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Podcast Description
We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit.
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Sermon, April 29, 2012 – Snow White & the Codependent Queen | 4/29/12 Rev. David McArthur Snow White symbolizes a part of our spiritual growth. She loses her parents (the knowledge of who we really are). We lose this as we grow up and our feminine (feeling) side follows false outside values. “Mirror, mirror…” The Snow White part of ourselves is the beautiful, pure experience of touching the divine in our soul, and the harmony of recognizing the beautiful qualities of those around us. If we look without for the world to tell us we are right, then we have conflict when we find out we are not “the fairest”. But you cannot kill the soul. So Snow White is sent into the forest (our subconsciousness); we cannot see what’s in there So we stay with what we see “out there”. When we feel we are “not good enough”, we send our Snow White part into the subconscious (the forest). We give over our authority to the wicked Queen. That which we value most highly in ourselves, the ability to touch the beauty—the divine—is suppressed. When you choose that which is right for you, you come into conflict with your culture, your outside values, and “the wicked Queen” brings a poison apple. Not everyone’s poison apple is the same. Anita Moorjani, was born in India into a society which devalued women. To survive she became a people pleaser. She wrote, “I…feared this approval. Everything I did was for others’ approval, not my own. I lost myself. The fears were the poison.” When, literally, her poison (cancer) was killing her, she had a near death experience. Transformed, she was cancer free in days. What was found, she said, was that “I am magnificent!…Love, joy, ecstasy, and awe poured through me. I was swallowed up and enveloped in more love than I ever knew existed.” What frees the Snow White in us from the forest is the love. The Prince is our ability to focus, which, as the Prince, you command. And as the Prince, you give permission by acknowledging your need to be lovable and to be loved, and we discover we are loved! Repeat, “I am lovable. I am loved. I am love.” Yes you are! And when you know that, you create that state of consciousness known as “happily ever after!” | 4/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 22, 2012 – Giving and Receiving Love | 4/22/12 Barry and Joyce Vissell “Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.” (23rd Psalm) God loves us so much! It is something that is with us throughout our lives. Death is our final adventure. In it, God has planned for us the very best. But we live in DOD– denial of death. Death, however, is an experience in holiness. Many years ago Joyce’s mother came to her and said, “When it’s my turn to die, I want you to be excited for me. I know you will find a way.” She said it would be the greatest gift her Creator would give her. Recently, it happened. Over the weeks, the Vissells learned death is nothing to be afraid of. It is a beautiful time of life. It is not the enemy, but to be embraced as an adventure. Louise, Joyce’s mother, told them, “I love my dying process so much!” Amidst all the pain, she focused on receiving God’s love. “I didn’t know I could love so much!” She was overjoyed to see and talk with Joyce’s father, who had passed years before. It’s about love; living in love; giving and receiving love. Even a lifelong outspoken atheist is known to have declared with her dying breath, “Love is the answer!” Whoever has loved you in your lifetime– they still love you! –without the body, even more. They are there. People we’ve known are all helping us. Take time to talk to them. Ask them for help. We live in denial of death. Rather than dread death, live knowing your loved one could pass suddenly. Live each day with this “knowing” and love and appreciate them when you are together. Expect the unexpected all the time. Don’t be surprised. When the moment of Louise’s passing finally arrived, Barry said he felt it. He let go of his “office consciousness” and sank into the heart. He said entering her room was like “entering a cathedral, a most holy place.” He entered with reverence and thought she was already dead. Suddenly she shouted “Merry Christmas!” (it was the middle of summer), “Look at all the lights!” Louise had received her greatest gift. The Vissell family had found a way to be excited for her. Dying is as holy as birth. | 4/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 15, 2012 – Happiness Through Service | 4/15/12 Rev. David McArthur There are cycles in our spiritual growth where we need to be filled up, to be healed. We open to Spirit and let that divine love flow to us, in us. The next part to know is it keeps on flowing when we give it away. Albert Schweitzer said, “The ones among you who will be truly happy are the ones among you who have sought and found how to serve.” Grace was a vibrant young co-ed when she came down with polio. But she met and married a wonderful man, a delightful being, David. The polio kept them from having children but they felt the need to give. They opened themselves to adopting an “unadoptable” child. Eventually they had seven children of all colors and special needs and made a wonderful family. Unable to personally care for more, they created an adoption agency for other such children. Grace is a paraplegic. David lovingly gets her up every morning and places her gently in her wheelchair. She is unable to do anything from the shoulders down, but she said, “Yes, I can care for a child.” Surely she had no plans to raise seven, each with special needs, but they brought them into a home where they’d be loved. She wrote, “I was overwhelmed by the wealth that was ours.” Through service we experience the fulfillment of joy and happiness when we open to divine love. Mahatma Ghandi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself through service to others.” We each reach a point where we are ready to expand. The way to expand that life and energy that flows through us is to give. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” That tremendous gift you have to let the light which you are flow not just to you, but through you, means everyone of us can experience that deep fulfillment and joy simply by letting it flow through us in service to others. | 4/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 8, 2012 – Awakening | 4/8/12 Rev. David McArthur “Awakening” Spring! New life! —then there’s the resurrection thing. Some of us are skeptical; some need to know how it happened. Well, He did it as the Son of God—and so are you Sons and Daughters of God, as He is “The Elder Brother”. In Unity we recognize He went before. That means there is something in there that you can do. Anita Moorjani, born to a Hindu family in India, was raised in Hong Kong. She went to Catholic school and was exposed to many cultures in Hong Kong, and grew up to become a professional. Then she developed cancer. Not wanting chemo, she looked elsewhere for healing. But the deterioration continued to advance until she went into a coma. Her doctor was shocked how close to death she was. She had only a few hours to live. Anita “awakened”, feeling no pain, but could not communicate. Bt she felt finally awakened, her soul finally realizing its true magnificence, expanding/awakening to a greater awareness of total love greater than anything imagined. She knew she could go further into this experience of radiant love and freedom, or she could return to her body, sick and full of pain. Then she knew there was a purpose to her return. “I learned who I really was and recognized the true magnificence of who I really was.” She is not an exception—you too are that magnificence. You are holy, like Jesus. That’s who you really are! Affirm, “I am magnificent!” Take a hold of that amazing power! Anita went back to heal in not months or weeks, but days to be cancer free. “I understood my body was only a reflection of my internal state.” Is that what went on for Jesus? He might have realized how magnificent He was and how that power was His and He could step back into that body knowing that magnificence! Anita was cancer free in four days! That’s resurrection! It comes from knowing who you are. When you know that—your body, your relationships, your finances, your creativity reflect that magnificence. “I am magnificent!” You truly are! Happy Easter! | 4/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 1, 2012 – Street Spiritual…I Am Love | 4/1/12 Rev. David McArthur It is our connection with God which takes care of us—that love that is God, that love that you are. However, you do have to deal with things and people who don’t seem to know you are spiritual. But since God is good all the time, even those things are good. Still, the mind wants to sort through things, so we do blame and guilt; we feel shame and failure, no matter how spiritual we are. So when you don’t feel good about something, it’s the “me” that needs the help. Deal with yourself instead of the situation. Focus on divine love. You can go from anguish to overwhelming peace when you connect with that spiritual presence and power. Emma Curtis Hopkins said, “Everything is really full of love for you. The good that is for you loves you as much as you love it. The good that is for you seeks you and will come flying to you if you see that what you love is love itself. All people will change when you know that they are love. We shall change toward all people when we know that we ourselves are formed out of love. All is love. There is nothing in this universe but love.” When we are in the place where we are not experiencing our connection with God, when we are really attracted to who’s responsible, who’s guilty, who’s to blame, who’s right, it takes a few steps to get that connection. First remember “I am lovable!” Even when you’ve done your best to mess it all up! Second, acknowledge “I am loved!” You cannot do anything to not be loved. That’s the only power you don’t get! You are a beautiful, radiant child of God! Third, there’s just the love. You are the love. All that you are is love. It’s what you are. And you are the creator of love. That’s what we’re here to learn. That’s our journey—to find out there’s just love. That’s all that’s real. Say, “I am lovable. I am loved. I am love.” Yes you are! | 4/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 25, 2012 – When Things Get Tough…Breathe | 3/25/12 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux Everyday breathing is not consciously thought of. However, there is so much power in the breath when we do think about it. In the book of Genesis, when the Creator made the most complex creation—human kind—He breathed into it the “breath of life”. And after His resurrection, Jesus stood among His disciples and “Then He breathed on them and said, ‘receive ye the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20-22) It inspired them and gave them the ability to go forth and create. Charles Fillmore said that the inflow of the breath corresponds to the in-spiration of the spiritual life. In Messages from the Body, Michael J. Lincoln says when people have trouble breathing, it is a longing for mother love. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Feminine. Breath in and be comforted by the Divine Mother. Connect with your Momma—breath in consciously that comfort you desire—the Mother Love which is right there. It is breathing you. Rest in the breath of God and be sure all is well. When feeling lack, limitation, or financial trouble, stop and breathe. Take in Divine Inspiration. For health challenges it can restore the cells and make you well. Whatever the condition of your life. Why sit there and be freaked out? Breathe. Why let your power be taken away? Breathe and call upon the Holy Spirit. “Come Holy Spirit.” Let the Divine Mother comfort you. Feel something happening in your body. “Breathe in me, breath of God!” Breathe away all unforgiveness, resentment, anxiety. “Breathe in me, breath of God!” The breath of God is breathing you; know all is well. Conscious awareness of the breath is key—to peace, freedom, wellness, prosperity. Every goodness is available to you through conscious breathing. Whatever the challenge, all healing is available to you. Breathe! | 3/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 18, 2012 – Oneness Through All Paths | 3/18/12 Rev. David McArthur Oneness — It’s at the root of our spiritual journey. Emilie Cady wrote that man is at first living in the selfish, animal part of himself and will grow up into Divine or Spiritual Understanding to know his oneness with the Father, like Jesus when he said, “The Father and I are one.” But there’s another thing, how do we do it? Where is the oneness? When the Spiritual Self awakens, we experience a deep desire for connection with what has been expressed as the Divine. Man’s limited understanding has tried to explain it in the terms of our various cultures. Throughout the Ages, great teachers or guides have come to the people to explain this longing for connection with the Divine in the terms of each of our various cultures. They all taught on a level that was not fully apparent to ordinary people and so people have spent millennia trying to figure out what they said, which of course led to differences of opinion about what they meant and that led to most of the wars humanity has fought. In the “Bhagavad Gita” from the Hindu tradition, we see Prince Arjuna just before his army goes to battle. He has family and friends on both sides, and expresses anguish over the coming slaughter. God, in the form of Lord Krishna, his Charioteer, loses no time to use this “teaching moment”. He tells Arjuna to not worry, that he must do his duty in the battle, and that all those who will die that day have chosen death and will return again (reincarnate), as they must. WHAT?? Did he just tell Arjuna to just go ahead and slaughter his family and friends? Gandhi’s great teachings state that the “Bhagavad Gita” was the world’s greatest teaching of non-violence. In his metaphysical interpretation, the conflict between the “armies” is actually within ourselves. How can we harm another when it is really ourselves? All religions teach the same things: prayer, meditation, spiritual service, love. There is only division if we choose to see division. If we are aware of oneness, we see oneness. There is no separation, no difference. There is only One. As we always recite at the beginning of our services; “There is only One Presence and One Power in the Universe and in my life. The All-Loving Goodness of God.” | 3/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 11, 2012 – Callings | 3/11/12 Gregg Levoy Follow Your Callings A calling can catch you by surprise, but it is a powerful vehicle. The ride can be nerve-racking and thrilling. Your soul doesn’t care. The work is just hanging on, having the willingness to go for the ride. The rub is that it creates turmoil and we resist it until the pain of resisting exceeds the pain of change. Heroes aren’t born, they are cornered. There are many, many callings—work, relationships, and others that change with age, as we do. You can wait half your life for “the great calling” and miss the ones at your feet. The scrawny ones. They come as passions or a tune in your head hummed over and over again, or maybe in an overheard conversation. In resistance, we self-sabotage. We will blurt out our new-found path to the most cynical person in the family, knowing that’ll put a stop to it. We don’t want to rock the boat. When something isn’t working it creates friction. But when the horse dies—get off! So where there is friction in your life, look for a calling. You might also find callings in the patterns that you have worn into your life. What section do you always go to first when you enter a book store? Maybe you have hidden them in your body, in your symptoms. Symptoms might be evidence of a flight from a calling. These scrawny callings are quite helpful except they can’t get through all the busy signals. We are so addicted to our busy-ness, that it is even ok to put “workaholic” on your resume. But the end result is a loss of soul, a depletion of spirit. These scrawny cries need to be harnessed. That’s where the work is. It’s small steps, constantly stepping on the brake or the accelerator. A sculptor tests a stone before starting to carve by tapping it. If it is good for sculpting, it is “consistent” and free of inner fissures which would cause cracking. It will ring. It will hold up under repeated blows. We must “tap in”. We must be conscious of our callings so that we “hold up under repeated blows”. Consciousness happens by keeping things in conversation. Match your walk with your talk. Take small steps. Honor Spirit’s calling! | 3/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 4, 2012 – Oneness Through Prayer | 3/4/12 Rev. David McArthur The second tool in this journey into oneness with the divine is one we all use. It’s a connector. It’s the tool of prayer. If there were no connection, prayer would be really stupid—we’d be talking to ourselves. There was a two month old baby being kept alive by extreme measures, who had known only pain in its short life. Surgery was necessary, but did not go well. In fact, the surgeon announced the baby would not live beyond the operation. So a nurse closed herself in a closet and prayed that the child would know a pain free life with its parents. After removing the life-sustaining devices, the surgeon said the baby would die. There was no way it could live. But its vital signs became strong and it did live. The doctor called it a miracle. Healing is the experience of greater wholeness. So who is healed? A man asking for prayer? His friends who prayed? The doctor and nurse who witnessed a miracle? We experience a connection we cannot explain any other way. If it touches one, it touches all. It changes the very fabric of consciousness itself. In prayer we’re able to take a hold of something that completely defies what we know of the world. But With God all things are possible. When you pray you take a hold of that, otherwise you wouldn’t pray. It is a level where we know and understand each other. We understand we’re one. Whenever we reach for that presence and power and reach for the knowledge that with God, all things are possible, we invite hope. Whenever we reach for it, it is easier for anyone else in the world to touch it—a possibility of connection that wasn’t there before. When one of us heals, we all heal. You can’t explain it, but you know it’s true. Every prayer you say lifts everyone here. For that we thank you! | 3/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 26, 2012 – Journey to Oneness | 2/26/12 Rev. David McArthur You’re late and there’s only one check-out line at the store. The customer at the checker holds up the line. Full of judgment, you feel far from free, and wonder, “What am I doing here?” Emilie Cady likened the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt to a state of selfish animal consciousness, where we see no value in others (or ourselves). Through the intervention of an outside God, we are freed to wander through the desert of separation. We feel we have some value because the outside God values us. “My God (Grandpa with a sword) gives me value.” Then Jesus showed us the state of consciousness in which the “Father and I are one”—but so is everyone else! We have gone through that the past 200 years. In a war with ourselves we rejected the slavery consciousness. But because our sense of value was still so low we remained in a state of consciousness of separation, or Segregation. Feeling, “I have to be better than others to have value”, we still did not see the value in ourselves. The African American church took us out of that state. The 100 years from Emancipation to the end of Segregation was where we journeyed through the consciousness of separation toward the Oneness. But still we held onto Discrimination, still standing in the judgmental line, finding differences which we might need to protect against. But the heart is a higher intelligence which tells us we are all children of God, we are one. So we are done with Discrimination. Now we are working it out, from Segregation to Discrimination to acceptance of homosexuals to accepting those of the Muslim faith. How do we get there? Through love—the choice of compassion that the Master taught. Caring for others is caring for “me”. Patience for another is patience for “me”. So we give up that God “out there”. It is within. Emilie Cady said that all goodness that springs up is the God in us, and nothing anyone can do can take away that freedom! It’s so simple—just standing in line feeling compassion. We already have everything—all that we need. So the only thing that we can get from standing in line is the love we need, the love that we are! | 2/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 19, 2012 – Enjoy Worry With Compassion | 2/19/12 Rev. David McArthur God is good all the time! And yet we worry. Lucy appreciated her good life, but she always became anxious and worried for her husband’s safety every day before he got home from work. A friend suggested she spend that time in self-compassion, which she did. Gradually, the worry and anxiety was released. Later she found out that her grandfather once had an accident on his way home and after that her grandmother always worried about his returning home. Her mother learned that habit and passed it to her daughter. 