Meal
Healing the Gut
Organic Broccoli
Organic Cauliflower
Organic Pine nut based Hummus
Organic Vegetable crackers
Song
What the World Needs Now
Jackie DeShannon
https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU
What the World Needs Now
Prayer
Thank you, God, for the body of believers who are called to serve you, who are proclaiming the Good News to all who will hear. From those who minister across the country to the men, women, and youth here at home, send us out to be a light in the dark. Send us out to speak life. Send us out to extend grace and mercy. Send us out to feed the hungry, to befriend the lonely, to find the lost. Open the doors of this church and fill it with the broken, the angry, the hurting. Let them find forgiveness and comfort here in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen. – adapted from community prayer by Jennie McChargue.
Peace and Joy! Pastors Michael and Cathy Hanus and the Spirit of Peace Missional Community.
All Are Welcome to Join Spirit of Peace in its mission to serve the community in ministry sharing resources and concern in helping one another.
Chat Bench allows for confidential discussion of topical interest and fellowship between people.
Spirit Health and Wellness is an activity that presents a health topic, discusses nutrition found in foods and shares healthy food and fellowship with one another.
Community Garden introduces growing foods from plant starts through harvest life cycle.
Recovery Circle allows for interested people in a group setting to engage readings and reflections that support the spirit within us.
Community Activities and Events scheduled about once every month allow for fun and entertainment.
Church services allow for regular structured formal Christian worship.
Love One Another, John 13:34-35.
Scripture A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35.
Prayer
Dear Lord thank you for the opportunity to practice your command in the community. Our time and our efforts come together to fulfill your command that we should love one another as you loved us.
Peace and Joy! Pastors Michael and Cathy Hanus and the Spirit of Peace Missional Community.
In reading this list of five guiding principles, please reflect upon the Words of Satisfaction stated in Scripture found in Matthew 7:7; Ask, and It Will Be Given. Ask, and it will be given to you; Seek, and you will find; Knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matt. 7:7).
As the Holy Spirit within each of us guides us through each day; If we listen we will hear, Jesus is waiting to hear our prayers asking Him for these good things that we want in life, including the strength to face adversity. – Pastor Michael Hanus, Spirit of Peace.
Matt. 7:7.
Mental toughness
Contrary to popular belief, mental toughness is not something you are born with. It is not a luck of the draw sort of thing. That means that everyone can work to improve their fortitude with a little practice and mindfulness when life starts going sideways. Research backs this up. Since the 1960’s, groups like the Beck Institute have pioneered Cognitive Therapy in the hopes of helping people stop negative “automatic thoughts” that impaired their views of themselves, the world, and the future. And the results are clear: everyone can change the way they think and develop mental toughness.
Five tips for developing your mental toughness in a positive way.
Set Your Expectations
Mental toughness is not about avoiding conflict. While you can not control every aspect of your life, you can control how you will react. Act like you have everything under control, and no one will think otherwise. You might wind up even fooling yourself. Know that time is finite and there’s only so much you can do in a certain period of time. By setting realistic expectations for what you can achieve in a given amount of time, you are laying a groundwork for measurable performance and success.
Strengthen SelfControl
Do not let your emotions get the best of you. Whether things are going crazy at work or you feel the urge to find comfort in sweets after a trying day, take a moment to step back from the situation. By stepping out of the present, stressful moment and putting it in larger perspective, you can give every crisis its context and respond with a level-headed calmness. By delaying gratification, whether in the form of a cupcake or yelling at someone, you are helping yourself to see difficulty as a setback rather than an insurmountable problem.
Focus on Yourself
No matter what you do, you are never going to please everyone. Mentally tough people have mastered the art of focusing on impressing themselves. Love the ensemble you put on but maybe other people can not appreciate your sense of style? Well, those haters are going to hate. They do not matter. You should surround yourself with people who can appreciate you for who you are and the unique traits you have to offer, especially since these people are likely ones you can count on when you feel that your mental toughness is starting to get a little weak. Similarly, do not get down in the dumps by envying other people or being jealous of their success. If you see someone who is doing things with their life you want to achieve too, focus on how you can get there yourself, rather than how that other person reached their goals so easily.
Silence the Negative Talk
Whether it is expressing envy over someone else’s success or using negative words to describe yourself, your words have immense power to shape your worldview. Do not let that glass-half-empty viewpoint dominate your thoughts. When you make the effort to see the positive in everything, you will find it was there all along. When you find aspects of yourself or your life that you would like to change, focus on how you can do that and set measurable goals rather than sitting back and accepting your present as your life’s course. Become your biggest advocate and believe in yourself. Others will follow your lead and believe in you too!
Taylor Swift Shake it Off
Let It Go
Elsa in Frozen (Disney) had it right. Do not let the past bring you down or be deadweight on your path to success. Everyone has suffered failures and setbacks, but it is the people who learn from their mistakes or face adversity with a measured approach that come up on top. Do not let your past dictate what your present and future should look like. There is no point in lamenting something you can not possibly change. But the present and future is only what you choose to make of it. Make it something amazing! That commitment to the present will build mental toughness in no time.
Elsa Let It Go
Improving your mental toughness takes mindfulness and commitment. It is not easy, but the payoff and rewards are immense. Take charge of your life and withstand adversity like a pro! – adapted from Paige Turner, theautismsite
Peace and Joy! in Seeking the Greater Good Within You!
God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Exodus 2:25.
