Spirituality
March 5 - March 18, 2016
Spiritual Reflections
From broken to whole BY PASTOR JEAN NEWELL, ASSOCIATE PASTOR SUN LAKES UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
For more years than I can remember, I have collected coffee mugs. Call me practical, but I decided many years ago that if I was going to have a collection, it wouldn’t be stuff that sat on a shelf and had to be dusted. I hate dusting. It would be stuff I could use. Consequently, I started collecting coffee mugs. Many of the cups are ones I’ve bought, but many of them have been given to me as gifts from friends and family. I have cups with sayings about daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmas. I have cups with my name on them, cups with pictures of dogs on them, and cups with Scripture on them. I have cups for various holidays and cups from the British Isles, Europe and the Middle East, besides those from the United States. The background on my Harry Potter mug “magically” appears when it’s full of hot coffee or tea, while another mug beeps like “Star Wars’” R2-D2 when I take off its lid. I even have a cup that says, “Cuz I’m the mom!” and a self-stirring one that declares, “The force is strong with this one!” The cups come in all shapes and sizes. Some are large,
some small. Some are short, some tall. Some are delicate, some chunky. Each one is unique with a story behind it. Two of them, however, are chipped, and one has a broken handle. Although I’ve tried to repair them with glue, the cups will never hold hot liquids again; they will never be whole. More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus—in his brokenness—hung on a cross and died and was buried in a tomb. No one—not His mother, Mary, nor Peter, nor John, nor Mary Magdalene, nor any of His followers—could mend and repair what the soldiers’ whips and the Roman cross had done. Why else was it on that Easter Sunday morning as the first rays of the sun streamed across the sky that Mary Magdalene ran pellmell back to the disciples and, gasping for breath, celebrated, “I have seen the Lord!” Why else, indeed! For God did what only God could do. God brought wholeness where only brokenness had been—something God can do today for you and for me if we but give our hearts to Him. Hallelujah, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
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Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation announces Shabbat services The Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation (SLJC) is an established reform congregation that meets at the Sun Lakes Chapel on the second Friday of the month. Services are great opportunities to meet people, connect with Judaism and learn. New attendees are invited to be introduced at the service and members of the congregation connect with these attendees. Oneg Shabbats are held immediately after the services at Sun Lakes Country Club. Everyone is invited to attend. Upcoming Shabbat services are as follows: • March 11: Service honoring the choir, trip to Israel and Hadassah, 7:30 p.m. • April 8: Yom Hashoah observance and Yom Ha’atzmaut and interfaith service, 7:30 p.m. • May 13: Service honoring the men’s club and the rabbi’s Bar Mitzvah year, 7:30 p.m. • June 10: Annual healing service, 7:30 p.m. • July 8: Twilight service, 5:30 p.m. • Aug. 12: Twilight service, 5:30 p.m. SLJC is also sponsoring a contemporary Passover Seder on Saturday, April 23, the second night of the holiday. SLJC kicks off its adult education series at the chapel. The classes, led by rabbi, are as follows. Participants can attend any or all of the sessions.
• 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8: Jewish Practices: Mitzvot and Traditions; Jewish Holidays: History and Significance • 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12: How to Change Your Life: A Study in Kabbalah and Meditation • 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3: Grief and Loss: How to Deal with Disappointments and Tragedies At 3 p.m. Sunday, March 6, the Friends of Israel SLJC and EVJCC will present Yamit Armbrister, the author of “A Moroccan Woman, From Egypt to Caanen and Daughter of Ouzel,” at 3 p.m. March 6. “A Moroccan Woman” was recently selected by the Israeli Department of Education to the list of most recommended books for all high school students. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. There will be no solicitations. For information, visit www.SLJC.org.
First Baptist Church, Chandler Come Visit Us! 480-963-3439 www.fbc.net facebook.com/FirstBaptistChandler
SUNDAY
Worship 9 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Sunday School 9 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Spanish Worship 1:00 p.m.
WEDNESDAY (Summer)
Student Wash Out Wednesdays 6:30 p.m.
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ARIZONA AVE.
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Chandler United Methodist Church Celebrating more than 100 Years in Chandler. Making and Deploying Disciples Who Put God First, Since 1913.
SUNDAY WORSHIP
Traditional Worship 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
For Children 8:40 a.m. & 10:10 a.m.
480-963-3360 www.chandlermethodist.org 450 E. Chandler Heights Rd.
SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ADULTS
8:30 a.m. • Adult Study - Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. “Healing Where It Hurts” • Wednesday Night Adult Study - at 7 p.m. “The Renegade Gospel”