3 generations of worry! What does the worry do for us? Well, when we’re worrying, we’re not loving. It takes us out of the experience of knowing that God is there loving us all the time. Worry affirms “the goodness of God is not here”. It stops us from seeing the goodness of God in all and everyone. Love is experiencing the presence of God with which we are one. That form of compassion heals us from believing there is something else. Hold yourself in that compassion. Let it move through you. You’d feel that for a friend. Let it happen for you– that self-compassion. Let yourself be aware of the presence of God and let God be responsible for that other being! The peace will come. Stress and worry do come from love. But first feel self-compassion. Second let God be responsible for them just as God has been for you. Healing and learning has been brought forth in you, and God will bring that forth in the other being. For those you love that you worry for, say, “I place you in God’s care, knowing the very highest is coming forth.” It has to be because God is good all the time! God is good all the time! And all the time God is good! God is caring for them just as She is doing for you! | 2/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 12, 2012 – Spiritual Rules of the Road | 2/12/12 Rev. Bill Englehart Cars are a shared experience we all have. If we look at them metaphysically, we can deepen our understand of ourselves. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a book of spiritual “rules of the road”? But do we use an old map, the old way of doing things, for life as it is now, like using an old map of Missouri to find our way around California? Are we allowing ourselves to evolve and respond to what we need now? What fed us ten years ago is not what we need now. As Dale Earnhardt put it, it’s a constant battle to make the cars better and to be a better driver, too. Are we using a map of lack to find the place of good and plenty? If we have been “wandering in the desert for 40 years”, which is metaphysically the time for full unfoldment, then it is time for our thoughts to change, to go from intellectual wisdom to spiritual wisdom and to begin taking divine direction. Do you trust God as much as your GPS? Do you ignore that spiritual tap on your shoulder until it becomes a nudge, or until it is a 2 x 4? If you were to answer that tap sooner, you’d have a lot less problems. Joseph must have felt really angry and frustrated, like his needs were left unmet, when his firstborn was being born in a cow manger amidst animals. But surely those thoughts dissolved with the arrival of the gifts of the magi. We must dissolve the corrosive thoughts in our minds like Coca Cola dissolves the corrosion on a car battery. If we keep our minds on the gifts that are coming, we will move into the promised land. Mario Andretti said, “If you believe in it, it is honorable…If you have a real passion for it, just do it.” It’s a constant reminder that God is in control, whether you lead the pack or are behind it. Are you stuck in a spiritual traffic jam? We think we’re each alone in our own car but we are not really alone. If seen from above, we are connected to all the other cars in the traffic pattern, and we affect all the other drivers. We are connected to all others by the thoughts we hold. Do not underestimate the power of your thoughts to affect the whole of us. Enjoying life is not about how fast we go down the road, but about enjoying the road we’re on! | 2/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 5, 2012 – Who Are You Really? | 2/5/12 Rev. David McArthur “When I feel You rushing by…” The flow of Spirit smoothes our sharp edges as the rushing waters of a river smooth the pebbles. Experiencing a change within, you might ask, “What am I, really?” Unity’s answer is “I am a beloved child of God.” We’re from a mystical tradition in Unity, we are as often formed by experience as anything else. You might ask, “When am I, truly?” A psychic’s prediction comes true much later and it is now realized that the idea wasn’t even in your mind back then, but it was seen then, and now it is here. Where are you? Are you really “here” in your physical presence? When you honor the experiences you have, you begin to experience things differently. A Unity minister, moved by his first experience of the city of New York, ran up to a hot dog vendor and cried, “Make me one with everything!” (Lighten up. Humor lets us see things differently.) We can drop our perceptions and experience who we really are. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A man is the facade of the temple wherein all wisdom and all good abide… When it breathes through his intellect, it is genius; when it breathes through his will, it is virtue; when it flows through his affection, it is love…” And you are loved– you are a beloved child of God. Affirm, “I am one with the power, the goodness, the intelligence of God.” That Being which we move to discover– we awaken to feel the flow as the pebble. But the truth is you are the river! | 2/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 29, 2012 – Voices in the Balcony | 01/29/12 Rev. Max Lafser “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still to know that I am God. Note the difference. We can quiet the mind and open to the presence, the wonderful consciousness that is, in whom we live and move and have our being. Things come up to be healed. We don’t have to deal with each thing as it comes up. As we vibrate with the One consciousness in the stillness, we can watch it pass by into healing. In a work from the 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, “All In All”, when the elephant felt unable to help the ant, he prayed. It seemed to work, and the elephant’s faith was increased and the ant was less of an agnostic. “All in all, seems things are moving ahead, working out for the best. Yep.” When we feel like we’re just stomping all over ourselves and nothing we do is working, get still, and go into the silence. Recognize the truth of our oneness with that divine power and with each other in That single consciousness. Commit to the following agreements: TRUTH. I agree to: Live my mission. Speak my truth, with compassion. Look within when I react. Keep doing what works and change what doesn’t. ACCEPTANCE. I agree to: Listen with my heart. Respect our differences. Resolve conflicts directly. Honor our choices. GRATITUDE. I agree to: Give and receive thanks. See the best in myself and others. Look for blessings in disguise. Lighten up! | 1/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 22, 2012 – Beauty and the Beast | 01/22/12 Rev. David McArthur Beauty and the Beast is a picture of major spiritual transformation. Every character shows us a part of our self. The father represents the adult male part in all of us that seeks after truth through the mind. Beauty is that feeling part of us which is appreciation, love. In a snow storm one night, the father arrives at a great castle where his every need is provided. The storm is the veil which keeps us from seeing ourselves, our true riches. The castle pictures the divine presence which provides and sustains us. Leaving the castle, the father picks a rose from the castle garden for Beauty. The Beast appears and declares the man’s life is now forfeit. (The rose stands for understanding, and once you have that, your life up to then is over, because you can’t go back to the way you were.) Beast lets the father go if Beauty (the ability to touch goodness) will come in his place. Beauty appreciates everything about the castle except that she must dine with the ugly Beast every evening. The Beast is also something within us, that part where we see ourselves as ugly and frightening. It might be addiction, low self esteem, hurt expressing as anger and violence, or fear that keeps us from living our life. It is legitimate to see it as ugly and to be afraid. Going into the castle is growing into a greater knowledge of ourselves and we have power then to see that ugly painful part of our self. We have to get to know it, to see it and to become consciously aware of our self. Beauty is allowed to go home for two months, but then doesn’t want to return to the castle. (We fall back asleep, finding comfort where we had been.) Beauty dreams (dreaming is awareness coming into our “sleep”) that the Beast is dying. With great compassion for him, she goes back. Compassion awakens us to truth. Her tears (tears of forgiveness) revive him. (Tears of forgiveness wash away the ugly, painful part which was a constant cry to be touched by the love that heals. The forgiveness comes from feeling that love.) The Beast’s ugliness falls away and the young man comes forth filled with power, wisdom– a receptivity which lets divine presence and power flow. In this tale abundance and ugliness represent God and the Devil. But you know there is no truth in that! You know There is only One presence and One power in the universe and in your life, the all loving goodness of God. One presence! One power! And you do know “they lived happily ever after”! | 1/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 15, 2012 – Here and Now Through Love | 01/15/12 Rev. David McArthur You are one with a presence and power that has always been and always will be. The walls, your body, are just space! Hundreds of years ago a master pointed to a boulder, saying, “That boulder out there– is it really there or is it just in your mind?” One bold monk answered that it was only in his mind. The master replied “You must have a very heavy head!” Whatever the illusion, it is what we have here to deal with. It may not be real, but the assignment to deal with it is. We do touch what is real, what doesn’t change, and when we touch the greater reality, our journey changes. We touch it in meditation and in “the silence”,– a totally private place, deeper than our mind, deeper than our emotion. We rest in that beingness which is here, now, present here in this moment. We align and “be”, one with that state of being. Another way is doing rather than being. It is the experience of love, of loving. That greater reality is expressed in us, through us, as us. Go into the active way with your life radiating your love. (So often it is not a first response in our busy day, but it is always an option.) Even more active is the experience of “God is love”. That greater reality is always present and in it is total wholeness and harmony. It can’t be anything else. Your experience becomes love. Radiate your love to one for whom you have resistance. Fill your heart with love “to the millionth power” and radiate it to this person until you feel delight in that beautiful child of God. You are experiencing the greater reality. That is the presence of God and it is who you are here, now! | 1/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 8, 2012 – Creating a Consciousness of Prayer | 01/08/12 Rev. David McArthur The situations in our world needing change can only be overcome through care. But we get overwhelmed and our caring shuts down. What shuts us down is the perception that we are separate, that “It’s just me” –that we can’t fix it on our own. But we are a part of the One and we have the capacity for transformation. It starts with the consciousness that it is a spiritual problem which needs a spiritual solution. (And we are one with that unlimited spiritual power.) There is a physical energy that goes out to those to whom we direct our love. Some people can see it like ribbons. The love, God, is the intelligence and cannot be less. And you, too, begin to change when you send out the love and intelligence, when you step into that consciousness. The transformation comes in us when we meet and perceive our oneness. Know you are one also with the victim and the perpetrator of the situation needing change. A natural way to send them this love and intelligence is prayer, especially the Prayer of Protection. Pray The light of God surrounds you; The love of God enfolds you; The power of God protects you; The presence of God watches over you; Wherever you are, God is! And all is well. What follows for you is the understanding of what it is yours to do. The mind might tell you what it takes to fix it all. But the understanding of what it is for you to do comes to you as part of the transformation. Work at the level of the cause rather than the effect. For example, living sustainably and caring for our Earth and all life on it. Choose harmony. Commit to a state of consciousness that can bring about the change “for the greatest good of all creation.” Remember, God is good all the time! For each of the next 7 days, give yourself the experience of caring for someone you wouldn’t ordinarily. Send out the experience of care and follow it with what it is for you to do which comes to you. Watch what happens to you. The time of problems in the world is over. The good of the presence of God is right now! | 1/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 1, 2012 – Create With Power | 01/01/12 Rev. David McArthur This year, 2012, is long anticipated. The Hopi say it ushers in a long time of peace. It is the year in which we pass through the midpoint of the galaxy. After a period of denseness, or darkness, we will pass into the light. This is a powerful energy and your new year’s resolutions have a great power behind them. Those deep-heart desires– we have the power to bring them into manifestation and you have the power now! This is a part of the purpose you came for. Now is the time. In Matthew, verse 9, a woman’s faith heals her when she touches Jesus’ cloak. She had been living in her ailment, believing, “I am now ill. If I touch the hem of His garment I will be healed.” We are one in/with the divine power. Within that pattern is the wholeness of our being and it is within us. The ability to see the wholeness in the pattern is what brought the healing. Create from the wholeness or from the disease. Your heart’s desire is already there. You don’t have to earn it. You can’t get bad enough to get rid of it. It’s yours. It’s already there. And everything needed to manifest it is also given. There is part of your being where it is already there, already manifesting. If nothing else limits it, it has to manifest. Go for it. Don’t wait. Things are moving so much more quickly now. The mind says, “I have this problem. I will do this and this and this, and then I will be well, (but I am not well now).” If you want to change this you have to change your consciousness. Feeling (as touching the garment) puts the power in! Imagine to yourself, “It’s a miracle! I am totally well!” Now. Not next Sunday; not after your next doctor’s appointment. Make the switch. Take a hold now. This is the year to express what’s dear on your heart. That’s the game you came to play. Play it! –and have LOTS of fun! | 1/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 25, 2011 – Emmanuel and Santa Claus | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 12/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 18, 2011 – Bringing Light at Christmas | 12/18/11 Rev. David McArthur This time of year is a time of light. The 25th of December is when the days begin to get longer. We celebrate the coming of light. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” John 1:9. The Christmas experience lifts you each year. It is the experience of enlightenment, the experience of light. There are 2 ways to experience the spiritual energy of enlightenment. First is either one of those “aha!” moments in life or one of those moments of despair. The other way to experience the spiritual energy of enlightenment is through love. It is the experience of transformation into a new state. From illness to health, from conflict to harmony, from turmoil to peace. How does light relate to love? “Light is the hem of the garment of love.” Light flows when we give an expression of love. There is actual spiritual energy flowing. Some actually see it. We experience this illumination at Christmas. We begin to see things differently. Before Jesus’ coming, humankind was asleep to its nature. But with Jesus a beautiful understanding came. He said, “The Father and I are one. The Kingdom of God is within.” That’s enlightenment! There had to be great love for that to come forth. The experience we get is to love and let the light flow. Say, “When I love, light flows.” It is love from which light flows. The wonderful thing about Christmas time is we all bring that love – to family, to friends, all around. When you let that light show through, it blesses us all. It is time to do that! | 12/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 11, 2011 – Nativity: Symbol of the Heart | 12/11/11 Rev. David McArthur The Nativity – why does it touch our consciousness again and again, year after year? Because it has an exquisite power to connect us to that spiritual power which flows through our hearts. The animals are always peaceful and quiet, showing a warm supportive presence. It’s a symbol that the animal nature in us is brought into harmony through the heart. It is not excluded, but is a part of it. Mary is our female nature, the feelings of love we touch in our heart that are so awakened in the Christmas season. Joseph: wisdom. When we are in touch with our selves; the wisdom which flows through the world. The baby Jesus is the symbol of love and wisdom that is brought forth into being, the expression of the fullness of the heart. In another Christmas story, a young immigrant girl, Ursula, takes a position with a wealthy American family in New York City. She feels she can’t measure up to the level of the expensive gifts she sees her new family receiving. But when she examined the love she felt for her own family and the family for whom she now worked, she felt peace. She followed her heart as she sought to express her love in a Christmas gift for her new family. She bought beautiful baby clothes and found a poor family, with a newborn, that otherwise had nothing for Christmas. Her gift to them was an expression of the higher understanding. She gave kindness to others as her gift to her new family. One special member of that family, Norman Vincent Peale, carried that gift throughout his life. When we give from the heart it creates a difference. In the heart it becomes quiet and we have the ability to touch the love, the feeling (Mary), and give birth to that wisdom (Joseph), and we begin to perceive differently. The power, the love moves into a whole new level of expression (the baby Jesus) which touches and uplifts as it gives expression of that love and wisdom. How wonderful we get to touch it again and again! And it transforms those old things that always come up when we get together for the holidays. But we get to touch people differently. We have the invitation to go into the heart and bring into quiet those feelings and touch them to bring forth the higher wisdom and bring forth the Christ, the higher consciousness. For those that want to transform something, go to the Nativity and touch that love this season! | 12/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 4, 2011 – Overcoming Fear with Brer Rabbit at the Laughing Place | 12/04/11 Rev. David McArthur | 12/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 20, 2011 – 2012–A Very Good Year | 11/20/11 Rev. David McArthur What’s going to happen in 2012? The only thing all the seers agree upon is that 2012 is a time of significant change. Erik Gonzales, Mayan spiritual guide, says to “Stay close to the sacred fire and do not let it go out.” The sacred fire is in our hearts–it is love. Our projections give us a picture of what we believe, not necessarily what will happen. As co-creators, the beliefs we choose to hold greatly affect what we do create in our lives. The Hopi say one possibility is that mankind enters into the 5th world of eternal peace. And, it is said, in the past few years we have done so! The Edgar Cayce readings say that a new world is being born. Spiritual consciousness will reach such a height of development that each individual will be able to communicate directly with the divine. Yet to move to the next level of consciousness, to bring forth the consciousness where we can look at a time of peace, a consciousness of love and compassion, we have to address the things we haven’t yet resolved, those things that come up which express our fear. But you know something that most people don’t yet know, that God is good all the time! That there is only one power– there is no struggle between two. We have the power to make a huge difference! Like our teddy bears today, on Teddy Bear Sunday, which we pass back and forth to get hugs as we put our love in them. Because of our compassion we can send our love this way to young folks going through their big changes in the hospitals. So as you see people struggle, give your love and compassion. You have the power to invite the change to the greater goodness. Love and compassion for them and for us transforms that which is not yet in love and harmony and brings it in. We will see the awakening of hearts all over the world supporting each other in love. 2012 is the year of awakening hearts. It will be a bear-y good year! | 11/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 13, 2011 – From Sleeping Beauty to Freedom | 11/13/11 Rev. David McArthur In our great fairy tales the story characters are us. Sleeping Beauty (reflects the female, feeling part of the soul) is raised without knowing her parents. So too are we asleep to the knowledge that we are children of God, heir to all the goodness and authority of the kingdom. We are asleep to our power. We are also the Prince, the male aspect which knows we are heir to the divine and that part of us which is to do the work. And we are also the evil fairy– the fear with all the power wrapped up in it. It captures the prince and imprisons him. We are in prison, controlled. “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” But the first thing we do is figure out how the other person is so wrong. We blame anyone else. But the only thing in our way is us. Nobody has power over you but that you are willing to play the game. It isn’t given away unless you give it to someone. The ring of thorns around the castle are the negative thoughts you hold–how you think someone else has the power. The prince cuts through with the sword of truth. Use your wisdom and guidance and cut through. You have the power and wisdom to accomplish anything in your life. When faced with fear, transform