Blvd, 63301  636-723-7000

Today's Message: "The Power of Strength"

  
Video: The Power of Strength

Walk Your Talk

Have you ever had one of "those" days when everything seemed difficult? On such a day everyone and everything seems to tax you, and you think the events of the day will never end or will surely leave you compromised, weakened or destroyed? You might even have found yourself saying, "God give me strength!"

Strength is one of the "Twelve Powers" that Unity's co-founder Charles Fillmore discusses in his book titled The Twelve Powers of Man. Charles Fillmore taught that each of us has these "Twelve Powers" within us. As we develop and use these powers correctly we can express our Christ potential and live more powerful and happier lives.

Often when we think about "strength" we are talking about physical or emotional strength. When we talk about physical strength we think of having physical endurance or strong muscles. When someone has emotional strength we believe they have the ability to remain calm in the face of potentially upsetting circumstances. Having spiritual strength is our ability to hold to and practice our spiritual principles in spite of outward appearances or internal fears.

Here are a few ideas to help you develop and maintain your spiritual Power of Strength.

1. All strength originates on the spiritual plane and then is reflected into other planes and experiences. Possessing spiritual strength will help you be strong in all other ways.
2. The strength of God is everywhere and fortifies you against all challenging conditions. Affirm "The Lord is my Strength!"
3. Your spiritual strength is your ability to remember and practice your spiritual principles. Use your spiritual tools; affirmations, denials, prayer and meditation.
4. The faculty of strength reminds you, "Don't take things personally", for Truth needs no defense.
5. Think "Eagles"

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Listen to me in the silence, says the Lord." (Isaiah 40:31)