Barbara grew up under the care of the British government in the 1960s, but when she turned sixteen, she and her newborn son, Simon, became homeless. The state was no longer obligated to provide for her at that age. Barbara wrote to the Queen of England for help and received a response! The Queen compassionately arranged for Barbara to be given a house of her own.
The Queen of England had the right resources to help Barbara, and her compassionate assistance can be seen as a small picture of God’s help. The King of heaven knows all of our needs and sovereignly works out His plans in our lives. As He does, however, He longs for us to come to Him, sharing our needs and other concerns, as part of our loving relationship with Him.
The Israelites brought their need for deliverance to God. They were suffering under the burden of Egyptian slavery and cried out for help. He heard them and remembered His promise: “God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” Exodus 2:25. He instructed Moses to bring liberty to His people and declared that He would once again release them “into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Exodus 3:8.
Our King loves it when we come to Him! He wisely provides what we need, not necessarily what we want. Let us rest in His sovereign, loving provision. – Ruth O’Reilly-Smith. Daily Bread.
Discussion:
Why is it important for us to bring our needs to God in prayer?
Focus
Connect with God
How can you learn to rest in God’s provision, whatever that may be?
Acceptance
Peace
Serenity
Serenity Prayer
Serenity Prayer
Reinhold Niebuhr (1934).
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
Sovereign Burning Lights
Chris Tomlin (2013).
Sovereign
Closing Prayer:
Loving God, thank You that I can bring my needs to You. Help me to be content in whatever paths and provisions You choose. Amen.
May Your Spiritual Connectivity with Our Sovereign Lord Bring You Serenity and Acceptance. Peace and Joy! Pastors Michael and Cathy Hanus
If only men were granted absolute liberty, and were compelled to obey no one, they would then voluntarily associate themselves in the common interest. – AS BILL SEES IT, p. 50.
For our group purpose there is one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
Discussion:
One Ultimate Authority
Responsibility
Being God
Discuss no need to fix
Choices v Told
Freedom to choose
Dominance v Subservience
Getting along with others
Follow the Rules
Dont tell me what to do
Building character
Good Old Days
AA. Big Book.
Twelve and Twelve
Principles
Quitting drinking easy compared to dealing with the -Isms
We may fear that being in touch with our feelings will trigger an overwhelming chain reaction of pain and panic. Page 279.
No Fear
Basic Text, p.30. A common complaint about the Fourth Step is that it makes us painfully conscious of our defects of character. We may be tempted to falter in our program of recovery. Through surrender and acceptance, we can find the resources we need to keep working the steps.
It is not the awareness of our defects that causes the most agony, it is the defects themselves. When we were using, all we felt was the drugs; we could ignore the suffering our defects were causing us. Now that the drugs are gone, we feel that pain. Refusing to acknowledge the source of our anguish does not make it go away; denial protects the pain and makes it stronger. The Twelve Steps help us deal with the misery caused by our defects by dealing directly with the defects themselves.
If we hurt from the pain of our defects, we can remind ourselves of the nightmare of addiction, a nightmare from which we now awaken. We can recall the hope for release the Second Step gave us. We can again turn our will and our lives over, through the Third Step, to the care of the God of our understanding. Our Higher Power cares for us by giving us the help we need to work the rest of the Twelve Steps. We do not have to fear our feelings. Just for today, we can continue in our recovery.
Just for Today: I will not be afraid of my feelings. With the help of my Higher Power, I will continue in my recovery. – (c) 2018. NA World Services.
Step Two. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step Three. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Step Four. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Fear
Blue October
All my life
Been running from a pain in me
A feeling I don’t understand
Holding me down
So rain on me
Underwater
All I am, getting harder
A heavy weight
I carry around
Today
I don’t have to fall apart
I don’t have to be afraid
I don’t have to let the damage
Consume me,
My shadow see through me.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God. – ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98.
Read AA Big Book Chapter 7. Working with Others.
Mature life is More than just a social hour in a room.
Step Three. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Establish priorities
Habituation transformation from bad, alcohol, to good, Higher Power.
Allegiance to God as we understand Him.
Replace the AA We term with I
Dependance on God
Manage life on life’s terms
First Thing First
Neon Trees
You are never gonna get
Everything you want in this world
First things first
Get what you deserve
It began when I was twenty-one years old
And my mom and dad were begging me to go
So I left a note and we went and hit the road
Me and Chris and all the stuff I own
I went out to find my soul and left the only comfort that I’d known
It wasn’t ’bout a girl or even California bleeding
It was all about me choosing where to go.
Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift. Page 276.
Gift
Basic Text, p.107. Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we are given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift.
Recovery is also a gift, and we have to care for it if we want to keep it. While our recovery doesn’t come with an extended warranty, there is a routine maintenance schedule. This maintenance includes regular meeting attendance and various forms of service. We have to do some daily cleaning-our Tenth Step-and, once in a while, a major Fourth Step overhaul will be required. But if we maintain the gift of recovery, thanking the Giver each day, it will continue.
The gift of recovery is one that grows with the giving. Unless we give it away, we can not keep it. But in sharing our recovery with others, we come to value it all the more.
Just for Today: My recovery is a gift, and I want to keep it. I will do the required maintenance, and I will share my recovery with others. – (c) 2018. NA World Services.
Step Four.
Step Ten.
We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
She was storming through the house that day
And I could tell she was leaving
And I thought, aw, she’ll be back
Till she turned around and pointed at the wall an said
That picture from our honeymoon
That night in Frisco Bay
Just give it away
She said, give it away
And that big four-poster king-size bed
Where so much love was made
Just give it away
She said, just give it away.