the situation with heart vulnerability. Look within with complete honesty. Where you have power and respect for yourself, that’s heart vulnerability. See clearly: “There is only one presence, and one power in the universe and in my life, the all loving goodness of God.” That’s the truth. “God is good all the time!” slays the dragon of fear. There is only good, only God. You can take hold of it anywhere, any time. Touch it at depth through your feeling nature, that feeling of love. Wake up to who you are. The power/beauty/knowledge is within you. When you get to the point, “what do I do?”, when you are stuck in your fear, stop and take hold of your truth. Use the beauty and power of your being to step through. Enter into that beautiful place within yourself known as “happily ever after”. | 11/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 6, 2011 – Sacred Place of Healing | 11/6/11 Rev. David McArthur Vibrations. We constantly connect with the Presence through vibrations, which can be words of care and love, or our thoughts that we constantly send out to others, or colors of vitality and warmth. Maybe a place with the consciousness of people coming to touch healing in their lives, like a beautiful church with a vibration or energy which is exquisite – that you relate to. Some places support a vibration within you. (Not cause it.) It’s within you; it’s not out there. We find the inner places through outer places. We might experience the need of healing a vibration that is not where we want it to be. Recognize how important it is that we heal vibrations from loss, hurts, even changes which seem to violate who we are. It’s important that we bring that hurt into healing. Remember, God is good all the time – even if we don’t feel it. But just knowing that doesn’t take away the hurt. Healing is resolution. So think of that place where you feel really good – a place where you were full of vitality and life. That place is God. It’s the place you are while watching children at play or when you get lost in an ocean view or the view of a mountain top. Remember that feeling. Let it be alive. Enjoy it. Touch it. Feel it. Now bring the worry/anxiety/feeling which is not comfortable – a hurt or loss – bring that into the feeling of wholeness – the place where you have let the goodness be alive in you. Bring the uncomfortable feeling in and let it rest in that alive place. Tell your mind to shut up! It’s not about thinking. Perhaps that hurt made you grumpy, and you have found yourself pulling away from that place of healing. Sometimes we’re too tender. But you will forget to be grumpy. You might even feel alive, alert, awake, joyous, enthusiastic about life. Because of that love you find all about you. Bring the feeling of the hurt to that place of beauty and wholeness. Touch it in its fullness. Feel the goodness. Hold the hurt in that good place. Let it rest there. Don’t try to think it through. Let Spirit do its beautiful work of healing. Yes, sometimes you have to come back to it again. But remember, all the time, you are a beautiful child of God! | 11/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 30, 2011 – A Journey Through Our God Thought | 10/30/11 Rev. David McArthur Our God-thought, what we as humankind have perceived as the Divine, has unfolded over time. Worship of nature – the sun, a volcano, a river, or animals – touched the human capacity to ask the divine to respond to us. Then when humankind had become more confident in itself, the gods were beautiful human figures greater than life – magnificent beings out there controlling our lives. Once Constantine spread the new God thought – there is only one God – Jesus had become the sacrifice to get to God. The Roman and Orthodox Churches took over with the fall of the empire, and taught with pictures. For a thousand years it was taught that God was up there in Heaven and it was dark and dirty down here. With the Renaissance, the God pictures took on images of people down here where we live. The Divine began to touch us as people. All through this time, in every time and in every culture, there were mystics which taught that it is all one, all God. The view of mystics like Charles and Mildred Fillmore no longer was that the Church was an institution which helped people reach the Divine, but that it’s all God – everything to the center of the universe is all God. There is a tale which says God was asked how to make this information available, and He decided, “I’ll hide it in the heart, where everyone can find it if they are sincere and look deep enough.” All the way back, even the ones who worshiped God as animals were just asking to know the presence of God in their lives, to find connection and comfort. What did it matter as long as their intention and purpose would expand in their lives. The form does not matter – whether a statue of Apollo, Jesus, or Krishna, rites of a priest or words of Moses – what matters is what’s in the heart. What makes the difference is God is love in your heart. That’s where the love and sincerity are. There is nothing out there to give it to you. The connection is in your heart. Let your understanding unfold from your heart. It is beautiful. Feel the love – not the building, painting, or statues – but the love poured into the form – the form doesn’t matter. The bottom line is the love. It is what matters; it is what’s growing. What we are building now is a spirituality that does not know division, but unity. It starts in your heart. Ciao! | 10/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 30, 2011 – A Journey Through Our God Thought | 10/30/11 Rev. David McArthur Our God-thought, what we as humankind have perceived as the Divine, has unfolded over time. Worship of nature – the sun, a volcano, a river, or animals – touched the human capacity to ask the divine to respond to us. Then when humankind had become more confident in itself, the gods were beautiful human figures greater than life – magnificent beings out there controlling our lives. Once Constantine spread the new God thought – there is only one God – Jesus had become the sacrifice to get to God. The Roman and Orthodox Churches took over with the fall of the empire, and taught with pictures. For a thousand years it was taught that God was up there in Heaven and it was dark and dirty down here. With the Renaissance, the God pictures took on images of people down here where we live. The Divine began to touch us as people. All through this time, in every time and in every culture, there were mystics which taught that it is all one, all God. The view of mystics like Charles and Mildred Fillmore no longer was that the Church was an institution which helped people reach the Divine, but that it’s all God – everything to the center of the universe is all God. There is a tale which says God was asked how to make this information available, and He decided, “I’ll hide it in the heart, where everyone can find it if they are sincere and look deep enough.” All the way back, even the ones who worshiped God as animals were just asking to know the presence of God in their lives, to find connection and comfort. What did it matter as long as their intention and purpose would expand in their lives. The form does not matter – whether a statue of Apollo, Jesus, or Krishna, rites of a priest or words of Moses – what matters is what’s in the heart. What makes the difference is God is love in your heart. That’s where the love and sincerity are. There is nothing out there to give it to you. The connection is in your heart. Let your understanding unfold from your heart. It is beautiful. Feel the love – not the building, painting, or statues – but the love poured into the form – the form doesn’t matter. The bottom line is the love. It is what matters; it is what’s growing. What we are building now is a spirituality that does not know division, but unity. It starts in your heart. Ciao! | 10/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 23, 2011 – Decision Making or Discernment? | 10/23/11 Rev. Eileen Goor There are many ways people make decisions– rock/paper/scissors (which, by the way, goes back to 200 B.C. in China), flipping a coin, or casting lots (which was mentioned many many times in the Bible), drawing straws, even listing pros and cons on a sheet of paper. In the end, you probably decide by what you really feel anyway. True spiritual discernment is that knowing within your very being what is right for you. It is wisdom which you discover deep in the core of your being. When we complete a process and we feel led to do something, it often feels like a great risk. Indiana Jones was led by a guidebook to a huge abyss. It said for him to step out in faith. The question is “How?” The answer is “Follow your heart.” Then we ask, “How do we do that?” Then the answer is “None of your business!” The deep wisdom within you knows. Allow yourself to be guided, because there is just one mind. Ask, “What is mine to do?” It is a process of peeling off the old layers of stuff. The bridge does appear across the chasm when you do that which you have truly chosen to discern deep in your heart. It’s an individualized expression of God. If you don’t, the world is missing that piece. So we become responsible– able to respond. Guided from your heart and the depth of your being, you have access to total wisdom. And you will have the support on the path to be the expression of who you are here to be. Take the step in faith. You will be supported! | 10/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 16, 2011 – The Agreements & Beyond | 10/16/11 Rev. Suzanne Leonard Be impeccable with your words. (From Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements.) Greet everything in your life with kindness and caring and move on. Don’t take anything personally. That mean look you got might have been caused by a toothache, and have nothing to do with you. The driver that cut you off on the freeway might have been on her way to an emergency. Even when there are a lot of people “on their ways to emergencies”, don’t take it personally. Don’t make assumptions. Ask questions. If you need a keyboard, for example, and someone has a keyboard, ask if the keyboard plays. We were raised not to ask any questions. We grew up with “braces on our brains”. Always do your best. We are practical, positive, progressive at Unity. We are culturally Christian but spiritually unlimited. Everything we learn, we learn through repetition until we can live it. We need to move forward – take a class, move into a setting where we embrace greater good and expression. The essential impulse in all of life is to connect. (Lynne McTaggart, The Bond.) We came to connect on all levels. 4 Ways (Signatures) to connect – 1. we need to belong – we are tribal 2. we need to agree – we dance in cadence with each other; we feel agreement 3. we need to give – time, talent, and treasure 4. we need to take turns – we can’t give a gift if we don’t have a turn Do your best with passion in your life, with passion in your work, with passion for your friends, and with passion in your garden, and God will be with you and bless your life! | 10/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 9, 2010 – Still Points in a Turning World | 10/9/11 Rev. David McArthur How can we use spiritual power when we are reaching for that greater goodness but run into blocks? Then the busier we get the easier it is to forget that power, but we need it twice as much. We find the power in that still spot in which we experience the connection, just being at One. It is nothing and it is nowhere – the quiet, still point in the middle of our always-turning world. How do we make the connection? Jesus said, “Peace. Be still.” “Be still and know that I am God,” comes from the psalms. The journey to the stillness has a path – meditation. But recognize that when we try to meditate, the mind wants to focus on random thoughts, forgetting to be still. Many use a mantra, mandalas, and so on, but still fall between the words. It is in the deep thought, the deep feelings where we experience the divine silence itself. In that stillness, that quiet, focus on the deep feeling of love until it goes into what is just “presence”, where you are resting deeper than thought or feeling. You are resting with the one that is God. Then when you finish you go from deep peacefulness into the energy of the world which hasn’t been in the peacefulness, and the beautiful peace is lost to irritation and frustration with the world and negativity. Instead, come out through the heart. You went in through the heart. Come out sending the peace out to the world, the things you face in the world. Say, “Divine Love goes before me making easy, joyous and successful my way.” This way you are connected with Spirit as It is working through the activity before you– even if It seems well hidden. You know God is good all the time– in the stillness and also in all the busyness before you. And everything before you is the pure divine love of God! | 10/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 2, 2011 – Blessings, Giving & Faith | 10/2/11 Rev. David McArthur In the process of spiritual growth, there are two spiritual practices that make a practical difference: blessing and giving. It’s part of a greater depth and growth of your spiritual consciousness. A “problem” is of your own consciousness. Bring it into wholeness by blessing it. God only knows wholeness, not “part” of anything. If we are not experiencing wholeness then there is work to be done. Blessing reaches into the wholeness. Blessing brings the wholeness through you, and not just in the solution to the problem, but in other areas of your life as well. Open to a greater flow of spiritual energy, directing it with intention. Jesus combined blessing with giving. Twice, He fed crowds of thousands with about half a dozen loaves of bread and a few fish. (Matthew 14) He blessed what He had and then gave it to the disciples to give to the people. Another time the disciples had only 5 loaves of bread for themselves, and feared it was not enough. He again fed all of them, admonishing them that “they didn’t get it” – that it was divine substance that He brought into manifestation. It was the blessing of what they had and the giving of it that brought forth from the divine substance the solution to their problem. It was a demonstration for us how we use spiritual energy consciously with intention. In the perception of a “problem”, you aren’t perceiving the goodness there. Call it forth. It responds to your need when you bless it and give from what you have. You are empowered to bring forth what you need. And we do this together – we call forth the demonstration, the manifestation – as with our renewed building and grounds we returned to just a year ago. And when it is time to go to the next step we gather to bless what we have, what we have done. To experience the flow of abundance, give. You have something to give. Find it. Give freely with joy. Set the table as an experience of blessing. Make a list of what you need, affirming the good that is coming. The “change” is within one’s self. And then the world changes. Change comes from the center out to the circumference. The goodness is out there just waiting for you to get your act together. God is good all the time! Give. Bless. Do this for yourself and hold this truth for others. | 10/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 25, 2011 – Steps of Manifestation | 9/25/11 Rev. David McArthur “The inexhaustible resource of Spirit is equal to every demand. There is no reality in lack. Abundance is here and now manifest.” –Charles Fillmore. God is good all the time, even when what we worked to manifest doesn’t show up, God is still good all the time. The question isn’t about God, but, “Are you willing to commit?” From Matthew, chapter 17, verses 24 through 27, “Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” The medium of exchange is not the true picture. Divine love is the source. The abundance of divine presence is the goal for you. You are one with God. In truth, you never owe or are owed as a spiritual being. Ask of Spiritual Presence for direction. Go to the realm of energy, of Spirit represented by the lake. It is deep, but look in and “fish” out an idea. Act on the first “fish” (idea). Use it to pay the “tax”, and meet your needs in the 3D world. We create our experiences. Let’s have joyful experiences. Open to the flow. Call the flow of God into your life. Awaken to the abundance. Act upon it. You can call it forth; you have the power. “The inexhaustible resource of Spirit is equal to every demand. There is no reality in lack.” Pull out the instruction from within and act on it. “Abundance is here and now manifest.” Nothing has any power over you but that which is true love and supports you without limitation, for you are the beloved child of God! | 9/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 18, 2011 – Love the Worrier | 9/18/11 Rev. David McArthur “Love the Worrier” We love to celebrate and party, and sing “Don’t worry; be happy!” Jesus said, in Matthew 6; 26, 27, that the Father feeds the birds of the air even though they do not store food, and we are even more important. He said that worry will not add one year to your life. So what are you worrying about? We learn from HeartMath that worry actually shortens your life. And you can always find someone to worry with you. You know not to do it, but you do it anyway, thinking, “If I didn’t worry about you I wouldn’t be loving you.” That is not true. Worry comes from the head. We think it comes from caring. But care gives you energy and lifts you up. Worry takes you down. The joy begins to drain away. You think, “What if this or that happens… Oh, no, I’d be powerless.” That’s not part of love– it’s from fear and anxiety. As a spiritual being you have the power to not go there. How do we do it? Besides Freeze Frame, you have power to connect to that pure being where all love and intelligence flows, where you heal the fears behind the worry. Step into a greater wholeness. We are no longer at a level where we let fear and insecurity run our lives. They come up to be healed. So ask, “What needs to be loved?” Answer, “my worrier!” The first thing to be healed is me. And because my life is the mirror [expression] of me, then the expression of me [my life] will change. Know the only thing out there is the goodness of God. Bring that love, that compassion, to the part of yourself that didn’t know that. The beautiful power of compassion sends the power to heal the worrier. Love the worrier part of you; it responds. Hold it in your love. The feeling begins to change. The energy drain stops. It lifts you up. Thank God we get to heal our self and look at the world through Truth. God is our source. “God is my instant, constant, abundant supply.” When our consciousness is ready, love will show up. It is always there. The only limit on God’s abundance is what we let in. You have to know the truth. Infinite wisdom, infinite power, infinite intelligence can take care of it and will if you let it. God is our source, our power. When you come to worry, treat it with compassion. Say, “I’d rather not worry and be happy!” | 9/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 11, 2011 – An Experience of God | 9/11/11 Rev. David McArthur When a broad survey asked, “What is it that you are looking for (in your church)?”, a large proportion answered that it was the personal experience of the presence of God. On a trip to the ancient section of the city of Jerusalem, I saw a group of obviously devout women. One smiled directly at me, and I felt waves of love. It was a gift. It awakened my feelings of love, and that it was “feeling” that was the way I was touching the presence of divine love. Through our feeling nature we are able to expand our awareness– to realize what is giving the feeling is the movement of divine spirit through us. Remember someone you really appreciate. What is it that you appreciate about this person? Next, feel the appreciation, not just think of it. Move from thought to feeling. Feel how the energy comes up in you, a movement, a flow of Spirit through you. Appreciation is part of love. There is a delight in appreciating another, and the energy that comes up in you. Your ability to feel love is the movement of the presence of God through you. Anytime you touch that love you feel the goodness, the awareness, the experience of the presence of God in you. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” You are one with the divine. It is seamless from there to the presence of the divine when you see the light that you are– that energy– flow. How do we sense it? Through feelings. Remember, God is good all the time! So what about the sad or negative feelings that drain us? They are the grief that we are not seeing the goodness, when we don’t feel the presence. But we know we are spiritual beings living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual law. And we know through feelings we touch the presence, and through appreciation we touch our feelings, and that it is easy to get to appreciation. Feel the presence. You can’t get away from it. Everything is God. It is the wisdom, the light, the power that flows through you. Sad feelings are you ignoring that. So once a day this week, stop and go to appreciation. Feel the presence– that goodness. You are that love. Because we’ve seen you, we seen the Father! Bless you! | 9/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 4, 2011 – For This I’ve Come, Lord Let Me… | 9/4/11 Rev. Sheila Gautreaux Everyone has challenges. When you are thinking, “Why me?”, why not you? Recall the story of Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4, 1-11). Metaphysically, the wilderness is the subconscious with all the erroneous beliefs– the things we think we’ve learned or have been told about ourselves. Jesus’ fasting shows we are to deny these erroneous human beliefs. And even for Him, when He needed to be cleansed of them, they came on harder than ever. So we must “fast” from them whenever they come up. The forty days signifies completion, which was then followed by hunger. That’s when those ideas tiptoe back. But we hunger for truth – to have it so badly– we will give those ideas up. We must listen to them to know them, but have a “comeback”– your truth that you have the power within you to overcome whatever challenges you. The word “Lord” in the Bible means the universal “law”. You cannot tempt the law, nor manipulate the universal law. If you align with it, everything works out. “Get behind me.” means “I no longer listen to you.” Come into your self. Find where you are out of alignment with the law. Ask, “What am I not seeing?” OMG! A challenge can shift quickly when you find where you are out of alignment with the law. Everything is preparing you. What has happened to you really happens for you. You are being forged. Take your eye off the challenge. You are about to be called upon for something much grander than before. You are being prepared. Be grateful. Five things to do when there is a challenge. 