Unity to address hope for first Sunday of Advent

At the 10:30 a.m. Worship Celebration Service this Sunday, November 29, Unity of the Valley’s Spiritual Leader, Licensed Unity Teacher Michael J. Scales, will present the Sunday Lesson, titled “The First Sunday of Advent - Hope.” The special music will be performed by Nikki Scales.

Sunday, November 29, is the first Sunday of Advent, the season that marks the arrival of Jesus Christ. The dictionary definition of the word advent is: “arrival: the arrival of something important or awaited.” This meaning refers to the identification of Jesus as the long-awaited messiah, the divinely anointed king who would deliver Israel from captivity. As the centuries passed and Christianity expanded, the role of the messiah expanded to that of the savior of all humanity from their sins.

Unity and other New Thought movements look to the season of Advent as a thrilling and encouraging depiction of a beautiful spiritual awakening within the individual. This awakening is the dawning within the human being of the individualized presence of God within his or soul. This spark of divinity within each human being is known as the Indwelling Christ. It is through communion and conscious union with this holy and peaceful inner presence that the individual experiences God’s existence, love, guidance, peace and abundance, first as an inner awareness and eventually as an all-encompassing reality of God’s good in every area of his or her life.

Another way of stating this spiritual meaning of Advent is to say that it represents the birth of the Christ within the consciousness of the individual. Most of us have had the experience of being on a spiritual quest – a search for God. When we finally encounter the Christ of our being, we realize that this sacred encounter is indeed the arrival of something important and awaited. This meeting of our inner Messiah fills us with the hope of a life filled with meaning and fulfillment. It is this hope that is celebrated and observed on the first Sunday of Advent, and the first candle that is lit on the Advent Wreath is the candle that symbolizes hope – the hope of the arrival of Immanuel: “God with us.”

It is this same precious hope to which St. Paul referred in the first chapter and twenty-seventh verse of his letter to the Colossians as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” At this most profoundly consecrated time of the year, Unity joins not only all of Christendom but God-loving people of all faiths in exalting and honoring the values and principles of universal love and good will taught by the Prince of Peace.

In his lesson, Scales will illustrate for the individual practical steps he or she can take to commune with and be aware of his or her indwelling Christ Presence.

If you enjoy the writings of Stephen Covey, Eckhart Tolle, Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, the Dalai Lama, A Course in Miracles and the Daily Word, you’ll enjoy a Unity Church Service. The “Daily Word” devotional magazine is published by Unity, and read by millions worldwide each day. Unity Village headquarters may be accessed on the Internet at www.unityworldhq.org, where you can also read today’s Daily Word. Call the church office at (956) 787-4411 for more information about church activities, classes and study groups. Unity of the Valley welcomes worshippers from all religious backgrounds and meets at 301 E. Polk in Pharr.