ADVENT (INTRODUCTION)

Although Christmas memories reflect specific times, people, and places, Christmas is a feeling more than an event. It is a special warmth and glow that fills our hearts this time of year.

Yet Christmas can also be a tender time, especially for those who are grieving, struggling or alone. These stories and sentiments should remind us that no matter what is happening in our outer lives, we can find the Spirit of Christmas within. We need only breathe into the present moment, turn our attention to the Christ Presence, and feel our oneness with all of life. Simple acts of kindness, both given and received, can bring us home to the truth that we are never alone.

May Faith, peace, Love and Joy be alive in your heart this Advent season, as together we celebrate the coming --- and the arrival --- of the Christ Light in our world. You are blessed and you are a blessing!

**** Excerpts from Unity's Advent 2014 "Christmas in My Heart" Booklet

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INSPIRATIONAL STORY (The Black Dot)

A small town Chamber of Commerce invited a speaker to address it's annual dinner. The community's economy was bad, people were discouraged and they wanted the motivational speaker to give them a boost.

During the presentation, the speaker took a large piece of paper and made a small black dot at the center with a marking pen. Then she held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw.

"I see a black dot," a person quickly replied.

"Okay, what else do you see?'

Everybody looked and many joined in agreement, "A black dot."

"That's good. Do any of you see anything else?" the speaker asked.

After a few minutes of silence, many people in the audience shook their heads and a few answered, "No!"

"What about a sheet of paper?" Asked the speaker. "I'm sure all of you can see the paper, am I right? But you all have chosen to overlook it.'

The audience was stunned and some felt embarrassed.

"In life, we also tend to overlook and take for granted many wonderful things that we have or memorable events. We spend too much time focusing our attention and energy on small, dot-like failures and disappointments. The so called 'problems' that we have are usually like the black dot on the paper. They are small and insignificant if we can widen our horizon and look at the whole picture."

Examine yourself and how you see things. Are you one of the people who focuses your attention and energy on dot-like problems?

I AM CHURCH

Hello,
My name is church.
I'm sure you have heard a lot about me. I have no shortage of critics, Perhaps you have heard that I am boring, shallow, cheap and a waste of time. Perhaps you have heard that I am full of hypocrites, clowns, greedy people and the self-righteous.

Maybe you have visited me before and discovered horrible music, passionless singing, dry preaching and rude congregants. Or maybe right when you needed me I was too busy, too "righteous", too broke or too blind.

Maybe you joined me and found I was distant, demanding, dull and preoccupied. Or maybe you tried to serve in me but were caught off guard by business meetings, committees, teams, debates and bureaucracy.

Maybe you left and you were surprised that nobody called, cared, noticed or invited you back. Or perhaps your experience has driven you to speak negatively about me, swear to never come back to me, proclaim that no one needs me or maybe you believe that you are better off without me.

If this is true, if your heart resonates with this, I have something to say to you: "I'm sorry! I made a huge mistake and I was wrong. Please remember, my name is Church. It isn't perfection. It isn't flawlessness. It isn't completion."

"My name is church and I welcome the hypocrite, the dry, the self-righteous and the shallow. I welcome the sincere, the passionate, the forgiving and the selfless. I cannot shut my doors to the people who in the past have made you angry, uncomfortable, impatient or self-conscious."

"But I can apologize for the fact that you may have been burned by me and I hope that someday, maybe, you will forgive me and come back."

Love,
The Church.
--- author unknown

INSPIRATIONAL STORY (Keep The Fork)

A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, what Scriptures she wanted read and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Then she said, "One more thing... I want to be buried with a fork in my hand."

The pastor was surprised and she must have noticed the puzzled look on his face.

She explained to him, "In all my years attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to everyone, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite time of the dinner, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie --- something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then, I want you to tell them, 'Keep your fork because the best is yet to come.'"

The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he told the woman goodbye. He realized she had a better grasp of Heaven than he did because she knew something better was coming.

At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the Pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.
"Keep the fork. The best is yet to come."


"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' --- Revelations 21:4

MORAL STORY (The Holy Man and God)

     A holy man was having a conversation with the LORD one day and he said, "LORD, I would like to know what Heaven and hell are like."

     The LORD led the holy man to two doors. He opened the doors and the holy man looked inside. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew that smelled so delicious that it even made the holy man's mouth water.

     The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly looking. They appeared to be famished. They were all holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each one found that, although they were able to reach into the pot and take a spoonful, because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back to their mouths. This made the holy man shudder at the sight of their misery and suffering.

     The LORD told the holy man, "You have now seen hell."

     They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was a large round table with the large pot of delicious stew that smelled so good that it smelled so god and made the holy man's mouth water. And the people were equipped with the same long handled spoons strapped to their arms. But these people were well nourished and plump. They were all laughing and talking and having just a wonderful, joyous time. 

     This puzzled the holy man so he told the LORD, "I don't understand. Why are they well fed and happy but the others are in such horrible situation. They BOTH have the same resources available. How can this be?"

     "It's very simple," said the LORD, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves."

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of the owners.

--- Proverbs 1:19

\FOR THOSE WHO ARE

FOLLOWING THE 

CHRISTMAS

IN HEAVEN POSTS,

WE HAVE ADDED A NEW

POEM ---

"Missing Mum and Dad at Christmas".

JUST CLICK ON THE 

CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN TAB

IT IS THE LAST POEM.

May you all have a very blessed Christmas and may you be comforted by the LORD's 

peace during this time.

GOD BLESS 

MORAL STORY --- Shipwrecked and Prayerful

     A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other choice but to pray to God.
     However, to find out whose prayers were more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
     The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's land remained barren.
     After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a woman. The next day, another ship was wrecked and the only survivor was a woman who swan to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.
     Soon, the first man prayed for wood to build a house, remnants to make clothing and the tree to bear more fruit. The next day, like magic everything he prayed for was available.. However, the other side of the island was still bare just as it was when they first arrived.
     Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and the woman could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked on his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with the woman and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy since none of his prayers had been answered.
     Just as the ship was about to leave, the man heard God's voice thundering down from Heaven, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
     "My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them." The first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything."
     "You are mistaken!" The voice rebuked the man. "He had only one prayer which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings."
     "Oh yeah," the first man smugly remarked, "what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?"
     "He prayed that all your prayers be answered."
 
MORAL: For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone but are those from another person praying for us. Remember this and always pray for others too!


Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. --- James 5:16 (NLT)