1. Tell your story. Pour your story out. 2. Feel it. Behind the feeling is the healing. 3. Look up. Above the condition. See the perfection in it as it plays out. 4. Reach up for your higher truth. Pray. Meditate. Read. Join a group. 5. Get up. Stand. Know God is there and will not leave you comfortless and is always with you. And smile. Pray, “For this I have come. Let me do and say all you have put me here for. Thank you God. I am grateful. Even for the challenges which make me to be who I came here to be. Amen and Awomen!” | 9/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 28, 2011 – Spiritual Gifts and Love Through Compassion | 8/28/11 Rev. David McArthur We have spoken of near death experiences, life after death, reincarnation; of healing and healers like John of God and the healers that are here every first Wednesday. And there are other gifts. But 1 Corinthians 13 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” As with any gift, people fall into a bell curve. There are a few as gifted as Edgar Cayce or John of God. The other end is people who think they are more gifted than they really are. Most of us have some gift that with some development can be used rightly. But without love it is not of value. This is tremendously important and a challenge. As you work with your gift, what comes is the truth within yourself. Do not give away your power that is within you. The answers aren’t out there. They are within you – your connection with spirit within your own heart. Every time you can’t break through, the teacher does come, but the power and responsibility are within you. At times when you feel you are under attack, it is very difficult to respond with love. Respond first with feelings of compassion for yourself as if for a good friend. From that experience, respond with compassion for that one attacking you. Choose to respond with understanding, with what is fair, with care for that person. Respond with love. “As a child…” When we go through the maturing of our spirituality, we shift from the brain as the instrument of interpreting, to the heart being the main way of interpreting life. “The three remain– faith, hope, and love. The greatest is love.” What is there to respond with? Choose love! There is that which guides, supports, heals. The greatest is love. Choose love. Create that which you seek! | 8/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 21, 2011 – Harry Potter – Love Always Wins | 8/21/11 Rev. David McArthur We recognize in symbols the unfoldment of our spiritual truth. When Harry Potter first discovers he is magical, that’s us taking our first look at our power within. The wand of intention and “speaking the word” are powerful symbols. We, as spiritual beings, enter into the physical life. We accept our body as our identity, the feelings of that body as if they were true. Voldemort symbolizes our experience of fear. “Horcruxes” are each parts of the soul of Voldemort that he has stashed at various locations so that he can live forever. It is a picture of how we have stored our fears in different places, avoiding death. With Dumbledore’s death, Harry (and we) realize that authority and the divine power are not outside of ourselves, but within. So we search for the fears that we have hidden from ourselves. What gives us the power to overcome our fear? According to St. Paul, “Perfect love drives out fear.” The first of two fears we will deal with here is lack. We seek gold – stuff – and we want more and more. We are afraid that people and situations will take it, that they have power over us. Harry and his friends fight goblins in the underground (as we fight our fears in our sub-conscience). The dragon is the symbol of power and guards the gold. Harry and Hermione direct the attention of the power (dragon) away from the gold (what we think we have to have) to freedom (where we really want to go). The next fear is fear of death. Harry realizes he has a horcrux of Voldemort inside himself. He must face the fear of the loss of a part of himself – losing his body in death, or losing his relationships, or his power. (Or we could lose our job, or our grandfatherly “God thought”.) But Harry faces it. He finds you have to let go so you can accept the higher thought. The death of the body is Harry’s symbol, but he is guided by the “perfect love”. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Harry lays down his life for his friends, and finds death is perfectly safe, and that you can’t lose life. Harry finds he still lives. He can ask (and so can you), “what do you really want to do?” when you are not afraid of death or lack. Fear can only exist in the belief that there is another power. There isn’t. Refusing to accept fear, it self destructs. It is no more. “In the end…love wins. It does win. We know it wins. When a person dies, it doesn’t turn off.” – J. K. Rowling on Oprah. There is only one presence, one power, the all-loving goodness of God. When you no longer tolerate the fear within you, you step into the next level, “God as me.” One with the presence. One with the power. There’s nothing to fear. There is only one presence, one power, the all-loving goodness of God! | 8/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 14, 2011 – Two Ways of Healing | 8/14/11 Rev. David McArthur As Unity people we spend a lot of time bringing the application of spiritual principles into our experience. We believe the energy, the pure love, brings us into transformation of healing or financial challenges. Yet a noted adherent of the Unity teachings revealed he would have major surgery. He said the doctors had found that he had healed himself before from within, but he said this time his guidance directed him to utilize the skills and expertise of the medical profession to bring him healing from outside of himself. It’s all God. King David brought Israel into a state of national strength. He provided great security for survival of the tribe, and great abundance to taste life’s goodness beyond just survival. Security, sensation, power are the 3 lower chakras. King David is the symbol of love, and from that state he established security, control, authority, and power to make his intention manifest, through love. Use love to draw from the world around to create security, life opportunity, and to have power to create from the outer to take care of yourself. Jesus also is a symbol of love. His experience was very different. When people turned to Jesus (Who represents the Christ Self, the Atman, the Buddha Mind, the divine self) they were made whole. Jesus looked inward for power and authority. Jesus did not seek control in the outer, but from the center outward. Jesus symbolizes the power of the higher chakras. Dr. Emily Cady said we can call on the abundance to flow through us, without calling in the outer. “God is the all-sufficiency in all things.” Create by calling forth through your own power and authority. Co-dependency is ok with the God “out there”, but it is the divine in us that has the power. Declare from inside out, and then know “It is done.” Both result in healing. They are two different ways to meet the challenges. One is through the power of love– getting guidance to bring from the outer world that which is needed as an expression of oneness and love. The other is turning within, where the love and harmony is experienced within and is manifested in the outer, from the inner. It’s all God! It brings the greatest wholeness. It’s all the divine. Call it into being. As it comes forth, celebrate it! Every experience is another miracle! | 8/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 7, 2011 – Say Yes to Life | 8/7/11 Karen Taylor-Good Have you felt that as time went on your prayers were unanswered? Sometimes the answer is no. You might ask, “What went wrong?” or even say, “Thanks a lot, God!” I even prayed just to be “a little more right.” But prayers must be specific. I knew I had to “get a bigger pan!” I had to ask myself, “Do I really want to be those things I thought I wanted to be?” It’s ok to hurt. It’s ok to cry. Then I realized I did have my words, my music. And I listened to that voice inside as it got louder – I went to church and took a pledge to say “yes” to life. So I had to say “yes” when asked for a “small” favor. Great things happened quickly. The world came into focus. Although I had no idea what it looks like, I knew Someone does. So I wrote “I don’t always get what I want – I get what I need… I prayed for strength. I got pain that made me strong. I prayed for courage. I got fear to overcome. I prayed for faith. My empty heart brought me to my knees…” You are being pushed and pulled for a reason. Doors are closing for a reason. Life can leave you confused, stressed, and angry. But it’s perfect. And these Unity principals work all the time. Let go of things you can’t use. With the weight off your wings, you’re going to fly! Pat yourself on the back for still being here. You couldn’t have done it without you! Say “yes” to life. We sometimes say “no” unconsciously. Say “yes!” Make this the week – say yes to life as often as you can. For seven little days, say YES! | 8/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 31, 2011 – Experiencing John of God | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 24, 2011 – Water to Wine: Prosperity Steps | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 17, 2011 – Daily Forgiveness Prayer | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 10, 2011 – The Other Side | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 3, 2011 – Reincarnation | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 26, 2011 – Near Death Experience | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 6/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 19, 2011 – Love & Intention Create Transformation | 6/19/11 Reverend David McArthur Spirit is at every gathering and it always has an agenda. It wants to give to us and to give through us. Step into the giving and receiving. The experience of the heart is at the core of Unity teaching, as in Myrtle Fillmore’s experience of healing her final stage of tuberculosis. Heartmath experiments show that our intentions affect even our DNA. With the coherent, ordered pattern of the heart – the state of love – the DNA responds to the intentions. We have the ability to change the cells of the body! How do we, like Myrtle Fillmore, deal with those experiences in which we are aware there is something better? While in the deep state of love, speak words of focused intention into the transformation you seek. It is not the thought alone. Go into the state of feeling deep love for the cells of the body over and over again. It takes the deep feeling of love. The power of Spirit moves through our very nature to wholeness, which is our nature. When there is a part of us which still carries pain it comes up to be healed or else we act it out. The importance is that we address it and bring it healing. Out job is to call it into wholeness. To do it, move into the state of love. Bring it into the experience of groups and communities of which you are a part, where there are people in pain, when there is hurt that expresses and needs attention. When there is a past that needs healing. Our minds are very good at explaining right and wrong. “I’m right and they’re wrong.” That doesn’t heal. Move into the love. It takes away the separation, the “explanations”, and we move to where there is connection. Instead of standing in expression of pain and resentment, move to harmony. Within your family and community see the disharmony not as wrong but in need of healing. Bring the intention and the love. Spirit gives the invitation and provides the way: Love and Intention. Bring love and intention into your family and community. What a joy to be that instrument! – to live the pattern of wholeness in our lives and in our communities. Step into wholeness, love, and joy together! | 6/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 12, 2011 – Making Room For Grace | 06/12/11 Reverend Denese Schellink | 6/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 5, 2011 – Asking and Accepting | 6/5/11 Reverend David McArthur The awakening of our spiritual self (which is having this earthly experience) comes in pieces as we become more and more conscious of the divine love within us. An important piece is that of asking. We ask, not to awaken a sleeping God, no, but to awaken ourselves to receive what is already given, what is already prepared for us. Sometimes we ask because of a real frustration (which is because we know there is something better). Sometimes because of a deep desire within us. Sometimes our asking unfolds over a period of time and looking back becomes clear. Some needs are beyond our ability – there are some things in the way. Love and care are not there within to deal with the need. Go to prayer and ask. Then the difficulty that’s in the way loses it’s impact and the spiritual presence and power responds. Love is the response given. Accept it. Choose again and again not to go to the anger and hurt, but go to the love and care. It is often hard to accept the goodness without going back to the need. It’s like we are in a hologram. Our attention is on what’s in the way. Free yourself from the difficulty. Choose to love. See the glow, the delight within of divine love. It is powerful; it is complete. It is the love which reaches through the dimensions of our beings. Accepting opens the next door of the journey. Being open to accepting opens the way to the deeper desire. The deeper we ask, the deeper the response. The deep, unconscious desire asks. What we reach for within us is the experience of the divine love response. The expansion of our spiritual awareness is what is accepted when we say yes. It unfolds – it continues to answer. The questions we ask are about who and what we are, not just what we need in the moment – the reaching for that spiritual love and power that we are. The world can’t explain and will dismiss the truth of our valid spiritual experiences. Asking draws in the energy and activates the soul’s potential. Will you stay in the higher “hologram”? Do it by accepting the truth and validity of your experiences – your understanding of your truth. Step into your greater potential. Ask. Whatever is going on for you, step into that higher, greater response by accepting you are one with the higher power. You don’t know it, but you do know it. Accept it. “Is it too good to be true?” The truth is if it’s not good it’s not true! | 6/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 29, 2011 – Welcome Home (Silence) | 5/29/11 Reverend David McArthur Here our experience of spiritual community is a feeling that we’ve come home. It feels like home because it is in harmony with something inside, that everyone is a spiritual being completely and fully loved by that infinite power, love, and light. Being with people that know that is like being home. Here we have acknowledgment and support that in every spiritual path we are all a part of that spiritual feeling. It is strong here because we keep creating that energy here that everyone is loved and welcome. We have a commitment to transform feelings of separation because we are one. It’s the truth. One source moving, creating through us all. We reach for it again and again. Be grateful to know that is what you are reaching for, to experience the truth whatever Spirit invites you to step into – a greater experience of family or home – that’s how Spirit touches the Earth. We translate that feeling of love and connection of home into our feelings. But the feeling of home isn’t “home”. There is a place of home in us all. We step into home in the silence. Whatever we are experiencing in life, we step into a deeper level in the silence. And there is nothing there and yet it is so full. Don’t think about it. When we rest there it wells up that which we can’t explain and it lifts us up. First our mind is busy figuring it all out. Then we focus on the feelings which take us there – the feelings of divine connection – take us to where we sit on the edge of that silence, and then we let go. And we rest in silence. In that silence, not feeling oneness – we are simply one – being one with that one – from there. Something that is so hard to describe. We see – we feel – life differently. Our thoughts are different. What we see changes. How much easier it is to see the “being” of another! How much easier it is to see the beauty of the Earth! Somewhere between the words is a moment where it is just still. Just being. Somewhere the silence reaches out and takes you in and says, “Just be.” And you see that wherever you are, you are whole! | 5/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 22, 2011 – Non-Action Through Prayer | 5/22/11 Reverend David McArthur Lau Tzu taught non-action – “Don’t just do something, stand there!” Practice not doing and everything will fall into place. As Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.” They were teaching, “Move from mental control to the spiritual power within.” Our beliefs express in the world around us. When we see something not right out there – something out there that is limited – then there is something inside that is limited. Go within. HeartMath has shown scientifically that the heart can change the entire body. Spiritual power flows from the core or your being. Let it flow and it changes what’s out there. It isn’t easy. If I’m going to change, I will need to let go of something in here and open to a greater download, a greater expression of the divine presence and power within. Affirm, “I release that which no longer serves me. I open to my highest good.” Attune to that spiritual self. Tune it in with the power of prayer. Much prayer uses the mind, but focusing on the feeling of ease skips right to a core vibration of the soul. It is there we know of the connection – a tremendous feeling of divine order and flow. In The Prospering Power of Love, by Catherine Ponder, we learn to use the power of prayer to move to that inner change. Instead of moving something “out there”, move inside. Do the inner work. Focus and express the spiritual energy of that greater good, that greater healing. Then the energy changes around a remembered experience, a hardness in the heart. Open to guidance; move to enlightenment. Attune to the perfection of the divine consciousness – to that place within ourselves of powerful transformation. It’s yours, and you deserve to have it! I release that which no longer serves me. I open to my highest good. | 5/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 15, 2011 – Pooh Teaches Non-Action | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 5/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 8, 2011 – Unconditionally Loved | 5/8/11 Reverend David McArthur Happy Mother’s Day! Seeing a mother’s love enfolding a child is seeing a sacred experience. “Mothers have magic; they make you feel better without medicine.” Mothers let that divine love express through them, stepping into that Divine Mother expressing. Our mothers very often were the ones to express most deeply that expression of God’s love – many in spite of their own limitations and pain. We can send that love out, acknowledging that tremendous love flows through them and us. We are in it together. Through our mothers we experience the presence of God, answering that we are loved completely – we are not a sinful mess. You are loved completely just the way you are! How much more does God love you! Your Father Who is in heaven “has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” Just being held in your mother’s arms – it’s through our mother’s love that we learn to receive love, to let that love enfold us, to open and receive that love. Yes, you are your mother’s child. You are also a child of Spirit, loved completely and unconditionally just the way you are. Affirm, “I am loved completely and unconditionally just the way I am.” You can feel that shift to the “mother” energy – that connection and care that is “mother”. Our mothers are not physically present in our lives for many of us. Yet this love knows no bounds and continues to be that love. Our job is to open and let it in. Let it lift you and touch you! You are the child of God so you deserve it! | 5/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 1, 2011 – The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection | 5/1/11 Reverend Sheila Gautreaux-Lee Today we celebrate Ascension Sunday as the completion of the journey of Jesus that began on Good Friday. The crucifixion on the cross represents metaphysically the crossing out of error states of consciousness that bind us in our humanity. We then cross over to the kingdom of the heavens, our divine life. The tomb represents our going to deeper places to allow that which no longer serves us to die. The resurrection is birth into new consciousness where we resurrect who we were before the world even was – absolute perfection! Ascension, then, is rising into the realm of divine truth where we see truly – the entire process, the complete journey and choices the soul makes. We are not victims but volunteers! The Passion (suffering) of Jesus showed us we first need to experience who we are not, so we can become aware of who we are. In suffering we are strengthening our Christ-muscles. Rise above conditions of pain and suffering. Take your eyes off of the condition. Put your eyes on the divine. Rise above – ascend – that you can see your way clear. Jesus had to ascend, to go. He didn’t belong here. You don’t either. Your destination is perfection – perfecting who you truly are. He didn’t stay because when you are so focused on the Man, you can’t fathom the magnitude of the message. Just as the disciples did, we would look to Him for everything, instead of looking within ourselves. He also had to leave for the Holy Spirit to come after Him, a comforter to guide us. The Holy Spirit is the divine feminine, the nurturing energy. The day of Pentecost is for us the day we open to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit do the singing. “You don’t do the singing. I do. All you have to do is show up and look cute.” How do we do it? We can call on the Holy Spirit anytime we are in a crucifixion experience. She is reaching Her hand out, saying, “I am here for you.” We do this by being willing to remove judgments from our hearts to see the face of God in every face to see the perfection in every situation in our lives to let go of resistance and let ourselves flow in every situation, accepting it “as is” to choose the power of peace – give up retaliating or condemning to forgive to live in the now without judging or comparing to the past or the future to let go of attachments to people, things, anything which holds us back Affirm, “I am the Christ.” See each person around you and affirm, “You are the Christ.” Amen and “awomen”! | 5/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 17, 2011 – Manifest Your Abundant Destiny | 4/17/11 Reverend Larry Wynn “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7, 7-8). Say, “That’s for me. It’s mine. I’m going to own it.” Our present reality can change. Q: How? A: Consciousness. Our 20202 Vision will manifest by all holding collectively the consciousness that it is already done. Often the only limitation we have is in our own mind. Celebrate what is within and draw it forth to energize a heightened awareness. First ask, opening the universe to possibility. Next seek. We went looking for a new vision. “What is Spirit calling us to be?” Then knock (many stop at dreaming). See how others do it. How can it be done? Now the door is open. Will we step through into our vision? Eric Butterworth, in Spiritual Economics, says there is no such thing as God’s will, or God’s timing. God doesn’t dish out favor(s). All favor is present now. Depth of consciousness is what we need. We sometimes see a gap from where we are to where we want to be. Depth of consciousness is how we bridge that gap. Spirit Itself does the work. It’s working all the time. You only choose positive or negative results. Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” Have courage to act. One step. Another step. We are divine beings living in this physical life. It is wonderful to “know why I showed up now; and why I am showing up.” We have been given a new lush garden, bigger. We have been given more. Are we stuck in our old limitations? Be willing to step into that space of our 2020 Vision. What stories will be heard from Unity of Walnut Creek!!! | 4/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 10, 2011 – Be Gentle With Yourself | 4/10/11 Reverend David McArthur We often spend time in self talk using words like “dumb” or “stupid”, “lazy”,”weak”. But is there anything that is not a part of the spiritual process? When something happens again and again where we clearly see what we are not doing, it’s part of something unfolding. Jesus represents that pattern within us all where we get to see where we are not yet living. It’s a greater truth, a pattern that takes us to the awakened being, the Christ consciousness. The experience when Jesus went through his awakening is when John baptized him. Jesus came up from the water and saw Spirit come to him as a dove, and he heard, “This is my Son in Whom I am well pleased.” That was when Jesus really knew he was a child of God. He knew then He was of love and grace. Then He went out into the desert for purification, and was “ tempted by the devil”– that part of Himself that was still caught in the 3D sleep. He confronts that part of himself when His attention is drawn to His hunger, in the third dimension. But then He turns His attention back to the divine, the Spirit in Him, by rebuking “the devil”. Then He did His ego thing, looking at the wealth of the “city” that He could have, but again He refused. From the mountain top he sees His power (ego), but once again He turns to the spiritual. Then angels came and ministered to Him. It’s a pattern. We get to see where we are not yet living– a greater truth. We get to see deeper within– parts not yet enlightened. It’s a journey, and being judgmental on yourself doesn’t work. Be gentle with yourself on the journey. Open to the gentle loving care of the divine. See where you aren’t yet. The fear– the unenlightened part. Turn to ask the help of the divine. Let in the gentleness. Let the angels minister to you. The angels bring that which takes us to the completion, to the place where once we were not. We get asked to grow in consciousness. It is not always gentle. When the vision comes we can be judgmental on ourselves. Be gentle. The gentleness lets in the growth in consciousness. The head can explain in detail why not. It’s the gentleness in your heart which will lift you up. Are you willing to be gentle with yourself? Say, “I am willing to be gentle with myself.” “I am willing to be gentle with myself.” And that which happens in you is a part of the consciousness that is awakening throughout the world. Let the angels minister to you. Open to the gentle loving care of the divine. That which happens in us can lift us all to the Awakened Being, the Christ consciousness. | 4/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 3, 2011 – What Is Your Story? | 4/3/11 Reverend David McArthur We share our stories to connect and find out what’s going on. They change when we awaken to who we are – spiritual beings of power and purpose. You are not simply a victim of the 3D world. You have the power to call forth in life those things that are important to your heart. The way that Spirit tells you what is important is a call to your heart. The heart tells us what is important in our lives. Telling our stories is how we bring forth the power and potential into our lives. Create an affirmation to tell the story that is consistent with your heart. Say yes. But it also takes expression – action. When you step into something new it asks you to stretch. Choosing to embrace the story on your heart asks you to change. You are free to create what you want – to turn it down or to go on. What’s the story on your heart where you affirm that you do not have the power, that the world controls you? How many times have you manifested that you’re almost, but not quite. If you grab hold of Infinite Power be ready to change and open to the power. Choose to tell a different story – the one in your heart – not the one of limitations. God’s very nature is wholeness. You cannot have the manifestation of the part without the rest being in it. Yet you affirm limitation. What if the heart knows the wholeness of others, the wisdom and blessing in and of them? We create the world around us. Do we see problems, or do we see that we are in the midst of the greatest experience that mankind has ever had? That you’ve waited lifetimes to be here and birth this new consciousness of love and harmony? That you are one with Infinite Wisdom and choose to bring forth a world of love, harmony and wisdom? What do you want to call forth? What is on your heart? What we’re creating is so wonderful it’s worth all of us showing up! What’s your story?!!! | 4/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 27, 2011 – Unfolding The Soul | 3/27/11 Reverend David McArthur On this journey of spiritual awakening, there are some special things we share. Like the gift of being aware of who you are, a beautiful child of God. And then to see the unfolding of a soul – it’s not just something for a minister. And then to appreciate the ordinary. It is ordinary that we are tremendously loved as children of God– loved without limitation or judgment. A simple but important idea – awareness of God moving in and through your life. It’s there. Not like a raisin in a bun, but like the ocean in a wave. Affirm, “I am a beloved child of God.” If there is something that would make your connection with Spirit deeper, ask for it. Call it forth. It’s ok to have abundance. Affirm the divine love and presence in your life. Build the feeling of having your good. The feeling is important. Talk about what you have gained in the process even if it didn’t look like it manifested. The journey is of tremendous importance. It’s not about the stuff, it’s about the relationship, growing in the divine soul, no matter how we categorize it. It’s the experience of knowing the divine. As we believe and experience the goodness of God it’s ok to have abundance and let your talent and creativity show because you love yourself. It’s ok to love yourself enough to have something that’s special to you. It’s ok because you know that you are loved. And because you grow, you see that light grow in the people you know. It’s ok to empower what’s important in your life, and to recognize that in all the people of the Earth, and to see it in their lives. It is the most beautiful thing. Give thanks that you have gotten that most beautiful gift! | 3/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 20, 2011 – Tsunami of Love | 3/20/11 Reverend David McArthur The past two weeks have brought unbelievable natural disasters in Japan and new political unrest in northern Africa. How are we to respond? What is this all about? Yes, we know we are in a time of accelerating change, so we are not really surprised. Edgar Cayce said these things would happen. If he knew it, then you knew it when you chose to enter into this life. You understood the times you were entering into –times of great change to the earth and governments and our financial systems. You didn’t come to be affected by the changes but to affect those changes by knowing and remembering who you are –spiritual beings living in a spiritual world governed by spiritual laws. There is a second tsunami of emotion that spreads out from the disaster, one of fear, pain, helplessness, powerlessness. In the movie “What the Bleep” Dr. Masaru Emoto showed us how our thoughts affect the structure of water; that they do affect the physical world. Our job, then, is to respond with a tsunami ourselves– to effect healing of the Earth itself. Send prayer, love, and care. Your thought affects the physical world. Q: How is it our consciousness affects the world? A: Directly. Go into loving support. We aren’t helping anybody when we “get down in pity” with them. We have the power to transform stress in others. You came to send a tsunami of love that sweeps through mankind, that touches the earth, the animals, all the people. Do you choose to? The “worst case scenario” is not a reality, but the fear of it is real. When it sweeps over others it is time for us to send a tsunami of love. Love casts out fear. All this is about a new birth of consciousness for all mankind. When we relate to each other, there Unifying Intelligence flows through us. We know GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. That goodness is right there. We send out the truth of the wholeness that this is all about. Whenever you see people inflicting pain and cruelty on others you know it’s time to go to your heart, whether you understand them or not. We are just us learning and growing. It’s time to be immersed in this tsunami of love. We came to help all to move into a state of awareness, the more the “I” of us awakens and the love moves through all of us. Our work is to send out that tsunami of love. | 3/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 13, 2011 – Finding The Joy | 3/13/11 Rev. Susan Galvin, Community Life Minister. Unity of Walnut Creek We can think of ourselves as a plain, ordinary wooden cup, not trusting oneself to have the wisdom or the knowledge to form our own judgments. Then we come to realize there is more to life than just “sticking it out” until death. We begin a journey of self exploration, building a new sense of self– bigger, more durable, shinier. Feeling empowered, we develop a highly polished self, like a shiny silver cup. Then we sense there may be more, a deeper level beyond self. We ask, “How can we be of service? What is our purpose?” But are we waiting for a telegram from God with our job description? If we listen, the still small voice inside asks, “Why not find the joy this time?” But service is hard work and it takes a lot out of you. How can joy and service go together? Discover that it isn’t so much what you do but a shift in your awareness. With a sense of gratitude, service is joyful. The joy becomes exuberance, like a bubbling fountain. Life has transparency. It is not obstructed by “stuff”. It rings, it has resonance, like a crystal goblet. But a crystal goblet is more vulnerable than a wooden or silver cup. Your vulnerability is your willingness to be open to the service of the divine. Unity of Walnut Creek has changed. We now see the world beyond us, the divine beyond us. There is a flow back and forth from the outside to the inside and out again. Each of us as individuals can find a path of service to see through the transparency and see the divine in everything we do. The life we share here deserves the best we have to give joyfully. Find the joy this time. Pray– Beloved Presence, to Thee I raise my whole being, A vessel emptied of self. Accept, Lord, This my emptiness, and so fill me with Thyself – Thy Light, Thy Love, Thy Life – that these Thy precious gifts may radiate through me and over- flow the chalice of my heart into the hearts of all with whom I come in contact this day, revealing unto them the beauty of Thy joy and Wholeness and the serenity of Thy Peace Which nothing can destroy. | 3/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, March 6, 2011 – The Path of Letting Go | 3/6/11 Reverend David McArthur How do we let go of what no longer serves us? –of judgments and of judging ourselves? What do we really let go of? There are 2 processes. 1) affirmation– which we are pretty good at, and 2) denial, which is taking power away from what no longer serves. It is “letting go” of hurt and pain. And also it is letting go of the wonderful things when it is time to move on! When we try to let go with the head we suppress the feelings, which show up again because there has been no completion. In Unity we have a different way. It is through the power of the heart. We complete what is there. Sometimes it is easy; sometimes we have a lot of drama and pain. Doing it with the heart completes it and it no longer has power over us. When you walk away with peace, you really get to walk away. How? 1. Be honest with yourself. Admit the anger, hurt, or loss that you feel. Look honestly and connect with yourself in a deeper way. 2. Have compassion for yourself when you feel hurt, pain, and loss, and even when you have a wonderful experience that comes to completion. Compassion heals. Understand the pain, but feel the love, the compassion, that sense of care. Feel that touch of the divine which heals. Hold the feelings in your compassion, where the healing takes place. Compassion is love– God’s healing love in you. 3. Feel appreciation. Feel gratitude for what you have gained– the compassion, the wisdom which you can now use in this journey. You are a wise, spiritual being. Say, “Look what I did!– at what I have gained! Look at what I gave myself!” 4. Be neutral. Hold the situation, the feelings in your heart. They are not good, not bad. They don’t have to end, they don’t have to continue. Stay in your heart. Know, “Spirit is taking care of things beyond my understanding.” Let it be. Let it be and be ready for the next step. 5. Ask. The Infinite Intelligence will let it go or change it, but follow the direction you get! When you do your letting go in honesty, in compassion– it completes. The letting go is not about what you let go. It’s about what you are stepping into in Spirit. Let Spirit do Its amazing work in you! Honesty. Compassion. Appreciation. Neutral. Ask. Let Spirit do Its amazing work in you, and enjoy! | 3/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 27, 2011 – Finding Our Purpose | Reverend David McArthur How do I know my purpose?– recognize my heart’s desire? As a spiritual being, you are an infinite soul choosing to enter into a human experience with things dear to you coded on your heart. When you are in tune with this the universe conspires to unfold the purpose you are about. The more in tune you are to that the more there is harmony and flow. You move beyond your troubles to focus on your purpose. The divine flows more effectively in you and through you. So 1. Stand up. Stand filled with the presence of the divine, in a place where you are aware of possibilities and of the blocks you have. In that space there is the past and the now and the potential of the future. 2. Now walk forward through the blocks, the limits, into the time beyond working them out. 3. Step into that future place when your beautiful purpose is in a state of fulfillment. Feel it done. It is there within you. One of the signs of your purpose is that which has called you again and again. You have been saying “yes” to one thing after another. It is a set-up! Make that step through your limits to the Presence within you, the fulfillment of your being, your purpose, your deep passion, responding to what is meaningful to your heart without any idea of the result. Spirit will open the next door. You don’t have to know the end. Appreciate that you don’t know where it’s going. If you did, it might be harder to say yes. The purpose is already given, and in the Mind of God it is already fulfilled. Spirit is omnipresent in time and space. It’s a complete conspiracy. Divine Intelligence has the purpose of fulfilling your purpose. It has given everything that you need. Maybe you say, “ no– I’m done with that.” When you take a side turn, your guidance system says “recalculating”. But each time you say “yes” the purpose of Spirit flows more. Have the love and respect of what is put in your heart. Spirit takes us through changes because it is growing us, and when you’re about what your heart really desires you feel wonderful. You can keep going regardless of what it takes. You are touched by commitment, no matter what the obstacle. The more you align with it the more you experience fulfillment. You are full of energy no matter how hard it was. Say yes, and then yes, and then yes! It may cause growth– but that’s what makes it fun! | 2/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 20, 2011 – The Answer is Love | Rev. David McArthur (Questions from the 11:30 Service) Questions? And Answers! In order to ask a question, you already have the answer. The knowledge is within, and the question is the call by Spirit to embrace the answer. Q: How do we love our enemies? A: As long as we think we have enemies we have work to do. The perception of “enemy” is a perception of separateness. Learning we are one is a sacred process. The “how” is in everything we do – prayer, meditation, seeking guidance, and seeing (with the love of the divine) something coming up so we can heal it. It is love. Q: Regarding abundance, what is greed and the feeling of entitlement? A: As a spiritual being, know you are in the love of God and entitled to love in abundance. Greed is a consciousness of lack – but it is an inner lack. It invites the experience God as our source. When you open to guidance you open to the flow of abundance because we are to be of service. Align to the flow. We are entitled to abundance. Q: How do we see someone who is suffering as healed and whole? A: See in that person the spiritual being of infinite power who takes on the challenge of suffering with courage. It is given to that person to meet the challenge with grace and it is for us to see that within them. Our wonderful Heart Ministers are committed to seeing that in us when we forget. We are not alone. Q: How can we be open when there is resistance? A: Resistance shuts down the flow, as if saying “I’m not ok.” We’ve got infinity. It’s ok if we blow it a couple of times. Be gentle. Have compassion. You’d do it for a friend, wouldn’t you? Be willing to do it for yourself. Q: Where do we go when we die? A: You don’t. Who you are is eternal. You give up the body – you wear it out. But you don’t wear out. Your consciousness journeys forth. Heaven and hell are not places. Hell is only a motivation to get you to church where you can be saved from it. When you are rid of the body you go to the next level, with love and peace enfolding your being. The place is here and the time is now, always! Q: What is the metaphysical aspect of grace? A: It’s all grace. That we are here is a gift of love, like God saying,”Come, I want you to have the gift of humanity. I want you to learn of your powers and to manifest your desires.” Grace becomes the experience of who you are – the light, the power, the intelligence, the wisdom to understand the power of love that transforms from within to all the way out to the farthest part of the universe. When Jesus knew his oneness it was then understood: grace comes through and is a state of consciousness. And the more you know that, the more fun it is! | 2/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 13, 2011 – The Feelings of Love | Reverend David McArthur Valentine’s Day is when we touch the spiritual support that is within us all. We celebrate the one thing that is in all our holidays and within us all – love. God is not a being that loves; God is love. When you are loving you are Godding. It is in the feeling where transformation happens. What is the feeling of Love? It is in romantic love. When you see in your partner the spiritual being– when you see the beauty, the power, your heart goes into delight. That feeling is like when light hits a prism and shows all the colors, all the vibrations it is. Feeling the presence of God in the vision, it brings forth all the feelings – like appreciation, like harmony – the feeling taking us into the Presence. It is in care for those you love. It is brought forth in action, the expression of feeling. As was taught: Then the King will say… ‘Come…take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?…The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40) Love becomes care, and translates into expressions of care. It is in compassion, as in the story of the “Good Samaritan”. Jesus asked, “Which…do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy (compassion) on him… (Luke 10: 36, 37) Even in world news, we are invited to go into compassion, as if Spirit is saying, “Love one another. My love I give to you.” And in happiness, where there’s also a feeling of peace. A feeling of peace that is a part of love. Like exquisitely sitting together quietly in peace. That is experiencing the Presence and at that point you are love. Amazingly, you enter into that Consciousness of love. You are that love. In that the divine is as you. You are the radiant love of God. Affirm, “I am the radiant love of God.” | 2/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, February 6, 2011 – From Goo to Good with God | Reverend David McArthur How beautiful it is to grow in a world governed by spiritual laws! However, GOO so often comes before GOOD. Not good as opposed to bad, but the good that is the very nature of God, the very nature of the universe, the very nature of being. Not the good of an omnipresent being, but of omnipresence, the nature of all life. Not that of an omnipotent being, but of omnipotence – the all-power that moves through you and all life. Of omniscience – not a being which is omnipotent, but the all-knowing that is you. That is the goodness and there is nothing outside of it. Remember that when you are in your “goo”. You get the choice of how much you let in when you are in your “goo”. We got to let in a little more God. Even a child knows that more love eases the way. And we are so impatient. We want to to change our “goo” now. A middle school boy in Miami did. When he was facing another boy to fight, he remembered that he was taught that he could change things. He felt that in his heart. He spoke to that and there was no fight. He and the other boy worked it out and became friends. Lao Tsu, in the Tao te Ching said, “She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes without danger. She perceives the universal harmony even amid great pain because she has found peace in her heart.” Only good is real. Only God is real. Only love is real. Touch that – there is nothing else. The middle school boy was centered in his heart. He “touched the Tao” and change was immediate. He transformed the physical body, and the emotional stuff was transformed from conflict to harmony – a higher state of intelligence. He transformed his state of being and changed the result. He knew what to do, but perhaps not how it’s done or why. It is love. We paint people as “wrong”. Love transforms the perceptions we have. Love transforms reality. The way is the feeling of love. He touched that love – the Divine Presence – and got out of the “goo”. The heart is the place where the Power and the Presence moves through and transforms your being. Some ideas we have of love aren’t really love. Learn how to love when you don’t want to. Spiritual transformation is stepping to where you are connected to the Divine Intelligence. Then life really gets fun! | 2/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 23, 2011 – Rapunzel: Journey to Wholeness | Reverend David McArthur The archetypal patterns of our spiritual journey are found in our ancient tales, like “Rapunzel”. In the beginning the woman who will become Rapunzel’s mother wants a beautiful garden flower very badly, thinking, “if I get that, I’ll be just fine.” But there is a cost for relying on the outer world for fulfillment. It will not fulfill who you are. It does not have that power. Losing control of Rapunzel, the witch puts her in the tower. Her hair represents the long-focused thought or out-pouring of the brain. But our brains focus on fear. When we’re in fear we don’t connect with the whole of life. Rapunzel herself represents the feminine in all of us, the feelings of beauty and harmony (for which the men in our society get no support). Our growing spirituality – feelings of the Presence – are isolated in lots of us, as is Rapunzel so isolated in the tower. So she sang, her beautiful voice symbolizing attunement gained through meditation in silence. Her beautiful singing attracts the prince, who symbolizes thought, mind, knowledge. He lives with the King (God) and so the prince knows he a child of God. I’m a child of God. Rapunzel learns from the prince that she’s a child of God. I’m a spiritual being, living in a spiritual world, governed by spiritual laws. We come to awareness through focusing on spiritual things. We awaken to the power of choice. The witch cut Rapunzel’s hair and sent her to the desert. The desert is depression. So Rapunzel no longer had choice or the support of her knowing. There is no stimulus in the desert. The prince again climbed up the braid of hair only to find the witch, not Rapunzel. He does not choose to be with fear and so he leaps out the window. He falls in the thorny bushes below. He feels pain. He goes blind. When we run into pain we go blind – not seeing the divine, not seeing the truth. We say, “Why did God do this?” “How come I have to go through this?” It is painful. Giving up fear means you have to give up the drama. That is painful for many of us. We must move from knowing to being. Rapunzel returns to singing, to being in harmony, to attunement. So the beauty she is comes back into her life. The prince hears her. When she sees the pain and blindness of the prince she responds with tears of compassion. Compassion heals pain. You find healing. Vision is restored. We’re able to know and understand. The power comes from within, not from anything without. Choose a greater state of being. Experience a new state of consciousness and live happily ever after. | 1/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 16, 2011 – Commit to the Dream | Reverend David McArthur We live the dream we hold. If it isn’t big enough, we don’t live as fully as we are capable. Dream a higher dream. Say yes to the dream in your heart. We won’t live in a world of harmony until we decide to live in harmony with those around us in our lives. We won’t have justice or forgiveness until we live with justice and forgiveness in our own lives. The time has come to make a commitment to the dream. Say, “This is the quality of life I want.” This year, like never before. This year is a time we’re being asked to step into our dream, a time when the power to do so will rise to levels previously hard to even hope for. Rumi: “There is a candle in your heart waiting to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?” Say “no” to what no longer serves. Say no to what is no longer a part of your higher dream. No is a commitment to have only that in your life which supports the life you are committed to. “To be uncommitted is to be full of hesitancy, ready to go back, ineffectiveness.” Saying no to what doesn’t work is committing to what does. That is the point where your commitments become most real. Let go of that which doesn’t work and no longer serves. There is no holding back on the part of the Divine. From Lao Tzu: “The Tao gives birth to all beings …creating without possessing, acting without expecting, guiding without interfering. That is why love of the the Tao is in the very nature of things.” Everything you need is provided by that Infinite Intelligence which guides you when you say “yes” to the big dream. “The moment one commits oneself, Providence moves.” All sorts of things begin to occur in support of the dream. Open up to assistance you couldn’t have imagined before. Once you commit to a dream that’s big enough to fill what your soul is about, you are letting that amazing spiritual being you are live who you are. You know it because you can feel it. Feel the candle be kindled. Feel the void be filled. It’s the dream. The time has come. When you commit, when you say yes, the fun begins! Kindle that candle in your heart! | 1/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 9, 2011 – Let Your Big, Bright, Brilliant Beam of Radiant Light Shine | Guest Speaker: Karen Drucker Let your big bright beam of light inside of you shine! When you are shining your light your energy is up and it helps everybody else around you. When you “get” your divinity you come alive. You can see it in other people– in their eyes. “I am the light of the world” refers to the divine light within us. Stand up and let it shine. Say, “When you see me you will see Spirit.” Shining is a choice. Say, “I am not giving my power away!” Connect to that power. Change yourself, but only go as fast as the slowest part of you will go. (That’s the other side of this. Hold yourself as if you were holding a baby.) But you will know when it is time to shine. So practice everyday– practice kindness. Be aware of the people around you. Notice people. Shine. Twinkle. Sing, “You are the face of God. I hold you in my heart. You are a part of me. You are the face of God.” Clutter dims down your life. Clutter is the things that don’t represent who you are anymore– the clothes that don’t fit, the old books you read decades ago. Everything has energy. Are there things in your life that no longer serve you – a job? – a friend? – that dim you down, even slightly. Clutter will make you feel overwhelmed and stop you from expressing Spirit. It is who you used to be. You send a message to the universe that you want to stay with what you used to be. Then what brings you joy? Who brings you joy? How much am I allowing life to come in? Make a point to ask, “What is it in my life that will light me up today?” To amp yourself up and clear the clutter out, go to gratitude every morning. Sing, “Gratitude above me. Gratitude below me. Gratitude before me. Gratitude behind. Gratitude to the left of me. Gratitude to the right of me. Gratitude above me. Gratitude below me. Gratitude within me. Gratitude all around me. I’m so grateful! I’m so grateful! I’m so grateful! I’m so grateful! I’m so grateful! Affirm, I am a big bright radiant being of radiant life! I shine that light to everyone everywhere! | 1/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, January 2, 2011 – A Heart’s Desire and an African Well | Reverend David McArthur This is a beautiful new year when Spirit is focused on supporting you in being what you came here to be – your purpose, your growth, that desire in your heart, your “heart’s desire”. What is in your heart? You might say, “Give me a hint!” Jesus said it’s not your duty or station – “What is that to you? Follow me.” He said “me” as the Christ self rather than as “Jesus”. As humankind has awakened to the divine within, we are called by the higher self, the Divine Presence, the Buddha Nature. We experience it in ourselves as our purpose at this point in life. We experience it as our heart’s desire. Look at your heart’s desire. Take a hold of what you want to put your energy into. As it unfolds it empowers you. Meet the needs in life without struggle. When you touch your heart’s desire you touch Oneness. One mind, one heart – which beats in all of us! When you’re at a point of choice and you find it’s time to take a step, touch your heart’s desire. At this point, maybe it’s just to heal. Whatever it is, every experience of your heart’s desire calls you into something greater. Thank goodness we don’t know the full extent of our choices. Say yes. It will show you oneness. It will remove the illusion of separation. Take the time and go to your heart. “What has meaning to me?” “What has value?” “What is important to me? What do I really want to say “yes” to?” Ask your heart. It will take you far beyond your mind. When you say “yes”, you don’t know where it will eventually lead. Say “yes” anyway! This is a beautiful new year when our “yes” is part of many yesses. That is what we all will step into this year. | 1/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 26, 2010 – There’s Hope | This is the season of hope. The season of energy, hope, and possibility is at its height. Even in the face of violence and fear there is hope– you cannot destroy the human spirit. It will rise up and more than survive, it will thrive. Hope is not a weak energy. Hope is to “expect”, to know that something is coming. You have a “confident desire”. You are certain and you will persevere until it happens. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Hope is the match that lights the fuse of faith. They go hand in hand. Hope is having our power engaged, knowing our good is already given, manifested. You can’t help yourself from moving toward it. Hang on to possibilities enthusiastically. There’s hope!!! Hope is having your past erased. It doesn’t matter what you did. Who you are is a child of God. Congress and unemployment are not your source. Hope is holding your possibilities, your power, engaged enthusiastically. Hope might be a teeny tiny small flicker. Hold on. It expands, gets larger, until the faith is engaged and nothing can stop you. Here are the steps to do this– Step 1) H Heal past core negative beliefs, forgive those whose negativity you learned. Step 2) O Open the channel for the flow of good by loving/giving/serving – not martyrdom. Giving and receiving are the same energy– and it comes back multiplied. Know it is not about them– it’s about you. Step 3) P Perceive perfection in everything. Be willing to. Be willing to be willing to. Holy Spirit will do the rest. See it;believe it. It will rise up and show itself to you. When something goes badly, know it didn’t happen to you, but it happened for you. Step 4) E Energize. Move forward eagerly. Everything awaits you. Expect. Express. Engage. It will happen if your expectation is based on the expectation of perfection and you have healed your past. “It doesn’t cost a thing to smile. You don’t have to pay to laugh.” HOPE – Heal – Open – Perceive – Energize. No matter what is going on with you now, there’s hope. Light the flame! The God we serve can bring anything back 100%! | 12/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 19, 2010 – Christmas Awakening | Music calls us to a place where we see differently. A soul awakens when it is touched by that which is seen differently. Emmett Fox said, “Mary is really the soul itself.” Mary, trusting in Spirit, accepted the role of birthing the One, the Consciousness that would change the world. When we, as Mary did, open our souls in faith to Spirit, we each give birth to something so new, so beautiful, it lifts us to a whole new consciousness that will change the world. We see the people in our life differently when we see and touch the Presence and Power that lifts us to a place we have not been before. An amazing awakening happens within us. Christmas is a call to awaken. The music of Christmas is a call to awaken. Allow yourself the full experience of Christmas and see what the heart feels when it awakens! | 12/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 12, 2010 – An Understanding of the First Christmas | Every religious group has a myth about the birth of the divine in human form. The Incarnation; the truth of the divine presence expressing in and thru us. They have added onto the story, but use what works and let go of what doesn’t. Edgar Cayce told how the prophet Elijah, knowing a higher consciousness, taught his awareness to a group that eventually became the Essenes. As a collective instrument, they brought in the greater consciousness. The Essenes were aware they were coming to a time when a Soul would enter That would raise the consciousness of all. There was this intention to prepare for the Soul and the consciousness of change. They began to train girls in their group so one could become the mother of that Soul. What love of that Soul to give up the greater consciousness and enter into the sleep of this earthly life, to awaken in the density of the human experience! In Unity, we speak of Jesus as the Elder Brother who broke through first, who broke the way for us. We are in the birth of a new consciousness– a new paradigm. What we do allows a greater consciousness to unfold. The story of the selection of Mary to be the mother shows that, even when we are “prepared”, we reach a point where we have to face something and we don’t have it all figured out. Know there are levels of support far beyond our ability to understand. Shakespeare’s Hamlet proclaims, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” We always have support to live in the new consciousness. We are always about things which bring forth a new consciousness. That’s why we’re here. However, open any great scripture, you will find many wonderful beings inviting us to follow into the pure radiant love that God is. What Christmas is about is that consciousness of love which more than circles back, it spirals. Each year we have greater knowledge, greater understanding. We have touched more beauty, goodness, wholeness of the people around us– the presence of that love. The greatest part of the story is that we are never alone. Whether we see angels, or Jesus, or the greater consciousness. We can only see a few, but there are many with us and among us! We are so loved! We are so supported! At Christmas we get to open up and receive the light like never before! | 12/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, December 5, 2010 – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town | The commercialization of Christmas is one of the most sacred parts! Thank goodness Spirit doesn’t confine itself to just the religious community. Perhaps you do not like God at all. Yet, Santa gets to you. Metaphysically, Santa shows up Christmas Eve when we celebrate the birth of a new baby, which represents the birth of a new consciousness. Santa comes from the sky– from that greater consciousness. And it doesn’t seem possible that Santa can come to every house in just one night, but, metaphysically, the higher consciousness is omnipresent, and Santa (the God figure) responds to every one of us. Within the house (your state of consciousness) Santa enters through the place of light and warmth. That is the greater consciousness coming through the heart– that child place of fulfilling dreams and desires. And you don’t get to see Santa, you just get to see the gifts he leaves. How God – Santa – shows up in an even greater way is the experience of the amazing consciousness of Christmas. It is one of the deepest and most important parts of Christmas. It happens through us. We are the love that happens, that touches, uplifts, and blesses. We are Santa. We understand that Jesus came to give us the awareness of the love that flows through us. Now we get an opportunity to bless. You can be Santa. You are invited to give to a Santa fund in the sanctuary or in the book center. The second way you can experience the amazing consciousness of Christmas is to open and accept that which blesses you. Express your need or the need of someone you know. Make out your Christmas list. Email Unity Walnut Creek or call the office with you request. Who has the greater joy– the giver or the receiver? Give and receive. Allow the flow. Budgets are not as important. Let the love be your only guide. Because of you, “Santa Claus is coming to town!” | 12/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 21, 2010 – Grateful For Grace | We give thanks for the gifts of understanding we get on out spiritual paths. We are thankful for universal laws because they make sense. Among them is the knowledge that we create our own experience. It is not a capricious Being “doing it to us”. Our experience is the out picturing of our own consciousness. So what do we do when we get stuck and feel like we just lose, lose, lose? The laws have brought us to where we have to meet ourselves. Is there a loophole? Can we find a loophole in the Bible? Jesus said He did not come to destroy the law, that “not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law…” You don’t get around any of it. But in the law there is that which transforms the experience we are in. We are one with a power which is greater than that situation. We can touch the love of God. Feel it in a way that you know you are one with it– that you are connected to the only Power and Presence in the universe. This power is sentient and benevolent. It loves us beyond our understanding, no strings attached. And we know that It is Infinite Intelligence, that It knows so much better than we the resolution we seek. Know your situation is already taken care of. Feel that it is already taken care of. There is no need to worry. Accept this new consciousness. Accept this goodness flowing in and through your life. It’s ok. Yes, there is a loophole in the Bible: it is that love fulfills the law! That’s grace– it’s always there to fulfill your wholeness so you might fulfill the love. Lift the love and love will lift you. You are the love. There is nothing it can’t transform. You are that gift of love. | 11/21/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 14, 2010 – Over The River and Through The Woods | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 11/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, November 7, 2010 – New Name, New Consciousness | Many of us no longer use the name we were called in childhood. We have experienced a shift in our consciousness, and so have changed the name we use. A name is an acknowledgment of a state of consciousness. As the soul evolves, our focus shifts from the physical 3D world to that of the mental, the intellect. It was good to live in the 3D world and supply the needs of the body. But the intuitive self recognizes when it is time to shift the authority to the mind, the intellect. When we focus and develop mind we gain ability to direct the 3D world. In the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, Jacob, representing the mental aspects, has developed his intellectual abilities and prospered. However, when he wants to return to the land of his brother Esau, who represents the aspects of the 3D world, Jacob must first wrestle with the natural self, with his deep commitment to the physical world. He wrestles all night long, and learns that the mind is not greater than the body. They are spiritually equal parts of the whole. In the morning he is at a point of integrating the mental and physical, a point at which what is gained in mind needs to become firm. He has had a change in consciousness. He demands a blessing before he leaves. His name is changed from Jacob to Israel. In our wrestling, how do we get the blessing? Open to this growth, this blessing. Spirit brought it to you because there is some part in you that your soul wants to grow. There is always something to appreciate. Gift giving is an expression of appreciation. Give yourself the gift of stepping into a greater consciousness. Think about just one thing you appreciate about your struggles. Now feel it! There is a huge difference between thinking appreciation and feeling it. Feeling is power. Feeling takes appreciation into reality. That’s where the power is. In your wrestling, affirm, “God is blessing me now!” That’s when the light you are blesses the world, that’s what you came here to do. “God is blessing me now!” | 11/7/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 31, 2010 – Dumbledore Speaking The Word | Stories of magic catch us deeply because we are magical beings. They invited us into “I can do that.” Symbolically, the magic wand is to focus your attention on your intention. And you have to have the words of your incantation. Not all words are equal. Prayer isn’t to convince a power outside of yourself to change something for you. We at Unity focus our attention on the power we have within. Charles Fillmore said, “The Spiritual substance from which comes all wealth is never depleted. It is right with you all the time and responds to your faith in it and your demands upon it… Pour your faith upon it and you will be prospered though all the banks in the world close their doors.” It’s got to be a combined energy. Focus your attention and use words of prayer to bring forth greater manifestation to serve your life better. Speaking thought into words gives it vibration, brings it into the material realm. The most powerful words are those which are aligned to that which is true. How do we pick up and align to those words? Our God is divine pure love with nothing but desire to bring the best to each of us. Our God isn’t limited. You are loved and you can’t do anything about that. When we pick up that love we pick up power. Priests and ministers don’t know your words. How do you find them? Emily Cady told us how to move intention into manifestation. In her silence she heard the words: “Stretch forth your hand…and I will establish it.” She heard that our hands are God’s hands. We are co-creators. It’s our power. Own your power, it’s your spiritual nature. The words are in your heart. That infinite intelligence which is there for you knows them for you. When desiring to speak the word, “wait thou in silence only.” Then the right word will be given and power with it. When something needs to change the real answer comes from the silence within you. Call forth that which is to be called forth. Give what is to be given. Affirm, “Divine love goes before me making easy, joyous, and successful my way.” We can have life easy, joyous, and successful because God would have it no other way! | 10/31/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 24, 2010 – Self Forgiveness Through Self Compassion | Prosperity is to open up and allow Spirit to bring forth through you a greater wholeness (that divine intention) into your life. As taught by Edwene Gaines, the second principle of prosperity is Forgiveness. The hardest part of forgiveness is self forgiveness. The vision we have goes beyond the consciousness we have—we can see beyond where we are– and that vision will carry us forward. However, without self forgiveness, we experience guilt and get down on ourselves. Since the world we experience is a creation of our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes, when we think things like “I am not that good” or “Life’s not that good. I can’t really trust God.” we choke down our spiritual pipeline. We are no longer open. We get defensive and strive to protect ourselves. In Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert writes of how we are disappointed in ourselves for lacking the discipline to accomplish our dreams. However, after such disappointment, we can open to our greater wholeness if we forgive ourselves. She likens self forgiveness to kindly and encouraging motherly love. Like a mother holding you saying,”That’s ok. I love you just the way you are.” Such self forgiveness frees us from the judgment of how we view ourselves. There are times in our lives when we have caused pain to others. What we manifested then was very limiting. We can move beyond the guilt and its limitations with self forgiveness, self compassion. Say “I am willing to forgive myself and stop beating myself up for it.” It’s the self compassion that heals. This is a most important step and it will free your heart. It will free you for facing you tasks at hand. So open up and let the love of God in. Begin to deliberately give yourself forgiveness and compassion, and that spirit of divine creativity can begin to flow. Affirm “I am loved, special, and important. God loves me and so do I.” | 10/24/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 17, 2010 – Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox & Feelings of Change | Our idea of God changes as we progress on our spiritual path. Part of our spiritual journey is letting go of ideas that were comfortable, that we knew. Remember, God is good all the time. And there are parties along the way where we enjoy the goodness of life. When feelings come up that aren’t part of that, they have the ability to hurt us. The heart has wisdom that can transform that, if we recognize the thoughts which drain our energy. Are we aware of those feelings? There is a big difference between feeling something and being aware that you are feeling something. Be willing to go along with those feelings, but be aware of what is happening. When you get to the point where the emotions are drowning your power, value the feelings only as a part of the whole. Switch from sad to appreciation. Put energy into your vision of the whole. That is the change which lets us work with the self and get to the party. Do not stumble in confusion or sorrow. Jesus said the plowman cannot plough by looking backward; “Let the dead bury their dead.” Don’t go back to deal with and be in the emotion. There is a greater vision. Wake up. Lift your vision. Have without possessing. Act without expectation. Be free from the limits of what you have created. Let your heart be at peace. Return to source. There is our surrender. When you realize where you come from, you can deal with whatever life brings. Return to the wholeness. How? When you become aware that your feelings have taken your attention away from the goodness of life, go with the feelings until you are stopped. Then move to appreciation and step into the wholeness. | 10/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 10, 2010 – Welcome Home | It starts with the pull on your heart, a sense that there must be something more, or even sometimes it might be a “Wow!– it’s time to get on with that.” As a spiritual being you are constantly called to be that amazing being which you are. But there comes a time you can no longer say,“maybe later”. God says to you, “It is time.” When your life is at a point of expansion, your ego tells you that you do not have enough. Fear of not enough is one of the things that keeps us from our good. With God there is more than enough. So when the tug comes from the heart, do not ask,”how much?” God is your source. Ask what is on your heart. Part of the growing is to follow your heart. Do what you can do and Spirit will provide. When we more forward, what we need is provided. The work we have to do is the change in consciousness. The question is not “How much?”, but “How do we meet our challenge in a higher way?” So often we fall asleep, thinking we are 3D beings and the world is acting upon us– providing or not providing. But God asks, “Where is your power?” The greatest power in the universe is love. It is our job not to blame those who bring our challenges, but to love them! And when the power company wouldn’t let us move in, we resolved that challenge by loving them. Then we could invite the world to join us, because we do know our truth, that when we hear “no” it simply means we’ve got some growing to do. There has never before been so many souls that know our source is Spirit, and we need to hold that place. It is fitting that our homecoming is 10/10/10. “10” is the number of completion. And when you are there, at “completion”, you are also at “beginning”. | 10/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, October 3, 2010 – The Secret of Permanent Prosperity | From Edwene Gaines, “I am a person of power.” When you are 100% committed to your intention, the universe steps up. The God energy is always there. Plug yourself in. All it takes is a conscious intention to live your life fully in every way. Prosperity is having a vitally alive healthy body for the God-being that we are to express through; relationships that are joyous, satisfying, intimate, honest, and nurturing, and that work all the time; work that we love so much it’s not work but play; and all the money that we can spend. So for the next 21 days, NO COMPLAINING. For every challenge that arises, say,”God, that’s great!” Now, align with these 4 simple spiritual laws – 1. “God is my source.” Return one tenth of all you receive to where you get your spiritual food. Scripture says about tithing, “prove me now”, so start where you are– attitude doesn’t matter. 2. “Forgive yourself and others all the time.” At night before you go to sleep, pray, “Father|Mother God, have I put anyone out of my heart today?” Forgive them –and yourself – like you forgive a child. The only people that we have to forgive are the people who don’t do things our way. Pray, “Let me love them the way You love them.” 3. “Set clear cut, tangible goals.” Jesus didn’t say “…make Me guess.” Be very specific and write down your desires. “Desire is the onward impulse of the ever-evolving soul.” – Charles Fillmore. Do not worry about how they will come. God has ways you might not have ever thought of. Would you be willing to consider God knows exactly how to do it? 4. “Get on purpose with your life.” If you don’t know what that is, ask yourself, “What would be the most fun thing I could do with my life?” What would you do with your life if money was no object, if you didn’t have to work, if you didn’t have responsibilities, if you could do anything, be anything, have anything? Go there in fantasies and write about it. Visualize it. And start taking action-steps towards those things. In that transition period, spend a lot of time in prayer asking for guidance. ”Show me the way to do this.” Ask for those ideas. It does take courage. Yogi Berra said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Mario Andretti said, “If everything seems under control, you’re not going nearly fast enough!” And Edwene Gaines says, “I am a person of power!” | 10/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 26, 2010 – Creating With The Power | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 9/26/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 19, 2010 – Discover The Divine Mystery | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 9/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 12, 2010 – Live Your Purpose Through Me | When you made the commitment to come into this life, everything was put in place for you to accomplish your purpose. When you are on purpose, the universe shows up. But we get the amazing experience of “interruption”. There is value in that experience– our interruptions are divine invitation to a greater purpose. For example, when you complain, you draw complainers to you and you are surrounded by complaining people. When that is interrupted, you have a choice. We know every thing is God, even when it seems something is not of God. If divine order really is in that interruption, then there is a greater purpose calling to us. We are free to choose it or turn it down. Jesus, as we need to do, met life in the consciousness in which he lived, and then stepped to the next level, and then the next. In the story of the Canaanite woman, she asked that her daughter be healed. Jesus responded that he was to heal the children of Israel, not to throw their bread to the dogs. She responded with non-resistance, no ego. She knew that her daughter could be healed. Her love for her daughter and her faith that she could be healed awakened Jesus, and He recognized the beauty of the spiritual self of anyone. This interruption awakened Him to a greater purpose. With every interruption we can journey from our head to our heart. If it’s all God, it’s all love. Look at the interruption as being a call to a higher purpose. The universe loves us so much we have many, many interruptions. At those times, say, “Divine Love, I am Your instrument. Live Your purpose through me.” | 9/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, September 5, 2010 – From Heffalumps to Wholeness | Like Winnie the Pooh, we can be stuck in “not enough”, projecting the past into the future. Like Piglet, we see what we expect to see. And we keep repeating the pattern. Is there something that we would like to change? We forget how. Life is the reflection of our consciousness. Our thoughts/feelings create it, and we ourselves keep it the way it is. But whether we want to change things with co-workers or relatives or financial situations, know that these things are all really spiritual problems needing spiritual solutions. We need to go to a higher power, like the woman who touched Jesus’ garment. The “twelve years” of her suffering signify she had completed her spiritual work and was open to healing. Her new perception was that she would be whole by touching a greater power, the presence of God. Today, when our energy is drained, our life force drawn from us, we have to touch the higher consciousness– that which is conscious of the Presence. We have to touch God, the higher awareness. It is there. It needs to be there. (That goodness, wholeness.) Transform your consciousness. Touch the wholeness which is God. The Bhagavad Gita asks, “Do you have the patience to wait till the mud settles and the water is clear,” until you are able to be filled with a higher consciousness? Then “the right action will arise. Not seeking fulfillment, …open to all things.” See the Presence; open to It. It brings that which is highest. Welcome all things. The Divine teaches, “I Am the Self abiding in the heart of all beings.” The Divine Presence is what is there that guides us to wholeness. When we smash through to the higher vision, then we are free to see something different– we go from lack to plenty– in the consciousness of the Presence saying, “How I do love you!” and answer, as Pooh does, “me too!” | 9/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 29, 2010 – Sharing Enlightenment | Our work is to know the spiritual truth. Within each person there is a perfect pattern, a pure thought of him in Divine Mind within him. It is within the very energy, the DNA, of every molecule of that person’s being. It is in that person’s mind, and that person has full access to it. That person is One with the Presence and All Power. There is nothing or no-one in the world that has more power. That is the truth. Who do you know who is in need? Physical, emotional, financial, etc.? Look through their “bandages” with so much love that the truth that you know is shared with that other person. You have the spiritual capacity to know the truth. The illumination flows from the truth within, and it is when you love. We can only have that which we can give away. It is our job to share enlightenment rather than to seek it. Call them into their power– to know the truth when they begin to forget. Don’t settle for less than the truth of who they are. You are unable to settle for something less for that person– even for yourself. Hold to the total truth of your being– a radiant, powerful child of God. Powerful. Intelligent. –who can call into manifestation the truth of their being. It is our job to know that. It is our job to be very much in touch with the truth of everyone’s being. For each there is hope. The total truth of their being is fully there within them. Carry that awareness for everyone. | 8/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 22, 2010 – Going Somewhere | Rev. E. J. Niles tells us that among many things, the Bible is a history of a people’s evolving identity and their evolving relationship to God. For the first time on history, we see not only where we have been, but where we are going. We also see the need for a higher level of consciousness. As Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” There are those who say we are in the worst of times, but we know better. We know we have latent within our DNA everything we need to deal with the conditions of our world. Margaret Meade said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Society is moving out of it’s “teen years” in which it wanted all the benefits without the responsibility. Now we are willing to accept the responsibility that we create our world. We can now envision every person on the planet having their needs met. We do not need to always have the poor with us. We do not always need to have war with us. You have within your very DNA that which you need to meet every challenge and move beyond it. We know only 4% of who we are. The other 96% of our being is one with the Universe. You are part of a living Universe. You cannot get out of it. “We are part of a challenge where one day we will know that we all are One!” | 8/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 15, 2010 – Prayer That Works | Do your prayers “work”? Jesus advised that before you pray, you first “reconcile with your brother.” You must release the “prisoners” you drag around with you. You must release the anger you harbor toward those you have imprisoned deep within your consciousness that you feel have wronged you. Simply open those dungeon doors and tell them to go. And yes, you must release the anger so deeply held against yourself, too. Open that door. Release. Let go. Only then are you free to affirm the good you seek. Receive that good without worry as to the why or how of it. Be open with your affirmations. Don’t try to fit the Infinite into your consciousness with detailed requirements, but rather expand your consciousness to the Infinite. And know that you are worthy to receive. You are made of the substance of your Creator. You are a “godlet”. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank You, God! Thank You, God! Thank You, God! | 8/15/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 8, 2010 – Manifesting Spirit’s Dream: An African Tale | God is life. The nature of God is pure love and goodness. We worry whether something is true or false instead of whether it is useful. We know the phrase “life is suffering” is not a truth. However, it is an effective denial that our whining will change anything. Denial is to withdraw your energy from something. So withdraw your power from that which limits you and apply it to that which is seeking to lift you. Apply it to that which infinite power and abundance and intelligence wants to bring forth because it is your own. That deep desire in your heart is not there by accident. Desire on the heart is God inviting you to what is yours, not what is possible. Withdraw your power from the idea that someone else has control. Withdraw your power invested in reasons that say it can’t be so. Say, “life is suffering” and then “get on with it.” Apply your power to these steps because they work: Don’t ask what is possible. What is your hope? What are you about now? Write it down. Prepare. (You have been preparing all this time.) It can happen for you. Not because it’s possible, but because it’s given. Everything you need is already given. | 8/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, August 1, 2010 – Flowing With Ease | Jesus said, “…My yoke is easy. My burden is light.” When we are connected with the Christ consciousness, there is a feeling of ease in the heart where struggle doesn’t happen. There is an intuitive response without the need of control in which things flow. We are so ready to ease others through any difficulty. Imagine what Divine Love will do for us, Its spiritual children! Life is the experience of Divine Love guiding and unfolding who we are with such grace and care and compassion that every moment It is there for you. Every moment It is in you. Every moment It would enfold and lift you in those things that are difficulties and obstacles. It is infinite intelligence and it knows how to move you through them successfully. That’s what life really is. That’s the truth. When we choose to see obstacles and complain, when we choose control, we are out of the heart, and it is uncomfortable. Ease is touching the feeling of that care flowing through you. There is a flow of such goodness and kindness, of such compassion and love here guiding you, responding to you, One with you. When you are open to the Tao, open to that ease and amazing presence of life and energy and intelligence and power that we call Spirit that we are one with and that is moving in and through our lives, you are open to insight. You can use it. It is “hidden in the heart”, everywhere and in everything. You no longer feel separation and the need to control. You are guided. So flow. You are one with It, and everything will fall into place. Breath ease and enjoy the flow! | 8/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 25, 2010 – The Fifth Dimension | When we connect with the Spiritual Presence that is in us, we move beyond our 3 dimensional world into the 4th dimension. By immersing ourselves in the appreciation of the good things that fill our lives and by being at peace, we shift our perception. Everything around us shifts as well. We learn to live from the inside out. We become aware of That flow in our life, like we’re aware of a river’s flow when we’re rafting on it. In the 5th dimension, we perceive that we are the Presence, we are one with God. It’s as if we were river-rafting but have been flipped into the water. We have a change of perception from being “on the river” to being “one with the river”. We go from being aware of God flowing in our lives to perceiving our oneness with the very nature of the Divine Itself. When we change perception we live life differently. For example, if we are faced with catastrophic illness, we know we are connected with that very nature of God which is wholeness. We experience wholeness as the very essence of our own being. We know that even if our body were to be taken, that whatever the purpose, the wholeness is still fulfilled. Knowing these things, we sometimes have the misconception that we build our lives from the ground up. But we are also pulled from above. That wisdom that flows through life guides you to be where you need to be to experience that place– the 5th dimension. We are all one. It’s all God. It’s fun to make the journey. Head down the river your life tells you to go on. It’s safe. It’s all love. It’s only God. | 7/25/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 18, 2010 – God is the Source, God is the Answer | We are a Unity Church in Walnut Creek, California, offering Sunday Services, Classes, Special Events and Workshops, Prayer Support, and a Book Center to enhance personal and spiritual growth and foster wholeness in mind-body-spirit. | 7/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 11, 2010 – Revealing: A Step To Transformation | We perceive our three-dimensional life through the mind. The mind sees us as separate from everything out there and it defends us. We each have known pain. At such times we see a limit to or a loss of the goodness of God. Anger and hatred naturally protect us when the mind sees us as victims. This is not wrong or bad, but it is not the only perspective. Our higher consciousness is a higher perspective from which we see things differently. We cannot love when we are in anger and hatred. That is a state which diminishes love and our loving. As spiritual beings, we respond from our truth that is always within us, that we are one with the beautiful Divine Presence. We pray, “Beloved Presence, reveal that which needs to be revealed. Heal that which needs to be healed.” And it is revealed that we have a choice. Just wanting to make a choice brings healing. Healing takes away the need for anger and hate. At this point of choosing we are free– deeply, powerfully free. There is so much love surrounding, enfolding and supporting us! When we ask it and allow it to take us, it lifts us. We see freedom, forgiveness, and wholeness. It has no other purpose. It is time to look at what you have not yet allowed to heal, what has not yet been transformed. You’re not lost. It’s not over. It’s not the way it looks. The world has simply brought you to the question, “What is now, in this moment, the choice to make?” And it is that choice that transforms what you have journeyed into. This love flows through you, and in your choosing it over and over, it is blessing and lifting us all. We are in this together. | 7/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, July 4, 2010 – What Is Heaven and Hell Really? | As we awaken, we go from experiencing life from the outside in, to experiencing life from the inside out. However, the more we experience the connectedness, the more painful our judgments. We are burdened with our “garbage”. This is “hell”. But we can leave whenever we want. It is easy to get out of hell (the garbage). There is a way out. Since no one can be in two places at the same time, leave the garbage behind. It’s a choice. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is within. We discover that which has real value– that which fills us with pure radiant love. That is God. It is that place of divine connection, infinite love and goodness. We experience a goodness without limit– “heaven”. Our perceptions change. We begin to see amazing things drawn into our lives. “I’m getting healthy”; “I’m leaving this addiction”; “I feel uplifted and good”. We begin to see heaven in those amazing beings drawn into our lives. They take on parts of consciousness to transform it– that’s who is in heaven. It’s here and now. Look around you. It’s easy to get out of the garbage. Love one another. It’s a choice. Pick someone and love. Welcome to heaven! | 7/4/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 27, 2010 – Stay on the Phone | Our purpose on Earth is to learn how to heal and grow through our challenges. However, take a look at that experience that you haven’t forgiven; that you can’t forget. And we not only carry our own wounds, but also the wounds of the collective unconscious, the race memory. So there is a lot of healing to be done. And we will still face challenges, illness, even death. In the face of challenges in our lives, we are programmed to use responses like “I’m not good enough.” “I don’t know enough.” “I’m ugly.” This is “parrot talk” that we “parrot” to ourselves constantly. Do not respond to challenges “in kind”. Take progresssive, constructive action. Use affirmations. Remember, forgiveness is your answer. We are children of God with those attributes. Ask, “What is mine to do?” Then pray, “Reveal that which needs to be revealed. Heal that which needs to be healed.” This creates a powerful force for healing. Ask, “What is mine to do?” Pray, “Reveal that which needs to be revealed. Heal that which needs to be healed.” | 6/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 20, 2010 – Creating With The Father’s Power | Jesus showed us authority and creative power flowed from Father|God through Him as a spiritual being. The more He attuned to that greater creative power, the more that power moved in and thru His being. He showed us the Oneness which we can experience and touch within our own spiritual self. The authority that we have to direct and choose what comes forth in our world is a picture of that father-son flow. The creative power moves through us when we say, “yes, I choose this creation,” and then that creation comes through into our life. The feminine nature of the Divine is intuition, that capacity that we have to receive higher understanding and direct it into the purpose of our lives. Recognizing when there is something that aligns with our purpose, we are then the instruments thru which the creative power comes into existence. The creative masculine in us each asks, “What is my purpose?“ The first step to manifesting the divine power that is within you is the alignment to your purpose. It’s that first point when you accept the divine creative power moving through you. The purpose of your being is to receive that creative power and give it expression as far as you let it go. 2nd is“doing your one”. It is doing that which is yours to do. Once you say yes and accept that the purpose of your being is to receive and express the divine creative power, ask what do you need to do to own it, to align with that creative energy that is flowing through you? 3rd. The next step is one of the great steps in creation. The step that uplevels the quality of what is going to take place is letting go. Non attachment. We limit this process sometimes because we put a ceiling on what can be accomplished. That’s when we just keep pushing and hammering at it with our will because we “know what the result should be”. But we must let it go to be what it can be. It uplevels. It goes to the higher fulfillment of our purpose when we let it go, when we are unattached to the result. Spirit is moving through you for your purpose – the expression of who you are and what you are about. It’s what we’ve been talking about in terms of the higher male energy of the heart. Where we go into that deep coherence with Divine Intelligence and creative flow by the nonattachment. 4th. Respond in integrity with who you are. Spirit is not there to empower another’s purpose through you; Spirit is there to empower your purpose through you. When you align with that integrity – regardless of how it might look – Spirit moves through you for that purpose which you are about. It expands and carries it forward in the way that is highest for you. It is Spirit which determines the result. Who of us knows what the result will be? The very highest is brought forth by that power, that love, that consciousness that flows through us. It is wonderful creative energy from the very highest, opening, taking us forward. For each one of us it is now present in your life, lifting you, blessing you. When you align with it, when you go to that place of integrity in your being. there is only one possible result: that it will be good! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! | 6/20/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 13, 2010 – Walking by Faith, Not Fear | Is fear or faith guiding your life? Fear is a sure sign your are trusting in your own power. However, you do not have to stay in energy that does not feel good. When you have accepted circumstances that make you feel uncomfortable, you have been called to see more clearly what you are not living so you can go to what is your calling. It is what you signed up for! Say yes to your Divine appointment. If you knew who walked beside you, fear would be impossible! Everything is planned for your good. You arrived with your spiritual DNA already coded with all you need to have. All you need is within you. There is peace already within – prosperity already, love already within you. Peter knew his truth. And just for a moment he trusted, and he walked on water! But then he saw the wind and the storm in the world around him, and he had doubts. When the wind in your life blows, go within to your truth. Know that there is a Presence and a Power inside of you. Know God is your Source. Walk by faith. | 6/13/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, June 6, 2010 – Power of Commitment | When you get that pull on your heart, that impossible thing that needs to be done anyhow, that’s God talk. Yes, there can be other lovely things that pull on your heart, so check in with Spirit. This is something different which is really what you are. Guidance is a picture of a state of consciousness that is already complete. Spirit is saying this is yours and now is the time. Go forward, take some steps to manifestation– buy that ticket! “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.” Blocks are not wrong or bad, but they are not guidance. Really listen to your heart. Seek clarity. We are guided by Infinite Intelligence because we are one with It, and It will manifest whatever is in intention because it is already in Spiritual Mind. And Infinite Love will give it. You are an instrument of Divine Love, upliftment to all in your world. That is why it was on your heart in the first place. Affirm, “I am guided by Infinite Wisdom, and prospered by divine Love.” | 6/6/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 30, 2010 – Transcendence Equation Revisited | Coherence starts with feeling appreciation in our hearts. Turn away from the problem to this feeling through prayer – move into the heart of God. The most coherent state is love and appreciation. It brings healing, balance, and wholeness. “How efficient prayer can be!” Go into prayer for immediate guidance, without waiting for years for an answer. Then act on it. Do not put any more time and attention into it. Be at ease. Actualize potential. Shine your light. Shine it all the way out! Act on it. In prayer, from your connection to God, ask, “What is mine to do?” Fill your heart with appreciation and get life guidance. Bring it in with clarity and great, great joy! Shine your light. Shine it all the way out! | 5/30/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 23, 2010 – The Power of Compassion | In taking on this life we took on limitations we agreed to transform. They drain us, and they keep coming up. Know there is still wholeness, it is part of a greater good. Address the limitation, bring about healing. Transform it by moving from hurt to peace. Allow yourself to really feel the power of your connection to God flow into you and through you. It is love. It is compassion, the experience that you feel in response to feeling hurt. It flows in response to the hurt of another, as well, because we are one. Open to feel God’s love and compassion flowing to the part which is hurting, and move to compassion and peace. Live that law; become the law. As you live the compassion the pattern forms in the world around you. Move to a place of compassion in your heart, no matter the situation. We came to heal and transform all that we touch in the Earth. Move from hurt to peace through the power of compassion. “The unadulterated love of one person can nullify the hate of millions.” – Mahatma Gandi Affirm, “In the presence of hurt, I choose compassion.” “In the presence of hurt, I choose compassion.” “In the presence of hurt, I choose compassion.” | 5/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 16, 2010 – The Prince and the Pauper | Emilie Cady wrote, “It is time for us to awake to right thoughts, and know that we are not servants, but children, and if children then heirs. …Heirs of all wisdom, …to all love, …of all strength, all life, all power, all good.” The heir is the spiritual self, the spiritual being that you are. It is not this marvelous ego that has been developed for us to dance through the world. The ego guides this temporary persona that we have jumped into. It doesn’t know how to be the heir. When you journeyed into life, it wasn’t that you weren’t to meet the experiences that were there, those of abundance and lack, of fear and joy, of peace and harmony and of conflict, because those are ideas within this realm that we journey. The ego is to be cared for by the spiritual self, which guides it into being an instrument to touch the world and know its goodness. When Jesus said “the kingdom is at hand”, he meant that we can touch life and experience the presence of God. We can experience the goodness of the realm, its beauty, its wholeness, its abundance. We can know the Presence in every experience, and that is the kingdom of heaven, and it is here and now. Just as people from the court go ahead of their prince announcing his coming and making easy his way, know and affirm, “Divine Love goes before me, making easy, joyous, and successful my way.” | 5/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 9, 2010 – A Mother’s Divine Vision | Motherhood connects us with a powerful aspect of the Divine Presence, that of the nurturing Divine Mother. We get to touch an aspect of what God is (knowing there is no place where God ends and we start). A mother awakens to a spiritual vision, seeing her child as a spiritual being, seeing the potential of that soul in the life experience. She is always calling forth that potential. The mother sees a wonderful, beautiful, radiant being. The expression of that Divine Mother principle is in you whether you are male or female; it is a part of your connection with the Divine. This spiritual Divine Vision sees the Christ in your being, that level where you are one with the presence and power of God, saying it’s time to step up into your being– it’s time to get on with what you are about, who you are. Accept the vision that is held of you by God. You are a radiant, powerful, intelligent, purposeful, spiritual being. You are here about what your soul has committed to do. You have the full power and intelligence and capability to accomplishing everything that is on your heart, and you are a blessing to everyone in your life! That is the vision in God’s mind of who you are. Accept it with these words, “I am a child of God! A blessing to all I meet!” It is the truth. It is who you are. It is what you are here for. What you are is so magnificent, and God sees it! “I am a child of God! A blessing to all I meet!” | 5/9/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, May 2, 2010 – The Divine Pattern In Us All | “Know ye not that ye are gods?” “Know the white (that which is illumined) but keep to the black (that which is yet to be illumined, as your issues, or the potential of all): be a pattern for the world. If you are a pattern for the world, the Tao will be strong inside you and there will be nothing you can’t do.” – Lao-tzu In the Transfiguration, Jesus showed us the pattern of who we really are. We can see this when we raise our awareness through our faith, our openness to a higher order, and love. Through the grace of pure love which is always present, we see both the impersonal principle of Divine Law as well as the personal guidance of the Divine expressing in our lives. Receive this into your being. We are the beloved “in whom I Am well pleased”. Repeat, “I am God’s beloved child.” See in yourself the pattern of divine power and radiant light. Say yes to the power, the radiant light, the wholeness. Be the pattern. For the world. “I am God’s beloved child.” | 5/2/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 25, 2010 – The Tao & The Divine Feminine | We pray “Mother|Father God”, and bring our attention to the female as well as the male aspect of the divine. Know the male, yet keep to the female. Know the white, which is that which is illumined. Yet keep to the black– which is what is not illumined, those issues you hide or potential not yet brought to light. “If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you.” “The Tao is the great Mother… always present within you.” From the divine feminine we learn a pattern of attunement to the divine presence. Within you is the perfect idea of who you are. Receive the female world into your arms, as the mother enfolds the child. Be receptive. Practice constant humility- let go of the mind’s need and open to the divine feminine. Be a pattern for the world, and there is nothing you can’t do, and “the Tao will be strong inside you…” Pray “The Tao is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. The Tao is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. The Tao is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do.” “God is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. God is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. God is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do.” “Love is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. Love is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do. Love is strong in me; there is nothing I can’t do.” Joyous hope is all there is because through your heart all is transformed. | 4/25/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sermon, April 18, 2010 – Sleeping Beauty: A Spiritual Journey | Summary “There is only one presence and one power in the universe and in my life, the all loving goodness of God.” Sometimes it doesn’t look that way. It looks like our way is strewn with thorns to keep us from our good. The fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty is really the story of how we mature spiritually, how the soul unfolds to know that it is true that there really is only one power. Often the pain and loss we experience in life shuts down our feeling nature, we fall asleep. We engage in a transient perception that our experience has polarity, that there are other powers over us. We see fire-breathing dragons flying overhead. As the Prince, we overcome false perceptions with the Shield of Virtue (we remain true to our self) and the Sword of Truth (God is good all the time). At this higher level, then, the Prince (that part which knows the truth) kisses Sleeping Beauty (that part of our self which feels the truth). In this “mystical union” we are awakened to know and feel at every level who we are– spiritual beings in a spiritual world governed by spiritual laws. We understand with great compassion the pain and loss in our polarized experience, yet we also understand that we are much more than we can ever perceive. We are power and love– that bring forth life itself– a purpose so sacred on our heart that the universe is aligned to bring it forth. We stay in the awareness of the presence of the Divine. This is the kingdom of God. This is the “happily ever after”. | 4/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 104 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
The Effortless and Abundant Universe
The people at Unity Center in Walnut Creek have an abundant view of life and it shows through these sermons. The messages delivered by Rev. David McArthur have depth and humor, and he uses many classic stories to demonstrate spirituality. Also, the guest speakers are very good. It is clear that this church embraces Love, Light, and all paths to God. Remember: God is good ALL the time!
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